Second Hearts

  Chester and I were the only ones looking forward to dessert. Adam didn’t have a sweet tooth. A man who hates chocolate is no authority when it comes to judging desserts. I was practically an expert, which is why disappointment pinned me to my chair the minute Fiona re-entered the room with Ryan’s homemade birthday cake.

  It was so lopsided that everyone tilted their heads to look at it. Worse than that, it was covered in a thick, lumpy layer of marzipan icing. I detest marzipan.

  “Not stomping on my foot now are you, Coccinelle?” whispered Adam. I shook my head but said nothing.

  “It’s a pound cake with almond icing,” announced Fiona. She drove a candle into the top of the cake, which seemed to require the same effort as hammering a nail into concrete.

  “Fabuleux, mon chéri,” praised Jean-Luc in a convincing tone that only an attorney could accomplish. I secretly hoped the whole cake would combust when she lit the candle. Ryan didn’t exactly jump to his feet to blow it out. I imagine he was hoping for the same thing.

  “Faites un désir!” Fiona said urgently.

  I leaned across to whisper to Adam. “Did she just tell him not to eat it because it’s poisonous?”

  “No. She told him to make a wish.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad.”

  I was surprised to see Ryan’s thoughtful expression when he stood up. He was actually debating how to spend his wish.

  “Don’t over-think it, Ryan. Just believe it. À cœur vaillant rien d'impossible,” I told him. Every person at the table glared at me as if I’d just cursed them. Fearing I’d botched the pronunciation, I translated quickly. “Nothing is impossible for a willing heart.”

  “Charli! You’ve been holding out on us,” Fiona accused, beaming. “We thought you didn’t speak French.”

  I shook my head, feeling embarrassment burn my cheeks. “I don’t.”

  Adam gave my hand a secret squeeze under the table. “She only knows the important words.”

  “Make your wish, Ryan,” I mumbled, chagrined by my big mouth.

  “I did. But the cake is still here.”

  Adam laughed. The only thing that saved him from the queen’s wrath was the fact that everyone else cackled too.

  “You will eat it. And you will enjoy it,” she commanded, waving a knife at us, instantly proving why she was the queen.

  The evening didn’t last much past dessert. There was a fair chance that everyone was feeling as ill as I was. Once I could feel the sticky lump of cake I’d hidden in my napkin and stuffed in my pocket seeping onto my leg, I knew it was time to get out of there. Adam suggested that we escort Chester back to Nellie’s apartment. No one protested, least of all Chester, who seemed grateful to get into the cool night air.

  “He suits you, Charlotte,” teased Adam. I stopped for the umpteenth time so Chester could sniff at an invisible spot on the pavement. “Maybe we should get a dog.”

  “We have enough trouble looking after ourselves, don’t you think?”

  “I think we’d do fine. We should definitely get a dog.”

  “Adam, no dog,” I said seriously. The last thing I wanted was to lay down roots. Getting attached to a dog that we weren’t going to be able to take with us when we left was a dumb idea.

  He draped his arm around my shoulder and we began walking again, giving Chester no choice but to follow or be choked. “Alright, no dog.”

  “Promise me,” I demanded, tugging on the side of his shirt. “No surprise puppies.”

  Adam laughed blackly. “Okay, Charli. No puppies.”

  35. Proof

  Dim Whit and Kinsey obviously didn’t need much time to mull over Seraphina’s offer of modelling for her. She called me just a few days after first mentioning it to let me know they’d accepted.

  “Great,” I told her. “Just work out the details and get back to me.”

  I abruptly ended the call, something I was getting quite good at. Ryan taught me the skill, but it was Adam who had mastered the art. He could do it without coming across as a total jerk. Ryan couldn’t order coffee without sounding like a jerk.

  Some New York perks were awesome, like fresh baked pretzels, cannoli and cutting boring phone calls short. Others took some getting used to. I didn’t consider acquiring the ability to run in high heels particularly awesome, but somewhere along the line I’d learned how to do it. The fact that I actually owned a dozen pair of heels to run in crushed the bohemianism right out of me.

