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CHARLIE WAS EATING with Josh and the Gherrings in their penthouse when Josh left the table to take a phone call. Charlie's appetite disappeared as Josh returned wearing a fierce expression.
“That was Drew Warner, the ad litem,” said Josh. “The Parsons want to meet with me.”
“The Parsons...” Anne said. “Are they Jace and Chloe’s grandparents?”
“They’re Chloe’s grandparents, but they’re not actually related to Jace.”
Anne grimaced at his bitter tone, but Steven nodded. “This is good. This is what my attorneys wanted.”
“Well it’s not what I want.” Josh banged his fist on the table. “I think it’s a bad idea.”
“Why?” asked Charlie. “Maybe it’s a good sign.”
“We already know they want custody of Chloe, but not Jace. So there’s only one reason they could want to meet.”
“What?” Anne asked.
“They’ve heard I may get custody of Chloe, and they want visitation rights.”
“That’s probable,” said Steven. “And you might as well get used to the idea, Josh. It’s quite possible the courts will order it, and things will be best for everyone if you can get along with the Parsons.”
“Just think how that’s going to make Jace feel, when Chloe gets to go visit the grandparents and he doesn’t.”
“You still don’t have the right to cut her off from her grandparents,” Steven reasoned.
“I know, but that doesn’t make me like it.” His fingers drummed on the table. “They want to meet my fiancée... Olivia.”
“I assume you didn’t mention you had changed from one fiancée to another?” asked Steven.
“No, not yet. I was hoping we could get the whole thing done without ever mentioning it. You know, as long as the custody was given to Mr. and Mrs. Josh Branson, it wouldn’t matter who the Mrs. was...”
“You didn’t think the ad litem would notice?” asked Anne.
“Well, Charlie and Olivia both have long, brown hair. I know Charlie’s is longer and a little curlier, but I thought maybe he’d question his memory a little.”
Steven voice was sarcastic. “I’m sure you won’t have any trouble explaining your relationship and upcoming marriage to the ad litem, just as you’ve explained it so satisfactorily to me.”
“Steven!” Anne scolded. “You gave your blessing already.”
“Only because Charlie was taking it the wrong way and getting her feelings hurt,” he argued. “I still firmly believe they’re rushing into marriage for the wrong reasons.”
“But we love each other,” Charlie declared. “Right, Josh?” Nothing she said ever seemed to satisfy Steven. He seemed to be embracing the role of protective father.
“Right.” He had less conviction in his voice.
“Actually, I don’t doubt that,” said Steven. “But marriage is a huge commitment. I really think you should stop and make this decision independent of the custody issues. Even though it means you might lose Chloe.”
“It’s not a might thing,” Charlie argued. “We’ll lose her for sure.”
“Are you admitting you wouldn’t be getting married in less than three weeks were it not for the fact you’d lose Chloe?”
“That’s not a fair question,” she complained.
“No, he’s right,” said Josh. “We’re getting married early because of Chloe. But both of us have the kind of personalities to follow through on commitments. So we have even more reason to make our marriage work than most other couples our age.”
“So your reasoning is your marriage has a better chance of surviving because you’re going to have kids depending on you. And I’m saying having children puts an extra strain on a marriage.” He turned to Anne and added, “Not Ellis and Micah, of course.”
“It’s a moot point,” Charlie told Steven. “We’re getting married, and we’re adopting Chloe and Jace. You already gave your blessing, and you can’t take it back. So we need to spend our energy figuring out how to handle this meeting.”
“Fine,” said Steven. “I may not agree with your decision, but as always, I’ll do anything I can to help you.”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Anne. “What if you just didn’t mention her name? You could play it by ear.”
“Would we introduce her as Olivia?” asked Josh.
“Could I just say my nickname is Charlie? That wouldn’t be a lie.”
“They might ask where you got the nickname from,” Anne said.
“I’ll just say I was a tomboy and wanted a boy’s name. That’s true, also.”
They waited for Steven’s input. “Nope. I won’t be a part of this deceit. If you want advice on how to tell him the truth, I’m your man.”
“Okay,” Anne said, “What would you recommend?”
“I would say, ‘Mr. Warner. There’s been a minor alteration in the plan since we last met. This is my current and final fiancée, Charlie Best.’”
A pregnant silence fell across the table. Charlie chewed her lip. Josh frowned. Her mom twisted her hair around her fingers.
