Her Hard to Resist Husband (16 page)

“Beautiful,” Tracy said. “How about to you guys?”

Cleo nodded, but Daniel remained silent, his mouth set in a mutinous line, looking off to the left. He’d been silent since Cleo had asked if their mother would have a grave and a stone like their grandparents did. But when they’d given the boy a chance to remain behind, he’d trailed along at a distance, before steadily gaining ground until he’d been walking beside Ben.

“
O que foi
?” Cleo went over to Daniel and took his hand in hers, her concern obvious. “
Estas triste
?”

He shook his head. “
Vovo esta por ai
.”

Ah, so that’s why he was looking in that direction. His grandparents’ graves were to the left. Cleo had assumed, like Tracy had, that Daniel was struggling with his grief. And maybe that was partially true. But he also wanted his mom’s grave to be next to that of his grandparents.

“Can you show us where they are?” she asked.

Without a word, Daniel trudged to a spot about twenty yards to his left, where a weathered tombstone canted backwards.

Ben laid his tools on the ground and set to righting the stone as best he could, packing dirt into the furrow behind it. The names Louisa and Jorge were inscribed on the top, along with the surname Silva. Louisa had outlived Jorge by fifteen years.

Other than the leaning headstone, the graves were neat, with no weeds anywhere to be seen. They’d been well tended—probably by the mother of Cleo and Daniel. It made it all the more fitting that her grave be next to theirs.

“This is perfect,” Tracy said.

Daniel gave a short nod, to which Cleo added her approval.

Kneeling on the packed ground next to her, Ben pulled out the sheet of paper that had the children’s mother’s full name on it and picked up his chisel and hammer. The first strike rang through the air like a shot, and Cleo flinched. Tracy put her arm around the girl and they stood quietly as the sound was repeated time and time again. A cadence of death…and hope.

Sweat poured down Ben’s face and spots of moisture began to appear on his dark T-shirt, but still he continued, letter by letter, until the name of Maria Eugenia da Silva Costa appeared on the stone, along with the dates of her birth and death.

Cleo had stood quietly through the entire process, but when Ben glanced up at her with his brows raised, she knelt beside him. With tender fingers she traced the letters one by one while Daniel stayed where he was. He’d brushed his palm across his face as if chasing away sweat—but Tracy had a feeling a rogue tear or two might have been part of the mix.

Handing a bunch of wildflowers to the little girl, she watched as Cleo and Ben carefully placed the stone and cross, setting the tiny bouquet in front of the objects. Glancing at Ben, who’d slicked his hair back, she cleared her throat. “Would you mind saying a few words?”

Blotting a drizzle of perspiration with his shirt sleeve, he stood, lifting a brow. “It’s been a while since I’ve gone to church.”

“I’m sure you can think of something.” Tracy knew she’d lose it if she tried to say anything.

Cleo rose as well and gripped her hand fiercely.

“Right.” He put his hand on one of Cleo’s shoulders and motioned Daniel over. The boy moved forward, his steps unsure as if he didn’t want to face the reality of what was about to happen. Tracy knew just how he felt. Somehow seeing your mother’s name carved into cold, hard stone made things seem unbearably permanent. Even more permanent than the granite itself.

As if aware of her thoughts, Ben started talking, his voice low and somber. “We want to remember Maria Eugenia and give thanks for her life. For the brave children she brought into this world and nurtured to be such fine, caring individuals.” Ben’s eyes met hers. “We leave this marker as a reminder of her time on this earth. A symbol that she was important. That she was loved. That she won’t be forgotten. By any of us.”

Cleo’s hands went up to cover her face, her small shoulders shaking in silence, while Daniel stood unmoving. Ben knelt between them. One broad-shouldered man flanked by two grieving children.

Oh, God.

One of the tears she’d been blinking away for the last several minutes threatened to break free. But this was not the time. This wasn’t about her. It was about these kids. About helping them through a terrible time in their lives. About helping Cleo get to the root of her medical problems.

She went over and gave Daniel a long hug. And then she knelt in front of Cleo, her eyes meeting Ben’s as she brushed a strand of hair from the child’s damp head and then dropped a kiss on top of it.

