that sentence. Not really. They were awesome. The best parents she could ask for, that much was very true. They’d been nothing but supportive of everything she’d ever done. When she wanted to go to interior design school instead of business college, they hadn’t blinked. When she decided to sell everything and move to the other side of the country, they were encouraging. And most importantly, when Jeremy had arranged with a fire chief in Halifax to get her safely home back to Glacier Falls and away from Billy before his control became more extreme because she was terrified of him, they’d accepted her back into her childhood home with open arms and no questions asked. Even though she knew her mother was dying to know what had happened and how her strong, capable, confident daughter could have succumbed to such a man.
“They’re great,” she finished lamely.
“But they’re Mom and Dad,” Jeremy said. “I get it.”
She took a sip of her beer and made a face. It had been awhile since she’d had a beer. It wasn’t bad, just different. She tried again, and Jeremy laughed.
“I understand why you want to move in here,” he said. “But you know you can’t.”
“You’re here alone most of the time,” Charlotte protested. “And that’s if you’re not in LA with Bella while she’s shooting. I could take care of your place, make sure it’s lived in.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I have no doubt you’d take very good care of my place, but it’s not going to be long before Bella’s done shooting and then she’ll be back here a lot more.”
Charlotte didn’t bother bringing up the fact that Bella would still be gone a lot. With publicity tours, new roles, a recording deal, and more and more opportunities that were popping up for her all the time, there was no doubt that Bella would be very busy and away from Glacier Falls for long periods of time. But Jeremy knew that. He didn’t need his older sister bringing it up again. Besides, Char had to admit, the couple was handling the distance really well. If anyone could manage the balance, it would be Jeremy and Bella. She also knew that asking Jeremy to move in to his place was a total long shot, and she didn’t blame him at all for saying no.
She’d expected it.
He gave her a look over his beer bottle, while he took a long pull, and she sighed, resigned.
“I know. I know. I’ll figure something else out.”
They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. It had always been easy to just be with Jeremy. Charlotte had missed it, and she didn’t even really notice how much until she had it back.
“Is living with Mom and Dad so bad?” Her brother put his beer bottle down and crossed his leg over his knee as he leaned back into the couch.
“You know it’s not.” She smiled, but couldn’t keep it up. “It’s just…I’m thirty-two, Jer. I want…no, I need to move on and show them their baby girl isn’t broken. I don’t need to be handled with kid gloves. Do you know Mom is making me breakfast every day?”
Jeremy shook his head and chuckled. “I didn’t know that.”
Charlotte leaned forward. “Two eggs, scrambled, with toast and grapefruit slices.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“And she peels the grapefruit.”
“That sounds pretty good, if you ask me.” He laughed again and Char had to fight the urge to throw a pillow at him. “But you don’t like it?”
She rolled her eyes. “Jer, I haven’t eaten breakfast in at least five years. But if I tell Mom that, she’ll get all worried and go on about how much weight I’ve lost.”
“She’s not wrong.”
“I’m fine.” Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest like a child. A moment later, she smiled. “Honestly, I am fine. I’ve been seeing my therapist, and she’s really helped me understand why I made the choices I did. I think I just need a little space to really…you know.”
“Grow up?”
She did throw the pillow at him then.
“What I really need is a job. A real job,” she amended. “I know Mom and Dad only hired me because they felt bad for me. It’s part-time and doesn’t pay anything. And please don’t tell them, but I hate it. It’s torture looking at such terrible real estate photos. I mean, do people really have no concept of interior design?”
“Not everyone is an interior designer, Char.” He gave her a pointed look. “Why don’t