Page 17 of Air Of Mystery (Witches On The Hill #4)

I waited a moment, and once Charlie had gone out I moved to follow, very curious as to what he was up to.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw that he was walking down the sidewalk and moving further along the street.

Easing the tray of drinks and the food in through the open window of my car, I tried to keep an eye on him to see where he was going.

It wasn’t hard; the sheer height and breadth of the man stood out.

I watched as he opened a door and let himself inside a building about six doors down from Kenna’s bakery. When he did, I clearly heard a chorus of hellos as he stepped inside. Rolling up my car’s window, I locked the food inside and took off on foot to see exactly where he’d gone.

As I walked closer, I understood that a new veteran’s center had been set up in one of the vacant buildings. There was a simple printed sign on the door, and as I walked casually—or at least hoping to appear that way— past the big front window, I was able to look inside.

There I discovered that Charlie was inside, passing out food to the people that sat around at tables.

His biceps absolutely rippled as he worked, and I felt myself flush at the sheer attraction I felt for the man.

Still. It looked as though a meeting were about to start, and as I watched, he sat down at a table with a man, and they began to talk.

It was Frank, the dishwasher from the restaurant where we’d investigated in old St. Charles.

Surprised at the discovery, I watched them for a few moments.

Clearly, they knew and respected each other.

Then I realized, with a start, how incredibly bad it would look if someone spotted me peering in the windows.

Turning on my heel, I quickly headed back to my car. I needed to get a move on if I wanted to arrive at Larry’s on time for our trip. I tried unsuccessfully to put that image of Charlie at the veteran’s center out of my mind, but unfortunately, it stayed with me for days.

Even as we investigated the old school, wrapped everything up, and traveled back to southern Illinois, he lingered in the back of my mind.

Charlie was a good man, that much was obvious. Active in his community and well-liked by his employers, the Marquettes. In fact, the three Marquette kids were crazy about him...so add ‘good with kids’ to the list, and if that wasn’t enough to have me obsess over him, he was smoking hot to boot.

I already had regrets about how things had—or had not—turned out between us, and now, it only seemed worse.

Once I got home, I casually asked Kenna about it, and she told me that Charlie had a standing order once a week for pastries for the veteran’s center. Kenna explained that he led a discussion group there and also informed me that she had donated cupcakes to the grand opening the month before.

“He’s a great guy,” Kenna pointed out. “Maybe you should try to work things out with him.”

In response I simply nodded. I used my work for a distraction, telling myself not to dwell over what hadn’t been.

Throwing myself into editing the footage and evidence we’d collected at that old, abandoned school in Iowa, I kept myself occupied.

There was plenty of material to work with, and I was able to make two, hour long episodes out of the best of it all.

Since that two-part format had worked out well for me before, I was curious to try it again and see how my viewer numbers were.

The summer rolled on, and I stayed busy with my projects and searching for new places for the team to investigate. I pushed myself harder and tried to increase my social media presence, landing a radio and a podcast interview, both of which improved my YouTube subscriber numbers substantially.

July turned into August, and Cordelia and Tim closed on a cute stone house in Ames Crossing. The house was catty-corner across the street from Arianna and Rafe Tremaine’s. Brynn, Austin, Kenna, Tyler and I all helped them move in. Which was fun, exciting, and truthfully, bittersweet.

It was different without Cordelia in the house. Even though her apartments had been on the lower level, I missed her being there. I told myself I was being morose, but it was odd not having her around where I could see her every day.

When Brynn married Austin in November, he and his son Robbie planned to move into the manor house. The family home had gone to Brynn as the eldest, and goddess knows there was plenty of room.

At any rate, Robbie was a frequent visitor most days, and the kid was a loud, messy and very welcome distraction.

Robbie had lots to occupy him. He could hang out with Brynn while she worked in the gardens, go visit the chickens, pop upstairs and see me, or mooch a snack off of Kenna when she came home from the bakery in the afternoons.

There were plenty of days that I spent keeping Robbie entertained, and I didn’t mind it at all. It wasn’t like I was lonely or anything. After all, I knew that summer vacation could be boring without something different to do. That and he’d be my nephew soon enough.