  It was a frightening transition to make. Every single day, at least once, I’d try to send Charlotte Décarie and her Louboutin heels packing and bring Charli Blake to the forefront. My plans for that day included Adam, but I knew it would be a hard sell. Convincing him to ditch classes and hang out with me was a feat I’d never once accomplished.

  I cornered him in the kitchen while he was going through his morning routine of packing his bag. “Adam, I have a proposition for you,” I began, trying to pique his curiosity.

  He glanced at me but didn’t stop shoving books into his bag. “Charlotte, I’m listening.”

  “I have a fairy high tea today. I think you should come.”

  Adam had never seen a fairy tea in action. In fact, I couldn’t think of a single time that he’d been to Billet-doux in the six months since he’d signed it over to me.

  “I don’t think I can make it.” He didn’t even sound regretful.

  “What if I told you I absolutely needed you there? Life or death, needed you there?”

  He clipped his bag shut and looked straight at me, deliberating for a few seconds before answering. “A life or death fairy emergency?”

  I replied in a deadly seriously tone. “Exactly.”

  He took the few steps needed to reach me, took my face in his hands and softly kissed my lips. “Okay, I’ll come.”

  His hold on my face didn’t waver as I leaned back to look at him.

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.” The smile that ghosted across his face was only half believable. “I should be there by three.”

  I nodded and his hands moved with me. “Don’t let me down.” He smiled more sincerely and leaned forward to kiss me again. That was as close to a guarantee as I was going to get. He was out the door five minutes later and I was left with a terrible sinking feeling his promise was already as good as broken.

  ***

  Summer had brought on a whole new wave of fairy toddlers with mothers who were looking for any excuse to down champagne at two in the afternoon. I still loved seeing Billet-doux all gussied up like a fairy den, but it was an exhausting process. I always staggered home at the end of the day feeling like I’d spent the afternoon hanging out at a childcare centre.

  That day was no different, and my exhaustion was compounded by the fact that Boy Wonder blew off our three o’clock rendezvous. I wasn’t surprised, so I shouldn’t have been upset about it; but walking into the empty apartment highlighted the fact that I seemed to be coming a distant second to everything else he had going on.

  I didn’t hear Adam eventually walk in. I was in the shower scrubbing the glitter out of my hair, thanks to an overzealous four year old who’d whacked me over the head with her wand while casting a spell.

  He slunk into the bathroom. The foggy shower screen did nothing to diminish his guilty expression. “I know you’re probably furious with me right now,” he began. “But I have a good reason for missing the high tea.”

  “I’m not sure I want to hear it.” His excuses were usually perfectly legitimate and study related. And somehow, they always left me feeling as if I was being punished.

  “I’m not going to explain it to you,” he told me. The fogged-up screen didn’t hide his bright smile either. “If you give me a chance, I’ll show it to you.”

  “Please tell me it’s not a puppy,” I pleaded. “I said no dog.”

  His laugh echoed around the bathroom. “It’s not a puppy. I promised I wouldn’t get a puppy.”

  I turned off the taps and stepped
out of the shower. He handed me a towel, but in a childish move, I dragged my own towel off the rail and left him hanging.

  “You also promised you’d show up today,” I reminded him, wrapping myself in the towel. A sheepish grin swept his perfect face and I felt compelled to chastise him for it. “That sexy little smile thing you have going on isn’t always going to work for you, Adam.”

  He grabbed a fistful of my towel and pulled me in close. “Is it working now?”

  “Sadly, yes,” I conceded, linking my arms around his neck.

  ***

  As hard as I tried to appear indifferent, I was intrigued by whatever it was that he had planned. It was obviously going to be an overnight jaunt. He’d packed a bag while I was getting dressed.

  “What kind of hotel makes you bring your own pillows?” I asked, watching him stuff our pillows into the now bulging bag.

