Page 85 of Plentywood
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath.
Ben turned and noticed Charlie glaring at us. “Was that because of Charlie?” he asked, having heard me drop an F-bomb. “Maybe we should leave,” he added, tugging on my arm.
“We aren’t going anywhere,” I stated. “If we run from Charlie Brewster, we send the wrong message, Ben.”
Jill laid her hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Charlie will behave, Ben. He’s drunk, but he isn’t stupid.”
“Let’s grab some beers,” I said, placing my hand on Ben’s lower back. “Anything, Jill?”
Jill held up her own beer and shook her head. I relocated my hand to Ben’s and led him to the bar. Charlie watched us with narrowed eyes and a scowl on his face as we got closer.Fuck!I did not need this tonight. What I hoped for was a soft launch of my new relationship. It was important for folks to see me and Ben together as a couple.
“I’m not sure about this,” Ben whispered in my ear. “Charlie has been leaving messages on my cell phone, Hunt. He’s been texting too.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to face him. “Why didn’t you fucking tell me this before?” I hissed. My blood pressure shot up instantly and I felt my temples pulsing.
Ben stepped back, shock on his face. “Don’t talk to me like that,” he stated.
I was instantly ashamed of my reaction. Three weeks into a romance with someone I adored, and I was already pissing around his yard while I marked my territory. This was a symptom of mine that came out if I sensed danger. Especially if I was protecting my man.
“I’m sorry, Ben,” I muttered, glancing at Charlie. “I’m… well… I can be jealous.”
“I consider Charlie a friend. That’s all it is, and I didn’t want to trouble you with how he’s been calling and texting me a lot lately,” he began. “Agnes gives me these weird warnings about her own grandson and now her vague warnings have me wondering.”
“What kind of warnings?” I pushed.
Ben looked away for a second. Of course, I was uneasy when he did. Was he hiding something? Had Charlie made a big deal to him about us hooking up in the past? I hadn’t exactly come completely clean about that time of my life.
“Agnes seems to infer that he is trouble and that I shouldn’t get involved with him,” Ben said. “And maybe because of that, I’ve been reluctant to return his calls. That and… well…”
“What?” I demanded, once again losing my cool. “Did something happen in Missoula? Did he lay one single fucking hand on you?”
“Hunt! Stop this,” he stated. “I like that you’re protective. I like it a lot, actually, but this is not that.”
In typical tough-guy Sheriff-mode, I fumed. The thought of Charlie laying a hand on Ben infuriated me. Even when I had no rights over Ben back then, or even today, I was angry as fuck at the idea of them two possibly being physical.
“Shit!” I huffed. “Fuck! I’m such a goddamned kid sometimes,” I seethed. “I can’t keep apologizing about mybehavior, Ben. You’ll get tired of it. This is that insecurity thing I warned you about out front before we came in.”
He did what he always did since he’d figured out how to put me under his spell. He placed his hand on my chest. “I like how you care,” he said. “How about we table this for now and when we both are calmer, we can discuss better tools for when it arises again.”
I stared at Ben like he had a third eye on his forehead. He was smart. He used calming words and wielded clever intelligence when he spoke. “Is this how you navigate a relationship?” I teased. “Because that shit was smooth, doc.”
“I’ve neverhada real relationship,” he reminded me. “But Iaman adult,” he added, winking at me.
“Oh, baby boy. You are gonna pay for this later,” I growled.
“Is that a threat, or a promise?”
Surprisingly, the night was going well. Ben and I teamed up to battle Lance and Barbie at pool. Ben was pretty good at pool, even if he hadn’t ever played the game. He claimed that the game was a matter of angles and geometry. Spoken like a man of science.
Jukebox music blasted over the sound system, the banter of a hundred or more folks rising and lowering depending on the breaks between songs. I’d had a few beers and was feeling a bit mushy over my new man, keeping him close and kissing on him whenever the chance allowed.
Ben was a natural with people. He was far more social than he gave himself credit for. Even though he was smart as a whip, elegant, and sophisticated, he was kind. When I’d first met the buttoned-up doctor from New York City, he seemed snooty. But I began to believe that his behavior was shyness, coupled with a lack of experience in social gatherings. People were truly warming up to him.
I lost track of the many compliments folks paid to me when they’d stop and say hi to us as we hung out. Most would engage Ben and then pull me aside to share a story and some praise.
“He’s so warm at the clinic,”Alice Beel told me.“He saved Julia Garner’s life,”she’d added.
“I heard he’s buying a fancy diagnostic machine for the clinic,”Joannie, the dispatcher at the Sheriff’s office, alerted me.“The new doc is very generous.”
