There was something off in his tone. I knew Charles as well as I knew myself. “What’s wrong?” My brows scrunched in concern. Was his mom, Caroline, okay? Had something happened to my best friend, Millie?
Thrusting his hand through his blond hair, Charles looked torn, upset maybe. “Baby, I mean, London.” This was bad. My heart felt like it was stuck in my throat. “We need to break up while you’re in here.”
I gasped. “Why? Charles, I love you.”
“I love you, too. It’s re-election year for Dad. Our relationship is causing issues. Attention is coming back to your parents again.” The words seemed hard for him to speak as
his eyes cast down.
Charles’ dad was a senator. I knew this would be a problem, though everyone assured me it wouldn’t.
My lip trembled. “Is this permanent?”
Charles eyes shot to mine. The warm chocolate seemed dulled. “No. I’ll wait for you. I’ll figure this out. After this is over, we’ll be together. We’ll get through this.”
There seemed more to his promise than he was telling me.
“Okay. Promise me if something changes, you’ll tell me.”
“I promise.”
Charles put his hand to the window. “Together, baby. You and me, like we’ve always talked about. You’ll be the only girl I’ll ever love.”
“You and me. I love you, too.”
I bit my lip to the point of pain as I cleared the memory. It was supposed to only be for show until I got out. At the time, I understood and wanted to make his life easier regardless of how much it hurt. Nothing had been farther from the truth.
Lies.
All lies.
One month after things ended, I asked Dad if Charles was seeing anyone. By the way the blood drained from his face I knew the answer, but insisted on him telling me. Charles started dating Rachel Graves right after we broke up. Her family was well connected. We’d gone to school together. The news stung, and from that point forward, I never asked about Charles again. The loss of the love of my life was an ache that could not be soothed. Some things were better off locked away than dealt with when nothing could be done.
Now, it was time to hear what I had avoided after all this time.
“Does Charles still live in Guin?” I needed to be prepared if there was a chance I’d run into him.
Dad winced. That wasn’t good. Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair. “Punkin’ . . .”
“I know, Dad. Shoot me straight. I need to know.”
He glanced my way for a second. “He’s still seeing Rachel. They’ve been dating all this time. From what folks say, it’s pretty serious.”
I dug my fingernails into my right palm. The last time I saw Charles he said he would wait for me forever—he loved me. He promised to tell me himself if something ever changed. Maybe he was cheating on me all along. Buried anger bubbled to the surface and I pushed it away.
“Punkin’—”
“It’s okay, Dad. I promise. I needed to know.”
Dad squeezed my knee. “Four years doesn’t change how your mom and I feel about you. Nothing could.” I gave him a weak smile. “London, your mom loves you. She may not remember who we are, but she loves us.”
“I know, Dad. I know.”
We lapsed into silence. The city seemed untouched as we drove through. Tears burned my eyes as I focused on anything but memories of the laughs, the dreams, the friendships. There was so much promise back in those days.
Dancing had been my future.
The world had made sense.