Ben laughed. Yeah, he wanted this with Charlie, too—easy, fun banter. He sighed.
“She lands at six,” Shane said quietly.
Ben's head snapped toward him. “What?”
“Charlie. Her flight from LA lands at six.” Shane smirked. “You've checked that clock a hundred times since I sat down. You're not subtle, Moose.”
Heat crept up Ben's neck. “I wasn't?—”
“You were.” Shane's smirk softened into something more genuine. “It's good, man. You two are good together.”
“We barely know each other.”
“Bullshit.” Shane leaned forward. “Seeing you two at the Ren Faire, You guys move like you've been doing this for years.”
Ben didn't have an answer for that.
Gabe and Rochelle approached their table, coffees in hand.
“Hey,” Gabe said. His voice had that careful modulation of someone who'd trained themselves to compensate for hearing loss. “Mind if we join you for a minute?”
“Course not.” Shane gestured to the empty chairs.
They settled in. Rochelle immediately pulled out a book but kept it closed in her lap. Her way of having an escape route if the conversation got overwhelming, Ben knew.
“How you holding up?” Gabe asked Ben directly. No small talk, no dancing around it. Just straight to the point.
“I'm fine.”
Rochelle's eyes flicked up to his face, then back down. She opened her mouth, closed it, then tried again. “You saved someone's life.” Her voice was quiet but steady. “That's not fine. That's… big.”
Ben looked at her—really looked. Rochelle understood what it was like to feel different, to have people underestimate you, to build walls to protect yourself. She'd worked through her stutter, built confidence, found love with Gabe. She was a differentwoman from the shy, quiet one he’d first met, who barely spoke or made eye contact.
“Maybe,” Ben admitted.
“And Charlie's okay?” Rochelle asked.
“She's good. Flying back today.”
Rochelle's expression brightened. “We like her. A lot. When she comes back, we’ll have to convince her to hang out with us.”
“The gal squad has spoken,” Gabe said with a grin. “Rochelle, Ellie, April, Wren, Arden, Frankie, even Stephanie—they've all given Charlie the stamp of approval.”
Ben smiled softly. “I think she’d like that. She’s…”
Rochelle held up her hand. “You don’t have to explain quiet and reserved to me.”
“How is Frankie?” Shane asked. “Last I heard, everything was going smooth.”
“Really good.” Rochelle smiled. “She's glowing. The pregnancy's been easy so far, thank God. After everything with the ch-chemo...” She trailed off, but they all knew what she meant.
Frankie's cancer had been brutal. Finding out she was pregnant barely three months after finishing chemo had been terrifying. But so far, everything was progressing normally. The baby was healthy. Frankie was healthy.
Small miracles, Ben thought. He couldn’t have been happier for her.
“Waylon keeps rearranging the nursery furniture,” Rochelle added. “Frankie says he’s nesting like crazy.”
That got a laugh from everyone.
