66:Lemme Tell Ya

The heavens of New Jersey looked a lot like Heaven itself as the day began its artistic transformation into night, slowly seeping from blue to purple.  Endless red, pink and orange hues edged it with an ethereal glow infused by peace and blessings, and Charlie acutely felt those blessings as she emptied her fourth glass of wine in the company of people who were becoming as familiar to her as her own family. 

Little Lucas had once again taken up residence on her lap, and they were making finger churches to look at all the people inside while the girls played on the sidewalk behind the house and the other three boys were still bouncing on the trampoline.  Their energy was enviably endless.

“My son has adopted you.  Don’t be surprised if I dump him on your doorstep someday,” Lilah warned dryly from the other side of the patio table, sitting beside her husband.  Mrs. Bongiovi and Desiree had gone to the kitchen, Mr. Bongiovi was keeping Matt company while he cleaned the grill and Jon was next to Charlie with his arm draped over the back of her chair. 

“He’s so cute, I’d take him.  I miss little boys.”

Little boys also brought with them a host of memories, some of which weren’t quite as rosy as others.  Those were readily pushed aside when the little boy in her lap sweetly asked, “Can you do it again?”

Glancing across the table, Charlie found the boy’s daddy grinning at him, clearly smitten with his offspring.  There was just something about a man who was into his kids that women found irresistible, and she was no different.  The Bongiovi men were true family men.  Even if they couldn’t spend as much time with their wives and children as everyone might like, the time they did spend was filled with obvious love.

If Jon ever married again, his wife would find herself part of a tight-knit and loving clan. 

Supporting that theory, Lilah discreetly spoke up, “Since there’s nobody else here at the moment, I’m just gonna come right out and tell y’all that I’m tickled as all get-out that you managed to get past your differences.  You’ve improved Jon’s mood considerably, Charlie.”

“Fu- ”  Glancing toward his nephew, Jon censored himself in order to protect the boy’s fragile ears.  “Forget you, Lilah.”

Snickering softly, Tony drawled, “What I wanna know is how long it took you to hook back up after the Hamptons.  Or did you ever stop hooking up?”

“We stopped.”  Jon didn’t look her direction, but he moved the hand at her nape to slide down the ponytail that lay against her back.  “For about a week.  Then she texted, begging me to come fu- do her senseless.”

He might not have used an objectionable word, but the meaning behind those “clean” words was filthy – and not entirely accurate.  Charlie flung an arm out to backhand him in the chest.  “Jon!  You’re so full of it.”

Now he turned to her, lifting one eyebrow along with his wineglass.  “Did you or did you not text me and ask if I wanted to come keep you company?”

“Well, yes, but-“

“I rest my case, Counselor.”

“Welllll…”  Lilah’s grin was as pronounced as her heavily accented “way-ellll” as Jon and Charlie quibbled about semantics.  “If you two aren’t about the cutest thing.  I’m about to pop my rhinestones I’m so happy.”

“Speaking of…” Jon turned another raised eyebrow to his sister-in-law.  “What in the hell are you doing wearing a Jovi Girl shirt to a family thing?  You know I hate that shi-  stuff.”

Expressive blue-green eyes rolled dramatically.  “Uh, hello?  That would be why.”

He twisted his head back to the left and met Charlie’s eyes over Lucas’s head.  “Remember when we were talking about you going to Disney with Lilah?  You were right.  I don’t want you hanging out with her.”

“Well, I’m thinking it sounds like a good idea now.  You deserve whatever we can come up with after you just made me look like a… loose woman.”  The declaration carried all the indignation he deserved after painting her with a scarlet letter in front of his family.  As far as she was concerned, her partner had just thrown her under the bus all by herself – or so he thought.  “Then again, you also told them you came running when I crooked my finger.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.”

“Dude,” his brother piped in.  “I don’t know what that Disney deal was about, but stick with the plan to keep them apart.  These two together could be serious trouble for us.”

“No shi-  kidding.  I told you that the day they met on the beach, but you wouldn’t go break it up.  You deserve whatever you get.”

“Oh, hush.  The both of you.”  Scolding them as carelessly and efficiently as she would her own children, Lilah asked Charlie, “What was he talkin’ about with that Disney thing?”

There was no opportunity for her to say a word before Jon was providing the answer in his own unique way.  “The Disney freak has never been to Disney World.  I told her to tag along with you guys on your next trip.”

Scowling in his general direction, Charlie assumed fatigue must be making her oversensitive, because that was two times in less than two minutes her new boyfriend had just subliminally insulted her. 

“I can speak for myself and would prefer to, since you still can’t seem to say anything nice about me.”

“Honey, that means he likes you,” came Lilah’s chuckle.  “Cussin’ you to your face means he can’t stand ya – as you well know – bein’ politically correct means he tolerates you for propriety’s sake – which is more often than not – and speakin’ his mind means he’s not obsessed with how he feels.  He’s just feelin’ and bein’.  It’s actually a great compliment.  He bit his tongue around me for the longest.”

“I sure as fu- heck don’t now.” 

Overlooking her injured feelings, Charlie was amused by his continued self-monitoring on Lucas’s behalf.  The toddler, however, was tugging to get down and join his sister now, so she let him slide to the deck and toddle off to scoot down the steps on his butt until he found Micah.

“I’ll pretend he didn’t answer you by calling me a freak and tell you that I’m a little Disney obsessed.  I’m sure that’s no surprise to you since you’ve seen the picture of my bedroom mural, but I haven’t made it to Disney World.  Or to see Finding Neverland.”

“Oh, I’ve been meanin’ to take Micah Jane to that.  You’d be welcome to come with us when we get around to it.”

