April appeared at their table with a fresh coffee for Ben. “On the house,” she said before he could protest. “You look like you need it.”
“Thanks, April.”
She squeezed his shoulder. “Charlie gets in at six, right?”
Ben blinked. “How did you know?”
“Honey, weallknow. Shane’s a blabbermouth. You all are.” April's smile was warm. “You should pick her up. Surprise her.”
“I was planning to.”
“Good.” April's expression turned serious. “She's special, Ben. Don't let her slip away because you're too much in your head about whether you're good enough.”
Ben felt his ears go red. “I'm not?—”
“You are.” April patted his shoulder again. “Trust me. I know the signs. Just... trust what you feel, okay?”
Before Ben could respond, the door chimed and several customers walked in. Sonny's voice boomed from behind the counter. “April! Stop mothering the customers and get back to work!”
April rolled her eyes but was grinning. “Duty calls.” She headed back toward the counter, calling out to the customers, “Welcome to Riversong! Thanks for braving the music.”
They talked for a while longer, Ben’s gaze straying to the clock over and over. Yup, it was definitely broken. No clock in the history of time had ever moved so slowly.
“We should go,” Rochelle said, tucking her book into her bag. “Stephanie will have my head if I’m late for yoga.”
“Yeah.” Gabe stood, Rochelle following. “Good seeing you both. And Ben?” He waited until Ben looked up. “She's worth it. Whatever you're worried about—she's worth it. And so are you, brother.”
They left, Gabe's hand finding Rochelle's as they walked out into the afternoon sun.
Shane drained the last of his coffee. “They're right, you know.”
“About what?”
“All of it.” Shane stood, stretching. “As long as I’ve known King, she’s never been this interested in a guy. I don’t know. I’ve never seen this side of her.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s the way she looks at you, man. She goes soft.”
Ben immediately felt defensive. “She’s not weak.”
“Dude, not what I said. That woman used to drink the rest of under the table and swear until the rest of us felt like nuns. Hell, half the time we forgot she was a woman.” He grinned. “Maybe that’s it.”
“What?”
“You’ve never seen her as one of the guys.” He clapped Ben on the shoulder. “Pick her up at the airport. Tell her how you feel.” He met Ben's eyes. “Life's too short to waste time pretending you don't feel what you feel. Sean taught us that.”
The mention of their friend hit like a punch to the chest. Sean, who'd always lived large, loved hard, and never held back. Sean, who should’ve been home with them.
On time, on target, never quit.
“Yeah,” Ben said quietly. “He did.”
Shane straightened. “I've got the investigation covered. DCSO will keep digging. We'll figure out who sabotaged that saddle. But right now? Charlie's coming home and she’s got the week off. So go get your girl.”
Denver International Airportwas chaos at six PM on a Monday. Ben stood near the top of the escalators that brought passengers up from the trains, shoulder-to-shoulder with other people waiting for arrivals—twenty-somethings checkingphones, grandparents with balloons, a limo driver holding a sign that said RODRIGUEZ BACHELORETTE PARTY.
Ben just held his breath.
