AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where is he?” Liv looked back at her daughter but kept her feet firmly planted where they were. “You shouldn’t have interfered in this.” She walked into the barn. As much as she’d wanted him to be here, she hadn’t asked. How could she? Would it be fair to ask him to come and see her when she wouldn’t do the same for him?
“We promised, Renie…” A tear rolled down Liv’s cheek.
“He told me. You should have seen his face, though. He had tears in his eyes he was so proud of you.”
“He did?” Liv whispered.
“Yes, he did.”
“Where is he?”
“Paige is trying to keep him from leaving.”
“I don’t know what to do.” It came out somewhere between a gasp and a whisper. She held onto her daughter’s arm. “What should I do?”
“Call him.”
Liv dug out her cell phone, and called. “Huh. It went straight to voicemail.”
“Leave him a message.”
“Uh, hi, Ben. It’s Liv. Renie told me you’re here. I’m …uh…so happy you are.” Why was she so tongue-tied? “Call me back, I…uh…can’t wait to see you.”
Ben picked his phone up off the floor of his truck and hit the “on” button. Nothing. He’d done it. He broke it. Wasn’t that his intention? That way Paige wouldn’t be able to reach him, but now he had no way of knowing if Liv wanted to see him. What the hell was he thinking?
He’d never get the image out of his head, of the cowboy’s arms around her, and the look on her face. Even if she did want to see him, would it only be to say their final goodbye? Should he just get it over with—see her one last time and let her break his heart for good? Or should he just walk away, and try to forget her, like she’d forgotten him?
16
Ben got out of the truck and paced along the side of the road. He didn’t know what the hell to do.
Paige told him to come to Blue Water on Main. He assumed that was a restaurant, or a bar. He could find Main Street, since there were only two roads in the whole town, and he was on the other one.
He finally decided to rip the bandage off, let Liv have her say, and drive home in the morning, if heartbreak didn’t kill him while he slept tonight.
Ben walked into the restaurant but didn’t see Paige or Mark. He didn’t see Renie or Liv either. Or even Dottie or Bill.
“Is there another Blue Water in town?” he asked the bartender, who laughed at him.
He ordered a soda water and rubbed his hands over his face. He sat with his back to the door, he was too anxious to turn around and watch for her. If Liv walked into this bar and wanted to talk to him, she’d know he was there.
“I told him where we’d be,” Paige said to Renie on the phone. “I don’t know whether he’ll come or not. He said something really strange about seeing her with another man. It didn’t make any sense.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. He hung up before I had a chance to ask.”
“Have you tried calling him again?”
“Only once a minute. It keeps going to voicemail.”
“She left him a message too, but he hasn’t called her back. She’s gonna be wrecked if he doesn’t show. We handled this wrong.”
“Thanks, Renie. I appreciate you saying ‘we,’ but this is all on me. I handled this wrong.”
“Nope, you’re not taking all the blame. It was my idea to tell her he was here. If I hadn’t, he would’ve left. My mom never would’ve known he was here. Instead of looking as though she’s gonna throw up any minute, she’d still be celebrating.”
“Where is she?”
