"Come along with me, Suzanne," William Christopher said. He had clearly been waiting to see what happened. "I planned to take you to lunch today. Beth will meet us there and we can discuss the play."
"Oh, okay," Suzanne said, with a pout.
Ben wondered how he had ever been attracted to her. Working with her around was going to be very uncomfortable. He nodded when she turned and waved at him, and then he turned back to Lucretia...who was livid.
"Did that little strumpet call Sully Point a hick town? Did I hear her correctly?"
Ben slowly nodded his head. "Yes, you did hear correctly. She's a horrid person."
"We can't have her around the play," Lucretia declared. "I'm going to talk to Mr. Christopher about it. Who does she think she is, anyway?"
"She thinks she's the 'next big thing' soon to be discovered in Hollywood."
"Then why is she here?"
"I think, because of me. She kind of stalked me out in L.A. after I broke up with her."
"Well, I'm talking to Mr. Christopher this afternoon if I can. I'm too angry to read lines now, Ben. Is it okay with you if I leave?"
"Sure, sure. I have someone I need to go talk with, too. See you later."
Lucretia marched off the stage, and Ben pulled out his phone to discover that Rose had been the one calling him earlier. He quickly dialed her number.
"Rose?"
"Hi, Ben. I tried calling earlier."
"Yeah, I saw that. I need to talk to you. Could I meet you somewhere? Your apartment?"
"Uh...okay. I need to talk to you, too, so this works. Do you want to eat lunch here?"
"How about I pick up sandwiches at the deli?"
"No, I'll run down and grab some rolls from the Bakery. I have deli meats and cheeses here."
"Sounds good. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."
As he locked up the Playhouse with the key William had given him, he tried to decide how much of the Suzanne story he should tell Rose. After a few minutes of mulling, he gave a chuckle. He'd tell her everything. There was no point in keeping any of it a secret from Rose. Whether something developed between them or not, she deserved to know the truth from the rumors that would surely start.
* * * *
Rose was nervous as she put the food out onto a platter. She wasn't quite sure how to approach the topic of Ben and the actress. Would it seem like prying to him if she brought it up?
Before she could think further on it, Ben was knocking on her door. She opened it to find him standing there with two lemonades from Deb's.
"My hands are frozen," he said with a grin.
"Come in. Let me take those." She carried the drinks into the kitchen.
"Nice spread! I'm starved," Ben said, looking over the platter of meats and cheeses. "Is it okay if I start building my sandwich?"
"Yes, go ahead."
Soon they both had sandwiches on the fresh Bakery rolls to have with their lemonade. After a bite, Ben asked, "What did you need to talk to me about?"
"The actress who is saying you're her secret lover," Rose blurted out.
Ben choked on his bite of sandwich, and Rose was about to do the Heimlich maneuver when he managed to breathe properly again.
"What did you say?" He waved a hand as she opened her mouth to speak. "Never mind, I heard you the first time. Damn, is there a rumor already going around town like that?"
"No, it's a rumor in L.A. that Beth heard after talking to some people out there. She thought I should know, but told me she didn't think it was true. I'm not sure what I believe, so I thought I should let you have the chance to tell me about it."
Ben sighed heavily. "This is a nightmare. Okay, first off, it's not true. But over nine months ago, I did date her. I broke up with her after several dates. And she took it badly, to say the least. She began stalking me. Then it all stopped and I thought it was over. Until now. She and her agent are the reason she's here. She talked William into hiring her for the understudy job. So I don't know what to think. William brought her by the Playhouse and she immediately wanted me to take her to lunch. William smoothed that over by taking her out with him and Beth."
Rose wasn't sure what he should do about the actress, but she believed his version of things. "William can't keep her here, knowing all this. Why did he hire her?"
"He didn't know all this until he called me this morning. To get her out of the contract he's going to have to pay heavily, and I hate for him to have to do that because of her obsession with me."
