Chapter Twenty-Two

Charlie whipped the lacy tank top over her head and tossed it on the bed to join the remaining contents of her closet. What in the heck did one wear to New York City? She half wished Darby had been available to help her pack. Or even Beck. But he’d left yesterday to attend some meetings before his dad left town on some cruise. So she was on her own. She’d almost canceled when she’d found out he wouldn’t be there to hold her hand on the airplane. But staying in Holiday and dealing with the aftermath of chickening out would be worse than whatever fate awaited her in New York. And Beck had promised to be there when she got off the plane. So all she had to do was get on the nonstop flight.

She checked the clock on her nightstand. Cash would be picking her up in fifteen minutes, and so far she’d only thrown a pair of flip-flops and a nightgown in her suitcase. If only she’d had time to go shopping for some new clothes. Or thought to borrow something from Brittany. Well, screw it. If Beck didn’t like her for who she was, then she didn’t want to have anything to do with him anyway.

A horn blared from the driveway. Leave it to Cash to show up early. She scooped up half the items on her bed and tossed them in the suitcase, then zipped it up. The lacy tank top went back over her head, and she threw a lightweight plaid button-down on over it in case she got cold on the plane. She half pulled, half dragged the wheeled carry-on behind her down the hall and shoved her feet into her cute new boots as Cash flung open the front door.

“Ready, Sis?”

Her intestines seemed to hitch into a bowline knot at the sight of her brother. “Can you come back next Tuesday?”

He reached for the handle of her bag. “There’s no gettin’ out of this. I promised Beck I’d deliver you to the airport, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Charlie grabbed for the handle. “Maybe this is a mistake. We’ve got that concert at the Rose tomorrow night, and I don’t feel so well. I think maybe that chili Angelo made yesterday didn’t agree with—”

Cash put his hands on her shoulders, his eyes going all serious and intense. “Char, you’re going to New York this weekend. The guys and me can handle the concert. And if Angelo heard you bad-mouthing his chili, he’d take that spit master job that joint in Dallas keeps offering him.”

She studied the tips of her boots, the edge of the rug, anything to keep from having to make eye contact. “What if…I mean—”

“What? What’s bothering you, baby girl?”

Charlie couldn’t fight the grin that broke through her fears at the nickname. Sometimes she hated being the baby of the family. Especially with five older brothers. But when they weren’t teasing her, trapping her in a headlock for a noogie, or running out on their chores and leaving her to clean up after them, they could be super sweet, and she loved them with her whole heart.

She hadn’t told anyone but Beck about her irrational fear of something bad happening while she was gone, and she wasn’t about to voice it to Cash now. “Nothing. I’m just nervous about flying.”

“Aw, that’s easy.” Cash pulled a couple of bills out of his wallet. “Drinks are on me. Buy yourself a shot once you get through security and then a couple of whiskeys once you get in the air.”

“That’s your solution? It’s not even nine in the morning.”

He pressed the cash into her palm. “New York’s an hour later. By the time you get to the airport, they’ll be having happy hour at the rate you’re going. Now let’s get outta here. I still have to stop for gas before we hit the highway.”

Charlie let him take her bag out to the truck. She grabbed her purse and took one last look at her living room. The knot in her gut tightened, and she pressed her palms to her abdomen. I can do this. The horn blared from the driveway, making her jump. Before she let herself back out, she yanked the front door open and slid her shades over her eyes. I’ve got this. Right?

* * *

Ten minutes later, Dwight had her second-, third-, and fourth-guessing herself. Cash had stopped at the gas station in town. Why hadn’t they gone a few miles up the road to the truck stop? While she waited for the ancient pump to dribble enough gas to fill up the tank, she tried to tune out Dwight’s words.

“I don’t see why you want to go someplace as big and dirty as New York City. You know they have rats there the size of a barn cat?” He flipped the toothpick around his mouth from one corner to the other as he leaned in the open passenger window. “And I hear folks up there have to have bars on the windows and five or six dead bolts the crime rate’s so damn high. You’ll probably have your handbag snatched right out from under you the second you get off the plane.”

Cash shook his head and bumped a hip against the side of the truck. “What do you know about New York? Farthest north you’ve ever been is Oklahoma City. Don’t listen to him, Char.”

“You serious about that Yankee?” Dwight peered down at her, his baseball cap shading his beady eyes.

“That’s none of your business, Dwight.” Charlie crossed her arms over her waist and shifted against the seat belt. “We almost done here, Cash?”

“Yeah.” The dial clicked to a stop, and Cash put the handle back on the pump. “Put it on my tab, okay?”

Dwight nodded and leaned away from the window, leaving his hands on the edge. “Don’t know why that guy had to come mess everything up. It’s about time Holiday didn’t have a Holiday around. Better off without ’em.”

Cash put a hand on Dwight’s shoulder, pulling him away. “Don’t worry, Char. Dwight here’s gonna do his part while you’re gone. We’ll make sure the place is still standing when you get back.”

Charlie glanced over at Dwight. “Thanks for helping out while I’m away.”

He took his hat off his head and held it over his heart. “My pleasure. You let me know if he don’t treat you right, okay?”

“Okay.” She’d ignored Dwight’s misplaced affections for the past few years. Poor guy hadn’t been the same since he came back from the army. But now it seemed like time to finally put an end to it once and for all. Add that to the list of things to do when she got back.

For now she had plenty of other thoughts filling her mind. What if Beck was different once she got to New York? What if his family hated her? She’d be able to overcome just about anything except the one thing that worried her most.

What if fate punished her for putting her own needs first, like it had when she’d lost Jackson? It seemed like the only other time she’d reached for happiness, she’d been knocked down so hard she’d barely managed to get back up again. This time, there would be no Sully to rescue her. This time, the only person who could save her was herself.