Page 63 of Resisting the Fall

Sure enough, Juliet Monroe stood on the front porch. Clearly I’d not seen her for a while, because I was expecting a young woman, not a full-fledged one. She was as pretty as I’d always expected, with her long dark hair that made her blue eyes pop. Eyes that widened when she caught sight of me.

Ben didn’t look as put out by my intrusion as I’d hoped, but that didn’t mean he was pleased. “Right,” he said. “And… Maven.”

Juliet’s shock transitioned into a polite smile. “Maven, I heard you were in town. It’s so good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Juliet.” I stepped forward to give her a hug before my gaze shifted to the handsome rodeo star, cowboy hat and all, at her side. I couldn’t help but notice how close he stood to Juliet and the occasional glances he threw her way. That must be why she’d come along. “Is this your boyfriend?”

He smiled, clearly amused by the question, but Juliet’s panicked expression told me I had assumed incorrectly. Oops.

She took a step away from him, giving a small cough like she’d inhaled too sharply. “Oh, no. Nope… no!” She rushed through her explanation of what Ben had already told me about Archer and the hayrides. So she must be assisting him? “Archer, Maven.” She gestured to each of us in turn. “Maven, Archer.”

I reached out a hand, and he took hold of it. The strength of his handshake hinted at how that grip had once been the only thing between him and being trampled by a bull. Impressive. And slightly painful.

“Aren’t you going to invite them in, hon?” I asked, placing my hand on Ben’s arm.

His eyebrow lifted at my term of endearment. Or possibly at my touch. “I thought we could just head to the barn⁠—”

“Oh, Ben.” I shook my head, holding the door open like I hadn’t been hesitant to enter the Walkers’ house ten minutes ago. “Work isn’t the only thing that matters. Come on in, you two.”

Juliet and Archer glanced at each other but then stepped inside.

Ben, however, sent me a very pointed look, which meant I was once again on the right track.

Maven

I stood next to Ben on the Walkers’ front porch, waving farewell to Juliet and Archer like it was a bittersweet goodbye and not like we’d see them in a few days at the fall festival.

Juliet bit back a smile and waved, and Archer simply tipped his cowboy hat in our direction. When neither moved toward their individual vehicles, I ushered Ben inside. Apparently, they needed a little more time to talk about… hay.

“That was delightful,” I said brightly, closing the door behind us.

Ben glanced over at me. “Which part? The company or you following me around and nit-picking everything I said and did?”

And here I’d thought, with how composed Ben had remained the entire visit, he hadn’t noticed my concentrated efforts. We had been married for almost eight years. Stereotypically, if we had followed the normal course, I would probably have grown accomplished at nagging him by this point in our marriage. I didn’t want him to miss out on that. Not that I would admit to doing any such thing, so I just moved on.

“Juliet is absolutely adorable. And Archer…” I smiled at the thought of the two of them. I was pretty sure the whole Walker clan, along with Mayor Monroe, was still hoping for Luke and Juliet to end up together, but with the way Archer and Juliet kept looking at each other, there was definitely something there. So, as much as I loved Luke and wanted him to find his perfect somebody eventually, when it came to Juliet, I was now pretty solidly Team Archer. Not that I’d mention that to Ben just yet.

“What about Archer?” Ben asked.

My gaze returned to him, noting the slight furrow in his brow. There was no way Ben was jealous. Was he? I suddenly very much needed to know. “Oh, he’s a catch. Handsome.” I ticked up a finger, then another. “Wealthy.” I put up one more finger. “And a cowboy.”

“I didn’t realize you had such a thing for cowboys.” His tone made it feel like an insult by omission—alleging my preference for handsome men of means. Granted, I literally had listed off those things as top attributes, but I’d guess his disapproval had more to do with Colin having been both things than with a long track record on my part. “Seems I might need to get me a cowboy hat.”

The image my mind involuntarily conjured of Ben as a cowboy had my head spinning. Apparently, the right man in a cowboy hat and boots was all it took to understand why cowboys were a staple in so many women’s fantasies. Not that Ben was the right man. Or that I was having some sort of inappropriate fantasy about him. But I could also see how Cowboy Ben might be some sort of gateway drug I didn’t need at this point in my life. And neither did any other women. He was already enough of a danger to myself and others.

I leaned in and tugged on the bill of his hat. “You should probably stick to your baseball cap. It suits you better.”

His gaze roved over me, the corners of his lips twitching ever so slightly. “How long are we going to do this?”

I placed my hands on my hips. “Do what exactly?”

He gestured between us. “You trying to drive me crazy and me acting like I’m irritated by it?”

I took a step back, processing what he’d just said. He was only acting irritated? What did that even mean? Actually, it didn’t matter. “If you would agree to transfer the case to New York⁠—”

“It’s not happening. Because it makes no sense. This is the quickest way to a divorce. In a few weeks from now, you’ll have an official decree in your hand. No other route is going to allow for that.”

Is that why he refused to compromise? He wanted this to be over with as quickly as possible? Of course he did. It was the only rational desire after figuring out you were still married to someone six years after your supposed divorce. When I thought of it like that, it seemed unfair to ask him to extend out the whole thing even longer. And yet, I had to. I knew my limits.