Good morning and Happy Hump Day ! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
Rose and Thorne 6 continues as Vinnie and Ethan listen to Ethan's Uncle Benny, making up for lost time. See what's going on in this week's chapter. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
Benny’s suite contained two bedrooms, which was
pretty standard for the Hamilton Arms, as we’d learned during our previous
sojourn at the hotel. I was just glad we weren’t staying in the same suites as
before—me with Troy and Ethan with she-who-shall-not-be-named. In fact, I was
grateful we weren’t even on the same floor as that would have brought up rather
unwelcome memories as well.
We ordered dinner from room service. I had to admit
the steaks there were pretty good. Plus food seemed to just taste better on the
government dime. Maybe that’s the cheapskate in me. I like to think of myself
as frugal, but either description works.
I curled up against Ethan on the couch, after we’d
eaten, and we listened to Benny. He had lots of stories to tell, some about his
time in prison, and some of his adventures afterward. He even had funny stories
about Ethan and Sarah as youngsters, and he loved to talk about his sister,
Maureen, my future mother-in-law. And wasn’t that a strange concept? Marriage,
in-laws, the whole nine yards. But when it came to Ethan’s mother, I really
liked the idea. I wasn’t so sure about his father yet. And I definitely
disliked his brother, although I was very fond of Sarah.
I think Benny skated over the bad parts, because
most of his stories were either funny or touching. I could understand not
wanting to dwell on the past, especially since his future was looking so
bright.
“I hope I’ll be receiving an invitation to the
wedding,” Benny said, winking at us.
“Of course!” Ethan and I both chimed in together.
“Naturally we want you to come,” Ethan added.
Benny finished up his slice of Mississippi mud pie
and followed it with a coffee chaser. He gave a satisfied sigh. I had never
even heard of this particular dessert until I met Ethan. The pie is made with a
chocolate graham cracker crust and is filled with a fudgy cake and covered with
chocolate ganache. Sometimes whipped cream on top. So good.
“When is the big event?” he asked.
Ethan and I
just looked at one another. We hadn’t gotten as far as setting the date yet. We
hadn’t even been engaged all that long and were still getting used to the idea.
Well, maybe I was more than Ethan. Even so, Ethan hadn’t pushed me to commit to
any particular day, and I was content with the status quo. Not like we weren’t
a couple in every conceivable way. A piece of paper wouldn’t make us any more
committed than we were now. Not like I was dodging setting a date either. It
just didn’t seem that important, and we’d had other things on our mind.
Especially now that we had Benny to look out for, at least until he testified
against his ex-lover. Uncle Benny, that is, not to be confused with our
thieving little pup. And couldn’t that get confusing in future conversations?
“We don’t know,” Ethan said with a sheepish grin.
“But we’ll let you know once we have everything figured out. Like where and
when.”
“Sounds good to me,” Benny said.
A butterfly twirled in my stomach. For a quick
second, I had a vision of a long white wedding gown, with me in it! I pushed
the image out of my mind.
Oh
hell no!
“By then, all of this will be over and life can
return to some semblance of normalcy.” I
thought I detected a hint of wistfulness in Benny’s voice, and my heart went
out to him. Normalcy was elusive at best, but especially when your life has
been very chaotic for a long time.
“If you need a place to stay, you can always come
live with us until you figure things out,” I said without thinking. Damn, too
late it occurred to me I should have spoken to Ethan first. Why did I have a
tendency to speak without thinking sometimes? I turned toward him, an apology
spring to my lips, but I could see by the look in his eyes that my words
weren’t necessary. He was looking at me the way he does when he thinks I’ve
done something special.
“Absolutely!” he seconded. “You can stay with us for
as long as you like.”
“Good to know,” Benny said. “You have no idea how
much I appreciate the two of you. I thought about maybe settling down near
Maureen, but I think maybe that’s a little premature. At least until I’ve seen
which way the wind blows. But first things first. Put Connor away for a long
time and then see where life takes me.”
“Fate can be both fickle and wonderful,” Ethan said.
“It brought me and Vinny together. Gave us a wonderful career. And our little
Benny. Now it’s brought you back to the people who love you. I bet there are
more good things looming on the horizon for you.”
“I like the way you think, nephew.”
I had to admit that I did too. Ethan… my eternal
optimist. I wouldn’t have him any other way.
to be continued
Now go see what the other Briefers are doing!
No comments:
Post a Comment