Page 80 of Love, Rekindled

He kisses me once more and then he’s gone.

* * *

“Tell me everything!”Catherine squeals and grabs my hand.

As happy as I am that my best friend is here, I was not prepared for an interrogation.

“Uhh...” I’m at a loss for words.Somehow, she and Natalie figured out that Ben didn’t answer his phone because he was with me. “Nothing really to tell.”

“The hell there’s not!” Catherine scoffs. “His car was outside the house all night. He left from there.Sooo...”

“So, none of your business.”

She and Natalie share a look and then she starts in. “Do you know how many Froghoppers have tried to get Ben since he’s been back? The line is long, my friend.”

I’m not sure if that’s supposed to make me feel better or worse. “Okay...”

“I’m just saying landing a SEAL is always their goal, but an injured SEAL is gold to those bitches.”

“There are women who troll SEALs?” I’ve never heard of such a thing. Why? What’s the end game?

Natalie snorts. “Girl, they don’t care if they’re married or not. If they have the trident, they’re in. You know about my ex-husband...”

She’s so much better off. Liam loves Natalie beyond reason. Her first marriage was hard, but what she went through in the last few years has been impossible. However, she found a man who not only adores her, but her daughter.

“You definitely got the better end of that bargain,” I joke.

“For sure, but I’m just saying that it’s part of the shit women do. Hell.” Natalie claps her hands. “His ex-wife is a Froghopper! She left him as soon as he wasn’t titled the way she wanted. She’s...not liked.”

I’m glad she isn’t somehow embedded in this group. Although I know these women and they would never be okay with the way she treated Ben.

“Did you know her?”

“Unfortunately. Ben and Liam were on the same team. I don’t know if you know that.”

I shake my head.

“That’s how he ended up at Cole. When he was injured, they offered him an admin job, allowing him to stay active, but, for these guys, that’s the equivalent of death. I know it’s dramatic, believe me.” She rolls her eyes. “I tell Liam all the time how ridiculous they sound, but they’re men who want to serve. They need to be out there, doing the things no one else can or most of the time want to. Having to sit at a desk and watch his brothers go out to do combat would eat him alive. Which is why I don’t think Jackson understands what he gives to guys like Ben.”

Catherine smiles and her eyes fill with love. “He really loves them. It’s why we were on a plane in the middle of the night to get here.”

“They’re devoted to the company, too, Cat.”

“I saw it today.” I jump in, wanting her to know how Ben felt. “He was distraught about not being there for the guys.”

“That’s how they are. They’re loyal to a fault to their team. I just wish they were all to their wives, but that’s another day,” Natalie says with a hint of frustration. Then she takes a sip of her coffee, tucking her legs under her. “But let’s get back to you and Ben bumping uglies.”

The three of us sit on Lee’s deck, drinking coffee, laughing, and talking about the men in our lives. There’s no point in trying to keep it from them, they’ll just pester me or worse, ask Ben. After a few hours of chatting, her kids demand her attention, so Cat and I head out.

“You know,” Catherine says with hesitation, “in the last few years, I felt like you’ve disappeared. I understood that you loved someone and there are times where love can consume you, taking you away, but with you, I didn’t see that. It wasn’t like you were deliriously happy. You were...distant. Today was the first time I felt like my best friend was herself again.”

“Cat...”

“No, I’m just saying, maybe you getting stood up at the alter was the best thing for you.”

I let out a small laugh and shake my head.

The thing is, I agree with her. If I had married Harold, I would be a shell of who I feel like I am right now. I’m free. I’m alive. I’m happy and that has to do with a choice that wasn’t mine being made for me.

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