“I’m having a hard time believing you’re okay with all of this.”
“I think ‘okay with all of this’ is a far too simplistic way to summarize the situation. Currently, I’m recovering from my thyroid going crazy with adrenaline, I’m medicated, I was kidnapped, and I grievously injured a person for the first time in my life. That is a lot to process.
“Truth be told, I’m incredibly grateful that you trusted me enough to share your story. I wish I hadn’t demanded it, and that it had come about more organically, but I am still so very grateful.
“Do I know how I will feel in the morning, after I take my sleep medication and get a full night’s rest? No, I don’t, but that’s okay. Right now, the two of us know we’re safe. I’m not kidnapped, you have your car, and you have your family resting right above your head. I think it’s okay for the two of us to besatisfied with that right now.” Everything was so intense, so I aimed for the slightest bit of levity to break up the weight of it all. “Besides, I’m a teacher. We’re kind of trained for stuff like this.”
“Carjackings due to targeted vendettas, massacres, and revenge?”
“Mostly teaching kids how to tie shoes and dealing with their parents, but that’s almost the same, right?”
There was that infinitesimal flicker of a smile. I didn’t expect to fully turn the situation around, but it was good to know that I could give him a break from the awful.
God, I was so lost in the sauce. Instead of running from him and the violent world that had butted up against my own, I wanted to cocoon him in soft things, put him to bed, and give him Sleepytime tea so he could settle. It was neither the right time nor the right place, and I wasn’t close enough to offer him that kind of comfort.
“At least it’s not potty training.”
“You got me there.” Picking myself up off the floor even though my body was aching to lean against his, I went back to my seat and pulled my phone out of my purse. “I’m ordering my ride now, it should only be a few minutes.”
“No, no, I can drive you.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea right now? Given the night we’ve both had?”
It looked like he wanted to argue, then he sighed again. “No, you’re right. It feels wrong making you go home all alone after everything you’ve been through. It’s not like your night has exactly been easy.”
“That’s an understatement if there ever was one, but I’ll be okay. I promise.”
And I would be. Perhaps without the beta blockers I would have been in trouble, but they were working a right treat. I didn’t think I could get worked up even if I tried. I was a littlenervous about how I’d feel once the medication wore off, but that nervousness fizzled out pretty quickly—probably because of the beta blockers.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” I said as I finished ordering the Uber. Normally, I always picked the wait option, because I loved saving money where I could, but this time I chose the expedient one that was three minutes away. Ben was enough of a gentleman that he wouldn’t object to me hanging around for another fifteen minutes, but he needed to be with his children. Although I had absolutely zero desire toeverhave any kids of my own, nor did I have the ability to be pregnant, I understood how important they were, especially to a good parent like Ben. “But would you walk me to the door?”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
Ben straightened, then took my leftovers from the fridge. I felt a bit silly for insisting on bringing them inside, but my phone showed me that almost an hour had passed. How was that even possible? I had thought my pounding heart was making time move slower, but I could have sworn we’d only walked into the door about ten minutes ago. Wild.
He carried the bag to the front door, and we stood there, waiting for my ride. It was a little awkward, but I wasn’t all that bothered. Again, medicated, but also, I was becoming more and more exhausted with every passing second. I only had enough energy to get home, rip off my wig, take off my heels, then collapse into bed still dressed. Would it be comfy? Absolutely not. But I had a limited supply of spoons and honey. It was like I was back on the cereal diet I’d had in college, because I was out of all of my metaphorical utensils.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally, and the weight of that simple phrase was so intense it was almost tangible. “For everything.”
The levity I’d used to lighten the mood was gone, but maybe that was okay. Sure, sometimes the right thing to do was to lighten someone’s burden, but other times, the right thing to do was acknowledge their burden without trying to fix it. At the moment, Ben was in the second category.
“Thank you,” I said, taking my leftovers as my ride pulled up. I got a few steps across the cobblestone before I stopped and looked at him over my shoulder. “Hopefully our second date isn’t as adventurous.”
The shocked look on Ben’s expression would have been amusing in any other situation. I hurried to my Uber. I hadn’t expected those words to come out of my mouth, nor had I really thought about it, yet the sentiment rang true within me.
I didn’t want our story to be over yet.
FOURTEEN
BEN
Confines of a Wounded Soul
I was lying on the ground beside Benny’s bed, Veronica’s spare baby monitor on my chest. Natalie had the other one, but she was fast asleep in the guest room, and I had no intention of waking her.
I wasn’t really sure I had any intentions at all.
