53

“I don’t think people actually cook in Gibson’s Run.”

Ben glanced over the crowd jammed into the pizza parlor and took in the lean limbed Italian who had flared a before unseen jealousy in him. “What are you doing here, Marco?”

“Waiting for what was promised as the best pizza in Ohio, but my hopes are not high. Pizza not from Napoli does not seem as if it is worth the effort.”

“Then why not just head back to Napoli or Rome or wherever you are from.”

“Do you not know, I cannot? My father’s offer to Harper still waits a final answer.”

“What offer?”

The corner of Marco’s mouth curled. “Ah, so mia bella did not tell you of the extraordinary opportunity waiting for her?”

Small knots tightened under his skin. Ben had accidentally overheard whispers between Harper and Mrs. Jessup, but the details about why Marco was in Gibson’s Run were unclear. When he heard Mrs. Jessup mention Marco and Harper reconnecting Ben wasn’t brave enough to hear the details and he left the kitchen as quickly as he had entered. But now, it appeared, his ostrich routine had a time limit. “Spit it out, dude. You obviously feel as if you know Harper better than I do.”

Marco slid forward and brushed unseen lint from Ben’s shoulder. “Oh, but I do, my oversized American friend. You have known mia bella for what? Two weeks? I have known her for a lifetime. Our souls know each other. We are meant to be. I only need to have the time to remind her of our destiny.”

Destiny? Who was this guy? “What is this ‘extraordinary opportunity’?”

“She has the chance to decorate my father’s new chain of boutique hotels. Of course, I will be supervising.”

“A chain of hotels?” Why would Harper not have told him? This kind of opportunity could make her career. The job must have been what Mrs. Jessup and Harper were discussing. Reconnecting with Marco because of a decorating gig wasn’t threatening. Or at least it wouldn’t be threatening if Harper was only going after a job and not a Marco.

“Pick-up, Langston.” The server at the register shouted over the din of waiting customers.

“That’s me. Great catching up, Marco.” Ben turned toward the counter.

“She must pass the first test, but I do not fear her being up for the task. I will support her. And when she recognizes I am what she needs we will be together. As I said, we are destiny.”

~*~

Ben parked on the short driveway behind Aunt Lulu’s house. He lifted the three pizzas from the passenger seat and headed across the back lawn. His mind replayed the short interaction with Marco.

Why hadn’t Harper told him her good news? Maybe she was really still in love with Marco? Maybe Harper and Marco were destined? Maybe she didn’t know how to let Ben down easy? He could give her a few pointers. Ben had been let down easy more times than he could count.

A twig snapped to his right and the light of the low burning fire tugged his gaze. Darcy was folded tightly in the crook of an Adirondack chair staring into the flames.

“Darc, everything OK?”

She nodded and waved her hand, but the sound of sniffling cut through cold silence.

“Darc, I have three pizzas that will need to be thrown in the oven to warm regardless of whether I go in now or in ten minutes. Spill it?”

She lifted her gaze to his. In the softness of the moonlight, her blotchy cheeks and glossy eyes sparkled. “I’m stupid.”

Closing the distance between them, he set the pizzas on the edge of the fire pit. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“I thought…”

He waited so Darcy could find her words.

“I thought he liked me as much as I like him.”

Ah, the pastor.

“What happened?”

She shrugged and dragged a gloved hand under her nose.

“I can’t help without words.”

“Everything’s been turning around, you know? This town. The church. The new job. All of it. And I thought Finn was an answer to a question I hadn’t even asked God. All the chaos of the past few weeks, months, maybe even years, seemed to be settling and life was clicking into place. And I really liked the picture.”

He could relate. As unexpected and derailing as the last two weeks should have been, Ben couldn’t remember a time when his life felt so…right. He had purpose helping Lulu. He and Darcy were back to being he and Darcy. And there was Harper Jessup.

And now there was Marco and destiny.

Maybe Ben was wrong about how Harper felt about him. Ben knew how he felt about her, but feelings sometimes only traveled one way. “I can relate.”

“But now, I don’t know. I think I’m in love with Finn. No, I know I’m in love with Finn, and he told me he needs to ‘take a step back.’ What does that mean? You’re a guy. Explain it to me.”

“And he didn’t tell you why?”

“He just said he needs to take a step back, but everything between us was real.”

“Maybe something at the church? Guys, well, we can get one track minds for two things, women and work. And his work is pretty all consuming.”

“I get it. Because, you know, Christmas. But why break up with me? We’ve never been on a real date. This was officially the shortest relationship of my entire life. Do you think there’s another woman?”

Ben shook his head. There couldn’t be another woman in the pastor’s orbit. Ben’s knuckles got sore just considering the possibility.

“Is it too much to ask for all parts of my life to work together? Just this once?”

