Beginnings

by Bernadette Marie

  She hadn't gone into her room to get clothes or her robe. Instead, she'd tiptoed to the laundry room and pulled her yoga pants, a bra, and a loose T-shirt from the dryer. The towels she saved for special occasions, were pulled from the linen closet, and so was the special bath bomb that Audrey had given her in a gift basket for covering for her while she was on her honeymoon. On her birthday, the prior year, her mother had sent her candles which she'd always wanted to use around her tub. This was as good a time as any to set them up.

  Ben was saving her day, and she wasn't sure he knew that. She'd owe him. Maybe she could take him out to dinner, or cook for him.

  Watching the water fizz a pink foam, she stepped into the warm water, and sank in. Oh, the glory of a few moments alone in the flicker of candlelight.

  Easing back against the tub, Nichole closed her eyes and focused on the sounds around her. She was in absolute heaven.

  * * *

  Thor and his friends would go on to avenge another day, Ben thought as he turned off the TV and looked at the sleeping boys. They were sweet. He pulled the covers up over Zane. Nichole had done a good job with them, and no doubt all on her own.

  Leaving the room, he pulled the door, leaving it open just a crack so he could hear them. A dim light shone from under the door of the bathroom, and he considered knocking to check on Nichole, as he thought she'd been in there a long time. But, she was a grown woman, and didn't his mother talk about how she adored her baths when she'd had a stressed day?

  He could slip out and leave now that the kids were asleep, but he just didn't want to do that. He wanted to see her before he left—wanted to kiss her one more time too.

  The thought of turning on the TV crossed his mind, but not knowing the system, as every TV setup was different, he decided against it as to not wake anyone up.

  He picked up the few toys of Laura's that had been scattered around the living room and piled them into the large chair. He folded the quilt that had been draped over its arm and stacked the books and magazines on the coffee table.

  On the top of the reading pile was a book he'd been hearing a lot about. Probably because there was a movie coming out about it. He didn't know much more than it was about gaming. Thumbing through he, he decided maybe he'd download a copy to his iPad when he to home. It had been a long time since he'd sat down and read for pleasure.

  Replacing the book, Ben sat on the couch and rested his head back for a moment, closing his eyes. Then he heard the door open to the bathroom and a moment later Nichole stood in front of him. Her hair was in a knot atop her head and she had on different clothes. It was the first time he'd seen her without her glasses.

  "I fell asleep," she said on a hushed laugh. "I'm so sorry that you've been just hanging out here and obviously tidying up."

  Ben sat up. "Just was helping out a little. Do you feel relaxed? You look relaxed."

  Nichole moved to sit next to him, leaning back against the couch as he had earlier. "I'm mush."

  He leaned back again. "Good. You needed it. I tucked the boys in. They'd both fallen asleep. They don't feel as warm."

  Nichole took Ben's hand and gave it a squeeze. "It means a lot that you stayed tonight. I could have done it all myself, but having you here was nice."

  Ben rolled his head to the side to look at her. "Why don't you bring the kids out to my house this weekend and I'll cook dinner. They could run and explore. We could go visit the animals at the barn. We'll make up for missing out on pizza."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Most certainly. I like them, Nichole. They're fun to be around. Even when they're sick."

  She tucked in her lips and obviously considered his invitation. "I'm not expecting anything from you, Ben. I want you to know that."

  "Not sure I follow."

  "This is a lot to think about, dating a woman with kids. I have a lot to consider when it comes to them—to me."

  "I would be disappointed if you didn't consider them first. And, I don't date, so you have a lot to consider too," he offered.

  The comment had her lifting her head from the back of the couch. "Now I'm not sure I follow."

  Lifting an arm up and over her shoulders, he pulled her in. "I'm interested in you." He heard his voice shake as he said it. "I'm not good with women, so I'm bound to make some mistakes. You have them to think about, so you're bound to be very sensitive to those mistakes. I'm okay with going nice and slow. But, I thought, since I'm not good at this kind of stuff, I should make it clear that I'm okay with making it go too."

