by Cheryl Wyatt
Home. Now, why had he said that?
Thankfully she’d still been groggy enough that he didn’t think she noticed. Amelia sat up, ran a hand through sleep-mussed hair and blinked awake.
“Wait here with Reece. I’ll get your key. Miss Evie put it in my unit when she knew to expect you.”
Ben hurried for the key. After settling Reece in her bed for Amelia, Ben said a quick good-night and left. Hated to run off, but he needed to get to Hutton. He eyed his watch. Just past midnight.
He phoned Joel that he was on his way. Thankfully traffic was sparse this time of night.
Blocks from Joel’s, eerie blue lights swooned his interior. Foot yanked off the gas, he eyed the speedometer. “Great.”
“Officer Stallings,” Ben said moments later, when the lawman sauntered to the window.
“Airman Dillinger. I certainly hope you’re rushing to a national emergency at those speeds.”
Ben felt himself blush as he dug out his wallet. “Unfortunately, sir, no national emergency. Unless you get Hutton’s side of the story.”
“You headed to Joel’s to pick him up?”
Ben eyed Stallings. “Yeah. How’d you know?” No secrets in a small town.
“I was called by neighbors earlier for a—disturbance.”
Foreboding knocked Ben’s stomach in a loop. “Didn’t happen to involve my brother, did it?”
“Put your license away. Professional courtesy. I’m not ticketing you. But you need to slow it down for me, okay?”
“Thanks, sir. I will. Appreciate the grace.” Ben didn’t miss that Stallings completely ignored his question. “Mind giving me a rundown of what happened with Hutton?”
“Old fellow who lives left of Montgomery’s told the 911 operator he heard a zoo animal loose in the neighborhood.”
“Hutton ran through the street wailing again?”
“Apparently. You’re a good brother for wanting to take care of him, Ben. I imagine it can’t be easy. See you later.”
“Gee, I hope not. No offense.”
Stallings’ laughter trailed to his cruiser.
Ben headed to Joel’s.
Once there, Ben’s heart cringed at Hutton’s profile in the window. Sad eyes hugged the desolate street. Fretting teeth chewed an enlarged tongue. When Ben approached, the door opened.
Amber stepped aside. “Hey, Ben.”
“You look tired. Go on to bed. I’ll talk to Hutton.”
Amber cast a sleepy smile and sympathetic looks their way before retreating to her room. Joel rose from the couch near the window where Hutton paced.
Ben approached cautiously. “Hey, buddy. Ready to go home now?”
Hutton turned, murmuring and blinking and avoiding eye contact. He shuffled over and shook Joel’s hand. “Tanks for putting up with me. I know I was bad.”
“No, Hutton. You weren’t bad. You’re just getting used to things changing is all.” Joel turned him to face Ben.
“I ready to go now, Benny. Home to Mom’s.”
Ben’s heart sank. He’d meant the B and B when he’d said “home” but apparently Hutton lodged in his mind “home to Chicago.”
Once in the car and nearly to the B and B, Ben cleared his throat. “I’m really sorry I upset you. I was kinda hoping you’d stay the night with me. We could hang out tomorrow.”
Hutton’s head swiveled back and forth and he chewed his tongue. “No Benny. You promise I go home. To Mom’s. I know you have friends more important than me but that’s okay. I know I’m not like everybody else. Why you don’t like to be around me is I’m different. I understand. Lotsa people feel that way.”
But I’m not lotsa people. I’m your brother.
But Ben had treated him like he was different growing up; he had wished his brother was normal and had told him so. That his imbecile words had assisted in shaping Hutton’s poor view of himself cut Ben to the core.
For the first time since early childhood, and his first rescue effort turned recovery, Ben actually felt like crying. The sting of tears grew swift. Emotion and remorse burned his throat like sulfuric acid. Pressure mounted behind his eyes.
He swallowed three times before words would come. “Buddy, I’m—I’m different now. I know I treated you badly growing up. But, Hutton, I love you and I’ll try to do better at showing it. I wish I knew how to convince you that I do care about you.”
