He rubbed his face in his hands. “The mother called in and complained because, apparently, her son’s fiancée told him to take a hike.”
“Good for her.” I smiled. “Is there really a problem here, Kenny? Because you’re wasting my time.”
“She’s threatening to sue us because she said you were the one who broke up her son’s relationship.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course she is, because she’s a control freak. She can’t sue us.”
“She wants you to convince the girl to go back.”
“She can go to Hell. I’m not convincing anyone of anything. I did my job and I stand by my answer. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go home.” I walked out of Kenny’s office, grabbed my purse, and walked out of the building.
As soon as I walked through the door, Romeo strutted across the floor after completing a long stretch. I threw my keys in the basket and stared at the treadmill sitting in the corner of the living room. After I changed into my workout clothes and started running on the treadmill, my phone rang.
“Hey, Piper. What’s up?”
“What’s all that noise?”
“I’m on the treadmill.”
“Oh. Well, me and Charlotte are on our way over.”
“For?”
“To have some sister-bonding time. It’s been a while and I’m bringing the wine for us and Charlotte’s bringing her juice.”
Great. I didn’t feel like having anyone over. I just wanted to take a bath and curl up with Romeo and watch a movie. There was always an agenda when one of them organized sister-bonding time.
“And if I told you that I was going out tonight?”
“You don’t go out, so we wouldn’t believe you. Be over in ten.” Click.
I upped the speed on the treadmill to burn off the anger I was feeling at the moment. Before I knew it, the door opened and Charlotte and Piper walked in. As I got off the treadmill, completely out of breath, Piper handed me the towel I had folded on the couch.
“Thanks.” I smiled as I wiped the sweat from my face. “I’m going to go change. Menus are in the drawer.” Whenever we did a sister-bonding night, we had wine and take-out.
I changed out of my sweaty workout clothes, changed into yoga pants and a tank top, and washed my face so I would feel less gross.
“How’s pizza? I’m kind of craving it,” Charlotte yelled from the kitchen.
“Pizza’s fine, but only if we get the thin crust,” I replied.
When I walked back to the kitchen, Piper had my glass of wine already poured.
“So, what prompted this sister-bonding night?” I asked curiously.
“Nothing. It’s been a while since the three of us had a night alone in a long time and Piper wasn’t doing anything and I wasn’t either. We knew you’d be home, so we thought tonight would be perfect.”
“So what’s new on the column front?” Piper asked as we set the table.
“Not much. First week of the new sex column and someone’s threatening to sue the paper.” I laughed.
“Who?”
“Just an overbearing, overprotective mother who can’t cut the apron strings with her thirty-five-year-old son.”
“Wait. I’m confused,” Charlotte said as she sat down. “His mother was asking you about sex with her son? What did she do, catch him masturbating?”
“Ew.” Piper laughed.
“No! The fiancée asked me what she should do, since his mother does everything for him, including all his laundry. She said she’s a career woman and isn’t looking to take care of a child. I simply told her to talk to him about it and, if he didn’t agree, then she should leave him. I guess she left him and the future mother-in-law is pissed and said I broke them up.”
“Oh, that’s good!” Piper smiled as she held up her wine glass.
After paying the pizza guy, we set the box in the center of the table and each took a couple of slices.
“You should have seen this hot fireman that was in the ER a couple of nights ago,” Charlotte said as she bit into her pizza. “I’ve seen him before and I swear each time he gets sexier and more buff.”
“Why was he in the ER?” I asked.
“Checking in on a guy they pulled out of a house.”
“That’s nice,” I said.
“Maybe you should come hang out in the ER sometime.” She winked.
“No thanks. I’m good.”
“I saw Elena the other day. She was with some guy and it wasn’t Keaton. She looked really nervous when she saw me,” Piper said.
“She and Keaton are on a break.”
“I know, but I didn’t know that dating other people while on a break was negotiated.”
“Who knows. According to Keaton, there are plenty of women out there to explore.”
I knew after I said that, a comment would be made.
“And men.” Charlotte smiled as she held up her glass of juice.
I rolled my eyes and prayed that the conversation didn’t go any further. After we finished off the entire large pizza and the bottle of wine and talked, Charlotte and Piper left. Romeo followed me into the bathroom as I started the bath, and sprawled out on the rug. I climbed in and immersed myself in the water, thinking about whether or not I was going to go back to that support group tomorrow night. Ben had been popping in and out of my mind all week and I didn’t know why. Yeah, he was hot as hell, but even though we didn’t know each other, we shared a bond – a mental connection of the same emotions and grief.
Chapter 12
Ben
Friday
I was up early and out the door for my usual run. As I ran my usual route, I scouted the beach, mainly focusing on the surfers that were in the water, hoping that I’d see Paisley. No luck. As far as I could tell, she wasn’t there. When I got home, I showered, changed, and went into the garage to start building the last two chairs of the dining set. The day went by pretty fast and I was getting hungry. After I cleaned up the garage and myself, I headed to the Sunset Bar. When I walked in, David was sitting in the same spot as the last couple of weeks.
