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“Oh my God, what happened?” Aunt Tess said as she opened the door. “Charlotte, what’s going on?”

“Her flat was destroyed,” Orlando said quietly, sitting me at the kitchen table. Aunt Tess put on the kettle for tea, then sat beside me.

“Destroyed?” she said, as though she couldn’t believe it. “By who?”

“We think it was Ramsey,” Orlando said, sitting on my other side and rubbing his hand up and down my back. I still hadn’t been able to say anything, and I was starting to shake.

“I knew that bastard was trouble,” Aunt Tess said, shaking her head. She hugged me close. “It’s okay, baby, he won’t be able to get you here.”

I knew she was right, but I still felt very violated. Ramsey had taken something from me by destroying my home. I doubted I’d ever feel safe in my own apartment again.

“Charlie, do you want me to call your dad?” Orlando asked, still stroking my back. His touch was definitely comforting. I nodded.

“Maybe I had better do that,” Aunt Tess said. The kettle began to boil. “Orlando, you get the tea ready, I’ll call Paul.”

Fifteen minutes later, my dad came storming into the house, his scary-angry expression on his face.

“What the hell happened?” he demanded, looking straight at Orlando.

“Paul, calm down,” Aunt Tess said, leading him to the living room where we were now sitting. “Ramsey broke into Charlie’s apartment and trashed it. Everyone’s fine, she’s just a bit shaken up.”

Dad came over to me and hugged me. I was amazed that I didn’t feel any safer with Dad there than I had before he came. I already felt protected because Orlando refused to leave my side. It was quite the revelation, one I hadn’t been expecting.

“You’re coming to stay at the house,” Dad said, releasing me.

“They’re going to stay here, Paul,” Aunt Tess said, somewhat tentatively. Even she didn’t like confronting him when he was angry.

“They?”

“Charlie and Orlando,” she said. Orlando shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Orlando can stay here, but Charlotte is coming home with me,” Dad said forcefully.

“Dad, I want to stay here,” I whispered, my first words since it had happened. “I want to stay with Orlando.” I hadn’t known how true that was until I spoke the words out loud.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Charlotte,” Dad said, shaking his head. He sat in the chair across from me. “You’ll come home and stay in your old room until you go to New York.”

I shook my own head. “No, Dad,” I said.

“Charlotte, after everything that’s happened with Ramsey, I find it hard to believe that you’re choosing a man over your father,” Dad said, disappointment clear in his voice.

“Paul, that’s not fair,” Aunt Tess said, and I saw her pat Orlando’s arm. He was watching me intently. “Not all men are going to be like Ramsey.”

“Dad, Orlando’s not like Ramsey,” I said, looking him straight in the eye to show him I was serious. “Not at all. And I’m not choosing him over you.” I was hurt that he’d even thought that way. “It’s not about choosing one over the other, I’m just telling you where I want to be.”

“I don’t care,” Dad said, standing up to pace the room, much the way I did when I was agitated about something. “If he’s your friend, he’ll understand.” I hated that he talked about Orlando as though he wasn’t
in the room. It was rude.

“Sir, not to be disrespectful, but I’m not at all like Ramsey, and I never plan to be,” Orlando said, rising as well. “I’d like Charlie to stay here with me, as we’d planned.” He looked so sure of himself when he stood up to my father, it made me feel stronger, too.

Dad sighed. “It’s nothing against you personally,” he said, stopping his pacing. “But Charlie needs to be with her family before she leaves.”

“You’re not listening to me,” I said, getting exasperated. “I’ve already decided that I want to be with Orlando.” The phrase was becoming redundant, but he just wasn’t getting what I was saying.

Dad looked at me. I stood up. “Charlotte, you’ll have plenty of time for your friends when you’re in New York. Right now, you should be concentrating on your family.”

“I’ve been concentrating on my family for 23 years,” I pointed out. “Orlando’s only here another few days, then he’s going to back to his movie shoot. I’d like to spend my last few days here with him.”

“I’m disappointed in you, Charlotte,” Dad said, frowning at me.

“Paul, cut her some slack,” Aunt Tess said, putting her arm around me. “She’s not a child anymore. Can’t you see how good they are together?”

