Chapter 13
Mylie noticed Ben hadn’t left a single scrap of food on his plate. He’d watched them as they talked about their day, the happenings
around town, never offering to join in on the conversation. He sat there and ate and watched. Occasionally, Mylie would catch
him looking over at her with an expression she couldn’t quite figure out. She could still feel the heat on her wrists from
where he grabbed her, and it made her sweat to think about what might have happened if Cassie and Allie hadn’t interrupted
them.
“Mylie tells me you’ve got yourself a fancy PhD,” Morris said to Ben when they were finished eating.
“Yes, sir,” Ben replied.
“Not in history, I reckon,” Morris said with a sniff.
“No, sir,” Ben said. “Economics.”
“Is that supply and demand stuff?” Cassie asked. “We read about that in my World Civics class last quarter.”
“That’s part of it,” Ben replied.
Morris cleared his throat, clearly priming for another round of questions, and Mylie felt a pang of sympathy for Ben.
“What do you do with a doctorate in economics?” Morris asked. “Work for the government?”
“Or teach,” Ben replied. “Which is exactly what I plan to do once...” He paused. “Once I wrap things up here.”
“You’re not staying?” Morris pulled his pipe out and began to stuff tobacco down into it.
“Just until the house sells,” Ben said.
“That’s too bad,” Morris continued. “The community college just up the way needs a few good men. I taught a few classes there
myself just after I retired. Good place. Mylie went there.”
Mylie inwardly cringed. It wasn’t that she wasn’t proud to have gone to community college. When she was twenty-two, she went
back to get a business degree. She’d done well, much better than she had in high school. But putting it up next to Ben’s Ivy
League education made her feel small somehow.
“Oh really?” Ben asked, interested. “What was your major?”
“Business,” Mylie answered, offering nothing else. She looked to her sister for a change of topic. “Cassie, did you and Allie
have a good day?”
Cassie nodded. “Yeah.”
“No snaps from Ryan?”
Cassie glared at Mylie. “I told Ryan that I didn’t want to talk to him until he got home from his trip.”
“Good,” Granny said. “I think you spend too much time with that boy.”
“He sent me a text today, though,” Cassie continued. “He said his dad heard you fired Robbie. You know they’re related.”
“Then why doesn’t Ryan’s daddy hire him at his boat repair shop?” Mylie asked Cassie. “Since they’re family .”
“Because he’s a drunk,” Cassie replied, shrugging.
Mylie threw her hands up in the air. “Well, I can’t argue there.”
“Robbie Price?” Ben asked.
Mylie knew why Ben was asking. Robbie was two years older than Ben and had made Ben’s life hell as often as he could in high school. Ben hadn’t been unpopular in high school, not by a long shot, but he was quiet and kind, two things Robbie hated in a person. Once, he’d stolen Ben’s backpack and threw it in a huge vat of cooking oil in the cafeteria. How the cooks hadn’t noticed before they turned on those fryers, Mylie would never know. That, of course, had been retaliation for some perceived slight that had been Mylie’s fault to begin with.
“I didn’t want to hire him,” Mylie said, finally. “Granny made me do it.”
“I’ve never been able to make you do anything, Mylie Marie,” Granny said, pointing her finger at her granddaughter. “I simply
put in a good word on behalf of his mother.”
“The boys at the VFW and I took bets over how long it would last,” Morris said, a laugh escaping past his lips. “We all lost.
Nobody thought he’d make it past the first week.”
Mylie snuck a look over at Ben, and to her surprise, he was laughing along with Morris. “I have to admit,” he said, “I figured
Robbie would be in prison by now.”
“Hook, Line, and Sinker is kind of like a prison,” Cassie replied.
“It’s absolutely nothing like a prison,” Mylie said. “You just hate to work.”
“I’m a child ,” Cassie said.
Mylie rolled her eyes.
“Well,” Ben said, standing up. “I should get back over to the house. It’s getting late, and I still have a lot to do.”
“What do you have to do?” Granny asked. “That place is immaculate. I was just in there last summer when there were renters
for the season.”
Ben shoved his hands down into his pockets and said, “There are a few sentimental things I want to take with me, but mostly
I have to work on a paper I’m writing for publication.”
“About supply and demand?” Cassie asked.
“Something like that,” Ben said and gave her a grin.
“I’ll walk you to the door,” Mylie said, standing up.
“Benjamin,” Granny called after him. “We play bingo at the VFW every Tuesday. You should come.”
“I haven’t been to bingo in a long time,” Ben admitted. “I used to go with Grandpa.”
“I know,” Granny continued. “Before he moved off with your mother, he donated the money for a remodel, and they have a nice
dedication to him.”
“Thanks, Granny,” Ben said. “I’d love to.”
Granny nodded and waved the two of them off. “I’m gonna hold you to it!”
Mylie stood at the front door, watching him. He seemed to be deciding whether to hug her or shake her hand. She watched his
internal struggle for a few seconds before finally deciding to put him out of his misery and leaned in for a hug.
When they separated, Ben didn’t leave. Instead, he said, “What are your plans for the rest of the night?”
Mylie shrugged. “You’re looking at it.”
“So, you don’t have any plans with Jodi that involve leaving a boat in the water or stealing a stop sign or something else
illegal?”
Mylie laughed. “Those days are behind me, I’m afraid.”
Ben studied her for a moment. “You look almost exactly the same as you did when I left, you know? The same... but different.”
“So do you,” Mylie replied. “I mean, you actually look a lot different, but you’re the same in a lot of ways.”
“What ways?” Ben asked.
“Your glasses, for one,” Mylie said. “But they’re not too big for your face anymore.”
“I tried contacts for a while,” Ben said.
“I like the glasses,” Mylie replied. “I always have.”
The corner of Ben’s mouth quirked up. “Do you want to come over?” he asked. “It’s just... I’m not ready to stop talking to you, and I’m pretty sure there are about four desserts that I’ll never be able to eat by myself sitting in my refrigerator.”
“Don’t you have a paper to write?” Mylie asked, narrowing her eyes.
“It can wait” was all Ben said.
“Okay,” Mylie replied. She stepped out into the thick May air with him. “Lead the way.”