7
Beth
The sound of Elton John filled the morning air, making Beth skyrocket from the tangle of sheets around her.
“What in the blazes…?” She blinked the sleep from her eyes, focusing in on a shirtless Ben, a dead serious look on his face as he held a stuffed cat high in the air. The opening song from The Lion King continued to play in the background.
“Good morning.” His face started to crack, a smile playing in the corner of his mouth. “You ready for today?”
“I don’t know.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Does it involve utter humiliation?”
“Probably.”
“How could I possibly pass that up?”
“Humiliation for me.” He drew his hand along the length of his naked torso and then pointed to the neck tie he’d dawned as a headband. “You, not so much.”
“Then I’m definitely in.”
He tossed the stuffed cat in her direction, and she let it bounce off her face and fall to her lap.
“Come on,” Ben said, reaching forward and pulling her to the edge of the bed. “Lots more to do.”
“Like what?” she asked through a groan and a giggle. He hesitated a moment before crouching in front of her, his proximity and excitement making her skin flush.
“We should’ve been in Disney today. Since we can’t, I’m bringing Disney to you.”
***
Ben’s warm body pressed up against her back as he held a hand over her eyes and led her into a foreign building. She knew the smell immediately.
“Books,” she said, smile spreading wide. “Are you giving me an entire library?” Her voice went into an excited octave, and she felt Ben’s stomach shake as he laughed.
“I know it’s no Beauty and the Beast, but how about just one book?” He dropped his hand, and she squinted against the morning light streaming through the windows of what looked like a cute little bookstore. The place was better than the large library from one of her favorite Disney movies, more her style. Not grandeur, but cozy and quaint. Almost as if each book was giving her a hug.
She fell back against Ben, sighing contentedly as she spotted a small, circular table set in the corner, complete with a golden table cloth and a tea set. Her heart flitted straight from her chest, landing snugly in his pocket.
“I knew I liked you.”
He planted a kiss on the top of her head that she felt in her toes, and then led her through the aisles. She spent a heavenly hour browsing, picking up every book of interest and flipping through with a smile. How could she possibly pick just one? It was a problem every time she went into a bookstore.
Ben joked around with her, like they always did, and there wasn’t a single complaint about her taking her sweet time. When she’d finally selected one—a novel written by a local author—the bookstore owner turned into a waiter, guiding them over to the table for some breakfast.
“Did you make friends with everyone in town yesterday?” she half-joked as a plate of strawberry waffles that obviously didn’t come from the bookstore was set in front of her.
“Just one person, actually.” Ben snapped his napkin and placed it on his lap, making Beth’s eyebrows rise. She’d never seen him do that once in the seven years of their relationship. “She apparently has a lot of pull in Hope Falls.”
The “waiter” chuckled to the side, bringing their attention to him. He grinned over his shoulder. “Shelby has the entire town wrapped around that demanding finger of hers.”
Beth covered a laugh, a tiny bit of envy mixed with awe swirling under her skin. “Well, I’ll have to thank her, too.”
She took her first bite of the most incredible waffles she’d ever tasted, and then proceeded to eat the rest of her breakfast through a series of moans. Ben watched in amusement for the first little bit, but soon he too was groaning like a blissed out foodie.
“So…” she said, resting a hand on her very full stomach, “you want to head back to the room and…” Her brows waggled, her insides bubbling with a playfulness she had nearly forgotten she had. She liked what this town did to her.
Ben made an apologetic face, almost like he was completely torn about his answer. “As much as I’d like to do that—and believe me, I really want to—we have a few more stops to make first.”
“There’s more?”
“Beauty and the Beast isn’t your only favorite Disney movie.”
She sat upright, tilting her head in intrigue. “What else do you have up your sleeve, Benjamin?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Just a couple more scenarios you’ve secretly fantasized about.”
“Such as?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” He nodded to the bookstore owner, and after reaching behind the counter, the owner popped back up with a large book-shaped present, which he handed to Ben while Ben slipped him cash. Beth immediately went for the gift, but Ben’s reflexes were quicker.
“Not yet, antsy.”
“What is it?”
“A present.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“Can I have it?”
“Eventually.”
She tossed her head back in impatience, and Ben pushed up from the table. “Do you trust me?” he asked, sticking his hand out with flair.
“No,” she teased.
“Come on,” he insisted. “I can show you the world.”
“Oh geez.”
“You’ve got a friend in me.”
“Stop.”
“The bare necessities of life...”
She slapped her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. He happily led her out the door with a grateful wave to the bookstore owner. Though she was grateful he’d stopped quoting one-liners to her, she was almost tempted to be stubborn again just to see how much Disney knowledge he had. She was so turned on by it she could barely walk a straight line.
***
Beth doubted any day she could’ve had in actual Disneyland could beat the Disneyfest Ben just took her through, which included some of the most romantic moments of her life. Ben had a way of making things fun and silly, yet charming and endearing all at once. The man had a gift.
After leaving the bookstore, Beth got to play with a litter of puppies—that Ben told her were Dalmatians in disguise—in a beautiful park. There was a particular pup named Scout she was tempted to adopt and take with them to Disney and then back to Idaho. He was the sweetest little thing, with black and brown and white fur and a love for wrapping paper. The little guy almost got that present open when Ben was distracted by one of the other pups.
