Who: Aaron, Charlie, Gavin, Roxy & Mila What: Church & Coffee Where: St. Dismas; Joyland When: Sunday morning, 9/17 Status: Complete
That Sunday morning was anything but routine for Gavin. Sure, he got up early, and let the dogs out as usual, but there was no taking a shower as the water was disgusting for some reason and he was going to need to try to fix that. Not right away though, there was no way he was getting filthy before church if he couldn't shower. He felt bad enough about that lack of showering as it was. Luckily there was a lone water bottle in the fridge so he could at least brush his teeth and water the dogs before leaving the house. He still felt kind of gross and normally it wouldn't have bothered him but today he was antsy. Charlie Harris had said she'd be at church and she might come sit with him. He still didn't know if she'd been joking or not, the more time went by the more likely it seemed that she had been but he wouldn't know until the service.
He arrived at St. Dismas ten minutes before the service started but the weather didn't really allow for standing outside to chat and smoke like he usually enjoyed doing so he only had a few puffs of his cigarette in the car before hurrying inside, meeting Aaron and Roxy in the foyer. He shook his head free of droplets and shivered a little as he walked up to them, patting Aaron on the back in a warm greeting.
Aaron had given Roxy a ride to church as usual, and they’d both complained to each other on the way there about the gross water situation. Roxy had been tempted to lay out of church all together because she hadn’t been able to shower beforehand, but some makeup wipes and dry shampoo had her feeling at least halfway decent. Jesus would understand. She just hoped that the water at the bar was clear, otherwise they were going to have to shut down for the day, and that always put Caden into a foul mood. She was standing around with Aaron in the foyer, keeping her eyes peeled for Mila so she could say hello, but gave Gavin a faint smile as he arrived and approached them.
“Hey, Gav,” Aaron said with a bright smile. He turned to give his brother a brief hug and a thump on the back. It had sucked not to be able to shower that morning, but now he was over it. He was just going to be sitting in church and then working, so whatever. Hopefully by the time all that was over, they would have it all fixed. “Was your water fu-- ... uh, brown this morning?” he asked, catching himself mid-curse. He tried not to do that in church.
Gavin nodded, low-key looking around for Charlie. "Thought it was just my place," he muttered and they lived far enough apart for it not to be a neighborhood issue. "Hope they get it fixed, we got a business to run." Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy some bottled water before work, in case it sold out. He could go without for a day but his dogs could not. Though if it kept raining that wouldn't be a real problem.
Charlie was extremely annoyed that morning when she woke up to find the water in her home was running dirty. It was an older home, sure, but the inspection she'd had done before buying it hadn't come up with any plumbing issues and Charlie couldn't find the source of the issue herself. When she called the plumber, she discovered hers wasn't the only home dealing with the issue. It only made her feel mildly better, but that also meant she would have to hold off on coffee until after church. Thankfully Charlie had taken a shower and washed her hair the evening before, but she had to use a bottle of water from the fridge to brush her teeth and freshen up a bit.
Her mom had expected Charlie to accompany her to church, but hadn't protested too loudly when Charlie informed her that she would be attending with a 'friend'. Poppy hadn't asked who, much to Charlie's relief, because she was in no mood to be lectured on 'that Lucas boy'. They were all interchangeable according to Poppy Harris. If you knew one Lucas, you knew them all. Sometimes her mother had difficulty differentiating between the teenager and the grown man. Or grown woman. She still treated Charlie like a kid sometimes.
In any case, Charlie dressed appropriately for church, a modest dark blue dress and white cardigan, and wore her hair down, but tied up away from her face. If she was going to scandalize her mother and her friends by sitting with Gavin Lucas, she knew better than to do it while showing cleavage. She brought a small umbrella, which she used to walk up and into the church once she had found a place to park. Charlie closed the umbrella just as she was walking inside, and she found Gavin was in the foyer with a man she vaguely recognized, and a woman she didn't. "Beautiful day," she greeted with a smile. Charlie looked at Gavin. "I hope you weren't waiting for me. I had some plumbing issues and it set me back a bit."
Aaron had been about to say that it was probably all the rain fucking -- no, screwing -- with the plumbing, but a woman had walked up to them and started talking. A beautiful woman with a lovely smile and she was directly addressing Gavin. Sometimes people chatted with them at church, sure, but Aaron had never seen this woman before, and she sounded like ... like Gavin had been expecting her? He looked over at Roxy, his eyebrows raising, and she met his gaze with arched ones of her own. Both of them smiled tentatively as they looked back at Gavin. Roxy murmured a soft, “Good morning,” but other than that, it seemed like the eldest Lucas was the one this lady was there for.
Gavin faltered for a second, well aware of the looks Aaron and Roxy were exchanging without even looking at them. "Uh, yeah," he muttered and Charlie looked stupidly beautiful, all dressed up and like she had her shit together. "I think it's a whole town thing," he added and tried to wrap his mind around the fact that she was actually there. He remembered his manners eventually and gestured between his people, clearing his throat. "Uhm, this is my little brother Aaron, this is Roxy and this is Charlie Harris, we uh, we went to school together."
