The rest of the day Bucky helped the family get ready for their party laying out food and setting up chairs and tables. Guests started showing up around noon and the crowd brought a smile to Bucky's face. Something a crowd generally didn't do. Joaquin couldn't even kill his mood. They found themselves standing near the boat talking about all the upgrades they had made recently, the three men enjoying their beer and just being guys.
"No no it's an IPA it's different," Jaoquin said taking a sip from his can.
"I don't know, I usually just drink whatever's available," Bucky said, taking a swig of the green bottle Sam had handed him.
"So you can't get drunk either? Like cap?" the young man asked.
"Trust me I've tried," Bucky said, rolling his eyes. Sam tapped his chest and pointed to a car pulling into the field behind the house. The silver car had its top down, a dark head of hair shining in the sun. It pulled into a spot next to some other cars before a small woman appeared from inside.
"Miss Ward!" AJ and Cass yelled running to the woman, a bright smile appearing on her face as she greeted the boys.
"HEY CARRY HER STUFF!" Sam yelled from beside Bucky, startling him. He hadn't been startled in a long time. Cass grabbed the two trays walking them to his mother while AJ grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the festivities, a laugh from her floating to his ears. She hugged Sarah as they met at the food tables talking for a moment before Sarah gestured for her to follow her. Bucky realized they were coming toward them and his mouth went dry. He hadn't expected something like her when Sam was giving him a hard time, but he had to admit he was impressed by Sam's taste for him. As she approached he took in her appearance a bit more. She wasn't very tall, maybe 5 foot 3 though she was wearing wedge heels giving her an extra couple inches. Her legs were toned and muscular, a perfect hourglass shape following drenched in tan skin. Her hair was long, waist length and dark with a slight curl. Her face was the perfect shape, a cute button nose and the greenest eyes he had ever seen. Bucky guessed she was some sort of European, maybe Italian or Greek with her tanned skin.
"Joaquin Torres, this is Charlotte Ward, one of the boys' teachers." Sam introduced her to the young man first. Joaquin took her hand, shaking it eagerly and shooting her his best flirtatious smile, which was not lost on Bucky.
"Nice to meet you," she said. Her voice sent Bucky's heart into fits. She had a touch of an accent but nothing compared to the others around. Her voice was bright but timid at the same time.
"And this," Sam said, slapping his hands on Buckys shoulders. "Is James Barnes."
"You can call me Bucky." he said, taking her outstretched hand and softly smiling as he shook it. His hands dwarfed her own petite ones.
"Bucky. You can call me Charlie," she said, smiling brightly. He realized he'd held her hand a little too long so he quickly dropped it. He didn't usually wear his gloves or jacket around the Wilsons, though at his moment he wished he'd hidden his metal arm. Though if she noticed she didn't acknowledge it.
Of course she realized idiot
Bucky mentally shot himself in the foot. He took another sip of his beer as the other two chatted her up. The white sundress she wore hugged her figure perfectly, the little yellow flowers that covered it made her tan pop, the ties in the back pulling it to show her waist. No amount of beer could wet his whistle, though he couldn't remember the last time a woman had made him act like this. He'd gone on dates since his dramatic comeback but none of those women even peaked his interest like this one did.
"So what do you teach?" Joaquin said, leaning against the dock railing flexing.
"Fourth grade history, but my passion is really with the after school kids. A lot of parents have to work late so we do all sorts of activities and projects to keep them occupied. I tutor, we sing songs, draw, whatever you can think of really. It's nice to help the community." she explained. Sarah returned to them, handing Charlie a beer which she took happily.
"Miss Ward, drinking in front of your students?" Joaquin tried miserably to make a joke. Everyone just kinda looked at each other in silence.
"You're really dumb," Sam finally broke the silence and they all laughed at Joaquins expense. He immediately excused himself to go to the bathroom in embarrassment.
"Ignore him, he'll flex for a little while longer before he gives up." Sarah laughed while swigging her beer.
"It's okay. At least someone seems interested, I'd almost given up hope," Charlie said following suit and also sipping from her beer. Bucky swallowed thickly at the sight.
"No special guys in your life?" Sam asked nudging Bucky nonchalantly as possible. Charlie laughed and shook her head.
"The last date I went on showed up on a bicycle."
"Maybe he was being environmentally friendly?" Sam joked.
"Right, that's why he asked me to venmo him when I didn't want to go back to his?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"You're joking right?" Bucky asked.
"I wish I was," Charlie said with a small smile.
The party continued well into the evening, everyone enjoying good food and friends. Charlie had stayed close to Sarah's side most of the night but spent some time getting to know the two guys by Sam's side. Joaquin was funny. After his little flirting incident they actually got a long swimmingly, making each other laugh and sharing stories of their youth. He was a bit younger than her and she surmised he had a bit of growing up to do still. Bucky was a different story. She couldn't get a good read on him. She of course knew who he was, but chose to ignore the obvious. He was quiet but she could tell he was wildly intelligent, and boy was he handsome. Her fourth grade textbooks had included him in as subject matter, but every picture was him with longer hair and whatever get up the bad guys had him in. He was different now in front of her; he looked almost…normal. His dark jeans and tight fitting t-shirt made his muscles easily noticeable. If he didn't have a metal arm she would've never even recognized him. It was different than she pictured, she didn't mind it to be honest. By this time the sun was setting and a lot of the guests had moved to various firepits. Charlie was grabbing a few cookies when she noticed the soldier sitting at the end of the dock by himself, an empty chair next to him.
