Page 99 of A World Without You
I pull my camera down and click through the images, amazed at how a single frame can capture the joy in both Josie and Bennett’s eyes.
“It’s so nice to see Bennett dating.”
I startle slightly and study the neighbor mom who just approached me. She’s dressed in a black Michael Kors parka and holding a bright red thermos. I smile to be polite and then register her statement.
“Oh, Bennett and I are just friends,” I correct and she squints at me so I overexplain. “Really. We’ve known each other forever. Our dads were college dorm roommates and have been inseparable since 1981 and forced our families to be friends and spend the holidays together.” I realize I’m rambling. Her mouth slides into a slow, knowing smile and I’m certain she doesn’t believe me.
“Right,” she nods and imperceptibly winks like I’m in Christmas cahoots with her. Which, I understand her misconception—I clearly stayed the night and have spent the day playing in the snow with him and his daughter.
I consider overexplaining more, but Bennett comes to join me with Josie. Her teeth are chattering, and the neighbor woman twists off the cap of the thermos and pours some in a paper cup.
“Ready for hot chocolate?” she asks, handing the cup to Josie.
She eyes it suspiciously for several moments before trying a sip to see if it settles in her tummy.
“See? She had an emotionally upset stomach last night,” Bennett whispers in my ear, and I laugh, nudging him with my shoulder. Then he turns to the neighbor, “Thanks, Rhonda.”
“Of course,” she says, smiling wide—too wide—at both of us.
I swallow this weird, uncomfortable tightness in my throat and Bennett’s brow furrows, glancing between me and Rhonda. “Did I miss something?”
“Oh, nothing! I was just telling your friend here...”
“Olivia,” he answers when she pauses for him to fill the silence with a name.
“Right. I was just telling Olivia how good it is to see you happy,” Rhonda continues. Her voice changes a whole octave on the last word.
Bennett nods, completely unbothered. “Thanks. Merry Christmas, Rhonda.”
She scrunches her nose and shoulders as she smiles. When she turns away, I realize my heart is pounding. I can’t tell if I’m embarrassed, nervous, or if maybe I just realized something...
I look up at Bennett, looking down at me with an apologetic smile. “Don’t mind, Rhonda. She meddles.”
“And observes,” I add with a small smile.
Bennett tilts his head in the innocent and adorable way of a golden retriever, and I almost forget he’s a grump. “What do you mean?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. I just think she saw me staying over and I get how people can draw those conclusions.”
He breathes out of his nose quickly. “Since when do you care what other people think?”
“Have you met me?” I reply and he actually smiles.
He slings an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close so my back is against his chest. He holds me tight and close around my shoulders, and my gloved hands take hold of his forearms. “I don’t care what people say about me, Liv, and neither should you. All I care about is what I know.”
I nod as Josie asks, “Daddy, can I go over and play with Molly and Ellie?”
He nods as permission then hollers, “Watch the icy spots!” as we watch her run away, her boots sliding in the slushy snow.
“She’s the coolest kid,” I say.
“I think so too,” he says to me, but his eyes are on Josie, sipping hot chocolate and playing with the neighbor kids in the icy snow.
I shift my gaze to Bennett. “I mean that. She’s so fun...and funny and sweet and kind. And she’s only five. She needs to teach lessons to adults,” I remark, and Bennett sniffs from the sting of the cold on his face.
At least, I think it’s because it’s cold out, but when I look at him, he’s sniffing back emotion.
“Oh, Bennett, I didn’t mean to touch a nerve—”
