“I think they ought to drain this lake and make it a big Target Superstore,” I reply. “That would make it worth the one-mile walk. But I’m glad you’re here suffering with me.”
“Because you like having me around,” he asks, “or because you want me to suffer?”
I grin. “Can’t it be both?”
He laughs, pulling me to my feet, and we head back. My cute white Vejas are no longer white by the time we near town, and they’re giving me a blister. He gives me a piggyback ride to the bed and breakfast, where we have furtive, silent sex in the shower before changing to go to dinner. It’s only four p.m., but there’s nothing else to do.
The diner isn’t as cute and retro as I thought. Tap water is delivered to us in cloudy glasses. We decide we aren’t thirsty.
“It smells like forty-year-old cooking oil in here,” Ben says, leaning forward to avoid anyone hearing.
We share a sandwich and fries, and when we finally get outside, I turn to him. “I can’t wait to get out of this town, Ben.”
He pulls me against him with a soft smile on his face. “So, life in a small town isn’t everything you thought it would be?”
“No,” I say, laughing into his t-shirt. “It’s so boring here. I’d go crazy.”
His lips press to the top of my head. “I know,” he says. “That’s why I picked it.”
I blink. “What?”
His shoulders shake with silent laughter. “There’s nothing wrong with my car. It’s parked in back of the barbershop and we can leave right now. I just wanted you to get your whole Hallmark experience.”
“You—” I sputter. “But…I can’t believe…I mean, how did you even know what the towns in those movies were like?”
He shrugs. “It mattered to you, so I watched a few of them the last time you went back to visit your mom.”
I abandoned the Hallmark thing quite a while ago, but tears sting my eyes. “I can’t believe you,” I say, and it comes out a little broken.
“Don’t get me wrong…I did a lot of fast-forwarding because they’re ridiculously boring, but yeah.” He stops suddenly. “Are you crying?”
I nod and press my face to his shirt. “This was both the nicest and the cruelest thing anyone’s done to me in a long time.”
“Amy was in on it, by the way,” he says. “From the coffee shop? I called her yesterday and asked her to be as nosy as possible.”
“And Julie?”
He shakes his head. “No. She’s just weird. But this whole trip has inspired me. I think I’ve got a movie we could pitch to Hallmark—”
“It can’t be about two lawyers. One of us needs to be a good person.”
He laughs. “They can branch out this once. So, these two lawyers are crazy about each other and refuse to admit it until he fingers her in his office. And then he takes her away somewhere like Santa Barbara and proposes because they’re too busy to go to Iceland.”
I fight a smile, my heart beating like a drum. “No one gets fingered in a Hallmark movie.”
“What about the rest of it?” he asks, pulling me closer.
“Yeah,” I whisper, as hope begins to expand in my chest. “The rest of it sounds pretty good. I’d have hated Iceland.”
He laughs. “I know.”
All those dreams and plans I had were…nonsense. They were fantasies—the more unlikely, the more impossible the better, because it kept me that much safer from having to contend with something real.
He rubs the back of his neck. “So,” he begins quietly, “we have a reservation in Santa Barbara if you’re ready to go.”
He’s so nervous. So sheepish. Just like he was his first day at FMG, trying to casually invite me to join him at the bar across the street.
I wrap my arms around his neck, my smile ridiculously wide. “I’m ready.”
Because something real is no longer terrifying. And I can’t wait to say “yes” to Ben Tate.
THE END
Want more of Ben? Get a few chapters from his point of view here
ALSO BY ELIZABETH O'ROARK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks, first and foremost, to Katie Foster Meyer. If it wasn’t for Katie’s encouragement back when I was getting started, I’d probably never have published anything. She’s the first person I show stuff to, and the last I check in with before it goes to print. Katie: thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ve got the job of my dreams and I wouldn’t be here without you.
Next, a huge hug and thanks to my wonderful beta readers: Nancy Ames, Michelle Chen, Kimberly Dallaire, Christine Estevez, Katie Meyer, Jen Wilson Owens and Tawanna Williams. Your enthusiasm for this book thrilled me and your suggestions were pure gold.
An extra shout-out to Christine and Jen for helping me this year in too many ways to name. My sister Kate listened to me rant endlessly about the process and also came up with the company names here so I don’t get sued. Samantha Brentmoor—you knocked another audio out of the park and I feel so lucky to have found you. Entirely Bonkerz, your stories and reels have made me laugh countless times this spring and I’m so grateful for all your support.
Sali Benbow-Powers, thank you for caring about my characters as much as I do. You’ve taken a part of the process I used to dread and made it a highlight. Many thanks to Kelly Golland—I learned so much from your edit—and to Julie Deaton, who caught all my last-minute typos.
Nina Grinstead, Kim Cermak and the whole team at Valentine PR: I continue to be amazed by how freaking on top of it y’all are. Releasing a book makes me want to crawl in a dark room and sleep—thanks to you, I can and it’ll still be okay (but I won’t, I promise).
Finally, a special shout-out to the unbelievably generous and kind authors, reviewers and readers I’ve encountered along the way. To the members of Elizabeth O’Roark Books, the Parallel Series Spoiler Room and everyone who’s posted on IG or made a TikTok about this series and others: you make Book World a wonderful place to be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth O'Roark spent many years as a medical writer before publishing her first novel in 2013. She holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Texas, and a master’s degree from Notre Dame. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her three children. The Devil You Know is her eleventh book.