“Together?” Dad didn’t want to see it.

“Yes, Paul, together,” Aunt Tess said, in the same tone she used on Deanna when she was being unreasonable. “You should be happy that Charlie has found someone who cares about her like this, not giving her shit because she wants to be with him.”

My eyes darted from Aunt Tess to Dad to Orlando. No one moved, no one said a word. Finally, Dad turned to me.

“Charlotte, is this true?”

I glanced at Orlando again and he had the same look on his face as my dad had, wanting to know if it was true or not. It was the moment of truth. I knew if I told my dad there was nothing between us, I’d be lying and hurting Orlando, but telling him there was something made it real. It was admitting that I cared, to more than just Orlando and myself. I took a deep breath. “I want to be with him,” I said in a stronger voice than I’d expected. “He’s not like Ramsey, you just have to trust me.”

Dad sighed again. “You’re an adult now, Charlie, so if you want to stay here with him, that’s your choice, I guess. But if you need to come home, you know you can.”

“I know,” I said, and hugged him. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart,” he said, hugging me back.

“Paul, why don’t you and I go get some dinner for us all,” Aunt Tess said, taking Dad’s arm. She knew by the way he looked at me that Orlando and I needed to talk, and we didn’t need my dad around to do it. “I’ve got to go get Deanna from her friend’s house anyway.”

Dad hesitated, but when I smiled at him, he gave in and allowed himself to be led from the room.

I turned to Orlando. He was still staring at me, standing in the middle of Aunt Tess’s living room. I went to him and stood in front of him, not daring to touch him. “Orlando? Say something.”

“I’m trying to find the words,” he said softly, running his knuckles gently over my cheek. “You told your dad you want to be with me.”

I smiled. “Yes, I did,” I said, slipping my arms around his neck. “And I meant it.”

He kissed me. “You have no idea how good I feel right now,” he said, hugging me tightly to him. “Where did that come from?”

I looked up into his eyes. “I realized that I’m safe with you, that as scary as it was finding my apartment trashed like that, it would have been so much worse had you not been with me. I felt as safe with you as I do with my dad, and that’s never happened to me before.”

“I only want to take care of you,” he said, cupping my face in his hand. “It made me so angry that that prick could have hurt you, had you been there when he came. It made me realize that I’m not falling in love with you, Charlie.”

“You’re not?” I had to admit, that hurt more than I thought it could.

“No, I’m not,” he said, his dark eyes intent on my face. “Darling, I’m already in love with you.”

“You are?”

“Yes,” he said, chuckling at my shock. “Charlie, I love you.”

I wasn’t prepared for that. He was smiling down at me, telling me he loved me for the first time, and I didn’t want to run away. I wanted to trust him, to let him be a part of my life, part of my heart. Happy tears welled up in my eyes this time.

“You do?” I whispered, still trying to process what he’d said. He was more beautiful to me in that moment than he’d ever been before.

“Yes, love, I do,” he said, his eyes glistening back at me. Emotion was threatening to overwhelm both of us.

I kissed him ardently, loving how his arms felt around me. I pulled back to look up at him again.

“Orlando,” I started, then trailed off, not sure what to say.

“You don’t have to say anything, Charlie,” he said, touching his forehead to mine. It was like he’d read my mind. “I just want you to know that I love you, and that I’m happy with that for now.”

I wanted to say it back, but I couldn’t. Saying ‘I love you’ opens up a whole new can of worms, and though he’d already said it to me, I was really having trouble saying it back. I wanted to be 100% certain that’s what I felt before I told him. “Just give me some time,” I said, squeezing his arm.

He kissed me again. “Take as much time as you need, love,” he said, smiling down at me. “I’ll be here whenever you’re ready.”

I hugged him fiercely. “You’re too good to me,” I said into his shoulder.

“You deserve it,” he said into my hair. I could have stayed in his arms forever.

Aunt Tess, Dad, and Deanna came back a short time later. They brought Chinese food for dinner. Deanna was in her glory to see Orlando again, and she was much more confident this time than she had been at Aunt Tess’s birthday dinner.

When we were finished eating, Aunt Tess and I cleared the table, then she asked Deanna to get some fresh bedding from the linen closet.

