by Cathie Linz
Ben figured his words sounded lame, because the truth was that Ellie looked better than nice. And she smelled like fresh lemons. He got a whiff as she walked past him to get her jacket and purse from a hook near the front door.
“Allow me.” He took the denim jacket from her hands and held it for her to slide her arms into.
She shot him a startled glance over her shoulder.
“Mommy, why do you need help getting dressed? I thought you knew how.”
“I do know how. Ben is just being polite.” She quickly reached back but had trouble finding the arm-holes. Her fingers bumped against the side of his leg. “Sorry about that.” Now he’d think she was an idiot who couldn’t even get a jacket on properly.
“No problem.” He moved closer to smoothly guide her into the jacket. His hands rested on her shoulders for a moment. She felt his fingers brush against her bare skin as he lifted her braid from beneath the denim. Awareness streaked through her entire body starting at the contact point at her nape, racing down her spine and curling her toes. “There. How’s that?”
How was it? Entirely too provocative. She was supposed to be keeping her objectivity here. Not melting.
Ellie didn’t relax until they were seated at a table in the steak house. Amy was gazing at the children’s menu as if she were able to read every word. She’d brought two dolls with her and she had them gazing at the menu with equal intentness.
“Do you want the chicken fingers?” Ellie asked Amy. Luckily her daughter didn’t suffer from serious food allergies the way a lot of children with asthma did.
“I want octypuss,” Amy proudly declared.
Ellie blinked. “What?” There were times when her child said things that came completely from another planet and this was one of them.
“Octypuss.”
“They don’t serve octopus here.”
“Frenchie told me she ate some in Paris.”
“When you’re as old as Frenchie then you can have octopus.”
Amy’s face scrunched up. “I’ll be two hundred by then.”
Ellie tried not to laugh. “No, you won’t. Now do you want chicken fingers or a hot dog?” Maybe a steak house wasn’t that different from a fast-food place, from a kid’s point of view.
“Chicken fingers. But no beans. No beans, Mommy. I don’t like broccoli either. Remember?”
“Yes, I remember.”
After they’d placed their orders, Amy eagerly leaned forward toward Ben. “Do you want to play with my Barbie? I’ve got two.” She offered him one.
Ben didn’t have the heart to tell the kid no.
“My Barbie works at the hops-ital,” Amy declared. “Where does your Barbie work?”
“She’s a Marine.”
“What does she wear?”
“A uniform.”
“Is she going to end up in heaven like my Uncle Johnny?”
His gut clenched. “Not until she’s old and gray.”
“Can she work at the hops-ital with my Barbie?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, then. You go first.” When he looked at a total loss, the little girl added, “Your Barbie talks to my Barbie.”
“Hello.”
Amy frowned. “You have to make her sound more like a girl.”
“Hello.” His voice rose to a higher pitch.
“What’s your name?”
“Barbie.”
“My name is Barbie, too. Let’s have lunch.” Amy sat her Barbie down at the table. “Do you have a pancake maker?”
“No.”
“There’s no mess. No mess at all. Amazing.”
Ellie felt compelled to explain. “She saw an infomercial on the TV early one morning last week and it’s stuck in her mind like glue.”
“The pancakes don’t taste like glue,” Amy said. “And there’s no mess. We don’t like mess. Mess can make my asthma bad. Does your Barbie have asthma?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should see a doctor. Some doctors can be nice.” Amy carefully rearranged her doll’s sundress. “My Barbie is a doctor. That’s why she works at the hops-ital. Okay, now let’s go for a drive. My Barbie drives, yours just rides along.” She kept up a constant monologue, meaning that Ben only had to say an occasional high-pitched “Yes,” or “No.”
“Captain Kozlowski?”
Ben looked up to find a fellow Marine and his wife staring at him as if he’d grown two heads. Ben dropped the Barbie like a hot potato and instantly rose to his feet.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, sir,” Gunnery Sergeant Handley said.
