Chapter Twelve
“Hey, bossman.” Kenzie grinned at Ben. “So, tonight’s the big night then, is it?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Ben tried to hide his smile. It seemed the whole town knew Charlotte was back and knew that she’d be coming to the Boathouse tonight. “Who told you anyway?”
“You know what? I don’t even remember who told me first,” she said with a laugh. “I think every single person I have talked to today has either told me or asked me about you and Charlotte. I’m thinking we may need reinforcements behind the bar. I’m pretty sure the whole town will be here.”
Ben shook his head with a rueful smile. He was kind of pleased, and at the same time, a little anxious. It was nice that people cared, but it felt like a lot of pressure for things to go well.
Kenzie raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you happy about it?”
“Of course I’m happy. I’m just not used to my personal life being under the microscope.”
“Oh, come on. Everyone’s rooting for you. It’s not like people are being nosy, we just want to see you happy.”
Ben gave her a grateful smile. “I know and I appreciate it, but it still feels like pressure, you know?”
Kenzie shrugged. “Sorry, but I can’t say I do.
” She smiled when Chase came in and sauntered over to join them.
He leaned across the bar to kiss Kenzie then pulled up a seat and smiled at Ben.
“I’m not going to interrogate you, I’m sure Kenz has done that already, I don’t think she’s talked about anything else since Charlotte came back. ”
Kenzie made a face at him. “I don’t know what you mean! I merely mentioned—in passing—that I’m excited for Ben, that’s all.”
“Yeah, that’s all. It’s not like you chattered on about it for hours or anything, is it?”
Ben smiled at the evil look Kenzie shot at Chase. “Well, like I was just saying, it’s nice to know that you care.”
“You know it,” said Chase. “I don’t know a single person around here who you haven’t helped in one way or another.
It’s only to be expected that we all want to see you find the happiness you so deserve.
” He shot a wary look at Kenzie. “I just hope for Charlotte’s sake as well as yours, that she does make you happy.
I know at least one person who’s ready to skin her alive if she doesn’t. ”
Kenzie sputtered. “I never said that! I just …”
Ben laughed. “It’s okay, Kenzie. I know you’ve got my back.”
At that moment, Eddie came over to join them. He punched Ben’s shoulder and grinned at him. “So, I hear you’re finally ready to join the rest of us and fall in love and settle down.”
“It’s definitely a possibility.” Ben smiled. He wanted to believe it was possible; he hoped it was. But life had already taught him that even when you believed something was certain, it didn’t necessarily happen.
Eddie held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. “As long as you’re admitting that much at least, I’m happy.”
Ben smiled. He liked Eddie. His smile faded a little when he saw Emma, Jack, Missy, and Dan coming in. He knew he wouldn’t get off as lightly with them. At least not with Emma or Missy.
Emma came straight to him and reached up for a hug.
He had to lean across her baby bump in order to peck her cheek.
He tried to focus on how happy she and Jack must be and not let his mind wander.
He’d always known that Charlie and he would one day have to talk about their loss.
And since they’d skirted around the edges of discussing it last night, it was weighing heavily on his mind.
In all the years they’d been apart, he’d tried to keep his memories and his love for Charlotte locked away in a box.
The love and pain that he felt for their child who had never been born, those feelings he had buried even deeper.
He knew that until he and Charlie could face those feelings together, they could never move forward.
“Where is she?” asked Emma.
Ben laughed. “Hi, Em. It’s nice to see you too.”
“Oh, sorry. Hi, Ben. You know I love you. I’m just so excited! It’s finally happening, and I get to see it.”
Jack slid his arm around her shoulders with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Ben. You know what she’s like. How are you doing?”
“To be perfectly honest,” he smiled at Jack, “since I know that’s something you like to do, I’m already a little weary of being the center of attention. I’m not used to it and it doesn’t suit me.” He smiled kindly at Emma. “But I do appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry,” said Missy. “You won’t be the center of attention for long once Charlotte arrives. You know everyone’s going to bombard her with questions.”
Ben nodded. “Yeah, and she’s much better able to handle it than I am.”
Dan smiled at him. “I don’t know how you handle it at all.”
