It figured Ben would be over visiting Johnny, despite the late hour. Marianne had told her boyfriend when they last spoke that she’d be home but she didn’t know when. He had asked if she wanted him to make dinner for her, but she said no. They didn’t live together, at least not officially, but he spent more time at her house than he did his own, and he’d admitted that, while she was away, he’d slept over even though she wasn’t home. She didn’t mind—it meant the house wasn’t empty and, though she lived in a safe neighborhood, she liked the idea of coming home to him at the end of the long week. Plus he had told her he liked the way the bed sheets still smelled like her. “It makes me feel like you’re with me even though you’re not,” he’d said.
She’d melted a little at that. He could be so sweet.