Page 9 of Live Like There's No Tomorrow
Emma frowned at her, and Missy stepped in quickly. “No, I beat them all to it by about fifteen years,” she said with a laugh. “And April, she’s got Marcus who’s ten, and Michael has Ethan who’s eleven now.”
Ben’s phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out. “Excuse me, guys.”
He walked to the edge of the deck.
“Hi, Ben. It’s Dean. We’ve got a big delivery arrived early over here. I’ve been trying to reach Angel, but she’s not picking up. What do you want me to do about it?”
Ben smiled. “I’ll be right over.”
“Okay, great. Do you know where Angel is?”
Ben looked over at the table where everyone was sitting staring at each other and no one was speaking. “Yeah. She’s on her way.”
~ ~ ~
After Ben and Angel had left to go and deal with some problem over at Four Mile, Missy looked around at her friends.
“I do not like that woman!” said Emma.
Pete laughed. “It doesn’t matter if you like her or not, Mouse. It’s whether Ben likes her that matters.”
“Of course he doesn’t!” Emma scowled at him. “He’s just waiting for Charlotte to be free, and I wish that woman would back off! I want to get Charlie here.”
Missy sighed. “We can’t interfere, Em.”
“I’m not interfering! I’m being selfish! This baby’s going to be here soon, and I want Charlie to be her godmother—or at least one of them. I thought they’d be all sorted out by now.”
Missy nodded. “Yeah, you’d just found out about the baby when we got married. After they saw each other at the airport, I sure as hell didn’t think it’d take them nine months to figure it out.”
“Do you think she’s changed her mind?” asked Gabe.
Emma glared at him. “No! Of course she hasn’t.”
Gabe held his hands up. “Sorry! It just seems odd to me that it’s taken her so long.”
Missy shrugged. “I haven’t spoken to her in months myself. It didn’t seem right for me to know what was going on with her when Ben didn’t, but the last time we talked she said she was getting herself completely straightened out. She and Alastair had filed for divorce, and she was working on herself too.”
“Maybe she’s left it too long,” said Pete.
Missy put a hand on Emma’s arm; she looked like she was about to explode. “I doubt it. I think we’re all just getting anxious because of Angel.
“Why though?” asked Dan.
Missy looked at him. He really didn’t get it.
He shrugged. “She’s just a woman who works for him. Yes, they seem to have a lot in common, and yes, she’s good-looking, but Ben must have met a lot of women like that over the years. Why would Angel be different? Especially now when it looks like there’s hope for him and Charlotte. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Missy shook her head. “You don’t get it, because you’re oblivious to the devious ways of some women, hon.” As she spoke she remembered his ex-girlfriend, Olivia. That was a devious woman if ever she’d met one.
“But she doesn’t seem devious, she seems very nice.”
“Exactly! The devious ones always do.”
Jack nodded. “It’s true, Danny.”
“And how would you know?” Emma looked up at him.
Pete laughed. “Give him a break, Em. He’s just agreeing. We all know it’s true. Even I will admit that Angel does seem a little too perfect, and a little too sweet, to be true.”
