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“Fall is my favorite!” Rey exclaimed happily, as she stood back to regard the way the pumpkins and fall flowers looked on her porch.
“It’s always hard for me to decide what I like better, fall or the Christmas season.” Rose mused as she stood next to Rey, pointing out various adjustments.
“Ooh, good point. Pumpkins or Santa. That’s a rough one!”
“The decorations are definitely in eternal battle, but fall will always be my favorite season. I hope that our going out of town for a week doesn’t mean we miss all the leaves turning,” Rose mourned.
“You’re going to lovely tropical Florida. Even if you miss a little fall, it’s FLORIDA.” Rey pointed out.
“I guess, but palm tree’s got nothin’ on fall here. Nothing beats the feel of the weather in fall.” Rose sniffed the air.
“I know!” Rey threw her arms out and inhaled deeply. “There’s nothing like the sound of leaves crunching underfoot.”
“Or the way the sun is positioned in the sky.” Rose emulated Rey.
“Or the smell of everything dying.”
Rose’s arms dropped and she looked at Rey, amused. “Really?”
“Ok, maybe that sounded a bit morbid. But it’s true.”
“It’s true,” Rose agreed. “But maybe just ‘the smell of fall,’ not the smell of death. I mean…the worst pickup line ever. Guy’s gonna think you’re talking about a mortuary or something.”
Rey giggled. “Gross. Good thing I’m not trying to use that as a pickup line then.”
“Speaking of a pickup line…got any dates in the works yet?” Rose asked innocently, as she adjusted some of the Indian corn on Rey’s porch.
“Rose,” Rey said warningly.
“What? Can’t a best friend be worried about your love life for you? I mean…someone’s gotta be.”
“Look, you’re happily married and I’m happy you are. Finn is great. But maybe marriage just isn’t for everyone.”
Rose pouted. “Look, it’s just…you’re beautiful. You’re super nice. Besides your unfortunate tendency to hoard canned goods, I can’t see anything wrong with you.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my canned goods storage, as you will see when you and Finn come slinking over here the next time there’s a major catastrophe.”
“What kind of major catastrophe would that be, again?”
“Inexplicable power outages, unreasonable runs on shelf-stable food and toilet paper. Hurricanes, tornadoes, you name it.”
“We’re in the foothills. What hurricanes or tornadoes? And do you hoard toilet paper too?” Rose sighed.
“No, that’s weird.”
“Good. Anyway…back to the question.”
Rey rolled her eyes. “No! I don’t have any dates lined up and I don’t plan to. I’m busy enough as it is, without worrying about babysitting a man.
“There are benefits to being with a man, you know.”
“Oh, I’m sure. But there are other ways to take care of things too.” Rey waggled her eyebrows.
“I’ll have to disagree with you there - totally not the same.”
“Maybe you just don’t have the right toys,” Rey argued.
“Maybe we just agree to disagree.” Rose gave a sigh.
“Speaking of a man though, since I know he doesn’t have Facebook, has anyone gotten to talk to the guy across the street about the block party for Halloween? Just want to make sure we have all the food covered, and we don’t have a ton of people bringing the same thing.”
Rose scoffed. “There’s no way he’s coming.”
“Why not?” Rey peered across the street. “Is he going to be out of town?”
“He doesn’t talk to anyone.” Rose shook her head. “Dude’s a hermit. Why would he want to come socialize with the commoners?”
“Ok, so you’re saying I need to just go do it myself? Check.”
Rose’s eyes widened. “ You’re going to go talk to Ben Solo?”
“Yeah, why not? I’ve never met him. It would be a good opportunity to introduce myself.”
“You’re not missing much.” Rose groused. “He’s a jerk.”
“Still, I’ve never even seen the guy, and I’ve been here for 7 months now.”
Unbeknownst to her, Ben Solo had seen her . Every. Single. Day.
***
She was an absolute vision.
In fact, she was his favorite part of the day.
