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Ben sat, enjoying his breakfast as the door of the diner swung open. He was pleasantly surprised to see Emily walk in. It was Saturday, and he knew that she sometimes came into town but had expected that might be later in the day. When their eyes met, he nodded. She immediately started his direction.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“I have to see Dr. Rossio this morning,” she said. “I was a bit early, though, so I thought I would grab a cup of coffee and a Danish.”
“Feel free to join me,” he said, angling his head toward the booth across from his current position.
“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, sliding onto the lengthy bench.
“Is there anything wrong? I mean, because you are seeing Doc Rossio?’
“Not exactly,” she said, with a down-turned head worrying Ben.
“You sure?”
“I have a lot of scarring, and because of the lack of nutrition, I still have a few other struggles. He is working to see if we can correct everything over time,” she finished, not wishing to get into the gory details.
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged, as if not wanting to make a big deal of her early abuse. “My father was not an honorable man, but I refuse to let that worry me. I am just scared that the scars will turn people off, so I try to stay covered.”
“You realize at some point that your husband will need to see you without clothes. It also gets hot here during the summer, so covering yourself might not work in the long-term.”
“I have never dated, so thinking about a husband is a bit far-fetched,” she returned, catching him off guard.
“Never dated?” he asked incredulously. She was so cute, and he didn’t understand how that was possible.
She shook her head. “My father would never have approved. Since coming here, I’ve had a lot of work to do to make myself a responsible adult. Only recently has that possibility crossed my mind.”
Ben saw the slight flicker in her eyes toward him and felt his heart thud to a brief stop in his chest. The attraction was not one-sided, and he was dumbfounded.
“Anybody, in particular, peaking your attention?” he asked to see what she was willing to offer up.
Her face blushed red. Lucky for her, the waitress appeared at just that moment to take her order. When the sweet lady disappeared, he found Emily’s eyes on him.
“I don’t know how to be subtle and not just say what I am thinking,” she finished.
“The truth works for me, no need to sugarcoat.”
“I find you fascinating. I know we are just getting to know each other as we heal at our own pace. I was wondering, though, about maybe spending some time getting to know each other. Just a movie or something could be fun,” she said, biting her lip as she tried to meet his eyes and each time dropped her own immediately.
He smiled; she was simply the cutest thing he could remember in his lifetime. He loved her honesty and straightforward approach. Even more so, since the effort was difficult on her if the red skin tone, blotchy neck, and nervous hands were any indications.
“I would love that,” he agreed after a moment. “You are right. I have a lot of work that I still need to do on myself defining boundaries, therapy to recover from some poor choices, and building my relationship back up with my sister. I could use a special friend though just to have simple movie nights and long walks together. Let’s see where things could go from there.”
“Good,” Emily said after a minute. “To that end, I have a very important question.”
“What is your favorite genre of movie?”
“Action. Love me some Bruce Willis.”
“Yes! I was worried you would say horror.”
“OH, goodness, no. I don’t like the gore.”
“That is good news. Who is your favorite actress?”
“Hmmm, I would have to say, Reese Witherspoon. What about you?”
“Sandra Bullock,” she said, with no hesitation. “I have been devouring Belle’s entire movie catalog since I came to live here. We didn’t have a television on the farm, so she got me hooked on Sandra Bullock movies.”
“I can see that. She was obsessed with the movie, While You Were Sleeping. I think she made everyone in our high school watch it and even held a viewing party at her house.”
Emily chuckled, “sounds like Belle. Her double wedding with Margaret and Noah was the prettiest. It was also the first one I ever attended.”
“I wish I had been there. We all went to school together and grew up knowing about the others even though not all of us were in the same grade. I am surprised Noah and Katherine didn’t end up together, I mean she was his stalker in high school.”
Emily giggled, “Oh, I have heard some stories from Stormi about those days.”
The rest of the breakfast passed with them swapping stories. When they went to leave, Ben picked up her tab. He was looking forward to spending more time with Emily, and grateful to have had this time to clear the air.
Once on the sidewalk, she hesitated and turned back to him. “That was the best breakfast I have had in a long time,” she said earnestly. “Thank you.”
“Any time. I look forward to more meals shared, and stories.”
“Me too,” she said with a smile. “I better get going as my appointment is in ten minutes.”
“I will see you soon,” he promised as he turned, he couldn’t help but whistle a little tune on his path to the vehicle.
