Beginning, Section II
Jump to new as of December 16, 1998
Jump to new as of December 17, 1998
Jump to new as of December 24, 1998
December 19 Concluded
The rest of the afternoon flew by. After lunch, they'd gone shopping. Joshua had stayed for about fifteen minutes before Charlotte realized that he wasn't all that comfortable in a ladies' clothing shop. The salesladies reassured him that they could help Charlotte without him being around, even though he still looked wary about leaving her alone.
"I shall be just fine," she said. "I know what I like."
"I know you do, but what if you..."
"Slip up? I do not believe these ladies would care, as long as I gave them my money. I do have a question, though. What sort of...well, I presume you wish for me to spend as little as possible."
"I don't know. I'm not sure how long you're going to be here. It could be that we're going to buy all this and the maze will be open the minute we get back to Kelsey and Alexander's."
Charlotte frowned, remembering his proclamation over lunch. "Romance," he'd said. She needed romance in her life.
Nonsense. I am sixty years old, a grandmother many times over, and widowed besides. I was never that handsome in the prime of my life. Who is going to bring romance to my life at this point? It would be unseemly for me to be courted.
"Then again, you could be here for quite a while."
Especially if he's right. If it is romance I am here to find, then it's likely I could be here forever.
"I guess just buy a few outfits to start out with. If you're here longer, we'll get you more things."
With that, he'd left Charlotte alone to pick out clothing. The women rushing to and fro confused her for a while, but soon she was beginning to form ideas about what sorts of clothing she would like to wear in this world. They were modest, of course, but they were nice and fitted well. She was allowed to wear one of the outfits, a rather lovely black dress, out of the store.
The cashier was the person who suggested that she might wish to do something with her hair. Charlotte had touched the knot at the base of her skull with uncertain fingers, remembering that she had seen several hairstyles that she had envied. She handed the woman the strange little card Joshua had given her, surprised when the woman did not ask for money but rather a signature on the slip of paper that appeared from a machine. The woman frowned when Charlotte went to sign it.
"Wait," the cashier said, walking outside the store, where Joshua had been sitting, reading a newspaper, and impatiently waiting for Charlotte. The cashier explained the problem, which was that Joshua would have to sign the credit card receipt. Joshua took the pen from her and signed it cheerfully. The woman rushed back inside and handed Charlotte her bag. Charlotte walked out of the store and looked at Joshua, who was staring unabashedly at her.
"Have I grown two heads? I saw a newspaper at that place we stopped at earlier which said a woman gave birth to a two-headed--"
"Ignore any and all tabloids you read," Joshua said. "They're usually full of garbage. You look terrific."
"Thank you." Charlotte blushed nonetheless. Imagine, a woman of your advanced years blushing! Honestly! "The woman in the store suggested that perhaps I would want to get my hair cut, and I like the idea."
"Are you sure about that? I mean, this day is probably quite a culture shock. You probably shouldn't be making a major decision like that without giving it a day's thought."
Charlotte frowned. "Do you mean to insinuate that I know not my own mind?"
"No. Not at all. I'm just saying that you've experienced your first car ride and got sick, your first doctor's visit and got embarrassed, your first modern lunch and your first meeting with my ex-wife, which you handled quite well. Perhaps you should wait until later to change your hair."
Charlotte thought about it a moment, then decided. "No, I think I would like to have something easier to take care of."
Joshua sighed. "All right. But I'm going to wait outside again, so you'll be on your own."
And Charlotte had been. She'd leafed through several books with pictures of hair styles before finding something she decided would look appropriate and nice. The young woman cutting her hair commented that she looked a little green at the first few hunks of hair that were cut.
Charlotte told her, "This is the first time I've had my hair cut since I was a small child."
As the hair fell away and her head felt much lighter, Charlotte knew she'd made the right decision. The hair stylist had asked if Charlotte would like a makeover and perhaps some cosmetics. Charlotte had blushed when she realized what they were talking about, because no real lady put any sort of embellishment on her face, but she noticed that everyone else in this time was doing it, and every person she'd met so far had been extremely nice. So she agreed to the makeover, and bought the makeup.
Well, okay. Joshua had bought the makeup, and had been rather surprised when he glanced over the receipt. Then he saw Charlotte, and decided instantly that it had all been worth it.
The "new" Charlotte had inadvertently agreed to a rinse, thinking it was more shampoo. Her hair, which had once been a silvery grey, was now just silver, gleaming, shining, looking gorgeous. It framed her face in a chin-length cut that became her quite well. Her loveliness of her face was brought out by the makeup, although Joshua couldn't help preferring her when she'd been without it. This woman, with her new haircut, makeup, and outfit, was a rather attractive woman of only sixty. Joshua suddenly felt extremely protective of her, and immensely jealous of any other man who might think of her.
Charlotte smiled when Joshua did nothing but stare at her. "I do not think I have ever left a man speechless in all my life," she said softly.
"Then every man you ever met in your life was a complete fool."
Charlotte felt herself blushing again. Careful that you do not begin to believe his nonsense, Charlotte. Just because he thinks you're here to experience a little romance doesn't mean it's true.
They returned to the car after that, and began to make their way home.
"It's too bad that I've agreed to watch the babies tonight," he said. "I don't suppose you'd mind helping me out, would you?"
"Not at all." Charlotte smiled. "But why is that 'too bad?'"
"Because I was thinking that perhaps we could go out tonight. The Fox is having their annual performances of The Nutcracker, which has always been a favorite of mine. We could go to Chez Lui for dinner, make a nice evening of it."
"You are...you are wanting to court me?"
"Why not?"
"You said at lunch that you thought I was here to experience some romance. Do you think it is you who must...court me?"
Joshua felt something clutch at him. "You'd rather have it be someone else? That's fine, I guess. If you'd like to go to the Christmas program tonight to see if you could meet someone, I'll stay home alone with the babies."
"I did not say I wanted it to be..." Charlotte trailed off, realizing that what she'd said very well could've been taken to mean she wasn't interested in him.
But was she? She just couldn't know yet. She didn't know him. "I did not mean that the way it sounded. I just do not want you to feel burdened or obligated to do this."
"I don't feel that way. I want to do this."
"Why?"
Joshua knew that question had been coming. He didn't really have much of an answer for her.
"I don't know. I just feel protective of you. I guess it's because you're really all alone here. You don't know anyone outside of my daughter and her family. Yet you're handling all of this quite well, better than I thought you would. Alexander didn't think you'd do well, either."
Charlotte looked out at the traffic. Joshua was pulling onto an off-ramp. Kelsey's house was only a few blocks away, and they would soon be home. Charlotte was relieved in a way. Although this had been a rather exciting day, it had also been exhausting.