Charlie smiled at Aaron and Roxy and lifted her hand in a small 'hello' kind of wave. She could see the family resemblance between Aaron and Gavin, and she wondered if Roxy was Aaron's girlfriend. She didn't know them well enough to ask though, so she refrained. "Our last names meant we were sitting next to each other in a lot of our classes," she explained, glancing at Gavin with amusement dancing in her eyes. "Our lockers were pretty close in junior high too. In eighth grade I had a locker that I could never get open, and if Gavin was nearby, he always got stuck helping me. I think he knew my locker combination better than I did by the end of the year." Charlie realized she was starting to ramble again, and she doubted Gavin really wanted her telling random stories about their youth. "I hope you don't mind if I sit with you," she said to Aaron and Roxy. "This is my first service back in town and Gavin was nice enough to offer to save me a seat."
Aaron started to smile as the introduction was made, and it only got brighter and wider at everything Charlie said. He’d been pretty young when Gavin was in middle school, and his big brother helping a pretty girl out with her locker over and over again sounded both exactly like him and not, in some weird way. Hard to imagine now, but Aaron would have done the same thing, as many times as she wanted. “Nice to meet you,” he said genuinely, trying not to grin too knowingly. Gavin inviting a woman to church with them, would wonders never cease. He’d thought for forever that his brother needed to officially leave that crazy bitch and move on with his life, and maybe he was starting to show real hints of it. “We don’t mind at all, right?” Aaron glanced at Roxy.
“Not at all,” Roxy echoed with her own little smile. Gavin was going to end up hating them by the end of this morning, she had a feeling, but it was kind of delightful. Charlie was lovely, and even if this didn’t turn into much of anything, it was still a stp in the right direction. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Caden’s girlfriend, so ... kinda a sister-in-law.” She gestured between Gavin and Aaron, refraining from calling them knuckleheads in front of pretty company, but wanting to make it clear she didn’t belong to either of them. “Welcome back to Point Pleasant, by the way. Have you been back long?”
Gavin listened stoically to Charlie's trip down memory lane and all those memories came rushing back, just like that. He'd carried a torch for her back then though he'd never done anything about it. He doubted he would have even if he hadn't been seeing Ollie at the time. He'd been a little punk and Charlie had been so much better than anyone who'd hang out with him. Of course she was always nice to him anyway, that was just who she was, beautiful inside out. He hated this though, the way Aaron was grinning like an idiot and that knowing look on Roxy's face. It made him want to tell them that no, there was nothing going on, Charlie just latched onto a familiar face that was all. He gave Aaron a subtly irritated look that he hoped would tell him to back off, then glanced down to the pews, wanting to get moving and get seated so he could stop this awkward get-together in its tracks.
"Oh, thank you," Charlie said with Roxy welcomed her back. Caden's girlfriend. With Aaron there, Charlie deduced that Caden was the brother who didn't attend church. Given Caden Lucas's reputation back before Charlie went to college, that wasn't terribly surprising. "I've only been back a little over a week," she explained. "I started teaching at the high school last Monday, so I've been trying to find the balance between working and getting the house put together. It needs a bit more work than I was ready for." Charlie glanced past Gavin into the church before she reached out and touched his elbow briefly. "We should probably go in and find a seat." She was pretty sure her mother was already inside and seated close to the front, so hopefully Gavin and his family would stick a bit closer toward the back.
As they all started to move into the sanctuary, Aaron moved in a little closer to Charlie to keep talking to her. “What kind of work does your house need? I can fix a few things, if you need help with anything.” It was a genuine offer, he was pretty handy with a hammer, but ... maybe it was also to rankle Gavin. Just a little bit. For a second. Because then he added, “Gavin too, he worked construction for years, so ... anything you need, we can help. We fixed up the bar ourselves, pretty much.”
Behind the group, Roxy was rolling her eyes and smirking. She slipped her phone out of her purse as she followed along behind them, thumbing off a quick text to Caden. She just couldn’t keep this to herself, what kind of girlfriend would she be? Woman @ church, here w/ Gavin?? She’s pretty. Keep you updated. Doing her best to keep her face neutral while they found their seats and settled in.
Gavin should have known better, he thought, he really should. Of course Aaron was all over this like a puppy with a toy. He'd suggested Gavin move on and find someone new enough times now that he'd leap on the opportunity to procure a woman for Gavin if one came within a mile of him. At least that was what it felt like now but what was he going to do? Say no? He wouldn't help Charlie with her house if she asked? It was that damn locker all over again, he'd help her and feel dumb and this time around his brothers were old enough to pester him about it. It was a nightmare. He trailed alongside them to their seats, near the back as Charlie had hoped, giving her a small smile that to him was supposed to be apologetic but it just came off as wry.
Charlie hadn't really expected anyone to offer to help her with her house. It was a decent place to live, it just needed some work. She had been thinking of watching a bunch of those do-it-yourself YouTube videos to get things done. Or she would just hire someone if she couldn't figure it out on her own. That's how Drew dealt with household inconveniences, anyway. She gave Aaron a grateful smile. "That's really sweet of you," she said as she moved into the pew and set, pulling her purse off her shoulder to set it carefully on her lap. Charlie caught Gavin's faint smile as he sat down beside her, and she felt a little bad that his brother would volunteer him for work. Charlie definitely didn't want Gavin feeling obligated to do her any favors, especially when he had a business to run and kids to raise. Charlie knew that those two things should be his priorities over anything else, so she looked back at Aaron as more people milled into the seats around them. "I keep thinking I should to replace some of the rotted boards on my porch before the weather gets too cold. I would certainly compensate you for your help if you would be willing."
