And there it was. The real source of her anger wasn't just that he hadn't shared this information, but that her father had discovered it first, using it to catch her off guard, to make her feel foolish. Ben's frustration softened slightly at this realization, but he still wasn’t going to take all of the blame.
"I'm sorry your father ambushed you with this," he said quietly. "That wasn't fair to you. But please don't turn this into something it isn't. I wasn't keeping secrets from you."
"No?" Her eyes were bright with unshed tears now. "Then what would you call it?"
Shit, he hated it when women cried.
"I'd call it two people who met less than a month ago still learning about each other," Ben replied, his voice growing firmerwith conviction. "I'd call it normal. Not everything has to be revealed in the first few days of knowing someone."
"You know that's not what this is about."
"Then tell me what it is about," Ben challenged, his patience beginning to fray at the edges. "Because from where I'm standing, you're making a huge deal out of something that shouldn't matter at all. I am not my father. Are you upset that he’s not here helping us?"
"And what about the things you keep to yourself?" Ben asked, the words slipping out before he could stop them. "Are you being completely honest about everything? Or are there parts of your life you haven't shared yet?"
He saw Kelly's expression shift, her eyes widening slightly. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but frustration pushed him forward.
"Like Lori? She kept secrets, too, didn't she? Is that what this is about? You’re pissed at Lori and taking it out on me."
The comparison hung in the air between them, sharp and dangerous. Kelly's face flushed with indignation.
"No, this isn't like Lori," she fired back, her voice rising. "I thought you were different, but you're just like everyone else. Twisting things around, making it my fault somehow."
Ben stepped back, physically creating space between them. He needed to take a deep breath before this all boiled over.
"I'm not twisting anything," he insisted. "I'm pointing out that everyone has things they don't immediately share. It doesn't make them liars."
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to organize his thoughts. Kelly wasn't being rational about this, and he couldn't understand why. His family background wasn't some terrible secret he had deliberately concealed. It was just information that hadn't come up yet.
"I never lied to you. And in my defense, you didn’t think any of those details about my family were all that important until you talked with your father tonight."
Kelly crossed her arms tightly across her chest, her defensive posture matching the hardness in her eyes.
"Don't turn this around on me. Don't act like I should have investigated you."
“I’m not saying you should have,” Ben replied. “I’m saying that none of this was important until now. Eventually, we would have naturally told each other more about ourselves, our past, our future dreams.”
"It's important because my dad told me," Kelly finally said, her voice cracking slightly. "He was so damn smug, too. He could tell I was shocked. He knew something about you that I didn't, and he used it to make me feel stupid, like I always make poor choices."
And there it was.
The real issue wasn't about Ben's family at all; it was about Kelly's relationship with her father and his apparent delight in catching her off guard. Ben's expression softened with understanding.
"Kelly," he said quietly, "maybe your anger is better directed at your father than at me."
Her tears began to fall then, streaking down her cheeks in silvery trails. She made no move to wipe them away, letting them run unchecked.
He had a strong urge to wrap his arms around her, comfort her in some small way, but when he took a step forward, she retreated.
"What difference does it make?" she asked, her voice small and broken. "No one in my family cares about me. I'm just a pain in the ass to all of them. I must have been a pain to Lori, too. That's why she didn't tell me about being pregnant, why shedidn't confide in me about the other guy. I thought I was her best friend, but I was just another person she kept at arm's length."
The sudden shift from their argument to her deeper pain caught Ben off guard. He stood helplessly, watching as the tough exterior she'd maintained all day crumbled. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs, and he wanted to tell her she was wrong. That she mattered. That she wasn't a pain to anyone, least of all to him.
But he hesitated, knowing that his comfort, physical or verbal, wasn’t welcome at the moment. She backed away, and he wasn’t the type to press. If she didn’t want him near her, he wasn’t going to argue the point.
Their relationship, whatever it was, had suddenly become complicated in ways he hadn't anticipated. The easy companionship of the last few days seemed like a distant memory now.
"That's not true," he said finally, "Your family may not show it well, but they care about you. And Lori loved you. She was just going through something difficult and wasn't ready to share it."