"I like to prove people wrong," Charlotte said.
Joshua laughed loudly. "That doesn't surprise me, Charlotte. Not at all."
"Mr. Madison--"
"For heaven's sake, Charlotte, you can call me Joshua. It's my name."
"I know that. It isn't proper to call a man I barely know and are no relation to by his first name."
"Did you call your husband by his first name?"
"You take an unusual interest in Mr. Collins."
"He is the man I have to...well, perhaps not overcome, as he doesn't sound like much of a romantic, but he is the man you were married to. The man you had children with."
"Does this mean I have to overcome your first wife? Unlike myself, she is yet living."
"Don't worry about Laura. She's living, but she's also completely out of my life."
"You still loved her."
Joshua smiled. "You take an unusual interest in Laura."
"I suppose it is only natural to want to know more about the woman who was the great love of your life."
"I never called her the great love of my life. I merely said she was the only woman I'd ever loved. I also fell out of love with her, which hardly makes her the great love of my life."
"What do you consider great love?"
"Someone who...someone who understands you. Someone who doesn't pull the rug out from under you by calling you half a man because you can't father children. Someone who would say to the news, 'That's okay, darling. We can adopt.'" He pulled into Kelsey's driveway.
"Someone who does not blame you because you could not have a son," Charlotte breathed softly.
"Your husband blamed you because you only had daughters?"
Charlotte nodded. "And it did not help that Lady Catherine was standing over his shoulder, saying that I should do certain things if I wanted to have one. Not that she was all that successful when she had her child. Still, Mr. Collins felt that I was the one who was doing everything in my power to prevent him from having what he wanted in life."
"That's nonsense."
"Perhaps it is not. Perhaps he is right, that--"
"Charlotte...biologically, genetically, it is impossible for that to be your fault. Believe me."
"How can you know that? You do not know me at all."
"I know that because women only have X chromosomes."
"What?"
"Was Mendel before your time? I don't really remember when he did his research into genetics, and I doubt that your husband would've let you read about that sort of thing. You see..." Joshua hadn't taken any sort of science class in about forty years, but he had to remember all he could to reassure this woman that her husband had been wrong in saying it was her fault they hadn't had a son.
"It's complicated, and my science is extremely rusty. Maddie could explain it far better than I could. She works in the scientific field, you see. But...women only have X chromosomes, and that's all they can pass on to a baby. Men have both X and Y chromosomes, and therefore, when a baby is created, it's the man's chromosome which determines the sex of the child. If the baby gets the other X, it becomes a girl. If it gets the Y, it's a boy. Is this making any sort of sense?"
Charlotte smiled. "Sort of."
"You really should talk to Maddie. You'd probably feel more comfortable talking to her, and I know she'd explain this ten times better than I could. The only thing you'd have to watch out for is that she'd probably get too technical."
"Basically, what you are saying is that it's my husband's fault?"
"I don't think anyone is really to blame. You get what you get, and it's God's will. I'm just saying that if he said you deliberately set out not to have a son, he's wrong. You had no control, literal or biological, over it."
Charlotte felt something lift from her shoulders. Had she really felt guilt all those years? Had she really thought that Mr. Collins had been right, that if she had tried harder, she would've had a son?
"Thank you," she said.
Joshua leaned closer to her again. She recalled that he had done this once before, in the restaurant. Before, they had been stopped by Madeline.
This time, nothing stopped him. His lips gently brushed against hers. Charlotte felt electrified. How different this kiss was from all the ones she had endured from her husband in the years they had been trying to have a son. How wonderful it felt after twenty years in which no man had kissed her.
Charlotte wanted to melt in his arms, wanting to feel everything she'd missed out on. Everything her daughters knew. Every single emotion she saw in their eyes when they looked at their husbands. She wanted to know what it was like to float to the breakfast table in the morning after a night of...
Dear God! Charlotte realized for perhaps the first time in her life just how much she'd missed, and the pain in her heart and yearning in her soul to want more of this man overwhelmed her. She pulled him closer to her, relishing the feel of his arms and his skin and...
There was a tapping on the window which barely registered at first. Slowly, as the tapping continued, Joshua pulled away from Charlotte and looked out. Through the fogged-up window, he saw Alexander, who was looking far too amused for his own good.
"We have a guest bedroom," he called. "And you have an apartment. Normally I would not have stopped you, Joshua, but Emma is due home at any time and I do not believe you would like to have her see you."
Charlotte blushed furious and tried to get out of the car as fast as possible. The longing was gone in the face of deep humiliation.
Joshua stared at her as she fumbled with the door. She managed to get it open and stepped out of the car. He sat back in his seat, thinking of what had just happened. Alexander, sensing that he needed a moment alone, led Charlotte into the house, telling her that she looked lovely.
How long had it been since that had happened? How long, he wondered, since a woman had aroused him in such a way? Joshua sat immobile and stunned. How long had it been since he'd felt that a woman's response was honest and open? How long had it been since...since anything?
And what was it about Charlotte Collins that caused this reaction? What had changed the moment he'd kissed her? He'd thought she was about to push him away when suddenly she'd been clinging to him as though he were a lifeline. Joshua wondered if maybe, just maybe, she hadn't come just to find a bit of romance.
Maybe she'd come to find him.
Talk about an ego. That's ridiculous. Just because you're attracted to the woman and just moments ago, the two of you were all over each other like a pair of teenagers doesn't mean she's here for you. You're supposed to be helping her, remember?
That was exactly what he was going to do. He suspected that she needed romance, not passion. And that was what she was going to get from him. He wasn't going to try to take anything for himself, it would all be for her.
Joshua smiled. He was going to give Charlotte everything she wanted and more. But if he was going to do this, he was going to have to do it right. Which meant he needed to get planning now.
December 21
Charlotte could never remember being so terrified in all her life, except for the day when she had awakened to find her daughter missing, kidnapped by Miss Anne de Bourgh. For an entire day, she had feared that Joshua had been repulsed by her responding to his kiss. What other reason could there be for the fact that he had asked Kelsey to bring the twins to Madeline's to watch them? What other reason could there be for his ignoring her all day yesterday? The maze had not opened, no matter how much wishing she did to for it to open so she could go home.
Charlotte had spent the entire day with Kelsey, talking about the children and Alexander and anything other than Joshua Madison. Kelsey had mentioned him only once, and Charlotte had quickly changed the subject. Alexander had apparently not told his wife what he had seen, which was her only spot of relief in the entire day.
She would probably not been as relieved if she had known that Alexander had indeed told Kelsey about what he'd seen in the car. Although Kelsey had been cheered by the fact that her father, who had spent the better part of the years since his divorce avoiding matchmakers, was finally venturing out, she was concerned that his journey might end in heartbreak, as hers nearly did.
