His eyes widened. “What do you mean all? How many people are in there?”
I hugged him. “Thousands,” I said.
He hugged me back. “I don’t know why I ever thought you were nicer than Paul and Sandy. You’re just as bad.”
He let me go, and I hugged Robert.
“Everyone here?” he whispered in my ear.
“Yep. He doesn’t know?”
“No idea.”
“What are you two gossiping about?” Charlie asked suspiciously as Robert and I stepped away from each other.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” Robert said. “Let’s go inside, shall we? This heat is more than I can handle.”
Charlie hesitated, but only for a moment. Then he squared his shoulders and jutted out his chin. “Okay. I’m ready now. Let’s go talk to the youngsters. I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.”
Robert snorted as he threaded his arm through Charlie’s. “Tough guy.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
I led the way into Phoenix House. Everyone turned to stare at us, then immediately turned to whisper to each other as they saw Charlie and Robert for the first time. I glanced back, wondering what they saw. Charlie was in black jeans and a black shirt and had leather cuffs on both wrists and a leather strap hanging from a chain around his neck.
Robert looked dapper as always in a wide-brimmed hat and a striped button-down. The tip of his cane bounced off the floor with every step he took. “Would you look at that,” he said softly, taking in the crowd and the sign. “All for you, dear. How wonderful.”
Charlie was speechless as he took in the center. There was an empty row of chairs in the back, but his eyes were on the sign. “That for me?” he grunted.
“Oh no,” I teased him. “That’s for the other guy named Charlie coming in today
. Just ignore it. We didn’t have time to make another sign for you.”
Robert chuckled as Charlie shot me a look. “Over my knee, Corey. I don’t care if we have an audience.”
The kids started whispering even louder.
I winced. “Maybe not talk about that part.”
Charlie rolled his eyes. “At least they know I’m to be respected now.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” Robert said, leaning over and kissing his cheek.
Charlie wasn’t happy about that. “Maybe you should just stay with me. Just in case.”
Robert laughed. “You’ll be fine. I see a chair with my name on it. Going to take a load off.”
Charlie protested, but Robert ignored him as he walked toward the row of empty chairs.
I saw Marina peeking her head around the corner. She winked at me as I led Charlie to the front of the room. There were two chairs set up for us near the windows. Charlie held his head high as he walked by the kids. He looked like a badass, and I loved him all the more for it. Most probably couldn’t tell he was extremely nervous, but I could see it by the way he clenched his hands.
“Okay,” I said in a low voice as we reached the front. “One chair for you and one for me. I’ll be up here with you the whole time, as a moderator of sorts. And trust me when I say that they’re going to have questions. When you’ve had enough, let me know and I’ll wrap it up.”
“Thanks,” he said gruffly. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“For you? Always. Ready?”
He sighed. “As I’ll ever be.”