Yours for the Taking (7 page)

Kate added cream and sugar to hers. “Believe me, I don’t agree with your grandfather’s ultimatum.” She returned the creamer to the refrigerator and sat beside him on a stool. “I tried to talk him out of it, but you know how stubborn he is. Once Joe has his mind set on something, there’s no talking to him. But that doesn’t make what you’re doing right either. If you weren’t ready to marry, you should have refused.”

Ben put his coffee down and faced her. “He would have sold the ranch to a developer.”

“He may have, but Ben, it’s not as if you’re ever going to live there. It’s just a place.”

“It’s home.”

“No, this is your home. You’ve lived here longer than you lived in Three Whores Bend.”

“It’s all I have left of my parents, Kate.” As usual, the pain slammed into him. No matter how old he got, thinking about his parents still hurt. “I can’t lose the ranch too.”

Kate slid off the stool and held him close. “Honey, I’ve told you, you haven’t lost your parents; they’re with you in your heart. They’re not at that ranch you disappear to every time you need to lick your wounds. Maybe the memories you have of them took place there, but they aren’t. Your parents are with you always.”

He’d heard her say it a million times, but the only place he felt close to his parents was at the ranch. He could still picture his mother by the stove or reading to him in the meadow, his father helping him build his fort or fixing the generator. For Ben, that was where all the memories of his parents were. Where they would always be.

She studied him. “I’ve always worried about you, you know—losing both your parents at such a young age. You were taken away from everything you knew and thrown into a much different world.”

Ben took a sip of his coffee, set it down, and stared into it. “I was fine.” The last thing he wanted to do was talk about this. It brought back too many memories—bad ones. No one wants to think of their parents flying into the side of a mountain.

Patting his hand, Kate silenced him with a nudge. “You went from being homeschooled to private school. From being an only child running around the mountains to one of five living under the same roof in town, with your grandfather introducing you to world leaders and grooming you to take over his empire. That’s a lot of change and pressure for a little boy.”

“I had you and Gramps. I was fine.”

“You’ve always been a chameleon.” Kate sighed. “No matter who you met or where you were, you seemed to blend right in. I kept waiting for you to react, to lash out, something… I thought for sure you would end up on a shrink’s couch for the rest of your life.”

“But I didn’t.”

Kate sipped of her coffee before dabbing her lip with a napkin. “I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I had worrying about you. I thought for sure you were burying your pain and would finally snap and show us who was really behind that chameleon persona. It never happened. It took me a while but I’ve realized that you are just comfortable in your own skin. No matter where you are, who you are with, you have a God-given ability to relate to anyone. Though, I don’t think it would hurt you to see a shrink. You’re far from perfect.” She studied him in that way she had that made people want to confess all. “And you still have that little problem.”

Ben wanted to roll his eyes but didn’t since Kate wasn’t above giving him a smack upside the head. “What problem?”

“You, Benjamin Joseph Walsh, are a card carrying commitaphobe.”

Ben laughed. “Gina says I’m OCD and now you tell me I’m afraid of commitment? How can you say that? I just got married.”

“Yes, but not because you’re committed to your wife. The only thing you’re committed to is that ranch.”

“I need the ranch, Kate. It’s mine.”

She gave Ben a big hug before she released him. “You and Joe are on your own with this one, Benji. I’ve decided to stay out of it. You’re a grown man and so is Joe, although sometimes you both make me wonder.”

Ben bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Kate. If it makes you feel better, I don’t like it much myself, but he’s given me no choice. You know how much that ranch means to me.”

“Maybe Joe will learn a lesson about interfering in other peoples’ lives. It would serve the old goat right. Still, I’m worried about your relationship if this blows up in both your faces. He needs you, Ben. I know it seems like he’s going to live forever, but he’s slowing down. He needs you to pick up the slack or he’s going to have to find someone else to do it.”

“That’s why I’m here. I figure I’ll telecommute when I can, and when I can’t, I’ll be here.”

“Have you called Karma and the boys to tell them you’re home?”

Ben lifted the top off a pot she had simmering on the stove. “Not yet. This smells great. What is it?”

“Elk stew. Hunter went and filled my freezer and your grandfather’s in one trip.”