"There's nothing she needs here," Kelsey told Alexander. "It's not like when you came and you had to find a cure for your mother's illness. Charlotte's appearance here is unexplainable."
"And you're afraid that your father will fall in love with her and she'll have to leave."
"There's nothing saying that Charlotte has to leave if the maze opens again, but you know as well as I do that she'll choose returning to her family over my father any day."
"Perhaps your father could return with her?"
"Not likely. If you'll remember, my father went back with us once and didn't really like the life. I can't see him agreeing to it."
"You know, we could both be reading far too much into this situation. Your father has known Mrs. Collins all of two days. The fact that they were kissing--"
"How many days had we known each other before we nearly ended up in bed together?"
"That was different--"
"Why? Because we're young and they aren't?"
Alexander hesitated. "I suppose that's part of it. Perhaps my preconceived notions of my parents' generation causes me to think that passion...is something..."
A year and half in this world, and he was still able to blush. Kelsey smiled. "I know. Every child thinks that their parents should be above that sort of thing. Maddie and I used to joke that our parents had only been together once in their lives, and we were the result. It was nonsense, of course, but that's what every child likes to think."
"So you have no problem with the fact that he was with Charlotte?"
"As long as I don't have to think about it much, I have no problem with the idea of his being physically attracted to Charlotte. I have no problem with the thought that he might fall in love and marry her."
"You don't think you're taking one kiss too far? How did that song go? 'A kiss is just a kiss.'"
Kelsey made a face. "Casablanca aside, it's a rare thing when a kiss is just a kiss."
"I think perhaps you should not bring the subject up to Charlotte," he said. "She seemed extremely embarrassed when she left the car and hardly met my eyes all evening, poor woman."
"I won't say a word."
So Kelsey had remained silent through the following day.
Charlotte's third morning in the present day dawned. Charlotte was, as ever, the first to be awakened, followed by one or other of the twins, then Kelsey. Emma soon followed, and Alexander was last.
Kelsey was fixing pancakes--something she managed to make rather well--when the knock came on the back door. "Good morning, Kelsey!"
Charlotte's heart nearly lodged in her throat. The voice which had haunted her dreams the past two nights had returned.
Not that it had just been his voice which had haunted her dreams. Charlotte blushed immediately.
"Good morning, Alexander. Emma, come give your Grampa a kiss, because he just bought you a Christmas gift."
"Can I open it now?" Emma asked cheerfully.
The adults--except Charlotte--laughed. Joshua told Emma that she'd have to wait a few days.
"So what's new, Dad?" Kelsey asked. He sat at the table and accepted a plate of pancakes.
Charlotte just stared at him. He hadn't said hello to her, further proof that he found her disgusting for that display in his automobile. She looked down at her plate.
Joshua had been about to dig into his breakfast when he looked at Charlotte. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Good morning, Charlotte."
Charlotte looked into his gray eyes. She saw no repulsion there. "Good morning, Mr.--Joshua," she corrected.
"Nothing is new," he replied. "Have you heard from your mother?"
"Yes. She told me that she met the two of you the other day." And Kelsey's ears were still ringing from the insults, most of which she wasn't about to repeat. It hadn't been Charlotte's fault that Joshua hadn't thought to take her shopping before taking her out to eat and she looked dowdy. Indeed, Kelsey had barely recognized Charlotte when she'd returned from the trip, she'd underwent such a transformation. And all of it for the better. "The bad news is, she's decided that she's going to be here for lunch at Christmas. And she's dragging Carl with her."
Kelsey's opinion of her mother's beau was no secret. The man was human Krazy-Glue, impossible to get rid of and totally devoted to her mother. Kelsey had wondered why Laura hadn't married him, until she had realized that she would lose her alimony checks if she did.
"Great," Joshua muttered. He'd been hoping that Laura wouldn't be coming to Christmas dinner, like she'd planned. The last thing he needed was something spoiling the meal for him. "I don't suppose we could sneak off to Pemberley, could we?"
Charlotte said, "I fervently wish we could."
Joshua sighed. So she was still hoping she would get to go home. She still didn't really believe that he was right when he said that she needed romance in her life.
Well, perhaps today he could change all that. He had the entire day planned--if she would go along with it.
"Charlotte, how would you like to take a tour of the city with me today?"
Charlotte frowned. What was his plan for her? "Did we not see enough of it the other day?" she asked.
"St. Louis may not be as big as New York or L.A., or even Chicago for that matter, but there's a good deal more to it than a shopping mall, an Italian restaurant, and the doctor's office. You don't need me today, do you Kelsey?"
"No," his daughter replied with a smile. "We'll be just fine without you."
Charlotte wondered about his plans. There seemed to be something more in his eyes than he was letting on, and she sighed. Well, at least he did not seem to be upset with her over the other day.
"All right," she said.
Joshua smiled. "Great. We'll leave as soon as you're ready."
Joshua took Charlotte through an abbreviated tour of the city during the morning. He wasn't overly fond of museums. He hated heights, so he only pointed out the Gateway Arch in passing. He wished that it were summer so that he could take her on a trip through the St. Louis Zoo. He had a feeling that she was the type who would enjoy that. Joshua did his best to avoid tourist traps, although he knew at some point--in the distant future, he hoped--he would have to take her there. He stopped in at Union Station so she could get an idea of what the place was like. Charlotte, who had become accustomed to large throngs of people and a number of different stores all in one place, was not nearly as impressed as she had been before. They sat and watched the workers at the Fudgery as they made fudge and entertained the crowd of people. Charlotte nearly swooned at the taste of the chocolate, so Joshua bought her some of it.
When they left Union Station, he led her through an extended look through Forest Park, telling her everything he knew about the great fair that had been held there many years earlier. "If it were warmer, we'd have a picnic here," he said. "Instead, we have to find someplace warmer."
"Picnic?" Charlotte repeated.
"Yeah. I've got the picnic blanket and food waiting for us. Now I just have to get to the place where we'll be having this picnic."
"A picnic?" she said again.
"Yeah!" he said with a smile. "Haven't you ever been on one?"
"No."
Why this surprised him, Joshua couldn't say. For certain, her husband had never taken her on one. Picnics could be rather romantic. He intended to make sure this one was.
"You're in luck, then, Mrs. Collins, because today you're going on your very first picnic. I hope you don't mind that it will be indoors."
Charlotte smiled. "I think that would be all right."
Joshua weaved through traffic until he found the street he was looking for. Actually, it was a rather familiar street to him--it was the one he lived on. He hoped Charlotte wouldn't ask where they were going, because he got the feeling that she would think something else was going on if he told her they were going back to his place.
