CHAPTER TWO

CHARLOTTE

 

The next morning, with a day off and after delivering the brochures and pamphlets to a printing service in St. Petersburg, Charlotte headed south on I-275 toward its intersection with I-75 and the drive to Miami. She’d promised Shane to accompany him to visit his mother’s house on Star Island to help Sophia, his mother’s companion, sort through everything inside. With his mother’s unexpected death and all the emotions that occasion had brought to the surface for everyone in the family, Charlotte understood how important it was for her to be there with him.

His mother, Diana Ensley Perez, had been a troubled woman who was cruel at times to her two sons, Shane and Austin. Charlotte had met her just once. That one visit for lunch was enough to make her understand how his mother had affected Shane’s life in an unhealthy way.

As she drove, Charlotte thought about Shane. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man—strong but sensitive, kind, smart, and very loving. She’d felt so alone growing up, and his family’s easy acceptance of her was a true blessing.

She smiled at the memory of Gran’s elated email to her upon hearing of her engagement to Shane. Her connection to Shane was something Gran and her friend Liz had longed for. Having that kind of support was important to her. Even her mother had been pleased to hear of her engagement, although Shane didn’t meet her mother’s usual standards of a wealthy, successful, socially elite male in New York. Charlotte knew her stepfather, Walter Van Pelt, would get along well with Shane. They were both smart, interesting men.

###

When she pulled into the garage at Shane’s condo, she sighed with pleasure. This place was beginning to feel like home. Sitting in Coconut Grove nearby the CocoWalk development, it had a perfect location. The condo itself was comfortable and easily accommodated her presence. Shane had rearranged closet space for her, so she now left a selection of clothes and dressier items there, things she didn’t really need at Sanderling Cove.

After she got settled inside, she called Shane to let him know she’d arrived.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Want me to bring something for a late lunch?” he asked.

“That’s a great idea,” she said. He knew she wasn’t a cook.

When he arrived, they both forgot about lunch as Shane set down his briefcase and package and swept Charlotte into his arms.

Charlotte nestled against his solid chest thinking he, not the condo, was her true home. She lifted her face.

His lips came down on hers, sending desire swirling through her. He always had that effect on her.

When they pulled apart, Shane grinned. “Wish we could stay here for a while, but as soon as we have lunch, we have to be on our way. I promised Sophie we’d get there as soon as possible.” The regret in his voice told her how much he wanted to linger.

“Not a problem. I understand. Are you okay doing this? At one time, you said you never wanted to go to Star Island and your mother’s home again.”

“I’m doing this for Sophie. She wants to clear the house out and be on her way. With the money she’s inherited from my mother, she’s going to move to California to be closer to family. We’ll sell the house without the furnishings.”

Charlotte understood. Diana’s home would sell for multiple millions of dollars, and those new owners would want to decorate with items of their own choosing.

They ate their salads quickly. Shane’s brother, Austin, had already been through the property, selecting items he wanted for himself. Like Shane, his memories of living there were not good. Shane had once announced he wanted nothing from the house, but Sophie had reminded him that the house contained many valuable items. As Diana’s social secretary and companion, Sophie knew more than anyone about the contents, and Shane finally agreed it would be foolish to let everything go to strangers.

They left the condo. As they drove onto Star Island, Charlotte was reminded how exclusive it was. Large homes lined the waterfront, beautiful places that celebrities often purchased. Diana’s home was as beautiful as the others.

Charlotte had been too nervous to notice some of the details on her earlier visit, but now as they drove up to it, she studied the front entrance—the tiled entry, the huge pots holding plants and flowers, and the antique lantern hanging from the high ceiling of the porte cochere.

Smiling, Sophia Morales emerged from the house and opened her arms to greet Shane as he climbed out of his car.

Shane stooped to accept Sophia’s embrace with ease. Short, and with a comfortably round body, Sophia was as warm as Shane’s mother had been cold.

Sophia stepped away from Shane and hurried over to her. “Charlie, I’m glad you decided to come here with Shane. There might be a few things you’d like to choose for yourself now that you and Shane are engaged.” She took hold of Charlotte’s hand. “I see how happy you make Shane. For that, I thank you. He’s a very special person.”

“He is, indeed,” Charlotte said, touched by her words.

“Sure,” said Shane. “Help yourself to whatever you want, Charlie. I’ll do the same.”

“Only things you want, Shane,” Charlotte said firmly. Beautiful things might be nice, but not if they held unhappy memories.

“I agree. Okay, Sophia, lead the way,” he said.