“You could take me to Mom. That’s what would make me know a little,” Hutton said nearly too low for Ben to hear. Hutton’s words deflated by the end of the sentence to the point Ben knew Hutton didn’t really believe Ben would drive him to Chicago tonight. Ben was dead-dog-tired and Chicago was six hours north. But if that’s what it took to earn Hutton’s trust, he’d do it. Hutton was worth losing sleep over.
“Though I’m disappointed not to get to spend more time with you tomorrow, I understand and am happy to take you to Mom’s tonight if that’s what you want. I’ll need to stop by my apartment real quick to get your things first, though, okay?”
“Okay. Okay. Tanks, Benny. I sorry to be a nuisance.”
Again, emotion ambushed Ben. “You’re not a nuisance. You’re my brother and I’d do anything in the world for you, buddy.”
Please believe that.
Hutton wouldn’t understand Ben’s need to get a good night’s sleep before making the six-hour drive there and another six hours back. Not like Ben could sleep over at his mom’s and drive home tomorrow, either, because he had a mandatory training and meeting at noon he couldn’t miss. In fact, even if he drove straight to Chicago and back, he’d be pushing to make it on time.
He phoned his mom and explained the situation.
“Ben, there’s no sense in you driving twelve straight hours. Your dad and I will meet you and Hutton in Decatur, Illinois. That’s three hours for both of us one way.”
“Thanks, Ma. I appreciate it.”
Ben had hoped Hutton would change his mind and stay. Not for convenience’s sake, but for time-spent sake. But when he hung up and found Hutton waiting by the door with gloves donned and a winter coat zipped up to his nose in the middle of summer, he knew it was a no-go. Hutton was ready for Chicago.
Regardless if it was seventy degrees there, it was subzero in this apartment. Hutton had grown stone-cold quiet, setting a chill of ice over the room that Ben felt powerless to chip through and incapable of warming.
In helping one person, he’d hurt another.
God, I don’t know how but I know you can. Please redeem this situation.
Liquid bliss slid down Amelia’s throat as she swallowed her last sip of warm amaretto tea. She set the dainty teacup she’d found in the cabinet in the sink. Then she rinsed it out and turned it upside down on a towel.
Where had Ben gone in such a hurry? Was something wrong? Someone taken ill in his family? She couldn’t help but worry. And why hadn’t he shared the struggle so evident on his face?
“I wish Ben felt like he could talk to me,” she said to Bearby, on the chair by their sketch pads, then groaned. “I’ve really lost it. I’ve resorted to talking to inanimate objects.”
She checked on Reece. Sound asleep. She tucked Bearby beside her, resisted the absurd urge to tell him good-night, then returned to the living room. She dead-bolted the door. An outside lamppost cast antique yellow light through her front room window. Two streams of brighter light roved across the gravel and beamed at the wraparound porch rail.
Leaned in, Amelia peered through the gauzy sage curtain. That looked like Ben’s sporty red sedan returning. She wasn’t sure why she was so curious about Ben and his goings-on.
She pulled the drawstring on the blind to let it down. Footsteps sounded up the steps and along the boardwalk in front of her unit, which sat close to the top of the steps. The footsteps veered left. Probably Ben, going to his apartment. But his car was still running. She twirled the blind twist, causing the slats to open enough to allow a peek.
She really ought not stare at his agile,
fluid stride as he jogged. She closed the blind slats, slower this time. Again, she caught sight of someone else in the car. Certainly not a child. Because of the dim light and the fact that the wraparound porch roofing covered the car—and the person in it—in shadows, Amelia couldn’t make out anything except the shape of an oblique adult head and a set of broad, stoopy shoulders.
She lowered the blinds for real, completely covering the window. She shouldn’t be nosy and wondering.
Amelia put her hand to her stomach. She’d nibbled an apple with her tea earlier. She felt hungry but her stomach was bungee-jumping over the job situation and Nissa’s crazy behavior. It’d be all she could do to keep that apple down. No way could she muster the guts to eat one of those rich-looking rolls Miss Evie had left on the counter of the furnished unit, along with a Welcome note. She’d save them for tomorrow. Maybe even invite Ben.