Ben Solo had spent the better part of two months stressing over the For Sale sign of the house across the way, and had even contemplated buying it himself just to save the hassle of getting a new, potentially bad neighbor, but he had been pleasantly surprised that it had been her that bought it.
Now he woke up every morning, got a cup of coffee from his mostly automated machine, and sat in front of one of his windows that overlooked her house, just to make sure he saw her.
He’d watched her take that rough-looking front yard and plant the prettiest garden. Then he watched her water and tend to that garden every day. He’d lamented the cooler weather, that it would bring the end of her gardening.
Apparently, there was no need to worry, though. His perfect girl was not just a designer with living things. She was currently decking out her porch with that Tico girl down the street. He’d never seen such attractive fall/Halloween decorations before. Almost made him want to get out and celebrate it too.
Almost.
He wagered she’d be the kind of person to deck it all out with Christmas decorations too. In fact, he wondered if she’d be the kind to set out little pilgrim turkeys too, or if she was the more typical person who swapped out the pumpkins straight for Santa.
Ben bent over and jotted a few notes on the subject, of decorations, and the banter that could exist about it. Taking a sip of coffee, his eyes wandered back to her house. What he saw, made his spine stiffen and his eyes widen in horror.
She was walking towards him. He panicked and stood up, spitting the coffee out of his mouth as he gaped. Sure enough. She was coming for him.
His doorbell rang.
He twirled a few moments in utter panic, then realized there was no way to escape being rude (and hadn’t Poe told him, ‘just don’t be rude?’), so he flew down the stairs and threw open the door.
The vision, his perfect garden girl, jumped back on the porch as the door opened rather more violently than he’d meant to, and she gasped.
Ben took quick stock of himself. He was dressed. His hair was probably not going to win him an award, but at least it was brushed. He turned around quickly. No, there was nothing behind him that was inappropriate. Finally, he turned back to his girl, with a quizzical look on his face. Working his mouth a few times, he tried to decide what to say. what actually came out was, “Hello?”
It was the worst opening line ever. He’d literally spent months writing full sentences, paragraphs, sonnets, poems, you name it, in how he would talk to her for the first time. He wanted to burrow back in his house and never face her again with such a lame, common word as that.
Thankfully, she didn’t seem fazed. In fact, it seemed to knock her back into reality. “Good afternoon! My name’s Rey, we haven’t met yet!” She thrust out her hand and he stared down at it. Finally seeing the details of her up close, her fingers, her palms…they were petite. He wanted to take them in his hands and caress them. See if they were all callused up from the yard work like he imagined, or maybe her gloves kept them safe?
“I mean, if shaking hands makes you uncomfortable, we don’t have to.” Rey dropped her hand and he snapped back to reality, realizing what an idiot he’d been, dreaming of touching her hand when he indeed, should have been touching her hand.
“I’m sorry. I’m not…I usually…I’ll shake your hand.” Ben held his out quickly, and she gaped again. Her turn to stare at his hands, apparently, though she at least had the understanding to slowly raise her own to meet his amidst her shock.
They were somehow both callused and soft. With all the work she’d done to fix up her house by herself, he’d just known they had to be callused. But also, she clearly took care of them and they were soft like she spent her nights bathing them in lotion to counteract the hard time they’d had during the day. He took his other hand and closed it around the top of hers, feeling a shudder run through her, as he gently caressed the top of her hand. That part was even softer. Then he froze, realizing this wasn’t one of his stories. It was reality. And he was probably creeping the shit out of her. He dropped both her hands immediately and took a step back.
“I’m sorry. I don’t…I just…” He stopped talking. It was always best if he wasn’t verbal.
“No, you’re…fine.” Rey cleared her throat. “I am intruding on your time, and I’m sorry. I just…it’s that…Facebook.”
Ben looked at her curiously. “The social media platform?”
“Oh good, you know what it is! Do you have one?”
KyloRenWrites . Abandoned nearly as quickly as it was created. But she didn’t need to know that. “Erm…not really no.”
“Oh.” She looked crestfallen. “Ok. Well…I had hoped.”
