Page 119 of Summer Weddings
“Can I help?” Mitch asked. He’d often gone to Ben for advice about something or other, including his feelings for Bethany. Most of his visits had been on the pretext of wanting a cup of coffee. It appeared that the tables were turned now—so to speak—and if he could assist Ben in some way, then all the better.
“Help me? No.” Ben shook his head and instantly seemed to regret the movement. He closed his eyes and waited a moment before opening them again.
“You want me to make you breakfast?” Mitch asked. “I’m not a bad cook.”
He couldn’t tell whether Ben was taking his offer into consideration. Lowering his head, Ben muttered something Mitch couldn’t hear.
Mitch leaned closer. “What did you say?”
“Have, ah…have you seen Bethany this morning?”
“No.” He’d actually come to tell his friend what had happened between them last night and—once again—seek his advice.
“Have you tried calling?”
“No.”
Ben gave a slight nod in the direction of the phone. “Call her, okay?”
Mitch looked at his watch. “It’s a little early, isn’t it?”
“Maybe, but try, anyway.”
Mitch wasn’t keen on the idea. “Is there anything in particular you’d like me to ask her?”
Ben propped his elbows on the counter and covered his face with both hands. He rubbed his eyes, and when he glanced at Mitch they seemed to glisten. “I didn’t know,” he said in a frayed whisper. “I…never knew.”
“What didn’t you know?” Mitch asked.
“Marilyn was pregnant.”
Ben might as well have been speaking in a foreign language for all the sense he made. “Who’s Marilyn?” Mitch asked in calm tones.
Ben dropped his hands. “Bethany’s mother.” He paused. “Bethany’s my daughter. I’m the reason she came to Hard Luck, and when she told me… I pretended I never knew any Marilyn.”
“You mean—”
“Yes!” Ben shouted, pounding his fist on the counter. “I’m Bethany’s father.”
Mitch swore under his breath.
“It was the shock. I… I never guessed. Maybe I should have… I don’t know.”
Mitch sat on the stool next to Ben, feeling the weight of his friend’s burden as if it were his own.
“When she told me, I denied ever knowing her mother and then—” his face contorted with guilt “—I said some things I regret and sent Bethany away.” Ben wiped impatiently at his eyes. “She ran out of here, and now I’m afraid she won’t be back.”
“I’ll talk to her if you like.” Although Mitch was happy to make the offer, he didn’t know if he’d be a help or a hindrance. His own track record with Bethany wasn’t exactly impressive.
“Would you?” Ben clung to Mitch’s words like a lifeline in a storm-tossed sea.
“Sure.” Mitch needed to see her for his own reasons, anyway. “I’ll do it right away,” he said, eager now to find her. They’d parted on such cool terms Bethany might not be as eager for his company. But Mitch was willing to risk her displeasure. She needed him. When he’d been in pain and grief, she’d been there to comfort him. Ben’s rejection must have left her reeling. Mitch suddenly understood how important it was to be the one to console her.
“Tell her…” Ben hesitated, apparently not knowing how to convey his message. “Tell her…” he began again, his voice weak. His eyes brightened and he drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “That I’m proud to have her as my daughter.”
In Mitch’s opinion, Bethany should hear those words from Ben himself.
* * *
