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Chapter 18 - Laurel
After having more mind-blowing sex, I wondered if I should feel awkward as we hiked back to where he left his car. I should probably have been mad at him for hunting me down the way he did, but there was no way after the way he made me feel. As we walked hand in hand through the trees, the odd beams of light glinting off his hair, I wondered if he might have actually been magic.
When we got to his car, he frowned. “How did you get up here in the first place?”
“My mom gave me a ride. She’s supposed to pick me up later.”
He opened the passenger side for me. “Cancel.” He seemed to realize he was being bossy and smiled tentatively. “If you’d like to have dinner at my place?”
I was already tapping out a message to her. Bad idea or not, I needed more of Ben. My broken heart would get the last word, but other parts of me were in charge right now.
“Oh,” I said, remembering. “I asked her about that magazine. She said she doesn’t get it anymore because it lost its life. Whatever that means.” I turned to see him staring at the road, gripping the steering wheel, his face drained of color.
“I know what it means,” he said softly. He pulled over and took my hand, swallowing hard as if what he was about to say hurt his throat. “My dad was the editor of Mountain Living. He was the life of it. My family owns a publishing company so we have several magazines. That was his favorite, though. It’s mine now, and I’m driving it into the ground.”
I nodded, understanding the weight of what he’d shared with me.
“You inherited it?” I guessed. He nodded. “I’m sorry,” I said, waiting to see if he wanted to tell me more.
“It was a plane crash. My sister-in-law was on the plane, along with the pilot. I watched it go down. Nobody survived.” He blew out a deep breath and continued. “My brother Will is three years older than me and they met in middle school, dated all through high school. Never took a break. The textbook definition of soulmates. Since she was always around from the time I was a little kid, she felt more like a real sister to me than just my brother’s wife. And my dad was my hero.”
I slipped out of my seatbelt to hug him. He wrapped his arms around me and sighed. “Thank you for telling me all that,” I said. Grief and I were old friends, but I still felt unsure if there was more I could do for him. He kissed my cheek and shook me off, starting the car again.
“I didn’t think I could do it. I actually feel a lot better.”
“Anytime,” I said, an offer and a promise. If only I could keep it. “You’ll figure the magazine out. Cut yourself some slack.”
He grunted. “It’s been almost a year. I barely leave my apartment, so believe me, I’ve been cutting myself plenty of slack. I came here to try and get it together.”
“A year is nothing,” I said. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everyone deals with grief in their own way and in their own time.”
He smiled at me and pulled onto the road again. “You’re actually pretty sweet. Maybe a little bit wise, too.”
He made a real effort to lighten the mood then, teasingly pointing out the no trespassing sign as we passed it and telling me there wouldn’t be much for dinner since he needed to shop again. I didn’t care, just happy to be with him.
“Looks like I’m not the only one ignoring the sign,” I said when we pulled past the gate to see a big, black SUV taking up most of the driveway.
Ben swore, the light mood replaced with a dark, furious glare. “Stay in the car,” he said, getting out. “I’ll take care of this.”
Of course I didn’t listen. If these trespassers were dangerous, he’d need my help. Getting out of the car, the aroma of barbecued meat wafted from the back of the cabin. Maybe they’d need my help protecting them against Ben. Strangers moving in and having a cookout wasn’t going to get his good mood back.
Instead of blowing a gasket, he looked horrified. He pulled his phone out and checked it, looking more upset as he scrolled.
“Damn it,” he said. “Those assholes.”
As if on cue, a little boy ran out with a slightly smaller girl chasing after him. “Them?” I asked. Ben could be a grump, but I didn’t think he’d call such sweet looking children such a rude name.
He laughed without any humor, bending down to catch them when they flung himself into his arms. “No, these two are okay. I’m talking about my brothers.” He smiled apologetically. “I guess you’re meeting the family.”
The beginnings of a gripping panic worked its way around my chest. This was fine. Unexpected, clearly, but fine. What could go wrong? This was still only a fling. So what if Ben had just opened up to me about something deeply important in his life? I could handle that. I could handle meeting his brothers as well. Sweat popped out under my arms as two tall, brawny men who were almost as handsome as Ben came around from the back. One of them had an apron on and brandished a long spatula.
“Just in time,” he called, nudging the other one when they saw me. “Well, well, Benji, you’re not up here all alone after all.”
I had to be cool. This wasn’t a big deal. But Ben still hadn’t regained his smile so maybe it was a big deal. I was an only child. I didn’t know how to deal with sibling issues. They converged on us, the one in the apron herding the children away from Ben so he could grapple him in a bear hug. “Let Uncle Eli say hello,” he said when they scrabbled at his legs.
He was clearly the younger one, maybe a year or two younger than me. Ben shoved him away with a scowl. “What the hell are you both doing here?”
“I said if we didn’t hear from you, we were coming to get you,” the older one said. “You probably ignored that message too, didn’t you?”
