Logan finally slowed down when it was clear he couldn’t drive too fast through a neighborhood with so many bumps and little or no visibility because of the rain. While Charlotte was glad about it, she was also hoping the rain would stop in the next five minutes. How on earth was she going to carry those boxes of champagne to the house in this rain? She really didn’t want Logan to have to park in the driveway.
The living room had enormous windows with views of the driveway and the front lawn. Everyone would see her arrive in this flashy car, and while she didn’t really mind what the guests would say, her mom would be a problem.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realize that Logan had almost stopped. He kept gesturing with his hands as if asking permission to speak.
“You can talk,” Charlotte said loudly, rolling her eyes. She had to speak up because the pounding rain made it almost impossible to hear.
“Thank you, Miss Astor.” Logan picked up speed once he was free of his silent promise. “I’m afraid my chivalrous side won’t permit me to drop you off a block away. You’ll get those pretty curls of yours wet, and I’m afraid I don’t have an umbrella on me.”
“That’s no concern of yours, Mr. Hamilton.”
“Of course it is. What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t help you take those boxes, too?”
“You are not a gentleman, so it won’t be a problem,” Charlotte said, giving him a wide smile.
“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” Logan also smiled as he squinted to see the road. The rain was still coming down hard.
“Well, you all but gave me permission to speak my mind around you, so I plan to do just that,” Charlotte said. “Turn here. You can park next to those oak trees and I’ll take it from there.” She pointed towards the row of bushes that fenced off her property. There were several cars parked on the street and close to the driveway, and among them, she spotted Floyd’s mother’s car. That probably meant Floyd was here too.
Logan ignored Charlotte’s request and pulled up towards the driveway, parking the car right in front of the garage entrance. She glared at him, and his only response was a shrug. When she was about to step out of the car, she saw someone pull the curtains open from inside the house, and a few faces looking out towards Logan’s car.
“Great. Now I’ll be the talk of the party,” Charlotte said, more to herself than to Logan.
“What is that I hear? That you don’t want to steal someone’s spotlight?”
“I don’t care about that! But my mother will be scandalized that I’m arriving in a car like this one, with a man she knows nothing about.”
“I was under the impression you were an adult,” Logan said dryly.
“See, you’ll never understand how society works here, which is why you think you can say or do anything you want,” Charlotte said, opening the door. A gust of wind blew her dress and she quickly grabbed it to prevent it from revealing the entirety of her legs.
“Of course I understand how it works. I live here, too. And I come from a similar place,” Logan said. “Stay there. Don’t be stupid.”
Charlotte was about to berate him for calling her stupid, but Logan left the car, slamming the door behind him. Through the rearview mirror, she saw him pulling out the boxes of drinks, and then he ran up the driveway to leave them at the doorstep. He was drenched in a few seconds.
Just when he made the last run carrying the third and final box, Charlotte saw Natalya, their Ukrainian maid, open the door and hold out an umbrella. She and Logan exchanged a few words, and then Logan walked back to the car, holding out the umbrella for Charlotte.
Little good did it do when it was practically raining sideways, but Charlotte held on to her dress and reluctantly accepted Logan’s help in getting to her house.
Charlotte’s mother stood at the doorway, looking at her and Logan up and down.
“Charlotte,” she said sternly. “Who might this gentleman be?”
“This is-”
“I’m Logan Hamilton, ma'am. I’m just giving Charlotte a ride,” Logan cut in before Charlotte managed to finish her sentence. “It is my fault Charlotte stayed late in the office, so I offered to give her a ride.”
“Oh, you also work in Reynolds and Manche?” Charlotte’s mother said. Charlotte noticed she placed emphasis on Manche, Edward’s last name as if taunting her because it was his name on the firm now and not hers. “Are you in any way related to the Hamiltons from Rhode Island?”
“No, ma'am, but I also work in the building. And no, I don’t have relatives in Long Island, I’m sorry to say,” Logan said. He was purposely avoiding the truth, Charlotte realized. “Well, I should be going. Have a wonderful evening.”
“Noo! You can’t leave in this weather,” Charlotte’s mom said, further opening the door. “You must stay at least until the rain has passed. And you’ve been so kind to my daughter.”
