1
Beth
“Well, isn’t this just a heaping pile of—”
Beth threw herself on the horn of the car, and a subsequent bang followed. Ben stuck his head out from the open hood, narrowing his eyes and finishing the curse for her as he rubbed the spot he’d thudded as he’d jumped in shock.
Whoops. Beth gave him a cheesy grin, shoulders lifting slightly as she mouthed an apology.
His fingers dropped from his military-style brown hair, his nose wrinkling at her playfully before he ducked back underneath. They’d made it a good three hundred miles before the smoke had started billowing from the engine. Beth’s hand still stung from slapping Ben’s belly to wake him up and ask him what in the world she should do. Of course it had happened when she was behind the wheel, not her mechanic boyfriend.
It was par for the course, if she was being honest; that month had been absolute hell, preceded by an even worse year. She’d lost her job last November, and they just couldn’t make the rent on a two bedroom apartment in New York on Ben’s paycheck. So they’d packed up, hauled it all to inexpensive Idaho, and called a redo on life.
“Bethy,” Ben said, using the name he only used when he had bad news to deliver. “You got good walking shoes packed?”
Her nose wrinkled as she wiggled her toes in her fuzzy smiley face emoji slippers. Her feet were notorious for getting cold, even in the warmest of months, the darn things. She had really hoped to stay in them until they’d arrived at the most magical place on earth.
“Why…?” she asked, dragging the word out through her teeth. Ben stuck his head out again, an apologetic grin set under the three-day-old scruff.
“We’re gonna need a tow. And the nearest one is about… well… I’d say it’s going to take half the day for them to get out here.”
Beth tossed her head back against the headrest. “And cost a fortune. There goes this stupid vacation.”
She’d probably cry if she wasn’t so over it. They’d saved up just enough for an anniversary trip, one they both decided was important enough to spend the money on. With their financial troubles back in New York, the change of scenery, and the new nine-to-five job she couldn’t stand—but she had to keep doing—they’d both felt that time off was what was needed to spark up some lost romance between them.
“Hey,” Ben said, leaning into the driver’s side window. His arms were losing their tan now that they were entering the chilly months. “Lemonade time.”
“I don’t want to do lemonade time.”
“That’s exactly why we should.”
“Let me be grumpy, Ben.”
His lip quirked up in the corner, and he pushed from the car, swinging the door open for her.
“Come on.” He held his hand out. Beth stayed firmly planted in her seat, a chill going up her spine from the mountain air. She didn’t know how in the world he kept a smile on when things felt like they were crumbling at their feet. It amused her as much as it pissed her off.
“No lemonade time,” she told him again, folding her arms in defiance. His lips pursed together, holding back a laugh at her expense. He was going to try to pull her out of the car; she knew it. She was almost willing to grab hold of the seat and make him yank her out like a child.
“Please?” he asked, putting his hand out again and throwing her off her game. Ugh, well played.
She let out a long, grumpy growl, plopping her hand into his and slinking out of the car as if she was stuck in mud.
“You did it!” Ben teased, his grin especially annoying now that it was becoming infectious. Beth quickly stifled her amusement and set her lips in a downward pout as Ben pulled her in close.
His breath held a hint of beef jerky—Ben’s drug of choice for the road trip—and she wondered if she smelled of licorice. She’d finished off the bag of Twizzlers around the same time that the car decided to blow smoke.
“It’s gorgeous out here,” he said, kicking off lemonade time with something she couldn’t argue with. The mountain road they’d broken down on had a spectacular view—snow powdering the pine needles, dots of reds and browns from stubborn trees who were putting up a fight against winter, and if Beth strained her ears, she could hear the rush of a river somewhere in the distance.
It was Ben’s favorite scene—he would take mountain over beach any day. Beth was more of a big city gal, having spent most of her life in the hustle and bustle of New York City. She missed the shopping centers, the bright lights, people. Their Idaho home didn’t hold as much excitement as she was used to, and she’d fallen into a bit of a funk. Ben had tried everything in his arsenal to cheer her up, and that only made her more frustrated with her melancholy. She’d give anything to feel happy again, if only to show him that she appreciated what he was doing, even if her mind wasn’t quite ready to give him more positive results.
“I guess,” she grumbled, her stubbornness prickling at her stomach, but she didn’t care enough to fake her way through it. They were on the side of the road, minimal funds in their wallets, and their phones were next to useless without their 4G network—which they’d lost around the point of the mountain. They were more likely to spend their vacation freezing to death than actually having a good time. Goodbye, Disney. Hello, frostbite.
Ben blew out a billowing breath from his lips, and it evaporated into the colder air above them. Beth internally cursed herself for being in such a foul mood; he had to be sick of it by now.
She felt him shake his head over hers, and she flicked her gaze up to watch his jaw relax, his lips split into a small smile that was so Ben, and he tapped his forehead against hers.
“Your turn.”
She met his eyes, concentrating on the warmth that always seemed to rest in his dark as night irises. For him, she thought. For him, I will try to be optimistic, play along, put a smile on my face.
Lemonade time started when she’d first spiraled. After the move, a dark cloud not only hung over her head but sank deep into her soul. Everything had changed—-her routine had been thrown, she’d lost her job, and she suddenly couldn’t remember who she was. She’d sit in a room for hours on end, not caring at all that the world was going on around her, or the fact that she had no desire to contribute.
Ben had been thrown, she was sure of it. He’d fallen in love with a lively, positive, and outgoing girl who’d suddenly turned into a stranger. She wanted that girl back, too, but she wasn’t sure how to do that. She didn’t even know where to begin.
Ben had certainly noticed her usual lack of enthusiasm and came up with lemonade time—a spin off of that age-old saying, “When life gives you lemons…” When her mood took a sour turn, he’d pull her in and tell her all the good that was outweighing the bad.
She was determined now to try anything, to find something that was good in the middle of her pessimism.
“You’re warm,” she finally said, snuggling into the crook of his neck. Their jackets rustled against each other as his strong and comforting arms wrapped around her. She toyed with the zipper just under his chin and bit her lip as she debated on pulling it down and sneaking her hands inside. A flurry of wings beat in her stomach at the thought, but the dark devil resting above her kept her from making a move at all.
Ben’s sweet lips trailed over her head and down to her ear, pressing a kiss on the stud of her daith piercing. She’d gotten it to help reduce her stress headaches, but she wasn’t sure how well it truly worked. Ben’s arms seemed to be doing much more for her at the moment.
“You want to get those walking shoes?” he asked. After a few seconds, she shook her head.
“Just a little longer here, first.” She wasn’t quite ready to leave the safety of his grasp, and if she was being honest, she wasn’t sure when she’d feel up to letting him hold her again. So she was going to take advantage of it.