He tugged her into his side. “Nope. You deserve everything good in this world. You’ve sacrificed so much to try and keep your corner of the world neat and orderly; it’s about time order came to you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t try to control everything.”

“Darcy Langston, you’ve been trying to control the world since you could color coordinate your dolls’ clothes. It’s understandable. Your obsession with order was a bit of an antidote to our unorthodox childhood.”

“I don’t think I like you psychoanalyzing me.”

Ben swallowed against the thickness in his throat. He’d been dancing around the words he needed to say to Darcy for the better part of five years. But since he’d talked with Harper, they had been raw and on the surface. Pain and guilt rumbled through him as if he had eaten a two-day old sandwich. “I love you. You’re my sister, and the last few years of separation have been daily bouts of torture. But that was your choice, Darc, not mine. And because of how easily you cut me out, I’m petrified to share what I need to say.”

She shifted in her seat and lifted her chin toward Ben. “Say what you have to say.”

“You want the world to fit perfectly. You always have. If one piece falls out of order, you overreact and overcorrect. When Mom got sick, your need to put ninety-degree angles on every aspect of life went into overdrive. And when my choices didn’t make her well, you blamed me. You cemented the wall you created between us.”

“No...”

“Yes, you did. Your hurt ran extra deep because Mom didn’t choose you and your path. You started blaming me for everything wrong in your whole life, not just Mom’s illness. And I would have gladly accepted the blame if you had let me stay in your life. But you didn’t.

“Darc, I was so lost when Mom died. I lost her but I lost you, too. And losing you was by far worse. You were, are, my North Star. If I had a problem, I needed you to talk it out. If my heart was broken, you helped fix it. If I was scared, you made me brave. And in a moment, you were gone.”

She stretched to reach for his hand. “Ben, I’m so sorry. I was terrible. I couldn’t process Mom not being here anymore. Or how awful I was to her our whole lives. I guess I needed to shift the blame to release some of the guilt. And you ended up taking the burden. Just like every other time I had too much to carry, I lumped it on your shoulders. It wasn’t fair of me. And I will be forever ashamed of my inability to let go.”

“I’m just glad you have forgiven me.”

“Ben, you have nothing to be forgiven for. If either of us needs forgiveness, it’s me. I put my anger and hurt over Mom on you. And in the process, I junked up our relationship. Can you forgive me?”

He squeezed his sister’s fingers. “Done long ago. I can’t go through not talking to you again. Promise, no matter how mad you get at me you won’t ever shut me out of your life. You are my other half. As creepy and co-dependent as that might seem.”

“I promise. I love you, Benny boy.”

“I love you, Darcy darling.” Releasing the mantle of guilt and anger made Ben feel as though he was filled with helium. He glanced skyward and offered a silent thank You to God.

Shifting to sit on the arm of the chair, Ben draped his arm over Darcy’s shoulders. “I have to confess I feel the same way you do about Gibson’s Run. Mostly because we’re us again. But also, there is something simple and almost magical about this place. I hate Lulu had to have an accident for us to reconcile or for us to feel as if we have a home again, or maybe for the first time. But God has His hand in all this. Even you and Finn.”

“And you and the lovely Ms. Jessup?”

“Nice deflection.” He shrugged. “Maybe…I know what I feel and for me it’s a lot. But I don’t know what she’s feeling or thinking. I ran into that Marco guy at Frankie’s. His dad offered Harper a job. Why wouldn’t she have told me? Unless she doesn’t feel the same way I do.”

“Man, we are just two chips off the sentimental, romantic mom block.”

“Not a bad block to be chipped from.”

Darcy’s mouth tilted. “She was everything I ran from in my life. And now, all I want to do is follow in her footsteps.”

“Romantic lit professor?”

“Ugh! As if!” She shook her head. “No, I’ll stick with science. But I want to find what she chased most of her life.”

“Love?”

Darcy nodded. “I didn’t know I wanted it until I met Finn and quite frankly until my lips met Finn’s.”

“Darcy...we’ve talked about oversharing…”

“I guess I understand what Mom was pursuing with every move and new man. If she had even a spark of the feelings I have for Finn with our father, I can see why she was willing to try and recreate that feeling anywhere she could.”

Ben nodded. Once or twice, he experienced a twinge of the heady emotions Mom used to wax poetically about, but until the last few weeks he would not have considered upending his life to be with another person. But now? He would definitely entertain packing up his meager belongings and following Harper anywhere she led. Would he be as successful as Mom with his romantic endeavor of chasing a one-sided dream?

Swiping at her cheeks, Darcy stood. “I’ve wallowed just about enough. We have cold pizza to eat and a patient to make believe our lives are picture perfect.” Reaching for one of the pizza boxes, she took a few steps toward the house. “Distract me. Give me the details about Harper and the Italian hotty.”

He snatched the remaining boxes. “I think I liked it better when we weren’t talking.”