“Why?”
“Well, sometimes people like to talk more online…like it’s easier than in person sometimes and…” Her face flamed bright red and she looked horrified. “Not that I’m saying that you don’t talk in person. Although…oh no. I’m…this is…” She buried her head in her hands and he fell just that much more in love with her. The sound of her voice up close, so much prettier than when the sound carried across the street towards him. He was more familiar with her laugh than her voice, actually, and he was suddenly terrified that she would turn around and run back home, never to grace his porch again.
So he said the only thing that popped into his mind: “I’m Ben.”
She peeked at him through her fingers and he gave her a small smile. “Oh! I’m Rey!”
His smile deepened and he pretended for her sake that she wasn’t repeating herself.
“Hello, Rey.”
Rey dropped her hands. “So…ah…anyways we got a permit to do a block party on Halloween this year and we’re gonna do food and stuff. A couple of people have tents and heaters if it’s cold or snowing, which I doubt, but anyway, since you’re not on Facebook, I wanted to ask if you wanted to join us and if so, what dish you’d like to bring? Crockpot soups or stew kinda things are welcome, if you don’t mind.”
Ben stared at her for a few moments and then took a deep breath. “Put me down for beef stew.”
Rey clapped her hands together excitedly. “Great!!! We’ll see you then!”
“See you then,” Ben repeated, as Rey danced off the porch back to her house. He closed the door and leaned against it.
Shit. What had he just done?
***
He was stressed out about his garden girl. She never missed a day watering. And she’d missed not one, but two days. Her car was still parked outside, so he knew she wasn’t gone. When her porch flowers wilted, he knew he had to do something.
He put on his jacket and exited the front door for the first time in…awhile. He inhaled the smell of fall and decided he needed to open his windows more often. There really was nothing quite like the smell of death…death of live foliage that is.
He started across the street, then stopped. What was he going to say, exactly? “Hey I spy on you every day and I am worried about you?”
He turned instead and walked next door, pounding on the front door.
The door opened to a very shocked looking Poe Dameron.
“Solo! What…wow. At my front door, not the back fence. What can I do for you?”
Ben pulled on his hair. “Look, I know this is going to sound weird, but…”
Poe laughed. “Solo, you don’t even need to preface a sentence with that. I already know it will.”
Ben wanted to stick his tongue out at him, but he refrained. “I think there’s something wrong with Rey.”
Poe looked at him carefully. “What do you mean?”
“Look at her flowers! They’re wilted!” Ben pointed across the street.
“Oh Ben, didn’t we talk about this weird fascination you have with her? I’m telling you, if you want to date the woman, ask her out, don’t just stare at her all day.”
“Look, it’s not about me, ok? Seriously. Do you know if anyone’s heard from her? Her car’s still here, her flowers are dying. This isn’t normal, I tell you.”
“Well, I know Rose and Finn just went on a trip. Maybe she went with them?” But even Poe sounded dubious.
“Can you ask?” Ben was wringing his hands now.
“Oh wait, I know.” Poe pulled out his phone and poked around for a few minutes. “Nope. Finn just posted a picture of him and Rose with the hashtag ‘alone time before the wedding.’”
Ben’s heart was racing. “Who else is she friends with?”
“Look, I don’t keep tabs on her like you do, man. I know she’s friendly around the neighborhood, but as far as I know, it’s Rose and Finn she hangs out with the most. I’m sure she just got picked up by her family or something.”
“She doesn’t have a family,” Ben said quietly.
Poe looked at him incredulously. “And how would you know that?”
Ben flushed. He didn’t want to tell him how he’d researched the assessor’s website. And the newspaper articles on her aunt’s death that quoted her as the only surviving family member, which is how she inherited the money to buy the house. He didn’t want to say how he’d watched her cry on the front porch late at night sometimes. “So what do we do? Call the police? Have them do a welfare check?”
Poe rolled his eyes. “Solo, seriously. They’ll come lock you up if you tell them even half of the crazy things you know about her. Have you tried knocking on her door?”