"But you have to let him, Ben. It's very unhealthy for her to be around you, and it's probably not safe for you. I can't believe she's telling people out there that she's your secret lover. That's outrageous."
"It's why I stopped dating her. I realized after a couple of dates that she was...off, strange. I wasn't comfortable with how obsessive she was about being with me after even just one date. I honestly don't know what she is capable of, Rose."
"You know, this reminds me of the situation my brother Sam had when he and Anna first got together. His ex-girlfriend came after him, burned down his house, shot at a building they were staying in, and eventually shot Sam. When people go off the deep end about a relationship, they can really lose it."
"I remember that, reading about it in the papers. But, surely Suzanne wouldn't go that nuts...right?"
Rose shrugged. "I don't know. What you've described is an unstable person, that's for sure."
Ben ran his hand through his hair again, pulling it away from his face. Rose found herself wanting to reach out a hand to caress that face, but she didn't make a move. It was crazy that she was so drawn to him so quickly. And it reminded her of this crazy Suzanne.
She stood up and began clearing off the table. "Well, I think the next step is for you to talk to William," she said rather briskly.
Ben looked a bit startled at her tone and activity as she put away the sandwich fixings. He held onto the last bit of his sandwich when she reached for it.
"Not done yet," he said, and grabbed his drink as well.
"Sorry. I just have some stuff to do today and I thought I should get to it."
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break into your day like this."
Ben finished off the sandwich, and then his drink. Rose knew she was being a bit cold, but she needed to keep him at a distance until she could figure out what was going on with them.
"Rose, I wanted to ask you to dinner for tonight. Would you go out with me?"
She turned from wiping down the counter to face him. "I don't know, Ben. Do you think it's safe with Suzanne in town? What if she hears that you are seeing someone? It could set her off."
Ben tilted his head to one side and frowned. "I don't want to let her control my life, but I see your point. She's so unpredictable, and the last thing I want is for her to come after you."
Rose took in a quick breath. "I wasn't thinking she'd come after me."
"I don't think it's such a far-fetched idea."
"Maybe you're right, but in any case, we shouldn't be seen going out together, agreed?"
He nodded slowly. "Agreed. But I do want to see you."
"How about we meet up at Sam and Anna's place for dinner? We could ask them more about the situation they were in before."
"That might be very helpful. I do still want to go out to dinner, just the two of us, but for now I think this probably is the best thing to do. Meet you there around seven?"
Rose thought that time would be something Anna could live with and nodded.
"Okay then, I'll be off so that you can get done what you need to do today. Thanks for lunch, Rose."
"You're welcome. I'll see you tonight."
He walked to the front door, opened it, turned and waved, and then was gone.
Rose wandered into the living room and plopped down into the brocade chair. What had she just done? First she gave him signals like she didn't want him around, then she turned right around and set up seeing him again that very night! Sighing, she pick
ed up her phone to call Anna.
* * * *
"Sam, we're having company tonight. Your sister. And Ben Sterling."
Sam walked into the kitchen. Anna opened the fridge to see what she had to cook for a dinner for company.
"What, did she just call and invite herself over, with a date?" Sam asked his wife.
"Yes, she did. It was odd. She said they need to ask the two of us some questions about a 'situation' but didn't spell out what it was about."
"That's a bit strange. Do you think the two of them are getting involved?"
Anna rolled her eyes at him. "Of course, they are."
"Anna...do you want to tell me something?" Sam asked eyes suddenly intense as he stared at her.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're eating a stalk of celery. You hate celery. Except for when you were pregnant with Joshua, then you couldn't get enough of it. Are you...?"
Anna's eyes went wide as she stared at the celery in her hand. "Celery! Sam, you know..."
He could see her thinking rapidly.
"You know, I think maybe I am," she said in a wondering voice.
Sam reached for her and they hugged each other tightly.
"A baby," Sam said. "A brother or sister for Joshua."
"I get a brother or sister?" Joshua asked from the doorway, with a big smile on his face. "When? Today?"
His parents laughed.
