“I’m going. Hope you and your rebound boy are very happy together.”
“We are.”
Those two words came from Chris, not Joey. Chris stepped around the house to the porc
h and looked at her.
“Sorry, Joey,” he said. “I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just need my keys from in the cabin.”
“Right. Of course,” she said. “Door’s unlocked.”
Chris strode right past Ben without saying a word to him, without making eye contact, without acknowledging his existence. Ben didn’t speak, either, and she didn’t doubt why. Chris wasn’t huge but he didn’t look like the sort of man a guy in a thousand-dollar suit would want to antagonize especially when those steel-toed work boots of his made a heavy echoing sound on the steps of the porch. All that was missing was a pair of spurs to add a Wild West jingle.
Chris went into the cabin leaving her and Ben alone again.
“Him,” Ben said.
“Him,” Joey said. “He’s a contractor. Old friends of ours from high school. Used to break noses for Dillon.”
“As a hobby?”
“Because assholes and bullies wanted to kill my brother in high school and Chris protected him.”
“You’re threatening me with your new boyfriend.”
“No. I’m just telling you who he is.”
“Nice beard. The flannel’s a good touch. Very authentic. What do they call those guys—lumbersexuals?”
“Men, Ben. They’re called ‘men.’”
Ben stared at her, angry. She knew angry and he was angry.
“What about work?” he asked.
“What about it?”
“We work together.”
“Not much.”
“You going to tattle on me?”
“It crossed my mind.”
“You know if they can me they can you, too. Takes two to tango.”
“I’ve already been offered another job.”
“You’re not going to take it, are you?”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
“You’re going to let this hang over my head, aren’t you? Just to punish me? Very mature.”
“Let me ask you a question and you give me an honest answer,” Joey said. “Do you really think you deserve better?”
He didn’t answer at first. She gave him credit for that.