Speaking of whom…Amelia migrated to the window as the car pulled out. No, she shouldn’t stoop to wonder, but she couldn’t cork the questions spewing through her mind.
Who was in the car with Ben? Where were they going at two in the morning? And why?
Amelia shook off the questions and her shoes and headed for her only pair of pajamas.
Emotion swept over her when she pulled them out. Dad bought them for her the Christmas before she’d gotten pregnant with Reece. How she missed better days with her dad.
If things were ever going to be as they were, she could never be with Ben.
She shouldn’t be concerning herself with aspects of Ben Dillinger’s life whatsoever. After all, hadn’t her near brush with death and the near loss of her child at the hands of her enraged ex-boyfriend taught her to be more cautious?
She exerted mental effort to otherwise occupy her mind. Her thoughts cavorted to what Ben said earlier. When he suggested that the loss of her job could be God protecting her, what could he have possibly meant by that? Like Glorietta, was Ben’s faith the reason behind his reaching out?
Maybe he didn’t have a secret motive. But why would God want to protect her? Wouldn’t He still be mad at her for messing up her life in high school like her parents and old Sunday school teacher said?
Maybe she’d been listening to the wrong voices all along.
Upon arriving in Decatur, concern hit Ben, seeing his mom alone in the car. He woke Hutton. “Hey, buddy. We’re at the truck stop. Mom’s here to take you the rest of the way home, okay?”
Hutton rubbed his eyes and blinked through the wind-shield. When he caught sight of his mother, he disentangled from the seatbelt and scampered from the car in a lopsided gait to her.
Ben held a small amount of hope that Hutton’s outburst and panic attack at Joel’s was set off mostly by missing Mom. How would Hutton ever cope once he moved in with Ben for that year? He just needed to have Hutton come more often.
“Where’s Dad?” Ben asked his mom.
“He wasn’t feeling well.”
Ben didn’t like the hesitation in her voice.
She helped Hutton buckle. “Hold on,” she said to Ben, flicking glances at Hutton. Ben knew she couldn’t say more with him in earshot.
His mother hugged him. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Call me.”
He figured she’d fill him in then. Ben went around the car. He leaned in, hugging as best he could with Hutton being buckled.
Hutton tensed but patted Ben’s shoulders. “Tanks, Benny for bring me to Mom.”
“You’re welcome.” He knelt. “Hey, you think you might want to come back next weekend?”
“No, Benny, I don’t want to come back.” He stared forward.
Standing, Ben breathed hard against the pressure of disappointment and regret that he’d let his brother down again.
Then Hutton blinked up at Ben. “But, if you want me to, I can come next weekend after that. I have a birthday party to go to this weekend.” A smile twinkled in Hutton’s eyes.
“I’d love you to come next weekend. Unless my team gets sent to a rescue somewhere, I’ll see you in two weeks, okay?”
Hutton nodded and chewed his tongue the way he often did when nervous or unsure in a social setting. Ben figured Hutton was scared to believe him. After all, Ben hadn’t often given Hutton a reason to trust his word.
That was about to change.
God have mercy on anything that tried to prohibit it.
Chapter Fourteen
Haggard, Ben pulled into the B and B in the wee morning hours. Debated whether to expend energy to go inside and catch a catnap or stay in his car and snooze. Opting to drag himself in, Ben set his alarm to screech in two hours. Sleep. A fleeting, overrated luxury. The sun was already hovering above the horizon.
He pulled his shades, glad to see Amelia had done the same. Maybe he’d ask them out to breakfast in the morning before his team meeting. Then he’d call Hutton. See how he was doing.
He should check on his dad now, though. He dialed. His mom picked up.
“How’s Hutton?”
“Sleeping.”
“How was he when I left?”
“Better. Hopefully just got homesick. Give him time, Ben. And give yourself time…and grace. Okay?”
“How’s Dad?”
“I’m concerned. He didn’t look good. And you know how he never wants me to drive alone, much less six hours at night.”
