About Time (Broken Vows #4)

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Charlie Present- Age 53

Griffin groans. “I’m really uncomfortable with you starting this story when Hattie was sixteen.”

I shrug. Now that I’ve started the story I am less anxious about telling it. “Relax, that’s not where our romance began, but you have to know this part to understand what happened when we first got together a few years later.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not sure you hooking up with a nineteen-year-old when you were nearly thirty makes it better.”

I glare at him. “Are you really saying that right now? You screwed your daughter-in-law in a storage closet at Donovan’s bar when she was only twenty-three and you were nearly twenty years older. At least Hattie and I are only ten years apart.” My nostrils are flared and I’m doing a shit job of controlling my breathing.

Griffin starts laughing. “Oh god, the look on your face. It’s not like you got married when she was that young. Like you said, I married my daughter-in-law. Fuck, I knocked her up before she was even divorced from my son.”

“Shit, Dad, maybe don’t brag about that,” Liam complains.

They exchange a look which shuts Liam up immediately. We all know exactly what the circumstances were that made Wren turn to Griffin. Not the kind of thing that Liam likes to talk about, or even think about.

The tension between them will dissipate eventually, but I don’t really feel like sitting here while the pressure slowly releases. I didn’t anticipate how telling this story would bring back all the feelings. I can feel how amused I was with her back then.

I know some people would think I molded her into what I wanted for when she turned eighteen, but we didn’t actually spend a lot of time together. We talked at barbecues and when she’d come to the games. I never sought her out, but I didn’t run from her either.

I’ll admit it was flattering when I noticed her developing a crush on me, but I deflected her attention by offering to help her with boys. Someone had to. No one over five looks good in overalls.

After that, our interactions were always the same. I’d point out a guy closer to her age and coach her through talking to them. At first, she was stubborn and resisted my help, but eventually, she accepted and followed my directions. Not once did I ever get jealous seeing her talk to another guy, at least not until after she came back from college.

While Griffin and Liam are still locked in a staring match, I head into the house to get a beer. I don’t even knock as I walk through Griffin and Wren’s back door. I could go to my house, but my wife is here, and I need to take a minute and reassure myself that we’ve survived the story playing on a loop inside of my head.

All five women turn their heads to me when I walk into the kitchen. Hattie’s eyes slowly move up and down my body, and I want to call it a night and drag her to bed. Our girls are asleep, so we should take advantage of this time without someone needing something from us.

Wren’s gaze bounces back and forth between us. “No you don’t,” she says and points her finger at me. “I can read that face. You’re not taking Hattie, she was just about to tell us how the two of you got together. We all realized none of us have any idea how you ended up together.”

I focus all of my attention on Hattie. “Do you think they teamed up on us? Scott got me talking about it too.”

Harlow raises one hand. “That would be my fault, or rather Scott’s. I know he loves living in Seattle, but I miss being in a small town. We were talking about how much easier it is to connect to people in a small town. That kind of morphed into talking about how we met, then how everyone else did. Then it occurred to us that we really didn’t know much about how the two of you got together.”

“I’m glad she asked, this sounds like it’s going to be some juicy stuff,” Bess says and rubs her hands together.

I roll my eyes at her. She’s toned down her appearance, lost the bright hair dye, and the neon punk clothing is gone, but her personality is still as vibrant as ever. I’m glad she hasn’t lost that edge. This world would be a much duller place without her sparkle.

These people are my family, the only one I have. Griffin likes to tease me for my level of attachment to everyone, but he feels the loss of Scott and Harlow the same as me. My parents were mostly absent, which was way better than when they actually paid attention to me. My father’s attention came in the form of his fists. Once I was big enough to hit back, he and I avoided each other. Griffin and I both got jobs at the garage, and I haven’t been home since. My parents became just two more neighbors I passed at the grocery store in our way too small town.

Hattie pushes her chair away from the table and walks over to me. Her arms go around my middle, and she buries her face in my chest. I take a step back from her and raise her face to look at me. “Is everything okay?” I whisper.

