Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Monday afternoon sunlight slanted through Riversong's windows. Ben sat at his usual table near the back, listening to old jazz—Sonny had won a coin toss earlier with April, so jazz it was for the afternoon. His coffee had gone cold twenty minutes ago.
Shane dropped into the chair across from him with his own mug—an Americano that smelled strong enough to wake the dead. “You gonna drink that, or just stare at it until it evaporates?”
“Lost track of time.” Which was an absolute lie.
Ben was counting the seconds until it was time to drive down to Denver and pick Charlie up at DIA.
Ben pushed the mug away as he looked up at the giant wall clock, which seemed to have stopped.
He could have sworn ten minutes had passed since he looked at it last, but it was only three.
“Want a fresh one?”
“Nah. I'm good.”
Shane gave him a look that said he clearly wasn't good, but didn't push. Yet. “DCSO called this morning. Forensics confirmed the girth strap was cut. Clean slice, hidden on the underside against the horse's belly. Someone knew what they were doing.”
Ben's jaw tightened. “Duke?”
“Alibi's solid. He arrived shortly before the card game, there’s footage of him online signing autographs and talking to fans all the way to the jousting ring, and he was visible on the field the entire time as Rowan's squire, including at the girth before Rowan mounted. There wasn’t time for him to go anywhere near the stable.” Shane took a sip of his coffee.
“What about any Caidansworn?”
“Tack room had a dozen people with access—jousters, handlers, Faire staff. No one saw Duke or anyone suspicious there.” Shane looked Ben in the eye. “Any chance one of the couldn’t have been bribed?”
Shit. Ben tried not to be angry at the question. “I’ve known most of the stable hands for years. They wouldn’t do this.”
“Figured you’d say that. Unfortunately, there are no security cameras in the stables, either…
so.” Shane leaned back in his chair. “DCSO's treating it as attempted murder, but without solid evidence pointing to a specific person, they're stuck. Official word’s that it was an accident.
And Viv's production company is pushing to keep filming on schedule.
LA office is handling Viv and Rowan's security now.
We're off the hook unless they come back to Colorado.”
“They will.” Ben glanced at the clock again—four minutes had passed—then looked out the window at the red cliffs over the St. Vrain, watching the sunlight illuminate the sandstone. “Viv wants that avalanche scene. She'll be back in November or December when there's snow.”
“Then we've got time to figure this out.” Shane's phone buzzed. He glanced at it, then back at Ben. “Elissa's still digging into The Chronicler but not having much luck. You can imagine the fans are blowing up over this. It’s chaos. Now he’s even harder to find.”
The front door chimed. Ben looked up to see Gabe walk in, hand-in-hand with Rochelle.
They were both smiling. Gabe looked happier than he had in years.
Ben smiled. He remembered when Gabe had been too nervous to talk to Rochelle, and when she'd run from the coffee shop after buying him that first coffee because her stutter got in the way. Now they were happily married.
Gabe's expression—pure contentment—made Ben's chest ache.
That's what he wanted with Charlie. Just being without her for two days was driving him crazy. The wall clock mocked him again. This afternoon was taking forever.
Gabe spotted Ben and Shane, raised a hand in greeting, and steered Rochelle toward the counter where April was already pulling shots for their usual orders.
“Sure I can’t talk you into something new?” April asked Gabe. Her voice projected through the coffee shop. “Something with ice in it?”
“Why start now?” Gabe asked.
“Maybe because it’s hotter than the devil’s sweaty ass—”
“April. Language.” April’s father, Sonny turned from the espresso machine and gave his daughter a look that could blister paint off a wall.
“What?” April gestured around the coffee shop. “Nobody’s here. Your farty old jazz chased everyone away.”
Ben snorted as Shane raised his hand. “Uh, we’re here, darling. Sweetheart. Love of my life. Hi.”
April rolled her eyes. “You don’t count because your drinks are free.”
“She gets cranky when it’s hot,” Shane stage-whispered.
“I heard that.” She dropped two spoonfuls of sugar into the bottom of a ceramic mug followed by coffee and one shot of espresso for Gabe, then made an iced mocha for Rochelle.
Ben laughed. Yeah, he wanted this with Charlie, too—easy, fun banter. He sighed.
“She lands at six,” Shane said quietly.
Ben's head snapped toward him. “What?”
“Charlie. Her flight from LA lands at six.” Shane smirked. “You've checked that clock a hundred times since I sat down. You're not subtle, Moose.”
Heat crept up Ben's neck. “I wasn't—”
“You were.” Shane's smirk softened into something more genuine. “It's good, man. You two are good together.”
“We barely know each other.”
