She Writes Love... (9 page)

“What about your dad?”

“They communicate through email and sometimes Skype. It’s hard for him because he can’t understand her. When I found out she was deaf, I took a sign language class in school and I really enjoyed it. I hired a tutor who taught me more and paid for it with the money from my part-time job and grass-cutting money from over the summers. Finn isn’t really interested in getting to know her well, but she’s my sister and she should know her family.”

“It sounds like you’re pretty close to her.”

“I am. She’s a great kid. I just feel bad that I haven’t gone out to see her since the funeral. It’s just—”

“You don’t need to say anymore. I know what it is and I get it.” She smiled as she reached over and placed her hand on mine.

I smiled back at this incredible woman that sat across from me. As soon as we finished eating, we walked back to our vehicles and said our goodbyes.

“Here’s my address. Be at my house around four-thirty and I’ll drive us to my parents’ house. We usually eat at five sharp on Sundays.”

I took the paper from her hand and looked at her address. Her house was only about fifteen minutes from mine.

“Bye, Paisley Logan.” I smiled as I gave a small wave and climbed into my truck.

“Bye, Ben Preston.” She smiled back with a wave.

Paisley

I
didn’t know what I was feeling as I headed straight to the garage and lit up a cigarette. Surfing and breakfast with Ben today was amazing. Not only did it feel great hitting the water and the waves, it was nice to share the experience with someone other than Keaton. Don’t get me wrong; I love my brother and I love surfing with him, but it was nice to share my passion with someone else. Especially someone like Ben Preston. I know I smiled every time I thought about him. Guilt was a feeling that was somewhere in the back of my mind. I felt like I was betraying my husband. Even though he was no longer here, it still felt wrong. I took one last puff, put my cigarette out, and went inside the house. Romeo was sitting on the counter by the door, waiting for me. As I picked him up and held him close, he started to purr. Shit. I hoped Ben liked cats.

“I have a question. Do you like cats?”

“Lol. Yes, I do like cats. Why?”

“Just making sure because when you come over, you’ll be greeted at the door by Romeo.”

“Ah. I can’t wait to meet him.”

“See you soon, Ben.”

“See you, Paisley.”

After I showered and washed the salt water out of my hair, I pulled on a pair of black leggings and a gray sweater. I had just finished putting a few curls in my hair when I heard the doorbell ring. Romeo meowed and jumped off the bathroom counter to go see who it was.

“Hi.” I smiled as Ben stood on my porch in a pair of dark blue jeans and a black cotton button-down shirt.

“Hi.”

“Come on in.”

When he stepped inside, Romeo was sitting off to the side, staring at him. Ben bent down in front of him and stuck his hand out so Romeo could sniff him.

“You must be Romeo? I’m Ben. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Meow.”

Ben laughed as he petted his head and then stood up and looked at me.

“He talks back. Sometimes we can carry on the oddest conversations,” I said.

“He’s a pretty cat. Leah has a Siamese cat named Hulu.”

“What a great name. Let me just grab my purse and keys and we can go shut down my family.” I smiled.

“I can drive. I don’t mind at all.”

“Are you sure? They don’t live too far from here.”

“I’m positive. Come on. We’ll take my truck.”

****

W
hen we pulled up in the driveway to my parents’ house, I warned Ben about my family.

“They can be loud, obnoxious, and you never know what’s going to fly out of their mouths. So, I apologize for them in advance.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure they’re great. Especially if they’re anything like you.” He blushed.

Wow. I think I just wet my panties.

I opened the front door and the first one to come slithering into the foyer was Keaton.

“Hey—oh,” he said as he stopped in the middle of the foyer.

“Hey, Keaton. You remember Ben from the beach?”

“Hey, man. It’s nice to see you again,” he said in confusion as he shook Ben’s hand.

“Good to see you too, Keaton.”

“So, what’s going on, sis?” he whispered as we walked to the kitchen.

“Wouldn’t you love to know.”

As soon as Ben and I walked in, everyone turned around and stared at us. The kitchen became dead silent.

“Hello, everyone,” I said with a wave. “I would like you all to meet Ben. Ben, this is my sister Charlotte and her husband Ryan. You’ve already met Piper and Liam. This is my mom, Jane, and my dad, Bill.”

