A Sense of Duty: A Former Navy SEAL Falls in Love and Begins a New Journey with his Private Consulting Company: Dark Horse Guardians (36 page)

~Lara~

At the restaurant Lara's heart was in her throat, but she maintained her outward composure as Ben walked William toward the table. William was a slightly built blonde boy with a confident air about him, dressed in a button down shirt with a tie and a navy blue sport coat. William was eight years old, but small for his age. As Ben arrived at the table with William, he formally introduced his son to her, "William, I want you to meet Lara." William looked directly into her eyes, smiled and extended his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you, Lara." he said. His brown eyes studied her with curiosity. His handshake was strong and firm.

Lara felt an overwhelming need to know William. She immediately learned that William was not shy. He was bright and inquisitive. "What do you do, Lara, for a living, I mean?" She explained her architectural training and internship. Then said she was just starting her own design firm. She expressed her love for architectural design, especially historical details. She showed him photos on her phone of the old pink Victorian and photos of his father's office at the university. "I was the decorator." She showed him the Dark Horse Renovation website with photos from her portfolio. William asked questions about Lara's childhood and if she had ever been married. Lara told him about her life as a young girl and her first jobs in high school: shoveling cow manure at a dairy farm, working at a fast food restaurant. Lara told him she was an only child, too. William listened with rapt attention and seemed to enjoy the personal information she shared with him.

After the meal came, Lara asked William questions about his life. He talked about the strict protocol of boarding school, but said he liked it there. He had close friends and knew what to expect every day. He enjoyed the routine. William seemed older than his eight years, especially when he spoke of his mother's illness. "I have been studying anorexia and I know it is not just a physical illness, but mental, as well." He spoke poignantly about his concerns for Sienna's deteriorating health. He also made loving remarks about his grandparents, Sienna's mother and father, who had stepped in to help raise him. Ben added a few remarks throughout the meeting, but acted mostly as a conduit between Lara and William. After the two hour lunch, William and Lara knew one another quite well. When they parted, William shook
Lara's hand, and thanked her for caring about his dad. "I hope you marry him." Lara felt a lump in her throat and feared she might cry as the trio made their way to the waiting cab to take them to the hospital and Sienna's bedside. William slid into the cab beside Lara. Ben was quiet, but Lara sensed his satisfaction with the conversation during lunch.

The three of them walked down the long hallway to Sienna's private room. Ben and Lara waited in the small room at the end of the hallway. William insisted on visiting his mother alone. He had purchased a large floral arrangement in a vase and brought it into her room. The door was left ajar and Lara and Ben could hear his youthful masculine voice, "Mother, I hope you are feeling better. I miss you and hope you can come home soon. I'm on the chess team now at school and I am taking violin lessons." Sienna listened intently to her son's voice. William cleared his throat. He was a boy on the threshold of becoming a young man. "I had luncheon today with father. He's looking quite well. He's happy in America. He's not a heartless monster, not in my eyes. I love him." Sienna responded and it sounded as if she said she wanted William to love his father. William continued, "I met Lara today at luncheon." The room was silent. "She's very nice, I think, mother. And, I think father loves her. He didn't say he loved her, but I could tell just the way he looked at her. She would be a nice step-mother. Are you going to agree to the divorce?" Lara heard Sienna's response, "Yes, William. It's the best thing. And, your life will not change. You will stay at the same school and I will get strong and be home soon." After a few minutes passed, William emerged from the room and joined Ben and Lara at the end of the hall. "I'll wait with you here, father." Ben made the phone call.

Sienna's lawyer arrived thirty minutes later in her hospital room. Sienna lifted her claw-like hand and scrawled her signature on the document handing it over to her attorney. A nurse acted as a witness. At the end of the hallway, Ben embraced William briefly with tears in his eyes. Ben felt it was an act of kindness that William shared this difficult moment with him. His son had grown up without a father in his life. But, at eight years old he was mature enough to understand Ben's situation and wanted his father to be happy. It was a selfless gesture. At that moment he began to view his son differently. Ben wanted to thank Sienna before leaving and William went with him. When father and son emerged from Sienna's room into the hallway, they both glanced Lara's way. She met them at the elevator and William smiled at Lara. It was a genuine smile of relief. They made their way to the lobby. William's car service had arrived at the front of the building. There were tears in Ben's eyes as he embraced William and watched him drive away with the chauffeur.