He pulled into his designated parking spot and stopped the car. Charlotte looked up at the building. It reminded her more of home than anything else had thus far. "Is this a person's home?" she asked.
"It's actually the home to a number of people," he said cryptically.
He couldn't fool her. "Including yourself?"
He sighed. "Yes. It's an apartment complex, one of the best in the city. I'm sorry I didn't mention that we would be going here earlier, but I thought--"
"It is all right."
"You mean...you mean that you're okay with coming into my apartment with me alone?"
Charlotte grinned. "I somehow doubt that you intend to do anything dishonorable, Mr.--Joshua."
Joshua grinned as well. "Mr. Joshua. Well, it's a start. I might have you calling me just Joshua by the end of the day."
Joshua escorted her up to his apartment, which was luxurious beyond what Charlotte was expecting. It was tastefully decorated, yet it looked as though someone lived there. Charlotte recalled Rosings, where her daughter Caroline lived. Before Caroline and George had taken possession, it had resembled a mausoleum. Now, of course, it was lovely. It reminded her of this place.
The thought gave her a sharp pang, thinking of home. She missed her children. She missed her world.
But oddly enough, when she thought of the world in which she now found herself, she thought that she wouldn't want to return to any of it without the man who was spreading a blanket on the floor.
"This is a lovely place," she said quietly.
"Thank you. It took me a few years to get everything the way I wanted it."
"It makes for quite a contrast from your daughter's house."
Joshua smoothed out the wrinkles in the blanket. "Yeah, well, with an active child like Emma, a clean house is a fantasy. And Kelsey's got the twins about to begin toddling soon, so things will only get worse."
"I did not mean to criticize your daughter's housekeeper--"
"Kelsey does her own housecleaning, although I think she does hire someone to clean once a week or so."
"She does?"
Joshua motioned for her to sit on the blanket. When they were sitting across from each other, he began to take things out of the basket that had been sitting on a small table.
"Yeah. Kelsey's thought about hiring a nanny, but there's really no point. She's home all the time, and so is Alexander. If they ever need time alone, I take over. Occasionally Kelsey has to ask Laura, but those times are few and far between."
Charlotte shook her head in confusion. "I do not think I shall ever become accustomed to how your world works."
"Stick around for a while. You'll figure them out quick enough. Would you like a sandwich?"
Charlotte took the offered treat. It looked to have a meat of some kind, along with cheese.
"I didn't know what you'd like, so I took a chance that you'd like ham and cheese." He opened a bag of nacho-cheese Doritos and offered her a few. Charlotte hesitantly took a single chip out of the bag and tried it.
"Mmm," she said as she swallowed. "This is terrific. Who made this?"
"Uh...I think Frito Lay makes these things."
"Who is Frito Lay?"
"A food company. Now, I could bore you by trying to explain what I can't explain or we could talk about far more interesting topics."
Charlotte had just taken a bite of the sandwich, which was quite good. She nearly choked on it before finally swallowing. She was certain he was about to bring up her scandalous behavior of the other afternoon.
"I think we have talked a great deal about everything," she said softly.
"Not really. For instance...well, I guess we could talk about what sort of music you like to listen to, but you haven't been exposed to the music I love. We could talk about movies, but you've probably never seen one. Same goes for television, computers, books, games...maybe you're right. Maybe we've talked about everything we could possibly talk about. So perhaps you could tell me about what a typical day is like in your time."
Charlotte took another Dorito and ate it, thinking. "You mean, what do I do with my time? I have to tell you, since my children are grown and my husband has passed away, I do very little outside of needlework and reading."
"What did you used to do when your children were younger?"
"There were so many things I did. Mr. Collins thought that he was the person everyone listened to at Longbourn, but the reality was that everyone in the place knew him to be a grand fool. I was the one they turned to when something needed to be straightened out. I took care of things at Longbourn, and let him take all the credit."
"Like you did before he inherited the place."
"Yes." Charlotte ate her sandwich as she told him about her days. "There were so many things which had to be done. Mr. Collins had to be placated, the children had to be taken care of. Things had to be watched over so that Longbourn could stay afloat. I found myself retreating to the library more and more, trying to cut myself off from the rest of the world. It was my sanctuary." She swallowed the last bite and asked, "What are your days like?"
"Before I retired, they were pretty much the same. I worked, much like you did. I tried to get away from things when I could. After I retired, I was able to spend more time with my daughters and grandchildren. I took up golfing again. I get to follow the Cardinals a lot closer than I used to be able to."
"The Cardinals?" Charlotte seemed to recall that he'd mentioned them before.
"Yes, the baseball team. Remember our quick rush past the baseball stadium?"
"Oh, yes. For a moment, I thought you were a birdwatcher."
"I have time to reflect on the things I did wrong," he said quietly. "I wonder what might've been. Do you ever do that?"
"Sometimes. I find it's better not to think about the other alternatives, because you can never have them. I thought, upon occasion, of what my life would have been like if I had not married Mr. Collins. Then I think of everything I gained--a husband, respectability, a family, a home."
"You also gained a lot of heartache and frustration."
Charlotte looked at him. He was staring at her with that look in his eyes again. He'd gotten it just before he'd kissed her the last time she'd seen it.
She was quivering just thinking about it.
"I did," she said. "But you never get something in life without paying a price for it. No matter how much a suffered at Mr. Collins' hands, it was worth it just to think of the days when my daughters were born."
"Suffered at his hands? Does that mean that he beat you?" For the first time, Joshua's dislike of the man bordered on hatred. Just the thought of anyone putting his hands on this wonderful, delicate woman in an abusive manner--
"No," she said, aghast. "He never hurt me physically. My husband was a fool, and I suffered him all those years. My friend Lizzy said that I was marrying one of the stupidest men in England, and she was right. But I went into it with my eyes open."
He had to take several breaths just to calm down.
"I wish things could be different," he said once he had. "I wish that we had met, in either your time or mine, and that you wouldn't have had to marry that man and I wouldn't have married Laura."
"I think you would have married her if we had met," Charlotte told him. "I have not her looks. I can well picture what she looked like thirty years ago. And anyway, things have worked out the way they have and cannot be changed. You belong to your world, and I to mine. I must one day return, and you shall remain here."
Joshua sighed. "You're right. I don't know why you're here, but you'll eventually go home. It's pointless for me to wish that you wouldn't."
"You don't want me to leave?"
He looked at her. "No," he said.
"Why?"
"I don't know. I can't explain it. It's just that I think of you and I think about how much of our lives we've each wasted with other people. I think that perhaps..." Wait! You weren't going to tell her this! "Never mind."
"What? Please, tell me what you were going to say."
