Yaletown is my favorite part of downtown Vancouver; it has everything at your fingertips and the nightlife is always happening. There was a point after my parents passed that I thought about selling the house and buying a smaller condo in this area, but in the end, I love my parents' house too much to sell it.
Ben parks the car in front of the restaurant with my directions. I watch him walk in front of the car to my door. Grinning, he opens the door and offers his hand.
"Your grandmother raised you right." I smile while grabbing his hand.
Inside the restaurant, we are seated right away. When the hostess walks away, I share with Ben that this place was my father's favorite place to eat in Vancouver. We ate here weekly during our summer stays. Ben picks up the menu and studies it hard, I didn't need a menu - the spicy tuna rolls and oysters were a favorite of mine.
"I think I'm going with the short ribs." He says looking over the menu at me.
"Really?" I laugh, "this place has an amazing raw bar, and the oysters are to die for." I tell him.
"I've never tried oysters or whatever a raw bar is." He looks at me with big eyes.
"How could you not have tried oysters? You live on the east coast. I was 15 years old when I tried oysters for the first time. My dad promised me a new Louis bag if I tried one...I really wanted that damn bag. When it was served, I looked at the shell and the disgusting looking meat thinking there would be no way, but I tried it and have been hooked since." I giggle at the memory.
"Yeah, I'm still doing the ribs." His face breaks into a gorgeous grin.
"Chicken." I tease.
"Ally, I know what I like. I don't want to risk the chance of getting sick on you. So, tell me more things you did in this city."
While we wait for our food, I share with him the parks that I would run or the stores I would always shop at. We talk about the trips around the area I took with my parents, how I learned to ski and snowboard in Whistler, or hiking the nearby national parks and loving the blue/green water from the glaciers.
"I think it's time that you move into your parent's room." Ben whispers.
Shaking my head, I pick up my glass of wine and drain it. Ben knows that I don't want to talk about moving into their room, I thought I made that clear. The room wasn't mine to take. The room I grew up in was just fine.
"I can't." I frown at him.
He grabs my hand across the table and laces our fingers together. "Help me understand?"
"There isn't anything to understand, Ben. It's not my house or my room to take. The house, the money, and everything else they left me...I didn't deserve to get." I tell him.
"That's bullshit. They thought you deserved it and that's why they left it to you. From what you tell me about them, I think they want you to have the best life possible."
"Or it's because I was the only person, they had to leave everything with." I whisper.
"It's your house. Your money. Your cars. But most importantly, it's your life. Ally, I think they would want you to live. They worked hard to create this life, enjoy it." He smiles at me.
"Would you move into your grandparent's bedroom after they passed?" I snap at him.
"If their bedroom looked like your parents, I would in a heartbeat. You're not disrespecting them by moving on."
"I guess we're different. Can we not talk about this anymore tonight? You didn't know my parents or what they wanted for me." I stab at him.
Ben nods and grabs for his beer, "you're right, I didn't know them, but I know you. You deserve the best this life has to offer. You're an amazing person."
YOU ARE READING
Heartlines
Romance*** Complete Story *** Allyson Sicard was in her final year at Harvard and while her roommates were trying to get their Ivy League boyfriends to propose, Ally was trying to figure out which law school she wanted to graduate from. Columbia had always...