Aaron sat on Gavin’s other side, with Roxy on his other side, and he leaned forward a bit to look over his brother at Charlie. “Sure, I could do that, no sweat,” he said, giving her a smile. Gavin wasn’t jumping to volunteer, so Aaron wasn’t going to tell her no. If his brother didn’t want to do it, he definitely would. And maybe find out some more about this mystery woman from the past. It wasn’t every day his biggest brother invited a woman to sit with them in church -- in fact, this was the very first time such a thing had happened, so it was definitely significant. Aaron wasn’t even sure Gavin talked to women most of the time, besides grunting their bill totals at them at the bar. “I’ll give you my number, before we go,” he added, gesturing around them before he sat back again.
Gavin had so far kept his attention on the empty pulpit but when Aaron offered up his number he turned his head and gave his brother a stern warning look as if to say 'you are not sleeping with this one'. He knew damn well how Aaron was, chasing every skirt that caught his eye and the age difference was never going to be a factor, especially when the woman in question was this beautiful. His expression was milder again when he turned to look at Charlie. "We can fix those up, don't want you falling and hurting yourself," he muttered since it was probably not a good idea to have Aaron go over there by himself. Even if he tried to keep himself in check... Well, it was Aaron.
Charlie knew she had been away from Point Pleasant for a long time, but she still wondered why the Lucas boys had the reputations that they did. Sure, they had never run around in the same social circles as Charlie, and Caden and Aaron were younger than she was, but Gavin had always been decent toward her, and here was Aaron offering to help her fix her porch within ten minutes of officially meeting her. She supposed if she posed the question to anyone else in town, they would all have different answers for her, but Charlie figured none of that mattered. She had never been a fan of over-exaggerated town gossip anyway.
Her gaze shifted to Gavin, and Charlie felt a smile tug at her lips again. Despite the many years that had passed since school, Gavin hadn't changed all that much. Simple conversation still seemed rather painful for him. It might have been off putting for some, but Charlie found it rather endearing. "I appreciate that," Charlie told him before nudging his arm ever so gently with her own. "Maybe you can teach me a thing or two about using a hammer. That way I'm not inadvertently turning you into my personal handyman."
"I have a nail gun," Gavin blurted out and fought the urge to cover his face with his hands because it was just the worst sort of answer. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to make any sort of conversation with her when she leaned into him like that - or at all, really. Ever. "I can teach you use that... You can borrow it." He needed to stop talking now, that much was clear, before he started giving her lessons in all sorts of carpentry when he wasn't even sure she was interested in that or just being polite.
Aaron had accepted the glare from his big brother, and had to work not to snicker about it. Charlie was lovely, yeah, but Aaron had Mila now, and he wasn’t that big of a cockblock that he would try to get between Gavin and a woman who was obviously interested in him. Old school friends or not, she was voluntarily putting up with Gavin’s trademark grumbles and long bouts of silence, and that was a lot to ask of a woman. He had to look at Roxy so as not to laugh at the nail gun blurt, and she couldn’t even meet his eyes, her lips pressed together. Aaron cleared his throat a bit and turned his head back to offer a casual, “We’ll get it taken care of.” Charlie didn’t need to borrow the nail gun, she needed a handsome hero to do the work for her. Or supervise his little brother doing it, depending on how much physical labor it would actually be. If it got Gavin laid, Aaron didn’t mind at all.
Roxy, for her part, was dying inside with amused delight. By the time she’d come into the Lucas’ lives, Gavin was already firmly in married hell with Olivia. And ever since he’d been sour and prickly, so she’d never gotten to see him flirt. Or try to, bless his heart. He was probably regretting inviting Charlie to sit with them right about now. Caden had texted her back with just a demanding who?, so she took the moment before service started to answer him. Pretty brunette named Charlie Harris. Went to school w/ him? He needs so much help omg lol
Charlie's brows raised when Gavin mentioned the nail gun and she gave it a brief moment of thought before smiling. "I wouldn't be opposed to learning how to use a nail gun. It sounds more efficient than a hammer, at least." Whether she would be any good at using power tools was the real question, but Charlie found she would actually like to learn how to handle problems in her home. It would probably be far less expensive to fix things on her own than to hire people to do it for her. Then again, she probably wouldn't say no if someone like Gavin, or even his brother, offered to help her out. Service was starting, so Charlie settled back against the seat, scooting in a little more toward Gavin as more people quickly slipped into the pew to sit on her other side. She murmured a polite good morning to them before focusing her attention on James, Point Pleasant's new priest.
It was a fairly good service. While Charlie found she had missed the familiarity of church, and the faith in which she was raised, she also realized she didn't really miss all the pomp and circumstance that came with being a Catholic. Either way, she supposed she ought to get used to it. She was home again, and she couldn't exactly skip church on Sunday without her mom finding out about it. It didn't escape Charlie's notice that she was a thirty four year old woman once more living under her mother's thumb again, even if they resided in different homes this time. As people stood to file out, Charlie caught sight of Poppy near the front of the aisle, chatting animatedly with three of her friends. If she left quickly, she could avoid conversation with the Chattering Hens. Charlie stood and turned toward Gavin and the others. "So what does post-Mass look like for you all? Because I could really use a cup of coffee somewhere where the water is running clean."
Gavin hadn't had an easy time focusing on the sermon. He'd been all too aware of Charlie sitting next to him, squeezed in tight against him. She smelled nice and she had pretty earrings that had often caught his attention whenever he glanced her way - or behind her, because staring at her wasn't appropriate. It felt like everyone else was doing the staring and he wouldn't be surprised if they actually were. Charlie Harris was back home and church-people tended to gossip. It had probably been a big mistake on her behalf to sit with him and he felt a bit bad for her.
