Page 68 of Home to Me

Unsurprisingly, Alana had been a real beauty in her day.

Lauren felt a lump in her throat as she completed her self-guided tour of Ben's life. The one thing, absolutely, that came through with unmistakable clarity was Ben's fierce love and loyalty for his family.

Lauren returned to the kitchen, where Ben was busy at the stove. The aromas coming from the pans he was tending, caused her stomach to growl again. She laughed, perching on one of the stools that sat in front of his kitchen island.

“As you could probably tell by that, it smells amazing,” she said warmly.

Ben pushed a plate of cheese and crackers and a glass of wine towards her. “Here. I thought you could use a little snack before the meal's finished cooking,” he said.

Lauren sighed. “You're a god among men! I love how you...cubed the cheese so perfectly...” she finished lamely.

What she was about to say was, 'I love how you take such good care of me,' but as the words were flying out of her mouth, they felt embarrassingly personal, so she slammed on the brakes.

Maybe she should’ve just gone through with it. It couldn't have ended up being more embarrassing than complimenting the man on his cheese-cubing abilities.

They chatted companionably as Ben cooked and drank wine and Lauren ate cheese and crackers and drank wine, and—all in all—Lauren thought that it might be the best night she’d had in years. If not ever.

When they sat down to dinner, Lauren said, “It's so beautiful, Ben. Thanks so much for going to so much trouble.”

Ben shrugged. “It was no trouble. I've been cooking since I was ten. Not to mention, it's the least I could do after you put a smile on my mom's face today. That was worth ten steak dinners.”

“Careful. I may take you up on those.”

Ben brushed his hand against her cheek. “I hope so. Now, let's dig in before it gets cold and all my hard work goes to waste. I want you to appreciate my genius while it's at its apex.”

Lauren took a bite and moaned in pure carnal enjoyment. God, she didn't know how Sam did it, eating nothing but greens and nuts and the occasional apple. Lauren was an unrepentant carnivore and it was moments like this that she remembered why.

“Ben,” she breathed reverently. “Genius is just about the right word for it. This is ridiculously delicious.”

They ate in silence for a few moments, completely engrossed in how satisfying and delectable the food was.

Finally, far enough into the meal that she could relax and chat as she ate, Lauren said, “Oh, and by the way, I loved going through your place. It's gorgeous, but you know that. The standouts were the photos though. Did you take those? You really have an eye.”

“I took a lot of them, Ben said smiling. A good number of them predate my skills with the camera though.”

“Hmmm, the family cook, the family photographer... Why do I get the feeling those are just the tip of the iceberg?” Lauren asked, a sadness tingeing her voice.

Ben shrugged. “Hey, it wasn't an easy life, but it certainly wasn't the worst it could’ve been.”

“What was it like?” Lauren asked, placing her hand on his and squeezing. “Tell me.”

Ben looked thoughtful. “Well, I never knew my dad. He was gone early on.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Don't know. Mom would never say, just that he was gone and not coming back. I stopped asking after I was mainly taking care of Bri because it didn't seem to matter that much anymore.

“But I'm skipping ahead. When I was nine, Mom got remarried. When I was ten, she had Brianna. When I was eleven, she was diagnosed with lupus. I know it seems like I should be able to say, 'When I was twelve, Brianna's dad split,' because it would have such a nice symmetry in the retelling, but the truth is, he was gone long before that. The way I remember it, he left pretty much the day after her diagnosis.”

“I'm sorry,” said Lauren sympathetically.

“Don’t be,” said Ben firmly. “I mean, it must’ve been really hard on my mom, but I was glad he left. He was an asshole. Well, as you can probably gather based on the fact that he left his sick wife and infant daughter in the care of an eleven-year-old.

“I can see that now, as an adult, what a low-life stunt that was. But at the time…I don't know how to explain it. I didn't feel like a kid. I didn't feel like, 'Oh no, I'm only eleven. How will I ever take care of my mom and sister all by myself?'

“It was more like, 'Okay, awesome. That shiftless bastard is out of the way. He only made things more difficult. Now I can get down to the business of taking care of my family.”

“And you've been doing it ever since.”

---