“He musta felt bad. He never even liked you walking to the end of the driveway in daylight to get the paper by yourself.”
She laughed. “True. I wish he’d felt well enough to come. You could have been a better judge, medically.”
“Any other symptoms?”
“He complained of pain in his neck radiating to his jaw. And yesterday, he napped all day. This morning, he’s back on the golf course, though.”
Ben knew his dad’s history of high cholesterol and high blood pressure. “Still, he needs to see a doctor pronto.”
“I begged him to seek medical attention.”
“He won’t?”
“Not unless it gets worse.”
Worse could put him in a grave. “Mom, urge him to go see a doctor.”
“I doubt he’ll go, Ben. I’ll take him to the ER if his symptoms return.”
“No, don’t attempt to drive him. Call 911 and wait for an ambulance.”
“Now you’re scaring me, Benjamin.”
“Heart disease is nothing to sneeze at, Mom. If that’s what this is, he doesn’t need to take any chances. Most people having a heart attack deny it to themselves. It’s better for him to go to the hospital a hundred times when he doesn’t need to than not go the one time he does.”
“I’ll try. But you know how stubborn he can be.”
“I also know how dead he can be if this is heart-related. Tell him what he always told me growing up regarding choices. There’s a difference between stubborn and stupid.”
“It’s probably just heartburn. But I’ll do my best to get him to go to the doctor. So, any progress on the girl front?”
“Oh, sure, Mom. Change the subject.”
She laughed. “I really want to know.”
He thought of Amelia.
“So do I. Fact is I met a girl I like and we’re becoming better friends. I should probably jet. I need to grab some winks before taking her to breakfast.” He yawned.
“Oh! Do tell me more?”
“When there’s more to tell, I will.”
“It’s just, I want to be a grandma. I can’t wait to hold one of your fuzzy-headed babies in my arms.”
“Believe me, Ma. No one wants to hold a baby I made more than me. The girl I like, she already has one child from a previous relationship. But you know I’m a Christian now, and want the wedding ring to come before the teething ring.”
“Will her old relationship be a problem if things progress?”
“No way. Guy’s out of their life for good.”
“I want to hear more about this special girl, Benjamin.”
He laughed. “Oh, almost forgot…I migh
t have found Hutton a potential job.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Dishwasher at the B and B where I’m staying. They have a Help Wanted sign on the dining hall door. I inquired about it with the manager. Told him about Hutton and mentioned him working in your bakery.”
“Did he sound interested?”
“Yeah. Said they might have to modify his duties, but would have no reservations hiring someone with a disability.”
“Did you put an application in for him?”
“Yeah. She’s gonna leave the sign up a few more weeks, then start interviews.”
“How many employees are they hiring?”
“Only one.”
“Have quite a few applied?”
“Not really. So he has a decent shot at the job. I told him about it, thinking that would endear him to Refuge.”
“Did he sound excited?”
“Very. He’s already practicing for his interview.”
“I hope he doesn’t get disappointed.”
“Me, too.” Ben yawned. “Okay, Mom, I’m off.”
Ben hung up worried about his dad. Hopefully Mom was right. This was just heartburn. And hopefully, he hadn’t gotten Hutton’s hopes up about the job for nothing.
Hopefully.
“Mommy, someone’s here!” Reece called from the living room.
Amelia shut off the hair dryer provided in the bathroom. She moved into the living room. “Thought I heard a knock.” She peeked out the curtains. Her heart did a little flip at the sight of Ben waiting at her door.
Giving her still-damp hair several pats to tame down flyaways, Amelia turned the dead bolt and opened the door.
Ben smiled sheepishly. “Hey.”
“Hey. Come on in.” Amelia stepped aside. “I heard you pull back in a couple hours ago.”
Mustn’t have fazed him. Not only did he not acknowledge the statement, his expression remained neutral as he stepped over the threshold. So much for fishing. How could the man look so chipper after so little sleep?
“Coffee?”
He turned a chair around and straddled it. “You already have some made?”
“No, but Miss Evie must have stocked cabinets before we got here because there are filters and an unopened coffee canister.”