Chapter 16 #2
Luckily, the food arrived quickly. It was delicious.
Ella, who would readily admit she was biased in her belief that The Depot had the best breakfast in the world, declared the 4C a close second.
Ben, who loved that she had enjoyed herself, added that for him, the two diners were pretty equal, but definitely, Ella’s mom’s cinnamon rolls were the best in the world. That earned a huge smile from Ella.
The family finished up their meal and spent a couple of hours taking Ella around the town showing her the different sites.
They drove by the historic courthouse, some quaint shops, the Black House and various landmark churches, and the local college.
Ella asked about all of the lights she saw everywhere.
Ben explained that the town and university go all out at Christmas with millions of lights and holiday scenes that had been set up at all the parks and town square.
He promised to bring her back after dark to take a carriage ride around town to see the city all lit up.
Several large murals were painted downtown, and they ended with a visit to Art Alley.
The largest collections of art works were in an alley off a side street one block down from the court square.
They spent time looking at the various murals done by local artists.
Poppy explained that the artwork was constantly changing.
She had two murals that she had done. One was of two little girls running through the waves at a beach, and Ella immediately recognized the girls as Lizzy and Lola at about the ages of three and four.
The other was of Bennett standing in front of a podium.
He appeared to be giving some kind of speech.
His face was so taut and stressed that it was almost impossible to recognize him.
He looked very different from the easy going, carefree man Ella had spent the morning getting to know.
Ella knew that Ben’s mom often painted from photographs.
She wondered what speech inspired the mural.
Ella was surprised and impressed with the town.
Even though Ben did not ask her about it directly, she could almost hear him silently asking her if she could see herself living there.
He had never said he wanted to move back home to his hometown, but she felt it in every single thing he shared with her.
It felt like he was trying to sell her on Searcy.
Ella was not sure how she felt about that.
It was mid-afternoon when the family made their way back to the Carrington Estate.
Ella was clearly impressed with the house as they drove up the winding drive.
Ben had tried to prepare her, but the huge home was out of character with the man she had come to love.
Large and imposing, it looked like a French chateau that had been dropped in the middle of a small, Southern town.
Ben could sense Ella’s mood beginning to shift.
He kept looking over at her as if to silently reassure her that all was okay.
She had always known that Ben came from money, but seeing the house he grew up in was a shock to her system.
Walking into the house, Ella whispered to Ben, “You should have told me your parents lived in a mansion. I was not prepared for all of this,” she said, gesturing to the huge house and lawn.
Giving Ella a reassuring hug and a kiss on the forehead, Ben quietly whispered in her ear, “I know it is a lot. But believe it or not, it is much better than when I first saw it. Mom and Dad did a total gut after the first year they were married. It used to be so stuffy with tons of antiques that it felt more like a museum than a home. But Mom fixed that. It is much more homey now. Besides, at the end of the day, it is just a house. The part that makes it a home is the people who live in it, and they are going to love you because I do.”
Ben’s comforting words reassured Ella to some degree.
It helped that the house did feel totally different inside than it did outside.
The formal chateau demeanor of the exterior was nowhere to be found inside.
Instead, it was decorated with bright colors with art covering the walls.
Comfortable couches and chairs were littered around the room, offering relaxing spots to visit or read.
Ella thought the house was like Ben. He was a rich kid whose dad was a former senator.
He was gorgeous and brilliant. He could have been the biggest, most arrogant jerk in the world, but he wasn’t.
He was one of the kindest, most thoughtful people she had ever met.
Taking their bags in his hands, Ben bound up the stairs as he casually called over his shoulder, “I will put these in our room.”
Racing up behind him, Ella whispered, “Maybe it would be better if I stayed in the guest room.” She gestured to the one next to him.
Giving her a look, Ben snapped back, “Better for whom?”
Shrugging, Ella replied, “I don’t know. Maybe your folks. My parents would never let a guy sleep in the same room with me under their roof. I don’t want to upset your parents.”
