19 – Give and Take

Ben cocked an eyebrow, glancing aside at Felicity as he paid for part of their grocery bill. "I am taking a twenty out of my brand-new, really nice wallet. See?" He waved the wallet at the cashier. "Isn't this the nicest wallet you ever saw? Isn't it cool?"

The girl at the register smiled, obviously puzzled by his announcement and blushed under his playful grin. "It's—It's really nice," she nodded.

Ben gave a matter-of-fact nod. "Yes, it is." He tilted his head at Felicity. "She bought it for me. Wouldn't you say she has very good taste?"

Giggling now, Felicity ducked behind him. "Ben, you're embarrassing me!" she hissed.

He raised his eyebrows and moved out from in front of her. "I'm just showing off my new wallet, here. I want this girl's opinion on my very nice wallet."

"She has excellent taste," the girl laughed, playing along. She took Ben's twenty and finished ringing up the groceries. "I think she made a great choice."

"She did," Ben agreed, taking Felicity's hand to prevent her from escaping. He picked up the grocery bags in his other hand and gave the cashier a solemn nod. "Well, thank you. Thank you very much for your input. Have a great afternoon."

As they walked to the car, Felicity burst into another fit of giggles. "You are… You're just impossible!"

Ben laughed in response. "I'm proud of my wallet. This is some wallet." He brandished it at her and put it in his back pocket. "I'll drive."

"Oh, no, you don't. I think you purposely hit every rock and pothole on every unpaved road we had to take to get here. Mickey's going to murder us when this trip is over." Fizzing with humor, Felicity snatched the keys from him and unlocked his door, then went around to the driver's side to open her own door.

"Oh, so we're back on my bad driving, are we? I make a point of showing that girl how nice my wallet is, and what good taste my girlfriend has, and I'm getting crap for it?"

Felicity froze, standing outside the open driver's side door. "Say that again."

"Which part?" When she didn't answer, his smile broadened. "Oh, the 'girlfriend' part?" He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a helpless grin. "It is kind of weird to say it…but it's nice."

There is no way I'm ever coming down from this cloud, she thought, glowing, as they got into the car.

The trip back to the cabin was long but pleasant. They'd had to leave the park to find a grocery store that was relatively inexpensive, but considering the scenery—and the company—Felicity didn't mind in the least. They were silent for most of the trip, but she didn't mind that, either.

- - - - -

Ben tapped his fingers against his leg in half-hearted tempo with the song on the radio. He smiled at the dreamy look on her face, then looked away out the passenger window and dissolved into a private frown. I can't tell her. If she finds out how much I spent on this cabin, she's going to want us to stay in some cheap hole in the earth. He could hear the whole scenario in his head. First she'd get that stunned look on her face. Then she'd get all stubborn and start insisting that they find another place to stay because he needed the money for college next fall. If she found out he'd charged it on one of those stupid credit cards from the mail, she'd really blow her stack about it. Whatever. I'll get a good job this summer and make up the money. After paying for that new tire, I'd better. He glanced back at Felicity. She was singing along with the radio. He smiled again. If I've got to work a few extra hours or pick up a second job, so what?

He remembered their conversation back in Washington when she'd said that her father stayed at the Ritz Carlton. Being a doctor must have a lot of perks if the hospital was willing to pay for him to stay at a place like the Ritz. He wondered if Felicity were used to the nice things money could buy. Her father was putting her through college, even though she'd decided to come to New York instead of go to Stanford. His father wouldn't do that. Ben was expected to pay back his loans when he graduated. That's if I graduate. If I even figure out what I'm going to be.

He'd been teasing her about the wallet back there in the grocery store, but he meant what he said about it being the nicest thing anyone had ever given him. Especially since it came with no strings attached. He'd never gotten that kind of present before. He felt compelled to give her something in return, even though she hadn't asked, so he resolved to keep his mouth shut about where the cabin money had come from. He gave an inward sigh, watching her sing. I'm not going to cheap out on this with her. I'm just going to enjoy this and let her enjoy it, and deal with the money later. She should have nice stuff.

Felicity looked over at him. "You're kind of quiet. What's wrong?"

He fidgeted for something to say and came up with, "I was just thinking we could grab my blankets out of the trunk and have that picnic before we start the lake tour."

She flashed him a dazzling smile, which made him feel a little better about avoiding the truth. "I got us a bottle of wine. Well, not wine, exactly. Sparkling grape juice, but it'll go really well with our sandwiches," she giggled.

Ben smiled back at her and took her hand. She looked so happy right now. Charging the cabin on his credit card was totally worth it.

- - - - -

"Ever had fresh lake trout?" he asked in between bites of ham and cheese. He gestured to the shining expanse of Yellowstone Lake with his sandwich.

Felicity shook her head. "Do you like to fish?"

He shrugged and stretched his legs out on the blanket. "I'm okay at it, I guess. My dad used to be better than me."

He seemed to realize then that he'd brought up the subject of his father. Felicity saw him shy away from the topic as though he'd physically cringed. "My dad doesn't like fishing. He's into golf," she said, picking at the bunch of grapes sitting on the blanket. "I hate golf. It's got to be the most sadistic sport ever."

Ben laughed at that. "Yeah. It's kind of sick. Here's a little ball and a metal stick. Let's see if you can whack the ball into that tiny hole half a mile away. And while we're at it, let's throw some sand and water and high grass in the way just to make things more fun. Who thinks up these things and decides to call them games? Running is a lot simpler. You just run."

Felicity pursed her lips and dropped her gaze to the blanket. "I never told you, but I watched you try out for the track team at UNY that day."

He lowered his sandwich and looked over at her. "You did?"

"Yeah. I was so sure you were going to come in first, the way you did in high school."

He shrugged a little too easily. "I had some stuff on my mind."

She drew her knees up and rested her arms on them, chewing silently on a few grapes. A bird flew across the lake, and she followed it with her eyes.

"Were you in any activities in high school?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was sort of in this art club for a couple of years. We had some local shows, but it was never anything big."

He watched the bird circle down into a stand of trees. "Did your parents ever go to that stuff?"

Felicity eyed him. "Sometimes." She picked more grapes and asked her next question with caution. "Did yours?"

"Mom did, when she could."

She watched him from the corner of her eye. How many times had his father disappointed him by not coming to witness one of his achievements? Even one of his losses?

"You've seen me run, what? Two or three times, then?" he asked finally.

"Most of them. Shelly and I would stay after school sometimes to watch the meets, or we'd catch a bus on Saturday."

He flashed his teeth in a bitter grin. "You've seen me run a lot more than my dad has, then."

"I'm sorry you didn't make the team."

He shrugged again. "Some of those guys just wanted it more, I guess." A few seconds passed. "Anyway, what about you? Why haven't you gotten into any of the extracurricular stuff?"

"I don't think I could handle it on top of my course load," she laughed. "I'm starting to think I should have taken some summer classes. That Inorganic Chem class earlier this year was a nightmare."

"Well, this," he said, holding up the rest his sandwich, "is the best ham and cheese sandwich in history." He took a substantial bite, polishing it off.

She washed down the rest of her grapes with a swallow of their sparkling grape juice. "I think the next lake tour starts in twenty minutes. Why don't we pack up and head over to the visitors' center?"

"Yeah," he said, getting up and picking up the empty containers while she folded the blanket.

She was about to head toward the car with an armload of picnic supplies when Ben stopped her by taking her elbow. She turned back with a questioning look.

He bent and kissed her, very softly. "Thanks for being there when I didn't make the team."

She looked up into his eyes. For a brief moment, she saw a flash of old hurts, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. "You're welcome."