To which Ben replied, “I’m here with friends.”
“I won’t keep you then. Nice seeing you, sir.”
Ben nodded briskly and waited until the Marine and his wife were some distance away and out of his sight line before sitting down again.
“You should have seen the expression on your face.” Ellie shook her head. “It really was priceless.”
“I’m so glad I could provide the comedic entertainment for our meal this evening,” Ben drawled.
“What’s com-dick entertainment?” Amy demanded.
“Comedic means funny,” Ellie replied.
“I can be funny. I can make funny faces. Want to see?” She rolled her eyes and scrunched up her nose.
“Here’s your dinner.” Ellie moved the Barbies off the table and Amy put them on her lap.
The meal went well and Ellie ate every speck of her huge steak, baked potato and fresh grilled vegetables. Amy ate most of her meal and didn’t insist on feeding her Barbies.
“What about some dessert?” their peppy waitress inquired as she cleared their table of the empty plates. “Our specialty is Decadent Chocolate Delight.”
“Sounds good,” Ben said.
When the waitress brought the huge layered dessert, Amy’s eyes almost bugged out. “Can I have the cherry on top?”
“Affirmative,” Ben said.
Amy frowned. “What’s that mean?”
“It means yes.”
“What do you say?” Ellie prompted her as Ben handed Amy the juicy red cherry.
“Thank you, Ben.” Amy gave him an ear-to-ear smile before leaning her head against his arm. “I like you.”
His heart gave a funny thump and Ben knew he was a goner. He’d always been a sucker for those in need. He’d been that way since he was a kid and had seen a frightened kitten in the grocery store parking lot. A bunch of bigger kids had been trying to poke sticks at it as it frantically crouched under the Dumpster. Ben had fought them off and had rescued the kitten, bringing it home under his coat. He could still remember the way the little thing had stopped trembling and rested its head against his chest.
Oh, yeah, he’d always had a thing for rescuing the underdog…or kitten. For helping the smaller or weaker inhabitants on this planet.
Seeing Amy gazing at him with such appreciation at such a little thing as giving her a cherry brought out all his protective instincts. One dinner and already the kid had him in the palm of her hand.
Ellie noted the strange expression on Ben’s face and wondered at the reason for it. She’d been impressed by his ability to recover from his embarrassment at being found playing with dolls by one of his fellow Marines. He’d been incredibly good with Amy all evening.
That didn’t mean that Ellie should depend on him for anything other than his temporary company. If only she could get a little more on her feet financially, then they’d be out of the woods.
On her way out, Ellie discreetly checked to see if the steak house was hiring any more servers, but they weren’t.
The drive back home was uneventful. “Can Ben stay?” Amy asked as they neared their front door.
“It’s already past your bedtime.”
“I want Ben to tell me a bedtime story.” Amy tugged him into the apartment with her, taking him all the way down the hall to her bedroom.
“Honey, Ben probably doesn’t know any bedtime stories. How about
I read you Cinderella again?”
“No. I want a new story.”
“Let’s get you into your pj’s first and brush your teeth.” Ellie gently guided her into the bathroom.
“Don’t go, Ben!” Amy ordered before closing the bathroom door.
He waited in her girly bedroom, feeling like a bull in a china shop. The pink comforter had ruffles on the edges. A well-worn stuffed animal had a place of honor near the pillow while a small folded blanket rested at the foot of the bed. It had kittens on it. His gaze moved to the bedside table where a pile of picture books sat.
“Why can’t Ben tell me a story?” Amy demanded as she walked into the room with her mother and hopped into bed.
“Because he doesn’t have children, so he doesn’t know stories.”
“I know stories,” Ben said. Granted, none came to mind that he could relate to a five-year-old kid. But he was a Marine, which meant he was resourceful. Ben stared at the cover of the storybook on top of the pile next to Amy’s bed. “I can do that. No problem. Once upon a time…” All fairy tales began that way, right? “Once upon a time, many years ago in the land of Wonder an evil lord ruled the kingdom. He’d been a good guy once, but then turned to the dark side. His name was…Sir Badlord. And he was feared by all the people in the land.”
