AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I went upstairs and quietly entered our bedroom. I walked over and stared down at her as she peacefully slept. It was good to have her home and back in our bed again. Walking down to the kitchen, I grabbed a couple of beers and headed down to the beach.
“Hey, Conner.” Jenni hugged me. “Christian told us Charlotte is sleeping.”
“Yeah. I just checked on her.”
“Are you okay, cousin?” Simon asked.
“I honestly don’t know.” I sat down in the chair and brought the bottle to my lips.
Jackson reached over and hooked his arm around me. “You’ll be okay, bro. You just need to take things one day at a time.”
“What about the wedding?” Sam asked.
“What about it?” I looked at him. “She’s walking down that aisle on September 2nd. End of discussion.”
“And how are you going to get her to do that?” Shaun asked.
“She fell in love with me once before, and she’ll do it again. I’m going to make damn sure of that. I’ll take care of everything else that needs to be done for the wedding.”
“Bro—” Jackson spoke.
“I said end of discussion.” I finished off my first beer.
* * *
Charlotte
I opened my eyes and looked around the room. It took my brain a minute to register where I was. Sitting up, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and stared at it, noticing I had a voicemail, so I listened to it. It was someone trying to sell me something, so I deleted it. Then I saw Conner’s name and a voice message from three weeks ago. Pressing the button, I listened to it.
“Hey, babe. My last surgery was canceled, so I’m heading home. I’ll pick up some dinner from Four Kinds, so you don’t have to cook tonight. I love you, and I miss you. See you soon. By the way, I promise to unpack my bag tonight. I take your threats very seriously. Love you, miss you, can’t wait to kiss you.”
I breathed out a light laugh. Climbing out of bed, I walked over to the window and stared at everyone sitting around the bonfire. I wasn’t sure if meeting the rest of the family tonight was a good idea because I was already feeling overwhelmed.
“You’re up,” I heard Conner’s voice from behind.
“Yeah. I just woke up.”
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he approached me.
“I don’t know. I honestly want to crawl back into that bed and not get out of it. It looks like you’re all having a good time down there.”
“We always do, and you did too.”
“I wish I could remember.” I walked away.
“Listen, Charlotte. You had the best time when you first came here. Everyone down there loves you. You don’t have to stay long. You can say hi, chat with the girls for a while, and come back to the house.”
“Okay. Maybe for a little bit. Let me freshen up first.”
“Really? Because I think you look beautiful. Besides, they all saw you at your worst—lying in a hospital bed, head wrapped in a bandage, tube down your throat, wires sticking out of you.” A grin crossed his lips. “I have pictures if you want to see them.”
I cocked my head, stared at him for a moment with a narrowed eye, and let out an involuntary laugh.
“You’re a jerk.”
“Yes! See.” He pointed his finger at me. “You’re remembering.” He winked.
I shook my head as I went into the bathroom and dug through the drawers for a hairbrush.
