Gretchen
I wrung my hands together, unsure that I could manage this. We hadn’t seen each other in four years and I missed him with all my being. Every night I would picture his bright green eyes staring into mine as he protected me from the bear and the feel of his strong body holding me when we met Ben Hardy.
“I can’t do this,” I exclaimed over the line. I was sitting on the bed talking to Ben from my hotel room. Over the years, I managed to stop calling him Mr. Hardy and moved onto calling him Uncle Ben, but he didn’t like that because Uncle Ben dies in all the Spiderman stories and he made candy not rice.
“Yes, you can. Haven’t you been anxious to see him?” he asked, reminding me that I had been thinking about him when I’d been in hiding. Until I was eighteen, I stayed isolated on a small island that Ben and his family owned. If I had gone straight to Child Services, I would have been put in another home. Mr. Hardy already asked about my future and they said their hands were tied until the trial was over and all the legalities gone through. I ran, or so they believed. Ben helped me from the start and I finished high school equivalency. Once I turned eighteen, I went to a community college because I didn’t know what I wanted to be and felt like Ben had done enough for me.
“I have, but I’m not worthy of him. Seriously, he was a millionaire when we met. If he hadn’t been essentially kidnapped, I wouldn’t have met him. Our paths wouldn’t have crossed.”
“Quit it. You have to get ready. We’re three hours late as it is and I told him I was going.”
“Why did you want me to go?”
“It’s supposed to be your birthday dinner. Get ready in ten. I don’t care why you don’t feel worthy. Treat this as something you owe me. I’ve never asked for anything all these years, Gretchen. This is all I ask.”
“That’s bullshit. You asked me to take the condo, the car, the bodyguard.”
“I didn’t ask, I told you to take those things.” I stood and walked over to the bathroom mirror. I looked much better than when we met. My long blonde hair had perfect waves without a strand out of place. Ben’s sister and niece taught me how to look good. It was one of the few things to do on the island except study. They would take me to the mainland in Greece to attend parties and I had to look my best. After a while, I managed my own look. I hoped that when Henry saw me he didn’t remember the little orphan Annie from the woods.
“Well you’re not really asking here either,” I countered.
“That’s true, but I tried to give you a chance. I’ve let you sulk, worry, and teeter on whether to go or not. Now I don’t care.” He was right. I wanted to see Henry and had agreed to go with him.
“Fine, I’m dressed already. I’ll meet you in the lobby.” I stepped into the elevator, pressed the ‘L’ button and leaned against the back, anxious about it all and using the wall to support me. The floors seemed to flash by and I was at the bottom all too quickly.
He was waiting in one of the cushy red seats. He smiled and stood as I approached. “He is going to fall in love with you on sight,” he professed. I rolled my eyes. “I bet you he will.”
“He didn’t even like me back then.”
“Didn’t like you? The boy risked his life for you. He didn’t know I’d come and shoot the bear. His body language made me think you were two high school lovers who took a long walk to lose whoever you were with.”
“He had plenty of time to find you and ask about me and he didn’t,” I explained my reluctance in seeing Henry.
“He has asked me how to find you, but I told him I didn’t have anything. You had gone into hiding it would seem. It was for the best at the time and then I hadn’t heard from him in years.”
“I’m telling you, he’s not going to even care,” I continued. My feelings for Henry stretched well beyond the imagination. I was in love with him from the first moment he stepped into the headmistress’s office. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but by the first month after our goodbyes I knew it to be true. I felt like this black hole had been sucking me in and only the thought of Henry staring down at me with his hand stretched out for me to take had been my salvation.
“We’ll see,” he reiterated.
“What’s the name of his place anyway?” I asked, hoping to steer the conversation into a different direction.
“You’ll see when we get there.” I hadn’t bothered to look him up in three years. The first and only time I did, he’d been everywhere, women fawning all over to get his attention. How could he ever remember a poor plain Jane?
***
We pulled into the lot next to the restaurant, but there were only a few cars. We raced to the front door, hoping it wasn’t too late. I didn’t want dinner. It wasn’t like I could manage to eat anyway.
Ben opened the door just as a man in a white dress shirt and green tie came toward us. “We’re about closed.”
“I’m sorry, we were a bit delayed getting here. We understand if we are too late to eat,” Ben told the man who had to be in his late twenties.
“No, not at all,” he smiled at Ben, then at me. The one he gave me was a more of a smirk. I nervously played with my fingers.
“Please take a seat right here. I’m afraid the only thing on the menu is a chicken salad since the grill is already off.”
“That’s understandable and will be fine. Waters would be good as well.”
“Sure thing. I’ll ask the kitchen to bring it out in a minute. Oh, I almost forgot, what type of dressing would you care for?” he asked with an embarrassed look on his face.
“Ranch for both of us,” he answered. It was my favorite and after all the meals we shared over the years he knew what I liked. I saw the bar area when I looked past the server. Hansel and Gretel. He named it after our little adventure? I couldn’t believe it. I continued to stare at the sign, then looked around the rest of the room. On the wall was a piece of tree bark. I stood to see it closer. When I saw the inscription, I gasped aloud.
“Is something amiss?” the waiter asked me. My heart pounded out of control. There couldn’t be anything wrong. Whatever happened since we’ve been apart he hadn’t forgotten me or that day.
“No, everything is just fine.” I sat back down, a bit lost in thought. If Ben said a word to me, I didn’t hear him. My eyes were focused on the kitchen door. Wondering if he would bring the food himself, or if he was already gone for the night.