“Was he mean?” Amy asked.
Ben nodded solemnly. “Very mean.”
“Hold on a sec, honey,” Ellie said. “I need to speak to Ben.”
“But he’s telling me a story now,” Amy protested.
“Yeah, I know. This won’t take long.”
Ellie tugged Ben off the bed to a corner of the room and leaned close to whisper, “The point of a bedtime story is not to give my daughter nightmares. Kids her age take things literally.”
“Understood. It’s not my intention to scare her. Trust me, okay?”
He returned to Amy’s bedside with Ellie close by his side.
“So what about Sir Badlord?” Amy asked. “What did he do? Blow up the world? Joshua in the reading group at the library is always blowing up the world and making explosion noises. Does Sir Badlord do that?”
“Sometimes. But tonight, he and his gang of dark knights rode out into the night and captured Lady Blush, the daughter of…Guy of Nice. Now, Sir Guy was a nice guy.”
“Was he a good daddy?”
“Yes.”
“Did he love Lady Blush?”
“Absolutely.”
“Mommy says my daddy loves me, but I don’t think he’s a very good daddy.”
Ben wasn’t sure how to respond to the little girl’s confession. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Me, too.” She moved closer. “Tell me more.”
“Well, like I said, Sir Guy was good and people liked him. He did good stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Uh…good deeds. He officiated at jousts, spoke at…baptisms and generally speaking, he ate more chicken than he probably should have, but people liked Sir Guy. A lot better than they liked Sir Badlord. Which made Sir Badlord mad. So he came to Nice castle and took Lady Blush.”
“Was she a princess?”
“Close enough. Anyway, this Sir Guy was beside himself. He knew he had to call on the only one who could get her back—one of the few, the proud. Sir Goodknight.” Ben was really getting into it now. “Goodknight led his squad of knights, squires and pages—known as the Knights of the Black Stone—on many quests in the past. Like the Marines, he valued honor, courage and commitment. So Goodknight agreed to help Sir Guy to rescue Lady Blush. He and the rest of his team gathered to plan the mission and do some recon.”
Ben didn’t realize that he’d gone into a bit too much detail about reconnaissance and intelligence reports until he felt Ellie’s hand on his arm. “She’s fallen asleep.”
“Some storyteller I am.” Ben’s voice was rueful. “It put the kid to sleep.”
“It was quite creative for a Marine.”
“Marines can be creative when the situation warrants.”
“So Sir Guy ate more chicken than he should have, huh?”
Ben shrugged and stood aside while Ellie clicked off the light and checked the night-light before exiting the room, leaving Amy’s door slightly ajar.
“Where did you come up with names like that?” she asked him.
He smiled ruefully. “My brothers accuse me of being too much of a punster.”
“And do they accuse you of eating more chicken than you should?”
“Not if they’re smart.”
The transformation of his smile into a full-blown grin, complete with the hint of a dimple that would have done Dennis Quaid proud, drew her attention to his lips. She’d never momentarily lost her train of thought just by gazing at a guy’s mouth before. “I…uh…I wanted to thank you for this evening.” She had to look away to regain her equilibrium. “The dinner was delicious.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“And thanks for making up the story for Amy tonight. That was nice of you.”
“I like to think that I can be a nice guy when needed.”
“A regular knight in shining armor, huh? Like Sir Goodknight?”
One chestnut eyebrow lifted in a masculine challenge of her comment. “Anything wrong with that?”
“Nothing. As long as you realize that I’m no Lady Blush. I’m not a damsel in distress.”
“You’re saying you don’t need a knight in shining armor to rescue you?”
“I could use the armor. Not the knight.”
“You don’t see yourself remarrying?”
“No.”
“Why not? You’re young and beautiful. Why can’t you see a happy ending for yourself?”
