Ben watched as she attempted to ignore the thick tension they were trapped in. "You said you brought pictures?"
Ben's chest felt tight, but the pressure released with the change of topic. This situation couldn't be easy for her, but he was fumbling through it as well. Accepting the reprieve, he pressed the button and lit up the screen. "Are you sure you're ready?"
It was a big step for her to come face to face with a past she wouldn't recognize. He debated if it was too soon for her. No, he couldn't wait to share the photos. For her. Was it too much too soon? But just like the Grace he always knew, she lifted her chin into the air as if gathering an inner strength, and said, "Yes, I think so."
He recognized the trait immediately. Grace's strength was something she always shouldered with ease and he admired. Although it wasn't as strong as he remembered, she wasn't Grace either. Not in that moment, but Grace was still there. She just needed to be unburied. He opened his picture gallery and showed her the first photo, which was of her at a party toasting with a glass of champagne. She didn't need to know it was their engagement party, not yet at least.
She covered her mouth with her fingertips as she stared back into her own eyes. "My eyes . . . mine but . . . foreign," she mumbled to herself. "This is me, my life . . . before . . ." Her words trailed off, and as much as Ben wondered what she was thinking and feeling, he gave her the time she needed to process the person she used to be.
The next picture was one of her sitting by the lake behind their homes. She seemed to pause as if trying to actually remember being there. He watched her with intense fascination as she went through the twenty or so pictures he had loaded onto his phone just for her.
"I have more at home on my computer." He smiled. "I think I have thousands-"
"Of me?" she asked surprised.
He watched an elderly couple in the distance walking hand in hand. "No, not just you. I mean," he sat back down and rested his forearms on his legs, "a lot of you, but a lot of you with other people, too."
"Will you show me?" She stood right in front of him, holding her hand out for him.
"I thought you didn't have much time today?"
She looked at her watch and then put her hand out to him like an offering again. "This is more important."
The offer was irresistible. He would never refuse her, so he placed his hand in hers and stood up. Expecting her to take a step back, he waited but she didn't. She didn't move. What she did was look up at him and made a confession of her own.
"I feel close to you, Ben. I don't know what exactly we were to each other, but I can feel it was important, that you were important to me."
He wanted to scream, "I was. I was the one you were going to spend your forever with." Rubbing the back of his hand across her cheek, in that moment, he didn't care about appropriate boundaries. He had his Grace standing in front of him in the flesh and needed to touch her just like old times. "Thank you. Thank you for trusting me. I know it's hard to do, to take a relative stranger's word, so I appreciate that you've given me this chance."
She tilted her head a little confused as the words escaped, "You searched for me for three years."
"More than."
A sweet smile appeared on her face as realization dawned. "You never gave up, even after I did." Her words were shaky like her hands. "Ben?"
"Yes?"
She peered directly into his eyes, as if trying to pull information from his soul. "Did you love me?" Sweet Grace, with all of my heart and soul.
"More than anything."
6
Jane Parker
Jane and Ben walked in silence back to the parking garage across the street. He held the door open while she climbed inside his car, a soft thank you drifting from her lips.
It only took ten minutes to get to his building, but she felt every second. Two nights ago her life changed, and she was still grappling to find her footing in this new world. More than anything. He loved her more than anything. The magnitude of that statement hit her right in the heart. His honesty was so romantic she couldn't resist gravitating toward him. Peeking over at Ben, she couldn't deny that something was awakened, an innate attraction that stirred inside. She didn't dare explore it for fear of what she'd find. She just wasn't sure how long she'd be able to deny it.
Guilt seeped in. She was in love with Hunter. How could she have feelings for another if she loved him? But Ben Edwards was so handsome he took her breath away every time she saw him. His hair was stylish, short and maintained, but not perfect. A little messy and a lot sexy, if she was being honest. She liked it, and despite how much his eyes reminded her of a perfect spring day in Chicago, it was the intensity of his passion that drew her closer.