“I figured I’d go over to Humpin’ Hannah’s and surprise Karma if she’s working tonight.”

“She is, but I still don’t know what a girl with a college degree is doing tending bar.”

Oh, the same argument Kate had had with Karma since the day she graduated. “She’s making great money, more than she’d make at an entry-level job.”

Kate stirred the stew. “Sure she is but entry level means she wouldn’t stay at that pay level for long. She’d do better as she worked her way up the corporate ladder. But no, she’s all about getting paid the big bucks now.”

Ben shrugged. “Karma’s a smart kid. She knows what she’s doing.”

Kate thumped the wooden spoon on the side of the big pot with more force than necessary. “I don’t like her working there until all hours.”

“I know, but the boys keep an eye on her. The three of them are there all the time.”

Kate shook her head as if to clear it. “So, how long are you staying?”

“I don’t know. I’m in no rush to get back to New York.”

“And your wife doesn’t have a problem with that?”

“Gina knows the deal. It’s business.”

Kate held up her hand. “Stop, I don’t want to hear anything else. All I want to know is that you are okay with it. That’s all I care about.”

“I’m fine with it.”

“Good then. Why don’t you take your bags up to your room while I set the table?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And you better actually put your clothes away. I’m not your personal maid.”

Ben smiled as her lecture followed him down the hall. It was good to be home.

***

The phone rang and Gina reached for it, flipped it open, and growled.

“Hi, honey, I’m home.”

She rolled over and pushed her satin sleep mask off her eyes onto her forehead. “Who the hell is this?”

Ben’s deep voice came through the phone. “You’ve forgotten about me already?”

Gina opened one eye, the blue numbers on the clock said 11:43. “Ben? Why are you calling this late? You better have just survived a plane crash or I swear I’ll make you wish you had.”

She heard his soft chuckle. “Aw, you were worried about me, weren’t you?”

Gina sat up and pushed the feather pillows behind her. “Yeah, that’s why I was sleeping so soundly.”

Tina rolled over and groaned. “Who is it?”

“Go back to sleep. It’s just Ben being a pain in the ass.”

“Gina, who the hell are you talking to in bed?”

The first thing that came to mind was that it was none of his business, but since they’d agreed to forgo bed partners of the opposite sex, or in his case, the same sex, she figured she should answer him. Still, it didn’t mean she had to like it. “My sister. Sam works nights so I invited her to dinner and she ended up sleeping over.”

“You have seven bedrooms and you’re sleeping in the same one?”

“Yeah, so? It’s not like we’re sharing a twin. This thing is as big as our first apartment.”

“Kinky. I like that about you.”

“Yeah, you would.” His gravelly voice gave her goose pimples. She rubbed her bare arms and tried to control her temper. “So is there a reason you called me in the middle of the night and woke me out of a dead sleep?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the time. I just thought you’d like to know I arrived in Boise safe and sound.”

“I know I should say thank you, but right now, I’m not feeling that charitable. I’m glad you didn’t crash is about as nice as I get at this hour.”

“I guess that’ll have to do. Sleep well, Gina, and have a great day tomorrow. I’ll give you a call tomorrow night.”

“You will?”

“Yes.”

“Do me a favor, then.”

“Sure, what do you need?”

“If you’re going to call me, do it before 11:00 my time, or the next time I see you, you’ll have a real brush with death.”

His low chuckle rang out until she hit the end button. She missed having a real old-fashioned telephone. There was something so satisfying about slamming the phone down on an annoying caller.

Tina rolled toward her. “He sure is attentive for a relative stranger.”

Gina scooted under the down duvet. She’d never slept in a bed this comfortable or under sheets this fine. She doubted they’d come from K-Mart. They felt glorious on her bare arms. “I think he just gets off on yanking my chain. Plus, he’s staying with his grandfather who thinks he interrupted our honeymoon. Calling me to say he arrived safely just makes it look good for the old guy.” Only his grandfather wasn’t there earlier to witness that über-confusing, not to mention meltingly hot, kiss. She still couldn’t figure out what that was all about. Not that she was thinking about it.

