Page 74 of A Good Book

THURL RAVENSCROFT, “YOU’REAMEANONE,MR.GRINCH”

Gabby

I caved.

Armed with the best intentions of giving Ben the cold shoulder, I tried not to look back at him during the service. After all, he didn’t deserve anything from me after how he treated me over Thanksgiving and not responding to any of my letters. Then I made the mistake of taking a peek at him, and he looked so handsome in his suit. He also looked sad and lost.

Why did his parents make him attend church when he couldn’t hear the music or the sermon? As soon as the question popped into my head, I let it spark a little hope that maybe he was there to see me. By the time I sneaked a half dozen unnecessary glances in his direction, my need to hug and kiss him was unbearable, so I wrote two messages on the palms of my hands.

His kiss didn’t disappoint. Ben was either a spectacular kisser (even better than Matt) or I was biased.

“It was nice seeing Ben at church,” Mom said as we ate Sunday dinner with Grandma Bonnie.

I wrinkled my nose at Mom’s oyster soup. Was I being punished? She knew I hated it. “Yeah. I’m sure he enjoyed sitting in silence for forty-five minutes, watching Dad’s lips move and his hands make a bunch of gestures. I mean, Dad…” I grinned “…if you’re going to use your hands so much when you talk, then you should learn sign language.”

Dad wiped his mouth. “Does Ben know sign language? The last time I talked with Alan, he said Ben wasn’t interested in learning it.”

I fished all the oysters out of my soup. “Well, I’ve been learning it, so I’m going to teach him.”

Everyone at the table returned skeptical expressions.

“Since when?” Mom asked.

“Since Ben dropped out of school. It’s a community education class I found in Ann Arbor. It’s three nights a week.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Mom narrowed her eyes.

“I wanted it to be a surprise, mostly for Ben. But that’s when I thought he would learn it. So when I was home over Thanksgiving and I found out he was not surprised or impressed that I’d been learning it, I lost my enthusiasm over telling anyone else. I didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for me that I wasted time and money on it. But now since …”

Since all I can think about is kissing Ben until he makes me orgasm.

I cleared my throat. No one needed to know my true motivation. “Since Ben seems to be less aggressive toward everyone, I’m going to convince him to let me teach him sign language. And I hope he then learns more on his own. He’s pretty competitive, so maybe I can spark his interest.”

“How are you going to convince him to let you teach him?” Grandma Bonnie asked.

I tucked my chin to hide my grin and focused on dumping a bunch of oyster crackers into the broth. It was the only way I could get it down. “I don’t know yet, but I’ll figure something out.”

A lie.

I knew exactly how I was going to convince him—by taking Eve’s advice.

* * *

On Monday,with two days until Christmas, I needed to finish up my Christmas shopping. So on my way to the mall, I stopped by Ben’s house.

“Gabby, what a nice surprise,” Carmen said, opening the front door and gesturing for me to come inside.

“Hi. I have some Christmas shopping to do. I thought Ben could come with me.”

“Oh,” she gave me a nervous smile, “I’m not sure he’s out of bed yet.”

I pushed up my jacket sleeve to look at my watch. It was a quarter to noon.

Carmen shook her head. “I know. He should be up by now. I never know what his mood will be, so I usually just let him get up on his own. When I wake him, he tends to be extra grumpy.”

“Well, good thing I’m the one waking him today.” I shrugged off my jacket, hung it on the hook, and headed up the stairs.

“Good luck,” she said with a chuckle.

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