Read Cinderella Wore Tennis Shoes: A Novella for Free Online

opened the door and warily backed her way out of the cab.
    “Charlie?”
    She stopped. “Yes?”
    “Holler if you need me.”
    “You’ll jump on your charger and ride to my rescue?”
    He shrugged. “Like I said, I think I enjoy being a white knight.” The way he hesitated, she suspected he’d started to say something else. He frowned, as if the idea was uncomfortable.
    “I’ll holler if I need you.” Feeling all the enthusiasm a woman feels when facing her yearly pap test, Charlie finished climbing down from the cab and walked slowly to her mother’s door.
    She knocked.
    It had always struck her as sad that she couldn’t just throw the door open and walk into her home. She’d knocked since she moved out at eighteen. No easygoing relationship, no coming home. This had never been home, but a house her mother lived in. A house in a respectable but not upper-class part of town. Charlie’s marriage to Winslow was Harriet’s stepping stone to the life she’d always wanted to live, the life she felt she was destined for. And by not marrying Winslow, Charlie had taken Harriet’s chance away from her.
    The door opened, and Charlie was face-to-face with her own personal fire-breathing dragon—her mother.
    “Charlotte.” Harriet Eaton’s face twisted into a frown. “So you’ve come crawling back. I told Winslow you would.”
    There was no hug.
    No honey, I was worried .
    Charlie reminded herself that she hadn’t expected comforting words from her mother, but the lack of them still hurt. Maybe there were just some wishes a person couldn’t outgrow?
    But outgrow or not, Charlie wasn’t going to be intimidated or pushed around. No more going with the flow. From now on she was paddling her own boat.
    “Mother.” She moved into the house, but just within the hallway and left the door open.
    “Charlotte. Where were you? What were you thinking?”
    Before Charlie could answer either question, Harriet went on, “Now, don’t you worry about a thing. I’ve got all the arrangements in place. The entire affair will be forgiven and everyone will chalk it up to cold feet. I have the church rescheduled for August eighth. I couldn’t get the club again on such short notice, but I talked to Winslow and we agreed that a nice informal reception on his lawn would be beautiful and appropriate under the circumstances. His family pulled some strings and—”
    “Mother.”
    Her mother didn’t even take a breath. “—the club will cater the reception. You’ve eaten there often enough this last year to know they can handle anything.”
    “Mother.”
    Her mother finally paused to take a breath, ready to wind up and start again. Charlie grabbed her chance. “Harriet!”
    It was the sound of her name that finally brought her mother to a screeching halt. “What?”
    Harriet’s gaze moved beyond Charlie and seemed to get stuck there.
    Charlie turned around and saw her hero hadn’t left her to deal with her personal dragon on her own.
    Her mother glared at Dan. “Who are you?”
    “I’m Dan. Dan Martin. I drove Charlie—”
    Her mother dismissed Dan and returned to Charlie. “Charlotte, what are you doing with this . . . this man?”
    Seeing her mother’s obvious annoyance, Charlie felt a hint of amusement.
    “A friend,” Charlie hastily supplied. “A good friend. Dan was kind enough to give me a lift.”
    Time to make her escape.
    Past time.
    “I’d like my purse and my bags.”
    Harriet’s eyes widened in surprise. “Why, Charlotte, Winslow has your bags. They’re still packed in the back of his car, ready for your honeymoon. The poor man. He was ruined. Just ruined.”
    “I’m sure he was. Though I doubt it was a broken heart.”
    “How can you say that? You should have seen him when you ran out of the ceremony.”
    “Mother, Winslow isn’t brokenhearted.” Remembering last night’s argument, she was positive about that much. “He’s more embarrassed than anything. And no one ever died of