  “I never said we were going to a hotel.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Are we hanging out in La La land tonight, Adam?”

  He kissed my forehead. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

  It had been a long time since we’d had some quality time alone together.

  Both our phones were intentionally left on the kitchen bench, which was another reason to be feeling blissful. I was back in the Adam-and-Charli headspace – right until he ordered the cab we were in to stop outside his parents’ building.

  “We’re going to your parents’?” I asked, crushed.

  “Technically, I suppose,” he replied vaguely, thrusting some money at the driver.

  I slid out of the cab and thanked the driver, because Adam didn’t. He took my hand and kept a tight grip as we walked into the foyer.

  “I’m sure your mum has pillows, Adam,” I grumbled, dragging my feet as he led us to the elevator.

  “We’re not going there, Charlotte. We’re going to the roof.”

  “Why? What’s up there?”

  “Proof.”

  “Proof of what?”

  He smiled so brilliantly that I folded my arms to stop myself reaching out to grab him. “If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?”

  I barely had to think about it. “On a board, paddling so far out to sea that I can’t see the shore anymore, just to prove that I can still do it.”

  “So if we were generalising, you’d be at the beach?”

  I shook my head. “Not just any beach, a rough beach with thundering waves. A winter beach.”

  The elevator doors opened and we stepped out into a small foyer that I’d never been in before. I had no idea what was on the roof level of the Décarie building, but I imagined it had undergone some changes that afternoon.

  “Where are you taking me, Adam?”

  “I’m taking you home,” he said, quietly. “If only for one night.”

  My heart began to hammer as I considered what might be behind the heavy steel door leading out to the roof. “What will it prove?”

  He hitched the heavy bag he was carrying higher onto his shoulder and took my face in his free hand.

  “It will prove to you that I know you. Even on the days when you’ve forgotten who you are.” I felt hot tears prick my eyes. His thumb brushed the first tear away as it rolled down my cheek. “I’ve been busy lately, Charli, but not oblivious.”

  I’d never once told him about the Charli versus Charlotte battle that raged within me. Knowing that he was aware of it brought utter relief. I just needed to figure out which version of me he preferred.

  Adam took a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. It took a hard shove from him to open it, but the effort was instantly worth it. It was nothing like the roof of Jean-Luc’s office building. It looked like any other well-maintained patio garden with big potted plants, a few chairs and a big daybed. The difference was that this garden was fifteen stories above street level.

  Looking out of place and swamped by the urban setting was a little dome tent, a staged scene that I was familiar with. Adam was a stickler for details. It was a trait inherited from his mother. When teamed with the need for perfectionism that he’d inherited from his father, it became a dangerous combination. It was as if he’d packed up every prop from the night we’d spent camping in Gabrielle’s backyard in Pipers Cove more than two years ago and dropped it on the Manhattan rooftop.

  I walked over to the little tent. “How did you manage this?”

  He joined two extension cords together, making the string of Christmas lights flash to life. “Well, Mrs Brown shares the same fondness for trashy Christmas decorations as Gabi,” he said, smiling as I looked back at him. “She lent them to me.”

  “Is there a slide show tonight?” I asked, glancing around for a screen.

  “Not tonight. I think I’ve managed something even better.”

  “Really?” I asked gleefully. “What is it?”

  He walked past the tent to the far corner of the roof. “Come and see for yourself,” he coaxed, waving me over.

  I had no idea what he was hiding underneath the blue tarp. Thankfully, it was far too big and still to be a puppy.

  Adam ripped the tarp away.

  I took one look at the inflatable pool and began to laugh and cry at the same time.

  “I know it’s not quite as good as the ocean, but considering we don’t even have a bath at home, I figured you’d be impressed.”

  I threw my arms around his neck and stretched as high as I could to kiss him. Connecting just under his ear was the best I could do. “You have no idea,” I mumbled between tears and frantic kisses.

