Page 36 of Bluebell Promises

Ben sat across from Pierre, cracking open a beer of his own and allowing himself, for the first time all day, to relax a bit. Celia was nearly done with the pasta dinner, a pesto-based dish with goat cheese, and when they all sat together to eat, Pierre got down and lay on the ground without begging.

“I wonder if he’s ever had pasta before,” Landon said thoughtfully.

“Don’t give him any ideas,” Celia said.

Ben decided to use this opportunity to figure out where Wren’s head was at. Surely Celia knew more than he did, as she was the eldest Harper sister.

“I guess Wren will be on her way soon?” Ben asked, trying to keep his voice easy.

Celia froze with her fork poised beneath her mouth. “Oh. Yeah, I don’t know! Last I heard, she was hired for another gig around here. More coastal Maine stuff, for autumn.”

Autumn! Ben considered leaping out of his chair and rejoicing. Autumn was here now, but it would also go till November: foggy forests and coastlines, gorgeous yellow and red trees. It meant that Wren would be around much longer than he’d imagined.

Was he celebrating for Pierre’s sake? Or for his own?

“Exciting,” he said instead, his voice flat.

“I guess you still haven’t told her about Pierre,” Landon said.

Ben was quiet and unable to answer.

“Just text her now, maybe?” Landon pushed it.

“Oh yeah. Definitely,” Celia joined in. “She’d love to hear about little Pierre.”

Begrudgingly, Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted Wren something simple.

BEN: Hey! I have news about Pudding-Pierre. Could you meet up tomorrow?

“There,” he said, setting down his phone and rolling his eyes. “Are you happy now?”

“Very much so,” Landon said.

Celia laughed, but something in her eyes gave Ben pause. He couldn’t fathom what it meant.

It took over an hour for Wren to write him back. It made him feel borderline insane, checking his phone every three minutes, regardless of what was going on around him. Didn’t she always have her phone on her? Why was she ignoring him? He didn’t understand. Had he done something stupid the last time they’d seen one another, something that told her he wasn’t worth her time, even on a friend basis?

Finally, right when Ben’s head was going to explode with panic, Wren wrote back.

WREN: Hi! Yes, I’d love to hear about little Pierre. I have to take some pictures at the park tomorrow. Do you want to go on a hike with me?

Ben was surprised at how open and beautiful the suggestion was. She wanted to go somewhere beautiful, but more than that, she wanted to go somewhere beautiful with him.

What did it mean?

The following morning, Ben woke up to find Pierre the dog already happily active and moving around his home as though he owned the place. Ben let him into the backyard, fed him, and scrubbed his head with the tips of his fingers. Pierre gazed at him lovingly. Ben hated how susceptible he was to Pierre’s love. He was too much of a softy, he knew. It was why Rina had ruined his heart and his life.

Ben and Wren had agreed to meet at the park at eleven o’clock. Ben packed Pierre’s water dish, plenty of snacks, and his leash, then let Pierre into the front seat of his car. As he drove, he couldn’t help but imagine the reunion that Pierre and Wren would share. He hated how beautiful it looked in his mind’s eye. He needed to stop fantasizing about this woman. He needed to get a grip.

Ben reached the parking lot at the park a few minutes before Wren did. After Wren parked the car she’d brought—one that maybe belonged to Juliet, although Ben wasn’t sure about that—she dug through a bag and seemed to search through various camera lenses, trying to decide which ones to bring on the hike. Ben waited expectantly until Pierre began to bark. He’d spotted Wren, it seemed like. His nose was pressed sloppily against the window.

At the sound of Pierre, Wren turned and gaped at them both. She was out of Juliet’s car and over to them in a flash. She opened the door, then bent down to pick little Pierre up and hold him in her arms. Her loose dress fluttered around her, beautiful and feminine and vaguely Greek. Ben got out and watched as Pierre licked her face again and again.

Seeing it in reality was far better than imagining it, he realized. Wren looked so overcome that she couldn’t speak, not for a full minute. Then she raised her head to look at Ben and asked, “How?”

Ben smiled and shrugged. “Her children picked out a retirement home for Nelly. She’s leaving, and she can’t take Pierre with her.”

“Oh no.” Wren furrowed her brow.