Missy reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Hey, you stepped a long way outside your comfort zone for me.”
It was true. Ben remembered Dan standing up in front of everyone and declaring his love for Missy and proposing to her.
If Dan had been able to do that, then Ben could certainly enjoy being under the spotlight of everyone’s curiosity about him and Charlotte being back together.
“It seems like everyone’s here early tonight. Here come Nate and Lily.”
The others all turned to greet them. When Lily finally reached Ben, she smiled. “Where is she then? I’m dying to see her.”
“She should be here any minute.”
Missy laughed. “At least we hope so. She never was too big on being punctual.”
“Or reliable.” Ben turned at the sound of Pete’s voice. He hadn’t even realized that he and Holly had arrived.
“Don’t you start!” Emma scowled at Pete.
Pete held his hands up with a smirk. “Don’t you start, Em. I don’t want to incur the wrath of the pregnant lady.”
Emma shook her finger at him, but Ben could see she was laughing.
“How about we all get a table?” suggested Missy. She looked at Ben. “I’m assuming Charlotte really is going to be here any minute?”
“She should be.” Ben closed his eyes for a moment as he realized that even now there was a sliver of doubt in his mind.
He couldn’t guarantee, not for Missy, and especially not for himself, that Charlotte really would even be here.
That made him sad. It reinforced for him that she was right that they did need to take their time.
He didn’t only need to learn who she was now.
He also needed to learn to trust her again.
No, that wasn’t fair. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her; it was more that he didn’t dare believe his luck.
The others made their way outside and pulled a couple of the big picnic benches together to make room for everyone.
He hung back by the bar wanting to catch Charlotte the moment she came through the door and to get her to himself for a minute.
He checked his watch and was relieved to realize that she wasn’t late.
It seemed all the others had shown up early.
He made his way to the doors, hoping to spot her as she arrived.
It felt wrong to him that all his friends arrived with their partners, they’d come out as couples.
He and Charlie were the longest standing couple around, but they weren’t a couple yet.
His heart raced when he saw her car pull into the square.
His heart neither knew nor cared about the whole couple thing; his heart just wanted to be next to hers.
She climbed out of the car and grinned when she saw him. “Hey, I’m not late, am I? I was just trying not to be as early as I was last night.”
“No, not at all. I guess I’m just a little overeager.
” He shrugged. “You look beautiful, Charlie.” She did, too.
He’d always thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
She’d grown into the most beautiful woman.
She was still slender, despite the amount she ate.
Tonight, she was wearing skinny jeans and a simple tank top and she looked fantastic.
“Thanks. You don’t look half bad yourself,” she said with a laugh and pushed at his arm.
That made Ben smile. She may look like a sophisticated lady, but she still behaved like a kid in some ways and he loved that about her. “Are you ready to go in and face them? I have to warn you that there is a lot of interest in us.”
“Hey, you know I can handle it.” She looked up at him, her eyes filled with concern. “Can you? We can get out of here, go somewhere else, if you prefer.”
Ben thought about it. He’d like nothing more than to have her to himself for the evening, but he knew it would only prolong the curiosity about the two of them.
He made a face and gave her a rueful smile.
“You know I’d much prefer to go somewhere else, but for one thing I’d rather get this over with, and for another I have a feeling you’ll enjoy it. ”
She laughed. “I will, but not as much as I’d enjoy an evening for just the two of us.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss on her nose. “I hope we will get one of those soon, but for now we should probably get this over with.”
“I hope we’ll get lots of those soon.” The way she smiled at him made his heart beat faster—and made him hope that soon they would share all their evenings together.
It took them forever to make their way through the bar.
Everyone they passed wanted them to stop and talk.
There were plenty of folk who remembered Charlotte and plenty more who were simply thrilled to see Ben with a woman.
Charlotte laughed and chatted with all of them, greeting old friends and making new ones with her easy, outgoing manner that Ben loved so much.
By the time they reached the table where the gang was sitting, Emma looked as though she was about to burst. She struggled to her feet and flung her arms around Charlotte. “It’s about time too!”
Charlotte laughed. “You look amazing, Em! I’ve missed you, my friend, but it looks like I made it back just in time.” She eyed her huge baby bump. “When are you due?”