Page 32 of Because of You
This is an unspoken agreement that Julie, Emma, and I have always had, so it’s not surprising when Julie aims a grin at Molly and says, “Because you have fabulous feet for them to fall at. So, what about you, Hal?”
Shit. In my concern for Molly, I forgot that I would have to talk at some point. I opt for casual and hope that the weirdness between Ben and me was invisible to anyone who might have been watching.
“The most action I got last night was watching Jordan and Allie make out at the table and then dancing with a guy whomight as well be my brother…so, sadly, nothing to report here. Although, I think I looked amazing, so thanks for making me get the red dress.”
Julie points at me. “Hot as fuck for sure. Red is your color, Hal. So, what else?” She looks around the table, and as we eat, we keep talking about who was there, and what everyone was wearing, and Jeremy’s speech that made the entire room cry.
I breathe a sigh of relief that, even though my feelings are a mess of confusion and residual arousal, no one else seems to have noticed.
After breakfast, I double check that my e-reader is in my bag and grab my suitcases and the bag of road trip snacks I left by the front door. I fill up my water tumbler and grab a seltzer before heading to Julie’s. She is already waiting outside with her bags and our second bag of road trip snacks, chatting with Emma and Molly.
“It’s lake time, bitches,” Molly yells out when she sees me pull up.
Julie lets out a whoop and throws her suitcases into my trunk. She seems lighter than she has been the last few weeks since we started moving into our office. She hasn’t even mentioned work once this morning, although I see her laptop and a stack of files in the tote bag she slides in next to the suitcases. It’s probably too much to hope that she would leave work at home entirely. She wouldn’t be her if she did. She hands me her bag of snacks.
“I know it’s your thing with Ben, but they had the family size bag of mini-Reese’s cups at the grocery store, so I got them for you for the drive.”
The mention of Ben has my stomach swooping, but Julie’s thoughtful gesture has my heart warming. I’ve felt this underlying irritation with her since Maya’s adoption hearing and her cavalier attitude about skipping it. I know that it lingers because I never really talked to her about it, and when I tried, she shut me down. It would have probably been better to press her on it and fight our way to a resolution, but the thought of that makes me vaguely nauseous. I push it aside and hug her.
“Thanks, Jules.”
“Anytime. Now let’s get this show on the road.”
We all slide into the cars. Molly and Emma into Molly’s and Julie and I into mine. A little thrill runs through me as I set my GPS to the lake house and then drive away to start my favorite two weeks of the year.
Chapter Twenty-One
Hallie
The Parkers’ lake house is a sprawling stone and wood lakefront structure in Deep Creek, Maryland. It has a massive front porch with a row of cushioned chairs and a deck off the living room in the back overlooking the fire pit, the pool, and the lake. It is the most beautiful, interesting house I have ever seen, and it feels more like home than any of my actual homes ever have.
Julie and Ben’s parents bought the lake house when we were four years old. At the time, it was a one floor, five-bedroom cabin with a loft that served as a kind of unofficial kid hangout. Over the years, the Parkers have added a second floor to the cabin and wings to flank the original structure on either side to accommodate our growing group.
Rachel and Steven Parker are the most amazing people in the world. As more friends came into our lives, they wanted everyone to feel at home when they came to the lake. For them, that means a bedroom for everyone—no sharing necessary—and two full weeks of friends, family, amazing food, and all our lake house traditions.
It's late afternoon when Julie and I drive up the long gravel driveway and pull up to the front of the house, followed by Mollyand Emma. I look up at the house that holds so many of my best memories. Like every time I lay eyes on it after a long time away, my heart lifts and my soul quiets in a way that it doesn’t almost anywhere else.
“Mom’s really outdone herself on the flowers this year,” Julie observes, as we gather up all the detritus of a two-and-a-half-hour road trip from the floor of the car. An interior designer by profession, Rachel gardens as a hobby. Even though Steven has offered to hire a gardener and landscaper many times over the years, she always refuses, insisting that gardening is her happy place. The house is a riot of colors. Flower beds line the front and stretch alongside the driveway, and large planters filled with colorful blooms flank the porch steps and front door. It is happy, gorgeous, organized chaos, and I love every single inch of it.
“She really does get better every year.”
“God, don’t tell her that. She’ll be impossible to live with.”
I snort out a laugh because Julie is right. Rachel is amazing at what she does, and she knows it. I pop the trunk and get out to start unloading, as Molly and Emma do the same behind me. I’m just grabbing the handle of my biggest suitcase when the front door opens. I turn towards the sound, as Ben strolls out wearing board shorts, a white t-shirt, and a baseball cap, fully in vacation mode. He looks relaxed and happy and so much like my Ben that I wonder if maybe I built last night up in my head into something that it wasn’t. I’ve been in a weird place lately. It was my mind playing tricks on me, seeing things that weren’t really there.
That’s definitely it.
Probably.
“Welcome to the lake, ladies.” He grins and starts down the stairs. As he walks directly to me, he takes off his hat, runs his fingers through his blond waves, and resettles the hat on his head, backwards. I have seen him do that a thousand times, but this time it sends a bolt of arousal straight to my core. Okay, somaybe it wasn’t my mind playing tricks. He reaches me and pulls me into a hug.
“So happy to see you, Hallie girl,” he whispers directly into my ear. I wind my arms around his back to return the hug as my stomach explodes in a riot of butterflies, and that bolt of arousal doubles in size. Okay. Shit. No tricks. None at all. Good thing I packed the good vibrator. He holds onto me for just a second longer than is strictly friendly, and then he releases me. He slides the tote bag off my shoulder and onto his, taking the suitcase out of my hands and grabbing my second one from the trunk.
Stunned a little speechless by my reaction to his greeting, I finally locate my vocal cords. “You don’t have to carry all my bags, you know.”
“Sure I do, Hal.” He tosses me a wink and heads up the porch steps.
“He could have taken my bags,” grumbles Julie, as she pulls hers from the trunk and follows Ben up the stairs. Molly trails after her wearing a caftan she must have changed into on the road, massive sunglasses, a big floppy hat, and a tote bag on each arm. Her pile of luggage sits by the car waiting to, no doubt, be carried up to the house by whichever of the men she can charm into doing it. Her dramatic vacation vibe makes me giggle at her retreating form.
