Page 57 of Let's Call a Truce
Ben answered on the second ring. “So, how do you like your presents?”
“They’re beautiful. But you realize we live in Florida, right? It’s March, and it’s already over eighty degrees.”
“True, but it’s in the forties in Boston.”
I laughed out loud.
“You expect me to go running in Boston? I’m a Florida girl, born and raised. I don’t have it in me for cold weather.”
“We’ll be there for five days. Are you planning on going that long without a run?”
He was right. I hadn’t gone longer than a couple of days without running since Jason died. It was my chance to step away and reflect, a pseudo therapy I relied on.
“I’ll freeze and die. Has this been your plan all along to get rid of me?” Ben laughed on the other end of the line.
“Trust me. That’s the last thing I’d want. I’ll be right therewith you. If you freeze, I’ll carry you back inside and make sure you get warmed up.” His voice, laced with implications, was already making me warm.
“Unless we get lost far from the hotel and I end up a block of ice.”
“It’ll be above freezing even when we go early in the morning, so you turning into ice is a scientific impossibility. And I couldn’t get lost there. It’s my neighborhood. We’ll be running the streets I spent my entire childhood on.”
“Wait, you’re from Boston?”
“Born and raised, Florida Girl. You really were determined not to know anything about me. I talk about it all the time. The buildings in Boston were the main reason I wanted to study architecture.”
“I may have worked hard not to listen when you spoke.”
His laugh flooded my body with tingles. “I promise I’ll keep you safe on the cold, mean streets of Boston.”
“Fine. We’lltryto run. But I’m not too optimistic.”
“I’ll be down at lunchtime to call your parents about watching the kids. Then we can squeeze in a practice run.”
I smiled as I hung up the receiver.
We were leaving one week from today and still had to iron out some details. Last Saturday, when Sophie realized Ben was going on the same work trip, she decided Paris was going to stay with them at my parents’ house. The little sneak got my phone and called them while I wasn’t looking, then skipped back outside.
“Mr. Ben, can Paris stay with us while you’re in Boston? My grandma and grandpa said yes.”
She avoided looking at me. Clearly, Sophie was the epitome ofask for forgiveness rather than permission.
“Sophie Elizabeth, you do not make decisions like that without talking to me.” She gave me a half-hearted apology.
Ben leaned close to keep the kids from hearing. “Are you okay with that?”
I blinked up at him, wondering again where Paris’s mom was. “Of course. She wasn’t planning on staying with… someone else?”
“Kendall, our nanny, was going to stay, but Paris would be happier with Sophie and Clara.” He shot a quick glance toward Paris, ignoring my unspoken question.
I hated giving in to Sophie’s manipulations, but I didn’t want to punish Paris for Sophie’s actions. Now here we were, tying our lives more closely together when I was still trying to decide if I should run the other way. Ben knocked on the doorframe, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“Ready to talk.”
“Come on in and I’ll get her on the line.”
My mom picked up on the first ring, excited to talk about time with her granddaughters. We spent a while walking through the schedules and activities of all three girls, discussing what they could skip and what they couldn’t miss. We would be gone Monday to Friday, so at least I wouldn’t miss another one of Clara’s games.
“Mom, I’ll also talk to Gabriela and Clara’s teacher about them missing a bit of school to take us to the airport and pick us up. Are you okay with that? I think they’d like to be there.”
