10
Ben
“Hey, Pine Tree Auto’s sexy mechanics!”
The chipper voice wasn’t exactly what Ben wanted to hear, and he blew out a calming breath before rolling out from underneath the car. A wide smile was set on Shelby’s mouth, eyes sparkling with anticipation.
“Morning, Shelby,” he said as politely as he could muster, shoving down his sour mood. Lance and Shelby exchanged a look, which told Ben he was just as bad at hiding how he really felt as he always had been.
“So…” she said, setting down the coffees she’d brought. “How’d it go, Lover Boy?”
He could tell the truth without dampening it with his poor attitude this morning, couldn’t he? After all, it had gone better than he’d expected. Shelby had really pulled out all the stops, and he wanted to express that he truly appreciated it.
But his heart just wasn’t fully into everything today. Every thought kept turning back to Beth; every worry over why he couldn’t make her happy plagued him.
“She loved it,” he said, sitting up and resting his elbows on his knees. “You should become a party planner with how quickly you pulled that off.”
“You helped.”
“Not much.”
She waved him off and pointed out Lance’s coffee to him while he tried to sneakily grab one without interrupting their conversation. “Well, some of us”—she gave Lance a hearty punch in the shoulder—“are happy to help out a guy show his girl how much he loves her.”
Lance leaned toward her, giving her a face. “And some of us decided it’d be a nicer gesture to do their job. Maybe help out with a transmission Lover Boy needed fixed.”
Ben wasn’t sure how he felt about the nickname, but it was called for. He nodded at Lance to show his appreciation yet again that the car was nearly fully repaired due to Lance’s work on it yesterday. When he’d arrived that morning after his argument with Beth, he was so distracted it took him a good twenty minutes to realize that more than half the work he’d planned to do was already done. Lance had told him not to worry about any extra charges… he was just doing him a solid. Ben felt about ten thousand feet in debt to the people of this town, and he intended on coming back for many more visits to make up for it.
The front door of the shop chimed, and they all turned their heads toward the sound. There was silence for a moment, and then a small, soft voice called out. “Hello?”
Ben’s stomach took a dive, his brow deeply furrowed. “Beth?”
Her cute little face poked into the garage, and the ghost of a smile appeared on her lips.
“Hi.”
She seemed uncomfortable, shifting in her walking shoes at the unexpected audience. Lance was completely oblivious, waving a friendly hello and opening his mouth to most likely strike up a conversation, but Shelby quickly cut him off.
“I want to see what you’re doing,” she told him, and he looked at her as if she’d grown a toe out of her nose.
“Huh?”
“What are you doing to that car down there?”
The light bulb behind his eyes slowly turned on, and he nodded and looked up at Beth. “Excuse us for a minute.” Then he led Shelby over to the other side of the garage.
Ben flicked his gaze back up to Beth. “Give me a couple more hours, and we can get back on the road.”
She offered him a smile. “That’s great news. Thanks, Ben.”
“No problem.”
Guess they were going to tiptoe, have surface conversation like they’d only just met hours ago… or pretend he was her actual mechanic and not her boyfriend of seven years. He was all for roleplay, but not like this.
He fell back, ready to roll himself back under their car when she cleared her throat.
“I actually… can we talk for a minute?” she asked, her voice thick and wet.
“Everything okay?”
She stared, eyes filling up like a watery wall, and slowly shook her head. “I think… I think I need help.”
The creeper creaked as Ben pushed himself to his feet. Her deep brown eyes were laced with fear, and something dug into the pit of his stomach. He hated seeing her this way—terrified to say what was on her mind. But he ached to hear every thought in her head, even if it ended up hurting him.
“Let’s go in here,” he said, taking her lightly by the elbow and leading her back into the shop’s waiting area. He gestured to one of the seats, but she paused, nibbling on her bottom lip before she turned and fell into him. Her breathing hitched against his shoulder, and he wrapped a hand around her head and cradled her.
“What’s going on?” he asked, his entire nervous system working overtime while she took her time to answer him. Her arms slowly snaked around his waist, pulling their bodies together with no room for air. Ben silently stroked her hair and bit his tongue. He felt like prodding would only make her change her mind, and he wanted to hear what she needed. He wanted to give her anything she asked for.
After a few very long moments, he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Beth…”
“It’s hard to say out loud,” she said into his shoulder.
He gulped. “It’s all right. Take your time.”
He felt her smile against his coveralls, and she leaned back to look into his eyes. Worry lines creased her forehead, and he reached up and pressed a thumb against them, slowly smoothing them out.
“I think I’m depressed,” she said, her voice equal parts ashamed and relieved. Ben jerked back, not expecting that one at all, but at the same time… it made complete sense.
She let out a breath, dropping her gaze to the floor. “It’s like I left Beth back in New York and now I’m stuck with this horrible, ugly version of her, and I’m so sorry. I want so much to be that girl you fell in love with.”
“Hey…” he said, coaxing her chin up,“you are still the girl I fell in love with.”
The light that clicked on in her sweet, honey eyes lifted all the weight, all the worry, and all the frustration Ben had been carrying. There she was, even through the tears, even through this horrible thing she was dealing with, she was truly still his Beth.
“I don’t know what to do.” Her voice grew wet again. “If I should go talk to someone or if talking with you will work, because it seems to be working right now. I woke up this morning knowing it would be a bad day and that’s why I was so curt with you and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, and I want to get better, I want to feel better, and I want that for you, for me, for us—”
Ben slipped his arms back around her, pulling her in close once again and vowing to hold her as long as possible.
“Any time you feel like this, you gotta talk to me. And if that doesn’t work, talk to someone. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll find a way that does.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Mad?” He gave her a squeeze. “Beth, I’m relieved. I was so confused. Didn’t know what to do or what was going on or how I could help. Now I know, and we’re in this together. I promise. We’re going to get through this together.”
She pulled back, looking up into his eyes. “What if it never goes away?”
He shook his head, amazed that after all these years together she worried he’d leave after this. She was his everything, and he was determined to prove that to her.
“I’m not leaving you alone,” he promised. A grateful smile tilted her lips, and she rested back against his chest. Ben rocked her, indulging in the feeling of her heart beating against his. He couldn’t imagine what she was going through, how difficult it must be to feel so numb. It was going to be a long road ahead, he could feel it, but he was so relieved that she was willing to let him in… be a part of it, no matter how rough it was going to be.
“I’m okay if we stay another day,” she whispered into his chest.
He let out a small chuckle. “What about Disney?”
“I kind of like it here.”
“Yeah… me too.”
“It has ‘hope’ in the name. I like that.”
A warm rush ran through his chest. Hope sounded like just the thing they’d found. “Me too.”
“I think we should make an annual trip here.”
“Me too.”
She paused, letting out a long breath that heated him through the coveralls. “Ben?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.” She reached up and cupped his cheek, pressing a playful kiss to the tip of his nose. “I’m pretty sure that you are my lemonade.”