Julia grinned, grateful to see that her nosy, interfering sister was back to her usual tricks. “Are you ever going to stop trying to butt into everyone’s lives?”
“Never. After all, that’s what I do best, isn’t it?”
***
July – New York
“Hey, Ben You gotta check this out. Photos of Lauren from her sister’s wedding last month. And get this – hair, heels, makeup and jewelry. Oh, and can’t forget the bouquet. She is so going to get ribbed about this next time she’s in town!”
Ben stopped in his tracks en route to his office as Chris called out to him. Chris had dropped by the office today, even though the team wasn’t due to head out on another assignment for a few more days. As was his norm, Chris was wearing a truly odd assortment of clothing today – Bermuda shorts in an eye-popping plaid, a Mickey Mouse tank top that exposed the tattoos of carton characters on each of his biceps, purple Crocs, and even though it was eighty five and sticky as a honeycomb outside, a knit cap that had been pulled down over his long hair.
But it wasn’t Chris’s odd attire that Ben was gazing at right now. Rather, it was the photo on Chris’s computer monitor that caught and held his attention. In it, Lauren was wearing a long, floaty bridesmaid’s gown of a mint green floral print, and she looked breathtakingly beautiful as well as exquisitely feminine. And he had never wanted her more than he did at this particular moment.
She was alone in the photo, holding her bouquet of pale pink roses and light green hydrangeas. Her long hair fell in thick, tawny curls halfway down her back, and her radiant features had been enhanced with a subtle application of makeup. She was smiling, her green eyes glowing with mischief, and she looked happier than he could remember seeing her in – well, nearly six years.
“How did you get a hold of that photo?” asked Ben. “I can’t believe Lauren voluntarily emailed it to you.”
Chris chuckled. “You got that right. This was actually posted on her Facebook page, and there are dozens more. Aren’t you Facebook friends with Lauren?”
“No.” Ben shook his head. “I don’t think she’d consider me to be any sort of friend to her at the moment.”
There had been numerous occasions over the years when he had been tempted to look her up on social media, to see if there was any information about her online – where she was living, working, if she had a boyfriend. But he’d always resisted the urge, knowing he would weaken far too easily and either try to get in touch with her or, worse, give himself still another reason to pine for her. Not to mention the fact that she would have certainly rejected or blocked any attempt he might have made to friend her on social media.
“She looks happy.”
Chris cocked his head at Ben’s observation. “Well, why wouldn’t she? I mean, weddings are supposed to be happy occasions, and I’m sure Lauren was surrounded by a bunch of family and friends. Besides, I know she can be a grouch and a pain in the ass, but she can also be a hell of a lot of fun. Especially at parties.”
Ben shrugged. “I’m sure she is. It’s just that lately Lauren has seemed – I don’t know – let’s call it out of sorts.”
“Hmm.” Chris continued to study Lauren’s photo. “Now that you mention it, I kind of agree. I mean, the girl’s always a little moody, depends what side of the bed she got up on that day, you know? But you’re right – she’s seemed more irritable than normal these past few months. I’ll have to ask Karl what’s going on there. Though he’s got his own drama going on with Tamsyn right now. Again.”
“I didn’t realize they were having problems,” replied Ben. “They seemed to get along just fine at the holiday party.”
“Yeah, well, here’s the thing,” offered Chris. “Their relationship is like the biggest, twistiest roller coaster ride ever designed. Karl and Tam have been together for almost ten years, and from what he’s told us, it’s been like living in a soap opera. Tam’s hot-tempered, Karl’s feelings get hurt easily, so it doesn’t take much for trouble to brew in paradise. That’s one of the reasons they’ve never lived together, why Karl insists on keeping his own place in Tennessee. Otherwise, he’d need to keep a suitcase packed round the clock. The two of them drive Lauren nuts, especially since both of them wind up crying on her shoulder whenever they have a fight and she keeps getting stuck in the middle.”
Ben nodded. “I can see that. She and Tamsyn seemed pretty close at the holiday party, and it’s obvious that she and Karl always have each other’s backs.”
“Yeah, but even Karl doesn’t know all of Lauren’s deep, dark secrets. She’s selective about what she tells people about herself. If you were to look through her Facebook profile, for example, it gives nothing away. A lot of photos from our assignments over the years, ones of her family, but nothing really personal. Definitely no pictures or posts about boyfriends or stuff like that.” Chris grinned. “She demands to know everything about our lives, is always fussing over us, but she keeps her life outside of work a closely guarded secret.”
“Why do you think that is?” asked Ben curiously.
“Dunno. Karl and I have our theories, of course, though mine are admittedly pretty far fetched – like she’s really a superhero or a spy in disguise, crazy ideas like that. Karl just thinks she had her heart broken once, and that’s why she never talks about her love life. George just figures she’s bossy. And mean.”
“Lauren doesn’t have a truly mean bone in her body,” Ben stated firmly. “And let’s face it, shall we – George really asks for it at times.”
Chris guffawed. “At times? He reminds me of that irritating kid everyone had in their fourth grade class – the one who never acted up, kissed up to the teacher all the time, and got his ass kicked every single day after school. And you’re right – Lauren is really a sweetheart deep down. Underneath that tough chick exterior, she’s got a heart of gold. A heart that I figure got broken pretty badly at one time. That’s why I think she puts on all of this false bravado, so that she can’t be hurt that way again.”
Ben felt the familiar stirrings of guilt at Chris’s all too accurate summation. What Chris didn’t know was that Ben had been the one responsible for breaking Lauren’s heart – and not just once, but two times now. And she had apparently been so intent on keeping up the tough girl image that she projected to the rest of the world, that she had never told those closest to her – sister, parents, friends, co-workers – about that long ago summer in Big Sur.
He wasn’t much of a social media devotee, mostly because he simply didn’t have time for such indulgences, and also because he had so few friends that he cared about keeping in touch with. It had been Levi who’d badgered him into creating a Facebook account a few years ago, and Ben kept his fingers crossed that the log-on and password he typed in now would still work. Luck was with him, and as soon as his profile page loaded he typed Lauren’s name into the Find Friends box.
Moments later he was clicking through the hundreds of photos she had posted there over the years. As Chris had mentioned, most of the pictures were from the assignments she’d been on with the crew – on all seven continents, through all four seasons, on terrain ranging from oceans and mountains to deserts and rainforests. There were photos of a bikini-clad Lauren in snorkel gear, paddling in a kayak, backpacking over majestic mountain passes, riding horses across the plains. In each photo, a smile lit up her face, clearly loving her job and her life, and Ben knew he couldn’t have lived with himself if he’d taken all this from her by staying in Big Sur that morning six years earlier.
He looked through some of her other online photo albums – ones from her high school and college days, of family occasions and holidays, and most recently of her sister’s wedding. It was that particular collection that he lingered over, wistfully wishing that he’d been Lauren’s escort that day, that she had been able to proudly introduce him to all of her family and friends, and that he’d been the one to take her in his arms and dance the night away together.