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“Who’s your best friend?”

“I guess it’s Devon. There’s no one else. At least you have kids.”

“My boys are involved in their own lives, as you’ll see.”

Lila hoped she hadn’t run into Charlie’s boys at Barnacle Ben’s. Hearing that his son Paul lived in Oceanside, the bar’s address, gave her a jolt. Although it wasn’t her habit to have one-night stands with college boys, she couldn’t be sure a few hadn’t slipped by the vetting process, with names she’d long forgotten.

Silence for a moment led to Charlie taking her hand again as they walked. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked.

“Nothing. Waiting for you to ask to see me.”

“Will you have dinner with me? Dinner and a movie. We can go to the Cinépolis and sit in the fancy recliners and drink beer.”

“That sounds like my speed,” she replied, laughing. “I’d love to have dinner and a movie with you.”

“I’m scared. This is too easy. It’s so comfortable.”

“We’re not kids,” she said. “We don’t have to be on guard. I’ll be as honest as I’m capable of being.”

“Me too. I’m not known for my finesse, so I’m sure to put my foot in it from time to time.”

“I’m sarcastic, but I’ll try not to be with you.”

“I probably wouldn’t notice,” he said, laughing.

The rain became more than drizzle. “I guess we’d better head back. As much as I don’t want to.”

“Do you want to hang out until dinner? We can go to the used-book store if you want. Today’s the day they get their new shipment of used books.”

“Okay. I’m always ready for a new book.”

They ended up leaving her car at the shopping district, and he drove to the library in his town. They spent over an hour going through old books. Charlie looked at history and sports; Lila at gardening and women’s fiction. They both ended up with a stack, thrilling the clerk. Insisting on paying for her own, Lila didn’t want the syndrome she saw in so many relationships to take hold in this one: where he was the protector and the father and the lord. She’d try to keep it equal for as long as she could.

“Do you want to see where I live?”

“I’d love it. I’ll pretend I’m rich.”

“Ha! It’s not that great.”

But it was that great, and when they drove up to the gatehouse and the gatekeeper waved when Charlie pointed the remote to open up, she had a feeling of superiority that was thrilling at first, but then it bothered her. It wasn’t her gate. This wasn’t her house.

His house was third from the gate and was almost obscured from sight by a hedge of amazing bougainvillea, its red blossoms not at their best right now, but she imagined what it would look like in the summer. Just as he pulled into the cobblestone driveway, a huge black SUV slowed down, and an attractive familiar-looking middle-aged woman beeped the horn.

“Shit, sorry. It’s my ex.”

He rolled his window down. “Yeah.”

“Do they have the requiem service scheduled yet?”

“I don’t know, Clare. Check the paper. Or call Roberta.”

She glanced at Lila and sneered, rolled the window up, and drove off.

“Ha! I swear to God, that’s the first time she’s ever stopped me in the driveway. She must have seen you in the car, or the guard called her. I’m kind of amused.”

He giggled, his shoulders moving up and down like a kid’s. It further endeared him to Lila. So that was the ex.

“What’s a requiem service?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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