Page 20 of Second Chance Wedding
“Ride or die, girlfriend. You know that.”
Ana managed a smile but then stopped pretending to be in better condition than she was. “Is there…any way you won’t mention this to Rhys? Any of it? I don’t want to put you on the spot, and he might find out anyway, but…can this be between us if he doesn’t?”
“Ana, Lachlan knows everything about this hotel. If he hasn’t heard about the accident yet, I’m pretty sure he will at some point.”
“I know. And if he does, that’s fine. I just— I don’t want him to regret leasing me the space or break the contract because my son did something so stupid literally on day one.”
Quinley inhaled and nodded.
“Sure. I won’t mention it, but if he asks me, I won’t lie.”
“I don’t expect you to.” Ana leaned back in the chair and pressed her hands to her face, wishing she could rub away the fatigue dragging at every cell in her body.
“So who’s the white knight?”
Ana blinked her eyes open and stared at her friend. “What do you mean?”
“I mean who did you charm to keep Benji out of jail? That’s no small feat.”
Ana inhaled and motioned for Quinley to take the foldable chair off the hooks holding it to the wall.
“If you want me to sit down, this can’t be good,” Quinley muttered.
Once Quinley was settled in front of her, Ana said, “Do you remember that night freshman year when I lost some stupid bet, and you made me reveal my worst mistake?”
Quinley frowned, her gaze shifting as though she searched her mind for the answer.
“The dude you broke up with by email? The soldier you were engaged to?”
“That’s the one.”
“You meanhe’s the limo driver?”
“Driver and owner, yes. Him and his brothers.”
Her friend looked about as shocked by the news as Ana felt. Because what were the odds? “Of all people. Of all the businesses in the area… Benji stole from Cole Blackwell. The limo is apparently a new venture for them.”
Quinley was never at a loss for words but now seemed to be having one of those moments.
Ana bit her lower lip as she stared at her friend. Until the pain became too much and she had to distract herself from the problematic cluster that was her life. She spotted and grabbed the lipstick-shaped stress “ball” from her desk. A gift from Benji from one of the many school fundraisers over the years.
The irony wasn’t lost on her.
“That’s…wow,” Quinley said when she finally broke her silence. “What was that like? Did he recognize you? I’m guessing he did or else he wouldn’t have agreed to not calling the cops. Ana,saysomething.”
“He recognized me right away. But I think more than anything Colewantedto press charges because of how I handled the break up. Still, he didn’t.”
“And you saw him again today? Tell me everything. Every detail.” Quinley leaned forward in the chair, elbows to knees and hands clasped as she waited.
Ana went over what her hazy brain could recall.
“They laid out boundaries. Of course, Benji didn’t like that. And then he yanked away from me when I tried to touch him, and things got tense. They— All four of them acted like they’d…defend me. I think it made Benji realize his behavior is over-the-top. I hope so, anyway.”
“What happened then? I feel like there are things you’re not telling me.”
Ana stopped fidgeting with the foam lipstick and just stared down at it. “Alec and the others told Benji to go with them so they could show him around and get him started. They herded him out of the office pretty quickly and left me with Cole.”
“And? Come on, Ana; you’rekillingme here.”
