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"Goodness no."
"Exactly! So how is this any different?"
"Girl, did you not hear what I said. I have plans. Plans that Inever accomplishedbecause of Kendrick."
"Okay, well, you can say that, but I will tell you right now that the plan's excuseis just that.Plans are meant to be broken."
"Not this time. This time I know what I want," I lied.
"So what are you going to do until they finish this place? I mean, from the looks of things, he still has a lot of work to do, which means he will be around."
"He does. Delaying him from finishing after Kendrick died probably wasn't one of the smartest moves."
"All right, so what is your grand plan to get you through this stage?"
"Ben has a key. He can let himself in and get things finished. I hoped that maybe I could stay with you."
“Jess,I’m not going to let you hide from this guy.”
“Please, Kate, just this one favor. “
Kate looked at me, exhausted from trying to argue. “Fine, but don’t come down on me when you are sad and miserable after we return to LA.”
Chapter 19
Ben
I walked across the parking lot and climbed into my truck. I placed my hands on the wheel and rested my head on them, a mix of frustration, sadness, and anger building in me. Perhaps I could have handled the entire situation a little differently. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions about her acting exactly like last time, except to me that was exactly what she was doing.
The longer I let the fact that I had just assumed things sink in, the more frustrated I became. I slammed my hands on the steering wheel, put the key in the ignition, and fired up the engine. I was halfway home when I turned my truck around. I needed to talk to my sister, and I needed to talk now. I glanced down at the clock. It was early for a Sunday morning, but I shrugged and hit the gas and sped toward her house.
"JULES! JULES!" I shouted as I banged on her front door. "OPEN UP!" I knew it was early, but normally my sister was up at the crack of dawn.
"COME ON JULES, OPEN UP, PLEASE!" My shouting caught the attention of her neighbor and she looked over my way and scowled, then picked up her morning paper, shook her head, and slammed her door shut. "Where are you?" I muttered under my breath, raising my hand to bang again when the door was abruptly pulled open and I was faced with a sleepy-faced Jules.
"Ben? What do you want?" she huffed in her sleepy voice, tying her bathrobe tightly around her.
"I need to talk," I said, reaching for the screen door handle.
"Ben, did it ever occur to you that right now might be a terrible time, that I might have company?"
I thought for a moment. Jules wasn't seeing anyone, so the thought never crossed my mind. "No, it didn't, and honestly, I don't care. I need to talk."
Jules stood there looking at me and then finally opened the door and stood to the side to let me in. "Come in," she huffed. "I'll put some coffee on."
I walked into her house and stomped across the kitchen with my boots on, getting ready to sit down.
"No, no, this isn't your bachelor pad. Boots off at the door," she chided, pointing to the front door as if I had lost my way.
"Fine, Mom." I rolled my eyes but took them off anyway and placed them at the front door.
"Broom is in the pantry. You can clean up the mud you tracked in here," she said as she dumped the coffee grounds into the French press.
"Seriously, Jules?"
"Yes, seriously, clean it up." Finally, with all the mud swept up, I took a seat at her kitchen table and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it. She set a mug of coffee in front of me and sat down with her own across from me.
I looked at my sister and smiled. "I fucked up, Jules." Not that it was funny, but if I didn't smile, I would break down into tears.
