Jacob looked at her, confused. “Why not?”
“I’ll get us a drink,” she said. “You guys catch up.”
Jacob forced a smile, but Lee was already walking away from him. She was all legs and thin arms, glittering chain—a woman that you’d let leave you at the altar and then try to make things work with anyway.
Jacob turned to me. He turned to me and I could see him trying to decide what he wanted to yell about first.
“You filed an injunction against me?” he said. “You couldn’t be a bigger pain in my ass.”
“You weren’t giving me much of a choice, were you?”
He shook his head. “You’re making things difficult for your father here. No judge in his right mind is going to consider your case. You know that, right?”
I nodded, but a ruling wasn’t what I was after. If the board disliked the headache of a lawsuit enough, they would stop Jacob from moving forward. Jacob knew that, which was why it was confusing, the grin he was wearing.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
He shrugged. “I appreciate your desire,” he said. “Misplaced as it may be. I appreciate what you want to do for your family. Plus, you’re kind of glad that I came tonight, which is nice to see. Especially after what a dick I was. Sorry about that.”
“Really?”
“I’m a little sorry,” he said. He paused. “Were you spying on my girlfriend?”
“No. I like her. She’s lovely.”
“That’s not an answer. You were spying on my girlfriend. Why?”
“I don’t really know. Can we leave it at that?”
Jacob looked at me, really looked at me. “Okay,” he said.
Then he motioned to Michelle, the beautiful Michelle Carter. Ethan Tropper stood guard near her. Everyone was watching her every move and pretending they weren’t. The Sebastopol housewives whispered to one another as they checked out her shoes, her skin, her legs. A group of teenage boys walked back and forth past the table, trying to get up the nerve to ask her for an autograph, or maybe just to touch her hair and run away. Who could blame them? She was mesmerizing.
“I didn’t expect to see her here,” Jacob said.
“Please don’t say how pretty she is.”
“How about sexy?”
He smiled and so did I. I couldn’t help it.
“You decided that the way to go was to be a happy family?”
“I did.”
“I didn’t think you were going to do that.” He nodded approvingly. “That’s brave.”
Jacob looked back at Ben and Michelle, and I followed his eyes as Ben hugged their daughter, Michelle standing close by, smiling at him. They looked like they belonged together.
Jacob leaned in toward me. He leaned in closer, pushing my hair out of the way, holding the back of my neck.
“What if I told you that Michelle Carter has nothing on you?” Jacob whispered.
I leaned in closer to him. “I’d say you’re also the guy who predicted a rainstorm.”
When I arrived at the corner table, they were laughing. Maddie was working ferociously on her coloring book—on a large drawing of a purple Cookie Monster—Ben and Michelle watching her, joining in.
Ben looked up and saw me before Michelle or Maddie did. Then he made room for me beside himself.
“Pull up a crayon!” Ben said.
“No!” Michelle patted the seat beside her. “Come sit here.”
I forced a smile. “Great.”
Michelle forced a smile too. I sat down beside her.
“Benjamin,” Michelle said. “Shoo. Give us some girl time.”
Ben looked at me nervously, but I nodded that it was okay. He smiled, patted Maddie’s head. “I’m going to get this one a juice. Would you like something?”
I wasn’t sure whom he was addressing, but Michelle answered. “The usual . . .”
We watched Ben walk away, holding Maddie, making her laugh as they moved through the party. Ben held her high over his shoulders so she could see every person, every pretty dress.
“My daughter loves him a lot, doesn’t she?” Michelle said, looking sad, perhaps that she had kept them apart for so long when they so obviously were meant to be together. “Hard not to, I guess.”
I wasn’t sure how to react to that, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t wait for a reaction.
Michelle looked away again, something catching her eyes. “Jesus, is that Henry Morgan?”
She motioned with her eyes in Henry’s direction. Henry was talking to a couple of party guests, the guests laughing at what he was saying, funny and confident Henry.