Cruel Trust

Thirty-Three

I didn't call Julia when I got home, even though I was dying to. Andrew would be home tomorrow afternoon, so I thought I'd wait to tell him what I had discovered before I took that step. I was not prepared to tell him I had gone near Liam's house, let alone snuck in, though; he was going to be furious with me for putting myself in danger.

Changing into my silk nightgown, I cleaned up the condo and was getting ready for bed when my phone rang with a FaceTime call from Andrew. I hoped he wouldn't ask me what I did today because I don't think I could look him in the face and lie. I slid to answer and lay on my stomach on the bed.

"Hey babe!" I said brightly when his face popped up on the screen.

"Hey Char!" he exclaimed, smiling widely. "I like that nightgown," he said, winking. I looked down and realized my cleavage was just out there.

"I wore this for you, Mr.," I flirted, realizing how much I missed him.

"I appreciate that—can't wait to get back into town so I can rip it off of you."

"Me either babe," I said, turning over onto my back and holding the phone over my face.

"So, what did you do today?" he asked, fooling with something on the hotel nightstand.

Damnit. "Nothing, really. Went to one of my schools, met a new kid, went to Chick-fil-A, came home and cleaned the condo," I said quickly. "Nothing special!" I shifted my eyes away from him, knowing I was being too overzealous.

He narrowed his eyes. "What did you do today?" he repeated. He was on to me.

I sighed. "Ugh...okay. I did all of that, but something happened at Chick-fil-A," I admitted. He waited, raising his eyebrows. I told him what happened with the text messages and how I flipped my shit in the middle of the restaurant.

"Jesus, Charlotte. I'm sorry that happened...you didn't recognize the number?"

I shook my head.

"What happened after that? I know there's something else, Char. I can see right through you."

"Yeah, yeah...I was going to tell you when you got home. I started to go to Julia's, but I ended up in Belle Meade."

I watched as his face went from perplexed to angry. "Charlotte Rae Jameson, you went to Liam Covington's house, didn't you?" he demanded.

"I know, I know. I was just so angry. I don't know what I thought I was going to do, and he wasn't home anyway. But just listen. When I got there, Julia pulled up."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I slipped in the door after her and followed her. She was getting all of her stuff, and before she left, she wrote him a letter."

"A letter? What did it say?"

I pulled up the picture and read him the letter, my voice cracking when she mentioned my miscarriage.

"Jesus," he breathed. "And you're sure she didn't know you were there?" he asked.

"Completely. Drew, she really is sorry for what she did, and we know she was off her meds for so much of what she pulled. What do I do?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "That's up to you, babe. Even if she is sorry, even if she is mentally ill, could you trust her again?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "But I promise I won't do anything until you get home."

"Okay." He yawned. "Listen, I've got another day of conferences tomorrow. I'm going to go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow night, okay Char?"

"Alright. Goodnight, Drew," I said, blowing him a kiss. "I love you."