Suddenly she knew she wouldn’t need a few days to decide. In the scheme of things, what was six months or a year when she could make a difference in these kids’ lives for ever? Wasn’t that what she’d come here to do? What she’d done even as she’d faced her test results? As impossibly hard as it might be to see Ben each and every day, she was going to
Teresina
. She was going to help make sure Daniel and Cleo were put in a situation where they could flourish and grow. And where Cleo—as Tracy had promised her—would have that chance at a long and healthy life.

* * *

Ben stood in the door of the sickroom and peered around one last time. Every bed was empty of patients, the IV poles disassembled and the military vehicles had headed out one by one, leaving only a small contingent to carry out General Gutierrez’s final order. Ben had insisted on staying behind to make sure the last survivors had packed up and moved out of town, which they had.

Maybe it was the life-and-death struggle that had gone on here, maybe it was the unrelenting horror of what they’d seen, but most of the inhabitants had seemed only too happy to clear out. Most of them—except Cleo and Daniel—had relatives to turn to and those who didn’t would have help from the government to start over, including jobs and subsidized housing, until they got back on their feet.

Several of the villagers, when they’d discovered what Ben had done for Daniel and Cleo’s mother, had made similar monuments for their own loved ones and set them in various locations around the cemetery. Ben had wrung a promise from the general that the graveyard would remain untouched.

Sao Joao dos Rios was now a ghost town—already dead to all intents and purposes.

And soon his wife would be moving back into his house with a ready-made family in tow. He wasn’t sure what had suddenly caused her to say yes. He only knew as the four of them had knelt in front of Maria Eugenia’s grave, she’d met his eyes and given a single nod of her head.

He’d mouthed the words, “You’ll go?”

Another slow nod.

There’d been no emotion on her face other than a mixture of grief and determination, and he’d wondered if he’d done the right thing in asking her to come. But he couldn’t take on two kids by himself and do them justice. Daniel was a strong young man, a few years from adulthood, and Cleo a young girl whose body was still battling to adapt to diabetes, while her mind buckled under a load of grief and loss.

Right now, Tracy and the kids were going through Daniel and Cleo’s house and collecting an assortment of sentimental items, and if he knew Tracy, she was making the case for each and every object with the soldier General Gutierrez had left in charge. His friend wasn’t an unreasonable man, but he took his job seriously. He was not going to let this pathogen out of the city, if he could help it.

All clothing and linens had to be boiled before they were packed into crates and given a stamp of approval. The hours had run into days as people waited in line for their turn to sanitize their belongings.

A movement caught his eye and he frowned as he spotted Tracy’s assistant heading over to the house. He hadn’t realized the man was still here, although in the confusion of the last few hours he couldn’t remember seeing him leave. Obviously, he wouldn’t have without saying goodbye to his boss.

He turned, ready to follow, when Tracy came out of the house and met him. Pedro said something to her and she shrugged. But when the man laid his hands on her shoulders, a slow tide began to rise in Ben’s head and he pushed off to see what was going on.

The first voice to reach his ears was Pedro’s. “You can’t be serious.
Projeto Vida
is your life. You can’t just abandon it. What about the medical ship?”

Tracy shook her head and said something, but he couldn’t quite make out her words. Ben moved a little faster.

“Why can’t someone else deal with them?”

“Because there is no one else, Pedro. It’s something I have to do. You and the rest of the crew can hold the fort until I get back.”

Until she got back.
Why did those four words make his gut churn?

Pedro evidently saw him coming and took his hands from her shoulders. It didn’t stop him from continuing his tirade, though. “How long do you think that will that be?”

“Six months. Maybe a year.” She glanced back at the door to the house. “Please, keep your voice down. We haven’t talked to the kids about time frames.”

“Why don’t you just bring the kids down to Sao Paulo?”

“You know I can’t do that. It wouldn’t be fair to them or to you all. Our hours are all over the place and we’re rarely in the office a week before we’re off again.”

