Page 179 of Waiting For A Girl Like You
“Don’t argue with me,” she huffed. “You know I’m right.”
She was never fully solid during these encounters and always wore the same thing. A white tank top and matching broom skirt. Her emerald necklace dangled around her neck when, in truth, it actually sat in a jewelry box back at Haven House, as did the engagement ring twinkling on her pale finger.
“You don’t come to me as much anymore,” he mumbled, feeling like he’d reached a new low by whining to a hallucination. “It pisses me off.”
“You don’t need me to,” she replied in that way of hers that made everything sound so simple. “You’re getting stronger, Ben.”
He didn’t even bother with a bottle opener, wanting the sharp prick of the cap to keep him grounded. “Stronger?” He popped off the beer’s top in one go. “Sure as hell doesn’t feel like I’m stronger.”
Taking a step forward, she laid a hand on his cheek. There was no heat. No pressure. Just the sense of cold air.But he still leaned into her touch, seeking contact with something he knew wasn’t truly there.
“You are stronger, and with that strength, you can be present to live life.” Her gaze held a hint of mischief in it. “Look how happy you’re making our kids. Look at the life you’re giving them. It all matters in the end, Ben.”
Good and drunk, he couldn’t stop staring. She was barefoot, as usual, with her wavy blonde hair hanging loose around her shoulders. “Your eyes sparkle like Edward Cullen’s skin.”
“The vampire?”
“The very one.”
Laura Jean burst into laughter, and it wasn’t the laugh of some small woman. Not when it came from her. It always started in the belly, rolling upward through her body until she was gasping and heaving like some sort of deranged hyena. God, how he missed that sound. It had once been as vital to him as oxygen. And it still was, except now, it existed only in his pathetic mind.
“I think you’re drunk, Ben.”
He took another huge swig of his beer. “I think I know that, Laura Jean.”
His sarcasm made her laugh harder, and he grinned in the darkness.
“The movie isn’t bad, and I get why Jamison likes Edward. He’s handsome with a sharp jawline and has that forbidden nature all girls find attractive,” she explained. The hand on his cheek dropped to his chest, and if he concentrated hard enough, he could almost feel the pressure of her fingertips. “You know, Edward kind of reminds me of someone.”
“I do not sparkle.”
“If I rolled you nakedin glitter, you might.”
It was his turn to bark out a laugh, but he sucked it in just as fast as it burst out of him, afraid Jamison might hear and wonder why her father was standing in a dark kitchen talking to himself.
“You’ve been watching the movie with us?”
“Not exactly,” she exhaled, tipping her head to see past him and into the living room. “I like to watch her. She has so many expressions, and I’m trying to memorize them all, but she changes so quickly. Time… I can’t keep up with it here.”
“Where?” he asked, as if he could jump through space and infinite levels of existence to find her. “Where are you?”
From the other room, Jamison squealed at something Evie said on the phone, and Laura Jean’s unwavering stare filled with tears. “My Evie is growing up. She gets so sad sometimes, and while this boy is not her end, he is a beginning. A real start to her learning how to live.”
“So, you’re saying,” he reached out and toyed with a strand of her wavy hair, “that I need to be nice to this guy.”
She grinned. “Yes, be nice to him. And make Simone be nice, too.”
“Now you’re pushing your luck.” He leaned his hip against the counter, marveling at how she mirrored the motion. Their bodies tucking together perfectly as they talked. “That’s like asking me to get Samuel to be nice to Evie.”
She found his comment humorous. “Samuel loves Evie very much.”
“He would’ve been a good brother to her.”
Laura Jean’s lips parted, her eyebrows shooting upward. “Brother?Uh… okay.”
“Why do you say it like that?”
“You need to pay attention more, Ben.”
