Ben’s house was modern, the most modern in our circle. This house had all of the character that he’d described his parents with, colonial with cream stucco siding and beautiful flower beds that wrapped around the house. I felt a thrill of anticipation. I suddenly couldn’t wait to meet them and to see the kind of faded environment Ben had grown up in.
His relationship with his father improved daily, but he’d shared some of the hurt from his childhood and I knew it was still hard for him to accept that his father wanted to change, to salvage whatever they could of their tattered bond.
We walked through the open front door and Ben called out, “Mom, we’re here!”
She rushed into the entryway, a ruffle-trimmed apron tied around her waist. “Ben, hi! And you must be Liz! I’m Sharon, it’s so great to finally meet you.” A beautiful smile lit her happy face. She was everything I expected her to be from the pictures hanging in Ben’s house, but so much more in real life. Her dark brown bob fit the shape of her face stylishly, no grays anywhere in sight, and she held her slender frame with a dignified grace that I recognized in the way Ben held himself too. She looked between Ben and me with a shocking amount of affection. I didn’t know how to accept her immediate approval of me.
Katherine had been so distant my entire marriage to Grady. I had expected much of the same with Sharon.
A burning irritation rippled through me. I couldn’t help but hate that I had to go through this again. It had been bad enough with Grady, but what was I doing here with Ben?
His hand squeezed mine and I tried to step out of my bad mood. “It’s nice to meet you too, Sharon. Ben has told me so much about you.” I smiled politely and squared my shoulders in an attempt to push my negative thoughts away.
She looked at her son adoringly, “Has he? He hasn’t shut up about you and the kids. It’s too bad you couldn’t bring them with you. I’m so anxious to meet them.”
“I… Well… I, uh, thought it was probably better if they stayed home tonight. They can be… a little much.”
She waved a hand in front of her face as if dismissing that very true fact. “Oh, I don’t believe it. And if they are, I’m sure it’s in the best way. Ben speaks so highly of them; I know they are very special kids.”
I tried to contain my surprise when I said, “Ben is a little biased.” I had never imagined Ben speaking well of my kids to others. The thought had literally never crossed my mind. And if I had maybe stopped to think about what he would say, I assumed it would be of how chaotic my life could be or how overwhelming we were. It left me a little breathless that he didn’t seem to feel that way at all.
“Ben loves you. Of course, he’s biased,” she grinned at me. And then, as if her words had not just completely shattered my entire world, she waved us toward the dining room. “Dinner’s ready and Mark will never forgive me if I learn anything more about you without him.”
She turned her back to us and started walking toward the dining room. I froze in place. I couldn’t pick up my feet or find energy to follow her. My body had become fragile, my skin had grown thin and brittle, my heart a piece of delicate glass.
“Do not freak out,” Ben’s words were a whisper against my ear.
All I could do was press my lips together and shake my head.
“Liz,” he rumbled before pressing a kiss against my jaw. “She’s my mom and she’s never seen me this happy before. Of course, she thinks I love you.”
I braved a look at him. “And do you?”
“If I deny it, will you be able to get through dinner?”
I nodded, ignoring the thin veil of his words over the truth I didn’t want to accept.
“Then I don’t love you. You’re the most aggravating woman I’ve ever met. I can barely tolerate you.”
“And my kids?”
“Oh, no,” he chuckled. “I definitely love them.”
“You do?” An aching affection flooded my body, filling in all of the cracks that fear and uncertainty had left me with. An emotional heat bubbled in my chest and wrapped my stiff limbs with something like hope.
“Yes, I do. But they agree with me about you. You aggravate us all.”
“Are you two coming? The roast is getting cold.”
He pushed his hand against my lower back and led me to a dining room that had been set up for an elegant evening. I marveled at the china place settings and the silver cutlery. Sharon knew how to entertain.
I felt severely unprepared for the evening ahead, but it had very little to do with the table set up.
Ben’s dad stood up when we entered the softly lit room. He was an imposing figure with a broad chest and impeccably coiffed silver hair. He held out his hand to me with a small smile warming his expression.
“Liz, it’s so nice to finally meet you. We’ve been looking forward to this evening for a very long time.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Mark,” I smiled at him. “Everything smells delicious.”
“Then let’s eat it,” he grinned.
We took our seats and started passing dishes. Mark and Sharon threw question after question at me, seeming intrigued by every single aspect of my life.
I felt out of breath through the entire meal, trying to keep up with them. They were genuinely nice people that just wanted to know more about me. Still, their interest in my life was disconcerting. I had four kids. I was a widow. I was the very last person they should want their successful son to fall for.
Ben shared stories of the kids and they laughed as if they knew them. Sharon told anecdotes from Ben’s childhood and I found myself laughing along with them. Mark was more reserved than his wife, but I could see the effort he put into getting to know me.