She tries to give me a reassuring smile, but it’s weak. “I’m fine. I haven’t thought about all of this for a long time. It’s harder to talk about than I imagined.”

“You don’t have to,” I tell her.

“I know, but it also kinda feels good to get it out. Yeah, it hurts, but it’s the kind of pain that leads to healing.” She drops her arms and gives me a playful push. “Now go back to the boys, you’re interrupting girl talk.”

“Fine,” I grumble. I open the fridge and grab a couple of beers. “I’m getting out of your hair.”

When I finally make it back to the fire tensions have settled down between Griffin and Liam.

Scott chucks a marshmallow and hits me in the middle of my forehead. “Thanks for leaving Donovan and I with these two grumpy assholes.”

I take my seat again. “I’ve been putting up with them for over thirty years. It’s time someone else dealt with their bullshit. Do you guys want to keep complaining, or should I continue with my story?”

Griffin props his feet up on a stump. “I’m still holding my breath, waiting to hear why you started this story when Hattie was sixteen.”

“Well, that’s an easy explanation, that’s because when I tell you the next part I want you to understand without a doubt that there was nothing going on before she went off to college.”

Charlie Past- Age 27

Martin is out in his garage with his head under the hood of his ancient truck when I pull into his driveway. I grab some tools out of the toolbox in my truck and join him. I exhale in relief when I see that he hasn’t dismantled the engine.

He wipes his hands off on a rag. “I waited until you got here.”

I take the wrench from his hand and hand him a different one. “That was probably a wise idea.”

“I am a radiology technician, not a mechanic.”

“Why are we doing a tune-up here? Griffin wouldn’t have cared if we did this at the garage,” I tell him.

Just then, a bunch of girlish squeals came from inside the house. Martin winces. “That’s why. They’ve been helping Hattie get ready for the prom all day. I figured you could help me tune up this beast, and I could still be here when some horny teenage boy comes to pick up Hattie.”

“Please tell me you don’t have a shotgun in the bed of your truck.” The way he looks at the cabinet in the corner of the garage doesn’t give me much hope that he won’t overreact. “C’mon, she’s a smart girl. You have to trust that she will make a smart decision. Who’s the boy anyway?”

“Some asshole friend of Donovan’s. I don’t know why she doesn’t just go with Donovan,” Martin grumbles.

I slap him on the back. “I think you need to accept that they’re only ever going to be just friends.”

“That’s why I want them to go together. Do you remember senior prom?” he asks me.

A smirk pulls at the corner of my mouth. “I went to prom all four years of high school. There’s just something about it that makes girls go wild.”

Martin points emphatically at me. “This is what I’m saying. Hattie is a smart girl, but she’s still a teenager, and they are, by definition dumbasses, just like we were. If she were to go with the Miller kid, I wouldn’t worry that she’ll end up pregnant before graduation. Too many girls in this town get trapped here that way.”

“She’s going to have sex eventually. You’re going to have to trust her to make the best decision for herself. For what it’s worth, I don’t think she’s the kind of girl to give it up in the back of a bargain limo.”

We work for a while until a boy pulls up driving a minivan. I laugh. “That’s a Harriston limo if I ever saw one.”

Several teenagers dressed in formal wear spill out of the sliding doors. Hattie, Elisa, Wren, and Hattie’s friend, Mandy come out of the house to join their friends. It’s been a few months since I’ve spoken to Hattie. We’ve become friendly, but we aren’t close by any means.

My mouth falls open when I see her standing on the porch in a slinky ice blue dress. Suddenly, I understand Martin’s desire to keep her away from teenage boys. I don’t know how he manages to be responsible for a teenage girl when he’s not even thirty yet. Especially someone as innocent as Hattie.

Martin moves closer to the girls, and I go to join him. For all of my talk about trusting her, I finally understand why he’s worried. While he stares down her date, I pull Hattie aside.

