Better With Ben

by Casey McMillin

  "I think Molly's downstairs at Nick's," Hannah said.

  "Probably," Taylor said. "I know she was going to meet up with him after she left my house." Thinking about what Molly did when she left her house made her think about eating dinner for some reason, which made her remember that she hadn't eaten. "I forgot to eat," Taylor said. It was a random comment to make in the middle of talking about Molly and Nick, and it made Hannah giggle.

  When Cam walked back into the living room a minute later, Hannah asked if Taylor could dig in the fridge.

  "Definitely," he said. "I just got a bunch of food brought up here today." He went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, then looked at Taylor, who was still standing several feet away looking embarrassed. "Don't be shy," he said. "I have enough food in here to feed an army."

  The word army made her think about Ben, but she just stood there like a deer in headlights, hoping her thoughts weren't readable to any of them.

  "You coming?" he said. She snapped to attention and crossed to stand behind Cam. They stared into the fridge for several seconds before he spoke up. "I'll just get this out and we can all munch off of it," he said. He reached in and got a platter of meats and cheeses. When he unwrapped it, she could see there was a whole section of what seemed to be chutneys along the side. It was a beautiful spread, and Taylor's stomach growled just looking it. "I have some crackers in the pantry or you can cut some bread if you want." Cam set the tray on the bar, and Hannah went to the pantry to get out the box of crackers they'd been munching out of earlier. "There's more on the top shelf if that box is toast," Cam said. He popped a couple of slices of pastrami into his mouth before going back to his gaming position on the couch.

  Taylor told him thanks for the food and he said she should help herself to whatever else she wanted in the kitchen. Hannah sat with Taylor at the bar while she put a little sustenance in her body. Stress had caused her to lose a little weight over the past week, but tonight she had her appetite back.

  They ended up hanging out at Cam's until about eleven that evening. Hannah and Jason said they needed to be getting back to Brentwood, and Taylor agreed saying she needed to head out as well. Cam insisted that he'd be bored if they all left, and said Taylor should stick around a little longer. She didn't think he was trying to get fresh with her or anything—he really just seemed like he wasn't ready for his company to leave.

  You better believe it was tempting. It's hard to tell Cam Bishop no. She seriously considered sticking around to play Xbox even though she didn't know the first thing about it. The only thing that made Taylor leave with Hannah and Jason was that she didn't want to walk to her car alone. "I've got a long day at work tomorrow, but thanks for the offer," she said to Cam. "It's tempting even though I suck at Xbox."

  She thanked him again for the food before they walked out. Cam and Jason said something about getting together the next day for lunch, but Taylor was talking to Hannah about where she parked. Hannah and Jason walked Taylor to her car and told her goodnight. Both of them commented on her hair again, which made her feel like it looked as good as she thought it did.

  It had been a good day. Ben came to see her at work, Molly did a makeover house call, and then she hung out and ate food at Cam Bishop's crib. Maybe she'd get a lottery ticket on the way home.

  ****

  Two days later, Taylor could still be caught smiling. It was because the fear that had been gripping her relentlessly for a full week had lessened to a manageable amount—an amount she could live with. She was hopeful that if things kept going like this, she wouldn't have to seek help from a therapist.

  The detective in charge of her case had called the day before, and even when she was faced with the task of talking about the girl and her killer, she didn't panic or see stars or anything. It was Thursday evening at about eight o'clock when Taylor got a call from an unknown number. She figured it was a telemarketer, so she was a little snippy when she answered.

  "Hello?"

  There was a couple seconds of silence.

  "Taylor?"

  "Yeah."

  "It's Ben."

  Ben was honestly the last person she expected to hear from, so it took a second to sink in that it was her Ben—Molly's brother Ben.

  She experienced a rush of nerves at the thought of having him on the line. "What are you doing?" she said. "I thought you didn't get back till tomorrow."

  "I do. I'm not back yet. I was just thinking about you and wanted to call and make sure you didn't have any trouble with the pass out kings."