“What for?” Deanna asked.

“I need to make up the spare bedroom,” Aunt Tess said, pouring more iced tea for Dad. “Charlie and Orlando are staying here for a few days.”

“They are?” Deanna practically squealed. Her eyes were the size of saucers. She darted out of her seat and went upstairs to do as she was asked.

“This should be fun,” Dad said sarcastically, sipping his iced tea. “That kid won’t sleep while Orlando is in the house.”

“She’ll be fine,” Aunt Tess said, sitting back down. “She’ll have one hell of a story to tell her friends at school, though.”

Orlando and I exchanged a look. We were both thinking the same thing. We’d gotten away with only a single picture in the paper after our arrival at the hotel that first night in Toronto. Luckily, my head had been turned away, so I wasn’t recognized. We doubted we would be as lucky if word got out where he was.

“Could we ask her not to say anything about this?” I said, patting Orlando’s knee under the table. “We’d like to keep a low profile.”

“We can talk to her, I suppose,” Aunt Tess said. “But asking a 14-year-old to keep a secret like this is like trying to hide the Great Wall of China. It’s not going to happen.”

“She’s mature for her age,” I said, trying to convince not only them, but myself as well. “I’m sure she’ll be able to stay quiet.”

Deanna came back downstairs a few minutes later.

“All done,” she said as she sat back down beside Orlando.

“Dee, we have a favour to ask you,” I said, glancing sideways at Orlando.

“Sure, Charlie, what’s up?”

“Well, love, the thing is, we’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone we’re here,” Orlando said softly. His voice was so smooth, I knew she wouldn’t be able to say no.

“No one?” she asked, squirming slightly.

“Orlando doesn’t get much privacy, honey,” Aunt Tess said. “He’d prefer it if no one knew he was staying here.”

“I won’t say anything,” Deanna said. She grinned. “But how can I keep this from my friends?”

“You can tell them when we’re gone,” I said.

“They’d never believe me,” she said, shaking her head.

“We’ll make sure they do,” Orlando said, patting her arm.

“But we only have one spare room,” Deanna said, as though the thought had just occurred to her. “Is someone sleeping on the couch?” She shot a look at my dad.

I looked at Orlando and he looked at me, then we looked to Aunt Tess. Dad was smirking behind his hand.

“No, honey, Charlie and Orlando will share the guest room,” Aunt Tess said finally. “There’s more than enough room.”

Deanna glanced at my dad again and blushed. I fought the urge to giggle.

“Don’t you have homework to finish?” Aunt Tess asked Deanna, to break the silence. “You have school in the morning.”

“Okay,” Deanna said, getting up. She cast a final look at Orlando, then went upstairs.

“That was awkward,” Dad said when Deanna was safely out of earshot.

“She’s old enough to understand,” Aunt Tess said. “I just don’t want anything inappropriate happening when she’s around.”

“We’ll be careful,” I said, blushing and squeezing Orlando’s hand under the table. To be honest, I was more concerned about my dad knowing we would share a room than about what Deanna thought.

The phone rang before we could say anything else. Aunt Tess answered it, then handed it to me. “It’s the police,” she said. She handed the phone to Orlando. He gave his statement, then gave the phone to me.

I took it into the other room and gave my statement to the police officer we’d talked to at the apartment. He said I could go back in the following day to clean up, but he advised me not to go alone, at least until they found Ramsey. I agreed, of course, knowing that Orlando wouldn’t let me go by myself. We finished the report and I went back into the kitchen.

“Everything okay?” Orlando asked as I sat down again.

I nodded. “The officer said not to go back alone until they find Ramsey,” I said, taking a much-needed sip of my iced tea. “They’re looking for him now.”

“That guy should be behind bars,” Aunt Tess said.

I nodded. “I don’t know why he has to get violent like he does,” I said softly. “It used to be only when he was drinking, but he’s really got a nasty streak in him. Maybe if they catch him, they’ll get him the help he needs.” I shuddered.

Dad patted my hand. “I’m sure they’ll catch him, Charlie, don’t worry,” he said.

I looked up at him and tried to smile. “I hope you’re right.”