Hannah rolls her eyes and tucks a piece of strawberry-blond hair behind her ear. “How was your Thanksgiving?” she asks me.
“Good,” I say with a smile. “It was nice seeing Ben’s family.”
“That’s all we get?” Casey raises a brow.
I laugh. “There’s not much to tell. My Thanksgiving was more low-key than Hannah’s. Less banging around,” I joke.
Hannah sighs. “You’re as bad as them.”
“Well, my Thanksgiving was a nightmare.” Chloe leans forward and lowers her voice like she’s letting us in on a secret. “My mom burnt the turkey, I dropped the pie on the floor, and my sister caught her hair on fire.”
“What?” I gasp. “How’d she catch her hair on fire?”
“Candle.” Chloe shakes her head forlornly. “I don’t think she’ll ever go near a candle again. The poor girl is traumatized.”
“I would be too,” Casey says.
“How was your Thanksgiving?” I ask Casey.
Her lips thin into a straight line. “Fine.”
We all stare at her. “Fine?” I question. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Casey sighs. “James,” she begins, referring to her boyfriend, “spent the whole day on his phone answering emails, which means I was left to endure his insufferable mother all on my own. The woman is insane.” She adds when we laugh, “I’m not kidding.”
“That’s what you get for dating another lawyer,” I tell her. “There’s only room for one in a household. I think there’s some sort of rule for that or something.”
She frowns and brushes crumbs off the table. “You might be on to something.”
“I take it this means there’s trouble in paradise?” Chloe prompts before taking a bite of her sandwich—I’m currently devouring mine like someone is about to come along and snatch it from my hands.
Casey nods. “I don’t think he’s the one. He’s not my Ben.”
I choke on my sandwich, practically coughing up a lung. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing bad.” She waves a hand dismissively. “I just meant that you guys are perfect for each other. I’ve never been around another couple like you guys before. You’re kind of magical to watch because you’re both so in tune with each other. It’s like you’re soulmates or something.”
“Soulmates,” I snort, “yeah, right.”
Hannah nods. “No, she’s right. You guys are…” Her lips twist in thought. “Special.”
I laugh. “And you guys are nuts.”
“Are we?” Casey asks. “Come on, I’ve known you forever, B. You had like two serious boyfriends before Ben and you never had the kind of relationship with them that you do with Ben. It’s different—rare.”
I shake my head, but there is truth to their words. Ben and I are different. It’s funny how perfect we are for each other, but I also believe timing is everything. We went to the same high school but I think if we’d been together then, it wouldn’t have lasted. Sometimes you have to find the patience to wait for good things instead of seeking it out.
We finish our lunch and agree to meet up next week. It’s sort of our thing to meet up at the local coffee shop every week and catch up. Ben joins us when he can—we all went to school together so it’s not like he’s the odd man out.
I end up running a few errands while I’m out. When I arrive home it’s practically dinner time. I park in the driveway and notice that there aren’t any lights on. I frown. I hope Ben isn’t still sleeping. He likes to sleep for a few hours, then get up, and go back to bed at a regular time.
I lock my car and head inside with my few shopping bags.
When I open the front door I notice a few dim lights flickering from the area of the family room.
“Ben?” I call out hesitantly, stepping further into the room. I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel like the dumb girl in a horror movie who is about to get her head chopped off while the people in the audience yell about what an idiot she is. I set my bags down by the stairs and round the corner into the family. “Ben,” I gasp.
He’s pushed the coffee table out of the way and the fluffy rug in the center of the room is covered in what looks like every pillow we have in the house. The flickering lights come from all the candles he has lit. Tall candles, short candles, fat candles, skinny candles: every kind of candle you can imagine. The effect is a glittering kaleidoscope of orange flames.
Ben sits in the center of the pillows, holding a bottle of wine and two glasses. There’s a plate with cheese, crackers, and fruit beside him.
“What’s this?” I ask, kicking off my shoes and stepping onto the pillows. I stumble and fall, which makes us both laugh. I end up crawling the rest of the way over to him. When I’m beside him, he finally answers.
“I’m trying to woo you.”
I snort. “Woo me? I’m pretty sure you already do that?” I point to the glittering princess-cut diamond on my finger.