Ben stood in the window of his room watching the scene that was unfolding across the street on the square. It reminded him of his wedding and how much time and effort had gone into a thirty-minute ceremony. Illianna had insisted that everything be perfect, to the point of becoming a bridezilla and almost having a breakdown. It was the first sign that all was not what it seemed with the woman he was about to marry, but it had been too late, and he had made excuses.

After a few years, he had morphed into someone he hardly recognized, changing his lifestyle so that he could fit into hers. He had lost most of his identity to become Ben and Illianna, the perfect couple. Invited to every party and always ready to accept. It was who he had found himself slipping back into when he had seen Belle at the restaurant that morning.

After a time, he had started to fight Illianna for his identity, trying to pull away and be strong, no matter how many fights it caused, and then she had just started to drift away until eventually, they had been living separate lives in private with the occasional social event to appear as if they were still happy.

He sighed, looking at the crowd he recognized. It had once been his crowd, but after Illianna's death, they had turned their backs on him, and a large part if him had been relieved.

His mind turned to Lia; it was almost inconceivable that he had only known her for a few days. He had been angry at having his peace disrupted by her smart mouth and bad attitude, but he admired the way she said what she meant. It was a new experience for him.

Ben knew he had been rude to Lia after the fact at Clarey's that morning, but he hadn't wanted to introduce her, not because he didn't want Belle to meet Lia, but because he didn't want Lia to enter that world; to know who he used to be. It had thrown him to the point that he had needed to escape from the situation, and the coward in him had been glad when Lia had suggested that they leave, but as they walked home, he found his equilibrium once more.

Somehow, around Lia, he was able to find his humor, she made him smile, she made him happy, and it was starting to scare him just a little. She was like a drug, and he could find himself easily addicted to her, even if she was a magnet for trouble and she had a crazy dog that was almost human.

*******

"Why are we doing this?" Chloe asked reaching for the binoculars.

Lia fell into the lawn chair behind her. She had raided Ida's hole in the brick wall and found some. They were the kind from the 1980s that left stripes across the back of your legs, but they would do.

"Because I want to make him nervous." Lia reached for a beer.

"Aren't you only making him think that you miss him, that you want him back. That's what I would think if I was as self-absorbed as he is. What I want to know is why River would let him have their wedding here." Faye took a sip of her beer, reaching to take the binoculars from Chloe.

"What time does it start?" Chloe asked.

"I don't know I wasn't invited." Lia took a long swig of her beer. She hadn't thought that Chance would think that she was doing it because she was jealous. She didn't really want to heckle them because she wasn't that rude, and she liked River.

"Poor Girl!" Faye said, shaking her head. "How did you get Mr. Personality to let you use his porch? Or is he gonna burst out here any minute screaming at us?"

"I asked this morning," Lia said.

"And for the record, I said it was a bad idea," Ben said from the doorway behind them. He was leaning against the doorjamb listening to their conversation.

"Would you stop sneaking up on me like that, it's rude!" Lia insisted settling back into her seat, ignoring the fact that her heart was racing at the sight of him.

"You're right, I'm so sorry I walked onto my own front porch," Ben falsely lamented, reaching for a beer.

Lia thought about objecting, and he must have sensed it because he twisted the cap off watching her, daring her to say something. With a huff,  she turned her attention back to the square. "Ben, these are my friends, Faye Brantley, and Chloe Lockwood, we all work at the hospital." She waved her hand between them all.

The women looked at him, as if waiting for his head to start spinning, so he gave them his most charming grin, and they relaxed. "I don't bite," he promised.

"That's not the way Lia made it sound," Faye said, and Chloe elbowed her. One beer was always too much for Faye; she was a lightweight.

"Well, I imagine you both know what a trial she is, of course, we've only known each other a few days, so we're still settling into our friendship." Ben took a sip of his beer, meeting Lia's eyes.

Chloe excused herself saying something about going to Lia's to use the restroom, and the others all turned their attention to the square.

"It looks as if it's starting!" Faye exclaimed, sitting up, reaching for the binoculars.

A dark, expensive looking car drew up to the curb, and the bride got out and started the walk across the square. She looked beautiful, and Lia's stomach hurt at the fact. She reminded her of a lamb off to slaughter. She should have found the time to warn River, but she had been afraid that if she had, it would have looked as if she was jealous, and River wouldn't have believed her.

"Huck!" They heard from the edge of the porch. Chloe was racing towards them right behind Huck. "I'm sorry, I opened the door, and he was out like a shot."

Huck stopped, looking at everyone, sniffing the air. "Huck, come!" Lia demanded. Huck didn't move; he only tilted his head as if the sound of her voice was interesting. It was because he could probably hear the terror in it. He took a step towards the edge of the porch. "You want a treat, Huck?"

