Who Was Amelia Coldwell?

/Chapter osm/ springbreak plans

The ice had long melted, and the earth blossomed. This spring, however, came with long rainy days and twice as much pollen. Carena and her friends thought their whole spring break would be ruined, but to their relief, the sky cleared just three days before their break ended.

Carena was excitedly packing to stay over at Danielle's place. Well, her mother's, no one would've wanted to go to her father's.
She was looking for her film case when the phone started ringing. She rushed to answer the phone.

"Rosemary, are you almost on the way?" She asked energetically.

Rosemary had a groggy voice, "Hey, Care. I'm sorry, but I ran out of my allergy medication, and my mom ran out of gas on the way to the drug store."

Immediately, Carena's mood went down, but she didn't want to show it, "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she called me from the store. A friend is gonna pick up the car, and Dani's mom said she'd pick her and me up. I would've asked her if she could pick you up, but she already doesn't like driving much."

Carena took a deep breath before answering, "That's okay. I wouldn't want to make so many trips anyway."

"You think maybe your parents can take you? Or should we just cancel?"

"No! Definitely don't cancel. Everyone was looking forward to today. You guys canceling because of me would make me feel worse than not going. I'll still ask my parents I bet I could convince them." Carena says confidently.

"Best of luck. It definitely won't be as fun if you aren't there."

Carena smiles as she hangs up.
Quickly her smile goes away.

She already knew her parents couldn't drive her. Her mom didn't know how to drive, and her father was the busiest during springtime. It's why she was counting on Rosemary's mother to take her.

"Qui appelait?", her mother called out. [Who was calling?]

"Juste mon ami!" 

"C'était Rosemary? Je pense que sa cousine est dehors pour toi." [Was it Rosemary? I think her cousin is outside for you.]

Carena walks to a window, peeking through the curtains. She didn't recognize the white mustang convertible. But as she looked closer, she recognized the driver as Charles Coldwell.

"Tu lui as déjà parlé?", Carena asks her mother. [Did you talk to him already?]

"Oui, il a l'air d'un homme si gentil." [Yes, he seems like such a nice man.]

Carena heads outside, confused and curious.

"What are you doing here?" Carena asks as she approaches the car.

"Taking you to a sleepover... I think. Your mom and I had a bit of a language barrier. She seems really nice, though." He spoke in his charming persona.

Carena crosses her arms.

Charles sighs, "Okay, I wanted to come to invite you over to my place. If your mom knew I was related to Rosemary then she'd trust me to take you. But before you say anything, I can take you to your friend's place."

"See, the truth isn't so hard." Carena uncrosses her arms.

"So..."

"So?" Carena shakes her head.

"Do you want to hang out with me even if I'm a liar?" He gives her a shy smile.

She chuckles as she looks away from him, "You have to take me to my friends after. And you better never lie to me or my family again." She gives him a pointed look.

Charles nods, "You got it."

Carena runs to get her things before joining him in the car.

The drive to his place went by quickly. They joked around as Carena played with his radio.
Once they arrived, the place seemed almost desolate, excluding a few staff members. 

"Your wife isn't home?" Carena asks as they head inside.

"No. I went on a trip with my friends, and she went to stay with her mother while I'm gone. But I decided to come back a little early. She'll probably be back Sunday." He says as he leads Carena through the mansion.

"Why not tell her you're back? I'm sure she misses you."

"I guess I wanted to be alone for a bit. Have a break, you know?"

"I'm not currently married, so no, I don't know."

He shifts awkwardly, "Right... uh... Do you want some lemonade, I had them prepare us some for outside? It's really nice this time of year."

"Sure, but then we have to head to Dani's. I don't want to be late."

As they head to the backyard, they pass some framed photos. It seemed themed on athletic accomplishments.

"Wow, you were quite an athlete star."

He chuckled, "Yeah, Coldwell's pride ourselves on leadership and competitiveness. Though our family sport has always been fencing." He shows her all of his fencing accomplishments.

"I can tell. Was it fun? I might give it a go."

"Uh- I wouldn't exactly recommend it to someone. Especially if you're looking for fun."

"What would you recommend then, Sportstar?" She takes a picture of him as he smiles at her antics.

"Swimming, it has was my personal favorite. My favorite childhood memory was when my father would take me and my mother to his favorite country club each Fourth of July. I would always want to spend as much time as I could in the swimming pool. We should go some time."

"Oh, I think that's something for you to do with your parents and wife." She tried to reject the invitation as politely as possible.

"Mother hasn't gone to that country club or any other ones, it reminds her of my father. Which I understand, they remind me of him, too." He looks down melancholy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"I know. It's okay, it's been years since his death. I never saw much of him when he was alive, anyway."

"Charles-"

"We should go drink that lemonade. Wouldn't want you to end up late." He hurried forward.

Carena knew he did that to stop talking about his father, obviously, he had a lot of issues that have gone ignored. But pushing him to talk about his issues could do damage. Better to let him open up at his own pace.