I sigh. This event must be really important for her image for her to be going to all the trouble of getting her daughter there. I pick the box up and toss it into the corner without even pulling the dress out.
Because I’m not going.
It’s eleven by the time I’m crawling into bed when my cell phone rings. My stomach does a flip when I see Ben’s name appear.
Oh God, I’m so screwed.
I answer with his line. “You missed me that much already?”
“How’d it go with Jack?” he says over the rumble of his Volkswagen engine.
That’s why he called. He’s worried about his job. Of course he is. “Okay. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Really?” The doubt in his voice is unmistakable.
“Yeah. As long as you don’t tell everyone at work that you’re in love with me, you’ll be fine.”
He bursts out laughing. I bite my lip against the urge to ask why that’s so funny.
There’s a long moment of silence, where I expect him to say goodbye and secretly dread it.
And then I hear him ask, “Sing something to me.”
“What?”
“It’s a long drive and I’m fallin’ asleep. Sing me something before I crash.”
I try to keep the surge of warmth from exploding in my voice as I mutter, “Fine,” and drop into my beanbag chair. Setting my phone down and putting it on speaker, I pick up my guitar and begin picking at the strings haphazardly. “Any requests?”
“How about . . . ‘Achy Breaky Heart’? ‘Ice Ice Baby’?”
I roll my eyes. “None. Okay, then.” I settle in as I keep picking until a familiar tune surfaces and I find the words to “The Freshmen,” by The Verve Pipe, flowing out of my mouth.
It feels good to do this now. Not for show, not for revenge. Just for me.
And for Ben.
“You still awake?” I ask as the last note to that song fades.
“You bet, darlin’. Sing me another.” I feel my lips curl up in a warm smile as I pick another song.
By the time Ben pulls into the driveway at Wilma’s almost two hours later, my voice is getting raspy and my ass is numb. “It’s late. You’d better get some rest,” he says.
“Does it feel different now, being there?”
There’s a long pause. “I don’t know yet. I haven’t figured out how I feel about all this.” Much softer, I hear him add, “About a lot of things.”
“Yeah. I know what you mean.” I immediately bite my tongue. Was that too obvious?
“Good night, Reese.”
“Good night, Ben.” I hit the “end” button before I’m tempted to say something I’ll regret.