Ben hailed a cab and within minutes they arrived at Ben's attorney's office. Ben took Lara's hand and said, "You know what this means…don't you, Lara? We can get married. She had hoped and wished for this moment for so many months, she couldn't believe it was really happening. "Ben, I love you." was all that she could manage as tears of relief streamed down her face unexpectedly. Ben wrapped his strong arms around Lara and kissed her tears. "We will be married as soon as possible," he whispered in her ear, his voice filled with excitement. Sitting in a cab in Vancouver with her Navy SEAL Lieutenant, Lara felt her heart might swell and burst. The turn of events stunned her. Ben was kissing her softly and tenderly in the cab as he told her he wanted to get married as soon as possible. Lara wondered if she should pinch herself. But, she powdered her nose and put eye drops into her red eyes. They pulled up to the Baird building that housed Ben's attorney. Ben tipped the cab driver and the vehicle disappeared into the mass of traffic.

Vancouver in April was covered with melting snow. Ben held Lara's hand as they stood in front of an enormous glass and steel skyscraper. He expertly guided Lara toward the elevators and pushed the button for the 22
nd
floor. There were people in the elevator, but Ben kissed her again, and she blushed. He was like a child at Christmas eager to open his gift. They traveled through several hallways to a great mahogany door. Ben opened the door and was greeted by a cheery receptionist, "Oh hello, Lieutenant Keegan!" she could not take her eyes off him. "Hi Nora…" Ben said in a hushed tone, "I don't have an appointment but I have something important, we need to see John Baird." The receptionist excused herself and in a quiet tone checked with someone behind her. "Mr. Baird is in his office. You can go in, Lieutenant Keegan." She smiled sweetly at Ben ignoring Lara.

Ben took Lara's hand as they walked into John Baird's ultra-modern office. Baird was a dignified white haired gentleman, probably fifty years old, athletically built, expensive suit. The attorney rose as Ben and Lara entered the room and his eyes lit up, "Ben, great to see you…" he placed one hand on Ben's shoulder as he shook his hand.
"John, this is Lara Reagan O'Connell." The attorney shook her hand and looked Lara over slightly narrowing his blue eyes. "The divorce papers have been signed, here they are." Ben announced as he plunked the thick envelope on Baird's desk. "My god, man, how did you accomplish this?" Baird asked appearing amazed. "It's a long story; suffice to say that Lara and William had a hand in it." Ben smiled. Baird removed the paperwork and put on his reading glasses. "Sit, please, coffee?" Ben and Lara sat in black leather chairs in front of his glass desk. Ben continued, "No coffee thank you, but I do need to know how soon I can marry Lara." The attorney peered at Ben over his glasses and then he peered at Lara. He replied, "As soon as these are processed through the court; I'd say sixty days." Ben asked if the process could be accelerated. Baird said he would attempt to push the court date up and would get back to him. "I will await your call, John, and if you can accelerate it, I'll make it worth your effort." Ben said jotting his cell number on a post it note and handing it to Baird. Ben grasped Lara's hand. "It's just that I don't want her to get away." Ben smiled at Baird. The attorney smiled back. "I understand, Ben. You don't need to explain that to me. If I had a beauty like her, I'd hasten the process along, too." They exited the office and rode the elevator down 22 floors. Ben passionately kissed Lara on the elevator and the small group of people in it started to applaud. As they stepped off the elevator, one woman asked, "When's the wedding?" Smiling with dimples, Ben looked into Lara's green eyes, "The wedding will be as soon as I can arrange it."

~Lara~

Lara felt Ben exhale a long sigh of relief as they got into the cab to go to the airport, "We are going home, Lara. And, I have one question to ask you: Do you want to marry me?" Lara embraced Ben and she spoke with breathless excitement into his ear, "Yes." She never experienced such a flood of emotion. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same moment. All of the tension of the past few days melted away in Ben's strong arms. She never wanted to let him go. She suddenly felt overcome with exhaustion. The turbulent events of the past few days drained her. The plane ride home was a connection through Pittsburgh. They finally arrived after midnight at the pink Victorian. Ben left her briefly to retrieve Einstein from the professor's house. While standing in Ben's apartment alone, the thought of being his wife became real to Lara. When he returned, Einstein was delighted to see Lara, and she rubbed his doggy ears. "Stay with me tonight…" Ben softly requested.
Too tired to shower, they curled up together in the big comfortable four poster bed and immediately fell asleep.

