“Around the house?”
“Around the house?” I repeated dumbly. “No, thanks. We’re, um, the mowing was great, thank you. But I can’t ask anymore of you.”
Dark eyebrows drew down over equally dark eyes and his usually-playful lips pressed into a frown. “You didn’t ask. I offered.”
“No, I know. I just… We’re headed in to eat some lunch. So, thanks anyway. Seriously, thank you. You saved me from a hectic day.”
“You already said that.” His mouth had reformed into that arrogant twist I couldn’t stand.
“Well, I mean it,” I snapped and then hated my tone. “I mean, thanks, Ben. Thank you.”
He chuckled at my flustered behavior. “Not used to accepting help?”
Not from perfect strangers that keep butting into my life when they should just stay out. “One of my many flaws.” I flashed him a winning smile and herded the children towards the door. “We’ll see you later.”
“Have a good rest of the day, Liz,” he called after me. “And don’t forget my offer for the p-”
“Shh!” I spun around and held up a hand pleading for him to stop. “I remember, just…” I gestured at the little kids huddled around me. Blake had been mature enough to let the pool promise go, the rest of the kids would not be so forgetful. I wouldn’t hear the end of it for days. “I’m waiting until my sister has a day off. Then you can count on us knocking on your door.”
His eyes practically twinkled with amusement. “Emma, right?”
“Right.”
He put two fingers to his forehead and gave a little salute. “Have a good rest of the day, Neighbor.”
“You too… Neighbor.”
I didn’t wait for him to leave; I spun around and practically shoved my kids through the kitchen door that connected to the garage. I dropped Jace, careful to set him on his feet and then slammed the door behind me. I fell back against it and let out a long breath.
Ben Tyler was best taken in small doses. I hated the way he could unsettle me so completely without seeming to try or do anything other than talk to me. And everything about our interactions was so painfully awkward.
I doubted he would repeat his offer to mow the yard after that disaster. And that was okay with me. I didn’t need him filling in for Grady. I didn’t even need him to be a friend. I just needed not to be weird around him for once. And to run into him as little as possible.
God, I wished Grady was around to deal with him. Grady was so good with people; he would have easily made Ben feel welcome. And Ben seemed like the kind of guy Grady would have enjoyed being around.
Just one more reason to miss my husband.
The sadness and despair that came with that thought dumped on top of me as if I were standing underneath a waterfall of it. My knees buckled and I nearly collapsed.
“Mom, when are you going to make lunch?” Abby called from across the kitchen.
I forced my eyes open and pushed the tears back. I didn’t have time to meltdown right now. These sandwiches weren’t going to make themselves. “Right now. I’m going to start making it right now.”
Chapter Six
The next day, Sunday, I had abandoned more plans to get fully showered and dressed and decided to focus on the inside of the house. I’d put on running shorts, an old t-shirt and threw my hair up into a ponytail. The kids and I had turned the radio station to oldies after breakfast and attacked the dishes. Well, I attacked the dishes; they danced around my legs and generally ran wild. Except for Blake, who had pulled out a tablet and sat quietly playing games. He watched the chaos in the kitchen with mild terror.
When the doorbell rang, all of us were stunned. I looked at the kids like they might know who would show up on a Sunday. They were just as clueless as me.
I dried my hands on a dish towel on the way to the door and prayed it wasn’t a vacuum salesman. I had no patience for a hard sell right now.
Through the cloudy glass panes, I saw that it was, in fact? worse than a vacuum salesman. It was my mother-in-law.
And brother-in-law.
Great.
I shoved my long bangs back from my eyes and opened the door to meet the steely gray eyes of Katherine Carlson.
Shouts of “Nana!” could be heard as the rumor that grandma was here passed through the kitchen and before I could even greet this woman, my children had pounced on her.
She bent low to scoop them all up in one giant hug. They buried their little faces in her neck and she closed her eyes, relishing the moment.
It was an odd picture for me. Since the first time I met her, Katherine had been an intimidating figure in my life. She was rarely anything but serious and loved her two children fiercely, so fiercely that at times it felt like I had disappointed her expectations for her oldest son’s spouse. Until Grady became sick, I had never seen her show any kind of emotion, good or bad. She was as stoic as they came.
Except with the children.
With them, she transformed into this very sweet woman that wore her affection on her sleeve. She had been that way with Grady too. She loved him deeply. His death had shattered her as profoundly as it had me.
She had already buried her husband. Grady’s dad passed away while Grady was in high school, the victim of a drunken driving incident. And now her oldest boy. This woman was a pillar of strength and control, but I couldn’t get past her icy demeanor long enough to form a real relationship with her.
At first, I had thought Grady’s death would bring the two of us closer together. We loved him the most in the entire world. Surely, we could bond over our mutual loss. But if anything, she’d pulled back even more.
And so we tolerated each other for the sake of the children, but that was it. If Grady and I hadn’t had children, I was positive Katherine and I would have parted ways permanently following the funeral.