2
Ben
The blue-gloved fingers that were laced between Ben’s shook as he and Beth walked hand-in-hand down the mountain path. She was always so cold, and he stifled an amused grin as he tucked her hand into his pocket with his. It wasn’t the most comfortable of positions to walk in, but he could tell by the look in her often-sad eyes that she was grateful for the gesture.
“Anything yet?” she asked, her breath forming a cloud above them as she snuggled into his side. Ben dug into his pocket for his cell, clicking it on long enough to see that reception wasn’t going to happen for them right then.
“You know what sounds good?” he asked, avoiding her question; it only had an answer that would disappoint her. He knew she’d pick up on his tactic—she often did whenever he steered the conversation—but she went with it anyway.
“If you say lemonade, heaven help me…” Her voice was slightly dead through her joke, almost as if she wanted to be revived, but no amount of mouth-to-mouth would help her at this point. He felt a weight dig into his gut, and he cleared his throat, hoping to keep his own voice alive enough for the both of them.
“Grilled cheese and tomato soup.”
Her lips pursed together, forcing away a smile that was spreading wider and wider. A sense of pride swelled up in him, and he continued down the memory lane he’d decided to take her on.
“With really bad coffee and a stack of creamers,” he added.
“That someone likes to knock over as soon as they’re built into fancy pyramids.” She flicked her gaze up to meet his, life sparkling in the honey-colored irises. He couldn’t help but lean down and press his lips to the top of her head, no matter how briefly, just to get a moment with her that was laced with that spark of joy he didn’t see as often as he’d like.
They headed down the canyon, blowing out shaky breaths and crunching the frozen leaves beneath their feet. He thanked his lucky stars there wasn’t much—if any—ice on the road. He wasn’t the most stable when his feet hit the slippery surface, and Beth wasn’t any better. She always leaned on him for balance when she was probably better off keeping her distance.
Their first date was actually post-fall-on-the-ice. He’d planned on taking her to a quaint, couple-esque diner, and the second he’d stepped out of his car to open her door for her, he’d biffed it hard enough to require assistance into the place… and boy had he been wrong about the joint, too. It was quaint, for sure, but it had smelled of boiled cabbage and coffee beans. Not a good mix.
He’d apologized all through dinner, but the place was so bad that it became amusing. Beth had ordered the grilled cheese and tomato soup, then started stacking all the creamer cups into a pyramid. Ben had accidentally knocked them over with his elbow as he tried to adjust in his side of the booth—his butt still sore from his spill earlier—and Beth’s mouth had dropped in the cutest oh-no-you-didn’t way, and he was a goner from that point onward.
He still couldn’t believe she’d said yes to date number two, let alone spent the last seven years with him. And that cabbage-smelling place became “theirs” and he’d take her to it any time he found himself in hot water.
But now he’d have to find a new place.
His fingers squeezed hers briefly before he pulled them out of his pocket. She tucked them away into her own pockets and slipped a little as they rounded a corner. The day was starting to fade, and Ben wasn’t too keen on freezing his buttocks off, no matter how much he could use a little weight-shedding. I wonder how much my ass weighs. I could drop twenty pounds, easy… He shook his head with a laugh. The cold had started its work on numbing cranial activity.
It wasn’t a big deal—his weight problem. But Lord help the person who told that to his mother. So, he’d gained a few “L-B’s” over the past year. Idaho had fantastic food, and a lot of his New York buddies started poking at his “happy fat” whenever he posted a picture of himself. It was all in good fun, but his mother… man, that was anything but fun. Just over Christmas he’d had to endure the pointed looks every time he raised a sprinkled, frosting-covered sugar cookie to his mouth. Beth must’ve noticed the deflated self-esteem and had stroked him right back up later that night. But that was the last time any stroking had occurred, and Ben tried not to think about how far they were into January already.
“Ben!” Beth squealed, her voice bouncing off the winter wonderland around them. “Is that… smoke?”
He followed her sight-line and squinted against the setting sun reflecting off the thin blanket of snow in the distance. A grin split his lips when he saw smoke rising from a distant chimney.
“Let’s go!” he said, grabbing her arm and dragging her behind him. He may be a bigger guy than he used to be, but his cardio was a beast.
