“It meant a lot to her that you were able to get that specific musical there for opening night.”
“It meant a lot to me, too.”
We lie down on the blanket, and I spread the second blanket over us. We’re both wearing pajamas, just like we did back when the wall between our townhomes first came down, right after we’d raced around the grass to help get us past wallowing over mistakes made at work. But unlike that night, this one is a bit chillier.
There are still just as many townhomes on all four sides of us with their back porch lights on, including the townhome I used to live in. The couple who live there now has a barbecue and a couple of chairs on their deck. Since their deck isn’t empty, like mine was, it makes it harder to imagine that I still live there. It gives me a sudden and intense longing for the place I lived while falling in love with Charlie.
“Hey,” Charlie says. “Eyes over here.”
I chuckle and turn to look at her. She’s lying on her side, her arm bent at the elbow, her head resting on her hand as she gazes at me with eyes twinkling in thelight of the moon. She’s right. I have everything I need right here.
“And did you see how I was at your side during your speech, fully spotlight-adjacent?”
I smile, remembering back to that night out here on a blanket when she told me she couldn’t be in the spotlight, and I echo her words. “Instead of being in the bathroom, either throwing up or passing out from hyperventilating? I did.”
Charlie nods. “Now that’s what we call growth.”
“Indeed. Although I feel like you’ve been getting more comfortable being in the spotlight for a while now.”
“Oh, I have. It’s just sometimes good to acknowledge the awesomeness all over again.”
“Kind of like you still acknowledge the awesomeness of having a kitchen sink and a shower that doesn’t stop providing water right in the middle of washing your hair?”
“Don’t forget a table and chairs. And it’s because those things are worth acknowledging the awesomeness of daily.”
“And that’s just one of the many reasons why I love you.”
“I never got a chance to ask you how your drive was.”
“It was good. But really long, especially because I was dying to tell you news the whole time.”
“News?” Charlie says, sitting up and turning to face me.
I sit up, too, facing her. “Part one: I’ve been working through the schedule and budget on the train station. I have all the building materials ordered and on site. My guys have been begging for overtime, and now that we have close to final numbers in, I know there’s enough in the budget to let them have it.”
Charlie perks up. “Oh, yeah? So when do you think you’ll finish?”
A smile spreads across my face. “Two weeks.”
“For real?”
I nod. The funding for finishing The Shadowridge came in close to the same time I was under contract to start working on the train station in Philadelphia. So, for the past five months, I’ve been working double duty. I’ve spent most of my time in Philadelphia because, well, because The Shadowridge has had Luis. He knows just what I want and just how to manage the crew and all the sub-contractors, so I know I can trust him to take care of things while I’m in Philadelphia.
It has meant that I’ve only gotten about three days every two weeks to work hands-on at The Shadowridge, but it was worth it to get the place to where she is now. And it’s amazing that both locations are wrapping up so close to the same time.
“And part two: I got a call this morning that my next project, the Inn in Cloakwood, was greenlit.”
Charlie lets out an excited shout that echoes off the buildings surrounding us. “Owen, that is so great!” She wraps her arms around me in a hug and squeezes tightly. After a moment, she pulls back, leaving her hands on my shoulders. “So, are you saying that in two weeks, you’ll be able to be back here? We’ll no longer have to switch off driving two and a half hours every weekend to see each other?”
My grin is wide. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. In two more weeks, we’ll be able to see each other daily. Then I can acknowledge the awesomeness of you all over again, in person, every single day.” These past five months have been hard, especially since we had been so used to seeing each other all the time. But the five hours spent in the car every other weekend were completely worth it. I would drive ten times that distance if it meant seeing Charlie.
Charlie is just looking at me, grinning as wide as could be, and I question whether I can even make it another two weeks before being back here, seeing her every day.
“So, since we’ll be back together again soon, I’ve got a question for you. And I am one hundred percent prepared to use my growly voice, if that’s what it takes.”
Charlie cocks her head, trying to figure out what Imight be asking. I put my left hand in the pocket of my pajama pants, my fingers wrapping around the box.
“I may not be trained in espionage, but I know a high-value target when I see one. And Charlotte Lancaster, you are it. You’ve hacked my heart, infiltrated my life, and somehow made me fall more deeply in love with you than I ever thought possible. There is no one I want to be with in the world more than you. You’re my person. You make me feel like I am finally home. I want to go hand-in-hand with you through a life filled with laughter, tech jargon I don’t understand, sticky notes, and anything and everything that life throws at us.
