Page 38 of What He Always Knew

“Oh,” I said, as calmly as I could manage. “I guess that makes sense. I don’t mind being late for work, though. If you want me to take you.”

“It’s really no problem,” Reese said, and my fists clenched at my sides.

“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to mywife.”

“Oh, sorry. I guess I just didn’t realize what that looked like, since it’s such a rare occurrence.”

I blew out a breath through my nose, taking a large step toward him, but he only laughed as Charlie pressed her hands into my chest.

“Come on. Let’s go get lunch.” She turned to Reese then, and she looked even more pissed than I was. “Maybe you should use this time to callBlake. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.”

Reese’s smile fell at that, and I saw the look in his eyes, one I knew all too well. He pleaded with Charlie for something in that moment — but for what, I wasn’t sure. Forgiveness? Understanding? Either way, Charlie didn’t seem keen to give it to him. She grabbed her purse from the hook behind her desk chair, leading the way out of her classroom.

“See you tomorrow,” she called behind us, but she didn’t turn, didn’t so much as glance at Reese again before we were out of her room and down the hall.

We were both silent as we walked to the rental car, and once we were inside it, Charlie buckled up and let out a long breath.

I followed her lead, strapping on my seatbelt, but then I paused with my hands on the wheel.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you tomorrow?”

“It’s on his way, Cam,” she said. “And we’re both going there. No sense in going out of your way.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I know. But it’s fine, I can just ride with him.”

My stomach turned. I knew they’d be together all weekend, so in the grand scheme of things, a car ride didn’t make much of a difference. Still, I hated it.

I started the car, but still didn’t put it in reverse.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “About the lilies. I know you like daisies, I don’t know why I didn’t—”

“Cam,” Charlie said quickly, leaning over in her seat until her hand could reach my leg. She squeezed, making me look at her. “Don’t. I love them. Truly. They were such a wonderful surprise.” She smiled. “And you delivering them in person was icing on the cake.”

I let out a sigh, nodding, though I was still upset with myself.

“Thank you,” she said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to my lips.

My left hand wandered from the steering wheel then, framing her face and holding her mouth to mine. I kissed her as long as she let me, and when she finally pulled back, she clicked on the seat warmers and stared out the front windshield.

“We need to hurry back, okay? I sprung this on Robin, and I don’t want to leave her alone for too long.”

And once again, I was reminded that time was my biggest enemy of all.

Reese

I hadn’t slept in days.

It was the day of the conference, and I was supposed to be a representative of our school. I was supposed to be on my A game, the best of the best, and I looked like I got jumped in an alley last night. My eyes were heavy and lined in purple, my hair a mess no matter how I tried to style it.

I should have gotten rest. I should have been more prepared for today.

But how could I sleep knowing I had to wait to get Charlie alone, knowing she was going home to Cameron every night…

Knowing something had changed.

As if the weekend hadn’t been bad enough with Charlie being on some sort of trip with Cameron, it had been even worse once she’d returned. Because she was different that Friday afternoon she left school than she was Monday morning when she returned.