Page 42 of Wine Whiskey & Lipstick

Dillyn could see him thinking. She wasn’t sure if he was going to tell her anything other than about the beautiful place he’d brought her to.

“Having a difficult time dealing with missing my baby girl. It’s been a little over two years since I’ve seen her.”

“I’m sorry. That has to be hard.”

“Feels unbelievable,” Ben said quietly.

Dillyn knew better than anyone how devastating divorces could be. She thought back on the timing of their first meeting and realized he’d probably gotten divorced shortly after.

“I wish you had said something earlier, but now I understand why you wanted to be alone this morning. We can go back if you want.”

“It’s nice to have the distraction.”

“Distractions are amazing. The only drawback is they don’t last forever.”

“Agreed”

Instead of prying and asking about the details of his divorce, Dillyn decided to make him smile. “Well, remember you do have Whisper. She’s magical, and if you’re not careful, she might come up missing.”

The sadness in his voice went away slightly. “I’ll know exactly where to look if she does.” Ben decided to take his cues from Dillyn. He shook off his negative feelings. “How about we go explore? It would be a shame if you didn’t get to become one with nature up here.”

“Become one with nature,” Dillyn said as if pondering his words. “Okay. Well, these boots are made for walkin’ . . .” Dillyn sang, poorly and off-key.

Ben cracked a small smile and shook his head. “Not those boots. We won’t be doing much walking in those.”

“Why?”

“They’re cute. Not functional.”

Dillyn glanced down at her feet. “Oh.” She began to walk alongside him. “Theyarecute, though, aren’t they? At least theywereuntil someone made me muck out a stall. I’ll be sending you a bill.”

Ben shook his head. Dillyn had a way of making Ben smile like a crazy teenager. “C’mon. Let’s go.” As they went on a short walk, he got a kick out of watching Dillyn experience the joys of nature for the first time. She smiled a lot. Some of them reached her eyes. She was like a little kid discovering all the new things around her. Her reactions were sweet and innocent. Again, Ben found himself grinning like a fool. They were easy to come by around Dillyn. She was much too tempting.I need to focus on something else. Anything else.Ben looked away, but his eyes kept drifting back toward Dillyn.

She had been studying some kind of flower, and it had been quiet for so long that Ben was surprised to hear her voice.

“My husband cheated on me with a good friend of mine.” Dillyn wasn’t sure why she blurted it out. Maybe because Ben had shared with her.

Ben didn’t skip a beat in his response. “He’s a fool.”

“It almost destroyed me.”

“But you’re still standing.”

“Some days. I’ve been thinking a lot about why it almost destroyed me.”

“Did you find any answers?”

Dillyn hesitated. “I’m only telling you this because I think you might understand.”

Ben nodded but didn’t say anything.

“I trusted him.”

“I would hope so. He was your husband.”

“No. Steven was more than that. He was my everything. Before our divorce, there were only three people that I knew I could ever count on—Cat, Palmer, and Steven.”

“Not your family?” Ben wasn’t sure he should have asked that question by the look on her face. He had a feeling it was like opening Pandora’s box.

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