Charlotte: I’m so excited. See you later
Maybe having Charlotte visit would liven me up a bit. I knew my parents were leaving today, but that didn’t mean I was going to stop worrying about my dad. Now that I knew, it was all I couldthink about in the back of my mind. She could help me cope with it. She was good at that. Plus, she could finally meet Alexander. I couldn’t wait to see her face when she saw the house. Well, for right now, I needed to deal with my parents.
“Good morning, honey,” they said in unison.
They were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching the news with Alexander. I set my coffee cup down on the table and snuggled into Alexander. It was cold in the house. My dad looked better today. He didn’t look so pale, and he had some pink in his cheeks. That was good to see. I didn’t even know what to say to him. They would be leaving shortly, and he still hadn’t told me. He wasn’t even going to mention it? I was furious. He should tell me. Even though I was not happy with my mom, I didn’t want to throw her under the bus. I wished he would just tell me, damnit. He would have to tell me eventually. My parents were saying their goodbyes to me. I hugged them and told them to keep in touch and be safe. I didn’t really know what else to say.
Charlotte would be here soon. I was excited to see her. She could always make me feel better.
“Honey, is something bothering you? You haven’t been yourself since yesterday.”
“I’ll be fine. Just need Charlotte.” I wanted to tell him, but at the same time, I wasn’t even supposed to know. If he accidentally slipped, then I was screwed. I kept my mouth shut. He’d understand. I gave him a kiss and walked downstairs to wait for Charlotte to arrive. When she got there, I ran outside and started jumping up and down. She got out of the car, and I gave her the world’s biggest hug.
“Holy crap, you live here?”
“Of course, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Beautiful? It’s like every girl’s dream house. Holy crap!”
I gave her a full tour of the house and the grounds. She asked me the same thing about the playground as my mother did. Howfunny. We sat on the couch so we could catch up. She told me all about her internship with the law firm; it was going well. She was still single. Once she asked about me, I started to tear up.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?”
I looked around to see if Alexander was nearby. “My dad is not doing so well.”
“Oh, honey, come here.” She took me into her lap and started running her fingers through my hair. She knew exactly how to calm me down and make me feel better.
Chapter Thirty-Four
ALEXANDER
We waited until Ella left for work and then went over our game plan. I wanted to get the ring today, so I could have it fitted and ready by Friday. I didn’t care the cost to get it expedited. She deserved the very best. We jumped in my Audi and headed into town.
“So, you are really doing this?” Charlotte asked.
“This is really happening,” I replied with a smile.
She was giddy with excitement. I started laughing because I knew she truly cared for Ella. I was glad Ella had a friend like that. I had Shawn. I tried to make small talk with her. I really didn’t know much about her. So we covered the basics. She grew up in NYC with both her mother and father. She always wanted to be a lawyer, and she got good grades all the way through school so she could get into a prestigious school for law. Now she was interning at a law firm. That girl was driven. Most people gave up on their dreams but not her. She reminded me a bit of myself. I was surprised when she said she wasn’t married or dating anyone. I was not attracted to her, but she was a pretty girl, successful and driven. How could she be single? It must be by choice. She confirmed it when she said she was very picky about the men that she dated.
It only took us about an hour with traffic to get to the jewelry store. I was starting to get nervous. I was going to propose to Ella. I worried if there might be a chance she would say no, but I knew she loved me. I didn’t think she would say no. Charlotte started looking at rings, and I could tell she was not used to being able to spend money. She was looking at the cheapest rings they had available. “Come over here and look. Price isn’t an issue.”
She laughed. “I forget you’re filthy rich.”
She started looking at the rings, and it was obvious that she couldn’t wait until Ella got a ring. She was overwhelmed by how many rings they had in the store. I didn’t care about the price of the ring; I just wanted to make sure it was something that Ella would like and wear.
“I like this one. I think she will adore it.”
I looked at the ring, and it was only fourteen thousand dollars. That was not that bad. It was a beautiful ring. Ella would freak out if she knew how much I was paying for her ring, but she didn’t need to worry about that. She just needed to say yes so we could start our life as husband and wife. I couldn’t wait for her to be mine.
We got back to the house, and Ella was home early. She looked a little worried.
“Where were you guys?”
“We went to lunch.”
I did take her to lunch, so I wasn’t lying to her. I just didn’t tell her that we bought an engagement ring. I couldn’t tell her that. She didn’t look mad about us going to lunch.
“I wanted to get to know Charlotte. I had never met her, and she would have been stuck in this house all day. Couldn’t have that.”