I stroll outside to look for Ben. He’s playing with a dog in the field. He keeps tossing away a little twig, which the dog returns. Ben has so much fun, and I can’t stop looking at him.
Ben kneels to grab the twig, but the dog is quicker and tosses him over. Ben is on his back and the dog licks his face. Ben laughs loudly, trying to push away the dog. I giggle and Ben looks up. “Help” he laughs.
I help him by tossing the twig away. The dog runs off to get it and I offer Ben my hand to pull him back on his feet. “Lets go for a walk.” I say and grab his hand. We stroll through the field, we are surrounded by olive trees. It smells like summer.
“Ben, I think we need to talk.” I say all serious. And Ben’s face darkens. “What about?” He asks.
I tell him about my feelings, and that I don’t want to be apart from him. Not yet. Ben smiles. “I know how you feel, I felt the same ever since we left Madrid.” He says. “And I assume that was why you were so sad earlier.”
I nod. “Yes, I had no idea what to tell you, or what to do. And I still don’t know, but at least we can figure something out, together.” I say.
We arrive at the end of the olive tree field and I spot a little river in the distance “Lets go for a swim.” I say and run away from Ben towards the water. I pull my shirt over my head before I am even close.
I stop in front of the water, pull down my pants and jump in. I shiver. “Damn it’s cold.” I grin. I stand knee deep in the water and look at Ben. “Come in.” I say. “No thanks, I prefer to look.” He grins.
I splash water towards him, but he is out of reach. I let myself fall forward and swim under water for a while. I am starting to get used to the water, and it feels nice to my naked body. I lower my feet and stand back on the rocky bottom. I look at Ben. “Still not coming in?” I ask and he shakes his head. “Nope.” he grins.
I get out of the water and walk over to Ben. He looks at my naked body with a smirk on his face. “Why are you not coming in?” I pout. “Because I don’t like cold water.” He replies.
I jump in his arms and press my naked body against him. “Well you’re all wet now. Come on.”
Ben laughs, wraps his arms around me and carries me to the water. He walks in with all his clothes on and me in his arms. I laugh loudly. Ben falls backwards in the water, dragging me with him. I quickly stand up and look down at Ben who sits up straight. “DUUUUDE.” I say, with my hands on my hips. “Now you’re all wet.” I tease. “I suggest you take off your clothes and let them dry before we go back.” I say. “And I suggest you take some time off. You’ve got a concussion, remember.” Ben says.
I pout. “But daddy, I feel fine.” I say with a childish voice. Ben reaches out but I step away. He gets up and tries to grab me again, but I run away from his reaching hands. I can’t stop giggling. Ben is chasing me, but his wet clothes are too heavy and I am faster than him. I laugh and hide behind a bush.
He finally catches me and lifts me up. I look in his eyes and quickly kiss his lips. “How is your head.” He asks. “My head is doing fine.” I say. I can handle a lot of pain, and my head hurts half as much as it did yesterday.
He gently kisses me on my lips. “Does your mouth still hurt?” He asks. “Hm hm.” I mumble. “Just a little.”
“You should take those wet clothes off, you will get a cold if you don’t.” I say. He does what I say and spreads them out in the sun to let them dry. We lie down on the soft grass in the shadow of a Juniper tree. I’m on my back looking at the leaves waving in the soft breeze. Ben is on his side with his head resting on his hand. He looks at me.
“I wish we could just build a house here, and live happily ever after.” I say. “We can try to find a job close to here, even if it’s only for a short while. We can always continue our road trip when we have more money.” Ben says.
“YOUR road trip.” I reply.
“It’s OUR road trip now. I don’t think I want to continue it without you.” Ben says. I look at him. I see that he means it.
“We took off like a subway train. Quick and heavy. But I don’t think I can live with out you at this point in my life.” I confess. “I need you to feel better. I need you to love me back to life.” I continue.
Ben bends his head and kisses me like only he can kiss me. “I love you Lynn. I really do.” He whispers.
A single tear rolls down my face when he says that. “I love you too Benjamin Graupner. Much too much.” I kiss him softly. “I’ll go wherever you will take me.” I whisper.
Ben rolls on top of me. “Are you sure Lynn?” He asks. “More than sure.” I reply. I want to wake up next to you every day. Whether in a field of poppies, or in a luxury hotel. Together we can do this.” I say with a smile.
Ben leans in to kiss me and I pull him closer.
There on that field in the shadow of the tall old Juniper we make love till the sun goes down.
We freshen ourselves in the cold river and get dressed. Bens’ clothes are still a little damp, but it’s not that cold.
We stroll back to the house, hand in hand.
Erica is sitting on the porch together with her dog and waves at us. “I see you spoke it all through.” She smiles and both Ben and I nod.
“We go see if we can find a job in Seville, like you suggested. For a few weeks till we’ve got more money. We continue our road trip after that.
“That reminds me.’ Erica says. “I need to go back to England for a few weeks. My mother is very ill, and I want to be there for her. If I pay you, can you take care of the bed and breakfast till I’m back?” Erica asks.
I smile spreads across my face and I look at Ben. He smiles back. “But I have no idea what I have to do to keep a business like this running.” Ben replies honestly.
“It’s easy, you’d be nice to the guests, keep them fed, and keep the house and the rooms clean. And I think, that as long as you’d be yourselves, it will all be fine.” Erica continues.
“Why are you asking us to do it? You barely know us.” I ask.
“You seem like the kind of people who don’t mind hard work. And I like to give people a chance to get happy.” She grins.
I wrap my arms around her neck. “Thank you Erica, thank you SO much. I promise we will not disappoint you.” I assure her.
“I know you won’t.” She laughs.
3 days later
It takes Erica three days to get everything ready. She told us everything we need to know about the Bed and Breakfast and is ready to leave. We bring Erica to the airport in Seville and wave till she goes through the customs.
“Ben, we have so much luck that we met Erica.” I sigh and hug him. “I wonder if there will be any guests soon.” Ben asks. “I would love to have some alone time with you.” He wiggles his eyebrows and grins at me. “Ohh, mr Graupner, got any plans?” I ask with a smile.
But my smile fades as I see a familiar face in the distance. It can’t be. I look again, but my eyes were right.
I pull Ben with me. “Wait, Lynn. What are you doing?” he asks, but I don’t answer. I pull Ben around the corner of a car rental booth. My hearth is pounding and it’s hard to breath.
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