Lia thought her heart was going to explode.

Ben gave a soft whistle and held the door to the house open, and Huck ran through it, receiving a pat from Ben along the way.

Lia took a shaky breath and thanked Ben as she sunk into her chair. That had been a close call, at least Huck listened to Ben.

They were all trying to catch their breath at the near miss when they saw a flying furball race past them, towards the square. "I thought I told you to nail a board across that dog door!" Lia shouted as she raced for the steps to try to catch Huck.

Ben didn't move right away; he wanted to give Huck a head start, it would help even the score a little to let him intrude on the wedding.

"Ben!" Lia called as she raced across the street.

"Hold this!" he handed his beer to Faye and cleared the porch railing with an impressive show of muscle.

"He's not what I expected at all," Faye said to Chloe, sipping her beer. She was way too relaxed to be concerned by the scene that was about to happen.

Chloe grabbed the binoculars. "He's just as good looking as I remembered, did you see the way he cleared the railing?"

"Yes, it was very impressive," Faye agreed with a giggle.

"Huck!" Lia softly called as she hit the edge of the wedding guests. Ben was coming up behind her so fast he bumped into her. "Call him," Lia hissed softly.

Huck was sniffing the edges of the crowd, and no one had noticed him yet as they listened to the minister speaking. "Huck!" Lia tried again.

Chance laughed at something the minister said, and Huck caught the sound, lifting his head.

"Ben!" Lia hissed again.

"Give him a minute; you wanted to interrupt the service, let Huck do it for you."

"I'm not that mean!"

"It'll give you a chance to talk to the bride, you know you want to warn her, I saw the guilty look on your face when you friend called her 'poor girl'," he whispered in her ear, and despite the tense situation they were in it still gave her goosebumps.

The crowd had started to notice Huck, and there was a stir along with a few chuckles as he made his way to the bride and groom.

"I can't Ben." But it was too late, Huck walked right up to Chance and lifted his leg, peeing all over his pants, and all hell broke loose.

Ben whistled for Huck, and having done what he set out to do; he trotted over to Ben with a happy smile on his face. At his whistle, everyone turned to see Ben, and another murmur went through the crowd as he was recognized.

Chance looked up and saw them, and a look of such anger crossed his face that Lia was frightened, a feeling that increased as Chance charged them. Ben placed himself between Chance and Lia and held his hand out to catch Chance in the chest.

"It was an accident. Huck got loose, and he recognized you," Ben said calmly, not allowing the situation to escalate. We both apologize for the occurrence."

"Apologize!" Chance spat, "She did it on purpose."

"No, she didn't, but I'm not going to try to convince you. Perhaps you should have chosen a location that wasn't across the street from her house to get married."

Chance grew even more angry at his words, and his father must have noticed it because he put his hand on his shoulder. "Son, it will only be a temporary delay while we clean you up, the car is still here, ten minutes at most." His father wouldn't look at either Lia or Ben as he forcefully dragged his son away.

Lia looked over at the bride who was anxiously biting her lip, and when River's eyes met Lia's she started towards her.

"Did you do it on purpose?" she whispered.

Lia saw nothing more than an unsure girl in front of her. "I didn't, but I did want to talk to you, to warn you that Chance is not all that he seems. I know you won't believe me, but believe my dog, he's only ever peed on one person before, and this isn't the first time he's peed on Chance." She heard Ben cough behind her, but she ignored him.

River didn't say anything as she looked over her shoulder at all her guests then back at Lia.

Lia watched an older couple approach the girl as if for moral support, and Lia had the feeling that they were her parents. "It's not too late to run; I'll go get my car, it's right across the street, we can be gone in five minutes. Lia offered, sensing the girl's fear.

"My car is closer," her father whispered, causing River to look up at him with shock at his supportive words. "We thought he was who you wanted, so we tried to be happy for you, but we never liked him."

River bit her lip for a minute, looking around, then nodding. Her father left quickly, and her mother put her arm around River's waist in support. Lia knew she would be alright. They all stood in silence, and Lia could feel Ben pressing against her while Huck rested against their legs, happy to have succeeded in disrupting everything.

A few moments later a car pulled up, and River darted towards it as her father got out and opened the door for his daughter. River's mother enveloped Lia in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered before joining her daughter.

After the bride was gone everyone started to disperse as they realized the wedding wasn't going to happen, and a few people nodded to Ben with curious looks as they left.

"I think they're wondering where you picked up the crazy lady and her dog," Lia whispered.

"Probably not, this is Savannah, after all, stranger things than this happen on a regular basis."

He whistled for Huck, and they started back across the street to a cheering Faye, who was even drunker than when they had left her and a subdued Chloe.