"I think perhaps...you came here to me. To find me, to be with me. You asked for romance in your life before going through the maze, and...and I'm probably crazy. In fact, I'm certain I'm crazy, because it's impossible to fall in love with someone in three days otherwise."
Charlotte stared at him, stunned by what he'd said. "You...you are in love with me? You barely know me."
"I know. But we've talked so much that I feel like I've known you all my life."
Charlotte thought back to the day Mr. Collins had proposed to her. How unromantic it had been. How little she had known him. She'd heard only what Lizzy had had to say about him, and then the few days she'd had between his two proposals had given her great insights into the man. She'd known everything she would ever know about him, all there was to know about him, all she cared to know. She hadn't loved him. He hadn't loved her, and yet he was willing to propose marriage after a few days' acquaintance.
And now, here was Joshua Madison, saying that maybe he was crazy but he was falling in love with her.
Yet he'd been married before. He'd chosen another woman before her.
He didn't even know you existed, Charlotte. How could he choose someone over you when you weren't there?
He was saying that he would choose her if there had been a choice involved.
Charlotte thought about their talks. They had spent all of one day talking, and then had come the incident in the car, and then he had ignored her for an entire day.
"Why did you not come to visit yesterday?" she asked.
He sighed. "Partially because I was scared. I needed a little time away from you, because I've never been this impulsive in my life. I thought that maybe things were going too fast, for both of us. I thought that maybe a day away from you would allow me to put things in perspective, because I was scared that you would become frightened and pull away from me. This morning, when I saw you...everything came flooding back and I knew...I knew that I was falling in love with you."
Charlotte shook her head. "This cannot be happening."
"I know. Alexander told me you were a sensible woman, and you've said yourself that you weren't a romantic, but deep down you were. Charlotte, you gave up so much. You sacrificed your self-respect to marry a man who was so far beneath you. You sacrificed the better part of your life to your children. They're grown. Your husband is gone. Shouldn't this time be for yourself?"
"I...I..." Charlotte wanted to say that she was content with her lot in life, but she knew she wasn't. It was what she'd been thinking at the entrance to the maze.
"I know you're not in love with me," he said. "I don't expect you to be. I just want you to give me a chance."
"Is that a proposal?" she asked softly.
"No...unless you want it to be. If you want to get married, we'll get married. If you want to live together, we can do that."
"Without being married?" Charlotte was horrified.
"Okay. Bad idea. Sorry, I keep forgetting you're not a modern woman."
"Was that a compliment?"
"Absolutely." He took her face in his hands and looked at her with such tenderness that she nearly started crying. "Right now, you're in the driver's seat. I don't want you to regret anything."
He leaned in. Charlotte accepted his kiss, and again felt the longing deep inside of her. She clutched at him, feeling as though he were the only one who could save her from drowning. She knew his words to be true because she'd felt the same way. Somewhere, inside, they were connected. His wish that they could've met long ago was her wish as well.
And her desire for him was matched only by his for her.
The rest of the picnic, and the rest of Joshua's well-planned afternoon, were forgotten.
December 22
Charlotte awakened later than usual that morning, but in the place she awakened there were no infant children, no Emma, no Kelsey and Alexander.
Instead, there was Joshua. He was more than enough for her.
Charlotte thought she should feel some sort of shame for what she'd done the previous afternoon...and that night. Yet she found that she felt very little but satisfaction. She would've stretched out and acted almost like a contented cat, except that her head was resting on Joshua's chest and she didn't wish to wake him.
Somewhere, last night, she'd lain awake and thought about a lot of things. Mostly what Joshua had said to her, in fact. He was right. She'd sacrificed a great deal to marry her husband and raise her children. She wouldn't do it differently, but she could see where it had happened. She could see that in her heart, she'd been a romantic who had wanted to be loved as Lizzy had been loved. That she'd been sensible enough to overrule her heart had been to her discredit. Lizzy had known that then, but it had taken Charlotte over thirty years to reach the same conclusion.
Charlotte thought of all the years of toadying she'd done to appease Lady Catherine and Anne de Bourgh for her husband's sake. She thought of all the credit Mr. Collins took for everything she, Charlotte, had done. She thought of how he hadn't even listened to her pleas when he'd tried to force Beth to marry Mr. Hollis, and the muddle with dear Edward, Victoria, George, and Caroline. He'd been downright tyrannical when he'd shouted at her, ordered her to set things the way he wanted them to be, not even bothering to see what was under his nose. He never took anyone's feelings into consideration. And even though things had changed a bit in the last years of his life, he was still what he always had been--an insensitive lout.
Unlike Joshua. Joshua, who admitted he had done a great wrong to his children in staying with his wife but did his best to make up for it now. Joshua, who could make her laugh and blush and feel alive. He made her feel like a real woman. He'd given her the greatest present in the world. He'd made her feel loved.
Yesterday, he had told her that he wanted her to have no regrets over anything she might do in the future. Charlotte had feared, in those first few moments in the living room, that she might regret what she'd been about to do, but no more. How could something as beautiful as what had happened last night be wrong? She regretted nothing.
Still, she had to wonder where they went from this moment. There was little doubt in her mind that they would be married. She couldn't bear the thought of not being this man's wife and not being able to share in his life, however long that might be. The matter of them being together wasn't what was now bothering her.
It was where they would stay. The almost magical maze which had brought her here would likely open again for her to return home. She had not talked yet to Joshua about whether or not he would be willing to return with her. She did not know whether or not she would be able to ask him to make such a sacrifice. After all, in his eyes, her world must seem extremely backwards to him. There had been so many strides forward in a hundred and fifty or so years that he would flounder in her world.
Yet would she not flounder in his? She could never become accustomed to this life as Alexander had. Charlotte remembered the time when Elizabeth had gone to stay with the Darcy family. When Beth had returned, she talked about how fascinated Alexander seemed to be with America. Charlotte recalled that he had even once tried to hire on as a cabin boy on a ship bound for there, his mistake being that he tried on one of his father's ships. Charlotte remembered when Alexander had first met Beth's husband, Anthony Ashton. Alexander had bombarded the poor man with questions about America, St. Louis in particular. Charlotte wondered if even then he had had a sense that he would one day see the place, even if he could not have imagined the state it would be in when he finally arrived.
Charlotte had had no such inkling that such a world awaited her. She had never once dreamed about America, or Joshua Madison. She had never thought that life would take her so far beyond England that it made her dizzy.
And she certainly had never imagined she would find someone as wonderful as Joshua. She could live in his world. She did not know how well she would adjust, but it would be much simpler if she did live here. She would have Joshua, and that was all that mattered.
What about your children? Can you just leave them behind?
Charlotte's heart clutched in fear. They had no way of knowing where she was. She had no way of ever seeing them again. She couldn't stay here! She had to convince Joshua to come live with her!
