Normal people stuff.

It seemed like it had been another life, the last time she’d gone to any social event. She and Sam opted to have a beer or two at the house, not to go to the bar and talk to people. They had everything they needed at home; coupled with Luke’s visits and with her frequent contact with Milly, it had been enough to keep her grounded. Now Charlie had none of that, and thinking about socializing at a fucking pig roast sounded like corporal punishment. She couldn’t say that to Anna, though, and instead shot her a small smile.

Guess asking her to dinner hadn’t panned out.

She sat in the truck, readjusting herself and waiting for Luke to cool off, or whatever the fuck he was doing. She’d seen intermittent outbursts over the few years she’d known him, but she wasn’t sure that she’d ever seen him go from 0 to 60 so quickly. She propped an elbow on the window, letting her head rest there until she felt Luke get into the driver’s seat.

“Don’t go into town,” Charlie replied simply, looking down at the business card Mack had given her. “Not much to do. I’m sure it’ll fade eventually.” She didn’t really know why he was asking her, like he hadn’t had to deal with it for decades of his life. “Then again, I think the more you act normal, the less bad they feel for you.” Acting normal had been hard, but maybe if she had someone pushing her to go to town or willing to cart her around, she could fake it a little better. 

“I’m not going to ask what that was out there,” she said quietly, flipping the card over with her spare hand. “But you can talk to me, Luke. I can’t understand all of it, but I can understand some of it.” She released the card and tentatively reached out to grab his hand with hers. “It’ll get better. It has to.”

[hr]

The first Saturday of the month was, in fact, three weeks away. She’d spent the time trying to get into a normal routine with Luke, and each day it became a little easier to not mistakenly say Sam’s name when she made coffee or called him in for dinner.

Charlie had gained a bit of life back, eating one full meal a day and attending to her chores more routinely. There were times where she barely saw Luke, apart from at dawn and dusk, and other times where she would go with him into town if not only to escape being in the house alone. 

It seemed like it had taken a fortnight for the laundry to clear up, but she managed. When she ran into a separated sock from Sam, she’d just excuse herself for the rest of the day and lay in bed. She could see the concern in Luke’s eyes at times and chose to ignore it, though it seemed that experience went both ways. Each time she saw him lifting or moving something, she watched for the telltale signs that he had done too much. She’d ordered some Epsom salt from Amazon and made sure to put it somewhere he could see it.

The last thing she wanted was to offer help when he clearly didn’t want it.

When the night of the pig roast came, Charlie decided to get ready before she started having second thoughts. So she took a long shower, complete with shaving and exfoliating, followed by actually blow drying her hair straight. She hadn’t had anything flashy in her closet for years; not much reason to have impractical dresses or heels in Hingham Valley, so she did the best she could with a forest green and white flannel thrown over a tank top, coupled with a pair of cut off shorts and brown, knee high boots she hadn’t worn since she’d left Nashville.

She put on make-up; not much, but concealer, a layer of tint to level out her complexion, and mascara. They clunked down the stairs so loudly she swore they rang through the house. “Luke!” He wasn’t in the living room, but they never were. “I want to go out. Come with me to Anna’s party.”

There wouldn’t bet be any ifs, ands, or buts about it. Whatever grumbling or cussing Luke were to send her way wouldn’t be enough to dissuade her. For the first time in nearly three months, she felt… okay. While he got ready, she grabbed a beer from the fridge and drank one quickly, then nursed on the next. However, the more she drank, the more she just wanted to stay home.

So she let Jake out for the last time before they left then quickly rounded him up and moved to Luke’s truck, letting herself into the passenger seat. 

The sun was starting to set by the time they made it to the roast. She could hear the music from inside the truck, blasting a country song that Charlie couldn’t place but seemed familiar. People milled around and it seemed like everyone in town that was under 45 had showed up. “Maybe this was a mistake,” she said, her fingers gingerly wrapped the bottle neck of a now empty beer. 

She could see Mack, who had come to see who the new arrival was and then waved. He made sure not to approach the truck this time.