104:Sunup Butter Up

October 18

Charlie covered a wide, jaw-popping yawn with the back of her hand and shivered under the light jacket she’d packed in anticipation of Florida temperatures.   East Hampton was definitely not Orlando, and the ocean breeze that was stirring before sunup cut right through it, but she was happy they’d decided to go ahead and come East after dinner last night. 

Even in the murky pre-dawn light, she could see that the lilies were gone and the trees were well on the way to shedding their leaves.  Those things, along with the biting air, gave the place a totally different feel than the Hamptons where she and Jon “found” each other, but when she stepped through the front door of the house on Lily Pond Lane… It didn’t matter.  She still loved it.

“Thank you for being so indulgent and bringing me here,” she said as he shut the door behind them, her tired smile reflecting the time difference and questionable sleep quality on the plane.  “I think it’s become my happy place.”

Coming close enough to share the same air, he inclined his head to dust soft lips over hers.  “Good.  You deserve a happy place after yesterday.”

It had been rough finding out that Owen had long been laying plans to discredit her with the boys and their disapproval of her adulterous ways in dating Jon.  In the end though, as Jon had told her, the rollercoaster of emotions had been worth it. 

The boys were disappointed and furious with their father, which was unfortunate just because Charlie hated seeing them upset about anything, but they’d immediately stopped giving Jon the cold shoulder and started talking to him – them.  Upon discovering that their college costs were part of the reason she’d stayed married for so long, her sons instantly declared that they wanted to come home and go to school in New York, where there was decent pizza.

Charlie felt obligated to argue with them and say that it wasn't necessary, but after two half-hearted attempts, she let it go.  Changes were coming for everyone, it seemed.

“If it wasn’t so cold out, I’d walk over to the beach and watch the sunrise.”

“That the only thing stopping you?” he asked, dropping his duffel at the foot of the stairs while she started up them with her bag.

“Pretty much.”

“Then it ain’t stoppin’ you anymore.”  Jon lightly threw his chin.  “There should be sweatshirts in my dresser.  Grab us a couple while I make coffee.  We’ll go to the beach and talk about the shit I let slide last night.”

Pausing about a third of the way up the staircase, Charlie’s eyes dropped to find the gentle yet determined features of her boyfriend, and there was no feigning ignorance.  He wanted to talk about what came next and, unless she missed her guess, give her just a little bit of hell. 

“Sounds good,” she agreed quietly, having waited for this figurative shoe to drop ever since leaving the boys in front of their dorm last night.  As he said, though… He let it slide.  They’d lain in the little plane bed, wrapped around one another and discussing possible dates for Disney, instead.

Ten minutes later, his voice came bellowing up the stairs, “Hurry your ass up, Counselor, or you’re gonna miss that sunrise!”

“I’m here, I’m here,” she grumbled with a smile, tossing him a navy hooded Patriots sweatshirt that was just like the gray one she wore.

He tossed his hat onto a big, square newel post and shimmied into it while Charlie grabbed one of the insulated coffee cups that he’d put on the other post.  Deciding that he had a good idea about leaving the hood up, she tucked her ponytail into the neckline with one hand and brought hers over her head.

“Ready?” he asked, and when she nodded, they zipped out the door for the short trek to the Main Beach.

Considering both the time of year and time of morning, the beach was understandably deserted when they arrived, so they left their toed-off shoes near the entrance and found a dune closer to the water.  They settled their butts into the chilly sand, and Jon slipped his arm around her waist as he sipped his coffee.

“If I could live here, I think I would,” Charlie remarked contentedly after pushing the base of her cup into the sand and leaning into him. 

“You’re a beach girl, huh?”

“Yes, but I was talking about East Hampton.  It’s a little odd to be here and not have you scowling at me, but at the same time, it’s pleasantly nostalgic.  I’m reminded of how far things have come in the last couple months.  How quickly things can change.”

“Yeah,” was his thoughtful agreement.  “Last time my ass was in this sand, I was cussing you and your little dog, too.  Now I kinda miss the fur butt.  Think she’ll be okay on a helicopter?  We could pick her up when we go into the city later.  ”

Charlie lifted her head from his shoulder to ask curiously, “Why are we going into the city?”

“Sunrise first.  Then that.”  His arm cinched tight around her as the uppermost curve of the sun cracked the horizon to cast a warm glow over the ocean.  “You remind me of the sun, yanno.”

There weren’t many things he could’ve said to distract her from his “go into the city” comment, but that did it.

“Good diversionary tactic, Bongiovi.  Now tell me how.”

“Diversionary, but true nonetheless.”  His chuckle was quiet, and the daylight broke over his smile as he glanced over at her before again setting his sights on the ocean.  “The sun rises every morning with the devastating ability to set the world on fire.  Sometimes it does – wildfires, sunburn and such – but if you take the proper precautions with it…  There’s just warmth and light.  That’s you.”

Charlie pulled against his embrace to turn and stare at him, blinking slowly.  She was… flabbergasted.  Yes, she’d known there must be some kind of soft, poetic spot deep inside him.  Jon was a songwriter, after all.  He had to wear rose-colored glasses on occasion, but that wasn’t his normal mode of operation and it sure as hell wasn’t how he usually talked to her. 

He’d first professed his love with an angrily bellowed F-bomb, for crying out loud!

