The Best Next Thing

Miles wasn’t quite sure what to do…an increasingly familiar sensation around Charity, but he hopped out of the chopper as well. After briefly thanking the pilot, he grabbed their bags and followed Charity. She had thrown back her shoulders and was bravely walking toward her family, as if she wasn’t absolutely petrified of facing them all again.

She didn’t spare Miles a second look but he, nevertheless, followed her slowly. Giving her enough distance to not feel crowded, but making sure he was close enough so that she knew he was there if she needed him.

Not that she would need him. Not that she would turn to him even if she did need him.

The people hovering just yards away, could no longer contain themselves and once she was out of the chopper’s downwash radius, they rushed toward her, with joyful exclamations and open arms. Charity was surrounded by them in seconds, disappearing in the middle of the crowd, swamped with love and hugs and kisses.

Miles knew that she would probably never forgive him…but seeing the vulnerable fear disappear from her eyes to be replaced by love and joy almost made this devastating loss worth it.

Losing her had always been inevitable. But at least now he never had to worry about her being alone, or hiding from the world again.

Because she was finally home.

“Mr. Hollingsworth contacted me last Friday,” Faith explained twenty minutes later, when everybody had settled down to a sizable family breakfast. “He told me that you took your job very seriously and because he had been ill you were reluctant to leave. But he said he knew you wanted to come and felt bad about your missing the party on his account. That’s how he came up with the idea to surprise you by bringing you here today. He said you would never abandon your post so to speak, which meant that he had to do all of this without your knowledge. He’s so nice.”

Oh, he was something alright. But nice wasn’t the adjective that currently sprang to Charity’s mind.

Manipulative, maybe.

Bossy, sure.

Control freak, absofreakinglutely.

But nice?

Charity allowed herself a sigh as she acknowledged, that despite being all of the above…there was no denying that he was nice as well. Miles Henry Hollingsworth was a complex man. And nice, kind, and gentle…were a few of the many layers she had uncovered in him.

But just because he was one of the sweetest men she had ever met, did not mean that he got a free pass after this stunt.

In the following half an hour of sheer excitement and everybody talking over one another and hugs and so much emotion, Charity lost track of Miles. In fact—she surreptitiously glanced around the long, crowded family table—he was nowhere to be seen. The still-pissed-off part of Charity told her that she didn’t care where he was. That he had no place being here anyway. But the Charity who had melted into a puddle of unadulterated joy at the sight of her family, admitted to being more than a little grateful to him for orchestrating this reunion. And that Charity worried that he had left thinking she would never forgive him. Possibly even that she hated him.

And she couldn’t hate him. Because deep down she knew that this hadn’t been the move of a man who felt the need to manipulate or dictate her life. The fool man had been attempting to help her.

She sighed. Then again…making excuses for a man was something she was good at doing, and that sketchy track record made her doubt herself and Miles’s intentions.

Still, she wished she knew where he was.

Gracie, who had left with her father to get dressed for her party, ran into the room, dressed in a pink tutu and a glittery unicorn T-shirt. The girl had been understandably reticent and shy when everybody had pushed her to hug her “Auntie Cherry” hello. But she seemed to have overcome that initial reserve now. She was hugging a plush white unicorn to her chest, and she ran straight to Charity to give her a gap-toothed smile.

“Thank you for my present, Auntie Cherry.” Charity stared at the toy the girl was holding and lifted her gaze to the entrance of the restaurant, where Miles now hovered uncertainly. He must have been with Gracie and Stuart earlier, and he had obviously thought of everything. She didn’t even know when he’d had the opportunity to buy this toy…especially since he had spent almost every waking—and sleeping—moment with her this past week.

“You’re welcome, sweetie. I’m glad you like it.”

“This is a unicorn party,” the girl happily lisped. “My cake is a unicorn.”

“That’s fantastic. I can’t wait to see it.”

“All of my friends are coming. Aaaaall of them.” She gestured expansively to emphasize that fact.

“Wow. This is going to be an epic party.”

“Super epic,” Gracie enthused. “And better than Kyle Stanford’s Transformers party.”