Chapter Fourteen
Ben opened his eyes. He’d thought that he wouldn’t sleep at all, not with Charlie lying next to him.
Not now she was back in his arms after all these years.
He wanted to lie awake and hold her and savor every moment.
And yet it was morning; he remembered turning on his side and her snuggling into him.
And then nothing. That was probably the best night’s sleep he’d had in sixteen years.
Charlotte was still snuggled into his side, his arm still slung across her.
He drew her closer and dropped a kiss on her hair.
Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn’t wake.
He was glad. He wanted to be able to watch her sleep.
It was hard to believe that she was here, back in his arms, in his bed, in his life.
At least, he hoped she was back in his life.
It bothered him that she kept talking about Angel.
He hoped that after last night she wouldn’t bring it up again.
He was surprised, but in a good way, that she was looking out for him.
She said she’d learned that love wasn’t selfish, and that she only wanted him to have the best. He knew there was some logic to her reasoning, too.
They loved each other when they were kids, but even he wouldn’t claim that they’d been the ideal match.
He realized she was awake and looking up at him. He smiled. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning,” she mumbled. “I can’t believe it’s light. I didn’t think I’d sleep at all.”
“I didn’t either, but I only just woke up myself. It seems we both finally relaxed.”
She nodded. “I don’t suppose you’re relaxed enough to take the morning off with me?”
He smiled. “You know what? I think I am.” Why the hell not? It was Saturday, changeover day, but he had a well-trained staff. They could take care of things; they could run the place without him. If he’d let them. And if he was ever going to let them, today seemed like a good day to start.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You’re serious?”
He laughed. “Yes, why, weren’t you?”
“I thought I was just pulling your leg. I didn’t think there was any way you’d say yes. But, since you have …”
They both looked up at the sound of a knock on the door. Who the hell might that be? Whoever it was, Ben didn’t want to answer it.
“Aren’t you going to get that?”
He shook his head with a smile and covered his face with a pillow. “I’m not here.”
Charlotte giggled. “Who are you, and what have you done with Ben? There is no way the Ben I knew would hide from his responsibilities on a Saturday morning.”
“Maybe I grew up a little too.” His voice was muffled by the pillow.
Charlotte lifted the edge of it and peered at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, that I finally realized that work isn’t everything. And there are some responsibilities that are more important than work could ever be.”
The knock at the door was louder this time. All his instincts made him want to go answer it, but realistically it couldn’t be anything important enough to get him out of bed. Not while Charlotte was still in it. They lay there staring at each other and the knock came again, louder still.
“Ben, are you in there?” His heart sank. It was Angel.
Charlotte raised her eyebrows. “Is that her?”
He nodded. What the hell did she want?
“You should go to see her. I can hide in the bathroom or something if you like.”
“There’s no need to do that, Charlie! No need at all.”
“So, go answer it then. Otherwise either she or I will start thinking you have something to hide.”
Ben met her gaze. “You don’t mean that?”
She shook her head. “No, sorry, I don’t. But I can’t speak for her.”
Ben scrambled out of bed. “Well, she needs to know what’s going on.
Perhaps then both you and she will know it’s you I want and not her.
” Charlotte stared after him as he went to the front door and opened it.
Angel was no longer there. She was halfway back down the stairs.
She turned at the sound of the door opening.
“Oh, there you are. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
Ben shook his head, feeling a little self-conscious, standing in full view of the square, as he was. “What’s up? What do you need?”
“I just wanted to see if you were …” Her voice trailed off.
Ben knew without turning around that Charlotte must have come to stand behind him. The look on Angel’s face said it all. He felt bad for her, but it was better this way. Now there could be no doubt that he was back with Charlotte.
“Hi, you must be Angel. I’ve heard so much about you.” Ben turned in surprise and Charlotte made her way past him, down the steps to shake Angel’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you. You must be Charlotte.”
She nodded. “Sorry, I can’t stop. I’ll leave you to it.”
Ben was stunned to see Charlotte carry on down the steps. She turned at the bottom and gave him a little wave. “Bye.” He stared after her as she made her way across the square and back to her car.
Angel watched too. Once Charlotte had pulled away, Angel turned to look back at Ben. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t think.”