"Not today," Anna said. "It's going to take about eight or nine more months. A long time."
"Oh."
"But tonight Aunt Rose is coming over for dinner," Sam said, picking up Joshua and whirling him around in a circle.
Joshua laughed. "More, Daddy, more!"
Sam and Anna laughed with their son. Then Anna reached for another stick of celery.
* * * *
When Rose arrived at Sam's beach house, she saw another car in the driveway and it wasn't Ben's. She knocked on the front door right as it opened.
"Oh! Hi, Sam."
"Hey, Rose, come on in," Sam said.
Rose looked at him and shook her head. "What on earth has put such a huge smile on your face?"
"We think Anna's pregnant!"
"What? That's great, but what do you mean, you think?"
"Well, she's eating celery."
Sam walked down the hall to the living room and Rose followed, bemused, only to find another surprise sitting on the couch.
"Mom...and Dad! What are you guys doing here?" she asked, and then went over and hugged them both.
"Sam invited us to celebrate Anna's news, and he thought we should also get to know Ben," Sophia said.
Rose sat down in one of the leather chairs and shook her head. "Okay, everyone stop and explain things to me. First, don't you know for sure if she's pregnant? What's the celery about?"
Anna walked in, beaming. "I hate celery, except when I'm pregnant."
"Didn't you guys go get a test to see for sure?"
Sam stared at Anna and they burst out laughing. "We didn't even think of that," he said, finally. "I'm going to go get one right now."
Anna called after him, "You only have twenty minutes."
Rose took a deep breath. "All right, moving on. Why did Sam think you should get to know Ben?"
Her father gave her a look she recognized from when she'd been thirteen and had stolen money from the change jar in the kitchen.
"Don't even try to pull off the idea that you two aren't dating. We heard you were out on Cody's boat yesterday. You've been seen around town together. Maelynne is telling everyone that you'll be moving to Hollywood to be with him."
"Ed! Why would you listen to Maelynne?" Sophia asked, her eyes wide in disbelief.
Rose had heard enough around town already to know that Maelynne was the worst Sully Point gossip.
"Yeah, Dad, don't listen to Maelynne. I have no intention of moving to Hollywood. Yes, we've hung out a bit, and we did go fishing yesterday. But that's it, there's no big thing going on."
She heard a knock on the front door.
"Now listen to me. No more talk of this stuff tonight. No insinuations. Just a nice friendly dinner, okay?"
Everyone nodded, and Rose went to let Ben in the house.
* * * *
Ben walked behind Rose down the hall and thought she had gorgeous hair, among other things. She'd whispered to him that her parents were going to be at dinner, and he wondered if that meant the problem of Suzanne wouldn't be discussed.
Sophia and Ed Carter were a surprise to him. The gruff, big man and the willowy, sophisticated woman seemed to be a mismatch. When he heard that Ed had been a police detective and that Sophia was a fashion designer, he was even more surprised by them. They had greeted him warmly, however, and as he watched them, he saw in the looks and small touches that the two were very much partners.
Sam came in with a paper bag in his hand and he and Anna vanished down the hallway, giggling. Ben wasn't sure what was going on, but right then Ed began questioning him about his career. About ten minutes later, Sam and Anna returned wearing big smiles.
"It's positive," Anna said.
"Congratulations!" Ed said as he got up to hug Anna.
Rose leaned over and said, "Anna's pregnant. They just found out from a pregnancy test."
"That explains those big smiles," he said. He got up and waited his turn to shake Sam's hand and offer congratulations to Anna.
"The food!" Anna said and ran from the room.
Soon they were all seated around the dining room table, and Ben was once again impressed with Anna's cooking. This time she'd roasted a pork loin perfectly, steamed broccoli, and made the best macaroni and cheese he'd ever tasted.
"Anna," he said. "This is fabulous. Are you sure you don't want to come to L.A. and open a restaurant?"
She smiled at him. "No thanks. Sully Point has everything I need or want. But I do love cooking for family and friends. Everyone, save some room for dessert. We're having peach cobbler."
