Trent shrugged, but he had noticed.
While he’d been proven wrong on this theory on occasion, he believed that women were more likely to stalk their friends, interests, and exes than men were.
That said, he had looked for Lily once, just a couple months after she’d left him. He wanted to know if she was still with her new boyfriend, but he couldn’t find any trace of her. No photo accounts, no video watching services, no social media. She was just gone—like she’d never existed.
"I've checked a couple times over the years," he admitted to Maisie, though refused to make eye-contact with her as he said it.
It felt embarrassing.
The whole thing—divorce—did.
Lily got to disappear into the night like she was Batman or something, but Trent had to be out in the open. A single parent, having sweet, well-meaning women at the grocery store comment about how “My husband never does the shopping!” or “Were you stuck on babysitting today? Your wife must be so happy to have such an attentive daddy.”
Similarly, all of their once mutual friends now knew that he was the one left behind. Lily moved onto bigger and better things while he was stuck behind living the same old life he'd been living before.
"I thought for sure she would have reached out by now," Maisie said in a bright, beer-dusted tone. "You know what's crazy? She doesn't even know what Bex looks like at this point. What kind of mother is that?"
"Maisie, cool it," Bill said with a forced laugh.
"No, seriously! She just left and literally never looked back. As a mother, it honestly makes me sick to my stomach," she said, clutching her stomach for effect.
"She's a unique one, that's for sure," Trent nodded. He had nothing to add to the conversation, but he didn't hate hearing Maisie's complaints, either.
"Let's change the subject to a more pleasant topic. The ranch is doing well," Bill said, settling his back into the couch cushions.
"That, too," Maisie added, clearly not done with her rant. "Lily was always right there with you running the ranch, and then she left and just left you to take care of Bexley all by yourself."
"Maisie, come on," Bill hushed.
"You come on," she snorted. "Why do you keep defending her?"
"Because," was Bill's only response. He set his jaw awkwardly and exchanged brief eye-contact with Tent.
"Because you liked her," his wife said.
By 'liked her,' Trent knew Maisie wasn't implying that Bill had a thing for his ex-wife. But it was true that Bill enjoyed Lily's friendship, and when she left Trent, Bill was the first one to try and see things from her perspective. Infuriatingly so.
"Hey, we were all friends once," Trent said with a shrug. "I get it."
"That's not it. It's just...I mean," Bill stammered over his words. "Yeah, what she did was wrong, but she's still Bex's mom, and I don't want to say disparaging things about her while Bex is in the house."
Maisie's eyes went wide and she slapped her hand over her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh, Trent, I'm really sorry!" she said, glancing over to where the kids were playing. "You don't think he heard me, do you?"
"No, don't worry about it," he said, offering a small laugh to try and lighten the mood.
"I'm such an idiot sometimes. I'm sorry, it just gets me really fired up," she said, her face bursting with a blush. Perhaps to give herself a minute to recover, Maisie stood from the couch and raised her empty beer bottle. "You guys want another?" she said.
Trent said yes, but Bill opted for water and suggested that his wife did the same, though she didn't take the hint.
When she left the room, Bill turned to Trent with an apologetic wince and said, "Sorry, man."
"It's all right. I know Maisie was friends with her, too. She didn't just abandon me. I know that."
"Yeah, but still...I don't want to say anything that..." Bill began, but trailed off, seeming lost for words.
"Just, what?" Trent asked.
"I know you love her, man. She was your choice. I don't want to say anything that undermines or ignores your feelings for her."
Trent went quiet. He rubbed his hand back and forth across his lips, unsure what to say. He found Bill's wording interesting. He said “love her” instead of past tense. He shouldn't have been surprised that Bill caught onto that fact, but he was.
He couldn't deny it, though. As much as he wished he didn't, Trent still loved Lily. He'd loved her since he was fourteen years old and he didn't see that changing anytime soon. So instead of making a comment or pointlessly defending himself, he simply said, "Thanks, Bill."
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Bill asked, glancing toward the kitchen to make sure Maisie was still out of earshot.
"Shoot."
"You think you'd take her back?" his friend asked.
"I don't know," Trent narrowed his brows curiously. "It's been years. But then, she's Bex's mom, and a part of me would feel like I owed it to him to give her another shot. But do I think there's a shot that would ever happen?" He laughed scornfully. "Not a chance."
"So, are you purposely putting off dating or...?"
Trent smirked. "What is this...an inquisition?"
"Maisie was asking if you're seeing anyone," Bill said.
"Of course."
"You should have guessed, right? The great matchmaker is trying to give herself a five-for-five score," Bill said. Maisie was notoriously good at setting couples up. Of the seven couples she'd sent out on blind dates together, five of them ended up married, including their vet tech at the ranch.
"I guess she's just wondering what you're waiting for," Bill added.
"She's wondering?"
"We both are," Bill admitted.
"I'm just not interested," Trent said simply. "I have Bex to raise and the ranch to run. I don't have to time be dating girls. Forget dating them; I don't even have time to meet them unless I started seeing a girl who works at the ranch, and that's its own level of weird."
"It's not every day you're in a position to ask a girl out and end up getting sued for it," Bill laughed.
"Exactly," Trent nodded.
Silence hung between the pair for a beat longer than Trent was comfortable with, so he quickly asked, "Hey, how are things going with Maisie's friend?"
"Are you guys talking about Grace?" Maisie asked as she stepped back into the room.
"I was just asking how things are going. She getting in your hair yet?" Trent asked as he received a drink from his friend.
"No, she's great!" she said at the same time that Bill said. "Eh...she brings the mood down a bit sometimes." His best friend's response elicited an immediate physical response from Maisie, who gave a deep, irritated frown.
"Like how?" Trent asked.
"I don't know, sometimes she had a mopey demeanor," Bill said casually, and Maisie reached over and gave him a light slap on the arm.
"Seriously?" she snapped. "You know everything she's been through, Bill. She needs support. She's happy more often than she isn't, and I'd say she's pretty good, considering!"