But how could she ask him to leave his children? How would he ever see them again?
The pattern of Joshua's breathing changed, and Charlotte realized that he was starting to wake up. She lifted her head from his chest and looked at his face. His grey eyes opened slowly, blinked several times, then opened completely.
"Good morning," he murmured.
"Good morning," she replied.
He looked into her eyes, wondering what was troubling her. It was a bit disappointing, because he'd been hoping she wouldn't start regretting what they'd done.
"Something's wrong," Joshua said. "What is it?"
Charlotte's eyes widened. Never once in their marriage had Mr. Collins ever taken the time to notice if something was bothering her, much less to ask what it might be.
Joshua is a different man. You can tell him without fear that he will ignore you.
"I was just thinking," she said quietly.
"Charlotte, before you say anything, I want you to know that I have never--"
"I regret nothing. If you think that is my problem, please be assured that it is nothing of the kind. Last night was the best night of my life, and I thank you for it."
"Why do I get the feeling you're about to drop a bombshell on me?"
"I have been thinking about what happens now."
Joshua smiled. "If you'd like, we get married and live happily ever after. I hope that's what you were thinking, although I must warn you that my ex-wife is likely to be spitting nails when she finds out."
"A daunting prospect. It was not merely our marriage that I thought of. It was where we were going to live."
Joshua stilled. He knew what she meant. It wasn't a matter of which house to live in this time, as it had been when he'd married Laura. Which world. Did they return to her world, where he wouldn't fit in, didn't have any money, and didn't particularly like? Or did they stay here, where she wouldn't fit in, wasn't sure that she liked, and would be away from the children she clearly didn't see enough of anyway?
"I guess that's something we're going to have to decide soon," he said. "And before we get married. It would be easy enough to get you some false identification to live here. I did it for Alexander, and I'm sure the person I contacted before would be more than willing to do it again. Then again...I don't think I will use that person. He's the son of a...sorry. But he sold out my daughter and her husband to John Chandler, and I'll never forgive him for that. It shouldn't be hard, though, to find someone else to do it. But there's more to this than just getting you an identity here."
"Yes," she said.
Before Joshua could continue, the telephone rang. Charlotte nearly screeched in fear, but she remembered what Alexander had told her about it and calmed down.
"Hello," Joshua said.
"Dad? Is Charlotte there with you?" It was Kelsey, and she sounded panicked.
"Yes," Joshua replied. "We've been here all night."
"You could've called to tell us that you were going to be gone," Kelsey snapped. "Do you have any idea how scared Alexander and I were? I figured you'd at least bring her home after your fun yesterday."
"We got tired, and since we were already here at my place, I thought it would be easier if Charlotte just stayed here. I'm sorry that I didn't think to call and let you know, but like I said, we were tired."
Charlotte blushed furiously. Even though Joshua had intentionally kept it ambiguous, the correct interpretation could be found.
"Kelsey, is the maze open?" he asked.
"No. Why, did you think it would be?"
Joshua looked at Charlotte, shaking his head at her so she'd know it hadn't opened. "I was just wondering. I know Charlotte's pretty anxious to see her daughter."
"I don't think she's going to get to go home unless we find out what's brought her here," Kelsey said.
"Yeah. Look, we're going to go to breakfast and then I'll bring her home, okay?"
"All right."
Joshua hung up the phone and turned back to Charlotte. "The maze opens a bit more than it did at first," he said. "It allows Kelsey and Alexander to visit his parents regularly on birthdays and special holidays. I went there when it opened for Easter this year. Emma had a devil of a time explaining to everyone about the Easter Bunny and egg-hiding contests, but I think it went fairly well. I don't think it would work for me. The Darcys had a few family friends there who asked me what I did for a living. When I told them I used to be a lawyer they looked down on me. No one said it in so many words, but I could see their opinion change of me."
"I know," Charlotte said. "I have thought of this. You clearly command more respect in your world for what you do."
"Not much. You should hear the lawyer jokes I've heard over the years." He sighed. "At the same time, you have been here all of four days. You're not accustomed to this place. You may never be. How could I force you to live here?"
"How could I force you to go back to my time?" Charlotte lay her head on the pillow. He turned over and put his arm around her.
"I don't think you'd have to. Is the main problem you have with staying here your children?"
Charlotte looked at him. "How did you--"
"You're a strong woman, Charlotte Collins. You could become accustomed to my world with a lot of ease if you tried, and I think you'd be willing to try. But you're afraid that you'll never see your children again if you do."
"They don't live at Pemberley," Charlotte said. "If the maze had come from Longbourn, I would not have such fear."
"Then the solution is simple. It might be inconvenient for all concerned, but it would probably work out for the best. We stay in this time."
"But--"
"Charlotte, you came here for a reason. God, for whatever purposes he had in mind, brought you here and gave me to you. I think I'm your Christmas present."
Charlotte burst into laughter. "You're the present? And here I thought I was a present to you."
"Okay, we're presents to each other. But we can't go against what God has laid out for us. We're here together. So what we do is we get through to the maze at some point and tell the Darcys to arrange for your children to join them on special occasions. The ones the maze opened for in the last year were Alexander's birthday, Christmas, Emma's birthday, Mrs. Darcy's birthday, Easter, and the twins' birth. I went through that time to let the Darcys know that Josh and Jane were born, then I had to return."
"It sounds feasible."
"It is. Plus, how often did you get to see your daughters after they married?"
"Not often. With the twins in America, it was difficult. Plus, my husband's animosity toward Beth prevented me from seeing her or Julia until after he died. I was staying with Edward and Victoria until I left for America. I saw Caroline and Sir George a couple times a year."
"Then things won't change much. You'll get to see them about as often as you did before, and we get to stay here. What do you think?"
Charlotte looked at him. His eyes were so full of hope, and she could see that it was a usable plan. It could work. She just wished she could see Victoria now.
Still, she could not complain. She had a feeling that if her daughters knew why she was here that they would approve. Well, perhaps not completely, but they would be happy that she had found love at last.
"Please, Charlotte. I can't live the rest of my life without you, knowing that we could've been together but weren't because we couldn't come to an understanding about this."
Charlotte lowered his face to hers and kissed him. "I think it could work," she said. "And I certainly don't wish to be without you."
Joshua kissed her again. "I love you, Charlotte."
Charlotte felt tears form in her eyes. No man had ever said those words to her, not even Mr. Collins. "I love you as well."
December 25 (Conclusion)
Joshua and Charlotte headed for Kelsey's house. They had been married secretly the day before and would be announcing the fact today. Joshua remembered that his ex-wife was going to be there, but decided that it would be best to get all unpleasantness over with as soon as possible.
