would be terrible. But if your friends and family knew, then at least you’d have them to help you through it instead of going through it alone.”
Katie thought about that for a moment and finally nodded. “I guess that’s true,” she said after a minute. “But can I ask you a question then?”
Of course Charlotte agreed.
“So why is it that you aren’t telling anyone about you and Nick?”
Behind the wheel of the car, Charlotte tensed.
“I mean, I get it…it might not work out. But what if it does? Either way, don’t you want your friends and family to know?”
Charlotte swallowed hard. “There’s nothing going on with me and Nick. We’re doing this for—”
“I know why you’re doing it.” Katie cut her off. “But I also know I’m not blind. And don’t forget, you’re talking to the queen of fake relationships.” She used air quotes. “I know what I see.”
Charlotte navigated the car through the gates at ElkView and up the hill toward the guest house.
“And you two are definitely more than pretending. It’s okay to—”
“Oh, look.” Charlotte interrupted her friend. “We have visitors.” There was a red, older model sedan parked next to the guest house. Nick had left for the city for the day, with the plan to stay the night if his meetings ran long, but he hadn’t said anything about a visitor and the caseworker had already been there. Whomever it was, Char didn’t have a good feeling about it.
“Were you expecting guests?”
Charlotte shook her head and tried to rack her brain for who it might be. Surely, it wasn’t Billy. But it might be…he’d called at least four more times since the first time at the cabin. Every time, she’d hung up on him. But the last time, before she could end the call, she could have sworn she’d heard him say something about coming to see her. At the time, she’d been sure he was just blowing smoke. She hadn’t even mentioned it to Nick. After all, he had enough to worry about. And she’d meant it when she’d said that Billy wasn’t man enough to actually confront her. But…what if she’d been wrong?
She couldn’t take the baby into that situation; it wasn’t safe.
“Who do you think it is?”
For a moment, she considered telling Katie the truth about Billy, but immediately dismissed it. She didn’t need anyone worrying about something that likely wasn’t even a thing. In fact, she was sure she was overreacting. But still…
She swallowed hard and forced a smile to her face. “Would you mind taking Amelia back to your place for a bit? I just want to make sure it’s not a salesperson or something.”
Katie gave her a look, but nodded the way Charlotte hoped she would. “Of course. I love spending time with her.”
Char quickly unbuckled the baby and handed her to Katie, who immediately started cooing and making the baby giggle. She waited until they’d disappeared down the path toward the main house and then she straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and went around to the front of the house.
“So what exactly is it that you’re saying?” Nick paced across the office and back toward his lawyer, Chris. Some meetings were too important to have over the phone, which was why when Chris called to say he had news, Nick made the trip to the city to have the conversation in person. Besides that, he didn’t want to worry Charlotte with any of this. There was no point in both of them being stressed out or completely preoccupied with the what-ifs. So he’d gone to the city to try to sort it out before it went any further and he needed to get her involved. He’d fix it. “She’s going to fight me for custody?”
“I didn’t say that.” Chris crossed his leg over his knee and sat back in his chair behind the massive mahogany desk, looking far too comfortable for Nick’s liking.
He needed the man to be even a fraction as worked up as he was. Because this could not happen.
“I said that she’s reached out to us.”
“With a lawyer?”
“No.”
Nick exhaled the breath he’d been holding. No lawyer meant she couldn’t possibly be serious about coming after Amelia. There was nothing to worry about.
“She doesn’t need a lawyer, Nick.”
“What?” Nick spun around on his heel. “You always need a lawyer for these things. We’ll squash her in court.”
Chris sighed and sat up. “If it gets to court.”
“Of course it will get to court.” His blood pressure