Marriage Matters - By Cynthia Ellingsen Page 0,157
family make their own decisions and their own mistakes.”
Charley took a sip of tea. “Well,” he chuckled, “they’ve certainly done that. Now, it seems to me that they need some guidance on how to put everything back together.”
June considered that. Suddenly, she blinked. The hand she was holding was very heavy on hearts.
“It seems like that Ben is a nice kid,” Charley said, his voice thoughtful. “Chloe sure did seem to brighten when she brought him around here.”
June looked at him in surprise. “When on earth did you meet Ben?”
“Oh . . .” Charley took a bite of biscotti. “It seems like I might have seen him around here once or twice.”
For heaven’s sake. Ben hadn’t been to this house in . . . at least a year, when he and Chloe stopped by after biking along the lake. She and Charley hadn’t even been speaking yet.
“Charley Montgomery,” June said, starting to laugh. “How long, exactly, have you been watching me?”
He smiled. “Oh, I’d guess just about the same amount of time you’ve been watching me.”
Goodness, she loved this man. June pressed her lips together to hide a tiny smile. Selecting a piece of biscotti, she dipped it into her tea.
Charley reached out and put his warm hand over hers. “Lead your family, June,” he said. “I was wrong to tell you otherwise.”
June drew the next card in the deck. The Queen of Hearts, exactly the card that she needed. Laying down her hand, she said, “Ha! I win.”
“Well, look at that,” he said. “An entire hand of hearts. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.”
June looked down at the cards, then back up at him. “Why, Charley Montgomery.” She shook her finger at him. “Don’t you think for one moment that I don’t know that you stacked that deck.”
Seventy-five
Picking up the phone, June took a deep breath. Her granddaughter answered on the first ring.
“So,” June said, without saying hello. “I’ve been thinking . . .”
“That you’re going to back out, too?” Chloe said.
Hmmph. For someone who just called off a wedding, her granddaughter certainly sounded chipper.
“No,” June said, her voice stern. After an appropriate moment of weighted silence, she said, “But I’ve been thinking. Perhaps you should still bring a date to my wedding. It’s too late to cancel the extra plate.”
“Oh.” By the tone of her voice, Chloe was not expecting that. “I don’t know who I could . . .”
“I was thinking you should bring Ben,” June said. “You know, I have always thought he was a very nice young man.”
There was silence on the other end of the receiver. June stared out at her garden, noticing that the frosted branches looked beautiful against the sky. Finally, she heard Chloe sigh. “Grandma,” she said, “I know exactly what it is that you’re doing.”
“Good.” She sniffed. “So do I.”
June hung up. Staring at the receiver, she heard the pages of a newspaper rattle, then a soft chuckle. Charley snapped his paper shut and stood up.
“Ah, June,” he said, walking over and kissing her on the head. “You might just teach me a few things yet.”
* * *
Ben answered the door in his pajamas. His hair was a rumpled mess, as always. So was his bright green T-shirt, which Chloe found to be ridiculously immature.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised.
Chloe swept past him and into his apartment. The shades were drawn and the room was dark. The whole place smelled like Ben.
Turning to face him, she said, “I want you to know that I think your behavior over my engagement was deplorable.”
“My behavior?” His eyes flashed dangerously.
“I appreciated your gift. But seriously?” She glared at him. “You couldn’t even be bothered to come to my engagement party?”
“I don’t show up to farces.” Ben rubbed his nose. He widened his eyes just slightly, as though trying to wake up.
“Oh, okay. But you’ll come to an ice-skating rink?” She rolled her eyes. “To tell me that we can’t be friends anymore?”
Ben ran his hands through his hair. It stood up everywhere, like he’d stuck his finger in a light socket. “I didn’t say we couldn’t be friends anymore. I just told you that things couldn’t stay the same.”
“You know what?” She put her hands on her hips. “You need to get a haircut.”
“What?” He gave a half-laugh.
“And you need to stop being so ridiculously immature,” she said. “Because unlike you, I want our friendship to continue.” A flash of anger zapped through her heart as she