“Did you ever play that game in college where someone would ask a question, and if you didn't want to answer it, you had to take a shot?” I asked.
He nodded, grinning.
“Well, since it's the afternoon, and I'm a Mom and responsible and stuff, we’re going to do the jelly bean version. I'll ask a question, and you can choose to answer it, or not. If you decline, you have to eat a handful of jelly beans. The same goes for me with a question from you.”
He still looked confused.
“And why is eating a handful of jelly beans punishment?” he asked, looking at the two bags I was pouring into a clear glass bowl.
“Ah, well see...if you pass on too many questions, you'll get sick. So see, it's just like the original game, only we're subbing sugar for the alcohol.”
This earned me a laugh.
“How many handfuls do you think it takes to get sick?” he questioned.
“I think we’ll just have to risk it, and find out.”
“You’re kind of evil,” he teased, leaning across the floor to grab a bracket looking thing to screw into the wall. His shirt lifted from the movement, and caught myself biting my lip in response. The infomercial “Abs of Steel” flashed in my memory as I tried not to drool.
“You don’t know the half of it.” I said.
Flirting. Well, at least I could still do that.
~Logan~
"I can ask you anything?" I said, glancing toward Clare as she settled into a pink bean bag chair on the floor with the massive bowl of jelly beans wedged in her lap. She clearly had given up on helping, which I was very grateful for. Seeing her whirl around a hammer was a scary sight. I'm all for gender equality, but Maddie was right, she was definitely missing the home improvement gene.
She nodded, then smiled with confidence. "Yep, anything. Ask away."
"All right. What's your favorite color?" I quickly asked before turning back to the wall to check the progress of the brackets I’d just drilled. Total silence filled the air again.
Shit, what did I do this time?
"Seriously? You suck at this game!" I heard her say, before turning back around to get a jelly bean tossed at my head.
“Green, try again."
"Wait, green what?" I was totally confused. I'd known this woman for all of three seconds and she had told me I suck and was chucking jelly beans at my head. I didn’t know whether to laugh, or worry that my ego is going to be irreversibly damaged.
"My favorite color. It's green," she clarified.
“Ah, I should have known. It matches your eyes."
Looking stunned, a beautiful blush crept up her face before she composed herself and continued.
"Okay, try again."
"Are you close to your family?" After seeing all the pictures on the mantel in her family room, I knew the answer to this question, but I wanted to see her face light up when she spoke.
"Yes, my family is wonderful. Like I said, my Mom and Dad live nearby, which is a blessing because they help with Maddie quite a bit,” she explained as she fiddled with the jelly beans in the bowl. "My Dad had a stroke about 5 years ago. He recovered well, but is unable to help with these kinds of things anymore, which is why I was out braving the hardware store myself this morning."
"Brave woman."
“More like stupid woman, but at least I found you.” she said before continuing. "I have a younger brother, Garrett. He recently graduated from college and started working. He's spending most of his time on the road and loving every minute of it. We catch up when he's in town, but he's young and trying to move up in the professional world. Seeing him so grown up blows my mind on a daily basis." She laughed and it was the kind of laugh that seemed to have a memory attached to it. It must have been a happy memory because the small smile she had now lit up her entire face.
I had no idea what it was like to have a family that brought that kind of smile to your face, let alone any kind of smile. My family was all about appearance and how much you could gain from each other. As soon as you made a mistake, you were shunned and an outcast. Ever since my divorce, when I finally realized I’d never make the man proud, I stopped caring what my father thought.
"So, what about you? What's your family like?" she asked as I finished drilling the last hole of the bracket securing Maddie’s barre into place.
"Pass me those jelly beans."
~Clare~
"Okay, so no family questions," I said, raising my hands in defeat as he began stuffing a hand full of jelly beans in his mouth all at the same time.
"Now that is just wrong. You just committed the ultimate Jelly Belly sin.”
He looked at me, his mouth full of candy, like I was crazy.
"You're supposed to eat them one at a time, unless you're creating a combo."
"A combo? What is a jelly bean combo?"
"Seriously, what rock did you grow up under? I thought every child knew a few Jelly Belly combos."
I motioned for him to come closer and he complied, putting down his tools and taking a seat next to me on the floor. Seeing all six plus feet of full grown male, wrapped in faded jeans and gray t-shirt, sitting on my daughters pink rug was quite a sight.
"Prepare to be amazed. What's your favorite dessert?" I asked him.
"Besides jelly beans?" he asked jokingly.
I nodded, giving him a pointed look.
"Okay, fine. Root Beer Float." he answered.
"And you gave me crap for liking jelly beans? Who's the kid now?"
"Well, root beer and ice cream weren’t allowed in our house or boarding school. The desserts we had were so pretentious, I'm pretty sure I couldn't pronounce them until I was in my teens," he explained in an amused sort of way, but there was a shadow of something dark there. Before I could figure out what it was, it was gone and replaced by his award winning smile.
"Okay, well...root beer float coming up."
I dug through the bowl, looking for the jelly beans I needed. He watched skeptically, but leaned in closer, brushing his shoulder against mine. I could smell the aftershave on his neck, and I wanted so badly to pull him closer to me.
"You're very dedicated to jelly beans, aren't you?"
"You have no idea. Just wait until you see me with chocolate." That brought on another laugh. He had a great laugh.
I finally found the winning combination of jelly beans and handed them over for him to try. He popped the three jelly beans in his mouth and chewed, and I became mesmerized with his mouth, suddenly wondering what he tasted like.