Tides and Tidings

Chapter 15

Blythe

C harlie was never one for public displays of affection, but stepping outside the hotel, his hand reached for mine. His hands are much softer now than they were when we first met. He has since learned that hand lotion is not a myth and that you can buy it almost anywhere. Does he use it? Sparingly.

“Who is this boyfriend of mine?” I joked, my eyes meeting his.

He hesitated, “Vacation Charlie.”

“Was that Vacation Charlie earlier, too?”

A smirk spread across his face and he turned his gaze ahead. “Sure was.” He squeezed my hand, “Do you like him better than Home Charlie?”

I wrapped my free arm around his. “Nope.”

He looked surprised, “Really?”

“Yeah. This version of you is spontaneous, but I much prefer the one I sit on the couch with and watch TV.”

“That one is lame,” he shrugged.

I stopped in my tracks and pulled him over to the nearest bench. Was he feeling insecure? “That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. Bee, we’ve been datin’ for over a year and already act like we’ve been married for a decade with a kid. We never got that honeymoon shit. We should be out getting drunk with friends on the weekends. We sit home and play Uno with our kid.”

My heart leaped when he said our kid .

“We’re spontaneous sometimes.” I offered up.

“Name one time.”

“There was that one time we dropped Wren off at your parent’s house for a sleepover.”

“Bee, that was planned.”

I shook my head, “No, it wasn’t.”

“It sure was.” Charlie paused, “Tell me what we did after we dropped her off.”

“We went home, ordered some pizza, had some snacks, and watched a movie.”

“That’s not spur of the moment. That’s lame. We’re in our early thirties, and we should be doing fun things—outside of the house.”

“We do. We go on the boat, go out for dinner, go to the movies…”

“But we have Wren with us—all of those times.”

I wasn’t sure how to broach this because he had a point, but I don’t think he comprehended how much I love spending quality time with both of them. Now that our Little Bird is in school, we only get the afternoons and a little bit of the evening with her.

“If you could do one thing tonight, Charlie Hannigan, what would it be?”

The smirk returned, “You.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well that’s a given,” I winked. “Let me rephrase: what would you like to do outside the hotel room?”

He thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

I considered my options before making a bold move. “I have an idea.”

Charlie cocked his head, “What?”

“Before I suggest it, do you have anything planned after dinner?”

“I figured we could find someplace to grab a drink. Other than that, no.”

I sat up straight, suddenly very excited about my suggestion. “I’m going to suggest something so feel free to shoot it down, okay?”

Charlie nodded.

“Since we have one night in a town where we don’t know anyone, why don’t we go to dinner and then go clubbing? We don’t have to worry about Wren and can let loose for once.”

The look of bemusement spread across his face. “You want to go to a club? With me?”

“I do,” I reached for his hand and pulled it into my lap. “Is that a problem? We have a free pass to be absolute degenerates tonight—no consequences.”

“Other than a hangover,” he added.

Charlie chewed the inside of his cheek and considered what I had suggested. “Let’s do it.” He agreed.

“Wait, really?”

His blue eyes met mine, “Let’s have a night that makes us thankful we have a kid and spend the weekends at home.”

“This is very spontaneous for us,” I noted.

He grabbed my cheeks and kissed my lips, “Very.” His voice was low against my lips.

Tonight will be a night we will remember for the rest of our lives.