  My feet left the ground as he walked us back toward the tent. “I have one more surprise,” he announced, lowering me enough that I was standing on my own two feet again. “We have the tent and the ocean, but we still have the Manhattan traffic.”

  I hadn’t heard it until he mentioned it. The sound of cars and the occasional siren in the distance wasn’t exactly raining on my Pipers Cove parade. He pointed to four small black boxes set up around the perimeter of our campsite, half way between the tent and the edge of the rooftop.

  “What are they?” I asked.

  He walked to one of the boxes. The low light made it impossible to see what he was doing but a second later the unmistakable sound of the ocean drowned out the dull traffic noise coming from the street below us. “They’re speakers. I had Gabrielle record a few hours of the waves below her cottage.”

  The lump in my throat was impossible to swallow away. It was perfect. I didn’t need to see the ocean. Just the sound of it thundered through to my very core.

  My voice sounded strange as I tried to speak. “This is exactly why you’re mine.”

  The darkness did nothing to dull the intensity of his bright eyes. He ambled toward me and as soon as I was within reach, took me in his arms. “What happens now?” he breathed.

  I took his face in my hands, inching his head back so I could see him properly.

  “We go swimming.”

  His face fell forward and he breathed out a long sigh into my shoulder. It wasn’t the gesture of an irate man. It was a scheming manoeuvre. His hands slipped around me, expertly unzipping my dress. He slipped the thin straps off my shoulders and I shimmied out of it. Something about the manoeuvre practically liquefied his cerulean eyes.

  Letting out an appreciative low groan, Adam snaked his arm around my waist and drew me in close, whispering in my ear. “And this is a prime example of why you’re mine.”

  ***

  The comfortable July weather was a world away from our first campout. It made slipping into the cool water absolutely heavenly. It wasn’t much deeper than a bathtub, but when I lay down and closed my eyes I could almost make believe I was somewhere else. The wandering hands of the boy beside me ensured that wherever the place I was dreaming of was, he was with me. An immeasurable amount of time passed before I even contemplated getting out of the water.

  “Your fingers are shrivelling,” said Adam putting his palm against mine. “We need to ge
t you out before you wither away.”

  “Like an Asrai fairy.”

  Changing his grip, he fettered my wrist with his hand and pulled my body against his. “I am dying to know about Asrai fairies, Charlotte,” he whispered, far too dramatically to be believable.

  “Well, your mother would be thrilled to know that they are English, and extraordinarily beautiful,” I began. “The live in really deep water and only surface once every hundred years or so to gaze at the moon. But they’re fragile little beings. If they’re captured or exposed to sunlight, they fade into a pool of water.”

  “Why would anyone want to capture them?” asked Adam, setting my insides on fire by murmuring the words against my shoulder.

  “Because they’re so beautiful that any man who sees one instantly wants to capture her.”

  “There’s not much point if she turns into a puddle a few seconds later,” he teased.

  “That’s not the worst of it,” I said bleakly. “The Asrai doesn’t go quietly. She leaves her mark. They say any man who touches one develops a nasty cold spot on his skin that can never again be warmed to match the rest of his body.”

  He leaned back, gazing at me. “Thank God you’re not an Asrai.”

  “I know, right? I would’ve been liquefied years ago,” I said, sweeping the water off the side of his face with the back of my hand.

  “And I would have frozen to death.”

  I pressed my naked body up against his, raising the water temperature to boiling point. “I would’ve made it worth your while.”

  Adam stared at me with an intensity that I hadn’t felt in a long time. “You’re so beautiful. I love your stories.”

  I grinned impishly. “You study law, I study lore. No big deal.”

  “Can we get out of here now, please?” he asked, planting a lingering kiss on my chest.

  “Are you cold?”

  “No Charli.” His voice was low. “I just want to get you into the tent and have my way with you.”

  ***

  Our little rooftop hotel was supposed to offer a late checkout, but I was woken early by the sound of the steel door opening and muffled voices.