Come with Me (Let It Be Me #2) (10 page)

“She does?” Ben thought aloud. 

Kayla nodded. “For weeks now. Looks like Henry found a near-perfect girl to work for your foundation.”

Ben looked back at Liz in wonderment; his eyes briefly stopped on the guy she was talking to. He didn’t read anything into it, since he knew Liz had a boyfriend.

He looked back at Kayla and found her looking at him with a smile on. 

“I better go,” she said. “I never run out of email messages to respond to.”

“Sure,” Ben said, leaning down to give her a hug. “In case I don’t get to see you Thursday, happy birthday!”

“Thank you!” Kayla exclaimed. “We can plan for something over the weekend.”

“Definitely,” Ben said grinning. Alex’s secret was safely kept. 

“Bye!” Kayla greeted, walking away as he approached Liz, who has already finished talking to the other volunteer, and was on her own.

“Let’s go?” Ben asked her.  

Liz nodded and she followed him as he walked back to where he parked the car.

When they both were buckled into his car, he backed the car up as the guard opened the gate for him.

It was only when they were out on the street that Ben turned to Liz. “Kayla said you’re volunteering in the library?”

Liz looked up at him, some panic seen in her face. “I am. Is that against company policy?”

Ben shook his head, smilingly, turning his gaze back to the road. “No, not at all. We don’t really expect the employees of the foundation to volunteer more of their time. It’s pretty generous of you actually.”

“Thank you,” Liz replied softly.

“You go after work or weekends?” Ben asked.

“Just weekends,” Liz said. 

“You take the train?” Ben asked, looking back at her.

She nodded.

He then looked back at the road and wondered if it was safe for her. The site of Stone Homes was safe – they made sure of that when they picked the lot – but he never checked if it was safe for someone to commute going there.

And with Liz’s background, she could easily be a criminal’s target.

He suddenly got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Chapter 15

Ben

 “Ben, this is such a wonderful gift, thank you,” Kayla said Saturday night. She hooked her arm in his, as she was holding a flute of champagne. 

“Of course,” Ben said, beaming. “I’m already starting with my Best Man duties.”

Kayla laughed. 

Alex and Kayla called him Thursday night to share the good news. Even if Ben knew Kayla was going to say yes, it was good to hear them confirm it. They then coordinated with the party Ben arranged for them. He hired a caterer and a flutist. He also had some floral arrangements brought in. He wasn’t new to arranging these get-togethers especially in the industry he and Alex were in. They’ve arranged for parties for investors, production crews and friends. 

The party just started less than an hour ago, and everyone they invited have arrived.

“It’s good to see you both happy,” Ben said. He looked at Henry who was chatting with Alex, Bobby Flanders – Kayla’s boss – and his wife Cynthia. Alex was talking animatedly.

“Thank you,” Kayla said. 

“Have you already told your relatives?” Ben asked. When he asked Kayla and Alex for the guest list, Kayla said they would just visit her relatives in New Jersey another weekend. She couldn’t have them go to New York in short notice.

“I’m going to tell them in person,” Kayla said. 

“They will like that,” Ben said. Kayla had a rift with her relatives until a year ago. She has been rebuilding her relationship with them ever since.

“I better save Bobby and Cynthia from Alex’s chattering,” Kayla said kiddingly, slipping her arm away from his. 

Ben laughed. “Go ahead,” he told her. 

He looked around and saw Jenny and Ryan near the food table. Jenny Martin was part of Kayla’s team who worked with the foundation in the design of Stone Homes. They have all grown to become friends over the past year, especially when Alex and Kayla got together. Ben would occasionally join them when they all met for lunch or dinner.

Ryan was Jenny’s husband. He was a soft-spoken guy who taught in a high school. Jenny and Ryan were opposites but Ben saw how they worked as a couple since they balanced each other out. 

Jenny was expecting her second child really soon, by the looks of it. But she looked quite radiant with the pregnancy glow.

“Jenny,” Ben called as he approached them. They already greeted each other when the couple arrived but they haven’t talked yet. “How are you? When are you due?”

“I’m already on my twenty-eighth week,” she informed him.

“Trey must be looking forward to his baby sister,” Ben said.

