She said for the tenth time, "You are so pretty." And then she added, "You remind me of Savannah, our babysitter, but I think she is older than you." As a younger sister by fourteen months, age was a big deal for Lola. She had spent her whole life trying to catch up to her big sister. Without missing a beat, she added, "She is in junior high school. Is junior high school what you go to next after high school?"
Everyone in the car laughed, and when Lola did not understand why, Poppy said, "Sweetie, junior high comes before high school, not after."
"Oh," replied Lola. "Well, you still look younger than her. She is fourteen. Just how old are you?"
Bennett immediately jumped in and said, "Lola, it is not nice to ask a lady her age."
To which Lola responds, "Hum, Ella's not a lady. She is Ben’s friend."
Ella and everyone laughed at Lola's words and said," It's fine. I don't mind answering." Looking right at Lola, Ella said, "I am nineteen. I graduated from high school at sixteen in 2020.”
"Sixteen!" replied Lizzy. "You must be a genius. Do you go to college like Ben? He's a genius, too."
"No, he is not," interjected Ben before adding, "but you are right, Ella actually is. I think that is enough questions, Little Turds," which brought the non-stop interrogation of Ella to a halt. Little Turds was Ben's nickname for the two little sisters he never knew he wanted until he got them.
As he listened, Bennett could see Poppy's mind spinning. Thank goodness no one else could read her face the way he could, or the merry mood in the car might not have been so cheery.
One Hour Later
Searcy, Arkansas
November 23, 2023
The minute they returned to town, they headed to the Chit, Chat, and Chew Cafe. On the drive from Little Rock, Ella had asked if they could have breakfast there as Ben had mentioned it often. She had heard so much about it she was dying to try it. The C4, as it was known, was open on Thanksgiving morning until noon for breakfast and pick-up orders for those who preferred a catered homemade Thanksgiving dinner. It was the best place in town for a big, country breakfast. As usual, the food was excellent, and the service was superior. Poppy was dying to ask Ella how the C4 compared to her parent's diner back home. Any time anyone tried to ask her a question, Ben would smoothly change the subject. Poppy was beginning to worry he was hiding something. She had no idea what, but experience had taught her that secrets in this family always ended badly. She hoped she was wrong.
Several people dropped by their table to congratulate Bennett on his win. As always, Bennett thanked them even though he was very uncomfortable taking compliments. More than one person commented on how they wished he was still their Senator and what a great job he had done for the state. Some went so far as to say that his leaving office had been a real shame.
Every time someone would stop to chat, the table conversation would halt. After a brief chat, the person would move on, and thefamily would go back to visiting. When Poppy apologized for so many interruptions, Ella surprised her by commenting that it was nice that everyone in the town seemed to know them. The only insight she gave to her background was when she commented that for a tourist town, Napa was much the same way when it came to the locals. Ben had already warned Ella it would be this way.
Having moved to Searcy at eleven after having lived in New York City all his life, he had to get used to the small-town ways. He did over time, but he still missed living in a large city where everyone was a stranger. That was one of the reasons he applied to colleges far from home. That and the fact that Jack and Jorge lived nearby.
In a place like Searcy, no one ever really lets you forget that you were the love child of the artist who left town and returned to destroy a perfect marriage and a promising political career. Sure, over time, things improved. His parents had worked hard to help him understand that just because people believed something did not make it true. He never talked to his parents about it, but he had felt the stares and heard the whispers, especially in the early days. He had learned the hard way that life in a small southern town was not all sweet tea and pecan pie.
While everyone seemed to acknowledge the people who came and went, only Bennett seemed to notice how much quieter Poppy got with each one. The sparkle that had been in her eyes from the moment she spied Ben at the airport dimmed a little with each visit. Bennett hoped that did not mean that she was changing her mind about his running. He knew that if she were, he would stand by his word and not run. No matter how much he might want a second chance at a political career, it would not be worth Poppy's happiness. She was his everything. But, damn, he knew that walking away again would be even harder than it had been the first time.