"We'll go to the bar," he told her when she asked about their plans. "I can't promise the water running clean there, might have to close for the day." He nodded, almost as if to himself and checked his phone. Caden likely would have texted already to bitch about the water if it wasn't working okay so it was entirely possible it was just fine but did he want Charlie to join them at the bar? It was painful enough with Aaron and Roxy but Caden would no doubt be insufferable.
Sometime during the service, Roxy had gotten another text from Caden. Her sister got butchered. I remember her. That had been enough to pull the amusement over Gavin’s awkwardness right out of her. It wasn’t an uncommon story in Point Pleasant, unfortunately -- tragedy lived here, the place was cursed. But it was still a downer to hear about, and she eyed Charlie Harris with a bit more sympathy as they all stood up to shuffle out of the sanctuary. Her gaze ticked to Gavin and she waved her own phone a little bit. “Caden says the water’s fine there,” she offered, since she knew for sure. “But Joyland’s nicer for coffee ...” All the bar had was a standard coffee machine that got used by the staff more than the customers. Still, if Gavin was itching to get to work now, she wasn’t going to force the horrible idea of all of them going to Joyland.
The mention of Joyland sparked a subtle eagerness in Charlie's eyes. Not that she minded going to The Back Porch, but bars tended to specialize in good liquor. She'd found they were never one for spending too much on coffee, as it was usually given to people who needed to sober up some before heading out into the world. "I haven't been to Joyland since I've been back home," she admitted. "Though I would hate to take you away from work if Caden is expecting everyone straight away." Did people really drink so early in the morning? She supposed it was late morning now, but even on a football Sunday, the games didn't start until after noon.
Gavin knew he wasn't really needed at the bar. Being the boss meant he could go in whenever unless there was an emergency and right now there was no emergency. Caden was already there, Roxy and Aaron were going in. It would probably get busy later if the water didn't get fixed real soon but not for another hour. He definitely had a few minutes to spare to take Charlie to Joyland but he had some very mixed feelings about that. Mostly he did not want to go. There was a part of him that would enjoy it but he was sure he'd enjoy it more if he didn't actually have to talk to her. "You should go," he said with a little nod. "They've got good coffee."
Roxy’s eyes widened a bit with dismay at Gavin’s response. Jesus Christ, did he really not know how to handle women at all? Or was he completely uninterested in this one? Roxy didn’t see how that was possible, looking at her. And then why had he invited her to join them at church? He obviously needed more help than Roxy had anticipated. She turned a warm smile toward Charlie. “I’ve got a while before my shift, and me and my friend Mila sometimes go to grab a cup after Mass, so ... would you like to join us?” she offered. It was possible that Charlie was one of those women who didn’t like other women, so she might say no, but Roxy wasn’t rude enough to just send her packing off on her own, for God’s sake.
There was disappointment, sure, but Charlie couldn't really expect Gavin to blow off work if he had to be there just to take her to coffee. He had been kind enough to talk to her at the bar, and give her a couple of free drinks and invite her to church. Charlie certainly didn't want him to feel obligated to entertain her when he had his own life to deal with. That's what she told herself internally, anyway, because it his tone felt rather dismissive to her and just as she had at the bar the other night, Charlie felt her cheeks warm with mild embarrassment. She was grateful when Roxy spoke up and Charlie's smile said as much. "That actually sounds pretty wonderful, thank you. If you really don't mind me tagging along."
“Not at all,” Roxy said without hesitating. She didn’t think that Mila would mind either. And if she did, well ... Roxy would take Gavin’s church-date to coffee on her own. May he never claim that she didn’t do anything for him. He didn’t seem eager to say anything more, so Roxy took charge and moved in between Gavin and Aaron to slip her arm through Charlie’s, shooting the elder Lucas an ‘are you serious?’ sort of look as she did so. She doubted he would get it, but she couldn’t help herself. “Come on, she’s around here somewhere,” she said to Charlie, and started to pull her away to find Mila. Together, they could hopefully explain to the poor woman that Gavin was ... well, he was very Gavin.
Gavin grimaced back at Roxy because while he did understand he was Fucking This Up, he didn't really know if that was really a bad thing. Charlie would do good to stay the hell away from him and all of his, there was nothing there for her but a headache and a half. Still, he felt like shit for it and Roxy giving him that look didn't help any. "Good to see you, Charlie," he mumbled though he didn't sound all that happy about it. He needed a cigarette and about five shots of scotch right about now.
Charlie allowed Roxy to lead her away, but she glanced at Gavin over her shoulder when she heard him speak, and she gave him a small smile in response before looking forward again to follow Roxy out of the pew to the aisle. It didn't take long for Roxy to lead her toward another beautiful woman who was walking away from a couple Charlie also vaguely recognized. It clicked in her head finally that Mila was Mila Moretti. Charlie didn't know her personally, but she had known all about the woman's brother and that media circus. Yet another Point Pleasant teenager who had lost their sibling far too soon.
Mila, on the other hand, couldn't quite place Charlie, but she had noticed the woman sitting with Gavin, Aaron and Roxy. Since the only other female Mila was used to seeing with the Lucas brothers was Amelia, it had certainly piqued Mila's interest, and the look in her eyes said so as she smiled at Roxy. "Please tell me you're about to invite me out on a coffee run," she told Roxy after introductions were made.