  Her lips curled into a sweet smile. "I'm interested too."

  "Well, alright then." He lifted his free hand to her cheek. "I guess you're my girlfriend," he joked, deepening his southern drawl to make her laugh.

  Nichole let out a breath. "May the adventure begin."

  Lifting toward her, he pressed his mouth to hers and planted the kiss he'd been dying for. Her hand came to his shoulder and pulled him in closer as she opened to him, letting him taste her just as he'd been dreaming of since the last time they'd kissed.

  Hot and heavy, just as if they were a pair of lustful teenagers, their teeth scraped, and tongues slid against the other as if they were in a hurry to race to the end. Reaching her hands around his neck, Nichole pulled Ben down on her and they stretched out on the couch, their lips still locked in a maddening kiss that was scorching his brain.

  18

  They'd made out on the couch like a couple of randy teenagers, she thought as she watched Ben drive away. It was nearly midnight, and it was going to be a long night.

  The boys were sound asleep, and so was Laura. Nichole had settled herself on the couch with a pillow and a blanket, but her body buzzed with an energy she'd forgotten was buried deep inside of her.

  Things could have kept going, but one thing she was finding out was that not only was Ben Walker better with women than he thought he was, but he was a gentleman.

  When the breath between them was hot, and inhibitions had all but melted away, he'd pulled back and stared down at her. Common sense, which had long eluded her the moment their mouths had come together, seemed to be still rooted in Ben.

  He'd been right to leave when he did. The last thing she needed was him spending the night. Sure, her kids liked him, but Ben was their friend. Nothing led them to believe that he was more than that to her or them. Would it all change if she explained it to them?

  Then again, they'd need time to explore this new relationship, she and Ben. When she thought about it, she wasn't even sure what she wanted. Her first commitment was to her kids. Nothing would ever get in the way of that, not even a man.

  Pulling the blanket up under her chin, she told herself to stop thinking about it. At that moment, she was just his girlfriend.

  When she thought about that, it made her laugh to herself. Oh, he was cute, and the fact that he made her feel silly, she appreciated him even more.

  All of the thoughts keeping her up were thoughts for another day. For now, she needed to get some sleep, or there were going to be some very fussy customers the next day who were not satisfied with their hair service.

  What amazed Ben was how quickly word traveled in a tight-knit community.

  He'd been tending to the chickens in his mother's yard when she approached him about having company on Saturday.

  Through narrowed eyes, he looked at her over the top of his sunglasses. "How did you hear that?"

  A sly smile formed on his mother's lips. "A mother knows everything. Besides, Katie, who babysits for Nichole? Her roommate's mother was in the salon the other day talking to Audrey about the kids going to the ranch on Saturday. Audrey told Lydia that Nichole hadn't mentioned it. Lydia told Gia about the date. Of course, your brother is going to talk to his wife, so this morning Dane asked me how I felt about it."

  Ben rubbed his fingers over his temple, as his mother's account of getting the information had begun to give him a headache.

  "Well, it wasn't a secret. But I guess next time
I'll put out a press release."

  "Honey, it would be easier," she joked, her humored eyes shaded by her large straw hat. "What are your plans?"

  Ben shrugged. "I thought I'd grill something for dinner. I told her we'd take the kids to the barn to see the animals. Then, I don't know."

  "You make sure you bring those sweeties by the house. I'll make some dessert, and we can sit in the garden while they run through the yard. I'd love to have some company too, and Nichole is a nice girl."

  "I'll make sure we do that," he agreed.

  His mother patted his cheek, then with her gardening tools in a bucket, she hurried off to dig in the dirt, he assumed.

  Hopefully, his mother didn't have grand ideas about his relationship with Nichole. It was all so new. He didn't want anyone getting thoughts in their heads that weren't realistic.