  She laughed. "Aw, that's so nice of you to call. I've actually had a really good couple of days."

  "Good," he said. "Whatcha been up to?"

  "Working mostly. Your sister came over and gave me a haircut the other night and I hung out a little at Cam's, but I've worked a ton the last two days. I just got off like an hour ago. I'm staying too busy—I ain't got time for passing out."

  "What were you doing at Cam's?"

  "What?"

  "You said you went to Cam's. Are you talking about Cam Bishop?"

  "Oh, yeah. Hannah and Jason were over there and they asked if I wanted to go hang out."

  "What? Like just you four?"

  "Yeah, it wasn't a big deal. I guess I thought someone like him would have a perpetual party going on around him, but we just hung out and ate and played video games like normal people."

  "He is just a normal person," Ben said.

  Taylor loved the fact that he seemed perturbed by the idea of her hanging out with Cam, but she didn't push it. She knew he was going out on a limb to call her and didn't want to repay him by egging him on.

  "I'm so glad you called," she said. "I assume you're having fun on your trip."

  He breathed a laugh. "I guess you could say that."

  "Your sister did my hair."

  "I know, you said that. Is it different or something?"

  "A little," she said. To her, it was really different, but she'd rather give him less of a build-up rather than have him expect some huge transformation.

  "Is it blue?"

  "No."

  "Is it all the way gone?"

  "No. It's really not that different, I just thought it was really sweet of her for coming over here to fix me up."

  Ben didn't comment on his sister's sweetness. He was a man of few words, and that wasn't the type of thing he normally made conversation about. In fact, he didn't normally make conversation with girls period. He liked girls and everything—liked them a lot, but his life had been about the Army and getting the job done for so long, that he didn't really know how to adjust to caring about the details of someone else's life. The funny thing was he really did care about checking in on Taylor or he wouldn't have done it in the first place. He'd been worried about her and was glad to hear she'd been doing well while he was gone—even if he considered the evening at Cam's an indiscretion.

  "Hey, I have to go," she heard him say.

  She was enjoying talking to him, and hated for the conversation to end, but he sounded like he was being forced to hang up, and she wasn't about to pout about it. "Oh, okay. Thanks for checking on me."

  "Glad you're doing well. I'll see ya when I get back."

  She heard him hang up. It was clear by his tone that he really had to be going, so she wasn't offended by the lack of goodbyes. She had gone into her bedroom during their conversation, and when they hung up, she put the phone to her chest and collapsed back-first onto her double bed.

  He called.

  He called from overseas or wherever he was. He could be right down the street in Knoxville or Birmingham, but for whatever reason she thought of him as being in some place exotic like Spain or Bulgaria. Anyway, he called. Taylor didn't know how to feel about it. Part of her knew he was just a nice guy and it was the considerate thing to do—calling and checking on someone you knew was going through a hard time. But there was this other part of her that felt like he might care about her in a way that ran deeper.

&n
bsp; She sighed. Regardless of how Ben felt about her or how things would wind up between them, she was thinking about the murdered girl less and less. The distraction couldn't have come at a better time.

  She imagined what he was doing after he hung up with her. He'd been in a phone booth and was now running through the crowded streets of Bulgaria chasing some bad guy.

  Wait.

  She was relatively sure Bulgaria was a country. She tried to think of a Bulgarian city he could be running through, and realized, after considering Istanbul and rejecting it, that she didn't think she knew the name of a city in Bulgaria. (She would look it up later and find Sophia, which she'd never heard of, but for now, she continued the daydream, substituting Istanbul for the location.)

  There would probably be a gunfight where he did things like jump over gaps in rooftops, landing in a forward roll before firing off several rounds to finish the bad guy. She was sure he was a big hero in Istanbul right now. Or maybe he was a briefcase-carrying sniper and no one knew what a hero he was. Either way, he was doing something exciting and good, and thinking about it was keeping her mind off of dead things.

  Chapter 14

  Taylor was smiling at her Istanbul fantasy when Gina tapped on her door.

