Page 44 of Crimson Promises
“Honestly?”
He nodded his head earnestly.
My face broke into a grin. “I loved every second of it. Well, except maybe the part when you revved the throttle. I thought I was going to puke then. Other than that, I don’t think I’ve ever felt that free.”
“Wait until you try flying.” His eyes looked like emeralds sparkling against the night sky.
“Let’s work our way up to a plane ride, shall we?”
Ben’s mouth fell open. He gave me his hand to pull me up. “So, where are we going to dinner exactly? You’ve been studiously evading my questions.”
“I didn’t want you to bail on me.”
He raised his eyebrows at me as if to say well, out with it.
“It’s a couple friend of mine.”
“Nothing scary about that.”
“The thing is they’re a…retired couple. Vic and Darlene, you should probably know their names before we walk in. Vic is the doorman at my building, and I’ve become one of their adopted children since I moved out here. My dad and Vic became friends, and Vic takes his role of ensuring my overall being on behalf of my father a little bit too literally. Especially after the accident.”
Ben held both palms up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, that is a lot of information to share. You were in an accident?”
“Yeah, but that’s a story for another time.”
“And Vic and Darlene are kind of like your surrogate parents?”
I nodded.
“Way to warn a guy that he’s practically meeting the parents on the first date.”
My heart whooshed in my ears when he called it our first date.
“They’re harmless, I promise. They’re a cute old couple, though I will warn you Vic will probably try and use some horrible slang on you.” I shook my head. “He tries to keep up with his grandkids, and it’s all wrong.”
“Noted.”
“Sorry for dumping all of this on you last minute.”
“Sure you are.” Ben gave me a half smile that almost had me falling over. “It’s going to be fine. We are already here. I’m sure they are wonderful people. From what I know about you, you seem to be pretty selective on whom you let into your life, even if you did go out with Riley, which I will forever question your sound judgment for. Let’s go in before I get grilled for not showing up to places on time.”
This time, I reached for his hand and threaded my fingers through them as we headed toward Ben’s trial by fire.
* * *
Darlene and Vic lived near the center of Arch Cape off of Hug Point Road. Their street name always struck me to how well suited it was to the couple. Genuine, cozy, and huggable. If I could have dreamed up grandparents for myself, it would have been them.
When I knocked, I was relieved to see Darlene was the one to open the red door of their farmhouse. Darlene’s white hair was piled on her head in a messy bun. A few stands had escaped and framed the edge of her face.
“Come in, come in, sweetie. We’ve been expecting you. It’s so nice to see you.” She gave me a hug and a peck on the cheek, likefamily.
Ben followed me through the door but paused on the threshold. Darlene gave him no room to process any of his fears. She walked right up to him. “And you must be Ben. You must be something special for our Aurora to bring you along.”
Here. We. Go.
Ben smiled sheepishly at her. “Thank you for having us. This is for you.” He hands her the packaged dessertIpicked up.
“You shouldn’t have. But thank you, sweets are always appreciated in this household. I can assure you Victor will be thrilled.”