“No.”  Jon’s rebuttal was short and flat with no further qualification.  He just craned his neck around to see what his brother and father were up to in the yard.  Whatever the situation, it held his interest and drew Tony’s, too.

Her mouth tipping up in a crooked smile, Charlie speculated, “Either he really doesn’t want us hanging out together, or he’s determined that I’m going to see it with him.  We’ve tried to go twice now, but things keep happening and force us to cancel.”

“I’m taking you,” was his absent murmur as he pushed the chair back and put his wineglass on the table as he stood.  “Be back in a minute.”

“Me too.”  Tony was on his feet and following big brother off the deck to join the other men by the grill. 

Charlie couldn’t see that anything was amiss, so she reverted her attention back to Lilah, who was saying, “Well if that isn’t the sweetest damn thing.  He wants to take you himself.  I’m… Sorry.  No offense intended, but I’m stunned.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe I just wasn’t around when they were still in the romantic stages, but he would’ve shuffled Dorothea out the door with me in a heartbeat.”

“I’m not sure I’d call what we’re doing romantic,” she countered with a quiet laugh.  “He got tired of fighting the chemistry and decided to stop trying.  Now he’s checking things off a list of objectives.  Co-existing for an hour or more without sex or an argument was the first big thing.  Bringing me here was another checklist item.”

Lilah’s eyes brimmed with both pity and a sparkle of humor.  “Oh, honey.  You’re gonna have to forgive me for laughin’, but if you only knew.”

“Knew what?”

Putting her forearms on the table and leaning toward Charlie, she dropped her voice.  “Lemme tell you a couple things about my brother-in-law.  Number one, he doesn’t rearrange his schedule for anybody.  I’ve heard him say more than once that he doesn’t have the luxury of flexibility.  For him to drop what he was doing and fly out to California on the spur of the moment for you is newsworthy.  Number two, he hates change.  The divorce made him surly because his comfort zone got blown to hell.  These things you think he’s checkin’ off of a list is him buildin’ a new comfort zone - with you.  Also newsworthy.”

Charlie found herself just blinking silently at the other woman.  That information was almost as overwhelming as walking in here holding his hand, and she was a little preoccupied with finding a way to process it, which left Lilah with another opening.

“I can’t say whether he’s romantic or not, but I’d lean toward not.  These Bongiovi boys are men in every sense of the word – completely crude, inconsiderate and clueless most of the day.  But when Tony cuddles up to me in bed and asks me how my day was because he really wants to know…  Well, it kinda doesn’t matter that he isn’t the star of a Harlequin romance novel.  He gets stuff done and takes care of his family.  There’s nothin’ sexier than a grown man who has his shit together, and I can tell you with authority that Jon has his shit together.”

Jon might have his shit together, but Charlie didn’t.  When he realized how much she didn’t have her shit together…

“Whatever just put that frown on your face,” Lilah interjected quietly.  “Just tell him.  If he cares about you like I suspect he does?  Whatever it is won’t matter.”

Smiling wistfully, she shook her head.  “I bet it does.”

Once again, the other woman’s mouth popped open, but before she could impart any further sage wisdom, the French doors opened.  Desiree and Mrs. Bongiovi rejoined them, saying that the leftovers were away and the kitchen was clean again after their little dog’s scavenger hunt for scraps in the trash can. 

Grateful for the interruption, she smiled at them both throughout reminiscent tales about Bongiovi dogs of the past until she noticed how dark the sky was getting.  Charlie pushed the button on her phone to discover it was eight-thirty and, with an hour drive into the city, felt she should really be starting on that commute soon.

As she caught sight of the men coming toward the deck in a laughing group, she told the women around her, “Ladies, it’s been such a pleasure spending the evening with your family.  I’m sorry to cut it short, but I have to work in the morning.  By the time I go pick up my dog and get home, it’s going to be late.”

“You aren’t taking tomorrow off?”  Desiree asked with surprise.  “I would think you deserve a day to recuperate.”

“Tomorrow’s Monday and-“

“And Chiara has a standing Monday appointment,” Jon spoke from above as his hands came to rest atop her shoulders.  “She meets a homeless woman at Grand Central for coffee and bagels.”

“How sweet!” 

Of course Lilah would jump right in with that, but her predictability was followed by Mr. Bongiovi’s much more unexpected, “That sounds like an interesting story.”

“Not really,” Charlie laughed and briefly told them about how her Mondays with Millie came into being.  “I think at this point it’s as much for me as it is her.  She’s such an amazing woman and visiting with her makes me take a step back and acknowledge that some things aren’t worth the weight I give them.  I need that some days.”

Jon gave a warm squeeze to her shoulders as Mr. Bongiovi nodded approvingly.  “Good for you. I believe we all need that reminder from time to time.  It’s difficult to find perspective in the middle of your troubles.”

“They seem a whole lot bigger when you’re in ‘em by yourself.” 

Maybe Charlie was the only one who caught the pointed undertone in Lilah’s statement, but it was pointed sharply enough to gouge her conscience.  There had been no time thus far for that talk she was supposed to have with Jon about her marriage and, honestly, she’d considered it a good thing up to this point. 

Dragging up her past wasn’t something that excited her.  In fact, it depressed the hell out of her and she wasn’t all that anxious to find out Jon’s reaction, either.  That was mostly because she didn’t think he was going to be quite as accepting as Lilah seemed to believe he would.  Not when he knew how her past affected her future.

This relationship might be over before it really got started, but it wasn’t fair to let him continue it in the dark.  It was time to see how serious Jon was about this partnership thing.