“Oh yeah, that’s why he mentioned the kink factor. He sounded weirdly jealous.”

“You heard that?”

Tina pushed her hair out of her eyes. “It’s not like I’m in the next room. He sounded equal parts turned on and mad.”

“Tina, he was joking. Besides, we made a deal not to see anyone for the first year. I’m hoping the marriage doesn’t last that long, but we both agreed to give up men just in case the old guy gets curious and sends someone to check up on us. The marriage has to look legit.”

“That must be difficult to explain to your boyfriends.”

Gina laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have any, and, at the moment, neither does he.”

***

Ben hung up the phone and laughed. Gina really didn’t like being woken up. He’d completely forgotten about the time change. For some reason, he just needed to talk to her.

“Were you just talking to that wife of yours?”

Ben looked up from the sandwich he’d been throwing together to find his grandfather pouring himself a Jim Beam.

“Her name is Gina and didn’t your doctor tell you to knock off the booze?”

Big Joe slicked back what was left of his white hair and scowled. “I’m eighty years old. When you get as old as me, you have the right to tell your doctors where to stuff their advice. I have one or two a night. It’s medicinal. How do you think I’ve survived this long?”

“I figured it was sheer orneriness.”

Gramps shrugged. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s that too. So, tell me about the little missus. You got any pictures of the wedding? You know, the one I didn’t get an invitation to?”

Ben bit the corner off the sandwich and chewed. Damn, he’d never even thought of getting wedding pictures. At the time, the only thing he could think of was getting through it. He did remember Rosalie snapping a picture or two with her camera phone. Hardly a wedding album. “I don’t have any pictures with me. I’ll get some though.”

His grandfather didn’t look as if he believed the marriage ever took place. He should have thought about bringing proof. “Gina’s a tiny little thing.” He put his hand out to show how short she was. “She has jet-black, short hair and the most amazing honey-colored eyes. She’s well-built but man is she tiny.”

“You sound like you’re talking about a car. I thought since I sent the jet over for you, you’d bring her along. You’ve been married all of what, two weeks? Is the honeymoon over already? That doesn’t bode well for the marriage.”

“Gina doesn’t like flying. As a matter-of-fact, she’s never been on a plane.”

Big Joe sat on a stool at the breakfast bar across from Ben. “Women are like horses. You have to break them early. It’s about time you started. You need to bring her out here, show the little lady her new home, and introduce her around to the family.”

Right, like that’ll ever happen. Ben couldn’t imagine Gina in Boise. He shook his head. “Gramps, Gina’s a New Yorker. She’s not the Idaho type. She has her own career in Manhattan and she’s not interested in giving all that up to live here.”

“Then why in the hell did you marry her?”

“You wanted me married, I got married. Besides, I spend a lot of time in the city. We’ll have plenty of time together and plenty of time apart.”

“Boy, what you don’t know about marriage could fill Hell’s Canyon. You have to build a marriage the way you build a log cabin; you gotta start with a good strong foundation. It sounds to me like you’re building your marriage on a pile of sand. Come the first windstorm, it’s going to fall apart. You mark my words. I was married to the same woman for almost forty years. We didn’t stay together that long by flying away from each other two weeks after our weddin’ day.”

Ben took a pull off his beer. “Gina’s a modern, independent woman. Things are different now, Gramps. She has her life and I have mine. It works for us.”

“Yeah, then who was she talkin’ to when you were on the phone with her? It’s a little late on the East Coast to be keepin’ comp’ny.”

Ben set his beer down on the counter. “She invited her little sister over for dinner to show her our new house and since Tina’s husband works nights, she stayed over.”

“In the same bed?”

“Gina’s a little intimidated by the size of our house—we bought a five-story brownstone in a really nice section of Brooklyn and she’s never lived in such a big place. She told me our bed is bigger than her first apartment. It’s good Tina stayed over. She and Gina are very close. I felt bad leaving her there alone the first night in our new home.”

Grandpa Joe took a sip of his drink. “She wouldn’t be alone if she was where she should be, here with you.”

Ben looked up from his sandwich. “Give her a break, Gramps. You’ll meet her eventually, and when you do, I know you’ll love her. She’s a real spitfire.”