Page 57 of Cups of You

“So, you’ll what?” Josiah asked. “Stay in some ass-backward town and read to toddlers for the rest of your life?”

“If I choose to, then yes.”

Amber could feel Benjamin take a step forward, but he stayed silent, and she needed that. She needed that quiet strength just as much as she needed to set Josiah straight.

Josiah threw his hands up in the air. His laugh rang out echoing into the darkness of the night. “You can’t be serious.” He stared at her, but Amber remained silent. There was nothing else to say. Her lack of response seemed to piss him off even more, but she no longer cared about Josiah’s tantrums or his thoughts.

Amber was done.

“Seriously, Amber. What the fuck kind of life is that?”

What kind of life is that?

It was the same question she had asked herself when she put Millensville in her rearview mirror the first time. Her life here up to that point had been filled with so much pain, and yet coming back had led to healing. There was still pain, but there had also been so many unexpected moments of joy.

Reconnecting with old friends once lost and connecting with new ones happily found. Strengthening that unbreakable bond that saw Jackie and Amber through some soul crushing lows. All of it combined into a mass of thoughts and feelings that were almost too numerous to contain, and yet Amber had never felt more content.

The answer when it came to her was so clear it was almost laughable in its simplicity.

“A happy one.”

“A happy one.”

Benjamin couldn’t help but stare. Amber’s back was to him, but he could see her fists balled at her sides. He wanted desperately to reach out and squeeze her hand to let her know he was here for her, but he stayed still. This was her battle and getting involved was not his place. Still, he couldn’t deny the thrill that went through him at her answer to Josiah’s question.

A happy one.

That was the life she wanted to find here in Millensville. She had chosen to stay and with that simple sentence, he could no longer deny that what he wanted was for her to find happiness with him.

TWENTY-ONE

“Dad!”

Benjamin jack-knifed up in bed as a loud crash and his name being shouted jerked him out of sleep. His chest heaved and his heart pounded as he blinked away the last remnants of sleep. It took him a moment to realize where he was, and it wasn’t until he heard Olivia’s voice shouting again that he realized it was morning.

“What?” He croaked out as he ran a heavy hand over his face. He took deep steady breaths in until his heartbeat slowed close to normal before climbing out of bed.

“You’re late for work,” Liv called out again before he heard something else slam. “Jessie is here. I’m leaving for study group this morning before school. See you later.”

“Bye. Love you,” he shouted back. He could hear the front door close downstairs and with a sigh, he leaned back against the headboard. He felt ridiculous for being pulled from a fantasy at his age, but he didn’t know why he was surprised considering the tension that he was left with when he and Amber finished each phone call.

“Two days. She’ll be back in two days,” he muttered.

Benjamin had offered to accompany Amber to Chicago to help her pack up her things though she had declined. She wanted to do it alone which he could understand. Leaving the life behind that she had lived for so many years was surely no easy feat, and her saying they both needed to take some time and think about where this relationship was going was more than fair. They both had a lot to consider, and Benjamin had Olivia to worry about. It was smart to use this time to plan.

He looked down snorting at his tented bed sheet. “Though it seems I’m using this time to fantasize more than anything.”

Benjamin flung his sheet down and got out of bed. A glance at the clock told him he only had an hour to get dressed and go open the café, so he put some pep in his step. Breakfast would have to be at work in-between filling coffee orders this morning.

Benjamin's phone chimed almost as soon as he was done warming up the equipment and setting out the baked goods for the morning. He waved hello to his normal morning customers and checked his phone after pouring out their coffees.

‘It's too noisy here.’

He chuckled and rang the orders up before responding.

‘I thought you liked the excitement of the city.’

‘I like having things to do. I don't like not being able to hear myself think.’

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