Ghost Not Forgotten

IX: Now

"Yes! He is," I said, so relieved someone other than me was seeing it. "That's half the reason I don't want to talk to him, even to find out what happened. He's bein' a cocky ass and it just makes me want to punch him."

"Again? Wasn't tusselin' in the middle of Main enough for you?"

Damn Della and her big mouth.

I ignored that. "It's hard for me to deal with him when he's like that."

"Well, I can imagine it's not the easiest thing to do, come back into town after mysteriously disappearin' for nearly two decades," Stanley said. "He probably couldn't think of any other way to handle it. You know how he was, all charm. That's how he got this whole town around his pinky in the first place. He probably figured it was the only way he could be accepted again."

I could see Stanley's point and yet . . .

"Well, he obviously doesn't know me very well anymore," I grumbled.

Stanley laughed. "Darn tootin'. But you two were always good at pushin' each other's buttons. You were the only one who didn't take his bull. You kept that boy as humble as boy like him could be."

I snorted. I had never thought of it that way.

"He should've known you would've reacted the way you did," Stanley said, almost scolding, but he had such a warm voice it was almost funny when it tried to be stern. "Who knows, maybe he was scared."

"Scared? Scared of what?" I said. Bennet was never scared of anything. Or at least he didn't show it. I know he had some fears of going crazy like his mama did or becoming a drunk like his daddy was, but that was about it. He was indestructible as far as he was concerned. Of course, that had been when he was 16. What 16-year-old boy doesn't think he's unstoppable?

"Scared you wouldn't accept him. Scared you changed too much or he changed too much," Stanley said. "He's probably goadin' you just to see if you'll react like you used to. If you got angry that would mean you still cared for him, maybe he wanted to see if that was the case."

I hadn't thought of that either. I wondered if that was true. And then I wondered if I even wanted to go down that road. If it was wise.

"Stanley Pike, you're too smart for your own good," I said.

He chuckled. "No, darlin', I'm just an old man pretendin' he knows everything."

"You do know everythin'," I said. "Why do you think no one in this town can make a decision without you? By the way, I can't decide: sandals or tennis shoes?" I grinned.

He hummed. "The great and powerful Dr. Pike says . . . tennis shoes. Those're better for parties involving grassy lawns."

I groaned. "So Della told you about his welcome back party then?"

"Of course, you know how she is. I've been gettin' play-by-plays of every move Bennet's made since he came back," Stanley said, a smile in his voice. "I can always count on my little gossip bird to keep me updated."

I laughed weakly, shaking my head. When my hangover headache pounded a little harder, I stopped with a grimace. I shouldn't have had all those damn beers.

"You gonna go?" Stanley said.

"Yes. She bullied me into it."

He laughed. "She told me that too, but I wouldn't be surprised if you tried to sneak out of it."

"You think I shouldn't?"

"I think you should do whatever you damn well want," Stanley said. I could almost see him shrugging his shoulders and lifting his long white eyebrows. "This is your broken heart not theirs."