20 LUKEI rose from bed early the next morning, unable to sleep with the knowledge that today was the day. Creeping into the bathroom while Charlotte slept, I turned on the shower and waited for the water to warm.
As I soaped up, I reflected on everything that had happened. This past week had been one of the best of my life. I didn’t know it, but before Charlotte arrived, I’d been living in a fog. I’d wake up early, work all day, stress out over the distillery turning a profit one of these days, then fall into bed exhausted at the end of the night. But ever since she showed up here, my miserable little routine had been interrupted in the best way imaginable.
Watching Charlotte blossom and grow during her stay here had been something, and I wanted to believe that I’d had a hand in that. Go
