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“Nah,” he said with a shake of his head. “Makas is with her right now; she’s too busy to hang out with me. I came looking for you. I was surprised to hear you’d left.”
“I’ve left the hotel before,” I pointed out.
“Scarlett said you went to visit Ginger,” he admitted.
Ah.
We’d all grown up in town together, all gone to the same high school. Dan knew about Ginger and me, though how much he knew, I had no idea. Most people around town would have guessed it, anyway. She and I were together for a while before I left, and in the time since I’d been gone, Ginger had a daughter that no one bothered to tell me about.
“How did it go?” he asked.
I sighed and led the way over to a small lounge area. I slumped onto a couch, and he took the single seat across from me.
“It went terribly,” I admitted. “As expected. She wouldn’t just welcome me with open arms, would she?”
He shrugged. “Maybe if you’d met her as soon as you arrived instead of putting it off…”
I frowned at him, and he let his voice trail off. Yeah, I knew it had been cowardly of me to hide, but I just couldn’t bring myself to see her. Back then, coming into town had been the extent of my courage. For the whole of the first week, I couldn’t even leave my room, and my sister had to keep bringing me meals, because I didn’t know how to cook, either. When I could leave, I’d gone to see my dad. And that pattern had gone on like that for months.
“Did she say anything to you?”
I sighed. “Not really, just that she was busy.” Then I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “Not that I had anything grand to say, anyway. She looked like she couldn’t stand the sight of me, and I can't even blame her.”
“Give her time,” Dan suggested. “She still cares about you. I came by once and saw her standing outside the hotel, but she left without coming in.”
My head snapped up, eyes wide. “She did?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I thought about going over to her to tell her to walk in, but when she just walked away, I figured I’d just let her go. It was weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I forgot,” he said sheepishly, shrugging. “I walked in to look for you to tell you, but then Makas got sick, and Scarlett and I had to take him to the hospital. Remember that day?”
I nodded. “Yeah. When he caught that ear infection and wouldn’t stop crying.”
I’d ended up looking after the kid, who seemed like he wouldn’t stop crying for three days straight.
But still. Shit! Ginger had come to the hotel to see me first. Just thinking about it made me feel ashamed of myself. She hadn't made it inside, but she’d made an effort, and I had no idea.
“Sorry about forgetting. You might have had an easier time if I hadn't forgotten.”
“Nah. She was probably still mad at me back then. She might have been coming to shout at me.”
“But, you still would have had it easier.”
I sighed. “Should I just get back in the car and go back to see her?”
“No way. That won’t make anything better right now. Just picture women like a minefield. You need to know where to step, and if you make a wrong one, you’ll blow yourself up. Like your sister. We’ve been together for a year, and I don’t have her completely figured out. She’s like a pussycat, affectionate most of the time, but incredibly independent, and lately, she’s been exceptionally moody.”
I didn’t like hearing him talk about my sister that way. While I was relatively fine with their relationship, it was still a bit awkward to come back and find my sister engaged and with a kid. I might have grown on the idea recently, but the awkwardness was still there.
“If she's moody, maybe it’s that time of the month? Scarlett isn’t one for being moody.”
Dan shook his head. “No way. I have that marked down on my phone as the days to avoid messing with my fiancée, so it has to be something else. When I ask her, she doesn’t say. So I’m keeping out of her way and doing my best not to get on her bad side, and hopefully, she’ll feel ready to talk to me later.”
Was that what I was supposed to be doing? I’d taken the first step, and she hadn't taken it well, it would be good to give her some time. But, just how much time was enough? How long would I have to wait before it got too long, and she just got madder instead of softening toward me?
Shit. Ginger and I had dated before I’d left. I’d known her the best, better than anybody else besides her mother, but that had changed. And it was all my fault, so I couldn’t even complain.
Chapter Four
Ginger
I got back to work and somehow managed to get myself through the rest of the day. I was silent, though, and a few of my clients remarked on it because usually, I was the chatter mouth that had everybody speaking up. Now that I was keeping quiet, my daughter spoke up instead. Everyone loved her, as usual, and I couldn’t help looking over at her now and then.
By the time our last client for the day had left, I was exhausted, but more emotionally than physically. I sat down and watched Mom help Fern pack her things up.
“Are you going to go see him?” she asked, glancing at me.
I grimaced, not sure what I should do. I’d wanted to see Ben, and he’d finally come to me. I was still angry, but it had been good to see him.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “On the one hand, I want to. On the other hand, I want him to suffer just a little bit like I have.”
She tutted at me. “That isn’t like you, Ginger.”
I snorted. “Maybe not before, but he deserves it, Mom. You saw him! After months of ignoring me, and all he could do was say ‘hello?’”
“I saw an awkward and lost young man, looking unsure of how to go forward. You didn’t give him an opening, either. If you want to clear up the misunderstanding between the two of you, it can't just be one of you making an effort, you know.”
“I’ve made an effort, though,” I complained.
She shook her head. “You went to the hotel, but did you go inside?”
I folded my arms across my chest, grumbling to myself. He was the one that was supposed to make the first step, anyway, because it had been him who’d left when I needed him the most. The bastard should consider himself lucky that I was even giving him any chances at all!
But… does he know that?
“All right,” I admitted. “Maybe it was wrong of me. If I’m going to give him a chance to make everything right, I could at least tell him it exists.”
“There you go,” Mom encouraged. “Why don’t you go see him now? I’ll take Fern home.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, jumping up. Now that I’d made up my mind, I was itching to go.
The hotel wasn’t too far away, maybe twenty minutes on foot, but it was dark out. Mom and I had separate cars, anyway, so I got in mine and drove to the hotel. I was there in a matter of minutes, and I walked inside, glancing around. I hadn't been in since Ben left, and the place had changed a lot.
“Hey, Ginger.”
I looked up to see Ben’s sister, Scarlett, waving at me from where she sat behind the reception desk.
“Hi, Scarlett,” I murmured, walking closer. She and I weren’t exactly close, but for all the help she’d given me while her brother was away, I could at least consider her a friend.
“You’re here for my brother,” she guessed. “He’s in the hotel bar with Dan. That way.”
She pointed the way for me, though it wasn’t really necessary. I smiled at her, then went in the direction she’d pointed. They were where she’d said, seated at the bar drinking beer. I walked closer, and Ben was acting like he was already drunk.
Then, I heard their conversation. They were talking about women.
“My sister is easy to understand,” Ben was saying.
“No,” Dan said, shaking his head. “She’s easy to understand to you because she’s your sister. She’s my fiancée, though, so I get to
see sides of her that you wouldn’t.”
“Ugh, don’t tell me that. But I guess you’re right, all women are hard to understand, even my sister.” He stopped for another drink. “I need to do something, though. I just don’t know what because… I don’t understand her anymore. So I don’t know how to make her not mad at me.”
“You know,” I said, cutting in, and they both turned to look at me with shocked expressions. “I don’t understand men, either. They think everything is so damn easy. They come and go whenever they please, and expect everything to be the same. But guess what? Life moves on when you’re gone. Did you ever maybe think that, Ben?”
