Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (20 page)

“Just what I said.
I was wondering if you had some time this weekend to help me find an apartment. I only have a week, and with a car, it might be easier.” She crossed her fingers that he wouldn’t be tied up with farm visits with
Joe
l
.

“Le
t me call you back.
”

Ben checked with
Joe
l
, who gave him time off.
“I hate to ask
, but could I borrow t
he Thing
, too
? If we find
a place, she’ll need to move in, and without a
back
seat,
the cab
would make a dandy little moving van.”

“I thought you were using the
Green Monster
.
”

“
It doesn’t have a very big trunk, and
I don’t trust it. E
very time I take it more than a couple
of miles, it tends to stall
. If I were you, I’d junk
it
and
get
something more reliable.”

“That’s why I wa
s letting
you borrow it,
so you can
learn its foibles and figure out what needs to be done.”

“
Joe
l
, I’m
extern
ing
as
a veter
inarian, not an auto mechanic.
My dad
can
do wonders wit
h engines, but they’
re not my bag.”

“I get your point. Go ahead and take the cab. We can switch cars tomorrow if you bring the other one to the office. Will it make it up the hill?”

“If I
put it in reverse
.” 

On
Saturday
Dannilynn
found a
furnished
apartment in a building within walking distance of campus. It had a kitchen whose window over
looked
the bay, and a bedroom barely big enough for
the
bed, but the living room
hel
d a desk and a couch.
Ben
move
d
her things out of the dorm.
They
return
ed
her key to the housemother,
her lips pursed prissily
. She
said nothing to
him
.

“You’ve worked hard all day, and this
room
look
s
great
.
Let’s
go
get
pizza at that place near the
bus terminal
.”
He brushed his hair o
f
f his face
and wiped the sweat off his forehead
.

“A good idea.”

Danni
picked a corner table. T
hey
were enjoying their meal when she saw
Steve
enter the room with several other young men. Her heart
began an ominous thud. S
he
looked
away
,
then
bit her lip.

“Is something wrong?”

“I saw someone I’d just as soon not see
.
Are you about done? I’d like to leave.”

Ben
signaled for the bill and stood up.
“I’ll be right there.”

Dannilynn
walked outside and was waiting near the cab when
Steve
and his buddies
stepped out onto the sidewalk
with
two pizza boxes in hand.

“Hey, I thought that was you.
”
Steve
saunter
ed over
to her. “
You’re
look
ing a little
chubbi
er than last year.
”

When he reached out to touch her, s
he
backed
away from him
.

“I didn’t think you
’d
be on campus this
fall.
Didn’t you go to
Alaska
?
”
She hated that
he was standing so close to her
.

Steve
grinn
ed at her.
“
Just a summer job. I came back
to have some
fun
,
see some girls
. Would yo
u like to have some fun,
like we did last year?”

Before she could stop him, h
e
shov
ed her against the
car,
his hands
sliding toward
her waist
.

“Who’
s
your friend,
Danni
?” Ben
came
up behind
Steve
.

“Just
a
guy
, not a friend
.
In fact, he’s n
obody special,
”
she murmured
as she edged away from Steve
, her stomach doing flip-flops
.

Steve glowered at her.
“Nobody special
?
I wouldn’t say
that if I was you
,
Danni
.
You seemed to think
I was pretty special last year,
or don’t you remember?”
H
e leered
at her and his buddies chuckled
.

“If she says you were no
body
special,
then I guess you weren’t.
We’ll be going now,
Danni
.”
Ben
opened the door for her.

“
Hey, n
o n
eed to rush off so soon.
” Steve
leaned
into the car window
and peered more closely at her
. “Do I detect that you
are
… H
ey, is it
mine? Hey, guys, guess what
—
”

“
Watch your mouth, man
.
” Ben spun
Steve
around
and away from the car
.

Steve
shoved
Ben
back
and threw a punch, but Ben easily deflected it then swung with his
right. His fist slid off Steve
’s cheek and jaw
, but managed to knock Steve to the ground
.

“Ben, please. Let’s just leave,”
Danni
pleaded
, her heart in her throat
.

Steve
’s friends helped him up
and pulled him
away from Ben
,
toward their
truck
.
Ben climbed into the car
and drove away
.
He looked
over
at Danni. She was
looking out the window, her hands fisting in her lap. When he started to ask her a question, she shook her head.

Back at the apartment,
Danni
paced in front of the couch
while Ben soaked his skinned knuckles,
which were
now starting to swell
.
He
helped himself to a glass of water.
“Who was that asshole and what gives him the right to
talk
to you
like that?”

“
He used to be my boyfriend
. He—I—
I hate him!
”
She gulped. “T
oday is the first time I
’ve seen him since last year.”
She sat
down on the couch next to Ben, h
er
hands
trembl
ing
, the color leached from her cheeks
.

“Hey, he really upset you.”
He
put his arm
s
around her
and pulled her close to his chest. Her heart was racing
. “Don’t let him
do that. He had no
right. He’s not in any of your classes, is he?”

She
shook
her head
as she clung to him
. “
No.
He
said he wasn’t on campus this year.”

“
Then
don’t think
about him
. You’re all moved in, and that’s the important thing, right?”
He rubbed her back.

“I guess so.  I’m kind of tired
from everything we did
.”

“
I wonder
why.
You moved furniture and
made the place
look
just like you wanted
,
and rearranged all your
book
s and things at the desk here,
and
got everything out of the dorm,
in spite of that old battle-axe of a h
ousemother. Wonder where they d
ug her up.” H
e
imitated her pursed lips
and placed
his hands on his h
ips
while he sashayed
around the room.

Danni
giggled. “
She was only following
the rule
s.”

“Right. Well, I
need to get
back home
now that you don’t need the
help of the first-class
Edwards Moving C
ompany.”
He
flexed his arm muscles.

Don’t go. I feel safer with you here.
“Do you have to go so soon? Couldn’t you stay a little longer? I’ll mak
e you some
coffee
,
”
she offered.

He sat back d
own
,
looking
pleased that she had asked
. “You talked me into it.
”
He smiled.

Hours later,
Danni
waved
to Ben
as he
climb
ed
into
t
he Th
ing,
already pointed
down the hill
.

A friend, that’s what you are, Ben.
If only
you
were my boyfriend.
If only she hadn’t lost her virginity with Steve
. Those words
seemed to mock her whenever she thought back to last year
. She locked the door and returned to her desk to begin reading her assignments for the next day’s classes
, determined to
concentrate on her classes
and
stop
worry
ing about Steve
.

“Your turn to take the lead
on this
one
, Benjamin.
”
Joe
l
hand
ed
the instruments to him.

Ben dropped a scalpel.

“What’s the
matt
er with your
right
hand?”

“Sorry.
My knuckles are kinda sore.
From an accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

“
My fist
ran into someone’s face
.”

“I thought you
drove
up to help
Danni
move—or did
she haul
off and hit you
?
”

“
No,
but this
creepy
guy
tried
. I
shoved him out of the way,
and
he
took
a swing at me
.” Ben dropped another instrument. “Sorry. I think I need to soa
k my hand again.
”