“Coffee is desperately needed,” Roxy confirmed, doing her best not to roll her eyes. She didn’t want to come off as a huge bitch to Charlie or something. Mila would understand, once Roxy broke it down for her. Sometimes all that could be done with those Lucas men was roll one’s eyes. “Charlie hasn’t been to Joyland since she got back, and Gavin’s ... well, I’ll tell you once we get there. Did you bring your car? I rode in with Aaron.” Mila and Aaron were obviously keeping their distance in public -- probably for the sake of her parents -- but Roxy had caught a few glances between them that she had to grudgingly admit were kind of adorable.
"I drove in with my parents," Mila said. She was doing a pretty good job at not staring at Aaron, though it had been much easier to glance his way once service was over and everyone was standing around chatting with each other. If she were more religious, she probably would have scheduled a time for confession with Father O'Shea, due to all the impure thoughts she kept having during service. Still, the brief information Roxy had given her had piqued Mila's interest. Gavin was what, exactly? He looked every bit as Gavin as Gavin usually looked.
"I don't mind driving the both of you," Charlie said with a smile. "And taking you home, or to work, or wherever you need to go when we're finished. I've got groceries to buy, so I'll be out and about anyway." And honestly, having two other women in the car would help Charlie focus instead of letting her mind wander. Since Roxy had already stepped up to help Charlie avoid a rather awkward situation with Gavin, she had already planned on buying the woman coffee.
“Sure you don’t mind?” Roxy asked Charlie with gratitude already in her tone. Nothing in Point Pleasant was far away from anything else, but it was raining out. She could have had Caden come get her once his brothers arrived at the bar, but riding around with a couple of ladies sounded much better. “Thanks so much.” Tossing a quick glance over her shoulder again -- she didn’t spot Gavin or Aaron, which was unsurprising -- Roxy motioned for Charlie to lead the way to wherever she’d parked. She was eager to get her fingers wrapped around a hot mug and have a little girl time.
"Not at all," Charlie said. The woman had agreed to have coffee with her. Charlie wasn't about to make the two women walk. Especially in the rain. They chatted a bit aimlessly as they walked out of the church and to her car. The rain was still falling steadily, so Charlie was quick to unlock the doors for them. She turned on the heat, just to help them warm up a bit as they drove to Joyland. Thankfully the coffee shop was open and their water was clean. Once inside, Charlie ordered a coffee with cream and sugar and was sure to pay for both Roxy and Mila's drinks, regardless of protest. When the three of the found a small table and sat, Charlie sipped her coffee with a pleasurable sigh. "Thank you for coming with," she told Roxy and Mila. "I hate to be a cliché, but I find it really difficult to function in the morning without coffee... especially when I have to be at school, or church."
By the time the three of them sat down at a table, Roxy was hoping Gavin didn’t screw this up completely. She liked Charlie already; the woman had a good, sweet presence about her, and she was obviously generous. Not to mention gorgeous, but that went without saying. She smiled warmly over at Charlie and nodded toward Mila. “We do this a lot, so it’s no trouble at all. Thank you for treating,” she said, lifting her mug full of mocha latte before she took a sip. Once that was down, Roxy gave the new woman a bemused look. “I gotta say, I’m sorry about Gavin. He’s ... a little rough around the edges. He doesn’t mean to be a jackass, I’m eighty percent sure.” She smirked a tiny bit at Mila. “We both work with him at the bar, so we know.”
Charlie noted the look Mila gave Roxy in return. It was a lift of her dark brows, and quite obviously verbalizing something akin to Ain't that the truth?. She felt her cheeks burn hot again, but she managed to laugh a little as she shook her head. "Oh, you don't have to apologize for Gavin. Not much has changed since we went to school together, to be honest. He was never much for socializing with me. And honestly, I sort of bombarded him at the bar last Thursday night. It's just, I haven't been back in town very long, so most of my adult interactions have been with my mom and her friends, or teachers at the high school. And beyond that, well, I'm dealing with teenagers every day. So Gavin was a pleasant surprise. A familiar face from way back when, you know." She waved her hand dismissively. "He humored me for awhile. I shouldn't really expect him to want to spend his free time continuing to do so."
Mila sipped her coffee, the details slowly falling into place. She assumed Roxy would fill her in on Gavin's jackassery later, when they were alone, but she was starting to get the picture. "I've never seen Gavin humor anyone," she mused, eyes sparkling with amusement as she glanced at Roxy. "I wonder what that looks like. Does his expression change at all?"
Roxy gave a soft laugh at the idea of Gavin humoring anyone, ever, and shook her head a little. “I’m really not sure he knows how to do that,” she said with slight grin. “I’ve seen him just walk away from people he didn’t want to talk to anymore.” That light blush of Charlie’s told Roxy all she needed to know about her level of interest in the most stoic Lucas -- as if her showing up to sit with them at church wasn’t enough of an indication. Poor thing. “He’s said more than ten words to you, so you’re light years ahead of most everybody else. Beyond the bar-service script, if he does more than grunt and point, that means something.” She looked amused and sort of affectionate as she took another swallow from her mug and tucked some hair behind her ear. “So don’t take it personal, Charlie. He’s just like that.”
