Chapter 39 Melody
Melody
Melody really wished Ben had thought to tell her his ex-girlfriend was also his parents’ neighbor. Tali seemed like a nice enough person, but having her here made Melody feel even more out of her element than she otherwise might have.
Melody and Ben hadn’t even slept together yet and here she was spending the holidays with his parents and a woman he’d been intimate with for years. She was starting to get a pressure headache just thinking about it.
Thankfully, Melody didn’t have time to obsess.
After Tali was introduced to Eric, Alexei, and Brendan, Ben’s mom put them all to work finalizing dinner preparations.
Melody peeled and chopped apples for the apple crisp, while Shawna made a salad.
Alexei and Brendan were in charge of prepping potatoes.
Melody wasn’t sure if Cathy had a sixth sense about such things, or whether Eric’s reputation for creating chaos in the kitchen preceded him, but he was given the task of ferrying needed items to and from Cathy on demand.
Ben and Tali were put in charge of setting the table. They were out of sight, but most definitely not out of Melody’s mind.
Conversation flowed but was kept light since they all had things to do and a timetable to stick to.
“This is all so exciting,” Alexei voiced as he continued working through the mound of potatoes he’d been tasked with peeling. “We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Russia, so this will be my first.”
“Really?” Cathy inquired. She gave his shoulder a gentle motherly squeeze as she walked past him. “Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated at all?”
Alexei mashed his lips together in thought. “I suppose some Russians have started to celebrate Thanksgiving in order to feel more American, but my family has never done so.”
Cathy cocked her head in thought. “I suppose that makes sense when I think about it. It’s more of a New World holiday.”
“In Russia,” Alexei explained, “we have Obzhynki, a harvest festival, but it isn’t the same.”
“Thanksgiving isn’t really the same here, either,” Ben contributed as he and Tali stepped into the kitchen.
“It’s changed a great deal over the years.
Early settlers are reputed to have dined on duck or goose, as well as seafood like lobster, clams, mussels, and cod.
I’ve also read that venison was prominently featured. ”
“So, this will not be a real Thanksgiving?” Alexei looked crestfallen.
Cathy shot her son a recriminating look before turning to Alexei. “Of course it will be, sweetie,” she soothed. “Thanksgiving has simply evolved over the years. But don’t you worry. We’re going to introduce you to a delicious all-American Thanksgiving celebration.”
“Mom’s right,” Ben reassured. “The core elements of Thanksgiving are still the same. The way ingredients are served has just been upgraded over time. For instance, instead of roasted pumpkin, we get to enjoy pumpkin pie. And believe me, that’s a Thanksgiving treat you don’t want to miss.”
Alexei smiled, visibly reassured. “I cannot wait,” he enthused. Melody could swear Alexei actually licked his lips in anticipation.
Melody glanced over at Ben to find him smiling serenely.
She couldn’t help but appreciate how sexy he looked, leaning against the door frame in designer jeans that hugged his glorious legs and glutes as if they had been made for him and a sharp lavender Henley that made the greener shades in his hazel eyes pop.
There was no doubt about it. Ben was eye candy of the first order, but his warmth and intelligence were an even bigger turn-on than his physical appearance. He was like some kind of superman the way he ticked every one of her boxes.
Melody shook her head at her fanciful thoughts, a small smile playing at her lips as she refocused on her kitchen assignment. “What else can I do, Cathy?” she asked as she finished slicing her last apple.
“My goodness,” Ben’s mom pronounced as she came over to inspect Melody’s work. “Those look perfect.”
Tali pretended to fall over, something Melody would have found far more entertaining had the other woman not pitched over into Ben’s side. “Did I hear that correctly, Cath?” Tali teased. “Did you just use the word ‘perfect’ to describe someone else’s work in the kitchen?”
“That I did, you little monster,” Cathy rebuffed lightly. “Now get on with you three.” Cathy turned her body away from Tali to look back at Melody. “Thank you, Melody. These really are perfect.”
A jumble of emotions too complicated to name tumbled around in Melody’s chest when she realized that Cathy was teasing Tali the way a mother might tease her own child.
Cathy had been welcoming to her, but was she really hoping to see Ben and Tali get back together so that the obvious daughter of her heart could become her daughter in truth?
Melody’s smile was forced when she offered her thanks and stood up from the kitchen table where she’d been seated for the better part of the past hour.
“Ben, Tali,” Cathy said as they turned to leave the kitchen. “I might be done with you for now, but know that I will recruit your help again at least a few more times before the day is out.”
“You bet, Mom,” Ben agreed, the very picture of the perfect, gracious son.
Tali gave Ben’s mom a playful two-fingered salute. “Aye aye, Captain Cath.”
Melody saw Cathy roll her eyes before she returned her attention to everything else that still needed to be done.
Melody smiled appreciatively when Cathy’s eyes flicked over to Eric, assessing him.
Good. Melody knew from firsthand experience that Eric needed constant supervision in the kitchen.
That’s how kitchen fires were prevented.
Ben and Tali were already seated by the time she made her way into the living room.
Melody was relieved to see that Ben was back in the oversized chair, while Tali was on the other side of the room, on the couch.