“He’s actually pretty mature about it,” Ryan told him. “You know how Trey is -- always trying to be like an adult.”

Ben laughed. Whenever they had dinner in Kayla’s apartment, Jenny would bring Trey and Trey would try to join in on the conversation. Ben loved kids and he enjoyed having Trey with them.

“Kayla showed me pictures of the site,” Jenny said. “I can’t wait to see it after I give birth.”

“You’ll be just in time,” Ben told her. “By then, the finishing works will be more than halfway over.”

Jenny nodded. 

“And I also saw Kevin’s team’s drawings for the school,” Jenny said. “It’s going to be great.”

Ben laughed. “I wonder if you had to spy in order to see them.” Jenny had a pretty hyper personality. Jenny has also been a good influence on Kayla’s more reserved demeanor. 

“We tried to spy while they were working on it,” she admitted, grinning, “but Kayla said they might think we were interfering. Or maybe Bobby would think Kayla was too involved with RHS. So we patiently waited till Kevin and his team were done with it.”

Both Ryan and Ben laughed. Jenny was quite a character.

“I can’t wait to help plan Kayla’s wedding!’ Jenny exclaimed. Kayla has already informed Jenny that she would be the maid of honor. 

Ben grinned. That was something Jenny would surely enjoy.

“Maybe I should ask Bobby to give Kayla less projects so she can plan the wedding,” Alex said as he approached them.

“I don’t think you’d want to start a fight with Kayla,” Jenny said, giggling.

Alex laughed. They all knew how Kayla loved her work. She has however improved her work-life balance since she met Alex.

“I think I want some of those panacotta cups,” Jenny said. “Baby’s calling for it.”

The men laughed. 

“Excuse us,” Ryan said, as he and Jenny walked to the other end of the food table.

“Kayla’s ecstatic,” Alex said. 

“You did good, man,” Ben said, patting him on the shoulder.

“I did more than good,” Alex said. “Kayla’s more than I could have hoped for.”

“You just got engaged, so I will forgive you for your sappy lines,” Ben kidded.

Alex laughed.

“Hey Kayla and I were able to visit Stone Homes this morning,” Alex told him. “Everything’s looking great. Looks like we can meet our turnover schedule.”

Ben nodded. “Looks like it,” he echoed. 

Then he remembered something

“I haven’t brought this up with Henry,” Ben started, “but I found out that Liz has been volunteering in the Stone Homes library weekends.”

“I think Kayla mentioned that,” Alex said. “That’s great, huh.”

“Liz told me she takes the train to Stone Homes,” Ben said. “I’m not sure if that’s safe.”

“Kayla said she goes in the afternoon,” Alex said. “I think so long as she doesn’t stay till dark she’ll be fine. She’s a grown woman. She should be able to handle herself.”

Ben nodded, hoping Alex was right. 

It was Alex’s turn to pat Ben on his shoulder. “You always worry about everyone, man.”

Ben laughed, though it felt empty.

“Enjoy the night,” Alex said, walking away. 

Later that night, Ben approached the flutist to pause after a song. He stood there until the song ended. With no microphone, he tapped his champagne glass with a fork. Everyone automatically looked at him.

 “Thank you everyone for being here,” Ben said. “We are here to celebrate Kayla’s birthday –“ everyone clapped and Jenny shouted a birthday greeting. “—and of course their recent engagement.”

Everyone clapped again. Jenny hooted.

“Two years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined Alex would reach this point.” Everyone laughed, with Alex laughing the loudest. “But Kayla enters his life and he has gone back to the Alex Stone who would have baseball practice after school, then go to the soup kitchen to help his parents.”

Ben saw as Kayla looked up at Alex. She wrapped her arm around Alex’s waist. Alex bent over to kiss her on her forehead.

“So thank you, Kayla,” Ben continued. “You arrived just in time. I was about fed up accompanying Alex to every bar in town.”

Everyone broke out in laughter.

“So I raise this toast to love, to friendship and coming home. And happy birthday, Kayla,” Ben said, raising his glass before taking a sip of champagne.

 Alex turned to kiss Kayla.

 And it was while watching Alex and Kayla that Ben remembered what Kayla asked him. What else did he have in his bucket list?