He and Charlotte had spent their wedding afternoon returning to the malls to pick out a complete wardrobe for her. Joshua remembered why he hated shopping during Christmas when it took him nearly an hour to find a parking spot, then he had to fight bodies crammed everywhere in the mall. Charlotte took it all in stride. She got to experience her first Big Mac and Dr. Pepper, which she adored.
Joshua again didn't go into the clothing stores with Charlotte, allowing her to choose everything she wanted without having to worry about his approval. Charlotte feared spending too much, but after the third store Joshua led her to, she stopped worrying.
While Charlotte was having her first manicure, Joshua disappeared to a jewelry store to buy a Christmas gift for her. It took him only five minutes to find what he was looking for in a diamond locket with the word "Forever" engraved on the back. He returned to the nail salon just as Charlotte was paying for her manicure.
"That was most unusual," Charlotte said, "but the person who did my nails said I had lovely hands. She wanted to...to replace my fingernails."
Joshua smiled. "No, she wanted to give you fake fingernails, something longer than what you already have. I take it you said no."
"Why would anyone want to do something like that?"
"You'd be surprised."
After the shopping trip, they spent the evening back at Joshua's apartment. Joshua had rented two of his favorite movies, Casablanca and Forrest Gump. Charlotte marveled at how everything worked, but unlike her new stepson-in-law, she was content merely to enjoy the movies. She cried at Casablanca and declared that she was crazy about Forrest Gump. Charlotte asked Joshua if he could rent a few more movies, but he had far more pleasant things in mind and she quickly forgot about movies altogether.
Which brought them to Christmas morning. Charlotte clenched her hands together, nervous about how Madeline and Kelsey would react to the news.
"Don't worry about this," he said. "I'm sure everything's going to be just fine."
"I hope so," she replied. "I would hate to think that...that they would not like me."
He pulled into Kelsey's driveway, breathing a sigh of relief that Laura's car wasn't there yet. Maddie's was.
They entered the house, Joshua calling, "Hello!"
Kelsey walked into the room, looking furious and wearing a slightly soggy apron. "You know, you could've called if you and Charlotte were going to be gone for an entire day again," Kelsey said. "Did you take your phone off the hook?"
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because we didn't want to be disturbed. We were watching movies."
Kelsey sighed, looked doubtful, and said, "Well, if you hadn't done that, I could've called to tell you that the maze opened yesterday around noon."
Charlotte nearly gasped. That had been the time they'd gotten married.
"More than that...someone came through it. You daughter Victoria is here--"
Kelsey didn't get to finish her sentence, for Charlotte ran toward her daughter. She threw open the door of Kelsey's guest room and saw Victoria lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.
"Victoria," Charlotte breathed, taking in the sight of her daughter after such a long absence.
Victoria turned to look at her. "Mama?" she whispered. She leaped up from the bed and ran into her mother's arms. "Thank God you're alive! We were so afraid that maybe this wasn't where you'd come."
"You--you mean you knew about that maze?"
"Yes. I've been through it once, when Alexander got married. I was afraid to tell anybody anything because Mr. Darcy felt no one would really believe it. When you weren't there when I got to Pemberley, I was so terrified that you had died. Mr. Darcy told me that you had likely gone through the maze and had, for whatever, come here."
So the Darcys had suspected what had happened to her. Charlotte was relieved to know that they hadn't been worried overmuch, but wished they'd warned Victoria about what she would find.
"Can we go back to Pemberley now?" Victoria asked.
Charlotte looked up at Joshua, who had arrived at the door moments after she had. He nodded his head slowly, as though to let her know that the maze was still open.
"You can if you'd like. But I'm staying here," Charlotte said.
Victoria looked at her mother for the first time. "Mama, you cut your hair!" she exclaimed.
"Do you like it?"
"It looks nice. Your outfit, though..."
"This is what everyone here wears. Were I to dress as we do, I would be out of place."
"Not to mention that you wouldn't fit through many doors," Joshua added.
Charlotte turned and frowned at him. "Don't muddle things," she said.
"Why are you staying here?" Victoria asked.
"Because I've gotten married."
There was a gasp from the doorway, where Kelsey had been listening beside her father. "When did this happen?" she asked.
"Yesterday," Joshua said with a sigh. "I was hoping I could announce it to everyone at once, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen."
"Announce what?" Maddie asked as she came to see what the fuss was about and caught the last few words.
"Dad and Charlotte got married yesterday," Kelsey said.
Maddie didn't say anything for a long minute. Finally, she turned and walked back to the kitchen. Joshua felt a small stab of hurt in his heart, but knew that Maddie was her mother's child and would take some adjusting.
"You married him? How did you know him?" Victoria asked.
"We met...and fell in love and got married. It finally happened to me."
Victoria looked at Joshua, then smiled. "That's wonderful, Mama. I know that the twins will be thrilled to hear about this."
"Yes...but Victoria, I shall not be returning home with you. I plan to stay here with Joshua."
"I understand," Victoria said. "You must stay with your husband. I know no one else would fault you. I just wish I could have been there to see you married."
"So do I," Kelsey muttered to her father. "You could've told us, you know."
"We wanted it to be a surprise. Shouldn't you be in the kitchen helping your sister?" Joshua asked.
"Maddie, as you know, is more than--" Kelsey picked up the hint. Maddie was going to need someone to talk to, and Joshua wasn't that person. Kelsey headed back for the warm kitchen, where her sister was sitting at the small kitchen table and looking unhappy.
"You knew he was never going to get back together with Mom," Kelsey said quietly. "There was too much bad blood between them after they divorced."
"I know that in my mind. The chances of that happening were so slim, but that was my hope, Kelsey. I wanted us to be a family again."
"I didn't." Kelsey said this calmly and firmly. "I didn't want to have to continue to live through Mom's preferential treatment of you. Maybe that's the good you remember about when we were a family, but I have nothing but bad memories."
"I know how you feel about that," Maddie said. "And she was wrong. But she loves us both, and she still loves Dad. Can't you see that?"
"No, I can't. She doesn't love Dad. She's resentful that he's got money he now won't be giving to her. She'll be resentful that he remarried when she can't marry Carl because she'll lose her alimony checks. She's going to make today even worse than last Christmas."
"I don't think it could get much worse than last Christmas, do you?"
Kelsey sighed. "No, I guess not."
"I just can't believe he married a woman he's known less than a week."
"Who cares about time when your heart's involved? I knew I was in love with Alexander in about as little time. How long did it take you to fall in love with Ben?"
Maddie smiled. "Half a heartbeat. But I wouldn't have married him then."
