“Do you want to talk to him?” Layla asked.
“Not really. I mean, I wouldn’t not talk to him if the opportunity arose, but I don’t feel the need to have a conversation with him.”
“Has anyone talked to you about why he’s here?” Layla asked.
“Nope. No one has said anything.” She paused. “Not even you.”
Amelia knew there was an edge to her voice, and from the weighted silence that followed her statement, Layla had heard it too.
Finally, her sister cleared her throat. “Well, I suppose you should be aware that he’s going to be around for most of the summer.”
Thesummer?There was no way she would be able to avoid him for that amount of time.
“He’s here to help Cole with the basketball camps he’s running for the next couple of months.”
Amelia’s stomach sank at the revelation. Unless she quit her job, she was going to end up seeing Benji on a regular basis. The basketball clinics were being held at the gym at the church, which was where she worked part-time in the office.
But more than that, she would be helping with the clinics. They wanted someone there to assist with registering the participants and to help with things like snacks at breaktime or if they needed to contact a parent or guardian.
Amelia couldn’t believe that she hadn’t put two and two together and realized that might be why he was in town.
“Then I suppose I’ll have the opportunity to talk to him at some point,” Amelia said.
“Are you okay with that?”
More than anyone else, Layla was aware of the hope she’d had that at the end of the day, she and Benji would be together. In her teenage naivety, she hadn’t expected him to walk away without looking back. It had made her wonder if he’d ever truly loved her the way he said he had.
“Does it matter if I’m not?” Amelia asked, then continued before Layla could respond. “I’ll be fine. It’s been a long time since there was anything between us.”
“That’s true,” Layla said, but there was something in her voice that told Amelia that her sister wasn’t completely sold on Amelia’s dismissal of how she felt about Benji. “But still…”
“It’ll be fine,” Amelia said. “I do wish someone had mentioned his arrival, so I wasn’t taken off guard when he showed up. But regardless, it’s fine.”
“I’m sorry. I just found out a couple of days ago. I should have said something.”
Amelia was surprised that she hadn’t, but she couldn’t hold it against her sister. That would accomplish nothing but adding stress and tension to her life—to their relationship—neither of which Amelia needed.
“It’ll be fine, Layla,” Amelia assured her.
“Well, if it ends up not being fine, I want you to talk to me. Don’t keep it all bottled up inside.”
“I won’t.”
Though Layla again tried to convince her to join them on the boat, Amelia stood firm. Now that she knew that she was definitely going to have to face Benji, she wanted to put it off for as long as she could.
She had time to shore up her defenses, and she knew that she could do it. Skating had taught her a lot of things, including how to perform in such a way that the audience had no idea what else might be going on in her life.
There had been times when she hadn’t felt her best, and yet she’d stepped onto the ice with a smile. And at the end of her program, even if it hadn’t reached the standard she’d hoped for, she curtsied, smiled, and waved at the people who were in the stands.
When she did see Benji again, she’d make sure to have a smile on her face that would hide any turmoil she might be feeling inside.
CHAPTER THREE
Ben parked the SUV he’d borrowed from the fleet of cars at the estate, then he and Luca got out and made their way to the entrance to the school that was attached to the church. He was glad to see the church thriving under the new pastor, and it appeared that the school was also doing well.
It had started out as just an elementary and middle school, but two years ago, it had expanded to offer the full range of grades. By all accounts the school had been well-received in the community and the surrounding towns.
If it had been around back when he was in school, Serenity Point Christian Academy would probably have been where he would have attended.
