Chapter 13

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Lia clocked out and grabbed her things before heading towards Trinity's room. She had seen Ben in passing but hadn't really had a chance to talk with him since he had arrived. Trinity was in and out of consciousness which was probably due to the pain medications they had given her.

As she approached the room, she heard voices and stopped, hesitant to go in, there was an older couple with Ben and she was guessing it was his parents. The man was tall like Ben but thinner, he had silver hair and a very deep voice that would be comforting when there was trouble, Ben's voice was already deep, but perhaps it would deepen more as he aged like his father. His mother was short and round with a short blond bob, she was the exact opposite of her husband. They were so different that Lia never would have placed them as a couple.

"Lia?" Ben said from the back of the room when he noticed her hovering in the corridor. "Come in and meet my parents?" He motioned for her to join them, and she entered the room slowly, checking on all of Trinity's vitals as she did so, once a nurse always a nurse.

  "You don't look like you're about to go kill someone," Lia said as she faced him and the couple with a smile. Only after she said it did she realize what she had said, and there must have been an 'oh crap' look in her eyes because Ben grinned.

"No, that was a few hours ago, my parents and sister talked me down," he joked, not upset by her words. The couple and Trinity seemed unfazed by her lack of tact as well.

"Lia, this is my father Wynn and my mother Valerie. Mom, Dad, this is my fiancé Lia," He watched Lia's reaction as he said the words. Lia couldn't help but be a little angry at his change of attitude once more.

"You're engaged?" Trinity asked softly behind them.

"It was your idea Sis," Ben said just as softly, keeping his gaze on Lia as he watched her eyes start to shoot sparks.

"So now we're engaged, I must say this is a very on again off again relationship, are we only engaged when one of your girlfriends isn't around?" Lia asked crossing her arms defensively, she was still embarrassed by her earlier statement, and now he was throwing her in the deep end.

"I don't recall saying we weren't engaged?" Ben frowned as he tried to remember what had happened in the past.

"Introducing me as your friend to Belle," Lia let the name drip condescension, "saying you were sorry about calling it off, or perhaps it was ignoring me afterward; take your pick." Ben opened his mouth to speak, but Lia wasn't done. "The nerve of introducing me to your parents as your fiancé." She all but stomped her foot. He opened his mouth to speak again, but he was cut off once more. "I'll think about it and let you know.

"The contractor's coming at ten tomorrow to discuss the house. Will you be there?" he asked.

Lia's heart jumped a little at the idea, and her eyes narrowed at the thought that he knew how to play her. "If I'm there does it mean we're engaged?" she asked.

"Yes." He nodded solemnly.

"Fine, if I decide to be there, then we're engaged, again."

"For the record, we were never unengaged," Ben said dryly.

"So says the man that wants to be engaged again." Lia snorted.

Ben's parents' eyes had been going back and forth between the two of them as they had argued. They were probably worried about what kind of crazy Ben was about to marry.

"Now your parents think I'm crazy, thanks to your mixed signals." Lia walked over to Trinity and adjusted her covers just for something to do.

"Thanks to me? You did that all by yourself Peaches." He leaned against the wall next to the chair his mother had taken while they were arguing.

"Then we'll wait to welcome you into the family, at least until you let us know if you're willing to take on Ben?" his mother, Valerie, said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Good idea," Trinity smiled weakly from her bed.

Lia turned her attention to Trinity. "How do you feel; do you need anything?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine." She licked her dry lips, and Lia grabbed the water offering her some through a straw.

"Did the doctor say when you get to leave?" Lia asked. "You can stay with me if you need a place."

"No," Trinity said closing her eyes. Lia wasn't sure which question was answered with the no.

An awkward silence descended. "I'll be going now. I only wanted to check on her." Lia said, turning to leave. There wasn't much for her to do now that she was off duty, and she was sure that Ben wanted to be alone with Trinity and their parents, she felt like an intruder.

"I'll walk you out, so we can discuss this on again off again engagement," Ben said, pushing off from the wall behind him.

Lia said goodbye to his parent's who still looked a bit confused.

They didn't say anything else as Ben followed Lia while she said goodnight to her co-workers. Chloe had already left, but Faye had a few more hours left in her shift, and she smiled as they passed.

"Faye doesn't look any worse for wear," Ben said as they cleared the entrance doors.

"She only had one beer," Lia defended, stopping on the pavement and turning to face Ben. "You don't have to go all the way to my car with me, this will do," she insisted.

"One beer, uh?" Ben looked amused.

"Yes, we all agree she's a cheap date, now what did you want to say?" Lia crossed her arms.

"I thought we could discuss-"

"I already said all that I wanted to say," Lia insisted, "so now you say what you want to say and then I'll go home and think it over. Sorry if it's harsh but I'm tired and Huck's waiting."

"Thank you for offering to let Trinity stay with you, we're going to send her to an old family friend. She'll be safe there, and the doctor said she can leave tomorrow morning if all the tests are O.K."

Lia nodded, glad that they had a plan.

"Now, about us. I am sorry I did not introduce you as my fiancé, but I hope, since we were only engaged for fifteen minutes, you'll forgive that it wasn't on the tip of my tongue. About the sorry thing, I'm sure I said I was sorry, but it was most likely a blanket apology for the way I reacted. Belle brought back some bad memories and it wasn't my most shining moment. I in no way was apologizing because I was breaking off our engagement, but it is one-hundred percent my fault if you thought that was what I meant. As for ignoring you, I was, but I was writing, and I tend to ignore everything when I'm in the thick of it, and that's something that you'll have to get used to if we're still engaged." Ben waited while she absorbed all his apologies. "So, are we still engaged?" he asked.

"Probably," Lia nodded. "I'll let you know tomorrow for sure." She turned to leave and then turned back as she had a thought. "Next time check with me on my schedule, you're lucky that I'm not working tomorrow, otherwise I wouldn't be able to make it."

"Next time?" Ben grinned, turning it into a serious look when she eyed him. "Noted, and if you want to leave Huck at my place when you're at work, I'll keep an eye on him."

"Did you nail the dog door shut?" she asked.

"I'll do it first thing tomorrow," he promised.

"Thanks, I'll probably take you up on that, I hate leaving him alone for so long, and for some reason he likes you."

"It sometimes happens," Ben nodded seriously, and Lia rolled her eyes.

"I'm going home," she said with a wave over her shoulder, hiding her smile from him. It wouldn't do to encourage him.

"Bye Peaches," he called softly.

Ben turned to go back to his sister and parents, there were bound to be a lot of questions and he would be nothing but honest with them. He always was, but he didn't have to tell them everything. They didn't have to know that he had been afraid for a moment when she had thought he had called the engagement off, or that he was outrageously attracted to her. Although his mother tended to know everything, so she probably knew that he was starting to fall a little bit for Lia "Peaches" Haven and her dog.


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