Anne broke the ice. “Should we maybe practice calling you Olivia so you can get used to answering to it?”
*****
“WHAT ARE YOU WORKING on?” Brad asked Grace, finding her busy with her laptop. “Facebook?”
“No, who has time for Facebook? I’m working on Phase Three of the Charlie/Josh plan.”
“Phase Three? I thought we were done. They’re engaged. They kissed. They fought. They made up.”
“Oh no—we’re a long way from finished. Emily got the truth out of Charlie. They still aren’t admitting they’re in love, at least not to each other.”
“Are you sure? I think Josh told Charlie he loved her at the Christmas party.”
“Nope. Charlie said they both agreed to ‘work on it.’ But you can’t tell anyone. Emily was sworn to secrecy.”
“Then why did Emily tell you?”
“Well, everyone knows in matters of life and death, the secrecy clause has loopholes.”
“And this is a matter of life and death?”
Grace speared him with a furious gaze. “You don’t think Charlie and Josh’s future and the future of Jace and Chloe is a matter of life and death?”
“Whatever, Grace.”
“Don’t roll your eyes at me. Just remember, we started Phase Two at your request.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“But that’s not all we found out. Charlie had one of Collin’s cards.”
“She can’t possibly be interested in that jerk.”
“Well, she couldn’t explain why she had his card. I think it indicates at least a passing interest.”
“What are you planning to do about it?”
“We’re waiting to see. If we need to, Olivia can take him out of play.”
“Girls are scary.” A violent shiver ran up his spine.
“We’re not planning to kill him.”
“Don’t tell me. I want to be able to claim ignorance,” he said, with his fingers in his ears.
She laughed, bopping him playfully on the top of his head. “You haven’t even finished your part yet. Josh hasn’t bought a ring, has he?”
“He’s supposed to go shopping today.”
“You’re not going with him?”
“Don’t you think that would be a little strange? Two guys shopping for rings together?”
“Awww... Are you worried about your manly image?”
“I gave him the pictures I got from Emily. He can handle it from here.”
“I don’t know.” Grace chewed on her fingernail. “Maybe I should go with him.”
“He’s fine. He doesn’t want any help.”
*****
JOSH STARED AT THE glass case full of engagement rings, wishing he’d brought someone along for a second opinion.
“Can I help you?” asked a saleswoman with long blond hair and perfectly applied makeup.
“Uhmm, I need to buy an engagement ring.”
“Okay, you’re at the right place. What style did you have in mind?”
“I’m not sure. I thought I would know it when I saw it.”
“You have some pictures with you?” She the folded magazine pages in his hand.
“Yeah.” He handed her the pictures. “I don’t really know if I like any of those.”
She flipped through the images and opened the jewelry case, removing several rings.
“This one has a lovely solitaire. It’s almost two carats—”
“I don’t want a solitaire.”
“But this picture—”
“I don’t care. She needs something special.”
“Okay. Well, the white gold and platinum are the popular choices. Maybe we can just start with a setting you like.”
“Do you have anything else besides silver?”
“They’re not silver. They’re white gold and platinum. Silver is –”
“I don’t care. I’m asking if you have any regular gold rings. Gold rings that look like gold.”
“Well... we have a few. They’re not as popular right now. Over here in this case...” she moved a little way to Josh’s left.
“Wait! What’s that?”
“That’s called rose gold.”
“Rose gold? But it’s still actual gold?”
“Yes, it’s gold alloyed with copper. The copper gives it the pink color.”
“Can I see that ring?”
“This one has a beautiful solitaire,” she said, pulling it out of the case and handing it to Josh.
“No. It’s not quite right. The band is too thin and too plain.” He returned it to her, searching vainly in the case.
“One of these yellow gold rings, perhaps?” she said hopefully. “This one looks like this picture. I think it’s very close.”
“No. All these rings look the same to me. This girl is different. She’s special. The ring has to be special.” His eyes fell on a ring in an adjacent case. “What about that one?”
“Okay. Well, that’s an antique style. Hexagonal setting. Very nice.” She retrieved it from the display. “The center diamond is fairly small, less than a carat. But it’s surrounded by a halo of little round cut diamonds in the hexagon, and it has this double row of channel set round diamonds coming down from each side.”
“Can we change it?” he asked, holding it up to the light.
“We can change some things...”
“I want it in rose gold.”
“We’ll have to cast a new one. It will take some time.”
