Derailed (Clayton Falls #1)(25)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“All right. I’ll do my best.”

We anchored, and I started with some posed pictures of the couple while Ben and his father watched. Through my lens, I witnessed just how happy Tom made my best friend. You couldn’t fake that level of happiness. I couldn’t help contrasting it to what Adam and I had in the end. I loved being with Adam. I knew that, but I definitely never glowed like Kelly. It wasn’t jealousy that set me on edge as I snapped some candid shots of them laughing and playing around. Instead, it was just sadness for what I’d been missing.

A large splash made me jump, holding my camera against my chest. I looked down into the water to see Ben swimming along the side of the boat. By the size of the splash, he must have jumped from the highest deck. “Ben! You’re lucky you didn’t get my camera wet.”

“Oh, stop whining, I wasn’t that close to you. Come join me. The water feels great.” He grinned, floating on his back.

“No thanks, I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”

“That didn’t stop you the other night.”

Mr. Mathews cleared his throat. “On that note, I think I’m going to go inside and make sure everything is in order.”

I felt my cheeks heat. “Mr. Mathews, can’t you control your son?”

“It’s never worked before, and I’m not about to try again now.” He laughed and walked away.

Kelly and Tom joined me at the railing.

“Are either of you coming in?” Ben asked while treading water.

“No thanks, but it does look refreshing,” Tom replied.

Ben dove under for a minute and came back up. “I don’t know how the rest of you aren’t boiling.”

“We are, but we’re suffering in silence,” I said.

“Oh, the martyr.”

Kelly laughed. “We are boiling. Let’s get this done so we can get out of the sun.”

I finished up with a few more pictures and Ben came back onboard. I tried to ignore how good he looked with the water dripping off him. He caught me looking and smirked. He let the sun dry his shorts as we started back in.

I went back to the railing, enjoying the feel of the wind and sun on my face. It was impossible to keep Ben out of the water. It was even harder to keep me out of the sun.

“Thanks again, Mr. Mathews. We really appreciate it, and I can’t wait to see how the pictures turn out.” Despite her earlier complaint about the heat, Kelly radiated excitement when we arrived back at the dock.

“It was no problem,” Mr. Mathews assured them again.

“I can show you the pictures anytime; just let me go through them first so I can pick out the ones I think are best.”

“Okay, great. You’re so awesome!” Kelly hugged me before following Tom to his SUV. They had a meeting with the pastor doing their wedding. It was some sort of mandatory pre-wedding counseling.

“Big plans for the day?” Mr. Mathews asked after they drove away.

“Not unless grocery shopping counts.”

“Oh, that’s great. Maybe you can help Ben find a gift for his mother. It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow, you know.”

Oh no. I had almost forgotten. I’d have to rush to have some flowers delivered to Mom.

“By the look on your face, I’d say you have some shopping to do too.”

“What do you say?” Ben asked.

I didn’t have an excuse. “Sure, when were you thinking about going?”

“How about now? We’re already out.”

“All right, works for me, but don’t you want to change?”

“Why would I change? My clothes are dry.” He pulled the fabric of his shorts away from his body to demonstrate.

“Okay, suit yourself.”

We said goodbye to Ben’s dad and got in his truck. “So where are we going? What kind of gift did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. I usually just get her flowers or something, but then Jake always outdoes me with some meaningful gift.”

“So you want to be more creative?”

“I guess.”

“Okay, so maybe we should try some antique stores?” I suggested.

“I don’t know…”

I thought about the kind of woman his mother was, what she’d appreciate. “I’ve got it.”

“What?”

“Do you have any old pictures at your place?”

“Pictures of what?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of your family, when you were kids.”

“Oh yeah, I have an album of old ones Mom made when I moved out.”

“Okay, perfect. Is your mom still into wind chimes?”

Ben laughed. “Of course. Their porch sounds like a freaking symphony nowadays.”

“We need to stop by the craft store, but I have a great idea.”

“All right. You’ve got that look in your eyes. This is going to be good.”

“I hope so.”

A half hour later, I sat cross legged on the floor of Ben’s living room waiting for hot glue to dry. I’d managed to create a wind chime complete with pictures of all of her boys. Mrs. Mathews always said she had three because her husband could be such a kid sometimes. It looked pretty good, and more importantly, it was something she’d specifically appreciate.

“I think you’ll have Jake beat this year.”

“Absolutely, thanks so much.”

“No problem, but can I use your computer? I need to send my mom flowers, and I hate having to do things like that on my phone.” I was still feeling bad about almost missing the holiday.

“Sure. My laptop’s in my room.” Ben got up and headed down the hall to his bedroom. I followed behind.

When I’d peeked into his room the other night, I hadn’t really taken a good look at it. The only furniture in the room was a queen sized bed, a small bedside table, and a dresser placed in a corner. The walls were painted off-white just like the rest of the house. I figured that’s how Ben found it and never changed it. The only thing on the walls was a black and white photo of a sailboat on the ocean—and I recognized it as one of mine. Between the picture of us in his living room and the fact that he had one of my photos on his bedroom wall, I really didn’t know what he had been thinking before I came back to town.

I had to smile watching Ben try to quickly make his bed while I looked around. He obviously hadn’t been expecting company. Retrieving his laptop from the bed stand, he tossed it over to the side of the bed I stood near before laying down on the opposite side, leaning against the pillows.