It was instinctual for Charlie to want to protest. She barely knew Gavin Lucas as he was now. Hell, she had barely known him when they had been kids beyond the brief conversations she had forced on him at school. And even if things had been different, he was still wearing a wedding ring, and while her divorce had been finalized a long time ago, it still felt fresh in her mind. Having a husband who cheated with his perky twenty three year old assistant had already shot a hole through her self esteem the size of a shotgun blast. The very last thing Charlie needed was to find herself interested in a guy who didn't think twice about blowing her off. Charlie had never been much of a masochist, and harboring any romantic inklings for someone like Gavin Lucas felt incredibly masochistic. She drank her coffee in an effort not to actually say all of these things to the two women sitting across from her. They were lovely, kind women, and the type of people Charlie could picture herself actually becoming friends with. They didn't need a bowlful of her crazy so soon after meeting her.
"I think about seven of those ten words were used to brush me off," Charlie pointed out with a smile, as if she had somehow managed to find a loophole in whatever it was Roxy was implying. "Look, Thursday night was the first time I had seen Gavin in... oh, years. The last time I remember running into him was at a gas station just before I left for college. I doubt he's given me any thought until I sat down in his bar last week. Given my... family history here, I'm sure he was just trying to be polite because he felt sorry for me." It sounded plausible to Charlie, at least. She paused for a moment and glanced between Roxy and Mila. "Then again, I guess I'm not entirely sure what you're implying, and I feel as though I'm just talking out of my ass right now with no direction."
Mila nearly choked on her coffee at that moment, and she lifted a hand to wipe some of the dribble from her chin. She grabbed a napkin, struggling to stifle her smile as she wiped up the mess. "Sorry," she said. Oh, she couldn't wait to get to work later, just so she could watch Gavin skulk around now that she knew what she knew. Did Aaron know all of this too? She would have to corner him to get more of the details.
Roxy shot Mila a look, but it was obviously amused at the same time, then returned her attention to Charlie. She really just wanted to pat her pretty head and call her a sweet summer child, but that would be beyond condescending, and it wasn’t Charlie’s fault she couldn’t read Gavin. Very few people could, if anyone at all. “Listen honey, I’m pretty sure Gavin Lucas doesn’t feel sorry for anyone, ever. And if he does, he doesn’t try to placate them with niceties. It’s just not in any of them to do that,” she explained with an air of a woman who knew what she was talking about. She did. “They don’t do ‘polite’ very well on their best days.”
She realized Mila had no idea what had just happened, so Roxy looked over at her. “Get this, right? Gavin invited this lovely lady to sit with us at church, apparently --” Roxy glanced at Charlie for confirmation, then looked at Mila again, “-- which is ... I mean, a big step for him, right? So we have a brief little chat, he’s actually talking, however briefly, offering to help her fix her porch and everything. Then after service he has the perfect opening to bring her here, and he says ‘you should go, they’ve got good coffee.’” She tilted her head to give Mila a ‘can you believe that?’ sort of look.
“It might sound like a blow off? But if he really wanted to blow you off, you wouldn’t have been welcome within touching distance of him in the first place,” she explained to Charlie, giving her a little grin. “So I think -- and Mila, back me up here, babe -- he just has no idea how to talk to women. Which, given his history, is not a surprise. ... and all this is just for informational purposes, of course, we’re not gonna pressure you or anything,” she hastened to add, waving a hand.
Mila found herself riveted as Roxy spoke, only because Gavin and any woman who wasn't Olivia was not generally a topic of discussion between the two. In fact, Mila was pretty sure that Gavin had never had sex with another woman but his ex-wife, ever. She had no idea if that was true or not, but Mila just couldn't imagine any woman getting turned on by the grunt responses and occasional dickish attitude. Mila had consistently witnessed both Caden and Aaron flirting with attractive women in the bar, but never Gavin. He always seemed to retreat whenever one showed even the slightest interest in him.
She nodded along to the story, her brows lifting when Roxy explained just how Charlie ended up in Joyland with the two of them, rather than the person who had invited her to church in the first place. "Oh, Gavin," Mila sighed with a shake of her head. She turned her gaze on Charlie, an apologetic smile on her face. "He's pretty terrible talking to women, even women he's not interested in. Sometimes I'll find myself chatting with him about my day while putting glasses away, or you know, whatever, and I'll look up and nine times out of ten, he's disappeared into the back without me even realizing it. And then for the other time, he'll just be staring at me with this look on his face, like he's not sure if I'm a woman, or some kind of sea mammal that's plopped its way onto land and is somehow now working in his bar." She snickered and lifted her cup to her lips. "But Roxy is right. I don't think he's purposely trying to be a jerk. Not all the time. He just... he's been married to Olivia for so long, and..." Mila cringed, not entirely sure it was her place to explain that train wreck.
This was a lot of information for Charlie to absorb and comprehend. She wasn't even sure she had been looking at Gavin with any semblance of romantic interest when she saw him in his bar the other night. He had always been good looking, obviously. It was a well known fact in Point Pleasant that the Lucas brothers were gorgeous specimens, and had been even when they were young. Gavin had been quiet and withdrawn in school, and it wasn't like his not-so-pleasant family life had been much of a secret. Charlie had spoken to him whenever the chance arose, even if it was to ask him to help her open her locker. He had never told her no, or blown her off. He didn't talk much, but he had listened while she did. And then he had gotten a girl pregnant - Olivia - and Charlie didn't really see much of him after that. And then she had grown up, dated, moved away for college, got married, got divorced... Gavin had never really entered her mind again until Thursday night. This all felt like a lot, especially in such a small amount of time.