“I was about to…”
“Then do it. Look, I have a zoom here in two minutes and I need to go get logged in. If you don’t figure it out, come talk to me later, ok? You do have my number?”
“You know I rarely use the phone.”
“Charge it. Use it. I might not be able to come to the door if I’m in the middle of a meeting.” Poe gave him an awkward tap on the shoulder and closed the door in his face.
Ben took a deep breath and steeled himself. Walking across the street, he opened the gate to her yard and up the steps to her door. He hit the doorbell button, but it made no noise, so finally he just knocked.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing. The bile rose in his throat. He tried the doorknob but it was locked.
He walked over and peered in her window, but the drapes were pulled closed. He knocked on the window and listened. Nothing.
He got off the porch and walked around to the other side of the house. All her windows were closed. He knocked on all of them, and was finally on the last one when he heard a noise from inside. He pressed his ear to the window. Then he hollered against the window pane, “Rey?”
He heard a groan and that was all he needed. He went to the back door and tried the knob, but it too was locked. He braced himself for the inevitable pain, took a few steps back, and threw his body weight against the door. The lock was solid, but the house was nearly a hundred years old and the wood started to splinter quicker than it should. A few more running pushes and the door gave way. He stumbled into what turned out to be the kitchen and then ran in the direction of the house where he had heard her make noise.
Damn it was cold in here, he thought as he ran. “Rey?” He hollered again, and opened a few doors until he found her.
There was a lump under what looked like 8 blankets on her bed, surrounded by water bottles, boxes of tissues, and open cans of soup.
“Rey?” Ben proceeded more cautiously. “It’s Ben Solo, from across the street. Are you ok?”
The ball moved and her head popped out, bloodshot eyes looking out at him in surprise. “Bedd?” She croaked, then went into a coughing jag.
“Do you need me to call 911?” He asked, instantly worried.
“No, I’mb find.” Came the reply. “Id’s just a cold.”
“Do you at least want me to turn up the heat? It’s freezing in here.”
“Power’s out. Idn’t yours?”
Ben gaped. She’d been in here sick for days with no power? “Rey, why didn’t you call someone?”
“Phone died. Doh power.”
He sighed. “I can’t just leave you here like this.”
“I’mb find.” Her eyes fluttered closed again.
Making a quick decision, he grabbed her phone off the nightstand and slipped it into his pocket. Then he reached down, pulled away a few layers of blankets, then picked her up in one remaining blanket.
“Whad’re you doid?” Rey mumbled.
“I’m taking you to a warmer house where I can take care of you. And you can charge your phone.”
“You dote…” Another coughing jag hit her and he had to fight to keep hold of her.
“Yes, I do.” He said resolutely. She didn’t protest. He took her out the back door, since it was still open, got her across the street, and settled into his spare bedroom, where she officially fell asleep. Then he executed his usual sick protocol, and on her nightstand, set up a humidifier, and a diffuser of eucalyptus-based essential oil. He set a box of tissues, hand sanitizer, cough drops, water, and a waste basket at her side before he went back to her house. He found her phone charger and purse with her keys, so he could close the back door and be able to still get in if needed. Then he grabbed some of her chicken noodle soup (he was stunned at the number of canned goods she had), before locking her door, watering her plants, and returning back to his house.
He popped in to check on her and saw she was sleeping soundly. Checking her temperature with a forehead thermometer (thankfully, no fever), he settled into the spare bedroom recliner with his laptop, making sure she didn’t sound distressed.
A few hours later, he heard a rustle and he looked over to see her eyes looking at him blearily. “Bedd?”
He had to smile at her stuffy way of saying his name. Closing his laptop lid, he stood up and walked over to her. “Are you hungry?”
“Doh.”
“When did you eat last?”
“I dunno.”
“If I make you some soup, will you eat it?” She nodded and he patted her head. “Ok, I’ll be right back.”