She wasn’t sure what she would have done if they’d been pressed up against one another on the sofa.
As he’d done earlier, Ben held out his hand to Melody and beckoned her to take a seat beside him. She couldn’t help but cut her eyes over to where Tali lounged on the couch. Surely, it would be awkward for all parties if she were to cuddle up next to Ben in front of his ex-girlfriend?
After looking for, and not noticing, any overt signs of jealousy from Tali, Melody hesitantly took Ben’s hand and settled in beside him.
While she might have accepted his unspoken request to have her close, she was conscious of not sandwiching herself directly against him.
This might be a unique situation, what with Ben’s ex also being his neighbor, but there was no need to make anyone more uncomfortable than necessary.
Melody must not have done a very good job of concealing her misgivings because no sooner had Tali’s brows furrowed in confusion than her eyes moved between Melody and Ben, widening in the way that people’s do when they’ve just resolved something that’s been confusing them.
“Oh, now I get it,” Tali said before dissolving into hearty laughter.
“What the hell, Tali?” Ben asked, obviously having no better idea than Melody did what conclusion Tali had just drawn.
It took Tali a moment to bring her laughter under control enough to guffaw, “Your girlfriend thinks we have a thing for each other.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Ben denied with a dismissive flick of his wrist.
When silence ensued, Ben shifted to better look at Melody. He might not have laughed, but it was definitely his turn to grin. Melody wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.
Ben’s voice was gentle when he reassured her. “I think you’ve missed a very pertinent piece of information here, sweetheart.”
“Like what?” Melody asked with reserve.
Ben didn’t hesitate to enlighten her. “Let’s just say that if Tali were interested in dating anyone in this room, it wouldn’t be me.”
Melody blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
Tali shifted her position on the couch. “Benji and I dated briefly in high school,” she said, by way of explanation.
“After a month or so, he finally built up the nerve to kiss me. That was all it took. One kiss and BOOM.” Tali clapped her hands together dramatically. “One kiss and I knew I was a lesbian.”
Melody felt her eyes go round. Well, that was unexpected.
Ben wrinkled his nose. “Thank you so much for that, Tali. That right there does great stuff for my masculinity.”
“Oh, shut it,” Tali challenged. “It does no such thing. You’re an NHL hockey player. You drink testosterone for breakfast.”
Melody couldn’t tell whether it was an appropriate time to laugh, but she couldn’t help herself. She’d jumped to the wrong conclusion about Ben and Tali and laughter felt like a release she couldn’t resist.
As the quiet sounds of her amusement filled the room, Ben shot the closest thing to a glare she’d ever seen from him her way.
It made her chuckle all the harder. And yet, somehow, despite his grimace and the embarrassed flush creeping across his cheeks, he still managed to be the most sinfully attractive man she’d ever seen.
There seemed something terribly unfair in that.
Melody still wanted some clarification. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. “So, you and Tali didn’t just break up?” she asked. “She isn’t the woman you were seeing in Philadelphia?”
Ben winced before offering her an uncertain smile, apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Melody.” And he really did sound it. “It never occurred to me that you would confuse my ex-girlfriend, Natalie, with Natalia here.” He made sure to emphasize the subtle difference in their names.
“Do I look like a corporate lawyer to you?” Tali asked, waving her hands in front of herself. She looked both flattered and incredulous.
A slow, shaky smile built as the new information of who and what Tali and Ben were to each other started to sink in. “There’s nothing that says a corporate lawyer can’t be fit, stunning, and personable,” Melody observed.
Tali’s smile turned seductive. “Oh, I like you,” she purred. “Any chance you’re a switch-hitter?” Tali winked in a way that told Melody the other woman wasn’t actually making a pass at her.
“For heaven’s sake, Tali,” Ben groaned, as if in pain. “Find your own girlfriend and stop trying to steal mine.” He punctuated his statement by giving Melody a gentle, but possessive hug.
“It’s hardly my fault if we have the same taste in women,” Tali teased, poking the bear.
Ben snorted in response.
Melody felt so relieved that Tali wasn’t who she’d thought she was that she did something she wouldn’t have done under normal circumstances. Uncaring that they weren’t alone, she kissed Ben full on the lips and volunteered, “You can rest assured. I only have eyes for you.”
Melody’s heart fluttered as Ben’s smile grew from a tiny tilt of the lips into something truly beatific.
He must have liked the idea that he was the only man she wanted as much as she fancied the notion that she was the only woman he wanted because this was the first time she’d seen the dimple at the corner of his mouth unlock.
Melody shivered as their gazes held, her smile broadening as anticipation buzzed to life in her breast. Ben really was a sight to behold when he looked at her with such unguarded want and tenderness.
And he could be hers. When she really took the time to think about it, Ben had always made his interest in her plain.
Through both word and deed. Now, all she had to do was take the final steps to claim him.
Jubilation coursed through Melody’s veins as she tasted triumph on her tongue. There was no doubt about it. The rest of her Thanksgiving vacation was looking more promising than ever because she had a feeling she and Ben were inevitable. She just had to surrender and enjoy the ride.