When they’d left the park hours later—both she and Ben were dog fanatics and had to rip themselves away when they heard their tummies growling again—Ben had treated her to a riverside lunch, stuffed crab on the menu while he played Kiss the Girl on his phone. She’d teased him by going in for a kiss and pulling away at the last second. When he’d thrown his hands up and said, “What gives?” she reminded him there was only an almost kiss in that scene. He’d demanded a rewrite.
He’d also treated her to an Italian dinner at the town’s upscale restaurant called The Cove. Complete with Bella Notte played on violin, Ben had attempted to share one long strand of spaghetti with disastrous results. His poor, beautiful white shirt would forever show the events of this day.
He’d warned her not to eat too much because dessert was on the menu as well. They’d walked down the busy Main Street to an ice cream shop—the entire place decked out like Elsa’s ice castle. The owner was a smiley, friendly woman who offered her samples of every kind of ice cream she had available. Beth took her sweet time indulging the treat, her smile growing more and more every second she looked up at Ben, the red stain on his shirt, and that present he’d carried all day long. The whole day would go down in history books for relationship goals. Men everywhere would hate him for setting the bar so high. Women everywhere would melt at the story and beg their own significant others to do something like this. How he got an entire town to cater to these requests from visitors, she’d never know, but she’d be eternally grateful.
For one day, she’d forgotten how empty she was.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Beth settled her spoon down into her nearly empty ice cream bowl, unable to eat another bite.
“How…” she started, then backtracked to the more important question. “Why?”
“Hmm?” Ben asked around his spoon.
“Why did you do all this?”
His brows pinched together, as if her question were ludicrous.
“I love you.”
Her heart fluttered at his words, her brain trying to retrace when the last time she’d said those same words to him. She’d thought them plenty, but she hadn’t said them in a long while. She rarely said anything uplifting anymore.
“I love you.”
Her voice held the same weight it did when she’d said it the first time—all the intensity, sincerity, and love she felt woven into her tone. Ben slowly smiled, pushing his bowl to the side and grasping her fingers across the table. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but must’ve changed his mind and nodded to the present instead.
“I can open it now?” she asked.
“I know it’s killing you.”
An involuntary squeal escaped her, and she squeezed his hands before letting go and grabbing the puppy-nibbled package. It was a photo album, the front page a picture of them in front of their car before they’d started their trip, Ben kissing her cheek, a playful smile on Beth’s lips that she remembered was really hard to achieve. She dragged her hand to her mouth, feeling the twitch under her fingertips. Her smile was so natural today, she didn’t even realize it was there.
Under the photo were the words Our Adventure Book.
“I know you like that scene the most,” Ben said, a nervous undertone in his voice. “You still cry within the first ten minutes.”
She lifted her eyes to his, proving his point as a tear trickled down her cheek. Watching that scene on Up was the reason she dreamed of a house together, a mailbox with handprints on it, two chairs by the window, and a jar full of coins and dreams. She leaned across the table, ready to plant a much-needed kiss on Ben’s lips, but stopped when she caught sight of the cute woman standing next to their table.
“For you,” she said with a smile, handing them two paper lanterns. A whoop went through Beth’s abdomen, and she looked up excitedly at Ben.
“Are you for real?”
He grinned. “One more thing, then we can head back to Mountain Ridge.”
She sprung from her seat, too eager to sit still any longer. Ben followed close behind, carrying his own lantern.
The lantern scene in Tangled was hands down her absolute favorite. She remembered watching it with Ben in the early days of their relationship, holding his hand and snuggling popcorn, thinking it was the most romantic thing she’d ever seen in a Disney movie to date—and as a Disney fanatic, that was a pretty tough moment to top. She’d once voiced she wanted to be surrounded by paper lights, and then he’d take her face in his hands and plant a sweet, deep kiss on her lips. Ben totally made fun of her for it, and she honestly thought he’d forgotten. But as she stepped out onto the street, the sidewalks lined with people and their brightly lit lanterns, she realized how much she underestimated—and underappreciated—the love of her life.
“Ben...”
“You want to release the first one?” he asked, reaching over to light it up. She was so overwhelmed, so filled with joy she couldn’t believe there was any emptiness in her to begin with. Unable to speak, she simply waved a thank you to everyone participating, grinning especially at Chief Maguire, Amanda, Justin, and all the employees of Mountain Ridge who’d come out to help—even straight-faced Bertha, she was surprised to see.
As soon as Ben flicked the lighter closed, she leaned into him and let the lantern soar. It didn’t go as high as she’d hoped—in fact it barely gained any altitude, but it was still as magical as she could ever imagine.
The rest of the town sent theirs off as well, music sounding from one of the open businesses. Ben let his lantern go and grabbed Beth’s hands in his, squeezing them tightly.
“Good day?” he asked.
“The best lemonade you’ve ever made.”
He chuckled at her description, then softly reached up and cupped her face. Butterflies tickled her heart with their rapid wings and, too anxious to wait for him to come to her, she closed the gap, pressing her lips hard to his.
A surprised sound came from the back of his throat, guttural and primal. His arms circled her waist and pulled her as closely as possible to him. So much for gentle and sweet—but this was much better.
“Ben,” she breathed heavily between them. “I want to head back now.”
“Okay,” he eagerly agreed, his body feeling just as hot as she felt. Without even a glance at their audience, they ran off toward the car they’d borrowed for the day, and Ben peeled out of the romantic light and toward the dark of Mountain Ridge. Beth couldn’t take her hands off of him for a single second.