“Yes!” More belly laughs from Ben followed. He ran over and grabbed the edge of her shirt to tug her over to Bennett. “He’s magic, Mama. Do her, Mr. Caldwell, do her.”
Naughty amusement twinkled in Bennet’s eyes, and she had to muffle laughter at Ben’s enthusiastic plea. The shared moment lowered her nerves from a boil to a simmer. She set the beer and martini down on the coffee table and fell to her knees next to Ben to put an arm around him. Bennett shuffled the cards like he was a professional Vegas dealer.
He fanned them out. “Pick one.”
Ben inched forward, pulling her with him until she was kneeling between Bennett’s long legs. She pulled a card out of his hands and hoped he didn’t notice the tremble of her fingers. The queen of hearts. Was the universe trying to give her a nudge?
“Memorize it and slip it back in.”
She returned it to a different spot. Ben’s attention wandered to Jack and he lay down next to the dog to rub his belly.
Bennett shuffled, his hands blunt instruments of beauty, and he shifted his knees closer as if caging her in. Her body buzzed with a different kind of high than alcohol.
“Is this your card?” He held up the queen of hearts. The intensity of his expression didn’t match what should have been a lighthearted card trick.
She nodded, took the card from him, and held it in both hands to keep herself from touching him. What if she inched forward and pulled him down to her? Confusion held her in place. Noah had been the first and only man she’d seriously dated, and despite having been married with a child, she felt her inexperience keenly.
Ben popped up next to her and plucked the card out of her hand. “Did he pick your card, Mama?”
The moment shattered and she rocked back on her heels, shoving the card toward Bennett. “He did. He is magic.”
She moved to sit on the opposite end of the couch from Bennett with her drink. Her mom had come in at some point and lounged in the armchair, sipping her martini. How much had she seen?
Not that there was anything to see. It was her imagination that was out of control. Thank goodness, her mom didn’t have access to that. Except her “cat that ate the canary” smile insinuated she could make a pretty good guess as to its direction.
Ben bounced onto the couch, choosing to sit close to Bennett. Ben chattered about his preschool and friends, all the while touching Bennett on the arm or leg. Was Ben starved for a male role model and attention? Did he miss Noah in an abstract but no less potent way than she did?
And what happened if Ben became too attached to Bennett? Danger clutched her stomach. Protecting Ben from hurt was her job, and she fought the urge to snatch Ben to her side.
“Harper tells me you two are working up a business plan for this coffee business.” Her mom’s calm voice was a welcome balm.
“That’s right. It’s a viable start-up with a built-in customer base. In a military town, people support their own. So, at the least, the shop should get lots of military traffic.” Bennett stroked his beard. “If we can find a good location.”
Nerves fizzed through her body. She was worried about finding an available space for a reasonable rent. But that’s not why she was nervous. She and Bennett would be alone for a good part of the weekend. The two of them had been in the middle of the woods for two days, but this was different even if she couldn’t pinpoint how.
“You’re going to stay with Allison?”
“That’s the plan.” Harper exchanged a glance with Bennett. Allison had invited them to spend the night, and Harper prayed they would find Darren improved. She wasn’t optimistic.
“Dinner will be ready as soon as I toast the bread. I hope you’re hungry, Bennett.” Her mom rose and retreated to the kitchen.
“I’m starving,” Ben said, and scampered after her. Jack followed close on his heels.
Harper waited until she was sure Ben wasn’t coming back. “Ben seems taken with you.”
“I’ve never been comfortable around kids. Guess because I never really felt like one. But Ben makes it easy.” He leaned forward and braced his arms on his legs, his hands dangling.
She grabbed at words to try to put her fears into coherence. “I don’t have a brother, my dad’s not around, and I’ve never brought a boyfriend over. Not that you’re my boyfriend or anything.” She cleared her throat to put the brakes on her tongue. “He’s never been around anyone like you.”
He swiveled his head toward her. “Like me?”
“You know, honorable. Strong. It’s good—healthy even—for him to have someone like you to look up to. But I want to protect him from every little hurt in the world, even though I know it’s impossible.”
“You’re worried I’ll hurt him?”
“Not on purpose. I’m worried he might get too attached to you, is all.”
“It’s one night. He won’t have a chance to get attached.”
His words sent a shot of cold reality through her body. “Of course not, what was I thinking? This is…” She waved a hand between them not even sure what to say. They weren’t dating. They weren’t involved. Were they even friends? “It’s business, right?”
She popped up, but before she could take a step toward escape he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to the couch. He’d scooched closer and she landed next to him, their legs pressed together.
“Is that all it is?” His breath tickled her ear.
“I don’t know. You tell me.” Part of her wanted to stalk off in a huff, but an even bigger part wanted to lean into him and close her eyes. She compromised by twisting her hand out of his but staying flush against him.
“By the way, I’m an idiot sometimes. Especially when it comes to women like you.”
“Like me?” She parroted his question.
“Complex.”
She gave in and relaxed into his chest.
“Beautiful too.” His voice dropped to a whisper and he covered her hand with his own, their fingers sliding over and through one another like a dance.
“Dinner’s ready.” Ben popped back into the room.
Harper snatched her hand away and straightened, but Ben didn’t seem fazed. “Come on.” He grabbed Bennett’s arm and pulled.
They filed into the kitchen and found her usual place usurped by Ben so he could sit next to Bennett. Her mom kept the conversation easy and superficial, and Bennett earned her favor by asking for seconds.
“I was never a good cook. The boys used to say I could burn an MRE, even though it was impossible.” Another forkful disappeared.
“Will you tell me a story about my daddy?” Ben asked.
Tension ballooned over the table like a mushroom cloud. Harper’s fork clanged against her plate, loud and discordant. Only Ben was unaffected. Wide-eyed and smiling, he stared at Bennett expectantly.
Bennett cast a look toward Harper, and she wasn’t sure whether to give him a red or green light.
“Uh, sure. I guess,” he finally said. “Let’s see … you know your dad grew up on a farm in Georgia.”
Ben nodded. “I go two weeks every summer to stay with my grandpa and grandma. I’ve driven a tractor.”
“One of our instructors gave your daddy the nickname Peaches.”
“Why?”
Bennett pursed his lips before smiling and saying, “Because he was so sweet. Problem was he hated being called Peaches and one day he got fed up with one of the guys named Hollis in our room who wouldn’t lay off.”
“What’d he do?” Ben was rapt.
“Growing up on a farm, you get used to lots of animals, right? Even snakes.”
Ben gasped.
Bennett’s voice took on the cadence of a master storyteller, his drawl more pronounced than usual. “Your daddy went out and caught a black rat snake. It was a baby. Not more than two feet long and no bigger round than my thumb. But this guy Hollis was a city boy. Well now, your daddy slipped that snake under Hollis’s pillow where it coiled up, cozy as you please. That night when we bedded down for the night, everything was quiet for about five minutes.”