“I need it Friday.”
“But that’s four days!”
He set the ring down and turned to walk from the store.
“Wait! Are you willing to pay a fee for rushing it?”
He twisted back. “Why not? Rushing it is already costing me big time. I’m getting used to it.”
“I’m sorry? I don’t understand—”
“Never mind. I’ll pay to rush it, and I need it engraved.”
She squinted at the ring. “There’s not much room. Just a few letters.”
“I want it to say Ruth 1:16. Can you do that?”
“You’ll have to pay in advance if you want it engraved.”
Josh reached for his wallet, murmuring, “Please, God. Let this be the right ring.”
*
“WHY ARE WE MEETING at the Parson’s house?” Charlie gripped Josh’s hand as they moved up the long walkway to the front door. “It’s a long way out; I’m surprised we didn’t meet on neutral ground somewhere in the city.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just want to get this over with.”
“You need to have an open mind, Josh. Maybe they’re really nice people.”
“How nice of people can they be when they’re willing to reject an innocent nine-year-old simply because he’s not their biological grandson?”
“Maybe something happened we don’t know about. Maybe Jace rejected them.”
“No. He obviously loves them. He’s asked several times when he’s going to see them. He has no idea they don’t want him.”
Charlie stopped in her tracks, pulling him to face her. “Josh. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my mom it’s giving people the benefit of the doubt. There’s a chance we don’t understand the circumstances. Please swallow that righteous anger and be nice. Do it for Chloe and Jace’s sake. Maybe we can talk them into still being grandparents to Jace, too. He doesn’t have to know they weren’t planning to continue a relationship with him.”
“They don’t deserve him.”
“No. Jace doesn’t deserve to be hurt. We knew this wasn’t going to be easy when we signed up for it—we’re not going to blow it the first time the going gets rough. We can be the bigger people here. We don’t have to sink to their level.”
Josh hung his head. “I know you’re right. It’s...”
“I know you hurt for Jace. You know what it feels like. I understand. That’s why I know you’ll do whatever it takes to make his life easier than yours. Even if it means swallowing your pride and pretending you’re not angry.”
He took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his face. “How’s this?”
“Awful! But better than that scowl you had on your face before.” They continued up the walk.
“Come, my dear Olivia,” he drawled. “Now, remember, you’ve met the ad litem once before in his office. His name is—”
“Drew Warner. I know. But if he asks me questions about being a nurse, we’re in hot water. What about the arm wrap?”
“He already knows we went on a ski trip together before Christmas.”
“That’s handy.”
“Ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she said, squeezing his hand before he knocked on the door.
*
“HELLO, JOSH. THANKS for coming,” said Drew, as he opened the door. “And I see you’ve brought... uhmm...”
“My fiancée,” said Josh. “You remember Olivia, right?”
He narrowed his eyes for a moment before smiling at Charlie. “Of course, Olivia. How could I forget a girl with eyes as beautiful as yours?” Josh winced. Had he already seen through their subterfuge?
“You know my eyes change colors depending on what I wear,” Charlie covered, quickly. “Sometimes they’re brown and sometimes they’re green...”
“Well today they’re gold,” said Drew. “Very gold. Not brown at all.” He led them into a living room. “By the way, what happened to your arm?”
“Skiing accident. Remember, we went on that ski trip?”
“Ah, yes. I seem to be getting so forgetful. You broke your arm?”
“It’s actually just a bad laceration. And I have a few other injuries, but I’m good.”
“Did you hit a tree?”
“No. Collided with another boarder. I think he had a broken leg.”
“Perhaps you need a personal injury lawyer,” he joked. “Have a seat here. The Parsons will be out in just a minute.”
Josh whispered, “So far, so good. I think he bought it.”
“I don’t know. He seemed a bit suspicious.”
“No, I think we’re safe for how.”
He surveyed the room. Nothing too opulent. The home was comfortable and well-kept, although the décor was slightly dated.
“Ah! Here they are. Ron and Kay Parsons, I’d like for you to meet Dr. Josh Branson and his fiancée... Olivia.”
Josh turned his head toward the dark hallway from which Drew had emerged. He steeled himself to greet the heartless couple, ready to mete out judgment upon them for their lack of charity. But he was stunned speechless at the sight that greeted him. From the dim light, emerged a distinguished-looking gray-haired man in a wheelchair, pushed by a thin woman of similar age. Charlie elbowed him out of his astonished reverie, indicating they should stand to meet them.
