The Family You Make (Sunrise Cove #1)

But right now, staring at each other, with Jane clearly hiding burgeoning feelings for a man for the first time since Charlotte had known her, and with Charlotte doing almost the exact same thing . . . Well, it would have been funny if it hadn’t been so scary.

They stared at each other. Charlotte broke first. She always did. She’d never met a silence she could endure, and she knew that about herself. It was irritating as hell so she did what she did best, she went on the defensive. “I also know you sat at Sexy Gondola Guy’s hospital bedside for several hours before coming home.”

Jane went from smirk to . . . unsure? And Charlotte’s heart kicked for another reason altogether. She was a worrier, always had been, but with Jane, she was also somehow a warrior. She leaned in. “What does he need from you? Do I have to kick his ass?”

“No!” Jane let out a small laugh. “Ohmigod, we’re both out of our minds. But no ass-kicking necessary! Stand down, Dr. Dixon.”

“You sure? Because you know I’d do it.” She flexed. “I’m tiny but mighty.”

This won her another rough laugh, which coming from Jane was the equivalent of a belly laugh. “I never doubt you,” Jane said. “But what Levi wants, it’s, um . . .” She squirmed.

Fascinating. Jane never squirmed. Jane never gave herself away like that. At least not to anyone except Charlotte, which was a huge source of pride for her. Jane had been a tough nut to crack, but Charlotte didn’t know how to take no for an answer. It’d taken her six years, but she was fairly confident Jane finally considered her family. “It’s what?” she pressed.

“Personal.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Jane said on another low laugh. “But it’s not that. When Levi and I were on that gondola and we thought we were going to die, he called his mother to say goodbye.”

Charlotte gasped, a hand to her chest. “Oh my God,” she whispered, trying to imagine calling her mom to say goodbye. She couldn’t imagine it, not without her throat tightening and her eyes burning with unshed emotion.

“Yeah.” Jane let out a breath.

“I really can’t fathom making that call,” she said softly, reaching for Jane’s hand. “Oh, honey.”

“The thing was, he couldn’t actually do it. He told her he was happy and in a relationship.”

“Sweet. But I can’t help but notice I didn’t get a call.”

Jane shook her head. “I couldn’t do it, not to you.”

Charlotte took a moment to just breathe past the image of losing her. “Next time I want a call.” She squeezed their fingers together. “But let’s not have a next time, okay?”

“Agreed.” Jane took a breath. “Anyway, now Levi needs a pretend girlfriend for some big family dinner in three weeks.”

Charlotte took this in. Jane was . . . blushing a little. And not making eye contact. Fascinating. “You going to do it?”

“He brought me my locket back.”

Charlotte felt a smile crease her face. “You’re going to do it.”

“I don’t know. Wait— How do you know I sat by his bedside? You were in surgery.”

“Someone told me.”

Jane stared at her. “Dammit. Now I’m going to have to kill Mateo.”

Mateo. The only man who could make her feel like she didn’t know what she was doing. At any given moment of any day, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to wrap her fingers around his neck and squeeze or climb him like a tree. Not that she would admit either under threat of death. Nope. Her ridiculous little crush on the man who was sexier than the legal limit was going to stay her own personal secret. For a whole bunch of reasons, not that she could name one at the moment.

“I knew it!” Jane pointed at her. “See, you don’t want him dead.”

“Well, I never said I wanted him dead, did I? I said I wanted him to stop flirting with me.” A total lie.

“Admit it,” Jane said. “You have no idea how to deal with a good man trying to get your attention. I mean, you’re not quite as screwed up as I am, but you’re close enough.”

True story. Charlotte’d had a good childhood, but she’d also had her share of trauma, which had left her just as awkward and uneasy at romantic entanglements as Jane.

“He wants to go out with you.”

Charlotte ignored the butterflies in her belly at that thought and shook her head. “He’s a flirt. That’s what he does. He flirts with everyone.”

“Wrong,” Jane said. “Mateo’s one of the rare good ones. Yeah, he’s nice to everyone on the floor, from surgeons to nurses to the cleaning crews. But there’s only one person he flirts with, stares at, moons over, brings coffee to. And that’s you. And—Ohmigod.”

“What?”

Jane squeaked and ducked low, beneath the table.

Charlotte stuck her head under the table. “You drop something?”

“Yes, my marbles! I think my grandpa saw me— Oh my God, don’t look!”

But Charlotte was already looking, feeling her heart harden on the spot. “I want to see the man who deserted you when you were eight.”

“He didn’t desert me.”

“Bullshit,” Charlotte said.

“He wasn’t well.”

“And you were eight.”

“Yeah,” Jane muttered. “Hence me being under the table like I’m still eight.”

Charlotte stuck her head under the table, softening when she saw Jane’s genuine panic. “Honey, what have I always told you?”

“Um . . . Men suck?”

“Okay, and what else?”

“Always make the time for lip gloss because we’re not animals.”

“Aw! You were listening.” Charlotte felt so proud. “And . . . ?”

“And . . . family is earned, not inherited.”

Charlotte nodded. “So you have to decide. Are you ready to go there? Open up some old wounds?”

The look on Jane’s face said she was undecided.

Fair, given what she’d been through. “Whatever you decide,” Charlotte said softly, “you know you have people who love and support you.”

Jane hesitated, then nodded. “I’m still getting used to that. I let you barge in past all my walls.”

Accurate.