Bring Me Back(3)

My blush returns, and I duck my head. I’ll never think of pie in the same way ever again.

We head downstairs and we each shrug into our coats. Ben locks up behind us, and then hurries to open the passenger door on his Mazda SUV for me.

“Thank you.” I smile graciously and slide inside.

He jogs around the front of the car to get in the driver’s side.

His blond hair sticks up from his brief jog, and I reach over to smooth it down. He smiles at me in appreciation.

He drives over to the local Wal-Mart and I sit in the car while he goes inside to get the pie. I feel bad that there are people working on the holiday when they should be with their families. It doesn’t seem fair.

Ben returns a few minutes later with a pecan and apple pie. Surprisingly, they don’t look that bad. He sits them in the back and starts the car.

“Ready?” He waggles his brows.

I laugh and smooth my hair back. “You bet.”



An hour later, he parks in the driveway of his mom’s house. It’s a decent size, Cape Cod style, with white siding and red shutters. A porch wraps around the front.

My parents used to live a few neighborhoods away, but when I left for college, they decided to pack up and move to Florida. I can’t blame them since lately the Virginia winters have been brutal.

Ben slips from the car and grabs the plastic bag. He meets me at my side of the car and entwines our fingers together. He smiles down at me so big that his dimples make an appearance.

“Next Thanksgiving we’ll be husband and wife,” he says.

I smile as my stomach is flooded with warmth at the thought.

Ben. My husband. I love the sound of that. I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to call him that. He proposed to me our senior year of college, and I was the genius that decided it would be best to postpone the wedding until his residency was complete or close to it. I regret that now. I should’ve made him my husband a long time ago, but the day is fast approaching.

“Why do you want to marry me?” I ask him in jest.

He pauses on the porch and looks down at me. “Because I love you.”

“Good answer.” I lean up on my tiptoes to kiss him.

He rings the doorbell, and the door swings open a second later.

“Benjamin,” his mom cries, throwing her arms around his neck.

Even though we live close, we rarely get to see his mom or his brother, Jacob, and his family. We’re both too busy with work, especially Ben.

His mom lets him go and pulls me into a hug. Loraine has always treated me like the daughter she never had, and for that, I’m thankful. Sometimes I go overboard trying to please her, like with the pie, even when I don’t have to.

“Come in, come in.” She steps back to let us inside. “It’s cold outside.”

Almost immediately, Ben is attacked by his six-year-old niece, Bella, and two-year-old nephew, Jackson.

“Hey, guys.” He bends to hug them. “I’ve missed you guys.”

I smile. Seeing Ben with his niece and nephew always melts my heart.

“Mom, take the pies before they get squished.” He holds out his hand with the bag.

She takes it and chuckles when she looks in the bag. “I think it’s a bit too late for that.”

Ben sighs. “Well, we’ll all know they were squished with love.” He picks each of the kids up in an arm and cries, “To the kitchen,” before running with them down the hall. The children’s laughter trails behind them and my smile widens.

“How have you been?” Loraine asks me.

“Good.” I shrug. “Busy with the business. It’s taking off.”

“That’s amazing, Blaire. I’m so proud of you.” She beams. “How’s Ben? Is he getting enough sleep? I worry about him working these crazy shifts,” she rambles.

I frown slightly. “He’s doing okay, I guess. They’re taking a toll, but he doesn’t complain. This is what he wants to do, and it’s part of the job.”

She nods. “Still, it’s hard on a person.”

“It is,” I agree.

With a sigh, her shoulders fall like she has accepted defeat to the situation. “I just put everything out on the table before you guys arrived. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Starving,” I tell her.

She smiles up at me and then moves on into the kitchen with the pies to sit them on the counter. Everyone is gathered around the counter eating from a vegetable plate.

Bella runs over to me then and wraps her arms around my legs. “Aunt Blaire, look.” She points to an empty gap in her teeth. “I lost a tooth and the tooth fairy came. She left me five whole dollars.”

“Wow,” I say, bending down to her level, “that’s awesome, Bells.”

Her nose crinkles when she smiles and she hold her hands together while swaying slightly. “Daddy said I could buy a candy bar.” She frowns and adds in a whisper, “But mommy said that will rot my teeth.” She looks torn. “I really love candy, though.”

“Maybe you can get a piece of candy and not eat it all at once?” I suggest.

Her lips purse as she thinks this over. “I can live with that.”

“Dining room, everyone.” Loraine begins ushering us into the space.