  He’d seen what happened in his family when people moved in and out of love. Not that he was in love with Nichole, just interested.

  But once the talking started, there were a lot more involved parties than just the people involved in the relationship.

  Maybe he should warn Nichole. Was she ready to be faced with that? She’d worked with Audrey long enough to know the process, he figured. Then again, perhaps he was the only one not in the loop. By the time Audrey, Pearl, Lydia, and Gia got their hands on Nichole, she'd be in full on relationship mode—or panic mode. He wasn't quite sure which way she'd fall yet. Obviously, it was much too late to give her warning.

  Well, he figured that when she came out on Saturday, she'd either be panic-stricken, or she'd embrace the southern charm of chatty women. It was a crapshoot at this point.

  Ben finished up in the coop and headed back out to his house. Inviting a family over to eat meant he needed to plan a meal, and he had to go into town to get the groceries he would need. That hadn't been on his mind when he'd asked her. He might need to make sure he had enough dishes too. Seriously, he was out of his league.

  When the Friday afternoon rush had subsided, Nichole sat down in the back room, opened a Diet Coke, and kicked her feet up on the adjacent chair. Even though the boys had gone to school on Thursday, they'd had a restless night, and she was still exhausted.

  The back door opened and Lydia walked into the room carrying a tray of bedding plants.

  "Are you gardening?" she asked as Lydia set the tray on the table.

  "I'm getting ready to do the beds around the reception hall, and word gets around, so Glenda asked me to get her a tray and have you take them out to her when you visit this weekend.

  Nichole felt the heat rise in her cheeks. "She knows I'm going up there this weekend? You know?"

  "Oh, hell, honey. Everyone knows."

  And that tight community she grew to love now was knee deep in her business. "Didn't think I'd told anyone. But maybe I mumbled it in my sleep, and it was heard through the air."

  Lydia laughed. "Don't get all bent out of shape. If it's any consolation, we all think it's pretty neat. Ben is a good man. I mean a good man. You deserve that."

  "Yes, I do. I won't deny that. But aside from the fact that we are casually seeing each other, I don't need to have him spooked by all the gossip."

  Lydia batted at hand through the air. "He's lived here his whole life. He knows how the system works," she said with a slight laugh and then her face sobered. "You're not mad, are you?"

  Nichole took a moment to collect her feelings and take inventory. "No. I'm not mad. Maybe concerned is more like it. I like him. But I have a lot of baggage for a single man. I don't want this spooking him."

  "Ben doesn't spook that easily. Cut him some slack there. Anyone who isn't nervous about a woman with three kids doesn't have a heart. And I mean that. The only reason he'd be nervous is that he doesn't want to hurt them, not because of them."

  And, when put that way, it gave Nichole a whole new perspective. "I'll take these to Mrs. Walker."

  Lydia smiled. "Thanks." Lydia turned to exit through the door she'd come in through. Turning she said, "Do you have an opening tomorrow? Maybe something in the morning?"

  Nichole gave it a quick thought. "Seems like I have a half hour about nine-thirty."

  Lydia ran her fingers through her short mop of hair. "I could use a trim. Would you mind?"

  "Not at all. I'll see you then."

  Lydia disappeared out the back door, and Nichole rose to put her name on the schedule. As she stood, she looked down at the box of bedding plants. No doubt between Mrs. Walker's five sons and three daughters-in-law she could have gotten the plants picked up and delivered some other way.

  This had been a mama's way of getting the woman her son was seeing to show up at her house. Nichole wasn't sure if she should be honored or mortified. The longer she looked at the plants she realized that the meter between the two didn't fall in favor of either emotion.

  Well, she'd been grilled by mothers before, and having met Glenda Walker, she wasn't too terrified.

  Letting out a sigh, she decided to be grateful that the woman wanted to visit with her—and no doubt her children. She'd make it a point to stop by her house first, tomorrow.