“It’s very nice to meet all of you. Paisley has told me so much about you.”

“I bet she has,” Keaton said with a cough.

He was standing right next to me, so I gave him a light kick. “Ouch.”

“You’re the fireman I saw in the ER last week,” Charlotte said as she pointed at him.

Ben smiled. “I thought you looked familiar.”

“Ben, come and sit down.” My mom smiled as she took his hand and led him to the table.

I caught my dad standing up against the counter with his arms folded, smiling at me. As I smiled back, Piper and Charlotte walked up and stood on each side of me.

“Why didn’t you say you were bringing him?” Piper asked in a whisper.

“It was a last-minute decision. We went surfing this morning.”

“WHAT?! You went surfing?” Keaton asked in a loud voice.

“Yeah, I did. I asked Ben to go because he had never been. Now shush up.”

We heard the doorbell ring and Keaton walked out of the kitchen. A few moments later, he walked in and introduced us to Brielle.

“Everyone, this is Brielle.”

She looked like a kid with large, perky breasts that were hanging out of her low-cut shirt. She walked over to me and held out her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Paisley. I love your column.” She smiled as she snapped her gum.

“Thank you, and how old are you?” I asked as I cocked my head.

“I just turned eighteen.”

I sighed as I looked over at Keaton, and he shrugged his shoulders. My mom called everyone to sit down at the table because dinner was ready. As I sat in my chair, Ben sat down next to me and my brother and sisters stared at him.

“What?” I asked.

I already knew what they were thinking. “Nothing,” they said as they placed their napkins on their laps and looked down.

After we ate and listened to Brielle’s stories about her dysfunctional family, I grabbed my cigarettes and took Ben outside to the patio. As I put the cigarette in my mouth and lit it, he made a comment.

“You do know how bad that is for you, right?”

“Yeah, I know. But these babies get me through the day.”

It felt wrong to smoke in front of him, so I put it out.

“You didn’t smoke it.”

“Nah, I decided that I didn’t want to.”

“I hope it wasn’t because of what I said.”

“It wasn’t.” I smiled.

The rest of the family came outside and sat around the table. Keaton sat on the other side of me and gave me hell about going surfing.

“I can’t believe you went surfing without me.”

“You go every day without me.”

“That’s because you refuse to go.”

“Drop it, little brother. Oh, and eighteen? Really?” I whispered.

“I can’t help how old she is,” he said with a cocky smile.

My mom sat down next to Ben and placed her hand on his. “I’m so sorry about your wife.”

“Mom!” I exclaimed.

“It’s okay, Paisley,” Ben said. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

As my mom interrogated him about his job and life, Charlotte pulled me inside the house. “Ben’s hot. I sure hope you’re going to get some of him.” She winked.

“Charlotte! I’m not sleeping with him. We’re friends. Nothing more.”

“He’s a good guy, Paisley. I’ve seen him in the ER with people and he’s rare.”

“What’s up with that friend of Keaton’s? Are they dating?” Piper asked as she walked up and joined in on the conversation.

“I think so. Keaton said she’s really great and he really likes her.”

“She’s eighteen. She just graduated from high school this year and she’s not in college. What’s so great?” Piper whispered.

“He’s thinking with his dick like usual,” Charlotte said just as Ben and my mom walked in.

“Charlotte Ann!” she squealed.

I was embarrassed that Ben heard that. “Sorry. She’s talking about Keaton.”

“Who’s talking about me?” he said.

“Charlotte said you’re only thinking with your dick about Brielle,” Piper answered.

“Well, I’m not gonna lie.” He smiled.

I wanted to die of pure embarrassment. I grabbed Ben’s hand and led him to the living room where my dad was sitting on the couch.

“I warned you about my family.”

He chuckled. “They’re great, Paisley. Don’t worry about it.”

“They’re crazy.” My dad smiled at him.

Ben sat and talked with my dad for quite a while. I got up and asked him if he wanted another beer. As I walked in the kitchen, the rest of the family grew silent. They were all huddled and leaning across the island.

“Oh, please. Don’t stop talking about me just because I’m here,” I said as I opened the refrigerator.

“We weren’t talking about you, sweetheart,” my mom said.