"So some people are more impulsive about their feelings. You have to respect his decision. He married Charlotte, and I'm happy for him. She's a good woman. She'll make him happy in a way Mom never did. Don't make a scene, okay? Just welcome her into the family and get to know her as I have, when she's been around."
Maddie sighed. "I think I'm dreading today as much as you are."
With many tears, Charlotte bid her daughter good-bye. Victoria returned to Pemberley and the Darcys, promising to write the twins and Caroline to tell them that their mother had found love at last and had married. (Although how she was to explain the rest of it, Victoria had no idea.)
Laura Madison timed her arrival perfectly, for the maze had just faded away when she walked in the door, calling, "Hello, Kelsey! Maddie! I brought something for dinner!"
Charlotte and Joshua were in the children's playroom, watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" again with Emma. Charlotte cringed, but Joshua remained stoic.
There was some talking. Joshua hope the twins weren't telling her--
"WHAT?!" Laura shrieked.
"Oh, God," Joshua murmured. "They told her."
"Better to get it over with, I would imagine," Charlotte said.
"Get what over with?" Emma asked.
"Emma, there's something I'd like to tell you."
"You married Gramma Charlotte."
"I--yes. How did you know?" Joshua asked, startled not only by the child's insight but also by the name she'd called Charlotte.
Emma pointed to the ring finger of his hand, then at Charlotte's. "You have rings just like Mommy and Daddy. Mommy says that you get those when you marry someone."
"Are you okay with that?" Joshua asked.
Emma shrugged, then looked up at him with those pretty grey eyes of hers, the eyes that matched her mother and aunt and grandfather. "Does this mean I get another Christmas present?"
Joshua laughed. "Next year, Emma, you certainly will. But Charlotte didn't have anything to get you this year, so you'll just have to wait."
"You--you--you wretch!" It had taken Laura a few minutes to find her ex-husband, but when he'd laughed at Emma's comment she'd found him fast enough. "How could you marry some witch you've only known a week? I know she can't be pregnant--"
"Laura, would you please refrain from screaming when Emma's in the room? She'll think this family has no manners."
"That's okay, Grampa. I know we have no manners."
Charlotte nearly choked on laughter. "Perhaps we should see if your mother and Aunt Madeline are cooking something we could eat," Charlotte said.
"No, I think you should stay," Laura said coldly.
Charlotte took Emma by the hand, gave Laura a hard look, and walked out of the room.
"Gramma Charlotte, why is she so unhappy with Grampa?" Emma asked as they walked into the kitchen.
"I don't know, sweetie. It's between them."
Joshua waited for Charlotte and Emma to be a safe distance before he said anything. "Laura, despite what you may think, I am allowed to have a life of my own separate from you. We've been divorced for quite some time."
Laura glared at him. "I wouldn't have thought you all that eager to return to marriage since you seemed so eager to leave it with me."
"Don't you think you shared some of the blame for that?"
"What about you? A marriage takes two people to make it work. Where were you all that time when the twins were growing up? Where were you when the police called to tell me our daughter was in jail for running around after curfew? Where were you when Kelsey was getting kicked out of school for--"
"Why did you make Kelsey feel like she was less than her sister? Everything you're telling me, those are things that Kelsey did, right?"
Laura set her jaw and said nothing.
"I'm right. Why did you treat Maddie better than Kelsey? Why do you still do it? Why can't you love both of your daughters equally?"
"I do love them--"
"No. Maddie gets all your praise, Kelsey your censure. That's not equality, Laura, except perhaps somewhere in that twisted mindset of yours. You want to know why I finally wanted the divorce? Because I saw what you'd done to our children and I couldn't bear to see you keep doing it."
"You have a part in all this. Don't make yourself out to be the injured party."
"I know I'm also to blame. Maybe if I'd been around more, Kelsey wouldn't have married John."
Laura said nothing about John. Although she had been his staunchest defender when Kelsey first divorced him, she had come to realize that he had been guilty of trying to kill Alexander, even if he had never been found to stand trial for it.
"I know I didn't help out as much as I should've. But I also know I shouldn't have stayed married to you all those years, because they did so much damage. Maybe if we hadn't been together, I'd have been a better father to the girls. Then again, perhaps not. You probably would've made sure I didn't see them often."
"You're damn right I wouldn't have."
Joshua said nothing. "I suppose it's too much to ask that you be happy for me. I'm happy that you've found Carl and I've never once made a scene over him."
"This doesn't end your obligation to me, you know. You still have to pay--"
"I know." Joshua felt frustrated. The other reason he hadn't hit on for his leaving was the way Laura tried to make him seem stupid. "I'm a lawyer, remember? The only way the alimony checks stop is if you get married, which I think you ought to do. You and Carl have been seeing each other for over a year now. What's holding it up?"
"Of course you'd encourage me to get married again. You don't want to have to keep paying me."
"I don't really care what you do anymore, Laura. We're not married and the children are grown. I just don't want you to wreck this family holiday, considering how badly last year's turned out to be. Can't we have one day when we set everything aside and try to get along for our children and grandchildren's sake?"
Laura turned away from him and walked out of the room. A few minutes later, he heard the front door slam and a car start. She'd given him his answer, but at least she'd had the grace to leave.
Maddie walked into the playroom. "Mom's gone," she said. "She said she couldn't be a part of this today. She said that they would go to Carl's for dinner."
"I figured that that's what she'd done. Maddie--"
"Yes?"
"I know you're not happy with what I've done."
"I'm fine with it. Kelsey and I have been talking."
"Ah." The only person who could've convinced Maddie to give this a chance would be her sister.
"Charlotte seems like a nice woman."
"She's far more than nice. She's wonderful. You'll love her when you get to know her."
Maddie nodded. "Well, I need to get back to the turkey. It's close to being ready and Kelsey will let it sit in there until it turns to charcoal."
Joshua smiled as his daughter left the room. It looked as though this Christmas was going to be a good one after all.
Charlotte looked flustered when Joshua held out the slim jewelry box. "But--but I didn't get you anything," she said. "If I had known you were going to be buying something--"
"It's okay. I've already received my present."
Charlotte opened the box slowly and looked with pleasure upon the gift he'd given her. The diamond twinkled in the light.
"It's beautiful," she said.
"Would you like me to put it on you?"
"Yes."
Joshua moved behind her and put the necklace on. Charlotte noticed the word on the back of the locket.
Forever.
He stepped back in front of her and kissed her, forgetting all about the family that was busily unwrapping their presents.
When Joshua released her, Charlotte looked at the locket again.
Forever. Yes, she thought, it was an appropriate word. She had thought a mere few days ago that she little left to give life, that there wasn't much more for her. Now she had forever in the palm of her hand, and she intended to make the most of it.
With Joshua.