Page 15 of For the Love of Scott
Maybe they can avoid it if they parted company for the next few minutes. Ben pushes Scott toward the family room while he goes into the kitchen to help Tim and Rachel scoop the ice cream.
“I’m so sorry, Ben,” Rachel says, looking genuinely contrite. “I should have figured. When Tim and I first started dating, we had a hard time keeping our hands off each other. Now—”
Tim loops his arms around her and presses a kiss to her neck. “Now nothing. I still have a hard time keeping my hands off you. You’re just as gorgeous today as you were the day I married you.” She turns in his arms and clasps her hands behind his neck and rubs his nose with her own.
“Could you not…over the ice cream?” Ben says, making a face. But it’s all in jest. In reality, he can’t have asked for a better man for Rachel. If only Leah would find someone just as perfect for her.
“You’ve got no room to talk, Bennigan, after what I just walked in on.” Rachel kisses her husband one last time and turns back to the ice cream. They empty the carton just as Misty thunders down the stairs. She runs into the kitchen wearing her favorite dinosaur pajamas. “What kinda ice cream are we having?”
“Mint and chip,” Ben says, handing her a bowl.
He follows her into the family room and watches her plop on the sofa next to Scott. He isn’t meant to sit next to his date for some reason. Ben hands a bowl to Scott, then to Ma and Dad before taking the chair next to Dad.
“You like this kind?” Misty asks, holding the bowl up for Scott’s inspection.
“I sure do.”
“Me too. It’s Ben’s fav’rit.”
Scott sends him a wink. “Is it?”
“Uh huh.” She takes a bite, and the TV shows the teams readying for the second half. “Mr. Scott?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to the Christmas Festival with us?”
He blinks and looks at the TV. “Ah, well, I don’t know.”
Ben’s heart sinks. He hasn’t asked because, well, the Festival opens Friday, and it’s only Monday, and he just hasn’t thought that far ahead.
Ma sends him a frown before saying, “Of course, he’s going to the Festival with us, Misty.” Then her lip quirks and Ben waits for it. “He’s Ben’s boyfriend, after all.”
Everyone laughs and Scott smiles. “Well, I guess that answers that,” he says to Misty.
With a single decisive nod, she says, “Yep,” and shovels another bite of ice cream into her mouth.
