Jack’s grin had an uneasiness behind it. “That’s not really what I meant either.”
Lily smiled. “Well ... Ben and I have been talking. He’s gonna put his condo on the market. He and Ken are gonna try to get a place halfway between here and Atlanta, so Ken can commute to work, but they’ll be close to the city, too. He and I are just gonna go our separate ways without making it official.
We’ve seen all we want of courtrooms lately, believe me.”
Lily knew she still hadn’t answered Jack’s question. “And me, well, I’m not planning on selling off Charlotte’s and my condo yet. I figure Mimi and I will go back to Atlanta, and I’ll work on the book.
But there was something I wanted to ask you.”
“Uh-huh?” Jack’s eyes glimmered with hope.
“About Mordecai. I know Big Ben and Jeanie don’t want him back, and he doesn’t strike me as a condo kinda dog, so I was wondering —”
“Sure, I’ll take him.” Jack’s voice was tinged with disappointment. “There’s always room for one more at the farm.”
Lily stopped walking and took both of Jack’s hands in her own. “The thing is, you know how Mordecai is about me. He’s really gonna miss me.” She let go of Jack’s hands and draped her arms over Jack’s shoulders. “So I guess I’ll have to drive up to the farm and visit him really, really often.”
Jack grinned. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” Lily grinned back. “I’d say I’d need to visit him every other weekend at least. And sometimes Mimi could spend time with her mamaw and papaw while I spend some time alone with ...
Mordecai. If that’s okay with you, of course.”
“I think I could handle that.” Jack leaned down and met Lily for a kiss, resting her hands on the small of Lily’s back. When they parted, Jack said, “I do have a question, though.”
“What’s that?”
“What if in a year or two, I—I mean, Mordecai —what if Mordecai decides that he wants to see you more often than just on the weekends? What if he decides that he wants to be with you every minute that he possibly can?”
Lily looked into the light blue eyes of this woman who was willing to give her not only love but time, who was willing to wait until Lily had healed enough to marry her life with another woman’s.
“Well,” she said, “if he feels that way in a year or so, we may just have to make arrangements such that the two of us can spend more time together.”
“All right!” Jack hugged Lily close, careful to avoid her new tattoo.
“Well,” Jack said. “I reckon they’ll be wondering what happened to us.”
“Let’s go then.” Lily took Jack’s hand and walked across the field toward the fence that enclosed the pool. She was ready to rejoin the party.
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