Page 17 of I Do With You

It’s a valid question, considering I’m volunteering Ben to go out in public with me, the bride on the lam, after telling him I can’t be seen without there being dire consequences. He might’ve offered to play tourist to my tourist guide gig, but this is way more than a sightseeing excursion looking at town from the safety of his car withall arms and legs in the vehicle, please. “If anyone is, she for sure will be. I helped refit her new dentures a while back. You wouldn’t think it’d be a big deal, but to Rosemary, it was. I trust her to not snitch.”

I’m 96 percent certain of that decision when we walk in the front door of the diner. Still, a nervously held breath escapes out of me when Rosemary looks up from her spot behind the grill and waves her spatula in my direction with a perfect white smile. “Whoo-wee, Miss Thang. You know how to rile ’em up something fierce, don’tcha? Want your usual?”

She doesn’t ask me why. She doesn’t give me a hard time. Rosemary just wants to feed me the way she feeds everyone. Like today is any other day.

She’s also setting the tone for what’s acceptable in her restaurant, because once she acts like everything’s normal, everyone else does, too, going back to their lunches. Nobody says a word, but I can still feel eyes on me from every direction—judging, measuring, wondering.

I nod. “Yes, ma’am, please. Can you make it two?”

Her eyes cut to Ben standing at my side, and her lips purse slightly, but she doesn’t say a word about the stranger’s appearance. We’re accustomed to tourists, but Ben being here with me is a different matter entirely, and we all know it. “Yep, two Barlowe specials coming up. Why don’t you take the back booth?” She jerks her chin toward the corner, where there’s a two-seater table with no window view, which means I won’t be spotted. Rosemary’s a smart lady.

Ben slides in after I do, sitting opposite me but able to keep his eyes on the rest of the restaurant. He scans the diner slowly, challenging someone to say one negative word to me and give him a reason to set them straight. He feels dangerous—to everyone else, but somehow, safe to me.

I didn’t expect to have people on my side. I didn’t know Ihada side. I thought Roy and I were the same team and people were cheering us both on, happy for us. But maybe not.

“Glad to see you came to your senses,” a man whispers as he walks by, presumably to get a refill on his drink even though it’s more than half-full already. “Give it a few days till you come back officially, m’kay?I’ve got the fifteenth in the pool. And when you do, you tell that Laurier kid to leave you alone.”

Is he serious? I don’t even know who he is, but he’s obviously a townie, or close enough to one to know the gossip and be included in the betting. Actually ... I look at the woman sitting at the table he goes back to. Is that Mrs. Suman? That’d probably make the man Mr. Suman.

But his approach breaks the seal, and before our food arrives, people all over the diner are calling out their dates and encouraging me to make Roy apologize for whatever he did. Or telling me he doesn’t deserve a sweet girl like me. Or both.

“Never did like that boy. Too slick for his own good, like snail snot on a wet sidewalk after a good rain.”

“If he doesn’t chase you now, he never will, and the fun’s in the chase, you know? But wait till the twelfth, for an old man’s sake, will ya?”

“You deserve better.”

That’s the most common theme of everyone’s thoughts, surprising me every time because I’ve always felt like Roy was the one settling with me, not the other way around. And now more than ever, I’m a total clusterfuck of chaos inside, new confusing realizations dawning with every word spoken to me.

It’s uplifting, empowering, and stunning all at the same time. I don’t know what to say about it and am just starting to figure out an answer when there’s a sharp whistle that grabs everyone’s attention.

“Incoming,” Rosemary warns, and silence descends over the diner.

“Shit.”

Ben’s hissed curse catches my attention, and I turn to follow his line of sight, finding Sheriff Laurier walking toward the diner’s door. “Guessing that’s not a friend of yours, given the uniform,” he says under his breath.

Spinning back around, I duck down in my seat, shaking my head wildly. Damn it. This was a bad idea. A really bad idea. We should’vegone back to Ben’s and hidden out, not risked coming out in public. But I needed to know if Joy was right.

Now I know she is, but the knowledge is gonna cost me. Dearly.

Suddenly, someone throws a ballcap my way, and I yank it onto my head—like a mere hat is enough of a disguise to keep my almost-father-in-law from recognizing me.

“Hey, Sheriff!” Rosemary calls as he comes in. I’ve got my back to the door, but I can feel the hairs on my neck standing up as though he’s looking right at me. “Usual?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

I swear time is frozen as I stare at Ben, who’s gone deadly still, though his eyes are watching the diner like a hawk. Does he know his hands are clenched into fists on the tabletop? Surely he wouldn’t fight the sheriff, because that’d be stupid as hell—but I don’t actually know Ben well enough to know if he’d do something that reckless, and he did say he was a hellion. I must make a sound, because he shoots me a look like he’s checking on me, and I can see the look on his face telling me to be still, be quiet, and wait.

I don’t know what’s about to happen, but I’m ready for it. Whatever it is. It’s actually a little exciting not to know, I realize.

“You see any Barlowes today?” the sheriff asks. That’s almost a relief. Somehow, this stupid baseball cap is working.

Rosemary hums loudly. “Nope, can’t say I have.”

She’s outright lying to the law for me, a move I wouldn’t have expected but greatly appreciate. In fact, it makes tears spring to my eyes, and Ben extends his clenched fist, like a calming hand.Steady,that hand says.

“Huh. No telling where that girl got to. Might have to call out the K-9 unit to search the woods if she doesn’t turn up.” A long pause later, he adds, “In a day or two.” Then he chuckles at his own joke. No one else does, though, especially not me.

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