Catching Her Rival

Jack nodded. “Any luck?”

She shrugged. “I just started this morning. ‘The first day of the rest of my life’ and all that.” Her mouth twitched ever so slightly, and she tucked her chin-length dark hair behind one ear.

“Sounds like a step in the right direction.”

“I guess so. Want to sit?” She pointed to the rocker that matched hers.

He pulled out his cell phone to check the time. “Sure, I have a few minutes before my conference call.”

“You’re working from home today?”

“Kind of. After the call, I’m going to visit my grandfather in Providence. He’s in the hospital.”

“Oh, no. Is it serious?”

“I’m not sure.” He sipped his coffee, placed it on the table between their rockers and sat down. “He was admitted with heart problems. That’s all I really know. I’m hoping to get more detailed information when I’m there in person.”

“This is the grandfather you work for?” She drank from her plastic tumbler. Even her careful movements screamed grief stricken.

He nodded. His granddad had started the advertising firm forty-five years ago, and Jack was expected to take over the reins one day.

“Tell me about this search,” he said. “How do people find their biological parents?”

Jack felt comfortable asking Charlotte these rather personal questions. The two of them had become friends the day she moved in. He’d come home from work exhausted and there she had been, sitting in the same rocking chair as now on an unusually warm fall day, enjoying a beer from the bottle. From across the street she’d offered him one, before asking if he knew anything about plumbing. So he’d taught her how to replace the insides of a toilet and get it to stop running constantly. She, in turn, always had a cold beer ready for him.

“I don’t really know yet. I’ve been reading websites that explain how to start the search. They say things like, ‘Ask your adoptive parents about the adoption agency or lawyer they went through.’ I wish I could. Mom went so quickly that I never had a chance to bring up the subject. And until recently, I never even thought about finding my biological parents. But after losing my mom to cancer, I really need to know what might be in store for me, medically speaking. Not only for me, but for any children I might have.”

“Sounds like a good idea. Did your mom have a file or anything where she might have kept that information?”

Charlotte’s eyebrows rose. “Good point. I haven’t been through everything yet. She saved every piece of paper that came her way. There are boxes and boxes to go through. I’ll look for an adoption file next.”

He’d never had a woman friend before, but he enjoyed Charlotte’s company. He felt strangely brotherly toward her—a novelty since, like her, he’d been raised as an only child.

Charlotte wasn’t anywhere close to the type of woman he dated. And even if there had been a slight hint of sexual attraction between them, he certainly wouldn’t get involved with a neighbor. How awkward would it be when they stopped seeing each other?

Luckily Charlotte wasn’t the type to make assumptions... Suddenly he had a brilliant idea. Charlotte needed cheering up and he needed a plus one. “What are you doing Saturday?”

Her eyes narrowed. “This Saturday? Like tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “Are you free?”

“That depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“It depends on why you’re asking me if I’m free on Saturday.” She folded her hands on her lap, waiting for him to explain.

“I need a date for my cousin’s wedding.” He held up a hand. “Not really a date. A plus one.”

“You’re asking me with one day’s notice?” She cocked her head and waited for him to continue.

He let out a breath. “A few weeks ago, when I sent back the RSVP, I told Emily—my cousin—that I’d be bringing a date. You remember I was dating Brenda, right?”

Charlotte coughed to cover her laugh. “Oh, yeah, I remember Brenda.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. Tell me.”

She hesitated. “Well, she was just a little too much for me.”

“Too much?”

“She wasn’t real, personality-wise. She was one person with you and quite another when you weren’t around.”

He thought about it for a second. “Go on.”

“Did she ever tell you to stay away from me?”

“Stay away from you?” He scratched his head. “No. Why would she do that?”

“That’s what she said to me. She made it very clear that I was not supposed to have anything to do with you. Although I’m not surprised that she never brought it up with you.”

This time he was the one cocking his head. “She told you to stay away from me?”

Charlotte nodded. “I don’t think she understood that our relationship is friendly, neighborly. She saw me as a threat.”

He chuckled. “Do me a favor. Next time you meet someone I’m dating, please let me know stuff like that. I would have dropped her sooner if I’d known she had such a jealous streak. That trait, along with the dominant domestic gene, are a deadly combination.”

They laughed together, trading stories of past dating disasters. He was glad to see Charlotte smile.

“So will you go to my cousin’s wedding with me?” he asked. “Anyone else I bring will expect a second date.”

She winked at him. “I guess this means I’m off the hook for any other time you need a plus one.”

“No, no! I didn’t mean—” He glimpsed the twinkle in her eye that was rarely seen. “You’re teasing.”

“Of course I am.” She sipped her drink. “I’d love to go. I barely leave the house since I work at home. This will be good for me.”

He was glad she saw it that way. “Great! We’ll have fun. I’ll make sure of it.” He checked the time on his cell phone and got up from the rocker. “I better go make that conference call. I’ll email you the wedding details.” He picked up his coffee cup.

“Sounds good.” She rose, as well. “I’m going to go dig out Mom’s old files that I haven’t been through yet and then figure out what to wear on our nondate.”

He smiled. As he turned and went down the steps, he saw her sketch pad propped against the porch railing. The ocean was churning and the sky was dark, as if a storm was brewing. He turned back and asked Charlotte, “Is this yours?” At her nod, he said, “It’s so different—darker—from what you’ve done in the past.”

She nodded, her expression thoughtful. “No matter how much I try, I just can’t seem to make myself use color in any of my art these days. I’m drawn to charcoal, as if my world is black and white.”