When Lara woke in Ben's bed, she was filled with a feeling of anticipation. Ben was already up and she shyly joined him in the shower. She washed his thick black hair and kissed his face as the hot water pummeled them. Ben soaped her body, slowly and sensuously. She thought she might die from wanting him. He washed her long hair, rinsing thoroughly and kissed the nape of her neck as he finished. She knew Ben wanted her and she sensed this would be the moment they had long awaited. Stepping out of the shower, he towel dried her body slowly and then combed her long tangled wet hair slowly, methodically. He blotted her hair with the towel, wrapped her in it and embraced her. He whispered, "I know you've not done this stuff before. I have lots of patience." He was gentle and patient with Lara. She realized how wonderful intimacy could be with the one special man meant for her. For the first time in her life Lara felt honored and respected. Ben was worth the wait.

Ben cooked breakfast and they took Einstein for a brief stroll. Lara felt she was walking on air. Ben's mood was one of contentment. They walked by the purple Victorian and stopped for a moment admiring its beauty in the morning light. Eric's black Infiniti was in the driveway. "It's beautiful, just like you, Lara…" Ben whispered in her ear as he kissed her. Sadly, Lara would be renovating the purple Victorian for Eric. But they both decided it wasn't meant to be their home. Ben said, "There's something better in store for us." He smiled and his blue eyes lit up with mischief. Lara believed there was something better, too.

Lara had contacted the landlord and moved her things into Ben's apartment. Her condo was now on the market. "When's the wedding?" the landlord asked. "Ben's planning it." was her reply, and Mr. Walsh smiled. "What a great love story." Four days later the phone call from Ben's attorney, John Baird, confirmed that the divorce was legal. Benjamin Aiden Keegan was a free man. Lara had never seen Ben smile so much. Lara had almost forgotten about the trip to St. John. Ben was plotting and planning the late April vacation in his office. "Just take a small carry-on bag." he advised Lara. "We'll buy everything we need when we get there. That's how we roll."

~Ben~

Ben was secretive about the details of the St. John vacation. He wanted the fine points of the trip to be a surprise for Lara. He knew she had never traveled south of Boston. As she bounced through the doorway of his office one April afternoon, Ben was engrossed in his computer while he spoke softly on the phone in Hebrew. He no longer wrapped up calls quickly or minimized the computer screen when Lara entered. Ben was at ease with her. He waved her in. As soon as he finished the phone call, he turned his attention to Lara. "The travel plans are all set. We leave on April 13
th
and return on the 20
th
. Here's the paperwork you need to sign for your passport." Ben slipped the paperwork in front of Lara with an X where she was to sign. It was fun to watch
Lara's excitement about the St. John trip. Ben knew St. John would give them time to process all that had occurred in the last few weeks, and a chance to be alone.
He could not hold back his happiness. The last time he smiled this much was when he touched down on American soil, and he kissed the tarmac.
It was that kind of happiness.

~Lara~

They had a direct flight from Portland to Miami. Ben had secured first class seats. From there they took a smaller plane to St. Thomas, as St. John did not have an airport. This flight was not as terrifying as her first one. Lara watched as they flew over what seemed to be hundreds of miles of ocean. Finally, a tiny spot of land thirteen miles long and four miles wide appeared as a sand-colored dot in the turquoise water, St. Thomas. The slowing of the aircraft was evident and she listened for the
familiar click of the landing gear. Clutching the arms of the seat, Lara tried to control her breathing. Ben sensed her anxiety and wrapped his arm around her. She felt safe and secure, even though it seemed she was hurtling through the air at 200 miles per hour. Lara watched through the window as the plane came closer and closer to landing. It felt like they were touching down so fast they might run out of pavement before they stopped. She envisioned the plane missing the runway and crashing into the ocean. When the wheels of the plane touched the pavement she felt the familiar bump, and they were finally in St. Thomas. Lara exhaled. Ben kissed her as the plane taxied to a full stop
.
St. John was located about four miles from St. Thomas' east end and they had to take a ferry to get to their destination.