Page 79 of The House Guest

Benjamin turned to Dorian. “I also have to apologize. It wasn’t my intent to come back so soon and interrupt your conversation. I went to the market but realized I left my wallet here.”

“I’m glad you came back.” I smiled. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Oh, I wasn’t gonna leave town without seeing you. I just wanted you and Dorian to have privacy today so he could talk to you before I intruded.”

“It warms my heart that you two have been together all this time.”

“I had to look out for him.” He winked. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get out of your hair.” He turned to me. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave town until you and I have had a proper catch-up, Primrose.”

“You better not.”

After he left, I turned to face Dorian again. Benjamin’s presence had allowed for a brief reprieve from the tension. Now that he was gone, it returned in full force.

“He’s amazing,” I said.

“That he is,” Dorian agreed. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without him.”

“I always wondered why he’d never reached out to me. I mean, I know why I didn’t reach out tohim…”

“Because you didn’t want to find out I’d moved on?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I always felt guilty about not initiating contact with him, but I also thought Benjamin would check on me eventually. When he never did, I assumed it was because he knew something and didn’t want to hurt me. So I never pushed it.”

“He certainly knew some things. Just not what you likely envisioned. I’m sorry you were led to believe he didn’t care—thatIdidn’t care.”

We returned to our seats and continued our conversation. Dorian had done enough digging into my life to know I was with Casey and had a child, but he didn’t know the circumstances in which I’d met my fiancé orgotten pregnant. I spent a good deal of time catching him up on how my current situation had come to be. I shied away from going into too much detail about my feelings for Casey, though. Not sure if that was because I didn’t want Dorian to sense my hesitancy about the wedding, or because I didn’t want to assume Dorian was ready to talk about Casey.

“I’m proud of you, Rosebud,” he finally said.

“Why?”

“You’re a good mother. It wasn’t a situation you asked for, but you rolled with it. It seems like you’ve dedicated your life to your daughter.”

“Why wouldn’t I? That’s what you’re supposed to do, right?”

His stare was piercing. “Are you happy?”

“I’m happy being a mom.”

“What about everything else?”

“Are you asking if I’m happy in my relationship?”

“Yes,” he answered immediately.

I swallowed. “I love Casey. He’s an amazing father and a hard worker.”

“You’rein lovewith him?”

“I just said I loved him.”

His gaze was unwavering. “I asked if you’rein lovewith him.”

“What’s the difference?”

“You can love people for many different reasons.” He paused and held out his palms. “I swear to you, Primrose, I’m not here to stir up trouble. I’m just curious. Because I know how you felt about me. I also know the pain I causedyou. For you to have fallen in love with someone else a year later seems…”

“I didn’t fall in love with Casey a year later. I accidentally got pregnant a year later. I’velearnedto love him over time in the years since Rosie was born.”