Page 71 of Just Enough

“Language, and I’m serious, Benny. She’s always looked at you…” She looked extremely startled at something she realized. “Like you hung the moon.” She crossed her arms. “Hmm.”

“I’m her safe place.”

“Her what?” Mom snorted.

“Never mind.”

Chapter 25

_______

Emily

2 days prior…

I bounced Jeffyon my knee when someone knocked on the door. “Who could that be?” I asked him with a smile as I got up and carried him with me to the door. I opened it up.

I did not expect Faith to be on the other side. Would it be bad if I slammed the door and pretended I didn’t answer it? Yeah? Okay.

Her gaze went straight to Jeffy in my arms. I didn’t think I imagined the horror in her expression either before she said, “I don’t recall you being pregnant at all.”

I covered my mouth quickly and then held Jeffy closer. “Oh, no,” I sputtered. “This is my friend’s baby. She asked me to babysit.”

She relaxed. “He’s cute.”

“His name is Jeffrey. We call him Jeffy though,” I told her. “Are you here for Benjamin? He’s at work.”

“I know.” I had to step back as she barged in. I gave Jeffy a look then followed after her nervously. Why was she here? She was going to give me a panic attack. Especially since I was in love with her son and couldn’t do a thing about it. She didn’t know though. No one did. Except me.

I didn’t know if that was good or pathetic.

“Do you have tea?” she asked. I shook my head. “Guess I’ll get straight to the point then.” She turned around, and I straightened. Here it came… “Do you love my Benny?”

I opened my mouth to say no but found that I couldn’t. “Define…love?”

“Are you his friend or do you wish to be more?” She didn’t even give me a chance to respond. “It’s probably good that you don’t then. I gave him his grandmother’s pearls. He’ll probably give them to Kelly one day.”

“What?” I breathed out.

“Did I say something wrong?”

I couldn’t blink. I didn’t trust myself not to cry. Why would she come here to tell me that? “I, uh, just wasn’t aware it was anything serious.” I wouldn’t know what was going on. We barely spoke to each other. I kept a distance from him in fear that I’d lash out at him when it wasn’t his fault. It was mine for saying nothing, but how did things turning into giving his deceased grandmother’s belongings within a month? Benjamin had lost his mind. Maybe me too, I was on the verge of crying and throwing a fit in front of his mom.

She studied me. “What?” I said self-consciously.

“Why did you listen and not go with Benjamin that day?” I knew she was talking about the day he left for college.

“At the time, nobody put down me better than me. Although everything you said to me hadn’t been true. I wasn’t out to get in his pants or have his babies—whatever it was you thought, but I also thought he’d leave me one day, so it wasn’t hard to let him go. It had a been a fleeting feeling that had made me want to go with him, but you took care of that quickly.”

“I wasn’t aware friends feared losing each other in a such a way.”

“I love him, if that’s what you want to know. How I love him? Even I’m not sure how to answer you. He’s my best friend, believe that.”

“I still don’t like you,” she muttered.

That hurt. “I’m aware,” I told her. “But why? I’ve never tried to be more than friends with him.”

“If you don’t know the answer to that, you’re truly blind when it comes to Benny.”

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