"Informational purposes," Charlie repeated. She felt a little embarrassed, but also like she was sixteen years old, talking about boys with her girlfriends. When was the last time that had happened? College, maybe? When she met Drew. And look how that had turned out. She shifted in her seat, not entirely sure if she was feeling uncomfortable or curious. "He's still married, isn't he?" That seemed to be the easiest thing to fall back on, because her mind was a mess at the moment and she wasn't entirely sure how to explain that to Roxy or Mila.
Roxy had a sharp enough eye to pick out Charlie’s discomfort. It was something she was always keeping a close lookout for at the bar -- women who weren’t enjoying their company and were too polite-slash-scared to say so while they looked for an escape route. This was much more mild, of course, but she still got the sense it was there. So Roxy told herself to slow her roll, it wasn’t like they were marrying this poor woman off to Gavin yet. Charlie most likely hadn’t meant to be the only woman Gavin had shown a glimmer of an inkling of interest in for years upon long years.
She nodded along with everything Mila said. Gavin owed them big for making sure this woman understood enough to give him the benefit of the doubt, but Roxy was sure he wouldn’t see it that way. She made an ‘ehhh’ face at Charlie’s question and waved her hand in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “Technically speaking, yes,” she said. “But they’re pretty firmly separated. They’ve been living apart for like, what, four years?” Roxy glanced at Mila like she ought to know, but she probably didn’t. “In any case, they can’t stand each other, and had a shitty marriage from the start.” She could be confidently frank about that part at least, she’d seen it in action.
Charlie very nearly asked why they hadn't gotten divorced yet, but she figured that was a question for Gavin. One that was probably deeply personal, and wouldn't be appropriate enough to ask until they got to know one another better. If that happened. She still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. It sounded as if Gavin might be interested in her, but she couldn't see how that could be when they had only had the briefest of conversations since she returned home. Maybe it was just a physical attraction. Really, she had no idea, but it really did blow her mind that Gavin could be that bad at expressing himself to people. If she hadn't had Roxy and Mila sitting there explaining it to her, Charlie would have driven home today under the impression that Gavin Lucas had no interest in speaking to her beyond polite hellos when they ran into each other on the street from time to time.
"I remember when he got her pregnant," Charlie murmured. "That was a big deal at the time. I didn't see him much after that. His son is in my English class," she added with a faint smile. "And I do appreciate the insight. Gavin Lucas was always incredibly hard to read, but I always got the impression that was the way he wanted it."
Roxy suspected that the divorce hadn’t happened yet because Olivia was a vindictive crazy bitch who was very comfortable living off of Gavin without having to live with Gavin, and she wasn’t letting it happen. Maybe she’d threatened to take him for all he was worth in alimony and child support. Maybe she’d threatened to make him split his share of the bar with her. Hell, maybe she’d threatened to kill herself or something. Roxy wouldn’t put it past her. It wasn’t a topic the family discussed much, it always seemed to piss Caden off to even think about, so Roxy didn’t ask. She of course didn’t know for sure if Gavin was interested in Charlie -- he certainly wouldn’t say so to Roxy -- but just the fact he’d invited her to join him anywhere was significant.
Her eyebrows lifted and then she gave a soft snort and shook her head, lifting her mug to her lips again. “Jasper’s in your class? Bless your heart, good luck with that one,” Roxy murmured. Now to hope that Gavin’s kid didn’t completely fuck up his chances with this woman somehow. Roxy loved Jasper as a quasi-nephew, but he was a handful.
"He's only been to class a few times since I started," Charlie admitted, "but he sits in the back and is pretty quiet." She knew that didn't mean a thing. Sometimes it was the quiet ones she needed to look out for her. But she also didn't want to judge Gavin's kid straight off, because she simply didn't know him well enough to do so. However, Charlie knew growing up in an unstable home never did anybody any favors.
Mila shot Charlie a look as she wrapped both hands around her coffee cup. She didn't feel it was her place to badmouth Jasper. She had only spoken to the kid - he wasn't really a kid anymore, but he was Gavin's son, so it was hard for Mila to think of him any differently - a couple of times but he was a Lucas through and through. She was pretty sure the cops in town knew him by name now. "I think the important thing here is to just... don't be too hard on Gavin. Even if you aren't interested in him romantically, I think he could use a friend that's not blood related. Not to pressure you or anything," she added quickly, "but knowing Gavin the way we do, just the fact that he invited you to church and... what, offered to fix your porch? He clearly enjoys your company more than he lets on. He just doesn't know what to do with that... uh, feeling yet."
Roxy nodded along with what Mila said. As usual, her words were more measured than Roxy’s. She was good at that. “Think of it like ... he’s been on a desert island for eighteen years, with only a temperamental should-be-ex-wife and two asshole brothers to talk to, and is just now trying to re-join the world,” she said, a little amused. Roxy glanced at Mila and made an apologetic face. “I mean, Aaron’s sweet and all, but you’re right, Gavin needs more non-relative people to interact with.” Getting him to actually do that might be a challenge, but a nice, beautiful woman never hurt that kind of process. She looked at Charlie again and smiled. “Just stay patient and remember he’s skittish, and if he’s like, being around you on purpose? That means more than his grumpy-ass attitude. He just don’t know how else to be anymore.”
