Seasons of Sorrow by C. C. Wood Page B

and handed it to him as he came in the room. Greg set the glass down on the dresser.
    “Brandy, can I have a moment alone with Charlotte?” he asked.
    Her friend smiled slightly and nodded. After she slipped out of the room, Greg faced Charlotte again. He looked at her with appreciative eyes.
    “You look gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful.”
    “Thank you,” she said.
    Greg looked troubled. He rubbed his palms together nervously. Charlotte walked to him.
    “What’s wrong, Greg?”
    He reached out and took her hands in his. “Are you sure this is what you want, Charlotte?”
    She looked at him, bewildered. Where had that question come from? It was completely out of the blue. “What?”
    “Does he make you happy? For the rest of your life, will you be happy with him?”
    His questions took her aback.
    “Yes, Greg. He makes me happy. I see myself growing old with him.”
    Greg dropped his head, nodding, but stared at his feet. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Charlotte was confused. She didn’t understand what was happening. Finally, he lifted his head and cupped her cheeks with his hands, looking deep into her eyes.
    “Are you certain?” he asked. “You can be honest with me.”
    “Why are you asking me this?” He was making her so uncomfortable.
    “Your parents aren’t here to ask you this and I just want to be sure that you’ve thought it through,” he answered.
    That was sweet. Charlotte squeezed his hands as he still had hers in his grip. “I’m sure.” She didn’t share that a small voice asked her every day if she was sure she was doing the right thing. What else could she do? She loved Derek. She truly did. It was just hard to be his fiancée sometimes, but that was true of any relationship. Still, a huge part of her longed to have a family again, to have someone who would hold her at night. She had chalked up her underlying doubts to pre-wedding jitters.
    “I hope he makes all your dreams come true, Charlotte. You deserve to have everything you want.”
    Greg leaned over and gently placed his lips on her forehead. For some reason she didn’t understand, tears filled Charlotte’s eyes and she blinked furiously in an effort to hold them back. She didn’t say a word as he stepped back and left her alone in the bedroom. Without knowing why, Charlotte felt as though she had lost something special.
    She noticed Greg’s untouched glass of champagne on the dresser. She picked it up and drained it before she left the bedroom for the last time as Charlotte Dillon.

Part Three
    Summer
     
    A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.
    ~St. Francis of Assisi~

Chapter Thirteen

    July, Present Day
    T he ringing of the phone brought Charlotte out of a dead sleep. She jerked upright in bed and fumbled for the hand set on the nightstand.
    “Hello?” she mumbled, still half asleep.
    “Charlotte.”
    She went rigid at the sound of Derek’s voice. Reaching out, she snapped on the lamp next to the bed so she could see the caller ID. The number was blocked.
    Charlotte hadn’t heard from Derek since before he left the country. The police had finally backed off just last week, but she imagined they would be back in full force now that her husband was calling her.
    “Where are you?” she snapped.
    “Somewhere safe.” He sounded satisfied, which only served to piss her off.
    “What do you want?”
    “Have you been talking to the police?” Derek asked.
    “Yes. Yes, I have, Derek. FBI agents came to the house to interview me. Did you think that you could steal ten million dollars, ditch our settlement meeting, and skip town with your girlfriend and it wouldn’t cause trouble?” she responded incredulously.
    “Calm down.” He sound as unruffled as ever. “You weren’t involved. They’ll see that and leave you alone after a while.”
    Charlotte felt the anger rising within her like a tide, threatening to choke her. “I’m sure that’s easy for you to say since you’re out of their