The turning and shifting in Ben’s gut increased in intensity. He hoped that didn’t mean she was planning on keeping the same schedule once she got to Teresina. He expected her to be an active partner in Cleo’s care, not an absentee parent.

He forced a smile as he addressed Tracy. “Is there a problem?”

She shook her head. “No, we’re just working out some details about the office.”

That’s not what it sounded like to him.

Moistening her lips, she leaned forward to give Pedro a quick hug. “It’s going to be all right. Give me a call when you get in. I should have cellphone service once I get on the road.”

“Speaking of roads,” Ben said, his eyes locked on Pedro, “we should all be heading in that direction. Do you need a ride anywhere?”

“Nope. I offered to help with the clean-up then I’ll catch a ride to the airport.”

Tracy smiled. “I thought you said the soldiers were ‘scary dudes.’”

“They’re not so bad once you get to know them. Other people…not so much.”

Yeah, Ben could guess who that little jab was meant for. Luckily, his skin had grown pretty thick over the last several years. Not much got through.

Except maybe one hot-tub episode.

And a few hot tears that had splashed on his shoulder as Tracy had confessed her deepest, darkest secret. Oh, yeah, that had gotten through more than he cared to admit.

“I have a crate of embroidered linens that need to be boiled and then we can go.”

Pedro, as if finally realizing she was serious about going to
Teresina
, spun on his heel and walked away.

Maybe he should give Tracy one more chance to walk away as well. But as much as he tried to summon up the strength, he couldn’t. Not just yet.

He had two kids to worry about.

And maybe someday he could convince himself that was the real reason.

* * *

“Where are the beds?”

Ben found Daniel standing in the middle of his new room, the backpack with all his clothes still slung over one of his thin shoulders. At least the boy’s cheeks had some color back in them. “It’s right there against the wall.”

And then he realized why the kid had asked that question. He’d probably never slept on a spring mattress in his life. The military had used canvas cots for sickbeds, while most of the houses in Sao Joao dos Rios contained
redes
…hammocks. Ben had nothing against sleeping in them. The things were pretty comfortable, in fact. And making love in one…

Yeah, better not to think about the times he and Tracy had shared one on various trips in their past.

Ben moved past Daniel and sat on the double-sized bed. “This is what we normally sleep on.”

“But it’s not hanging up. Doesn’t it get hot?”

The kid had a point.

“That’s why we have fans.” He nodded at the ceiling fan that was slowly spinning above them. “It goes at different speeds.”

“I don’t know…” Daniel looked dubious.

Ben smiled. “Tell you what. Try it for a week or so and if you absolutely hate it, we’ll go buy you a
rede
.”

“My mom made mine herself. And Cleo’s.”

His throat tightening, Ben nodded. By now the military would have burned everything. Houses, most material possessions that could carry bacteria out of the city. That included Daniel and Cleo’s hammocks. “I know. I wish we could have brought them, but there was no way to boil them.”

They’d been able to sterilize a few of Maria Eugenia’s aprons and embroidered towels, but hammocks had been too unwieldy. They’d been forced to leave so much behind.

“I understand.” He looked around again. “Why is there only one bed, then?”

That was another thing. The siblings had shared a bedroom in their old house, but there were enough rooms here that they wouldn’t need to any more. But how to explain that to a boy who’d never had a room of his own. “Cleo will have her own bed, in the room next door to this one.”

Tracy was currently in there with the girl, making up the couch with sheets and pillows. He tried to look at his home through their eyes. He wasn’t a wealthy man by American standards, but it would certainly seem that way to Cleo and Daniel. There was even an air-conditioner in each of the rooms for when things got unbearably hot. But he didn’t mention that right now. He wanted to give them some time to adjust to their new surroundings before springing too much on them.

The local government had been overwhelmed, dealing with the aftermath of the outbreak, so when Ben had asked permission to take the kids with them, they’d made copies of Ben’s and Tracy’s identity papers, called in a quick background check, then promised a formal interview in the coming weeks. He knew it would only be a formality. And maybe some long-lost relative would come forward in the meantime and claim the children.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. In just two weeks Ben had grown fond of the kids. Too fond, in fact.