“You don’t look very happy.”
Joe smirked. “Forgive me for not jumping up and down; my knees aren’t up to it.”
Ben gave him a rueful smile. “Sorry.”
“Nah, don’t be son.” Joe sighed and lowered himself into one of the kitchen chairs. “I guess, I’m just a bit surprised is all.”
“But why? I’ve been waiting for this for months.”
Joe nodded. “True. But I heard that last night you were having dinner with Angel.”
Ben stared at him. He shouldn’t be surprised. Word traveled fast around here.
“And I also heard that she went back to your place with you afterward. I hope you’re not leading that girl on.”
Ben let out a laugh. “I’m not! I had dinner with her while we were working. She came back to my place with me to get the safe keys.”
“Really? That’s all? Nothing else?”
Ben looked up at the ceiling and shook his head.
“Yeah, I thought so,” said Joe. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“Nothing happened!” He sighed. “Well, something happened, but it was her, not me. I didn’t do anything.”
Joe waited with raised eyebrows.
“If you must know, she kissed me.”
“And you didn’t do anything?”
“I …” he sighed. “I closed my arms around her before I knew what I was doing. Then I pushed her away and told her to go home.”
“Why?”
Ben gave him a puzzled look. “Why do you think?”
“I want to hear what you think. I want you to think about it. Why did you throw her out?”
“Because. Well, you don’t let someone do that, do you?”
“But apparently, you did let her do that. I’ve never heard of a woman kissing a man who didn’t want her to. The other way ‘round sometimes, because men can be assholes and we’re stronger. But if you really didn’t want her to kiss you then I don’t see how she could have. And kicking her out isn’t like you, is it? You’d normally sit a person down and talk to them.”
Ben stared at him. It was true. “So, what are you saying?”
Joe shrugged. “I’m saying I think you like her. I think you’re attracted to her, and I think you’re scared of exploring that because you’ve got blinkers on that will only allow you to see Charlotte.”
Ben frowned. “Isn’t that true of any man in a relationship? He wears blinkers that blind him to all other women?”
Joe laughed. “No. A man in a good relationship doesn’t need blinkers. He can look at and talk to all the women in the world, because he doesn’t see them in the same way he sees his lady.”
Ben thought about that. “What am I doing that makes you and Smoke and everyone else think that I’m interested in Angel? And why is it that after all this time you’re not happy for me that I’m finally going to get back with Charlotte?”
Joe shrugged. “I dunno, son, but I do think you need to figure it out. I like Charlie. I love her. I’d love to see the two of you back together and living the life you thought you were going to have. At the same time, I’m not sure that life is possible now. The future you were going to share belonged to the people you were back then. I don’t know if the people you are now can have that—or if you’d even enjoy it if you did.”
Ben sighed. “So, what are you saying?”
“That you need to think carefully about what you really do want. You and Charlie both. There’s plenty of times in life when you want something for so long that by the time you finally get it, it just doesn’t suit you anymore.”
