brother yet. Maybe I’d get to that later tonight after we hung out with Shannon, Brad, and Eric.
We sat down to dinner after the appetizers were all devoured and enjoyed a melt-in-your-mouth pork roast with Mama’s homemade buttermilk biscuits, crisp potato wedges, and finally Mama’s famous pecan pie. I was sure it was one of the better meals Ben had eaten in a while. Being a single man, I assumed he didn’t cook much.
Shannon and Brad arrived while we ate dessert.
“ Ben, this is Shannon and her boyfriend, Brad,” I introduced them with a mouthful of pie.
“ Nice to finally meet you outside of your bookstore,” said Shannon.
“ Same here,” said Ben.
The night air was the perfect temperature of sixty-five degrees, slightly windy with a bright full moon overhead. The four of us went out on the porch, sat in the oversized Adirondack chairs and waited for Eric. Poor Ben got a million questions from Shannon and Brad so I wasn’t sure he could take any more by the time Eric pulled in an hour late.
“ Where have you been?” I asked Eric as he got out of his car.
“ Sorry, I lost track of time.”
I introduced the two.
“ Hi, Eric. It’s nice to meet you,” said Ben, as he put his hand out to shake Eric’s.
Slowly, Eric accepted the offer. “Yeah, same here.” I wasn’t sure he actually meant it.
The conversation between the four of us started out a bit shaky, but then Ben began to talk about his travels to Europe - grape stomping in Italy, trips to the Louvre, pubs in England - and how he missed it. Eric and Ben actually started to sound like they were getting along. Or maybe it was because Eric was entranced by Ben’s travels. I was sure Shannon was in love with Ben already and Brad was being Brad, elusive and annoying.
The day couldn’t have gone better. And I couldn’t wait to get out of my dress. However, before I could do that, we had to drive Brad and Shannon home since Brad snuck a few sips of the Scotch during dinner and they came to my house in Brad’s manual-transmission Jeep Wrangler.
A big part of me was really excited because I knew Ben and I would get the chance to talk on the way home.
We loaded the drunk up into the Jeep, which wasn’t an easy task seeing as how it was a two-door vehicle and he insisted on sitting in the back since, as he said, “I neeeverrrrr git to rode in the back.”
The ten-minute ride to Brad’s house was filled with terribly off-key singing belting out of Brad’s mouth. He was blending Justin Timberlake’s “ Sexy Back ” with REO Speedwagon’s “ Dream Weaver .”
Shannon walked Brad into his house with her arms around his waist for support. Their walk to the front door seemed like it would take all night. Brad swerved to the left and right, never moving in a straight line. He kept saying, “Shhhhhhh” with his pointer finger up to his face, only most times it was at his eye and not his mouth.
“ Does he usually drink when he shouldn’t?” asked Ben.
“ Brad doesn’t know when to stop. With anything in his life,” I replied.
The door finally closed with Shannon and Brad safe inside. In the solace of the Jeep, Ben put his hand on my thigh and smiled at me. “I’m so glad I’m here.” Then he kissed my cheek. It took everything in me not to take the keys out of the ignition and toss them out the window so we had nowhere else to go and could then make out ‘til the sun came up.
“ I’m really glad you’re here too,” I said. “I wish you lived closer.”
“ Same here. I’ll just have to come to see you more often. Your friends and family are all very nice. I like them a lot.”
“ Yeah, they’re okay,” I said with a smirk. “Listen, there’s something I want to tell you.”
“ Okay,” Ben said as he started the drive back to my house.
“ If I seem a little off lately, it’s because I haven’t told you something that maybe I should have by now.” I took a deep breath. “Two years ago, my brother Justin
We sat down to dinner after the appetizers were all devoured and enjoyed a melt-in-your-mouth pork roast with Mama’s homemade buttermilk biscuits, crisp potato wedges, and finally Mama’s famous pecan pie. I was sure it was one of the better meals Ben had eaten in a while. Being a single man, I assumed he didn’t cook much.
Shannon and Brad arrived while we ate dessert.
“ Ben, this is Shannon and her boyfriend, Brad,” I introduced them with a mouthful of pie.
“ Nice to finally meet you outside of your bookstore,” said Shannon.
“ Same here,” said Ben.
The night air was the perfect temperature of sixty-five degrees, slightly windy with a bright full moon overhead. The four of us went out on the porch, sat in the oversized Adirondack chairs and waited for Eric. Poor Ben got a million questions from Shannon and Brad so I wasn’t sure he could take any more by the time Eric pulled in an hour late.
“ Where have you been?” I asked Eric as he got out of his car.
“ Sorry, I lost track of time.”
I introduced the two.
“ Hi, Eric. It’s nice to meet you,” said Ben, as he put his hand out to shake Eric’s.
Slowly, Eric accepted the offer. “Yeah, same here.” I wasn’t sure he actually meant it.
The conversation between the four of us started out a bit shaky, but then Ben began to talk about his travels to Europe - grape stomping in Italy, trips to the Louvre, pubs in England - and how he missed it. Eric and Ben actually started to sound like they were getting along. Or maybe it was because Eric was entranced by Ben’s travels. I was sure Shannon was in love with Ben already and Brad was being Brad, elusive and annoying.
The day couldn’t have gone better. And I couldn’t wait to get out of my dress. However, before I could do that, we had to drive Brad and Shannon home since Brad snuck a few sips of the Scotch during dinner and they came to my house in Brad’s manual-transmission Jeep Wrangler.
A big part of me was really excited because I knew Ben and I would get the chance to talk on the way home.
We loaded the drunk up into the Jeep, which wasn’t an easy task seeing as how it was a two-door vehicle and he insisted on sitting in the back since, as he said, “I neeeverrrrr git to rode in the back.”
The ten-minute ride to Brad’s house was filled with terribly off-key singing belting out of Brad’s mouth. He was blending Justin Timberlake’s “ Sexy Back ” with REO Speedwagon’s “ Dream Weaver .”
Shannon walked Brad into his house with her arms around his waist for support. Their walk to the front door seemed like it would take all night. Brad swerved to the left and right, never moving in a straight line. He kept saying, “Shhhhhhh” with his pointer finger up to his face, only most times it was at his eye and not his mouth.
“ Does he usually drink when he shouldn’t?” asked Ben.
“ Brad doesn’t know when to stop. With anything in his life,” I replied.
The door finally closed with Shannon and Brad safe inside. In the solace of the Jeep, Ben put his hand on my thigh and smiled at me. “I’m so glad I’m here.” Then he kissed my cheek. It took everything in me not to take the keys out of the ignition and toss them out the window so we had nowhere else to go and could then make out ‘til the sun came up.
“ I’m really glad you’re here too,” I said. “I wish you lived closer.”
“ Same here. I’ll just have to come to see you more often. Your friends and family are all very nice. I like them a lot.”
“ Yeah, they’re okay,” I said with a smirk. “Listen, there’s something I want to tell you.”
“ Okay,” Ben said as he started the drive back to my house.
“ If I seem a little off lately, it’s because I haven’t told you something that maybe I should have by now.” I took a deep breath. “Two years ago, my brother Justin