“Bullshit.” Shane leaned forward. “Seeing you two at the Ren Faire, You guys move like you've been doing this for years.”
Ben didn't have an answer for that.
Gabe and Rochelle approached their table, coffees in hand.
“Hey,” Gabe said. His voice had that careful modulation of someone who'd trained themselves to compensate for hearing loss. “Mind if we join you for a minute?”
“Course not.” Shane gestured to the empty chairs.
They settled in. Rochelle immediately pulled out a book but kept it closed in her lap. Her way of having an escape route if the conversation got overwhelming, Ben knew.
“How you holding up?” Gabe asked Ben directly. No small talk, no dancing around it. Just straight to the point.
“I'm fine.”
Rochelle's eyes flicked up to his face, then back down. She opened her mouth, closed it, then tried again. “You saved someone's life.” Her voice was quiet but steady. “That's not fine. That's… big.”
Ben looked at her—really looked. Rochelle understood what it was like to feel different, to have people underestimate you, to build walls to protect yourself.
She'd worked through her stutter, built confidence, found love with Gabe. She was a different woman from the shy, quiet one he’d first met, who barely spoke or made eye contact.
“Maybe,” Ben admitted.
“And Charlie's okay?” Rochelle asked.
“She's good. Flying back today.”
Rochelle's expression brightened. “We like her. A lot. When she comes back, we’ll have to convince her to hang out with us.”
“The gal squad has spoken,” Gabe said with a grin. “Rochelle, Ellie, April, Wren, Arden, Frankie, even Stephanie—they've all given Charlie the stamp of approval.”
Ben smiled softly. “I think she’d like that. She’s…”
Rochelle held up her hand. “You don’t have to explain quiet and reserved to me.”
“How is Frankie?” Shane asked. “Last I heard, everything was going smooth.”
“Really good.” Rochelle smiled. “She's glowing. The pregnancy's been easy so far, thank God. After everything with the ch-chemo...” She trailed off, but they all knew what she meant.
Frankie's cancer had been brutal. Finding out she was pregnant barely three months after finishing chemo had been terrifying. But so far, everything was progressing normally. The baby was healthy. Frankie was healthy.
Small miracles, Ben thought. He couldn’t have been happier for her.
“Waylon keeps rearranging the nursery furniture,” Rochelle added. “Frankie says he’s nesting like crazy.”
That got a laugh from everyone.
April appeared at their table with a fresh coffee for Ben. “On the house,” she said before he could protest. “You look like you need it.”
“Thanks, April.”
She squeezed his shoulder. “Charlie gets in at six, right?”
Ben blinked. “How did you know?”
“Honey, we all know. Shane’s a blabbermouth. You all are.” April's smile was warm. “You should pick her up. Surprise her.”
“I was planning to.”
“Good.” April's expression turned serious. “She's special, Ben. Don't let her slip away because you're too much in your head about whether you're good enough.”
Ben felt his ears go red. “I'm not—”
“You are.” April patted his shoulder again. “Trust me. I know the signs. Just... trust what you feel, okay?”
Before Ben could respond, the door chimed and several customers walked in. Sonny's voice boomed from behind the counter. “April! Stop mothering the customers and get back to work!”
April rolled her eyes but was grinning. “Duty calls.” She headed back toward the counter, calling out to the customers, “Welcome to Riversong! Thanks for braving the music.”
They talked for a while longer, Ben’s gaze straying to the clock over and over. Yup, it was definitely broken. No clock in the history of time had ever moved so slowly.
“We should go,” Rochelle said, tucking her book into her bag. “Stephanie will have my head if I’m late for yoga.”
“Yeah.” Gabe stood, Rochelle following. “Good seeing you both. And Ben?” He waited until Ben looked up. “She's worth it. Whatever you're worried about—she's worth it. And so are you, brother.”
They left, Gabe's hand finding Rochelle's as they walked out into the afternoon sun.
Shane drained the last of his coffee. “They're right, you know.”
“About what?”
“All of it.” Shane stood, stretching. “As long as I’ve known King, she’s never been this interested in a guy. I don’t know. I’ve never seen this side of her.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s the way she looks at you, man. She goes soft.”
Ben immediately felt defensive. “She’s not weak.”
“Dude, not what I said. That woman used to drink the rest of under the table and swear until the rest of us felt like nuns. Hell, half the time we forgot she was a woman.” He grinned. “Maybe that’s it.”
“What?”
“You’ve never seen her as one of the guys.” He clapped Ben on the shoulder. “Pick her up at the airport. Tell her how you feel.” He met Ben's eyes. “Life's too short to waste time pretending you don't feel what you feel. Sean taught us that.”