Charlie took a few steps forward and stuck out her hand with a warm smile. “Mr. Parsons? Mrs. Parsons? It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Charlie.”
“Olivia,” Josh corrected quickly. “But Charlie is her nickname.”
“Charlie, nice to meet you,” said Mr. Parsons, returning the smile, but it faltered when he addressed Josh. “Dr. Branson. Thank you for coming.”
His wife shook hands without making eye contact. Josh was surprised the instant dislike he expected to feel was absent. Instead, he found himself a bit sympathetic for the couple who were obviously uncomfortable with the meeting.
As Josh and Charlie returned to sit on the sofa, Drew spoke. “Mr. Parsons. Why don’t you explain to Dr. Branson why you wanted to meet with him?”
He glanced at his wife, who reached out to take his hand from her perch on an adjacent chair. “Dr. Branson... Mr. Warner has explained to us there’s a strong likelihood you and your wife will gain custody of both Jace and Chloe. If this happens, we... Well, we just want to implore you not to keep our grandchildren away from us.”
The wording of his question startled Josh. “Are you asking about both Jace and Chloe? Or just Chloe?”
At his question, tears began to streak down the wife’s face, and the husband squeezed her hand but kept his eyes on Josh. “I know you may not understand this, Dr. Branson, but both of our grandchildren are very important to us. They’re all we have left. Jace may not be our flesh and blood, but we’ve loved him since he was born. Your sister came to live with us as part of a program when she was an unwed mother, and she became like a daughter to us. When our only son came home from Afghanistan, they fell in love and got married and had two miscarriages before they had Chloe. So can you understand Jace is just as much our grandchild as Chloe?”
Josh couldn’t make sense of the situation. “But I thought you didn’t want Jace? I thought that was why you were trying to adopt Chloe, but not Jace.”
The woman sobbed even harder, and Mr. Parsons explained, “I have Multiple Sclerosis, and about a year ago it progressed to the point where I’m stuck in this wheelchair.” His voice broke. “When we lost Mark and Laurie, we hoped someone would adopt them, and we could continue to be grandparents. But when we heard you were looking at adopting them... Well, we knew you didn’t want to be part of our family, because Laurie had already tried to get you to meet us, and she invited you to Christmas, and you’d refused. So...”
“So you thought I would keep them away from you?”
“Yes. And so we filed for custody of Chloe, but we didn’t think we had a chance with Jace, since Mark had never gotten around to legally adopting him. And, with me in my condition, we probably couldn’t even handle Chloe. We were desperate. But honestly, we just want to be grandparents. We won’t impose on your time or intrude on your family. If you could just find it in your heart...”
Josh found, much to his embarrassment, that his eyes were swimming in tears. “I don’t want to keep you from your grandkids. I thought... I thought you didn’t want Jace. I just wanted them to grow up together, as brother and sister. I didn’t want him to be like me.”
“But when Laurie invited you, why didn’t you—”
“I was jealous,” Josh said, his voice overcome with emotion. “I was jealous my sister had a family and I didn’t. And I can’t tell you how much I regret not getting to know her and her family. And now it’s too late.” Josh could hear Charlie sniffing next to him.
Mr. Parsons choked out, “Dr. Branson, it’s too late to get to know Laurie and Mark... but we’re her family. It’s not too late for us.”
Suddenly, Josh saw Charlie rush across to Mrs. Parsons, and then they were hugging each other and crying. Mr. Parsons looked from the two back to Josh and smiled sheepishly. “Women!” he said.
Josh walked over and shook his hand again. “Call me Josh.”
“Ron,” he smiled. “Call me Ron. And this is my wife, Kay. I can’t tell you how great this is. Kay’s exhausted trying to take care of Chloe and me, too. I’m not much help at all.”
Kay looked over and spoke for the first time. “But we can babysit and watch the kids when you go on trips. I just don’t have the energy to do if full time. Especially since I can’t get Chloe to take a nap.”
“I’ve got a great trick for getting her to take a nap.” Charlie smiled through her tears. “It’s a special book I read while she keeps her eyes closed. It’s like hypnosis. It works every time. I use it on my brothers, too.”
“So you won’t fight me on the adoption?” Josh asked.
“Not at all. As long as we still get to be grandparents.”
“When will I get Chloe?” Josh asked Drew.