  19

  The ride out to the Walker ranch was loud. The boys had the evening with Ben all planned out, and it included a lot of Avengers talk. Zane had brought his Thor hammer and Wyatt his Hulk hands that now gave a muffled noise when smashed together. They'd been smashed together so many times that the sound effects were nearly gone.

  Laura sat between her brothers in her car seat and watched as they bantered back and forth. She'd squeal in delight at their conversation from time to time, but Nichole was sure it was more from the delight of being between the two boys she loved so much.

  They took good care of her, Nichole thought as she looked in the review mirror at the similar faces. The boys had their father's hair, but her eyes. Laura was her mini-me and that thrilled her. She bore very little resemblance to her father, and though that shouldn't be something that brought Nichole joy, it seemed to.

  "How much longer?" Zane whined the question from the back seat.

  "You've been out here. You know how far it is," she reminded him.

  "Yeah, but how much longer?"

  It was quite a drive. She would never begrudge Ben for not showing up unexpectedly. "About ten more minutes."

  She heard the groan.

  The thought of young Walker boys attending school crossed her mind. That would be one heck of a commute every day, but she knew they'd done it. Did their mom or dad take them into town, or were there stories of school bus shenanigans? She'd have to assume it was that latter of those options.

  She was asked four more times if they were there yet, but she let the large wooden archway that read WALKER RANCH speak for itself as she drove beneath it.

  Wyatt bounced up and down in his booster seat. "Finally!"

  "Where is Ben's house?" Zane asked as he sat up tall in his seat to look out the window. "How much longer until we get to his house?"

  "I don't know. I have to take those plants to his mother's house first."

  The groan from the back seat mirrored her own thoughts. Not because she didn't want to see Glenda Walker, but because she wanted to get to Ben's house as quickly as the boys did. She missed him.

  Perhaps that would benefit them in the end. If they didn't see each other every day, they'd long for the time they had. Though since the night they'd made out on her couch, she found she longed for him quite a bit.

  She'd pushed the ache and need far down inside of her, but it churned there. Perhaps she was lonely for the attention of a man. No, she considered again. They'd been in Georgia for nearly a year, between Athens and Macon. She hadn't had that craving. Not like she did now. It was all Ben.

  Tucking in her lips, she tried to mute the smile the thought of him brought to her. Oh, she might as well admit it, she was crazy infatuated with the man, and she couldn't wait until his mouth was on hers again.

  As they turned the curve in the road, the
Walker house came into view. There were actual cheers from the back seat, and even Laura let out a squeal.

  Glenda appeared from around the side of the house, where Nichole knew there was a gate to the beautiful backyard, where Audrey and Gregory had gotten married.

  Glenda waved as Nichole put the car in park.

  Immediately, Glenda walked to the back doors of the car and opened the one next to Zane. "Hello, boys. Hello, Laura. It is so nice to see you."

  "You live really far away," Wyatt told her, to his mother's anguish.

  "I sure do," Glenda agreed. "That's why I'm so glad you came all the way out here to see me. I have some cookies in the kitchen. Would you like some?"

  The invitation had both of the boys unbuckling their seatbelts and Laura protesting until Wyatt unbuckled her seat too. Nichole wanted to argue that they would be late to Ben's, but as there wasn't a set time to get to his house, and she was sure his mother knew that, she turned off the engine and climbed from the car.

  "I'll get your plants from the back," she offered.

  "Thank you, darling. Let's go through the back. Have you kids seen my chickens?"

  Nichole laughed as her children followed Ben's mother to her backyard. Laura's hand in Glenda's. It was a sweet sight, she thought as she closed the hatch and followed.

  Glenda already had them next to the chicken coop, and she was pointing out certain chickens she'd named.

  Nichole set the tray of plants on the patio table and watched from afar as Glenda charmed her children. She was kind and gentle with how she managed them. Did that speak to the kind of mother she was, too?