“And I see you were always a fan of breakfast food,” I said, pointing at a framed photo of him eating pancakes.
“Always, but especially now that you had your first breakfast for dinner with me.”
Silence fell between us as we took in the photos on the wall, snapshots of Ben’s life before and after Pressman.
“There’s none of you while you were at Pressman,” I said.
Ben shook his head, pressing it closer to mine. “My parents never came up to visit.”
“Why? That seems . . . out of character.” I turned to look into Ben’s blue eyes. “You know, now that I remember, they never did come up for any games or parents’ weekends.”
Ben swallowed, a lump of something undetermined passing by his Adam’s apple. “I asked them not to. I barely fit in as it was, and my mom . . . Well, she’s just my mom and was never interested in being something she’s not. They didn’t have the right clothes or anything.”
“I’m sure they would have loved to see it.” I ran my palm down Ben’s arm and wove my fingers through his.
“They did from their car when they dropped me off. Just picturing me there was enough for my dad, and he cautioned my mom, making sure I paved my own way there.”
“And Brenna?”
“She got pregnant my freshman year, and then she wasn’t exactly in a position to visit.”
“I’ll bet she regrets that. You can tell she loves you.”
“Yeah, when she’s not trying to run my life. I swear if she had a man, she’d be less concerned with me.”
That made me laugh. “Somehow I think she’d find room in her life to boss both of you around. By the way, what’s the deal with her and Scott? Your mom seemed to think there was something more.”
“Who knows. They dated in high school. Brenna’s a long way from there now, raising a kid by herself and trying to make ends meet. Who knows what my mom is angling at.” Changing the subject, he said, “Since you saw the wall of shame, want to see my room?”
“Of course. Are we allowed to go upstairs?” I teased.
Ben tossed me over his shoulder and ran up the stairs to his room. The floorboards creaked under us and I punched his back, hoping he’d put me down. This was hardly how I wanted to get to know his parents, slung over his shoulder caveman-style.
Inside his room, he set me down, and I spun around taking it all in—blue plaid wallpaper, bunkbeds, and a huge lineup of trophies on the bureau. “I see it’s pretty much untouched.”
“Branson used to think it was fun to sleep in here, in Uncle Ben’s room, so my mom left it. Now she can change it, if she wants, considering how Branson thinks I’m the enemy most of the time these days.”
Moving closer to Ben, I ran my fingers through his hair and placed a quick kiss on his lips.
“What was that for?” he asked before kissing me again, making it impossible for me to answer.
We stayed like that for a while until we needed to catch our breath.
I rested my head on Ben’s chest. “Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself about Branson. He’s just a confused teen who’s lucky to have a great family to support him.”
Ben brushed his lips over the top of my head before tipping my chin up so he could meet my eyes. “Thanks.”
After spending a few more minutes exploring, picking up trinkets and taking it all in, I looked out the window from his bedroom. “Can we walk around the property?”
“The tasting house is still open for tourists. Marley is doing my parents a favor and helping out with the stragglers. Let’s go later? It’s beautiful at night.”
“Sure.”
Truthfully, I was itchy to get out of the house. This was nothing like my experience growing up, or like any of the families we had Sunday dinner with. There were always butlers and formalities and not a single bit of this type of down-home feel. This was all too real for me.
“Hey,” Ben said softly. “Stay here with me.”
He tipped my chin up again to bring my gaze back to his, and I felt a moment’s respite from the anxiety. I was falling for Ben and he was falling back, but this house—a paragon of normalcy—was starting to feel like a foreign country to me.
“I am. I’m trying.”
“See all those trees?” Ben distracted me by nodding toward the window and pulling me in front of him.
With my back to his front and his arms holding me firmly against him, I could feel his breath on my neck. “They’re beautiful. How long have they been here?”
“You can’t tap a tree until it’s forty years old, so a long time. Soon, my dad will start walking the rows of them and marking the ones to be tapped. When it dips below freezing, the sap starts to run during the day,” he said, and I swore I could feel him smiling against the back of my head.
“Those trees are like extended family. I can tell.”
“They are. Many of them came with the property when my parents bought it. A few years before Brenna was born, they planted a lot more. It was an expensive process, and they’re now only starting to realize any profits on them. That’s why they were always so strapped for cash back then.”
Ben pulled my hair aside and kissed my neck.
“Hey,” I mumbled. “We don’t want to get caught making out in your bedroom.”
He rumbled out a laugh. “My mom would be thrilled, I’m sure. Let’s go eat, and then we’ll take a walk around the trees. In the meantime, I promise to protect you from my family. They’re a bit much,” he said while squeezing my hand as we headed back downstairs.
I wasn’t sure whether I should be happy or nervous when Brenna plopped down next to me at dinner. With Ben seated across