What the woman wasn’t saying but really meant was: “I want you to stay so I can learn everything about you and why on earth my daughter arrived here with you.”
“Mom, if he has to go, he has to go,” Charlotte said. “Thank you for the ride, Logan.”
With that, Charlotte stepped inside to see that everyone was pretending to be in the midst of very interesting conversations while glancing towards the door and trying to hide it. Mary, who was surrounded by a few of Charlotte’s former high school friends, left her group and ran towards Charlotte.
“Dearest! I’m so glad you could make it!” She hugged Charlotte, apparently not caring if she got wet too in the process. “Please, come in and make yourself comfortable. It’s your house after all!”
“Hi Mary,” Charlotte said, giving her a smile. It did annoy her that Mary was there acting like a host, when yes, this was Charlotte’s house too. But it was Mary’s party, and she had to remember that she was only there to make Edward jealous.
Then she heard the door close and to her horror, Logan was inside too. Her mother hadn’t let him get away.
“Charlotte, who is that man?” Mary whispered, grabbing Charlotte’s arm. “Are you seeing someone you vixen?”
“No. He… works in the building and gave me a ride.”
“That is Logan Hamilton,” said a voice Charlotte would recognize anywhere. “He owns-”
“The firm is working for him,” Charlotte said, interrupting Edward. He stepped towards Mary, giving her a one-arm hug.
“It’s great to see you, Charlotte. Thank you for coming.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss this for the world! My favorite people getting married,” Charlotte said with a smile.
Let the show begin. Never mind that Logan was here. Intruding, again.
“We’ve been looking through a few magazines with your mom, but you must help me! There’s simply so much to do and I don’t even know where to start,” Mary said, exchanging smiles with Edward. She looked as sweet and innocent as ever with a white, flowered dress, her hair in a ponytail.
“I… will go get you girls something to drink. What are you having, Charlotte?” Edward asked.
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ll get something soon. Did you invite Floyd, by any chance?” she said sweetly.
Edward looked confused for a split second. “Yes,” he replied. “I believe he’s outside with the other guys from the office.”
“Great!” Charlotte said. “Excuse me.”
She spotted her mother cornering Logan with a few other older ladies. Well, if he insisted on being in the lion’s den, he’d have to learn to survive.
Charlotte, however, was on the hunt for someone else.
It was hard for Charlotte to take her eyes away from Edward as he walked around mingling with guests with Mary at his arm. But she didn't want to look desperate trying to catch Floyd's attention, so she didn't go directly towards him, and instead sat in the dining room close to the food, where most of the guests came through from time to time. Her high school classmates greeted her politely yet with a distance that Charlotte knew was because of their very thinly veiled dislike for her. The only reason they were even there was because they also happened to be friends with Edward. Everyone knew everyone in the small, elite, old money Atlantian society. Still, Charlotte was never alone. Some of Edward's pals from high school and a group of people she hardly talked to at the office were all gathered close to her, laughing at her jokes. A lot of them asked about Mary, and Charlotte was happy to talk about her; tonight she had to look like she was the happiest
"Logan, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Floyd stepped out from the crowd and grabbed Logan, ushering him far from Adam. Some guys from the office held Adam up as he started to regain consciousness. Charlotte stared at Logan wide-eyed and didn't know what to do. Of all the outcomes this evening could have had, this one was so far off her expectations that it seemed like the universe was playing a bad joke on her. Everyone would wonder who Logan Hamilton came with and they'd be talking about her for all the wrong reasons. If anything, all she had wanted was to sow doubt into Edward's mind about her relationship with Floyd. Now she'd be the talk of the town, along with Logan. Adam's wellbeing wasn't even on her mind. He was a rude, condescending guy who always made inappropriate comments to the women at the office. In her mind, there was a growing suspicion that something along those lines had happened with Natalya. What surprised her the most had
Charlotte saw Mary and quickly pulled back from Edward. He stiffened, breaking the spell, even if he hadn't seen Mary yet. "Mary, Edward came to find me," Charlotte said. Edward turned and put his arm around Charlotte's shoulders in a brotherlike protective manner. "I thought she'd need some cheering up. Logan Hamilton was the one stirring up some trouble back here," he said. "They're working together." "Oh, darling," Mary said, pushing away the hanging sheets to get to where Charlotte and Edward stood. "Don't worry about that man. The party was lovely, and I can't thank you and your mom enough. I'm so happy to be here surrounded by the closest people in my life, that short of a fire or a disaster of calamitous proportions, nothing could spoil my happiness." Charlotte smiled at her, not knowing what to say. Had she walked in two seconds later, she would have probably seen Edward and her kissing. The way he had touched her cheek...