The corners of his mouth twitched in his unshaven face as crinkled eyes peeked her way.  “You’re missing the sunrise, Counselor.” 

“I…”  Charlie tilted her head to one side, shaking it in bewilderment.  “I still don’t really know you, do I?”

A fleeting frown creased his features as he lifted one shoulder.  “I’d say you know me about as well as anybody.”

“Well, then that whole sunrise thing was you buttering me up for something I’m not going to like, right?  Because that was my first thought.”

His deep, hearty laughter echoed in the quiet and the spontaneity of it had Charlie smiling along with him.  He’d spent so much of their relationship angry or sullen that a happy Jon still packed a punch.  She would probably get used to it someday, but for the time being, it was still a lovely novelty.

“Just goes to prove you do know me, I guess.” he snorted.  “I’m not lyin’, but when I chose to offer the observation was a matter of… selective timing.”

Charlie rocked to one side, bumping her left shoulder against him so that his coffee sloshed onto his jeans.  “I can’t even be mad at that, so consider me buttered and move on.”

Wiping at his pant leg with one hand, he buried the base of his cup in the sand with the other.  The sun crept higher above the edge of the sea, making it easy for her to see his unshaven face go solemn.  Well, maybe not solemn, but definitely not laughing. 

With his heels planted in the sand, he leaned forward and folded his arms atop bent knees while surveying the come and go of the gently lapping tide. 

“I’m not thrilled that you didn’t tell me that sonofabitch was using your brother’s death to manipulate you.  And, now that I know what kind of… cruel shit he did to keep you under his thumb, there are three crucial things I’d like to see happen in the immediate future.”

That was a bit extreme, she thought, pushing her toes into the cold sand and mimicking his position of bent knees.  Rather than folding her arms on top of her knees, though, she wrapped them around.

“Cruel is over-exaggerating it.  Annoying is a better description.”

“No, it’s not,” he countered with a scowling shake of his head.  “If you wanna get right down to it, it was emotional and psychological abuse.  He was fucking with your head and making you carry around this huge guilt complex so that you wouldn’t focus on getting rid of his ass.  That’s why, first and foremost, I hope you’re planning to see that therapist of yours a while longer.  You can’t erase years of what he did with a couple weeks.”

Charlie hadn’t considered continuing those visits.  Her thought was that she was through everything, and there was no need for additional… support, as it were.

“Jon, I really don’t think that’s necessary.”

“I figured as much,” he acknowledged with an arched eyebrow.  “But I’m not talking about two, three times a week like you have been, just don’t stop altogether. Think about it, anyway.”

That wasn’t unreasonable, so she had no qualms about saying, “I promise to think about it.  Now what else?”

He took a deep breath and said firmly, “I’d still like you to go through with the anniversary party.  There’s a chance things won’t pan out the way I wanted, but letting him off scot-free and meekly handing him divorce papers along with half of everything you have…  That’s not gonna work for me.  Piece of fuck has to pay the piper, one way or another.”

“So what is it you have in mind, then?”

“To bring one of your brothers in the loop on this,” he proclaimed.  “I like Luke a lot, but I’m thinking Vince or Dominick because of their police background.  If we can find a way to make blackmail, extortion, abuse or something stick, Owen won’t get jack shit in a divorce and his new home will be in a six by six cell.  It’s not my favorite scenario, since he’s not crying and bleeding, but I can make myself content with it.”

Her ponytail scooted back and forth across her neck inside the gray hoodie.  That sounded fabulous, but there was no way it was going to happen. 

“You realize I can’t prove any of it?  Other that what Noah overheard, it’s nothing more than my word against Owen’s.”

Curling his arm around her shoulders, Jon pulled her close and nosed the hood out of the way so that he could press a kiss to her temple.  “That’s why I want to talk to one of your brothers.  They know how people manipulate the legal system.  Let’s see if they can use that experience to help us find a way.”

“Is this why we’re going to the city today?”

“Yeah.”

“And we’re coming back here tonight?  With Nana?”

“That was the plan.”

It truly served no point from where she stood, because whatever damage had been done happened too long ago to make a difference to her.  Screwing him out of a divorce settlement would be nice, but was it worth the hassle?  Maybe it’s because she was tired that Charlie didn’t care about anything beyond serving Owen with the divorce papers and walking away. 

Jon, however, had put up with a lot on her behalf.  Put up with her for that matter while she was trying to get her life in order.  If this is what would make him feel better about the whole thing, then she wasn’t going to argue about it.

“I want you to know I’m only doing this for you.”

“Fine by me,” he told her bluntly.  “If you don’t have enough energy, interest, or inclination to vindicate yourself…  Well, I have enough interest for both of us.”

“Okay.”  With the air slowly seeping out of her lungs in a long, quiet sigh, she leaned into him and said, “But I can’t bring just one of my brothers into this.  It’s an all or nothing thing, and if they know, then my parents have to know.  If my parents know, then Izzie has to know.”

“So what does that mean?”

The sun was almost fully above the water now, and a new day had officially broken.  In a short while, the world would be up and stirring, readying itself for whatever changes the day would bring because nothing ever stayed the same.  That’s just the way life was, and Charlie’s life was shaping up to have another eventful day.

“It means I need to call a family dinner.”