Dropping the bags, Ben walked over to Ella, took her in his arms, and said, “First of all, I am not just some guy. I am your fiancé. Secondly, my folks are okay with this. They are way too cool to be bothered by something so trivial. Besides, I want you close to me. I have grown accustomed to sleeping next to you. Waking up next to you is my second favorite part of every day.”
Smiling up at Ben, Ella, who was not so sure about how cool Ben’s folks were about their sleeping arrangements but not wanting to cause a problem, let it go and instead asked, “Really, your second favorite part of the day. What is the first?”
Giving Ella a very naughty smile, Ben drew her ever closer as he whispered in her ear, “Like you don’t know.”
At that moment, Ella decided to follow Ben’s lead, something that she had been doing more and more of. She was so tired. It would just take too much energy to try and talk him out of it and honestly she did not have it in her.
Stifling a yawn, Ella said, “I am so exhausted. Who knew flying all over the country and meeting your in-laws would be so tiring. Think your mom would mind if I took like a quick twenty-minute power nap?”
“Not at all. You stay here and rest. I will head back down and hang out with them unless you want me to stay with you.”
Ella shook her head no. Ben only had a short time to spend with his family. She did not want him to feel like he had to waste it babysitting her. “No, you go on back down. Your parents and sisters want to see you. I’ll be down soon.”
Nodding, Ben gave Ella a quick kiss. “There is no rush. We won’t eat Thanksgiving dinner until almost seven. Taylor and Greer won’t be here until closer to six. Stay up here as long as you want.”
When Ben returned downstairs, his mom was reminding his father that he needed to deep fry two turkeys.
Ben grabbed them each a water, then went outside to help his dad set up the fryers and get everything ready.
With the turkeys prepped and ready to fry, Ben and his dad took a seat next to the fryers to wait for the oil to heat.
Bennett very casually broached the issue of Ella, which Ben knew was at the forefront of his father’s mind. “Ella seems like a very nice girl. Beautiful but a bit young.”
Ben laughed and said, “I wondered how long it would take you to ask about that. She is nineteen, but she is an old soul and, in case you missed it, brilliant. Besides, age is just a number.”
“No, I did not miss that. She is obviously extremely bright. How did you two meet?”
Taking a long swig of water, Ben said, “We met at her family’s diner. Remember how I went with a few buddies to Napa in September?”
Bennett nodded and Ben continued. “Our rental house was across the street from their place. We ate there several times. I met her then, and we have sort of been together ever since.”
Giving his son a strange look, Bennett asked, “What do you mean, you have sort of been together?”
“I mean, we have been texting and talking, and a few weeks ago, we decided to give this thing a real shot. She has moved into my place in Malibu. We are considering marriage.”
With an incredulous look, Bennett asked, “You are living together? Marriage? What about school? What is she doing about school or a job? Have you thought about this? It feels very sudden.” The questions and concern poured out of his father.
As much as Bennett hated to pry into his son’s private business, this was too much.
Holding up one hand to stifle his father’s flow of questions, Ben said, “I know you have concerns. But you are going to have to trust me on this. I know what I am doing. I am still in school and on track to graduate in the spring. Ella is technically done with school. She isn’t looking for a job, but that is really not our number one priority right now.
We have a lot of details to work out, and when we do, you and Mom will be the first to know.
Until then, I need to know you have my back and trust that I have got this. ”
“I do trust you, but slow down. You are both so young, especially her. What is the rush? Date each other. Get to know each other. A few months is hardly enough time to be talking about marriage. You don’t want to rush into something that you might both regret.”
Ben held up his hand and said, “Dad…” but Bennett was on a roll and kept saying how young they were and how they had all the time in the world to settle down.
Ben tried three times to get a word in before he blurted out, “Dad, Ella is pregnant.”
Bennett’s head snapped back in shock. “Pregnant? Is it yours?”
“Would we be having this conversation if it wasn’t?” The look Ben gave Bennett told him that there was no doubt about who had fathered Ella’s baby.
“Okay, well, it is 2023. No one has to get married just because of a baby. You have lots of options.”