Ben rubbed his hands over his face. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to think. “That’s okay. What did you need?”
“Nothing. I feel so stupid. I should just go.” She turned and ran back down the steps, then across to her car. Ben was still standing there staring as she, too, pulled away.
“Scaring two of them away in less than five minutes, that’s some going, even for you.”
Ben looked down to see Joe leaning against the wall out the back of the restaurant. “How long have you been standing there? Actually, don’t answer that. You don’t need to. Long enough, apparently.”
Joe nodded and pushed away from the wall to make his way to the steps. He stopped at the bottom. “You got any coffee on the go yet?”
“No, but I need some. I take it you’re inviting yourself in?”
“Looks like it,” said Joe with a grim smile as he started up the steps.
Once Ben had made the coffee, they took a seat outside on the balcony.
“Want to tell me what’s going on?” asked Joe.
“I would, if I knew myself.”
“Well, the fact that Charlie was here at this time in the morning tells me something’s going on, right?”
“Not what you’d think.”
“You’re not going to tell me she didn’t stay the night?”
“I’m not. But like I said it’s not what you think.
Last night we finally got a chance to talk about everything that happened between us, and she stayed.
” He met Joe’s gaze. “Just so we could be together, so we could be close. Last night was about the past. Not about the future or even the present. It was about us finally sharing our pain.”
“And now it’s morning. Now you’re back in the present, and Angel came?”
Ben shook his head. “I don’t even know what she was doing here. I don’t know what she wanted. And I don’t know why Charlie left. I didn’t want her to. In fact,” Ben took a gulp of his coffee, “I think I’m going to go after her.”
Joe took a sip of his coffee and nodded slowly. “What’s she like now? I haven’t seen her yet.”
“She wanted to see you. Her first morning here, she came over to the Boathouse hoping to find you drinking your coffee like you used to.”
Joe smiled. “Yeah, there was many a morning she used to come drink coffee with me, when you started work early.”
“I remember. She used to love it. I know she wants to see you.”
“But what’s she like now? Has she changed much?”
Ben sighed. “She has, and in a good way. She keeps joking that she’s grown up and it’s true, she has.”
“Running away like that, when she saw Angel, didn’t seem too grown-up to me.”
“You’d be surprised. She wasn’t running away because she was upset that Angel was here.”
“No?”
“No, she was getting out of the way, because she thinks I might be better off with Angel than with her. At least, she thinks I should consider the possibility.”
Joe pursed his lips. “Why?”
Ben shrugged. “When she went to find you that morning, she saw me and Angel talking.”
Joe raised his eyebrows.
“There’s nothing going on between us, but Angel wanted there to be, like I told you.”
“And instead of giving you a hard time about it, Charlotte is saying you should give it a try?”
“Yeah, she is, but I don’t want to. I wish everyone would just get off my case.
It’s Charlie I want. It always has been and it always will be.
” Ben stared out at the lake for a moment.
“I know we need to get to know each other again. I know we aren’t the same people that we were back then, but I also know I love her and I’ll never love another woman. ”
Joe held his gaze for a long moment. “You know your own mind, son. You know your own heart. I don’t think anyone’s on your case.
And I’m sorry if I came across that way.
It’s just that it’s been so hard to watch you all these years.
I always hoped that someday, someone would come along who could make you happy.
Just when it seemed like that might happen, that that someone was Angel, Charlie shows up again.
You know I only want what’s best for you. ”
Ben let out a short laugh. “That’s exactly what Charlie said. She wants the best for me, she wants to see me happy. Even if that means I’m not with her.”
“Sounds to me like she has done some growing up.”
Ben nodded. “She cares about me. She always has.”
Joe drained his coffee and set his mug down on the table. “Well, I’ll be on my way then, and let you get after her.”
Ben followed him to the door. “Do you have some reason you’d rather see me with Angel than Charlotte?”
Joe turned and looked him in the eye. “I just think it would be an easier road. A fresh start. Angel comes with no baggage. At least not shared baggage. You and Charlie, you hurt each other. For the two of you to be together you’ll have to wade back through the pain before you find new happiness.
I just don’t want to see you hurt. Maybe I’m being too protective, that’s all. You know I love Charlie.”