“Marriage isn’t a happy ending for me. Have you ever been married?”
“No.”
“Well, trust me, it’s not what it’s cracked up to be.”
“Amy said that she didn’t think her dad was a good dad. Why is that?” Ben’s expression darkened. “Did he hit her?”
“No, nothing like that.”
The line of his jaw tightened. “Did he hit you?”
“No.” Perry had never resorted to physical abuse. He hadn’t had to when a sarcastic comment could do plenty of damage. To this day she wasn’t sure if his intention had been to hurt her on any of those occasions, or if he’d simply been so self-involved that he hadn’t cared how she felt. She suspected it was the latter.
“Then what happened?”
“Why do you care?” Ellie countered.
“Because I cared about John and you’re his sister.”
“I already told you that I don’t need anyone looking after me.”
“Humor me, okay? What can it hurt, telling me about your marriage? Unless you’re still so in love with the guy that you don’t want to talk about it.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, but not because I’m still in love with Perry. Oh, I loved him in the beginning. Blindly so. I met him in my freshman English class in college. He asked to borrow my notes and never gave them back. That should have been a clue that Perry was only out for Perry. But he was a sweet-talking charmer. Incredibly good-looking. He swept me off my feet, promised me the world. We got married a few months later and I quit school to support him. Dumb I know, but Perry made it seem like the most responsible plan. He could focus on getting his business degree and then he’d get a great job and I could stay home with the family we wanted. At least I thought we both wanted a family. Perry said he did. He said all the right things. And we were happy in the beginning. Then I got pregnant. That wasn’t part of Perry’s plan. Not until he graduated from college. Even so, he pretended to make the best of things. And I worked until a week before Amy was born.”
“What happened then?”
“Perry acted like he was so proud of his baby daughter. He showed off pictures of her to everyone he met. But there were signs that things weren’t going well. We were always short of money. Perry would come up with one
get-rich scheme after another. This time, babe, he’d tell me. This time it’s the real thing. But it never was. He graduated from college when Amy was two. A few weeks later we discovered that Amy has asthma.”
Ellie sighed and sat on the couch, kicking off her sandals to curl her feet beneath her. Talking about her marriage made her feel sad and stupid. “Perry didn’t take the news well. He likes perfection and suddenly Amy wasn’t his perfect little girl any longer. He took off a few months later and we haven’t heard much from him since.”
Ben sat on the couch beside her. “He doesn’t stay in contact with his daughter?”
“No. Not really. I keep telling her that her daddy loves her, and he probably does in his own shallow way. But Perry isn’t really capable of loving anyone other than himself.”
“Is he at least paying child support?”
He could feel Ellie retreating from him even though she didn’t move. “Look, I shouldn’t have gone on about things the way I did. I never meant to. When I’m tired, my mouth gets away from me sometimes.” She leaned forward. “Can I get you something to drink? A can of soda maybe?”
“Relax.” His hand on her arm prevented her from leaping up and retreating to the kitchen the way she clearly wanted. “I’m fine.”
Ben suspected that her refusal to answer his question about child support meant that slimebag Perry wasn’t paying. No surprise there. The guy didn’t sound like the responsible kind. He wouldn’t make a good Marine.
John had never gone into any detail about his sister’s ex-husband, other than referring to him as a dirtbag and much worse. Ben hadn’t pushed him for more information, that wasn’t his way. He wasn’t sure now that John had known the exact specifics. Ben suspected Ellie had shielded her brother from the worst of what had really occurred in her marriage.
Ben’s anger at her jerk of an ex-husband made him lose his focus on diplomacy. “You need money. I’ve got money.” He reached for his wallet. “More than I need or could possibly use. Here.” He held out a bunch of hundred dollar bills. “Take it.”
“I’m not for sale. Not in this lifetime,” Ellie growled, before leaping to her feet and pointing to the door. “Get out!”
Chapter Three
Ben realized his error immediately and jammed his wallet to his back jean pocket. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have put it that bluntly.”