Floyd had always been kind of a mystery to Charlotte, one that she had never cared to decipher until now. His family came from a long line of bankers and lawyers who got established in Atlanta in the early 1900s. Their mothers had gone to school together and were the same age, though she had had Charlotte well into her thirties, while Floyd's mother had gotten pregnant right after she got married when she was only 21. Floyd had always been much older than her; when Charlotte was a kid he was already almost a teenager, and even though their families were really close, they hadn't spent much time together because of their age difference. From afar, though, she saw him as an awkward guy who was always trying too hard. He rarely had girlfriends and was a bit of a nerd in school, and like Charlotte's mother, his mother always seemed to be unhappy with him regardless of what he did. What she didn't understand about him was what he wanted
Edward soon joined the table where Charlotte sat, talking to a couple of interns who were very interested in a case she had handled a few months ago. Truth be told, that had been the case that had encouraged Charlotte to ask for a promotion just because the odds against her client had seemed insurmountable. Yet, due to Charlotte's intense cross-witness questioning, her client had walked free, and the person responsible ended up confessing."And that was it," she said as a final note. "Sometimes litigating in court depends entirely on how you drill a witness and how much you can get them to say, though you should never rely on that. Court is unpredictable.""Don't sell yourself down. You're great at getting people to talk," Edward said all of a sudden, surprising the guys around her. He hadn't been part of the conversation, yet it was clear he had been clinging to Charlotte's words."Thank you?" Charlotte replied shyly. She wasn't used to gettin
Charlotte felt like everyone on the road was looking at her, though she had no way of knowing from behind the tinted car windows. It was just her guilty conscience making her feel overly observed because she shouldn't have accepted Logan's gift. Technically, she hadn't accepted it formally yet. Until she signed the car's papers, she wasn't its legal owner. But driving off with it was still a tacit acceptance.When she got home, thankfully, no one was in the parking lot when she got off. She was looking forward to a calm, relaxing night. It had been ages since she last cooked something off the recipe book she had taken from her mother's house, and there was still some wine left. When she opened the fridge, she realized all there was left were a few scraps of things that she couldn't really combine into something edible. The pantry looked just as bare.She made a mental note to go to the supermarket tomorrow.Just as she pulled out a pot to boil water
Mistress? Charlotte was surprised and felt a little silly for being caught off guard like that. Of course he'd have mistresses. His wife was having an affair. Maybe Mrs. Hamilton started the affair because he was already having one with the maid? Logan had never pretended to be an upstanding puritanical person, so it really shouldn't have been surprising to Charlotte.But murder? That she had a hard time believing, even if Logan seemed to be the kind of person who could punch someone out of the blue. Given what she knew about him, though, this was probably going to be a tough case."Thank you," Charlotte said to Detective Fontaine. "May I speak to my client, please?""This way, Miss Astor," he said, gesturing for her to follow.Charlotte was familiar with the station, but Logan was being held in an area she had never been in. It looked to be more secure than the places where they held other prisoners, but when Detective Fontaine opene
The atmosphere in the car while Charlotte drove was tense, or at least she felt it was that way. Logan didn't speak. After giving Charlotte the directions to get to the apartment he was staying in for the night, he looked out the window most of the time, except to laugh at Charlotte when she cursed at the reporters that they quickly dodged once they left the station.Charlotte thought it'd be better if they talked again tomorrow. It was late and she wasn't sure it was a good idea to go up to his apartment with him. When she pulled up at the building's entrance, a valet opened the door for Logan."Will you come in?" he said. He looked so tired and profoundly sad, that Charlotte didn't have the heart to leave him alone."Yes, of course," she said, stepping out of the car and handing the keys to the valet.The receptionist greeted Logan with a respectful nod and Charlotte and Logan headed to the elevator."I wasn't planni