A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn(17)

“Maybe,” she hedged. Though she thought the idea of Jay and Emma liking each other was rather sweet, it was now obvious that Ben didn’t care for the idea. At all.

“Tricia, my father is a widower,” he said.

“I know.” She shrugged. “I only meant that I think it’s nice that they met each other, since Emma is a widow and all.” She bit her lip. Had that come out completely wrong? Had she just made it sound as if she thought it was good that Jay and Emma had lost their spouses?

“You know, my mamm only passed away a year and a half ago.” Ben looked so appalled and his voice so pained, that Tricia wished she could navigate a conversation as well as she could the shuttle stops.

Feeling worse than terrible, she backtracked quickly. “Ben, I’m so sorry. I’ve been really insensitive,” she said in a rush. Here she’d been so thankful for their connection and the way they were able to converse about most anything, and she’d ruined it by saying too much. “Please forgive me. And forget I said anything, too. Actually, let’s forget everything I said.”

Reaching out, he pressed his palm to the center of her back. “Hush, Trish,” he said gently. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m sorry for snapping at you. You were only speaking your mind.”

She sighed in relief as she realized that he wasn’t mad at her. She hadn’t messed everything up.

“Nee, I was being silly. Again, I’m really sorry. I’m sure your daed and Emma are just friends. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Actually, there’s everything good about that.” Ack! She was talking too much. She had to stop herself from blabbering on about things she knew little about.

Ben sighed. “You’re right. There isn’t anything wrong with my father making a friend. I mean, look at us.”

Tricia forced herself to smile brightly. After all, she had practically brought this on. “Jah, look at us! We hit it off right away.”

She ached to tell him just how glad she was that they were friends, but she didn’t want to scare him off. Then, of course, there was the fact that she didn’t want to simply be friends with Ben Hilty. She already knew for a fact that she liked him a lot.

“We did—well, we ran into each other right away.”

“Hey, I had a whole lot of towels stacked in my arms. I could hardly see where I was going.”

“But that didn’t stop you from walking down the hall like your feet were on fire.” He chuckled. “The moment we collided, they all fell in a heap at your feet.”

“And you helped me pick them all up . . . and place them in the linen closet.”

“I was using any excuse to be around you a little longer.”

“And I was glad you did,” she admitted. She’d relived those first few moments between them a hundred times. It had been like she’d known something momentous had just taken place.

Ben pressed his hand to her waist again as they turned left toward the inn, passing right by the Palm Grove Mennonite Church with the beautiful flowering tree gracing its front yard. “I’m glad we met, Tricia.”

“Me, too.”

“My grandmommi always used to tell me that the Lord shines on us even when we aren’t looking for his rays of light. I guess that’s what happened when we met. I wasn’t looking for anything special but there you were, at our inn.”

“The Lord does know everything we need,” she said with a smile.

“You know, I never thought about my daed being lonely, but maybe he does get lonely every now and then,” he said slowly. After a pause, he continued, sounding more reflective. “Mark and me, well, we don’t spend a lot of time with him. Not anymore.”

“At least he has William.”

Ben shook his head. “William is a handful. Managing him takes the patience of a saint. If I were my father, I would want a break from my little bruder every now and then.”

“I’m sure your father misses your mamm.”

“I’m sure he does. My mother . . . she was great.” He looked at her again. “Let’s not talk about my parents anymore.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

When he looked down at her this time, there was a new, mischievous look in his eyes. “How about we talk about when I’m going to get to see you again.”

She bit her lip before deciding not to play any games. “I want to see you whenever you have time to see me.”

“It’s as easy as that?”

“Well, as easy as a SCAT ride,” she teased. “And, as long as I am not working.”

“I’ll see if I can pick up William from school sometimes in the afternoon.”