Ben watched Rose interact with her parents. They seemed very comfortable together and he realized he was in the midst of a real family. He had been close to his mother, but there had always been a distance in his relationship with his father.
"Doc Rosie, Doc Rosie, come play," Joshua asked as he was leaving the meal to go to his room. Ben had been impressed that the little guy ate steadily and didn't cause a ruckus like some kids his age.
"Why does he call you that?" Ben asked.
Rose flushed a becoming shade of pink.
"Cause she's the doctor," Joshua said, in condescending tones that implied Ben was clearly not very bright.
"That's right, honey," Anna said firmly. "You go set up the hospital in your room and Doc Rosie will come play soon."
"Okay," he said with a grin and ran out of the room.
"Kids. They love playing doctor. He just had a check-up recently and is all into it," Sam said.
Sophia leaned toward Ben. "Tell me, do you plan to stay in L.A.?"
"Uh, yes ma'am. That's where my work is, the business I'm in."
"But from what you said earlier, your work takes you all over the world. You could live anywhere."
"I suppose that's true," he said thoughtfully. "I've lived there for a number of years now, and my whole life is there. I never thought of leaving."
"It's just an idea," Sophia murmured, after a glance at her daughter.
"What I want to know is, what's this rumor I heard today about some actress new in town? Says she's your girlfriend," Ed said in his deep voice.
Rose choked on her sip of wine, while Sophia glared at Ed.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to listen to Maelynne?" she asked.
Rose finished coughing, and said, "That's actually why we came to dinner here tonight. The new actress in town, Suzanne, is someone Ben knows. Ben needs some advice from Sam and Anna."
Ben lifted an eyebrow at Rose, and she shrugged. He sighed and realized they were all looking at him.
; "Let me explain. It all started some time ago in L.A. when I dated this young woman."
As he told them the story of Suzanne, he realized it was a relief to share it and to hope someone would have an opinion on how best to handle it. Plus, Rose's father was a retired cop. Surely he'd know what Ben should do.
"It's like Patrice all over again," Anna said, face grim.
"I have to admit, it does sound like that to me, too," Sam said. "Ed, what do you think?"
"I think you've got trouble," the big man said. "And it won't be simple to deal with either. The stalker mentality is a crafty one. It would almost be easier if she just hated you and was trying to kill you."
"Dad! That's awful!" Rose said.
"What I mean is that she thinks she loves you. In reality, she loves and hates you. She's gone to some trouble to appear normal enough that William would hire her for the play. You could take out a restraining order, but she hasn't actually done anything yet to warrant it. William can let her go, get out of the contract, but that doesn't mean she'll leave town. Furthermore, if she thinks you and my daughter are dating, she may go after Rose, possibly violently. I'm not happy about any of this, not at all."
"Are you saying Ben and I shouldn't date?"
"Yes," Ed said.
"No," Sophia said.
"It will put her in danger," Ed said.
"She deserves to date whomever she wants. Why let this Suzanne win?"
"I don't want Rose to be in danger," Ben said. "But I also want us to keep seeing each other. Maybe if we kept it secret?"
"The thing is, Ben, it's not just about Rose being in danger, but you also," Anna said. "When Patrice was rejected by Sam she immediately turned against him and burned down his house."
"And car. My little Aston-Martin," Sam said wistfully.
"How are you going to respond to Suzanne's attentions? What will happen if you don't date her?" Anna asked.
Rose shifted in her chair. "Anna, surely you aren't suggesting that Ben go out with her and feed her delusions?"
"No, I'm not. I think you need guards. Both of you."
Ed's face lightened up a bit. "Not a bad idea. I also think you need to make sure everyone in the family knows about this. Suzanne may try to get information from other people who know you. Friends and family should be told to keep quiet about details of your life and to get out of the conversation, politely, as soon as possible. Then have them call me. I'll take point on this one."
Love Imagines (Sully Point, Book 6) Page 7