Ben did that thing with his left eyebrow that was, admittedly, kind of cute.He pinned Heath with a hard glare."If you need to question him, do it at the station, not while he's still stinking like seaweed from being thrown in the cove!"
"I stink?"I demanded, dismayed."Oh my god, how much worse can today get?"
Both of them turned their glares in my direction before Heath shook his head and took a step towards Ben, closing the distance between them."You went to law school.You know how this works, Ben.Someone made a complaint involving Damien.I need to investigate it.”
“If you have questions for Damien, his lawyer will be in contact with your office tomorrow morning."
That was my cue.I carefully shuffled to the edge of the bed and swung my legs over, wincing at the ache that swept through my body at the change in position.I'd likely have some stunning bruises in places not usually seen by daylight, I thought, gingerly standing. Heath threw up his hands in defeat as I gathered the discharge paperwork one of the CNAs had left for me and Ben made sure I had everything else.Heath followed us to the front door of the hospital as Ben pushed me in the required wheelchair to the small portico where he left me while he went to get the car from the parking lot.
Heath's side eye made my face heat.“Damien,” he began but I waved him off.
“You know I’m being stalked, right?Why don’t you worry about that too?I need to find who’s doing it so I can send them a cease and desist.It's actively harming my career."
"As an actor?Or as an unlicensed private investigator?"Heath asked blandly, and boy was that the wrong thing for him to say because it was like a sharp needle right through my ribs, that tone of subtle amusement, of near disbelief.
"Goodbye, Heath," I snapped, pushing to my feet."I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Damn it.Damien, wait up!I didn't mean anything by that!It was an honest question!"
I waved over my shoulder with my good hand, walking down the sidewalk towards Ben's approaching Beetle.
"What's going on?"he asked as I struggled into the passenger seat."Here, let me—"
"I got it!"I muttered, yanking on the seat belt.Thankfully, it was my left arm that was broken and not my right, but it was still a pain in the backside to deal with the strap and just...life at the moment.Ben took the hint and we were quiet all the way back to Witte House.
By the time the garage door closed behind us, I was ready to talk if only to hear something other than the buzzing in my head.“I’m sorry I dragged you away from work.I just panicked and didn’t know who else to call to come get me.”
Ben shot me a mildly confused look.“Why would I mind being your emergency call?Besides,” he unbuckled with brisk efficiency before opening his car door.“I have a lot of PTO to burn through before the end of the quarter.”He didn’t wait for me to follow, getting out of the car and into the house via the back door, leaving it open for me as he called back, “Take a shower, I’ll make something to eat then we’ll talk.”
***
IT TOOK ME LONGER THANI'd expected to wrestle the awkward plastic sleeve from the hospital over my cast, making me seriously considering embracing Eau de Cove as my signature fragrance rather than deal with a shower."Jesus," I muttered, reaching for the knob to adjust the water temperature."There goes that manicure."The sparkly nails I'd gotten only a day ago were shot to hell, chipped and broken after my awful afternoon.Thinking of my nails made me think of Gwendolyn Terhune, gleefully showing me the posts with my pap pics.As distractions went, it was a good one, keeping me from dwelling on my bruises and throbbing arm while I turned everything over and over and over again.Ben was waiting for me in the kitchen when I meandered down a bit later, taking far longer than I usually did to get dressed and having to forgo my usual skincare routine because...Well, because I felt like crap and the idea of sitting through a mask and applying my layers of serums just didn’t do it for me at the moment.Still, though I looked like absolute crap, Ben smiled and it felt appreciative.Like he thought I looked alright in the baggy flannel I’d stolen (borrowed) from the clean laundry and my comfy terry shorts that had been with me since my teen years.“Sorry.I grabbed it since it went over my cast,” I muttered, lifting my arm a little to show off the bright green dressing.
He shrugged one shoulder, motioning to the table.“It’s fine.Looks nice on you.The color.”
“It’s just blue and white.”
He shrugged again, setting plates down and grabbing a pitcher of sweet tea.“Sandwiches and fruit salad.I mean.Obviously.You can see that.”
“You good?”I asked, reaching for my fork.The fruit salad looked so good it made my mouth water.Wolfing it down in two bites would probably not be a good idea but the temptation was strong, especially after I tasted one of the tiny mandarin wedges.Ben smirked—I know he thinks I didn’t see that—and paid attention to his own food for a bit while we ate in silence.Finally, after I’d demolished the last of the salad and had one too many glasses of tea, he sat back and stared at me.
“I go first?”
He made ago ongesture.“I know what Heath told me.And I know what you’ve said already.But I’d like to hear everything from the beginning.Not just,” he said, cutting me off when I started, “since I left for work.All of it.In your words.”
Ugh.
To his credit, Ben didn’t once get that judgey look he sometimes had when someone did something ridiculous.And he didn’t interrupt me or make a face when things got complicated.Hedidask to see my board anddidrefer to it as my thinking board, thank you very much.
Then he was quiet.
I fidgeted as he stared at the board, one hand on his hip and the other tapping his lips.Charlemagne eased out of hiding to loop around his ankles,brrrping happily when Ben picked him up, stroking his back under the tiny pink sweater I’d wrestled onto him earlier.After an eternity, Ben finally spoke.“Heath is being tight-lipped about what they found in the Old Yacht Club, but, and I’m not encouraging you to do this but stating it as an interesting fact, I went to school with Molly O’Neill, one of the attorneys who works with the arson investigation department out of Augusta.She’s a huge fan of Max King and gets chatty when she’s excited about something.”He slid me a sideways glance, the smallest of smirks on his lips.“Like, I don’t know, an autographed picture of her favorite movie star.Or a phone call or video message maybe.”
My jaw?On the floor.My grin?Pleased and excited.
“Ben!You’re a cunning little fox, aren’t you?”
He set Charlemagne down carefully, adding an extra scritch behind the ears for good measure, before pretending to fuss over the thinking board and doing a poor job of hiding how red his ears were.“I’m just stating an interesting fact.”
