Chapter 15
Maven
I stood next to Ben on the Walkers’ front porch, waving farewell to Juliet and Archer like it was a bittersweet goodbye and not like we’d see them in a few days at the fall festival.
Juliet bit back a smile and waved, and Archer simply tipped his cowboy hat in our direction. When neither moved toward their individual vehicles, I ushered Ben inside. Apparently, they needed a little more time to talk about… hay.
“That was delightful,” I said brightly, closing the door behind us.
Ben glanced over at me. “Which part? The company or you following me around and nit-picking everything I said and did?”
And here I’d thought, with how composed Ben had remained the entire visit, he hadn’t noticed my concentrated efforts.
We had been married for almost eight years.
Stereotypically, if we had followed the normal course, I would probably have grown accomplished at nagging him by this point in our marriage.
I didn’t want him to miss out on that. Not that I would admit to doing any such thing, so I just moved on.
“Juliet is absolutely adorable. And Archer…” I smiled at the thought of the two of them.
I was pretty sure the whole Walker clan, along with Mayor Monroe, was still hoping for Luke and Juliet to end up together, but with the way Archer and Juliet kept looking at each other, there was definitely something there.
So, as much as I loved Luke and wanted him to find his perfect somebody eventually, when it came to Juliet, I was now pretty solidly Team Archer.
Not that I’d mention that to Ben just yet.
“What about Archer?” Ben asked.
My gaze returned to him, noting the slight furrow in his brow. There was no way Ben was jealous. Was he? I suddenly very much needed to know. “Oh, he’s a catch. Handsome.” I ticked up a finger, then another. “Wealthy.” I put up one more finger. “And a cowboy.”
“I didn’t realize you had such a thing for cowboys.
” His tone made it feel like an insult by omission—alleging my preference for handsome men of means.
Granted, I literally had listed off those things as top attributes, but I’d guess his disapproval had more to do with Colin having been both things than with a long track record on my part.
“Seems I might need to get me a cowboy hat.”
The image my mind involuntarily conjured of Ben as a cowboy had my head spinning.
Apparently, the right man in a cowboy hat and boots was all it took to understand why cowboys were a staple in so many women’s fantasies.
Not that Ben was the right man. Or that I was having some sort of inappropriate fantasy about him.
But I could also see how Cowboy Ben might be some sort of gateway drug I didn’t need at this point in my life.
And neither did any other women. He was already enough of a danger to myself and others.
I leaned in and tugged on the bill of his hat. “You should probably stick to your baseball cap. It suits you better.”
His gaze roved over me, the corners of his lips twitching ever so slightly. “How long are we going to do this?”
I placed my hands on my hips. “Do what exactly?”
He gestured between us. “You trying to drive me crazy and me acting like I’m irritated by it?”
I took a step back, processing what he’d just said. He was only acting irritated? What did that even mean? Actually, it didn’t matter. “If you would agree to transfer the case to New York—”
“It’s not happening. Because it makes no sense. This is the quickest way to a divorce. In a few weeks from now, you’ll have an official decree in your hand. No other route is going to allow for that.”
Is that why he refused to compromise? He wanted this to be over with as quickly as possible?
Of course he did. It was the only rational desire after figuring out you were still married to someone six years after your supposed divorce.
When I thought of it like that, it seemed unfair to ask him to extend out the whole thing even longer. And yet, I had to. I knew my limits.
“But the other route doesn’t require us to spend time together every day.” To share meals and experiences and force us to remember what it was like before. “Actually, it doesn’t require us to spend time together at all.”
“Is spending time with me that terrible?”
My shoulders dropped. “That’s not the point and you know it.”
“What is the point, then?”
“I just think it would be better if we went our separate ways.”
“Maven, we went six years without speaking. If what we get out of this is the ability to be in the same place at the same time without feeling like one of us needs to leave—or without making our families tiptoe around us—isn’t that worth it?”
Friends. That’s what Ben wanted. And here I was, losing all common sense when he stepped into my general vicinity. Which, honestly, shouldn’t surprise me. I was always more in love with Ben than he was with me. “I think we’ve already accomplished that.”
As if fate meant to prove me wrong, the back door opened, sending my gaze flying toward the kitchen.
“Bennett?” Tom’s heavy footsteps followed. “You here, son?”
I shook my head with dizzying force.
Ben sent me an apologetic glance. “In the living room,” he called. “Maven’s here too.”