“If you need anything, and you’re too afraid to call Martin or Elisa, you can call me. I’ll pick you up,” I promise her.

She raises an eyebrow. “What exactly do you expect to happen?”

“With a teenage boy? There’s very little I don’t think he could be capable of.”

Hattie rolls her eyes. “Well, I don’t have your number. Don’t worry, Dad , I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t be a smart ass.” I pull a reward card out of my wallet and scribble my number on it. “I’ll be home tonight, so if you need anything, call me. I’ll come and pick you up.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” she asks.

I scratch my head. “We’re friends, aren’t we?” It’s not uncommon for me to get up in the middle of the night and do something for a friend. Usually, it’s picking up something Liam needs for Griffin, but there are a few guys who will occasionally call me for a ride if their designated driver ends up getting drunk.

Hattie shrugs. “I guess so.” She takes the card and slips it into her tiny purse.

I roll my eyes. “You don’t have to guess anymore, half-pint, we’re friends. I’m declaring it to be so, therefore it is.”

She salutes me. “Aye, aye, Sir. If you say it is so, then it must be.”

Before I have a chance to retort she ducks inside the van and they drive away.

Martin shakes his head. “I’m too young for this shit.”

“Better get used to it. Before you know it, Wren will be graduating, and you’ll have to watch some punk ass kid pick her up for prom.”

“No way. I’m sending her to an all-girls school as soon as she hits middle school.”

We finally focus on the work I thought I was coming over to do, and after a couple of hours, we’ve got his old truck purring like a happy kitten.

The rest of my night is more normal. I head to Griffin’s house to barbecue some steaks and play a game of three-way catch with my godson before finally going to my house and watching some mindless television for a couple of hours. I’m about to turn in when my phone rings.

I don’t recognize the number, which could really be anyone in town trying to get me to do after-hours work on their vehicle, but my gut tells me it’s Hattie.

I answer it and hear her whisper into the phone. “Charlie? Are you there?”

I’m immediately on alert. “What’s up, kid?”

“Can you come and get me? Carson rented a room for us at the hotel prom is being held at, and I can’t find Donovan.”

I growl as I search for my keys. I have no patience for a guy who has to trick a girl into bed. I won’t embarrass Hattie, but I’ll catch up with this teenage jackass and teach him the consequences of mistreating one of my friends.

I find my keys under the mail I dropped on the counter. “I’m on my way.”

“Thank you, Charlie. I’ll be out front,” she says.

Martin swings into the garage the following Monday.

“Truck problems already?” I ask, wiping my greasy hands off on a rag.

He shakes his head. “Nah, it’s still purring like a happy cat.”

“Not that I don’t like it when my friends drop by the garage, but you’ve never done it before. What’s up?” I ask him.

Martin looks uncomfortable, and in the back of my mind, I’ve been waiting for him to ask me why I brought Hattie home on Friday night.

“This is a weird thing to ask, but did I see you dropping off Hattie after prom?”

“Yeah, you heard me tell her to call if she needed a ride. I guess her date made her uncomfortable, so she called me.”

He rakes his hand through his hair, causing the dark blond strands to stand up. “Why didn’t she call me?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, man. It’s just me, so calling me doesn’t risk waking up a spouse or a kid. A lot of people call me for favors late at night. Griffin does it all the time.”

He nods as if he hadn’t thought of that. It grates a little that he feels he had to question my intentions with a seventeen-year-old girl as if I’d ever even look at her like that, let alone more.

“Do you know what he did?” he asks.

I nod. “Look, I don’t want to break her confidence, but you’re her family. I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell her I did. I don’t want her to think she can’t call if she’s in another bind.”

Martin makes a cross over his heart, so I tell him. “That little son of a bitch. I’ve got half a mind to go and teach that punk how to treat my little sister.”

I toss my rag into my toolbox. “Just so happens I need to take my lunch break. I’ve been wanting to confront the little dick since Friday night. Let’s roll.”