Totally and Completely Fine(88)

Ben smiled. “Sure do.”

“Can we ride it?” Lena asked, looking at me.

“No,” both Ben and I said at the same time.

The girls’ disappointment was palpable.

“Ben can take you in the truck,” I said. “I’ll be back at six-thirty.”

* * *

—

The first thing I noticed when I came home was the bag of cookies on the counter, rather than the three people gathered around it.

“Where did those come from?” I asked. “I haven’t made snickerdoodles all week.”

Lena looked down at the counter. “I might have hidden some in the pantry,” she said.

I could tell that she expected me to be mad, but I just found it adorable. Which she probably would have hated even more.

“Sneaky,” I said. “But kind of brilliant.”

“That’s what I said,” Ben added. “And these cookies?” He kissed his fingers. “Bloody fantastic.”

Eve giggled and tried to imitate him. “Bloody fantastic.”

“Almost,” Ben said. “Try it with a little more ‘blah’ at the front.”

Eve tried again.

“Very good,” Ben said.

“Is this for the audition?” I asked.

“We’re doing Into the Woods!” Eve said.

I paused. “Is there a character with an Irish accent?”

“No,” Eve said. “But I think it will add a certain je ne suis quoi, if you know what I mean.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling too broadly.

“I do know what you mean,” I said.

“She’s going to get the lead,” Lena said.

“You don’t know that.” Eve tucked some hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, I do,” Lena said.

They smiled shyly at each other. It made my heart glow.

“Why don’t you go practice the Witch’s rap a few more times and then show me again?” Ben suggested.

“Really?” Eve asked.

“Really.”

“We’ll be back in thirty minutes!” she said. “Thanks, Ben!”

She grabbed Lena’s hand and practically dragged her away from the counter.

“Yeah, thanks, Ben,” Lena said, before she was pulled out of the kitchen.

I stared at the swinging door.

“She invited you over for dinner and called you Ben.”

He shrugged. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” I said. “Not at all.”

It shouldn’t have been a problem. It should have been great. It was great.

So why did I feel weird about it?

“These cookies are amazing,” Ben said, holding one up. “Just as I knew they would be.”

“Thanks,” I said.

I hadn’t expected him to look so good in my kitchen. It was the first time I’d had a man here that wasn’t family or family-adjacent. It hadn’t even crossed my mind when Lena asked if Ben could join us, but this was kind of a big step. For me.

A big step that didn’t feel like a big step.

It felt normal. Nice.

I liked Ben standing here eating cookies.

“You’re going to laugh when I tell you this,” he said. “But apparently there’s this whole paragliding community over in Bozeman.”

I let out a dramatic groan. “I was hoping you wouldn’t find them.”

He laughed.

“Keeping secrets from me?”

“Just the ones that might result in you crashing into a mountain.”

“That rarely happens,” he said.

“Let me guess,” I said. “You’re going to check them out?”

“Of course,” he said. “Wanna join me? They do tandem flights.”

“I’m good,” I said.

“One of these days I’m going to get you up in the air. Or under the water. Or maybe just on the back of my bike.”

“Good luck,” I said. “My thrill seeking starts and ends with the rides at the county fair, and I haven’t been there in years.”

“We’ll have to change that,” he said.

“Oh, will we?”

I was playing aloof, but I warmed at the thought of all the things we might do. All the things I’d show him.

“Then again, I do love deep-fried food,” Ben said. “And dunk tanks.”

“Speaking of, I should probably start dinner,” I said. “Though it’s sadly not fried, deep or otherwise.”

Ben snapped his fingers in faux disappointment.

“Need any help?”

I shook my head. “I’ve got some frozen meatballs that I can thaw.”

“Homemade?”

I gave him a look. “Of course.”

He grinned.

I took out the meatballs and placed them in the sink, running water on them.

“What is that?” Ben asked.

He was referring to the squeaky sound the faucet was making.

“It’s nothing,” I said. “I keep meaning to call a plumber.”

Ben leaned on the counter, arms crossed.

“It almost feels like you’re doing this on purpose,” he said. “Where are your tools?”