Beth giggled as they pushed their way through a thicket, opting for a shortcut to the smoke source rather than taking the much longer road route. His body instantly warmed at the sound, internally fist pumping at the fact that she was actually, genuinely laughing in their ridiculous situation. With how low she’d been after the move, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she did an excellent impression of Mr. Scrooge the entire way through the woods.
They popped out into a clearing about ten minutes later, their breaths now creating their own smoke as they tried to even it out.
“M…M…Mountain…” Ben said before shaking his head. Screw it. He could barely breathe, let alone talk.
Beth raised her head, her cute little nose bright red and her long, brown hair a mess around her sweaty face. The sudden urge to grip her waist and push her up against something sturdy and flat took over in a rush of heat and excitement. He couldn’t help but grin as the endorphins kicked in. My girl is so damn hot.
“Mountain Ridge…” she breathed out for him, reading the same sign he’d attempted to a few yards away. Snow covered the bottom half. “Wonder if… they have a phone.”
He glanced around the joint, the place looking more like a rustic cabin home than a hotel. Mountain Ridge must be something else nearby.
“Looks legit,” he said. Any place that had a working fireplace had to have a working phone, too… in theory.
He presented his hand to hers with the flair of a man about to take his woman on a magic carpet ride and said, “Come, m’lady. And stay close. You never know what creatures will be lurking around isolated cabins.”
She canted her hip, giving him the look she always did when he was over-the-top playful. He’d hoped she’d play along, but she didn’t have a witty response for him this time. He pushed away at his disappointment and just thanked their lucky stars that they came upon something, especially with how dark it was getting.
A low bark was heard inside the house, and Beth jumped back, tripping over her shoes and the rough terrain. Ben hurried to catch her but his reflexes weren’t the fastest and she ended up feet-in-the-air and back-on-the ground.
“Agh!” she hollered, followed by a giggle-snort as Ben reached down to help her back up. Another bark sounded, louder this time, right as Beth tucked her gloved hand into his.
“Hello?” someone said from behind his back. “Is someone out there?”
Beth shuffled to her feet, her coat bumping into his. Her pretty brown eyes bulged slightly at whoever was behind them and then she quickly swiped down her body, freeing it from the snow and dirt.
So easily embarrassed, Ben mused, turning around with a grin. There was a petite blonde woman standing on the cabin porch, a beautiful black lab wagging his tail against her leg. The pup’s fur was speckled with either gray patches or snow, Ben couldn’t really tell from where he was, but he instantly perked up. He’d always wanted a dog, but with his brother’s allergies, he’d never had one growing up, and it wasn’t the best idea for a New York apartment—a big dog should have a big backyard—and they hadn’t quite hit the jackpot yet, so financially, they weren’t ready for one now in their Idaho home.
But seeing that happy, possibly aging pup on the porch had him rethinking, like every dog he’d come across did.
“Hey!” he said, waving his arm out. Beth huffed next to him, stepping in and looping her arm tight through his. He gave her a brief, confused glance; she wasn’t a PDA type of woman, never had been. Not that he minded the display of affection, but her sudden acceptance of it was a little unexpected.
The woman on the porch leaned over the railing, her arms crossed as they hugged her body. She was only wearing a light sweater and blue jeans.
“Our car broke down a few miles back,” Ben called out, taking a few steps toward the cabin. He didn’t want to scare off their only chance for a working phone before dark. “Do you have a phone we could use? Maybe know of a towing service somewhere in the area?”
The woman’s eyes filled with sympathy, and she nodded quickly, waving them onward. “Yes, please come in. Warm up. I’ll get Pine Tree Auto on the phone—they may be closed, but I’m sure someone is still… oh hun, you’re practically blue!”
She had turned to Beth, and yeah, it sure looked like a blueberry had grabbed hold of his arm. Beth’s sweet, surprised eyes widened as the young woman addressed her for the first time. A laugh floated out of her shivering lips, and she nodded, tightening her grip on his arm.
“I really think all those people lied to me about the south being a warm paradise.”
The woman laughed, swinging the door to the cabin wide open for them. The dog padded his way inside, wagging his tail as his nails scratched the wooden floors.
“Well, we’re by the mountains, and the sun is taking its daily nap,” the woman said as they stepped inside. The warmth was such a sweet relief, running down from the top of Ben’s head into his shoes. He hadn’t realized how cold he’d become, too.
The woman crossed the room, waving to the inviting couches and chairs. “Make yourselves comfortable,” she called over her shoulder. “I’ll see what I can do about getting a tow. You guys prefer tea? Coffee? Cocoa?”