Before I knew it Robbie was restarting school and Brynn’s bridal shower was right around the corner. I was out running errands in town, picking up the final items for the bridal shower decorations, and decided to stop by Kenna’s bakery on a whim. I’d skipped breakfast again and was starving.

My mind on a dozen things I still needed to do before the shower on Friday, I opened the door to the bakery while continuing to read from my list and bumped solidly into someone.

“Sorry,” I said automatically and glanced up to see Charlie.

“We really have to stop running into each other like this,” he said.

Once again, he held two large bakery boxes. “Headed off to the veteran’s center?” I asked.

“Yes.” He nodded. “I run the discussion group on Tuesdays.”

“Let me give you a hand,” I said impulsively and took the top box from him.

He stood there blinking at me, clearly surprised at my offer.

“After you,” I said, falling into step beside him as he started down the sidewalk.

“Have you ever volunteered with veterans before?” Charlie asked.

“No,” I told him.

“This isn’t some Hallmark Channel type of thing, Skye. It won’t be all pretty and polished.”

“I can handle it.”

“A few of the vets are homeless,” he explained. “We try and get them into shelters or programs but a few refuse. It’s hard for them to trust.”

“I have run across more than my share of homeless individuals while investigating, Charlie. It’s fine.”

He gave me a hard side-eye. Clearly, he thought I’d bail once I got inside, and that only made me more determined to help him.

Which is how I found myself standing beside Charlie and passing out cookies and muffins to the veterans.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself for the next hour chatting everyone up.

There were all different types of veterans there.

Men and a few women, both young and old.

Some came for the camaraderie, others because they could get a meal, and some came for the discussion groups.

Once Charlie began his group, I quietly tidied up the area where the food had been served and tucked the lids back on the boxes so the pastries would stay fresh. I nodded to Charlie and slipped out so as not to disturb his discussion.

Seeing Charlie working with the other veterans had tugged at me. By the goddess, it would be way too easy to fall for him all over again.

“It’s never going to happen,” I muttered to myself.

“He hasn’t blown up my phone or made any sort of a move.

..and I’m obsessing over him. Again.” Blowing my bangs out of my eyes, I headed back to the bakery to grab myself a scone or something.

Drowning my frustration in sugar and carbs might not be the smartest idea, but at that moment it was all I had.

On the day of Brynn’s bridal shower, I arrived early to the Marquette Mansion.

I pulled up to the hotel’s parking lot, congratulated myself on finding a spot close to the entrance, and parked.

Going around the back of my car, I popped my trunk so I could begin to unload.

Kenna was due to arrive with the desserts in an hour and a half, and Cordelia was bringing our mother with her as our parents were staying with Tim and Cordelia at their new house.

Today I was wearing a black floral midi dress that had fall leaves and fruit printed over the material.

The dress had a square neckline and a long slit up one leg for easier movement.

I’d worn it with a pair of flat black sandals as I expected to be on my feet for hours.

After slinging my purse over my shoulder, I began to stack and then lift the covered food containers.

Before I could take a step, a pair of male hands reached past me and a familiar voice said, “Let me give you a hand.”

“Hi, Charlie.” I figured there’d be a chance of seeing him today, and as usual the man looked scrumptious. I eyeballed him from behind my mirrored shades and felt the same pang of regret, as ever.

“I’ve been watching out for you,” he said.

My stomach jumped at his innocent words. However, I knew that he meant he’d been watching so he could help bring everything in. In the same way he would assist Kenna with the dessert boxes when she arrived.

“Happy for the help,” I said, doing my best to keep it casual and friendly. “This way I can haul everything in faster.” When he started to walk the food inside, I scooped up the bags of decorations, snagged my wrapped gift, and managed to close the trunk with my elbow.

Walking toward the entrance, I saw that he stood, waiting.

Tall, buff, blonde and handsome, he was holding the door open for me with an elbow and smiling.

My heart stuttered in my chest a bit, and I silently scolded myself for the reaction.

We walked through the entrance and headed toward the smaller event space, and I lectured myself the entire way as I followed him.