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Breathless, I tilt my head and stare up at him. “What—what are you doing?”

“I haven’t seen this room yet. Isn’t it part of the tour?” He attempts a step forward, but I don’t budge from the entry. “Livy,” he says, his tone sweet. “Why don’t you want to show me this room?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to show it to you, it’s just… it’s her room. Her private space. And I haven’t gone in yet. I don’t want to disturb it.”

“What?” Ben chuckles. “You can be so silly sometimes.” He bops the tip of my nose with his finger and bends to kiss my cheek. I’m still trying to catch my breath when his hands suddenly slide under my arms. He heaves me up, just an inch or two, and moves me out of his way before walking into Amelia’s bedroom.

“Ben!” I bellow. But he ignores me.

I watch from the doorway as he sits on her bed, her homemade quilt wrinkling under his weight. He picks up three of the books lying in the stack next to her bed. Turning them on their sides, he reads aloud, “Mansfield Park, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sense and Sensibility.”

I listen, but I don’t budge.

“Livy.” Benjamin sighs. “Come in here. She’s not waiting to haunt you.”

“I know that. I’m not afraid of that.” My head aches watching him. “It feels intrusive.” But even as I say the words, I cross the threshold. My jaw clenches and I glare at him. How dare he come into her room and sit on her bed when I have not. He pats the spot next to him.

I inhale her cinnamon scent, then, shoulders slumping, I sit beside Ben.

He hands me the three books he picked up; ten more still lie piled on the floor. “Seems like you two have the same taste.”

“Yeah.” My annoyance with him simmers. “Strange, isn’t it? I hardly knew her, and yet we have more than one thing in common.”

Benjamin’s brows rise. He takes back one of the books, peers down at the cover, then tosses it to the side. “A lot of people like these books, Liv. They’re classics.”

I turn away from him before narrowing my gaze and grinding my teeth. Why can’t he be a little more feeling at times? “I know that.” I stand and walk to her long dresser, needing a little space. Knickknacks and pictures cover the wooden surface. In fact, it’s the only place in her house where she displays photographs.

Ben is right about one thing: I should have come in here sooner. Pictures of each of her sons smile up at me from wooden frames. A photo of a young Amelia and Burt standing side by side calls out to me. I pick up the picture and take a closer look. Rings already rim her eyes. It’s impossible not to compare the picture of her with Seth to this photograph of my grandparents. They could not have been taken that far apart, and yet she looks so much older in this picture with Grandpa Burt.

I set the photo back where I got it and lift the only family picture sitting on her dresser. It’s faded, with a young Dad and Earl. Red is just a baby. Amelia’s face expresses the smallest of grins, while Burt is listless, neither frowning nor smiling.

“Is that Dad?” Ben points over my shoulder to the twelve-year-old boy in the photograph.

“Yeah.” I smile down at my father’s youthful face.

“He’s tall.”

I breathe out a laugh. “Yeah. He always has been.”

Benjamin takes the picture from my hand, examining it closer.

I scan her space. The rest of her house might be tidy and uncluttered, but here in her room, she has books, pictures, and little figurines taking up space. Everything in this room must have meant something to her. I cross the carpet and open the door to her closet. Her small wardrobe hangs inside with a few of Burt’s flannel shirts. All these years and they’re still taking up space in her closet.

“You should change,” Ben says, interrupting my exploring.

I look down at my nightclothes. “Oh, right. I need to do laundry. My options are limited.”

“Your mom packed you some clean clothes for the trip home. It’s that bag I brought in.”

My head perks up. Clothes? Yes! “Thank you, Mother!” I kiss Ben hard on the lips, making him smile.

“I’m anxious to tell you about the office.” He shoves both hands into the pockets of his trousers. “We’ve got the long trip back for that though.”

I nod, not looking forward to the trip home. “I’m going to grab the bag.” I hurry out, Ben trailing after me.

“Yes, you change. We need to make it back to Montana by six.”

Did he just...