He microwaved some of her canned soup, gave it a quick taste (this stuff was pure salt… he’d have to do better next time) and took it to her on a tray. She was looking a little more awake when he got back, and he propped some pillows behind her before handing her the tray.
She took her first sip and smiled. “Id’s so much bedder warmb.”
He shuddered, imagining her eating cold soup the past few days. “I’m glad.”
Sitting in silence, he watched her eating and he swore he saw the color return to her cheeks by the time she’d finished. When he went to take her tray, she looked at him curiously. “Why are you takid care of me, Bedd?”
Because I love you. Because no one else is. Because you deserve it.
He shrugged, settling on, “Because I can.”
She gave him a small smile. “You’re dot a burderer are you?”
He snorted. “Nah. I’d have just left you to die, if I was. Much easier that way. Now, do you need anything else? I have DayQuil and NyQuil. Bathrooms right outside the door to your right. If you need help walking, let me know. You can help yourself to a shower whenever you need to as well.”
“Thankks.” She blew her nose and washed her hands before sinking back into the pillows. “I’mb tired.”
“You just sleep all you need to.”
He watched over her the rest of the night.
***
When he awoke the next morning, it was to Rey tiptoeing into the room wearing one of his shirts. His mouth dropped and he was instantly hard. He must have made a noise, because she looked at him quickly and blushed.
“I’m…I’m so sorry. You said I could shower and I didn’t have any clothes.”
“It’s…you look…you’re…fine.” Ben couldn’t string together a sentence. As usual.
“Thanks for that, by the way. I didn’t want to shower with cold water at home, so it’s been days .” She climbed back into bed.
He nodded. “We should call the company today and see why your power is off.”
“I saw you charged my phone. Thank you so much.”
“You sound a lot better today. Not so stuffy. How do you feel?”
“Great! That new nasal rinse box thingy you left in the bathroom really cleared me out. And this smelly stuff you have going. So much better.”
He beamed. “Many years of getting it down to a science. I hate being sick. Try to minimize it as much as possible. Be glad I didn’t force feed Holy Basil Immunity down your gullet.”
Rey snorted. “What does that do?”
“Help your immune system not get sick and helps you fight it better when you do. Good stuff.”
“Maybe I’ll try it next time.”
“I’ll order some more.” He stretched. “Oh, I think my delivery probably came. Are you hungry? I want to make you real soup.”
“Real soup?”
“Yeah. Any allergies I should know about?” Rey shook her head. “Ok. I’ll be back with soup in a bit.”
Sure enough, the groceries were on his porch, and he whipped up some homemade chicken noodle soup as fast as he could, and made a tray with it and some crackers. When he made it back upstairs, she was sound asleep again, so he covered the soup and set it down. Settling back into his recliner, he pulled out his laptop again and got lost in his fictional world.
It was some time later that something distracted him and he looked over to find Rey eating the soup, and watching him thoughtfully. He twitched. “Oh no, surely that’s not still warm. Let me warm it for you.”
She shook her head. “This is heaven compared to what I was eating cold the other day. You made this?”
He nodded. “Simple recipe. Broth, chicken, veggies, noodles. Actually good for you. Not hypertension in a can.”
“Hey don’t knock Campbells.”
“I just know what I know.”
“So you cook. You fix colds. You type faster and more fluently than anyone I’ve seen. What are you doing over there anyway? I know it’s not Facebook.”
He shook his head. “I’m an author.”
“Ooh, of what?” She took another bite.
“Of…books?” He replied, not quite understanding the question.
“Ooh really? Have I read your stuff?”
He shrugged. “No idea.”
Rey reached for her phone and tapped away, frowning. “I don’t see any hits for ‘Ben Solo author.’”
“That’s not how I publish.” His cheeks reddened.
“Oh? Then what’s your pen name?”
“Kylo Ren.”
Rey nearly dropped her phone. “No way!! He’s a best selling-author!”
He shrugged, clicking save and closing his lid. “Sorry?”
“That’s so great!!! Does everyone know who you are?”
His eyes widened. “No, and I’d rather keep it that way.”
