14:Invitation

“Oh, I’m so, so sorry!” Charlie apologized to the mother of the toddler whose legs Nana had just knocked out from under him.  She had no idea what was going on today, but her dog normally had impeccable manners.  She was mortified that the surf and sand were having the same effect on the dorkie as a full moon did on a werewolf. 

“No worries.” With brown hair pulled up and clipped at the back of her head, the swimsuit-clad woman’s appearance was as casual as her words.  Picking up the sputtering little boy whose red Mickey Mouse bucket hat now sat cockeyed, she wiped the sand from his mouth.  “You haven’t truly been to the beach until you’ve eaten a little sand.  Right, Lucas?”

Lucas’s miniature forehead was frumpled with confusion, but at least he wasn’t crying as he spit out the piece of beach he’d been force fed.  Charlie would’ve died if Nana had hurt him.

“Dog!  Dog!  Come here dog!” demanded the little girl who wasn’t much older than the boy.  From the authoritative tone and expectancy that her orders would be obeyed, Charlie assumed she was the big sister.  And, oddly enough, Nana raced immediately to the dark-haired child and plopped down at her feet to be petted.

“Well,” Charlie admired, putting her hands on her hips.  The girl in the Tinkerbell bikini and turquoise sunhat had excellent management skills.  “I believe you’re the best dog catcher I’ve ever seen!  Do you have a dog?”

“I want one, but Mommy says no.”  The answer was accompanied by a petulant frown at her mother.

“I’ve told you a thousand times, Micah Jane.  When you and your brother are both potty trained, I might consider potty trainin’ a dog.  Not a minute before.”

“Dog,” little Lucas chimed in, having already forgotten his tumble.  Now his sole focus revolved around getting to his sister’s side so that he could stroke Nana’s fur.

In the meantime, the woman pushed her sunglasses on top of her head with a sigh.  “Some days these two are the best decision I ever made.  Other times, I believe birth control should be mandatory to women over forty.  I’m Lilah, by the way.”

Charlie reached down to extend her hand with a laugh.  “Nice to meet you Lilah.  I’m Charlie.”

Lilah accepted the handshake, but didn’t return the smile and her head tipped speculatively to one side as she did a quick head-to-toe perusal.  Some people had trouble attaching the masculine name to a woman, and Charlie had a canned answer about big brothers that she didn’t get to deliver before her attention was commanded elsewhere.

“What’s your dog’s name?” Micah Jane inquired, peering up at her with squinted eyes.

“Nana.”  Pointing to the front of the girl’s swimsuit, she hazarded, “You have Tinkerbell on your top, so I suppose you’ve seen Peter Pan?”

“Yes, but…”  Little eyes fiercely studied the dog who had decided to lie on the sand with her tongue lolling out to one side.  “This dog isn’t big enough to be that Nana and it doesn’t have a hat.”

Charlie laughed delightedly at the girl’s blunt observation as Lucas plunked down onto his bottom next to Nana, who was enjoying the attention. 

“You’re right.  She isn’t, but I love the movie so much I named her that, anyway.  Tinkerbell is my absolute favorite.  In fact…”  Glancing around, she found that none of the other beachgoers were paying any attention, so Charlie hiked up the left leg of her shorts and exposed the top of her thigh.  “… I have a drawing of her on my leg.”

Upon seeing the old tattoo that had recently been touched up, Micah Jane’s eyes went round.  “You have a Tinkerbell tattoo!  My Daddy has tattoos, but they’re just devils, skulls, horses and motorcycles.  I want a Tinkerbell tattoo.  Mommy, can I have one?”

“Uh-oh.”  Charlie’s eyes apologetically found the other woman's.  “I didn’t meant to-“

“Don’t worry about it,” Lilah stemmed the apology with a careless wave of her hand.  “Her daddy and uncles have enough ink to outfit an army.  This moment was inevitable, and we’ve already established that tattoo requests are my husband’s department.  You can ask Daddy about it later, Micah Jane.”

There was something about Lilah’s carefree attitude that Charlie found engaging, and she couldn’t stop herself from grinning at the children.  Reminded about how much joy little ones could bring, she was made a mental note to go see her grand-niece when she got back to the city, so that she could cuddle with a little person again.  Lord knew she wasn’t rushing anything, but grandbabies would be a most welcome addition to the family when the time came.

“So, uh, Charlie?  Mind if I ask what you do for a livin’?”

Cutting her eyes back to the mother, she produced a friendly smile and negotiated, “Only if you don’t mind if I ask where you’re from.  The accent doesn’t exactly scream New York or New Jersey.”

Laughing, Lilah told her, “I’m originally from Kentucky.”

“The definitely explains the drawl.  And I’m a lawyer.”

By the grin that split the other woman’s face, you would have thought she’d just won the lottery.    

“My husband’s from Jersey, which is where I’ve lived for the last three years.”

It was a nice enough place, in Charlie’s estimation.  She’d gone down the shore ample times through the years to appreciate why the Jerseyans boasted about their state.  Obviously, Lilah didn’t live down the shore, though, or she wouldn’t be vacationing in the Hamptons.