Ben opened his mouth to answer, knowing both his and Beth’s preference was—and always had been—the same, but Beth surprised him by beating him to the punch.
“Hot chocolate, yes, if you have it. For both of us.”
Her voice… it was as if nothing had changed over the past year. It was light, feathery, fun. It was his Beth. It was like the cabin had flipped a switch in her and she was reset to factory default. She spun to him as their hostess disappeared around a corner, her hand slithering slowly out from his arm. Ben took a moment to study her eyes, afraid to even breathe in case he’d accidentally trigger the switch back.
Her brows drew in, probably contemplating why he was the one acting abnormally now. “What?” she asked with a half-laugh.
He shook his head, deciding to appreciate the rare moment when she was actually… well, okay. “Nothing.”
He flumped down onto the couch, letting out a long, relaxed sigh as he sunk into the cushions. His gaze flicked up to his girl, and he ran his hand in a circle on the cushion next to him, then waved it around like he was a game show host presenting one of their top prizes. Beth let out a laugh that said she was only pretending to be annoyed by his antics and then fell in beside him. The long sigh that escaped her was nearly an exact echo of his.
They sat in the quiet for a beat or two, Ben’s mind on their car on the road. He needed to get it to a garage—he could fix the problem if he had the equipment. Finding a place that would allow him to do it would be next to impossible, though, and he knew that paying for service and parts would erase their Disney trip altogether.
The tiny black box inside his pocket suddenly doubled in weight.
“She’s pretty,” Beth said, breaking him out of his thoughts.
“Huh?”
She rolled her head on the cushion, rolling her eyes along with it. “Come on… Don’t pretend you didn’t go totally goofy-faced when you saw her long blonde hair, baby blue eyes, tiny waist, and perfect boobs.”
He blinked, honestly trying to figure out who in the world she was referring to. It wasn’t until the woman came back with a phone tucked between her shoulder and ear and two steaming cups of cocoa and whipped cream that the light bulb turned on.
Beth gave him a pointed look as their hostess bent down to set the cups on the coasters resting on the coffee table, her sweater hanging low enough to catch the tops of her “perfect boobs.” A laugh threatened in the back of his throat, and he managed to keep it at bay until the woman left the room again.
“If you hadn’t pointed them out, I wouldn’t have noticed.”
“Bull.”
“There is only one set of boobs I want to see.” He winked, holding back the second part of that sentence—that he’d like to see them more than once a month, but he knew that would only get him in the doghouse.
She wrinkled her nose, her face a complete mask of skepticism, but it was adorable with whipped cream dolloping her upper lip.
The front door clicked, and they both looked toward the noise. A tall romance novel cover model stepped through, swiping a hand through his wet, dark hair. Beth started choking on her drink, and Ben showed no hesitation in giving her the same accusatory look he’d gotten.
“Jack fixed the heat in that broken unit, Amanda. Should be good for someone to stay…” His words floated off into oblivion as he caught sight of the two strangers on his couch. His bushy brows pulled inward, and he waved a finger between the two of them. “Uh… hey.”
Ben pushed up off the couch and strode over with his hand outstretched. He was a non-threatening type of guy, and normally that bugged the hell out of him, but it came in handy at times like this. The guy didn’t even flinch or straighten into a defensive stance as he approached. “Hey, I’m Ben. This is my girlfriend Beth.” He paused for effect—mainly to convey the message that Beth was not to be flirted with. “We broke down a few miles back and your…” He stopped, realizing he didn’t know Amanda’s relation to this guy.
The man’s mouth relaxed, and he shook his head with a grin. “She took you in, huh? Invited you to stay the night?”
“No…”
The guy laughed and dropped Ben’s hand. “Trust me, it’s coming.”
“Okay,” Amanda said, coming back in with the phone dangling by her side. “We can get your car, but probably not until morning. You can stay here; we have plenty of room. Are you allergic to dogs?”
Ben, Beth, and the man all laughed, and Amanda gave them all a confused look. She flicked her eyes to the man, hoping to get in on the joke, and he said, “I’ll tell you later.”
She shrugged and turned to Beth. “Does that work for you guys?”
And Beth, his mostly-sad-these-days Beth who got even worse when things didn’t go according to plan, nodded enthusiastically and said with all the sincerity in the world, “Thank you.”