Brianna bit her lip. Given what Charisma had overheard, it was easy to see where she could have drawn such conclusions, but it didn't keep the misconceptions from hurting. "You're wrong, you know. Oh… not about all of it," she added when Charisma opened her mouth to debate. "Kay is an ex-lover that I cared enough about to introduce to your family. I'll be forever grateful to the Tagherty clan for welcoming her and her family with the same open arms they showed me so many years ago."
"But...."
"I'm not done yet." Brianna said a bit impatiently. "What I meant about the family is that it was odd... different for me to be here... in this house again - especially sharing the same roof with you when everything is so different between us. That doesn't make it bad - it just makes it unusual. Never assume that I don't love your family or that they don't hold a very special place in my heart and life like they always have. This just isn't what has been normal for any of us for a very long time and I was trying to explain to Es the difference it made... being here now with you like this."
Brianna took a deep breath and tried to tone down her anger and Charisma waited, recognizing the expression though she hadn't seen it in a number of years. "As for the other," Brianna said slowly, trying not to speak through clenched teeth, "I resent your assumption. Did you ever think that perhaps I hadn't found the person I was meant to be with? Or that I had fallen in love with someone who wasn't available to me? I'm not a home wrecker, Charisma. I would love to be part of a settled, stable relationship, and I'm pissed that you would believe otherwise."
"Now wait just a minute... before you get all sanctimonious with me - exactly how the hell was I supposed to know that??" holding up a hand when Brianna's lips parted. "No," Charisma said emphatically, point her finger at Brianna. "My turn now. It's not like you were particularly forthcoming, were you? All I know of you is what I knew in college, and you certainly didn't want to be tied down then. I didn't even know you were interested in women - I mean you dated your share of men when we double dated. The only other things I've learned I overheard you telling someone else."
"So you just assumed," Brianna accused flatly.
"What else am I supposed to do if you don't talk to me?!? You said talking together was the most important part of our friendship to you," waiting for Brianna to nod her agreement. "It is for me as well, but it's only going to work if we both do it."
"You're right."
"Naturally," Charisma snarked with a grin and the tension flowed out of the tree house. "So we talk from now on??"
"Yes - no assumptions means no misunderstandings."
"And we be honest with one another... no matter what."
"I can be if you can," Brianna replied seriously, catching Charisma off-guard. Charisma nodded slowly.
"My life is pretty much an open book, but I'll try to fill in any holes that are there." She shivered. "Not here, though. It's freezing, even with the blanket," gesturing with the one she had wrapped around her. "And we've got to be almost out of cocoa."
Brianna peeked into the thermos, but before she could confirm Charisma's words, they heard Kent calling out to both of them. They exchanged glances and Charisma responded even as she unwrapped the blanket from around her body and neatly put it back into the chest it came from.
"I'll be all over for the next few weeks," Charisma said as they prepared to leave the tree house. "I have to check in with all the local campaign offices around the state, but I'd like to continue this conversation soon."
"You still owe me a look at your album," Brianna reminded her.
"You're right I do. Let's find a time we can do that soon."
"I'll check my calendar as soon as we get in. I'm sure we can figure something out."
"Sounds like a plan," Charisma said with a smile as she lowered the ladder. "Now let's get back to the house before Kent sends out a search party. He sounded worried."
"Does he not know where you come to escape everything when you're here?"
Charisma shook her head. "No. You're the only person I've ever shared this spot with."
Brianna didn't quite know what to say to that, so she quickly slid down the ladder and waited for Charisma to drop the thermos into her outstretched hands. Then she stood aside so Charisma could climb down. When they were both on the ground, Charisma linked their elbows and headed for the back door.
"Mama O must have told him where you were... or something," Brianna offered as they reached the garden area. "I don't see him out here anywhere."
"I'm sure," Charisma concurred. "C'mon... let's go see if Es has any of that hot chocolate left."
************
Kent had put Adam to bed and his son had dropped off to sleep before he even realized Charisma was missing from their nightly ritual. When Okasa and Patrick came upstairs to kiss their grandson goodnight, Kent was already outside, wondering where his wife had disappeared to in the freezing cold temperatures. His first thought had been to check the garage, but their SUV sat in the same place they had parked it several days before. And the other vehicles were accounted for as well. That only left the backyard, and with determined steps, he headed around towards the back of the house.
His eyes caught movement ahead of him and he immediately recognized the wisps of blonde hair sticking out around the hat the covered the rest of her head. It sent a pang through him to realize this woman who had be missing from Charisma's life for twenty years knew better how to find his wife than he did. So he followed her at a distance, not wanting to be caught, but curious to know what the hell was going on.
He watched Brianna have a conversation with the air, though he couldn't hear the words exchanged, then he saw Brianna get angry and pull herself up the ladder. When the ladder disappeared up the hole in the bottom of the tree house, he slowly made his way towards it, hoping he could hear what was being said. However, his steps were slow and very measured, not wanting the two women to detect his presence. So he missed a bit of the conversation before he ended up close enough to hear them.
He listened carefully, hearing everything that was being said and a lot more that wasn't. Satisfied that he at least understood what Brianna refused to tell Charisma, he backed away from the tree much more swiftly than he'd approached it, getting back to the patio before he called out for Charisma, and after a second thought, Brianna as well.
Almost immediately, the back door to the kitchen opened and Okasa beckoned him inside. Esmeralda and Saphira were seated at the table and he had the passing thought to speculate where his mother and Patrick had gotten off to that they weren't in the kitchen as well. "Mama O?" he asked, wondering what she would say without betraying her daughter.
"They're all right," Okasa assured him, ladling him up a cup of hot chocolate and offering him a few marshmallows as well. Kent shook his head. "Sometimes they just need to do the 'girl talk' thing alone together."
"In this weather?" he cried in disbelief.
"I never said it was a good idea," Okasa countered. That killed the conversation for a minute or two until Charisma and Brianna came shivering into the room arm in arm. Okasa simply looked at the two of them and shook her head, giving a sigh and rising to pull two more cups from the cabinet before filling them with Esmeralda's hot chocolate.
Brianna unraveled her arm from Charisma's and moved over to rinse the thermos she then put in the sink. Charisma placed her hands on Kent's shoulders, giving them a brief squeeze before moving to take the mug Okasa offered her. She wrapped her hands around it, sighing at the warmth and breathing in the scented steam with a smile.