The Magnolia Chronicles: Adventures in Modern Dating(36)

"It's fair. It is. No secrets, no lies, no hiding. I'm not ready to walk away, Magnolia," Rob replied.

"But, Rob…" My words trailed off. I didn't know what to say. Why was he volunteering for this? Why was he still here? He wanted to forget his ex but instead of finding someone who could help him with that, he was signing up for these shenanigans. I didn't understand it.

"It's not going to be easy," he replied.

"No," I agreed, the word booming out. "You're damn right it's not easy."

"You could get the fuck outta here and make it easy," Ben said under his breath.

Rob kept his gaze on me as he pointed at Ben. "I'm going to rip this antagonistic bastard apart if we don't establish some rules of engagement real fast."

"I want to rip both of you apart and I've been here for ten minutes," Patrick said.

"Shush, sweetheart. We're just watching," Andy whispered.

I gestured toward Ben. Part of me still wondered whether he was all innuendo and no action. Whether it was a game to him. That I wasn't taking any of his shit or falling for his charms—aside from his forearms—and that was why he wanted me. That he savored this distraction from the grief rising around him. His silence during this portion of the discussion was giving me pause. "What do you think about this?"

Ben raked his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath. "I can live with it," he said. "I'd rather you send him on his way right now—"

"I'd rather you go find Sara," Rob interrupted. "What the fuck's wrong with you? Bringing a woman out for breakfast and then leaving her at the door? That's fucking rude."

If I didn't understand Rob, Ben was a brand-new level of incomprehensible. He wanted an escape from dealing with the loss of his grandmother but I couldn't help thinking he'd find himself at the limits of that escape soon.

"Sara is fine,” Ben replied. “Don’t you worry after her.”

All at once, we shifted to put eyes on Sara. She stood at the counter; her back to us while she spoke to the clerk and pointed at pastries in the display case.

Patrick cleared his throat. "Shall we invite her over here?"

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself.

"Patrick, sweetie," Andy started, "we can manage many things but adding another person to this mix might test our capacity." She tipped her head toward Ben. "Are you sure this is where you're supposed to be, young man?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ben bobbed his head. "And no disrespect, but I don't think you can call me 'young man' when I'm thirty-eight."

Patrick pointed at him. "She'll call you the Abominable Snowman if she damn well wants to."

Ben considered this, nodded. "All right, man. All right. And, look. I might be an asshole but I'm not about to do wrong by my buddy's sister."

"I'm glad we've established the facts," Rob murmured.

"Are you required to be a dick all the time?" Ben asked him. "Like, is it part of your fraternity's honor code or something?"

"Now that you mention—" Rob stopped himself when he noticed me staring, eyes wide and lips parted, over his shoulder. He shifted, glancing in that direction. Under his breath, he murmured, "Oh. Wonderful."

Sara marched up to our table, her arms wrapped around two large bakery boxes. "Hi," she chirped, wiggling one hand from under the bakery box in an attempt at a wave. "This seemed like a fine idea when I was walking over here but now I realize I don't know eighty percent of you and I don't have a meaningful connection to the twenty percent. I blame the donuts." She glanced down at the boxes. "I bought one of each but now that seems excessive. I don't know what to do with twenty-eight donuts."

The men started to speak at once, but Andy silenced them with a quietly lethal "Stop." She studied Sara for a moment before asking, "Do you like farmers' markets?"

"In theory, yes," she replied. "In practice, I end up with an obscure collection of items I don't know how to cook and then I order takeout. Again." She shrugged. "I've had a spaghetti squash on my countertop for six weeks. It confounds me."

Andy waved off this argument. "We can fix that. Give me your number."

Rob tapped his fist against his chin before saying, "I'm no expert but I think it's time to let the squash go. Before it decomposes."

Patrick pointed at him. "That is solid advice."

Sara replied with a curt headshake. "I don't mind decomposition in flora or fauna." She glanced to the side, humming a bit. "Or humans."

"High-test," Ben said through a cough.

"Yeah, give me your number," Andy insisted. Her thumbs flew over her phone's touchscreen as Sara rattled off the digits. "Since we have you here, can you clear something up for us?"

"Does it pertain to human or plant decomposition?" she asked.

Andy barreled forward, undaunted by the straight-up ickiness of Sara's response. "Neither." Pointing to Ben, she continued. "Did this gentleman behave appropriately in your company?"

Sara's gaze swung between Andy and Ben. "Excuse me?"