Charlie couldn't help but laugh a little as she brought her hand up to cover part of her face. "Married, skittish, grumpy attitude, rude... can you hear my heart beating in anticipation from here?" she asked, lowering her hand to the table again. "Seriously, though, I do appreciate the advice, and the information. I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for and I don't want to pressure Gavin into anything either." She had used so much time and energy in trying to make her marriage work with little to no help from Drew. She didn't want to compare Gavin to her ex-husband, but Charlie wasn't sure how willing she was be to put herself out there in such a vulnerable way only to risk being rejected again. It had hurt far too much the first time, and she didn't want to put herself through that again. She raised a brow, however, and looked at Roxy. Her lips had formed a very faint smile. "You said you were dating one of his brothers, right?" Roxy had called them assholes, but for all Charlie knew, that had been a term of endearment. It was for some people.
Roxy had to laugh a little at what Charlie said first, and wrinkled her nose apologetically. Yeah, he didn’t sound like much of a catch. From what she knew, most of what Gavin had going for him was good looks, a great work ethic, and a decent income from the bar. And Amelia, who happened to be an absolute treasure. She was definitely not going to mention that she knew he’d physically fought with Olivia sometimes. People in glass houses and all that. “Take your time of course, and no pressure for anything, I just didn’t want him to scare you off like ten seconds into any potential anything,” she said with a smile. “But yeah, Caden’s mine. He’s the middle brother. He doesn’t come to church, but if you ever go to the bar, you’ll probably see him.” Roxy would try to impress upon him the importance of being nice to this woman. Nice was hard for Caden Lucas.
Mila had raised a brow and looked at Roxy, wondering how she would speak about Caden after calling him an asshole. She hadn't really minded when she lumped Aaron into that category, because Mila knew the brothers could be assholes to each other. And Caden could be an asshole to Roxy. But Aaron had never been an asshole to Mila, and while she didn't feel smug about that, it still made her feel warm inside. She really did think she had managed to snag the sweetest Lucas, at least. Not that it was a competition or anything. But Gavin was grumpy and Caden was a jerk. Was there any question that Mila had gotten damn lucky?
Charlie nodded, understanding where Roxy was coming from. She hadn't walked into that bar Thursday night looking for anything. And she was quick to remind herself that she had decided to sit with Gavin that morning in an effort not to have to sit with her own mom. But she also knew that could have just as easily gone to the 11:30 Mass instead if her mom was that intolerable. Which she wasn't. Charlie actually had a pretty good relationship with her. So maybe she had been just making excuses. "Gavin mentioned he bought the bar with his brothers," Charlie said. "And I met Aaron this morning. I'm sure I'll see them again if I decide to come by the bar. Or if I get desperate enough with my porch to come beg for help," she added with a small smile. "But this has been really nice. It's been awhile since I've been able to talk to other women who weren't hanging out in the Teacher's Lounge at school."
Roxy didn’t really talk about Caden to other people. She could toss out that he was an asshole without much issue -- anybody who talked to him for long could figure that out. He owned it, Roxy was under no illusions about his general attitude in life. Hell, sometimes she thought he liked being an asshole. He got a kick out of getting a rise out of people. But she’d stopped offering up her deeper feelings about him a long time ago. Nobody understood it, so why bother? She gave Charlie a warm smile. “Hope to see you again, for sure ... and not just for Gavin’s sake. Me and Mila have been friends for a long time, but we don’t get a chance to hang out with other women much, so.” Roxy lifted her mug in a little salute. If they had a new friend for after-Mass coffee every week, she wouldn’t complain about that.
"I think that would be really nice," Charlie said. And she meant it too. She had some friends who had remained in Point Pleasant, but most of them were married with children now, and it was difficult to see them as often as Charlie might like to. Plus she didn't think she would have to worry about too many personal questions from Roxy and Mila the way she might people who had known her longer. "I think I've probably kept you longer than I should have," she said with an apologetic smile. "Should I drive you home, or to the bar?"
She was so polite and sweet, Roxy had the fleeting thought that maybe they should have let Gavin scare her off. She was probably too good for him. For any of them, really, except maybe Mila and Aaron. But she dismissed that thought -- Charlie was a grown woman who could make up her own mind. Her eyes ticked to Mila at the question. It was going to be a busy Sunday, with all the boys working, so they would definitely have rides home and Roxy didn’t need to pick up her car. “I think straight to the bar, yeah?” she said, cocking a brow at Mila. “I’ve got a change of clothes there.”
Mila nodded after a moment. She had a little time before her shift, but if Charlie dropped Roxy off, she didn't want the woman to have to drive her all the way to Seaview. She could always sit at the bar and low key flirt with Aaron while the others were distracted. "Sounds good to me." She had an extra shirt in her locker, so she could change out of her church blouse before her shift started. She was also somewhat of the same mind as Roxy. Charlie seemed like someone who had her head on straight. She was lovely and put together. Her car didn't make weird noises the way Mila's did. She seemed so... refined for Gavin. But maybe that's what he needed. The total opposite of Ollie, for sure.
Charlie moved to stand and then grimaced a little as she glanced between the two women. "As juvenile as this sounds, can we keep this conversation between us? I kind of doubt that you would tell Gavin about what we talked about, but I've learned never to make assumptions." Not that she was really planning anything, but Charlie thought it might make things more awkward with Gavin if he knew she and Roxy and Mila had sat around talking about him so much over coffee.
Roxy gave her an incredulous look for a second as she stood up as well, but it turned understanding. She knew how that was, women could be backstabby bitches sometimes. “Not a word,” she said, holding up her fingers in a ‘scout’s-honor’ gesture. She might give Caden some vague information, but she wasn’t going to tell him they spent a half hour all gossiping about Gavin. That wouldn’t do anybody any good, and women had to have their secrets, didn’t they? It was the only way the world kept turning sometimes.