“You’re back,” I said as I sat down next to him.
“Couldn’t stop thinking about those fish and chips all week. It’s too bad they only serve them on Fridays.”
“Hey, Ben.” Damian smiled as he set down a bottle of beer.
“Hi, Damian,” I replied as I took a drink.
“How was your week?” David asked nonchalantly.
“Busy. What about you?”
“Busy as well.”
“What do you do for work?” I asked out of curiosity.
“I’m an independent business consultant.”
“What kind of business?”
“Mostly real estate. Did you end up going to that meeting last week?”
“As a matter of fact, I did,” I replied as Damian set our fish and chips down in front of us.
“How was it?”
“It was okay. I didn’t go unnoticed, though. I had to stand up in front of everyone and talk about me and Amy.”
“That had to be rough.”
“It wasn’t that bad. I met a girl there.”
When he turned his head to look at me, the corners of his mouth curved up. “Really? Who is she?”
“Her name is Paisley and she’s around my age. Her husband passed away on their one-year wedding anniversary.”
“Wow. I can’t even imagine. Losing someone would be hard enough, but on your wedding anniversary? Poor girl.”
“It was her first time there too. She was just as uncomfortable as I was.”
“Did you talk to her?” he asked.
“Yeah. A little bit and then, the next day, I ran into her at the beach. She was going surfing with some guy. I’m going to take a leap and say it was her brother because they looked so much alike.”
“Interesting. How weird is that?”
“What?” I asked.
“That you ran into her the next day.”
“Yeah.
I’d say that’s kind of weird.”
“Are you going back tonight?” David asked as he ate a French fry.
“I don’t know; I was thinking about it.”
“If you’re thinking about it, then you should go. Maybe that girl – what’s her name again?”
“Paisley,” I replied.
“That’s right. Maybe Paisley will be there.”
“Yeah. Maybe she will be.”
When I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was seven fifty-five, I paid my bill and said goodbye to David.
“Have a good week, David. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you next week.”
“Bye, Ben. Enjoy that meeting.” He smiled.
As I pulled into the parking lot of the medical center, I saw Paisley’s car. I smiled. She was here and I was relieved that she showed up. I stepped out of the truck and, on my way into the building, I stopped at her car because I noticed she was still sitting in it. As I lightly tapped on her window, she looked startled.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She rolled down her window. God, was she pretty.
“Hey. I’m fine,” she replied with a strange, but cute look on her face.
“Are you going into the meeting?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.”
“Well, it’s eight o’clock and I’m sure they’ve already started,” I said as I looked at my watch.
“I’m surprised you came back,” she said.
I could tell she was nervous. “I’m actually surprised to see you here.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t made into the building yet.” She smiled.
“You know what? This group makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Why don’t we skip it and go get some coffee? You know, the coffee we were supposed to have last Friday night?”
****
Paisley
I sat in my car and scraped my top teeth along my bottom lip, contemplating whether or not to have coffee with him. But really, what was the harm? I couldn’t come up with an excuse quickly enough, so I said yes. Ben smiled and asked me where I wanted to go.
“There’s a Starbucks right down the street. We could walk,” I said as I climbed out of my car.
“Starbucks it is, then.” He smiled.
I could already tell this was going to be one of those awkward moments where neither one of us knew what to say next.
“How was surfing last week?” he asked.
I let out a sigh of relief that he started the conversation. “It was nice. It felt good to hit the waves again.”
“Again?”
“Yeah. I don’t do much surfing since—” I looked down.
“If I surfed, I probably wouldn’t have either.”
I looked up at him and smiled because he got it; he understood. “My brother, Keaton, the guy who I was with, really didn’t give me a choice. He just kind of showed up at my house and dragged me out.”
“Yep. I have one of those brothers too, except his name is Finn.”
“Isn’t it just annoying that family thinks they know what’s best for you?”
“Totally annoying. My parents and my brother are constantly trying to get me to go out. What they don’t realize is that I don’t want to and, if I did, I would.”
“Yes! Exactly.” I smiled.
We reached Starbucks and Ben held open the door for me. “What would you like? It’s on me,” he said.
“No. I can pay for my own.”
“I know you can, but I’m a guy. How would I look up at the counter if I let you pay for your own coffee, considering we came in together? I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Is that so?” I laughed.
“It is.”
“Fine. Then the next coffee is on me.”
“There’s going to be a next coffee?” He smiled.
I shook my head and it was our turn to order. As Ben took his wallet from his pocket, I noticed he was still wearing his wedding band, just like I was. We took our coffees and sat at a table by the window. I didn’t know what I was feeling at that moment. I was nervous, scared, excited, happy; all of the above.