“We can probably approve temporary custody on Monday. Having everyone in agreement makes everything pretty simple.” He turned to the Parsons. “I’ll have the proper papers drawn up and faxed to you so you can sign them and send them back. And I’ve got a form for Dr. Branson in my car.”
Josh and Charlie said their goodbyes and followed Drew outside and down the sidewalk, toward his car. “Dr. Branson, you now have an uncontested adoption.”
“So what does that mean?” Josh asked.
“It means you don’t have to be married to adopt Jace and Chloe. So Olivia...” He paused, scrutinizing Charlie, “is off the hook.”
Josh felt his cheeks warming, knowing Drew had recognized their deception. Charlie kept her eyes averted.
“So exactly what was your plan?” Drew asked. “Were you simply pretending to be engaged? Because I would have required proof of the actual marriage.”
“No, we really were getting married... just over two weeks from now.”
“You and the original Olivia? Or you and this new Olivia?”
“Charlie. My name is Charlie.”
“We didn’t know what to do when Charlie and I decided to get married. We didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You could have said, ‘Mr. Warner, there’s been a slight change in the plan since we last met. This is my new fiancée, Charlie.’”
“That’s what my dad said. We were just hoping you wouldn’t notice.”
“I pride myself on my attention to detail. I could hardly forget meeting a girl with eyes like yours—quite beautiful. And Olivia seemed uncomfortable with children or the idea of children, while you appear to be quite the opposite. At any rate, it doesn’t matter now, because the marriage isn’t even necessary for custody. I do hope you’ll eventually get married, Josh, because it would be best for the children. But since you seem to be having a hard time settling on a fiancée, perhaps it’s a good thing there’s no rush.” He reached into his car and pulled out a briefcase. “Here are the papers I need you to sign and notarize. I’ll want them back as soon as possible.”
*
FOR THE FIRST THIRTY minutes of the return drive, Charlie chattered non-stop about every subject she could think of until she finally ran out of material and they fell into an uncomfortable silence. She knew what he had on his mind—it was the same thing she had on hers. Josh didn’t need to get married anymore. He could be Jace and Chloe’s father without having a wife. He didn’t need her anymore.
“Charlie?” She jumped as Josh shattered the silence.
“Yes?”
“What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know. What are you thinking?”
“I asked you first.”
“Well... I was thinking... I bet you’re glad you haven’t already given me a ring.”
“Does that mean you think we should call off the wedding?”
“What do you think?”
“I think I know what your dad would say.”
“Yeah, he already said we were rushing into it for the wrong reasons.”
“Do you think he was right?”
“No. I felt like we had good reasons for rushing things,” she said.
“Me, too.”
“But now...” She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. “I don’t know.”
Josh had tried to convince her he was in love with her, but she knew he was confusing physical attraction with love. For that matter, she wasn’t sure she could distinguish the difference either, at least not during or immediately after one of his intense kisses. So it was imperative she avoid getting physical with him. His kisses only muddled her brain, and she was confused enough already.
*
JOSH’S HEART WAS RACING and his stomach was churning. He was going to lose her. If he weren’t driving, he could kiss her and stop her from thinking. Like Brad said, you should never let a girl think too much. Once he reached the apartment building, he could kiss her. He wasn’t good at talking, but he was a pretty convincing kisser. He could persuade her to stick with the engagement once he got his lips on her mouth.
He stopped the car outside her apartment building and turned the engine off. “Charlie...” His voice was husky as he bent toward her. “I w—”
“I need to go, Josh.” Before the words were out of her mouth, she was sliding out the door.
He clutched her hand. “No! Wait!”
She swung her legs outside and tried to pull her hand away, exclaiming in pain.
“I’m sorry—I forgot that was your hurt arm.” He relaxed his grip. “But wait, Charlie! We need to talk!”
“No, Josh. You don’t need me anymore. You have no reason to commit to me. I’m not going to be responsible for ruining your life because of a promise you made by mistake.” She slipped her hand from his grasp, melting out the door.
“Wait!” He opened the car door, ready to chase her down.
“Hey buddy, you can’t park here. This is a no-parking zone.” The angry man was waving his hands in Josh’s face.
“But, I’ll be right back.”
“Are you deaf? This is a no-parking zone. That means you have to move your car now. Right now.”
Josh slammed the car door shut, fighting to maintain his self-control. He searched the sidewalk outside the apartment entrance for a sign of Charlie. But she was gone.