She grabbed an extra cookie and set it on a napkin, stealing two extra beers from the cooler and heading his way.
"Care for some company?" she said from behind the chairs. He turned to see her standing there hands full and a smile playing on her lips in the sunset.
"Of course," he said, gesturing to the chair. She sat down and handed him the extra beer which he took gratefully and she set the cookies on the arm rest.
"Penny for your thoughts," she said, opening her own and taking a sip, relaxing into the chair.
"Honestly I can say for the first time in a while I'm not thinking about a damn thing."
"Saves me a penny then," she quipped. He chuckled and sipped his beer.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" she said, glancing at the sunset.
"Yeah it really is."
"I can't imagine they're much like this New York?" she asked.
"So you do know who I am?" he quipped.
"Of course I do. You're in our curriculum."
"You didn't seem concerned."
"Was I supposed to be?" she asked.
"I uh- I guess not." he said rubbing the back of his neck.
"You didn't answer my question," she said.
"Your question?"
"The sunsets in New York. Are they like this? I can't imagine with all the buildings."
"If you're in the city no… but get on top of a building and it's like another world." he answered.
"I've always wondered what New York is like." she breathed in the breeze. The salty sea water smell stronger as the tides changed.
"It's my favorite place in the world. Though I miss what it was like in the 40's. It's certainly changed."
"I've never left Louisiana." she piqued.
"Your accent could've fooled me," he said, sipping his beer again. She smiled and dipped her head.
"Yeah… A lot of these kids. They grow up and leave, get big people's jobs. I guess I want to make sure they're as successful as possible. The heavy accent can hinder that so I make sure to speak as northern and clear as I can to set them up for success. Sometimes the drawl cuts through, especially when I'm drunk." she laughed.
"That makes sense," he said, grabbing a cookie and taking a bite. His eyes went wide in shock as he chewed.
"Holy shi-"
"What?" she said in a fright by his sudden reaction.
"These are amazing," he said looking at the remaining cookie in his hand. She laughed brightly.
"Thank you!"
"You made these?" he said, shoving the rest of his in his mouth and then stealing the one she had brought for herself.
"Yes and that one was mine!" she laughed.
"Oh no, no it's mine." he shoved the remaining cookie in his already full mouth causing her to laugh even more.
"I'll make sure to thank mama for her recipe next time I see her," she smiled.
"Shit I'll thank her now, where is she?" he said, chewing. Charlie realized what she said. Of course he didn't know it wasn't his fault. Charlie felt her stomach drop a bit at the mention of her mother. It had been a while since she even brought her up in conversation, the pain still too fresh.
"She uh- she's passed away." she said, starting to pick the label of her beer.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's ok you didn't know. I mean I am the one who brought her up."
"Still…" he trailed. A strong breeze washed over the dock causing a shiver to run down Charlie's spine. Noticeable enough that Bucky immediately got up and removed his jacket from the back of his chair and placed it over her shoulders. The smell of him immediately filled her senses. It was manly, like sandalwood and leather, the jacket heavy on her shoulders.
"Thank you." he smiled back at her politeness. She opened her mouth to reassure him again but was interrupted by a childs voice shouting from the end of the dock.
"Miss Ward! Miss Ward!" he said, running up next to her chair.
"Yes AJ?" she beamed at the boy in the growing darkness.
"Our neighbor Mr. Lou said he's gonna get his guitar. Will you come sing like we do in class?" the boy pleaded.
"I suppose I could do that," she said standing as the little boy grabbed her hand. Bucky looked after the pair as they walked down the dock. He let out a long sigh before getting up to follow them. By the time he got to the fire the darkness had completely engulfed everything around it. The handful of people left all gathered around, sitting on logs as seats. Charlie was sitting on one log surrounded by both boys eagerly awaiting to see what she had chosen for her turn. Bucky took his place next to Sam on the log across from her, watching her intently, his jacket still sitting on her shoulders. The guests all took their turns singing their songs before it was Charlie's turn.
"Alright Miss Ward let's hear it," Sam teased.
"Yeah yeah okay boys what's your pick?" She asked the pair on either side of her.
"Can you do the dream one?" Cass said, leaning against her. Sarah whispered to Mr. Lou's ear and he started to strum the song.
Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper, "I love you"
Birds singing in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me
Bucky recognized the song though he hadn't heard it in years. In fact the last time he had was sitting in a tent in rain drenched Italy as he waited for more bombs to fall on their heads. The radio coming in fuzzy and depressing. Though as he heard it now his heart fluttered in his chest. Her voice was so sweet in his ears.
Stars fading, but I linger on, dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger'til dawn, dear
Just saying this
The quiet that settled over everyone's conversation as she sang settled. Not a single person continued to speak, everyone's eyes and ears were on her. The boys settled into her further, AJ even laying his head on her lap as she sang. In that moment the only thing in the entire word was that family and the woman serenading them, and as for Bucky…well, he felt sleepy for the first time in a really long time…