“What do you do for a living, Ben?” I boldly asked.
“I’m a firefighter. I work for the LAFD.”
That explained the buff body.
“What do you do?” he asked with a smile.
“I write for a column at the L.A. Times.”
He cocked his head. “What kind of column?”
“Relationships and love. Don’t judge.”
“Wow. That’s great. Do you have a name you go by for your column?”
“You’re not going to look me up, are you?” I asked.
“No. Should I?”
“No. I laughed. “I write under Dear Paisley.”
“Nice.” He smiled as he sipped his coffee.
“So I take it you’ve never heard of Dear Paisley?” I asked with the hopes that he hadn’t.
“No, I haven’t. But I think now I’ll subscribe to the L.A. Times so I can read your column.”
“Don’t you dare.” I laughed.
Laughing. That was something I hadn’t done in a long time and it felt good.
“Who taught you how to surf?” he asked.
“I taught myself.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I smiled as I brought the coffee cup up to my lips. “My family loved the beach. My mom took us every weekend to unwind from the long school week. She told us to forget about school for a day and just have fun.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“Three. Two sisters and Keaton. I used to sit on the sand and watch the surfers carry their surfboards down to the water and get in. I thought it was so cool that you could actually ride a wave and I wanted to do it. A friend of mine had a sister who was away at college, so she let me use her surfboard to practice. I would sit on my board in the water and just watch people. I’d watch the way they positioned their feet and bodies so they could hold their balance. It took a while, but I learned and I loved it. When Keaton was old enough, I taught him to surf. Now that’s all he does.”
“Wow. That’s a great story, Paisley. Doesn’t he work?”
“Yeah. He designs websites and he works from home. He’s super smart. Almost on a genius level when it comes to technology. He’s twenty-one years old and has the bank account of someone who’s been working for forty-plus years.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I guess you can have that when you live at home with your parents and they don’t make you pay for anything.”
“I take it you’re really close to him.”
“I am. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very close with my sisters too. But Keaton and I have a special bond. Maybe it’s all that surfing I taught him.”
Chapter 13
Ben
Sitting across from Paisley, having coffee, was nice. She was becoming a friend. Did I want a friend? Did I even need another friend? No. But Paisley was different. She understood.
“Do you run every day?” she asked.
“Yes. I do run every day. It’s important that I keep in shape for my job.”
“I used to run every morning. In fact, I used to run the same path you do.”
“Really? Maybe we saw each other once in passing. You don’t run anymore?”
“No. Not since my husband passed away. It’s too hard since that day.”
My heart broke in half for her. “I’m sorry.”
“Thanks,” she said as she looked around.
My thought was that she didn’t want me to see the tears in her eyes.
“It’s still hard, you know,” she said.
“I know it is. It’s very hard and it’s difficult to get through the day when all you want to do is climb into bed and never get out.”
She looked straight into my eyes when I said that and gave me a small smile. “Exactly.”
“I don’t mean to be forward, but how old was your husband?”
“He was twenty-seven.”
“And he had a heart attack?”
“Yeah. A massive heart attack.”
I couldn’t stop shaking my head. “My wife, Amy, was twenty-eight when she passed away from cancer.”
“I’m sorry, Ben. What kind of cancer did she have?”
“Cervical. She was diagnosed a year before and went through chemo, but it just wasn’t enough.”
“I’m so sorry. I just don’t get life sometimes. One minute you meet the person you were meant to spend the rest of your life with and the next they’re ripped from you like it’s nothing.”
“I know. It’s incredibly sad.”
We both sat there for a few moments in silence until there was a knock on the window and Paisley hid her face.
“Great. Just great.”
The girl who knocked on the window walked inside and over to our table.
“Hey, Paisley. What’s going on?” She smiled.
Paisley looked up at her and the guy she was with. “Piper. What are you doing here?”
This girl named Piper looked at me and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Piper, Paisley’s sister, and this is my fiancé, Liam.”
“Ah, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Ben.”
Piper looked at Paisley and then back at me. “Ben, as in support group Ben?”
“Yeah. That Ben.” I chuckled.
****
Paisley
I was mortified that my sister saw me. Why? Because now she’d go and spread the gossip to the rest of the family and they’d ask a million questions and make a big deal out of it.
“I thought you weren’t going back to that support group?” Piper asked.
“I changed my mind,” I said as I gave her a fake smile.
“Oh.”
“Why don’t you sit down and join us?” Ben asked.
“No. They can’t. I’m sure they just popped in to grab a coffee to go because you have wedding things to do. Right?” I spoke as I shot her a look.
“You’re right as always, little sister. As much as we’d love to, Ben, we have to get going. It was nice to meet you. Paisley, I will be calling you.”
“I’m sure you will.” I smiled.
They left Starbucks and I looked at Ben.