  "Come in," Taylor said, schooling her expression.

  "I'm going to see Molly tomorrow," Gina said as she walked in. "What do you think I should get her to do?"

  Molly had done such a good job on Taylor's hair that at least three of her friends were planning on making appointments to go see her at the beauty school.

  "Are you getting color, or just a cut?"

  "I think both."

  "You should. She's good."

  "I know. I'm excited!"

  "Hey, Hannah told me to tell you you're welcome to stop by there Saturday night."

  "Where?"

  "Jason's house in Brentwood. It's not a big party or anything, but they're having a few people over for drinks and games or whatever. Anyway, she told me to bring you if you wanted to come."

  "Are their other people from work going?" "Matt, Anne, and Nothing were all three standing right there when Hannah mentioned it. They all said they'd try to make it, but you never know."

  "Is it this Saturday? What time?"

  "Probably around seven or so. Hannah said they'd have snacks, but they weren't doing a full menu or anything. Just a couple of friends over, you know."

  Gina gave Taylor a skeptical look. "Is Cam gonna be there?"

  "Probably. Why?"

  "Because if Cam Bishop's gonna be at a get together, it'll go from small to big really quick."

  Taylor shrugged. "Hannah said maybe twenty people."

  "Where's she getting food from?"

  "Just appetizers, but from Katie's, I think."

  "Yum." Gina paused for a second before smiling. "I'll probably take you up on it and tag along if you don't care."

  "No, we want you to, that's why I mentioned it. I didn't know if Hannah had mentioned it to you or if you were scheduled to work."

  "Neither, but I'm totally going. That sounds fun."

  "We can ride out there together if you want."

  "Perfect. I'm going back in there to study. Let me know if you think of anything cool I should do with my hair, otherwise I'm just going to tell Molly to do her thing."

  "You should do that. She's really good. I think you'll like whatever she comes up with."

  "Alright. Night."

  "Night."

  Gina started to leave the room but then turned with wide eyes. "I almost forgot one of the main reasons I came in here. Kelly, that girl with the bright red hair, she told me she saw you kissing some guy on the patio the other day."

  "When did she tell you that?"

  "Just now. I went by the coffee shop to get some caffeine. I have a big test tomorrow."

  "I thought you were going to see Molly tomorrow."

  "I am. After my test. You never answered my question about the guy-kissing. Was that you? I told her maybe it was someone else."

  "It was me but it wasn't a big deal. He just came by to say goodbye and he barely—"

  "Who?"

  "Ben."

  "Really? He kissed you?"

  "Barely."

  Gina narrowed her eyes. "Barely?"

  A huge grin spread across Taylor's face. "What? He was just saying goodbye."

  "Kent says goodbye to you every day and I don't think he ever kisses you when he says it."

  Taylor buried her face in the pillow and let out a little scream. Gina laughed along with her, loving the fact that Taylor was happy and excited again.

  "I better go study," Gina repeated. "For what it's worth, he's really hot."

  "Ben? I know. I think he is too."

  "Is he messed up from being in the military? There was this guy from my hometown who had a really hard time coming back. I don't know what happened."

  Taylor shook her head. "No, I think he's pretty normal," she said. "I didn't know him before he left, but he seems pretty levelheaded now."

  "How does his tongue seem?" Gina made a teasing face as she closed the door on Taylor's growl of annoyance and then they both laughed through the closed door. "Night," Gina yelled.

  "Night. Good luck on your test."

  "Thanks."

  ****

  Ben sent her a text the next evening. It was Friday. She knew he was coming home, and had been looking forward to hearing from him the whole day, but didn't get a text until 10PM that night. She was glad she'd decided to go to the movie with Matt and Kent instead of waiting around. She was in the movie theater when she felt her phone buzz. It was relatively empty in there and she knew how to shield the phone in her purse, so she told herself it was okay to check and see who it was.

  Ben: "Hey. I made it home."

  She smiled and looked back at the movie screen. She stared at the action, but couldn't tell you for a million bucks what the actors were saying. She thought only about what she could text back. She tried to be inconspicuous when she tapped out the text.