“I brought Ben here tonight to shut you all down. Ben and I are friends. We aren’t dating and we aren’t having sex. He’s a FRIEND. A friend who happens to understand what I’m going through because he’s going through the same thing. So shut the gossip mill down and move on to something else. I have an idea. How about you all talk about Brielle?”

“Hey,” Keaton said.

I put the beer back in the refrigerator and asked Ben to take me home. I kissed my dad goodbye and climbed into the truck.

“Did something happen?” Ben asked.

“Just my family not knowing when to stop. They always feel the need to make my life the topic of their conversations. Especially when I’m not in the room.”

When we pulled up into my driveway, I didn’t know if I should ask Ben to come in or not. I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression, but I wasn’t ready for our night to end either.

“Would you like to come in for some coffee or a beer?”

“I’m good, but I do have to use the bathroom if that’s okay.”

I smiled. “Of course it is. Come on.”

I unlocked the door and told Ben the bathroom was down the hall and to the left. I threw my keys and purse on the kitchen counter and opened up a can of Fancy Feast for Romeo.

“You have a really nice house, Paisley.” Ben smiled.

“Thank you.”

I saw him looking at the treadmill in the corner of the living room. “So you use that instead of running outside now?”

“Yeah. I just haven’t been able to bring myself to do it. I know it sounds weird but—”

“There’s no need to explain and it doesn’t sound weird. I better get going. I have to be at the station early tomorrow. I’m working the next three days straight.”

“Okay.” I smiled as I walked him to the door.

“Thanks for inviting me to dinner and to meet your family. Regardless of what you think, they’re good people.”

“I know they are. They’re just annoying.”

Ben chuckled as he took my hand. “Bye, Paisley.”

“Bye, Ben.”

He stared into my eyes and then at my lips. The flame that was between us was turned up on high. I wanted him to kiss me, but then, I didn’t. He brought my hand to his lips and softly kissed it.

“Good night.” He smiled.

“Good night.” I smiled back as I slowly closed the door. I leaned up against it and looked down at Romeo as he rubbed his head against my leg. I slowly slid down until I was sitting on the ground and then cupped my face in my hands. What was happening?

Ben

W
hat the hell was I thinking when I kissed her hand? I should have just kissed her cheek. Now I felt like an idiot. She probably thought I was an idiot. An idiot who kissed hands. I thought about today and how much fun I had going surfing with her. It made me think about how nice it would be if she would go running with me. I needed to call Finn because when I checked my phone, I had two missed calls and three text messages.

“Bro, what the hell was that at the beach?”

“I’m dying over here, Ben. You better call me as soon as you get home.”

“Olivia told me to stop bothering you, but I can’t. I need to know what’s going on. Call me.”

When I walked through the door, I turned on the lights, threw my keys on the table, and dialed Finn.

“Where the hell have you been?” he asked.

“I was having dinner with a friend.”

“That friend wouldn’t happen to be a girl named Paisley, would it?”

“Maybe.”

“Ben, come on. Who is she? When did you meet her? And I can’t believe you went surfing.”

“I met her at a support group for widows. Someone had told me about it and I was curious, so I went one time and that’s when I met Paisley. Her husband passed away from a massive heart attack.”

“Damn. Was she married to some old guy?”

“No. He was twenty-seven.”

“Oh, gee. That’s terrible. She’s hot,” he whispered.

I smiled. “I know, and she’s smart and fun.”

“That’s great, bro.”

“Listen, I’ll call you during the week. I have to be at the station early in the morning.”

“Talk to you later.”

“Bye, Finn. Oh hey, do me a favor and don’t mention Paisley to Mom and Dad yet. I was thinking about bringing her over to dinner next weekend.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”

After brushing my teeth and changing out of my clothes, I climbed into bed and placed my hand on the side that Amy had slept on. Thoughts of her smile, kindness, and laughter consumed me as my eyes filled with tears. I liked Paisley a lot, but guilt invaded my mind every chance it got. Was it normal?

As soon as I fell asleep, I had a dream. Amy and I were riding bikes in Maine to check out the Portland Head Lighthouse. She was ahead, looking back and smiling at me. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was a subtle wind that swept across the coast, giving a cool touch to the warmer temperatures. As soon as we got off our bikes, I grabbed her hand and we stood and stared at the lighthouse we had always talked about visiting.