Free Benevolent by Leddy Harper Page B

here for as long as I’ve lived here. You just moved here. You should leave. You should go home. Why should I give up my favorite place in the world because you’re here?” It sounded like a joke, but I was bringing up a valid point and asked an honest question.
    “You’re right, I should go,” she said but didn’t move her feet from where they were rooted just beneath the shallow surf.
    “Yes, you should.”
    “I was here first, but you’re totally right, I should leave,” she said with a smile.
    I smiled, too. “Yup. Right again. You may use my pier until I show up.”
    “That’s so very thoughtful of you, Mr. Kauffmann.”
    “I’m a thoughtful guy, Miss Clare.”
    “If you were so thoughtful, you’d share it with me.”
    “I am. I’m allowing you to be here when I’m not.”
    “Why are you so scared of being here with me? Scared you’ll do something you shouldn’t?”
    I swallowed hard and replied in a less-than-confident voice, “Why do you want to be here with me? Do you want me to do something I shouldn’t?”
    That line… that fucking invisible line just kept popping up where she was concerned. I hated that pesky little thing and wanted it to go away. I wanted to be able to have a normal conversation with Eden without it appearing. I knew it was there because my balls suddenly felt heavy. That was a sure indication that the line was getting closer.
    “Why would I want that? I already told you, I hate cheating bastards.”
    “And like I told you, so do I.”
    She looked down into the water covering her feet and smiled shyly.
    “Stop doing that.”
    “Doing what?” she asked as she looked back up at me.
    “Stop getting shy.”
    She shrugged her shoulders.
    “You have nothing to be shy about.”
    “It’s just who I am, Dane. Always been like that, and always will be.”
    “Well, then, maybe that’s why we met. Maybe the purpose of you being in the same bar as me and me owning the only company you want to work for is for me to bring you out of your shell. Maybe it’s for me to un-shy you.”
    She laughed and splashed her feet around some. “Oh yeah? And then what is my purpose for you?”
    To make me happy. To make me smile. To make me feel something other than down. To bring me light when the rest of my world is so dark and to make me feel like this. But of course, I didn’t say any of that. That would be crossing that line. That would be going into the murky waters on the other side and causing nothing but pain for everyone involved.
    Instead, I said, “To make my job easier at work.”
    “Good answer.” She began to back up in the water until her feet were back on dry land. “Goodnight, Dane. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “Goodnight, Eden. And don’t be late again.” I tried to sound stern and serious, but I guess I failed because she smiled at me and turned around.
    I watched as she walked down the beach. She only made it about a hundred yards before walking up to a set of small condominiums. That must’ve been where she was staying. Fucking aye. Out of all the rentals in the area, she had to choose one on my beach, by my pier, in walking distance from me. No matter what I did, I wouldn’t be able to get far from her. She would always be there. I smiled at that thought and walked back home.

The rest of the week went by much of the same. Gabi was showing some improvement, but it didn’t often last very long before she was back to being down again. It frustrated me more than anything because I didn’t want to get my hopes up when she was acting fine. I knew it wouldn’t last long, and it didn’t. She’d go right back to being depressed—crying about the baby, crying about her mom, crying about anything and everything. I wanted to make it go away. I wanted nothing more than to make it all stop. But I couldn’t. And I think that was what frustrated me the most.
    Work was fine, though. I sent Eden off with files and she worked alone on them, barely coming to me