She bit her lip looking pained, but then let out a sigh. “Ok, I promise not to tell anyone. Even Rose.”
“Oh please, especially her. At one point I thought I’d never hear the end of her invites to everything, and I’d rather not get on her radar again.”
“Aw, that’s too bad. She’s amazing. Why do you hate being around people so much?”
He shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t talk well. No one gets along with me. It’s always so awkward. It’s just better for everyone if I stay out of their way. I’ve always communicated better in writing than in person. So I just stick to that now.”
“You seem to be communicating just fine now,” Rey argued.
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. She was right.
“So maybe you’re not as bad as you think you are,” Rey tipped the bowl back to finish drinking the broth.
“Or maybe I am just ok with you,” Ben shot back.
Rey smiled back at him. “Well, either way, I am grateful you talk to me. Especially since you’re such a good cook.”
Ben set his laptop down and stood up, reaching for her bowl. “Want more?”
She shook her head. “Is it sad that I’m tired again?”
He gave her a small smile and gently touched her cheek as he took her bowl. “I’m glad you’re letting yourself rest. You need it.”
Her cheek flushed red. “Well…you make it easy. Comfortable bed. Feeding me. All the things.” She waved her hands to the nightstand. “I don’t know what I’ll do when I have to go back to being alone.”
Ben froze. “Well…maybe you don’t have to.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?” The last word came out as a squeak and his cheeks flushed as red as hers.
“I mean…if you don’t…I don’t…we could…” He closed his mouth and his eyes, feeling mortification wash over him. He was so useless.
“We could what?” Rey whispered, reaching out to touch his arm.
Sleep together. Get married. Get married then sleep together. Have kids. Plant gardens. Everything , if it’s with you. He swallowed hard. “Um…date?”
A grin spread over her face. “I would really like that.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You…you would?”
She nodded quickly. “And we don’t have to go anywhere either! I mean, you cook great and I make some pretty good desserts. If you have Netflix or something, we could totally just stay in and watch stuff.”
The idea of Rey staying in his house with him like that warmed his heart, but he also knew it would eventually wind up being not enough. She was too social, too outgoing. He cleared his throat. “Or…there’s a pumpkin patch nearby that’s amazing. The best part is walking through the trees when they’re turning for fall.”
Her eyebrows shot up to match his. “You’d…you like that?”
He scratched his head uncomfortably. “I always liked that. Fall is my favorite. I just…no one ever…why would I do it alone?”
“Well, whatever it is that you love out there, you got a partner! Just not…please no horror movies.”
He let out a small laugh at that. “I hate horror movies.”
“Ok good. I mean, thrillers, ok. Jump scares and gore? Not ok.”
“Agreed.” He started towards the door.
“But Ben?”
He froze. There was always a but. “Yes?”
“For the record, you should always be ok to do it alone, whatever it is. It’s ok to fill your own happy cup, you know.”
He stared at the carpet, feeling tears start to burn in his eyes. His therapist had told him this for years, but somehow, hearing it from Rey, made it sound not only possible, but preferable.
“Thanks,” he whispered.
“And thank you for breakfast.” Rey yawned and he left her room.
***
She sat and watched him make soup, and then they sat together on the couch to watch the latest episode of the “Great British Baking Show,” which it turned out they both loved.
***
He bought her a new back door, and reinforced it with new locks and better framing.
***
She cooked him soup when he was stuck in bed with the cold she’d given him, and worked on her latest paid blog posts as she sat with him.
***
They made it to the Pumpkin patch and shared their first hike and their first kiss amidst the crunch of the leaves and the shadows of the trees.
***
He wowed the block with his beef stew, took a ribbing of ‘I told you so’ from Poe, and apologized to Rose for being so rude all of these years.
***
He laughed at a voicemail from his publisher, Armitage Hux, when he called in shock to say, “I just got your manuscript…you wrote a ROMANCE???”
***
He called (not emailed, not texted…baby steps) his mother to ask for his Grandmothers ring.
***
She said yes.
The End