In her car, in the dark, Lily stroked the soft skin of the peach and smiled.
CHAPTER 18
The hearing was tomorrow. Lily couldn’t sit still for a second. She paced around the house like a caged panther, rehearsing the lines she and Buzz Dobson had gone over, making sure her outfit for the next day wasn’t wrinkled. She felt like an actress preparing for opening night of a play, except that if the play bombed, her life and her daughter’s life would be permanently damaged.
Even Ben, who had been discounting all of Lily’s fears about the hearing, was showing signs of nervousness. He kept riffling through the suits and ties in his closet. If he was going to try to pass himself off as heterosexual, he couldn’t be too well dressed.
Granny McGilly had taken Mimi out for a few hours this afternoon, on the theory that Ben and Lily needed some grown-up time to collect themselves. Granny McGilly also wanted Mimi to get used to spending time with her, since she was serving as babysitter during the hearing.
For their grown-up time, Lily and Ben had invited Jack and Ken to come over—to comfort them in their time of hysteria. At first Lily had been wary about inviting the two of them over so much, but Ben assured her she had nothing to fear: In Faulkner County, the rumor was that Lily and Ben were playing matchmaker for the bachelor professor and old-maid veterinarian. Once again, Lily found herself marveling at the obliviousness of straight people.
As they waited for Ken and Jack to arrive, Ben sat on the couch and Lily paced the length of the living room. “Could you just light for a minute?” Ben asked. “I feel like I’m living with a giant hummingbird.”
Lily forced herself to sit in the armchair. Her knees bent, but her body didn’t relax. “We were insane to think we could pull this off. We should’ve stayed in Atlanta and fought this honestly.”
“I still like our chances here. And besides, if we hadn’t come back to Versailles, I never would’ve run into Ken, and you never would’ve met Jack. Who’d have thought a sham marriage would put us in a situation where we’d both fall in love?”
“Hey, you fell in love, buddy. I’ve never said anything about being in love.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Well, no, you’ve never said anything, but I have a sneaking suspicion that you and Dr. Jack have been doing more than trotting off to farms and giving pigs enemas.” He leaned forward. “I saw your face when you came home the other night, Mrs. McGilly. I know the face of an adulterous wife when I see one.”
Lily smiled and shook her head. Jack had been a comfort to her since the moment she met her — a remarkable friend and, as of the other night, a remarkable bedmate. But she couldn’t just pretend the years she had with Charlotte didn’t exist, couldn’t just climb up the ladder and dive into another relationship ...
not so soon. “I still love Charlotte, Ben.”
“Of course you do. And I never stopped loving Dez. Even after we weren’t lovers anymore, I still loved him. And now that he’s dead, I still love him. I don’t have to stop loving Dez just because I love Ken. And you don’t have to stop loving Charlotte just because you love Jack.”
Before Lily could form a response, the doorbell rang. She rose to answer it, eager to escape the conversation, and let in Ken, who was carrying a large white shopping bag, and Jack, who was carrying a small brown paper sack.
“Okay,” Ken said, unpacking his bag on the coffee table. “We have two bottles of champagne, artichoke dip with sliced baguette, smoked salmon with crackers, and fresh fruit with poppy seed dressing.”
“And paper napkins and a bag of potato chips.” Jack grinned. “My elegant contribution.”
When Ken popped the cork of the champagne bottle, Mordecai fled the room in terror. It was nice to have something to laugh at.
“Shouldn’t we have the champagne after the hearing?” Lily asked. “If we win?”
“Well, I thought about that,” Ken said. “But I figured you’d need it more before the hearing.”
The two couples fed each other dainty bits of food and drained the first bottle of champagne far faster than was probably good for them. By the time they were halfway through the second bottle, Ben and Ken were necking on the couch, and Lily was sitting on Jack’s lap in the armchair.
“Well, I guess we know why the French are supposed to be so sexy,” Lily laughed, watching Ben and Ken kiss. “It’s the champagne.”
Ben and Ken broke apart. “Sorry,” Ken laughed, “champagne always has that effect on me.”
“I’m not complaining.” Ben’s face was flushed.
Lily knew that Ben had loved Dez, but by the time she met them, they were acting like a bickering old married couple. Seeing Ben with Ken was completely different. In Ken’s presence, Ben seemed lighthearted and light-headed, giddy with excitement. Lily wondered if that’s what Ben was like in the early days of his relationship with Dez. Or was each love different?
“The champagne’s got nothing to do with it,” Jack teased. “It’s you city people coming down here and corrupting the likes of Ken and me. I mean, look at this living room...the empty champagne bottles, the kissing boys...we’re practically having an orgy here!”
Ben and Ken were too busy kissing to respond to Jack’s comment, but Lily laughed. “Why don’t you boys get a room? Like, Ben’s room, for instance?”
Ken turned to Ben. “What do you say?”
Ben reddened and drained his champagne glass.
“Sure. Why not?” Laughing, they strolled down the hall, hand in hand.
Jack took Lily’s empty glass. “More champagne, milady?”
“Well, it’s a shame to let it go to waste.”