Page 58 of Cups of You

He understood that.

Benjamin had done a summer internship in NYC back in undergrad and the constant buzzing of cars, trains, and people had nearly done his head in.

He enjoyed being able to grab a quick bite to eat at all hours of the day or night, but he had barely been able to fall asleep each night.

‘I get it. I'm sure you have a lot on your mind.’

Benjamin certainly did. He didn't want to seem disrespectful or make light of any of the hurt Amber was probably feeling from the demise of her relationship, but he also wanted to make himself and his intentions abundantly clear.

‘Understatement.’

His thumbs hovered over the screen as he thought of how to respond. Flirting was not his forte, but it was time to put up or shut up as Randy always said.

‘I have a lot on my mind too. Like if I'm way out of line for hoping I'm on your mind as well.’

Amber didn't respond right away and Benjamin worried that it maybe it was too much too soon. He told himself not to jump to conclusions.

She was working on packing her things in Chicago and was more than likely not staring at her phone while doing it. He also knew Amber's friend, Tasha, was there helping her pack up the apartment that she had once shared with Josiah. Chances are they were spending time together before Amber came back to Millensville.

He was sure they had a lot to talk about. He wondered if they were talking about him.

Her response, when it finally came, had his heart pounding anew.

‘Not out of line.’

‘I have been thinking about you.’

Benjamin smiled down at his phone. Crazy how two short text messages could make him so ridiculously happy like a teenager whose crush just said they liked them back.

Which isn’t totally inaccurate.

The bell above the door rang and Benjamin called out an absentminded greeting as he continued to look at his phone. He knew he needed to get his head back into work, so he fired off a quick message not wanting Amber to think he was ignoring her. This thing between them was so new that he wanted to cultivate it carefully and deliberately to be sure there was no miscommunication.

‘I’ve been thinking about you too.’

That barely scratched the surface of what he was truly feeling if his dreams had anything to say about it. He put his phone in his pocket and looked up. He wasn’t expecting to see his ex-wife in front of him.

“Evangeline. What are you doing here?”

Benjamin was glad his surprise kept his voice even. They had an unspoken agreement that she stayed out of his café, so he was more than a little annoyed that she was here now.

And the day had been going so well.

Her blue eyes reminded him so much of Olivia, but that was where the resemblances tended to end for him.

Maybe it was how everything ended between them, but he had a tough time seeing anything of his daughter’s goodness in her mother.

Evangeline looked around eyes lingering over the couple of people at tables before she looked back at him.

“I need to talk to you about Olivia.”

He frowned and folded his arms. “What about Olivia?”

“Can we go in the back and have a conversation. I don’t want to talk about this with everyone listening to us.”

He looked over at the customers who were paying them no mind. As much as Benjamin wanted to say no, he reluctantly nodded and waved her around the counter. If it were about anything else, he wouldn’t have hesitated to stand his ground. But Benjamin didn’t want Olivia’s business to be fodder for people to gossip about. He opened the door to the back and moved aside so Evangeline could walk in. When the door shut behind them, he crossed his arms again and put a healthy amount of distance between them.

“Okay. Now, what is this all about.”

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