A Wandering Heart

A Wandering Heart

Charlotte returned to the inn a little later on Thursday afternoon than her co-star and the studio executives….When she got back to the inn, she quickly headed for her room to relax and freshen up before dinner. As she unlocked the door, she felt her phone buzz in the back pocket of her jeans. She opened the door, went inside and checked the number then quickly closed the door behind her and locked it.
She didn’t need Meredith poking her head in right now or even Liza, trying to be helpful.
She pressed her back against the locked door and hit the answer button, then heard Colin’s deep voice on the other end.
“Hey. I thought I was going to get voice mail again. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“Not at all. I finished a little late today. I just got back to the inn. Just in time for one of Claire’s delicious, mega-calorie meals,” she added.
“It all looks good on you, Charlotte,” he teased her. “How did it go today?”
Charlotte had told Colin about her difficulties working with Bradley. Now as she gave him today’s installment, she could feel the tension leave her. It wasn’t what she was saying. It was knowing that Colin was there listening that gave her a calm perspective she’d never quite had before.
“So it wasn’t too bad,” she finished. “But the day isn’t over yet. We’re shooting a scene in Cape Light at the harbor tonight.”
“Cool. Maybe I’ll stand in the crowd behind the barriers and gawk at you.”
Charlotte laughed and sat back against the headboard of her bed, hugging her legs to her chest. “Don’t do that. You’ll make me nervous. I’ll flub my lines.”
“Me? Make you nervous? I doubt that. But I won’t come and gawk if you don’t want me to.
Though the entire rest of the town will be there,” he reminded her. “How else am I going to see you? Can’t you steal that bike again and take a ride? It won’t be dark for hours.” His tone was charming and very persuasive.
Charlotte glanced out the window, feeling tempted. They had spoken a few times since Sunday, and each time Colin had entreated her to meet him again. Charlotte wanted to very much.
The note of longing in his voice made her wish she could spout wings and fly straight to his cottage. But work demands had kept her too busy to break away and now her old reservations surfaced, warning her to pull back.
“I want to see you, too. You know I do. I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” she admitted.
“Because you’re a movie star and I’m a just fisherman? I thought we got past that.”
“We did,” she said quickly. “Way past. It’s just that I’m not going to be here much longer. How will we ever get to see each other after that?”
If it was someone else, almost anyone else, Charlotte wouldn’t have cared about the future. She dated casually all the time, not worrying if the relationship had any lasting potential. But for some reason, with Colin it was different.

From A WANDERING HEART by Thomas Kinkade & Katherine Spencer. Copyright © 2012 by The Thomas Kinkade Company and Parachute Publishing, LLC.