Sophia led them inside. “An estate buyer will handle anything you and Austin don’t want,” she said to Shane. “What she can’t resell, she will give to charity. Her services are expensive but well worth the trouble. Especially in a big place like this with so much to sort through.”

“I hope Austin took a lot,” said Shane.

“There’s still plenty left,” said Sophia. “Let’s walk through the rooms first, then you can concentrate on specific areas like the kitchen and the den,” Sophia suggested. “The artwork in many of the rooms is valuable. What you don’t want, an art appraiser will look at and sell for you. Diana might not have had excellent taste in art, but Ricardo was quite a collector.”

After studying the artwork, Charlotte realized that after she and Shane were married, they’d need a bigger place to live in order to properly display the paintings Shane had selected with her approval. She was pleased he’d found things that would give him pleasure. Austin had chosen a number of paintings too.

After they’d toured the rooms, Sophia said, “I have a jeweler lined up to buy any jewelry you and Austin don’t choose to keep. There are some lovely pieces that you, Charlie, might like. I know your visit with Diana wasn’t pleasant, but I think you should have some of them.”

“How about my helping you select some pieces?” said Shane, placing an arm around her. “I can think of a few things I’d love to see on you.”

Overcome by the unexpected thoughtfulness, Charlotte said, “If you think it’s appropriate, your help would make it much easier for me to choose.”

“I’ll open the safe and bring the jewelry to you,” said Sophia. “And another thing, with the two of you getting married, I’m asking you to please look through things like silver and other items in the dining room, along with the kitchenware. You can come back another day to do that if you wish. But I think it’s important to keep as much in the family as possible. I believe Diana would want that. She was proud of all she owned.”

“Oh, yes,” said Shane. “I know that very well. When I broke one of her special dishes, she got very angry with me.”

“I don’t want things that we can’t enjoy for fear of breaking them,” said Charlotte. Now was not the time to mention that she wanted at least three children. And if they were like Shane and her, most likely they’d break a dish or two just by being active like most kids.

Shane led her to the dining room. “Check out a few things here. Austin told me he specifically left the silverware for us. A sort of engagement gift.”

While they were looking at things in a sideboard, Sophia arrived with velvet-lined shallow boxes and placed them on top of the dining room table.

The glittering jewels inside the boxes caught Charlotte’s attention. She was a person who liked lovely things, but she didn’t need a lot of jewelry. Yet, if it pleased Shane, she’d select a few items.

“Austin took your mother’s engagement ring,” Sophie said quietly. “That, and a couple of necklaces.”

Shane lifted a pair of emerald and diamond earrings. “These would look great on you with your auburn hair, Charlie. These and the simple diamond ones.”

She looked at them, stunned that something so beautiful would simply be handed to her.

Shane chose a couple of necklaces, two bracelets, a ring, and a pin. “I remember the night Ricardo gave my mother this pin. It was their anniversary, and he was very excited about giving it to her.”

Charlotte studied the platinum and gold crescent pin brooch in the Tiffany & Co. velvet box and knew its value lay as much in the giving as in the gift. Ricardo had been a good stepfather to the boys and a generous, kind man to their mother.

“Thank you,” said Charlotte. “I love it.” She placed a hand on Shane’s arm. “But that’s enough. I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.”

He grinned. “I like overwhelming you,” he teased.

She laughed. She knew he wasn’t talking about the jewelry.

###

By the time Charlotte and Shane left the house with the promise to arrange for someone to help them load up the things they wanted, Charlotte was numb with exhaustion. Her fatigue was as much emotional as it was physical. Shane had a little story behind the things he’d chosen, and from them she got an even better picture of a child raised by a mother who was too self-absorbed to care about the damage she inflicted on her children.

Inside his car, Shane placed a hand on her knee. “Thanks for coming. It means a lot. It’s good for me to face the memories and lay them to rest. It’s helpful to remember that.”

“What are we going to do about the condo?” Charlotte asked. “Will we store the things you chose until we have more space?”

“That’s something I’ve been thinking about. Will you be willing to move away from Sanderling Cove? I’d like to buy a house in the Miami area for us. It will work best that way. You can set up your own business like you talked about and still do work for the Inn.”

“Yes, I’ve thought of it too. Because, while I don’t want to have kids right away, I want them. Not one, not two, but at least three.”

He turned to her with a grin. “I like that. We’d better start practicing now.”

She laughed, but life wasn’t that simple. She knew they had some challenges ahead. Things were happening fast, and now they had all this stuff. Gorgeous or not, it came as a mixed blessing.

Charlotte sighed, wishing she knew how the future would play out.