The kitchen doors swung open and there stood Tom, his dark brown eyes locked on me. Then a smile lifted onto his lips. “Maven. What a pleasant surprise.”
I forced out a smile. “Hey, Tom.”
“Are the two of you hungry? I was about to whip up some lunch, and I’d be happy to make enough for all three of us.”
Ben’s gaze flicked to me. “Thanks, but we already shared one meal today. I don’t want to push my luck. Plus, I told Maven I’d drop her off at her mom’s after the meeting with Archer.”
“Thanks for the offer though,” I said.
Tom gave an understanding nod, his gaze settling on me again. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he drew in a slow inhale instead.
“I’ll be back in a bit to help with the straw maze,” Ben said, stepping next to his dad and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Mind if I leave Finn here? I’m guessing he’s soaking wet.”
“Of course.”
I followed Ben, giving Tom a smile as I passed. “Tell Ann I said hi.”
“Will do.” After a few more steps, Tom’s voice paused me again. “I don’t know how long you’re in town for, but stop by anytime. I know Ann would love to see you.”
Unwilling to agree to a visit, I gave a noncommittal nod.
Ben held the door open for me. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” With a parting wave to Tom, I quickly stepped onto the back porch before I changed my mind. I didn’t need one more reminder of what I had lost when Ben had decided his love was conditional.
We walked to the truck in silence, and I slid into the middle seat when he opened the door.
His gaze met mine. “I didn’t realize my dad would come home while you were there.”
“It’s fine. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him. I just…”
“I get it.” Ben started the truck, but his phone chimed before he started driving. He glanced at the screen. “Appointment Reminder,” he read. “Time for a wax?” His gaze slid to me.
“Don’t be embarrassed. I use my phone calendar the same way. It’s hard to remember those pesky little things otherwise.”
“What else did you do on here?” Ben asked, unsuccessfully attempting a password. Then another.
“I wouldn’t do that. It’s going to—” Before I could get out my warning, he typed an incorrect password the third time and his phone locked. “…lock you out.”
He shifted toward me. “How about sharing that password with me now?”
“I haven’t decided what I want in exchange for it.”
“I thought we agreed on a ride to your mom’s?”
“I said I’d think about it. And it’s a good start, but how about we add in…” I tapped my finger on my chin. “Oh, I know. I also get your bed again tonight.”
“There’s no way. That couch is way too small for me. And poor Finn had to sleep on the ground. He kept huffing all night.”
“Finn can sleep with me. On your bed.”
“If anyone’s sharing that bed with you, it’s not going to be Finn.”
“I’m pretty sure you threatened the same thing last night.” Once the words slipped out, I realized it sounded like a challenge.
“Is that an invitation, Mrs. Walker?”
Or apparently, an invitation. I narrowed my eyes, ineffectively fighting a blush. “Take it as one and find out.”
He chuckled, then glanced down at his phone before handing it to me. “You can have the bed.”
With a victorious smile, I typed in the code.
1022
His gaze lifted to mine. “October twenty-second? The day we got married?”
“It’s the first thing that came to my mind,” I said dismissively. I probably should have used my birthday or something.
He placed the phone on the dash and put the truck in drive when my phone started buzzing. I glanced at the screen.
Jean-Paul.
I hadn’t heard from him since I’d told him I wouldn’t be able to make it to Prague. I’d worried he’d dropped me and just hadn’t gotten around to telling me yet. Which, I guess, could be why he was calling. Either way, there was no point in putting it off.
“Hey, Jean-Paul,” I said before the call went to voicemail.
“Maven. How are you?”
“I’m… okay. How have you been?”
“Busy.”
Well, that made exactly one of us.
My gaze flicked to Ben, whose focus was fixed out the front windshield as he drove. “Can I just say again how sorry I am—”
“It’s water under the bridge,” he said, his French accent making it hard to discern if he had actually forgiven me.
“I’m calling today for two reasons. First, I was hoping to get an updated schedule from you.
I know you’ve had a personal situation to attend to, so I wanted to give you ample time to make sure everything was in order, but once you’re ready, I’d like to send things your way again. ”
Relief flooded over me. He was still going to represent me! Without a fixer, it was proving nearly impossible to find jobs. “That would be wonderful! Currently, I have nothing booked until November. And those are just substitutions for friends and one six-day stint at the theater.”