It was what was in front of his eyes right then.

He wanted something like what Alex and Kayla had.

Chapter 16

Liz

 I could just kill Brian, Liz thought to herself. She played with the napkin on her lap as her supposed date droned on and on.

“Soccer is awesome. The anticipation before the next goal… then boom! Goal!” Gary Allman continued on his ode to soccer. He was flapping his fork and knife as if these objects weren’t sharp. Liz was catching her breath every time he waved them – worried that they would slip through his fingers and fly straight at Liz.

Liz nodded absent-mindedly as she took another bite of her steak. She’s already told him that she didn’t watch soccer. But he still continued rambling about it.

Brian owed her big time for this, she mentally glowered. 

“Come on, Liz,” Brian pleaded a couple days back when he called. “He’s my client’s son. My client’s been pestering me about it. She seemed desperate. I was worried I would lose her since she’s one of my largest clients.”

“I would have had Emily go,” Brian continued, “but it seems like she and Philip have really hit it off.” That brought a smile to Liz’s face. It was true, Philip has the night they met Philip asked for Emily’s number. He has been calling her, and they have gone out once. Philip has also told Liz that he has managed to move on with his book. Ah, the power of inspiration, Liz thought.

“Fine,” Liz conceded, since she didn’t want Brian to get in trouble with his client. And she had a hard time saying no to her friends. She practically regretted it as soon as she said the word though.

“Oh my gosh, I love you Liz!” Brian squealed. “You can’t take it back anymore!”

“It better be a good restaurant though,” Liz said. “I should at least enjoy the food.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Brian said. “Their family’s loaded.”

“You know I’m not after that,” Liz said. “You so owe me for this.”

Brian nodded reassuringly, but she wasn’t still convinced she made the right decision.

“Do you realize how many people have died related to soccer?” Gary continued, snapping her back to the present, and proving to her she absolutely made the wrong choice. No wonder his mom was desperate. “A referee killed by a fan due to a call he made. Fans of rival teams going against each other. That shows how much passion there is in the game.”

Or lunacy, Liz thought.

Liz nodded, biting back any retort that formed in her brain, with the assumption that sparking up a new debate would just open the flood gates for him to talk some more.

Liz gazed at him, trying to see if any part of him was attractive. He was tall and slim. His hair was kind of receding. But he had nice eyes and a decent smile; and he dressed well enough in a tailored suit. She was just totally put off by him talking too much about a topic she wasn’t interested in, showing he lacked in thoughtfulness.

Liz forced herself a bite of the grilled vegetables. The food was good in the upscale French restaurant owned by a popular chef, but it was only a small consolation for the poor company. The buzz of his voice was making her lose her appetite.   

It was then that Liz felt someone looking at her. 

She looked up and looked around until her gaze landed on Ben Wright. He was seated alone by the bar, and he was looking at her, smiling – or rather, trying to fight the urge to laugh.

Liz felt her cheeks grow warm to have been caught by one of her bosses in an awkward situation. She looked back down at her food, trying to compose herself. She then found herself looking up again to see him still watching her.

“Meet me outside,” he mouthed, his head tilting towards the restaurant entrance.

Liz’s eyebrows went up. She looked back at Gary who was talking in between bites, and back at Ben. She saw him throw some bills on the counter then stood up. He took a few steps closer to where Liz was seated so she could see him clearly. Good thing Gary’s back was against majority of the room.

“Come on,” he mouthed, smiling assuredly.

Liz looked down at her plate and didn’t realize what she was doing until she suddenly found herself say: “Excuse me, I need to go to the ladies’ room.”

“Sure,” Gary said. 

He didn’t even bother standing up when she did.

Looking back so as to make sure Gary wasn’t looking, Liz found herself walking out of the restaurant, where she found Ben.

“This must be one of my most embarrassing moments,” she muttered, before Ben had the chance to say anything. “It had to be one of my bosses to see me.”

Ben laughed whole-heartedly. 

Liz looked at him sternly for making her feel worse.

Ben stopped laughing then suddenly said, “Okay we have to be quick. Give me your mobile number then head back to your table. I’ll take it from here.”

“Excuse me?” Liz asked incredulously.