Ben shrugged. “Not even if I can be a gentleman the whole time?” His phone rang in his pocket and he reached for it automatically. He wished he hadn’t when he saw the name on the screen. He wanted to ignore it, but he knew he probably shouldn’t.
“Don’t worry,” said Charlotte. “Take it, I’m sure it’s work. I don’t expect you to ignore it.”
Ben hesitated, he really didn’t want to answer.
“Go on!” Charlotte smiled as she got up from the sofa. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
He stared at his phone a moment longer. He really didn’t want to answer, but he did. “Hey, what’s the problem?”
“Ben, I’m so sorry. I hate to disturb you, but is there any way you can come over here?”
“What’s the problem?” Why was it that Angel had just told him this morning she was going to stay out of his way, and now she was calling asking for him to go over to Four Mile?
“It’s the reservation system. Remember you showed me what to do when the system freezes? Well, it’s not working. I’m so sorry.”
Ben sighed. The software in the new reservation system was glitchy to say the least. Irritated as he was, it really wasn’t Angel’s fault. “How many times have you tried it?” He looked up as Charlie came back into the room. He really didn’t want to leave her just yet.
“Three,” said Angel.
Charlotte smiled. “Let me guess, it’s work, right?”
Ben nodded and rolled his eyes.
“You’d better go sort it out then, hadn’t you?”
He nodded again, disappointment settling in the pit of his stomach. He so did not want to go. “I’ll be right over,” he told Angel. He ended the call and looked at Charlotte. “I’m sorry. Hopefully it won’t take too long.”
She smiled. “You take as long as you need. I’m sure you need to get back to work anyway. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.” She smiled again. “I’m here for good now. I’ll see you tonight. What time at Giuseppe’s?”
“How about seven? But not at Giuseppe’s, I’ll pick you up.”
“Like a real first date?”
“Like a real first date.” Ben liked the sound of that.
She walked him to the door. “I hate to ask, but was that Angel on the phone?”
Ben nodded. “Yeah. Please let’s not start that again?”
“Okay, but only because you already know how I feel. If you want to …”
Ben held up a hand. “I don’t.” He slid his arm around her waist and drew her closer. “I’ll see you later. What are you going to do?”
“Oh, you know, just get started on a life. Catch up with friends, try to find a job, just little things like that.” She laughed.
“Okay, well good luck with that and if you need any—”
This time it was Charlotte who held up a hand to stop him. “I’m a big girl, Ben. I’ll figure it out. And like I said, I want to come back on an equal footing with you, as an independent person, not as a burden to you.”
“You could never be that. But I do understand what you mean.”
“Good. You’d better get going.”
He hugged her to him and dropped a kiss on her lips, still struggling to believe that she was even here. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“I look forward to it.”
~ ~ ~