  Taylor: "So glad to hear from you. In movie. Will text in a bit."

  She didn't hear back from him, which made her regret her text and feel like maybe it was too abrupt.

  Kent was driving from the movie theater home, so Taylor text Ben from the backseat just as soon as they got on the road.

  Taylor: "Sorry. I'm too chicken to text in a movie theater. So glad you made it home."

  Ben: "I'm glad to be back. So tired."

  Taylor: "I'll bet. It's not everyday you go to Istanbul."

  Ben: "Amsterdam."

  Taylor: "Even better. Although I'm not sure how to picture Amsterdam."

  Ben: "That's okay because I didn't go there."

  Taylor: "You didn't?"

  Ben: "No."

  Taylor: "You gonna tell me?"

  Ben: "No."

  He wasn't about to tell her that he'd been on the shores of Cuba dealing with a full-on hostage situation.

  Taylor: "Well then, I guess I'll have to picture Istanbul."

  Ben: "You picturing me?"

  Taylor felt the twisting, tingling sensation happening in the pit of her stomach. Every time he said or did something that could be perceived as halfway flirtatious, she got the butterflies real hard.

  "What's so funny?" came Kent's voice from the front seat.

  Taylor hadn't even realized she was giggling. "Nothing. Facebook. One of those postcard things."

  Thankfully, Kent didn't ask what the postcard said, and Taylor just looked back at the screen, deciding how to respond to Ben.

  Taylor: "Don't worry, if I were to picture you, I'd make you look good."

  Ben: "Of course, because otherwise you'd be lying."

  Taylor: "You must be a nice-looking guy. I wish I could remember what you look like."

  Ben: "What? Did you get amnesia? Pass out kings?"

  Taylor: An emoji of a smiley face, then: "No I'm just playing. I know exactly what you look like."


  Ben: "That's good because Molly told me I wouldn't recognize you."

  Taylor: "She did? I don't know. It's a little different I guess." It was a lot different and she knew it, she just didn't want him to be built up too much.

  Ben: "I guess I'm supposed to stop by Hannah's tomorrow night."

  Taylor: "You coming? Yay!"

  Ben: "I think so. Probably for sure now that I know you're going."

  Taylor: "Awesome. See you tomorrow!"

  She knew the text sounded like she was signing off, but she felt like she needed to. She caught herself wishing he'd offer to come pick her up and take her to Hannah's. She felt slightly disappointed when he didn't, which she knew was crazy. She figured it'd be best to end the conversation.

  Ben: "Okay good."

  Taylor: "Night."

  As soon as Taylor sent that last text, they pulled into the driveway. She put the phone in her purse and went into the house where she had a brief conversation with Matt and Kent about the movie. She wasn't sleepy, but she went into her bedroom anyway so she could pick out what she was going to wear to Hannah's the next night.

  Taylor had to work a fiftieth anniversary luncheon party the next day, after which she squeezed in a nap. She and Gina got dressed at the same time and left early so they could grab a bite to eat before they drove to Brentwood. They ended up sharing a plate, which was a smart move since Taylor was so nervous about seeing Ben that she barely picked at her food. She kept telling herself that Cam Bishop would be there and that should make her more nervous than the prospect of seeing a regular guy like Ben, but her thoughts constantly drifted to the brave warrior.

  For some reason, she had the feeling that his trip had changed him. Even though it had only been a few days since the last time she saw him, she half-expected him to be different than the guy she said goodbye to. There was no sense in her logic, and she told herself that—but she couldn't help her thoughts, and tonight, they were of Ben and what it'd be like to see him again.

  She and Gina got to Jason's place a little before seven. There were already about eight or ten people there, which surprised Taylor since it was early. When they walked in, they could see that people were gathered in two groups—one in the kitchen and one in the adjoining living room. The bigger one in the living room was Jason, Cam, and five or six others Taylor recognized as Cam's assistant and some of their other connections in the music industry.