Hungry for Love (43 page)

Clint looked up at the ceiling
,
down at the floor
,
then decided he could pull off suave and said
,
“
You two crazy kids.
”

Ben didn
’
t know where to look.  He glanced furtively at Angie to see if she was reacting in any way at all
,
and she did seem to have a disapproving look on her face
,
so maybe that was something.  Maybe one day they
’
d laugh together about this.

A larger table had opened up and Angie pointed toward it saying
,
“
It
’
ll be a lot easier for us to eat if we all have seats.
”
 

“
If you insist
,”
said Colette
,
“
But wait
,
I need a little amuse bouche before I give up the best seat in the house.
”
  And once more she began kissing Ben.  After several kisses on the lips
,
she began kissing his neck with rather loud slurping sounds and much noise
,
then she laughed and said
,
“
They don
’
t call them smackeroos for nothing.
”

Once they were all seated
,
Angie returned from the kitchen with some sampler plates of her latest menu items and some tasting plates. 
“
No more cutting edge cuisine
,”
she said to Ben.

“
Oh my honey pie likes down home good cooking
,
don
’
t you sugar lump
?
  We
’
re gonna bring back the old times
,
that
’
s for sure
,
once we move into our house.  And it will be so much fun driving cross country together until we get back home.
”

“
What
?”
said Clint and Angie simultaneously.

“
Well we
’
re just not city folk
,
are we honey pie
?
  We
’
re thinking
Iowa
or
Ohio
,
one of the really good states with the short names.
”

“
Really
?”
Angie asked Ben.

“
Now
,
now
,
Angie-dangie
,
don
’
t you go confusing my honey pie.  You had him all to yourself since you were toddlers
,
but now it
’
s my turn.  We have to have a nice big yard for all those babies to run around in
,
don
’
t we
?”
  Colette reached into her tote and pulled out several magazines. 
“
Check this out—look at this darling house—what a little love nest.
”
  She took Ben
’
s hand and pressed it fervently to her chest and said
,
“
Oh honey pie
,
feel my heart beating.  Just for you!
”
  Then she took a forkful of food off her plate and leaned in toward Ben and said
,
“
Open wide.  Here comes the airplane.
”
  Then she laughed as Ben obeyed and said
,
“
Just practicing for when Ben junior comes.
”

“
Maybe you
’
ll have twins
,”
said Clint good naturedly. 
“
Ben junior and Ben junior-junior.
”

“
Mmm
,
yum-o
,”
said Colette to Angie
,
“
This tuna salad is fabuloso
,
almost as good as my mom
’
s.
”

“
It
’
s duck
,”
said Angie.

“
Rubber ducky
,
you
’
re the one
,”
sang Colette
,
running her hand through Ben
’
s hair in a mock shampoo. 
“
Oh my God!
”
she trilled
,
displaying an enormous amount of excitement
,
and waving her hands in the air a few times
,
said
“
I totally forgot
,”
then reached back down into her tote and extracted an elegant parcel from which she pulled a white lace nightgown. 
“
Look at this
,
Angie
,
wait
,
Ben
,
cover your eyes
,
no what the heck
,
might as well have a little preview.  Oh
,
can you imagine me in this
?”
And then she stood and held the lingerie up to herself
,
turning this way and that with many seductive wriggles. 

Ben blushed and Colette laughed
,
“
Oh isn
’
t he just too good to be true.  What a dirty mind.  He
’
s picturing me out of it
,
aren
’
t you honey pie
?”

Bill sighed as he walked out of his attorney
’
s office and back to his own where he would have the girls go through all the patient files and see who belonged to whom.  This was going to be as bad as a divorce.  There would be patients to placate
,
assets to split up
,
decisions about locations.  It was a huge headache.  He couldn
’
t legally bar Kevin from the office.  Being a sleaze ball didn
’
t disqualify him from practicing medicine.  He would have to confront Kevin
,
perhaps more than once and attorneys might have to be present.  Papers would have to be drawn up.  Even if he found a new office
,
which he probably would have to do
,
there would still be much contact.  But did it matter that much
?
  He was angry at Kevin
,
yes.  He didn
’
t want to associate with Kevin any longer
,
no.  But did he feel that the sight of Kevin would send him into a rage
?
  Bill didn
’
t know.  Despite the fact that he clearly was better off without Chrissy
,
he knew that having a partner who
’
d do such a thing was out of the question.  Kevin
’
s ethics had always been a problem but the truth was that he
’
d never treated Kevin as a partner
,
more of a junior associate
,
and certainly Kevin resented that.  Should Bill be assuming some of the blame for this situation
?
  Surely that would be absurd.  He would just have to deal with the aggravations until he was extricated.  And then life would go on and he probably would never see Kevin again.

He could ask Laura to help him find a new office.  Laura would know a real estate person.  It seemed such a strange thought—now that there was no party to plan
,
he and Laura surely wouldn
’
t be spending as much time together.  And he recognized that she had been correct—for them to end up together would be sort of tacky.  His partner screwed his girlfriend so Bill should snag Kevin
’
s wife
?
  Was it wrong
?
  It probably was.  What was it he had been feeling for Laura anyway
?
  Had she been right
?
  Was he just using her as some sort of conduit to the past
?
  Were they playing musical chairs and were they the only two people left in the game so it seemed reasonable for them to end up together
?
  Having a good old friend by his side would be nice
,
it would be lovely
,
wouldn
’
t it
?
  Bill admitted that it would.  But somewhere deep inside his heart he admitted something else.  Laura had been right—that was no substitute for love.  And then Bill admitted the thing that was most heart wrenching
,
the thing he didn
’
t want to think let alone say out loud.  He had no faith that he would be thunderstruck by love ever again.  That sort of intense connection didn
’
t just happen because JoEllen was a one in a million and it wasn
’
t as though there were more just like her standing on every corner
,
were there.  And then his heart sank.