The family finished up their meal and spent a few hours taking Ella around the town, showing her the different sites. They took herby the historic courthouse and the quaint shops downtown. Next, they stopped off at the Black House, where several of Poppy's paintings were on display. They also showed her various landmark churches and the local college.
Ella asked about all of the lights she saw everywhere. Ben explained that the town and university go all out at Christmas with millions of lights and holiday scenes that had been set up at all the parks and town square. He promised to bring her back after dark so she could see them lit up later that night and take a carriage ride around the court square.
They ended their trip with a visit to Art Alley. Several large murals were painted all around downtown. The largest collections of works were in an alley off a side street just one block down from the court square. They spent time looking at the various murals done by local artists. Poppy explained that the work was constantly changing. She had two murals that she had done. One was of two little girls running through the waves at a beach. Ella immediately recognized the girls as Lizzy and Lola at about three and four. The other was of Bennett standing in front of a podium. He appeared to be giving some kind of speech. His face was so taut and stressed that it was almost impossible to recognize him. Ella knew that Ben's mom often painted from photographs. She could not help but wonder what speech had inspired the mural. In it, he looked very different from the easy-going, carefree man she had spent the morning getting to know.
The family got back to the house around 3:00. Ella was clearly impressed with the house as they drove up the winding drive. Ben had tried to prepare her, but the house was out of character for the boy she had come to love. Large and imposing, it looked like a French chateau dropped in the middle of a small southern town. Ben could sense Ella becoming overwhelmed. She knew that Bencame from money, but seeing the house he grew up in was a shock to her system.
Walking into the house, Ella whispered to Ben, "You should have told me your parents lived in a mansion. I was not prepared for all of this," she said, gesturing to the huge house and lawn.
Giving her a reassuring hug and a kiss on the forehead, he quietly whispered in her ear, "I know it is a lot. But believe it or not, it is much better than when I first saw it. Mom and Dad did a total gut after the first year they were married. It was so stuffy with tons of antiques and very traditional. It felt more like a museum than a home. But Mom fixed that. It is much more homey now. Besides, it is just a house at the end of the day. The part that makes it a home is the people who live in it, and they are going to love you because I do."
His comforting words reassured Ella. The house did feel totally different inside. The chateau demeanor of the exterior was nowhere to be found inside. It was decorated in bright colors with tons of art covering the walls and comfortable couches and chairs everywhere. The inside was night and day compared to the outside. Ella could not help but think the house was like Ben. He was a rich kid whose dad was a former senator. He was gorgeous and brilliant. He could have been the biggest, most arrogant asshole in the world, but he wasn't. He was one of the kindest, most thoughtful people she had ever met. She knew about his early life and that Ben had not known Bennett was his dad until he was eleven. She could only imagine how going through all that at such a young age could have warped him. It hadn't. Instead, it seemed to help form him into the man she had fallen deeply in love with.
As they walked in, the awkwardness of addressing where everyone would sleep was avoided when Ben casually took Ella's bag and said, "I will just put these in our room.”
Bennett gave Poppy a look and shrugged as if to say, "Well, that answers that question."
Poppy just gave him a weak smile and shrugged back. She had not rebounded from all of the people who had talked to them at the restaurant earlier in the day. All morning, she had gone through the motions and said all the right things.
Bennett could tell she was backpedaling. He had promised not to bring the governor's race up again until they were together. He knew Taylor, Greer, and Rosie would be there for dinner by 6:00. He hoped they would have some time to talk after dinner. Poppy reminded him he had two turkeys he needed to deep fry. So Bennett spent the next several hours setting everything up while Poppy, Ella, and the girls set the table and got to know each other.
Out on the patio, Bennett was tempted to broach the subject with Ben while they were alone. But Poppy had asked him not to, and so he didn't. Ben was his son, but sometimes, because she had raised their son alone for so many years, it felt like Ben belonged more to her than to him. He had worked hard to close that distance in their relationship, but some things were beyond repair. So, he held his tongue and hoped that an opportunity presented itself after dinner when they could all talk. However, like any parent would, Bennett did allow himself to broach the subject of Ella.
