Cadence of Cranberries - Valerie Comer Page 0,56

long, frustrated breath. “I can’t do this.”

“Can’t, or won’t? Because I thought we had something worth fighting for, but maybe we weren’t on the same page.”

If that’s how he was going to be about it, he was right.

Chapter Twenty-One

Women!

Charlie pulled away from the curb a bit faster than was necessary. The back of the car fishtailed in the slushy snow, but he didn’t care. Katri had teased him about the red Mustang when he bought it.

Who cared? He had the money. Why not spend it on a car? He apparently wasn’t allowed to spend it on getting Michael to approve of him.

The kid was furious at his mother. Winnie was furious at both of them. And Charlie? He’d never been a violent man, but right this minute he just wanted to punch something. Slamming the accelerator was the best he could do at the moment, but none of the streets in Bridgeview were more than a couple of blocks long, and the hill was steep. Speeding in this neighborhood was nearly impossible. It was also dumb.

Charlie gritted his teeth and slowed the ’Stang. He wasn’t stupid. He’d graduated magna cum laude. He’d moved up quickly at Boeing. His superiors praised his brilliant, decisive mind. He was too smart to crash his car or get a ticket.

Winnie! Why on earth had she reacted like she had? They’d talked about Michael’s depression at losing his dad and how no one was allowed in his mom’s life, let alone Charlie. Charlie wanted Winnie’s kids to like him. Of course, he did. On the other hand, he wasn’t marrying them.

His foot slammed on the brake, and the car slid sideways to a stop in the middle of the block, just missing a white SUV parked at the curb. Marrying? Had those thoughts really been creeping into his mind? Yeah, they had been.

He eased onto the accelerator. Good thing no one had been following close enough to rear-end his pride and joy.

How did he make sense of this all? He’d been falling in love with Winnie. Michael hadn’t given an inch, not until the NBA tickets. And now Charlie was the bad guy, Winnie was an iceberg, and Michael wasn’t allowed to go to Portland with him.

Because he hadn’t talked to her about it first.

He’d never talked to Julia about their daughters’ activities, either. Evie wanted dance classes? She messaged her dad, he set it up, and she told her mother what day to drive her. It had been rather entertaining to watch Julia grimace then go along with it. Same with all kinds of lessons and trips and then their own cars as they got older. It wasn’t up to Julia. He was Evie and Katri’s father and, even though he didn’t live with them anymore, he made sure everyone knew who wore the pants in that family.

But he wasn’t Michael’s father. He had no right to presume... but hadn’t Winnie wanted a clear path as much as Charlie had? What was so wrong with his solution?

Winnie’s other accusation was absolutely ludicrous. Why would she even think he might have ill designs on her son? How had he ever given off a vibe like that?

There was no earthly way.

Just the fact she’d thought it at all was a huge insult.

Yeah, he could see he should’ve talked to Winnie before springing it on Michael. He hadn’t thought it through. As usual.

Newsflash. Winnie wasn’t Julia. And a man who’d become a Christian should act differently than he had before.

So, yeah, all his fault. He’d screwed up.

As usual.

He pulled up the steep drive to the roastery. As he got out of the car, the acrid smell of over-roasted coffee met his nostrils. He glared toward the building, wanting nothing more than to stalk in there and fire Murray for his lapse. And then he’d have to hire someone else who probably would do a worse job. Or learn to roast beans himself. Or sell the business, buy a yacht, and sail the seven seas. By himself.

Always by himself.

He would not fire Murray today, and probably not ever. Selling the business would be easier with a qualified roastmaster, and it wasn’t like no one ever did everything perfectly. Murray was doing better than Charlie could.

With a final scowl, Charlie stalked across the parking lot and let himself into the renovated house, all white and gray and granite and dark hardwood. Such a contrast from Winnie’s cozy home with its splashes of turquoise and gold and cranberry, carpet that