She Writes Love... by Sandi Lynn Read Free Book Online Page B

– a mental connection of the same emotions and grief.

Chapter 12
    Ben
    F riday
    I was up early and out the door for my usual run. As I ran my usual route, I scouted the beach, mainly focusing on the surfers that were in the water, hoping that I’d see Paisley. No luck. As far as I could tell, she wasn’t there. When I got home, I showered, changed, and went into the garage to start building the last two chairs of the dining set. The day went by pretty fast and I was getting hungry. After I cleaned up the garage and myself, I headed to the Sunset Bar. When I walked in, David was sitting in the same spot as the last couple of weeks.
    “You’re back,” I said as I sat down next to him.
    “Couldn’t stop thinking about those fish and chips all week. It’s too bad they only serve them on Fridays.”
    “Hey, Ben.” Damian smiled as he set down a bottle of beer.
    “Hi, Damian,” I replied as I took a drink.
    “How was your week?” David asked nonchalantly.
    “Busy. What about you?”
    “Busy as well.”
    “What do you do for work?” I asked out of curiosity.
    “I’m an independent business consultant.”
    “What kind of business?”
    “Mostly real estate. Did you end up going to that meeting last week?”
    “As a matter of fact, I did,” I replied as Damian set our fish and chips down in front of us.
    “How was it?”
    “It was okay. I didn’t go unnoticed, though. I had to stand up in front of everyone and talk about me and Amy.”
    “That had to be rough.”
    “It wasn’t that bad. I met a girl there.”
    When he turned his head to look at me, the corners of his mouth curved up. “Really? Who is she?”
    “Her name is Paisley and she’s around my age. Her husband passed away on their one-year wedding anniversary.”
    “Wow. I can’t even imagine. Losing someone would be hard enough, but on your wedding anniversary? Poor girl.”
    “It was her first time there too. She was just as uncomfortable as I was.”
    “Did you talk to her?” he asked.
    “Yeah. A little bit and then, the next day, I ran into her at the beach. She was going surfing with some guy. I’m going to take a leap and say it was her brother because they looked so much alike.”
    “Interesting. How weird is that?”
    “What?” I asked.
    “That you ran into her the next day.”
    “Yeah. I’d say that’s kind of weird.”
    “Are you going back tonight?” David asked as he ate a French fry.
    “I don’t know; I was thinking about it.”
    “If you’re thinking about it, then you should go. Maybe that girl – what’s her name again?”
    “Paisley,” I replied.
    “That’s right. Maybe Paisley will be there.”
    “Yeah. Maybe she will be.”
    When I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was seven fifty-five, I paid my bill and said goodbye to David.
    “Have a good week, David. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you next week.”
    “Bye, Ben. Enjoy that meeting.” He smiled.
    As I pulled into the parking lot of the medical center, I saw Paisley’s car. I smiled. She was here and I was relieved that she showed up. I stepped out of the truck and, on my way into the building, I stopped at her car because I noticed she was still sitting in it. As I lightly tapped on her window, she looked startled.
    “Are you okay?” I asked.
    She rolled down her window. God, was she pretty.
    “Hey. I’m fine,” she replied with a strange, but cute look on her face.
    “Are you going into the meeting?” I asked.
    “I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.”
    “Well, it’s eight o’clock and I’m sure they’ve already started,” I said as I looked at my watch.
    “I’m surprised you came back,” she said.
    I could tell she was nervous. “I’m actually surprised to see you here.”
    “Yeah, well, I haven’t made into the building yet.” She smiled.
    “You know what? This group makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Why don’t we skip it and go get some coffee? You know, the coffee we were supposed to have