“Oh, yeah?  Which part of Jersey?”

“Edison.  You know, I’d really like for him to meet you.  Would you consider joining us for a cookout at the house tonight?  It’s a big family thing, so you’re welcome to bring along whoever you want.”

While she’d thought the woman engaging only moments ago, now red flags and warning whistles were going off in Charlie’s head.  The way she said “I’d really like for him to meet you” reeked of something Charlie didn’t want to be a part of.  What normal person invited a stranger to a family cookout after five minutes of casual conversation on the beach?  She’d never been to Kentucky, so she wasn’t familiar with how things worked down there, but it definitely didn’t work that way in New York.

“Uh.”  She leaned down to scoop Nana out from under doting little hands with an apologetic smile.  “Thanks, anyway, but we already have plans.  Maybe some other time.”

Visibly disappointed, Lilah endeavored to keep the invitation alive by offering, “We’re at 62 Lily Pond Lane if you change your mind.  We’ll probably eat around seven.”

Lily Pond Lane. 

It was enough to make Charlie’s feet stick to the spot where she stood and had her staring down at the woman who stilled smiled affably, as though nothing was amiss.  Something was definitely amiss though, because Charlie knew that address.  After being one of the biggest points of contention in a prominent divorce settlement, that address was pretty well burned into her memory for all eternity.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your last name, Lilah.”

The affable smile grew tight on one side, turning it into a knowing smirk.  “Bongiovi.  And unless I’m sorely mistaken, yours is Del Vecchio.”

Charlie’s eyes went cold behind tinted lenses and, so that the effect was not wasted, she pulled the sunglasses off her face and met Mrs. Bongiovi’s gaze head-on.  “If you know who I am, then why in the hell are you inviting me anywhere?”

Completely unaffected by the chilly inquisition, Lilah shrugged.  “I love my brother-in-law, but we share an unusual relationship.  I’m the only one in the family – other than his dad – who will get up in his face when he’s wrong, and I happen to think he’s wrong about you.  I’d appreciate the opportunity to get to know you better and prove that.”

Based on the things he’d said to her face, the sheer fact that he was talking about her to his family wasn’t a good thing.  He’d probably been trying to convince them of what an unscrupulous bitch she was, and gremlins nudged at Charlie, urging her to ask what Lilah thought he was wrong about.  Or why Lilah thought he was wrong at all.

Refusing to indulge them, she shoved the demanding little suckers to the back of her mind as Nana squirmed.  Not used to being forced into captivity, the dog was growing tired of being held. 

The real question was whether Charlie dared to put herself in close proximity to him again, this time on purpose?  Not ten minutes ago, he’d displayed his continuing disdain for her, but there had also been another episode of electricity.  His sunglasses had hidden whether or not it affected him, too, but she was betting it had. 

If she didn’t accept this invitation, when might she ever get another chance to work toward taking Izzie’s advice and exorcise the demon that had haunted her dreams last night?  Would she still be willing to take Izzie’s advice once he behaved like the monumental horse’s ass that she knew he would be when cornered in his own home?  The home she fought to forcibly strip from him?  

Accepting Lilah’s invitation under those circumstances would make her the bitch he believed her to be. 

Then again, this wasn’t all about him.  It would be nice if this night ended with a human-induced orgasm, but she also genuinely liked what she knew of Lilah so far – particularly that bit about getting up in Jon’s face when he was wrong.  Getting to know her and spending time with her adorable children were also valid reasons for accepting the invitation.

“Charlie?”

Resolve held her features taut as she firmly laid it on the line for Lilah. “He’s been blindsided by me three times now, through no fault of my own, and I won’t knowingly let it happen again.  I’d enjoy getting better acquainted with you, but he has to know I’m coming and be given the chance to rescind your invitation.”

The woman with the gentle Southern drawl laughed quietly, her aqua eyes crinkling at the corners.  “I just knew Dorothea wouldn’t associate herself with someone who was as awful as Jon seems to believe you are.”

Little does she know…

“Do we have an agreement or not?”

She nodded with reluctance while carefully removing the shovel from her son’s hand so that he would stop hitting himself in the head.  “Sorry you’re gonna miss the pre-dinner fireworks, but I’ll tell him.  Or, better yet, my husband will.  He’s less likely to evict Tony from the house.”

Charlie grinned.  She was looked forward to getting to know with the woman who had an “unusual” relationship with Jon, and truly hoped that they got the chance to become friends.

“Thanks.  Now let me give you my number.  If I don’t get a call or text from you, my two boys – who already know Jon’s kids, by the way – and I will be there a little before seven.”

“Sounds good,” Lilah agreed easily.  “I already heard about your boys and I’m lookin’ forward to meetin’ ‘em.  Kids, it’s time to say goodbye to Miss Charlie and Nana.”

Carrying Nana as she waved goodbye, Charlie couldn’t keep from turning to take a quick peek over her shoulder to seek out Jon, and she found him seated near the spot of their last encounter.  He was pitched forward, leaning aggressively toward the man who sat beside him and gesturing angrily in her direction. 

Something told her she might want to make alternate dinner plans.