Page 11

She sighs and I hear the scrape of chair legs against a wood floor, as though she’s going to sit. “Yeah, Ben is leaving me for some woman he met in the Springs. I found out last month.”

“Wait… are you serious?” Shock rattles through me. I’ve known Allie and Ben forever. They always seemed so happy. In fact, I’ve spent a lot of nights envious of how great their relationship seemed. “How long has it been going on?”

There’s a shrug in her voice as she says, “No clue. It’s not the first time, so… I don’t care anymore. He’s such an asshole. I’m completely done with men going forward.”

“What the hell, girl? So, he’s with her now? He left you and the kids alone in a snowstorm?”

“Yup!” A dark sort of laugh follows her statement as though she’s losing her mind. “He didn’t even grovel like he’d made a mistake. He doesn’t care. He’s… I don’t know. I think she’s pregnant. Now, I have to figure out a whole new plan for my life, and given that I’ve been a stay-at-home mom since the kids were born, I’m completely screwed. I don’t know… it’s going to be an interesting ride going forward.”

“I’m so sorry. I’m calling you to ramble on about stupid stuff and your whole life is falling apart.”

“No, I need you to call and ramble about stupid stuff. The distraction is nice. I’ll be fine. The inn is looking for people so I’m going to call over there and see if Hank would be willing to hire someone with zero experience and no references.”

“He will, especially this time of year. Everyone knows you, and—” The bathroom door creaks open and my entire body stiffens, but I keep talking, trying to look and sound as natural as possible. “Everyone knows you. The town will help you through this.”

“I know you’re right. I just,” she exhales quickly, “I can’t believe this is my life. I should’ve left years ago. Isn’t it funny the way that things work out? Ben is the most emotionally unavailable person I know. He’s pushed me around for years and I stayed, every single time, because I thought that’s what a good wife did. My repayment for putting up with his abuse was him leaving me for a younger woman.”

I don’t even know what to say. Allie is one of the sweetest people I know. She’s always dropping off donations for the senior center, she volunteers at the school with her kids, and she bakes these massive cinnamon rolls every week and delivers them free of charge to families in need. Anyone would be insanely lucky to have her. Ben is an idiot.

“I’ll be over as soon as the roads are clear. I’ll stay and help as long as you need.”

“Thanks, babe, but I’ll be okay. I’ve got to get used to this new life, and—” Kids holler in the background. “I’ve gotta run, but trust me, Mike can’t do what he does without you. Whatever fun little game you guys were playing was harmless. Call you later?”

“Later,” I say. “Love you.”

“Love you more.”

The line disconnects, and though I’m not ready to look Mike in the eyes yet, he’s standing right there. There’s no avoiding him.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, that was my friend. The one that set me up with the blind date. She, ugh, I guess her husband has been awful to her for years, so she’s decided to leave him. Now she’s trying to figure out how she’s going to piece her life back together.”

“Damn.” He settles down next to me like he wasn’t locked in the bathroom for the last six years. “She gonna be okay?”

“I think so. She said she’s going to call Hank at the inn tomorrow morning. I guess he’s looking for people?”

“Hank and I are good buddies, and I’m doing some work for him come spring. I’ll say something to him, but I’m sure he’d hire her regardless. He needs help right now with the whole Christmas grant thing going on. He told me he’s expecting triple the tourist activity this year.”

“That’s reassuring.” I drag in a deep breath and let it out slowly, desperate to ask him what he was doing in that bathroom, but it’s none of my business. Then again, it might be. I’m the one that got his cock hard. At the very least I should know how he handled it, right?

Nope. That’s not the way that works.

Unfortunately, my mouth is moving before my brain can stop it. “Everything okay? You disappeared for a while there.”

“Yeah.” He nods slowly and diverts his gaze away from me. “Sorry. I had a few texts to respond to.”

Texts? In the bathroom?

He has an office, and Mike hates texting. If I text him that I’m running late, he always calls me back to tell me he got the message instead of responding with a thumbs up like a normal person. I’d love to say this is a special treat he saves just for me, but he does this with all his buddies too, and they all make fun of him for it. So… no, I don’t believe he was in the bathroom answering texts.

“That’s a pretty lame lie.” I grin. “You were not texting in the bathroom.”

“What?” He brushes his hand down over his beard. “Yeah, I was.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Okay,” he groans. “I wasn’t, but—”