Page 41 of Cups of You

Amber frowned before unlocking the phone and texting back.

‘How did you get my number?’

His response was slow to come and by the time her phone pinged again, she was in the kitchen making lunch. She tasted the spaghetti sauce before picking the phone back up.

‘I got it from Willie. I’m sorry. I should have asked you for it first.’

She was going to text back, but another message came in before she could think of what to say. Amber didn’t mind that Benjamin had her number, but since she had only been around a couple people, she just wasn’t sure where he had gotten it. She made a note to send a text to Willie.

‘I wanted to invite you over to dinner with me and a couple friends. Part of a thank you for inviting me to yours and a belated welcome back to town.’

Amber snorted. The welcome back was a couple weeks late, but she could still appreciate it. She hadn’t been getting out too much not wanting to leave her aunt alone for most of the day, but she had gone to visit Willie’s bookstore again the day before.

‘Sure. When?’

‘Tomorrow night? Around 7?’

She would need to double-check with Jackie to make sure the older woman was fine without her, but she texted back that she would be there. His non-emoji smiley face response made her smile, and she saved his number and address to her phone. Despite her initial annoyance at Benjamin texting her out of the blue, she was feeling good about why. She liked the guy even if she still thought he smiled too damn much.

“Is lunch ready?”

Amber glanced over her shoulder. “Almost. You alright?”

“I’m fine,” Jackie replied. “I’d be finer if you stopped asking and got out of the house every now and then.”

Amber rolled her eyes before spooning out noodles into a bowl. “Well, you’ll get your wish tomorrow night when I leave you to go out to dinner for the evening.”

“Good.”

Amber snorted. She spooned out some sauce and took the bowl over to the table. Jackie was scowling and looking downright irritable.

“What’s wrong auntie?”

Her aunt sighed and gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for snapping at you baby. It’s just this darn cast itching my dang foot. I tried getting a coat hanger down there to scratch it, but it didn’t help.”

“I’m sorry auntie.” Amber winced. She remembered the time she broke her arm and how frustrating it was to not be able to scratch her arm when it itched. Jackie smiled at her.

“It’s fine. You being here helps with the whole thing. I know I said I didn’t need you to come down, but I’m awfully glad you did baby.”

Warmth spread in Amber’s chest as she looked down at Jackie. She couldn’t imagine her aunt trying to deal with this alone. The thought that she might have had to struggle alone if Amber had listened to Josiah and stayed in Chicago had her blinking back tears. It also left Amber pondering other questions, namely what would her aunt do when Amber left? Even after she fully healed from this, what if it happened again or something worse?

Jackie was still a spitfire, but eventually she wouldn’t be able to do everything for herself. Could Amber really drag her aunt away from Millensville?

Did she even want to?

“Where will you be going?”

“What?”

Jackie tilted her head. “For dinner tomorrow night. You said you were going out?”

“Oh, right.” Amber walked back to the stove to get her own bowl. “Benjamin texted me and invited me to dinner at his place.” When she turned back to the table, Jackie was smirking.

“He did, did he? So, you two will enjoy a romantic evening together? A nice little dinner date?”

Amber rolled her eyes ignoring how little the idea bothered her. She put her bowl on the table and sat down beside Jackie.

“No, it’s not a dinner date. It’s a dinner get together with some of his friends. He’s just being polite.”

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