Anna grinned. “Of course I was!”
Anna packed up her room when she got home from trivia. She managed to fit everything she owned into three large suitcases and a few boxes. She started to cry again when she got to the three framed pictures of her father. Even though she’d had years to prepare for it and accept his death, it was still so hard. She thought she was handling it well, but now and then she’d see something that reminded her of him and the tears would come.
Her mother had died when she was very little so she didn’t remember her the way she would have liked. Her father had stayed single for a long time, until about ten years ago, when Anna was thirteen and in eighth grade. That’s when Anna’s life changed again, and not for the better.
She hadn’t realized how lonely her father must have been. It was the two of them for as long as she could remember until Elise came along. But, to her credit, Anna knew that she made her father happy. He only saw the good in Elise and was blind to her faults. Elise never showed her true colors around her father, either. She saved them for Anna and made it clear once she had children that the four of them were her family and Anna was the outsider.
She sighed as she carefully wrapped the pictures with some of her clothes so they wouldn’t be damaged. Her plan was to leave in the morning as soon as Elise was gone and to just leave a note letting her know she was out of her hair. She was not going to leave a forwarding address. If Elise needed to reach her—and Anna couldn’t imagine why she would—she had her cell phone number.
The next morning, she got up and had breakfast as if it was just another day. She wished Elise well as she left for work and as soon as she was out the door, Anna wrote her a note asking her to say goodbye to Tommy and Harley. She felt bad not saying goodbye to them in person, but they were away visiting their grandparents for the week and besides, she thought Elise could best explain why she was no longer living there.
She plugged Ben’s address in her Honda Civic’s GPS and drove off. Twenty minutes later, she reached the driveway to the ranch. It was a long, winding road that finally brought her to the main house—which took her breath away. It had sounded nice when Ben described it but it was truly beautiful. She wasn’t exactly sure where to park but saw a four-car garage just past the house and parked in front of it. She grabbed her purse and her smallest suitcase, a carryon that had wheels. She could come back for the rest once she was situated and knew which room was hers.
She made her way to the front door and it was opened by a roly-poly woman with gray hair and a welcoming smile. She was wearing an apron over her flowered top and black pants.
“You must be Anna!”
“I am, yes.”
“I’m Mrs. Higgins. But you can call me Betty. Come on in. I’ll show you to your room so you can put that bag down, then I’ll give you the tour. Ben’s in the shower, but should be down shortly and he’ll bring in your bags and put your car in the garage. You’ll use the one on the far right. I have the one on the left and Ben uses the two in the middle,” she explained.
Anna followed her to the second level, and down a long hallway to a guest bedroom that was spacious and had beautiful views of the mountains. The walls were a soft blue-gray shade, and the floors were polished hard wood with a plush cream carpet that filled most of the room. Anna’s shoes sank into it as she walked. The bed was a queen size and had a fluffy white comforter topped with an assortment of throw pillows in various shades of blue and gray. It was a peaceful, restful room and Anna was looking forward to a good night’s sleep later.
“Across the hall is Taylor’s room. We thought it was best for you to be near her. Ben’s room is next to Taylor’s and at the other end of the house, there are two more guest bedrooms.”
“Do you live-in, too?” Anna was curious where Betty’s room was.
“I do, but I’m in the smaller cottage you may have noticed as you pulled in the driveway. It’s just before the main house. It’s quite lovely and perfect for me.”
Betty showed her the rest of the house—the cozy office/den, formal living room, comfortable family room, dining room, finished basement with a pool table and theater area. She finished the tour in the kitchen, which looked like a professional chef’s dream kitchen with its all white cabinets, six-burner gas stove, double ovens, and oversized island with a stunning white marble countertop.
“Have a seat. Ben should be down any minute. I’m going to have a second cup of coffee. Would you like one?”
“Sure. Thank you.” Anna settled onto one of the chairs around the island and once she had coffee for both of them, Betty joined her.
“Have you worked here long?” Anna asked her.
“Almost six weeks. Ben hired me as soon as he got here. I do everything for him. Mostly cleaning and cooking and making sure he eats. He’s one of those people who gets so busy that he often skips one, sometimes even two meals.”
Anna laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever skipped a meal in my life!”
“You and me both. I’m usually thinking ahead to what I’ll eat next.” She patted her stomach. “Sometimes that gets me in trouble.”
“Where is Taylor?” Anna noticed that it was unusually quiet.
“She’s sleeping. Ben gave her a bottle before he got in the shower. She’ll probably be down for at least an hour or two. He’s gotten pretty good at managing his schedule around her naps. But it doesn’t always work. Babies have their own unpredictable schedules.”
Almost on cue, Anna heard a plaintive cry.
“Speaking of unpredictable. Poor baby. She’s teething.”
The cries grow louder and a moment later, Ben walked into the kitchen carrying the baby carrier. He set it on the island, not far from the edge and Anna froze for a moment as a wave of fear washed over her. She took a deep breath and then stepped forward and pushed the carrier further into the middle of the island and away from the edge.
“Sorry. I can be clumsy and having that too close to the edge makes me nervous.”
“Thanks. I love that you thought to do that. Maybe you can work your magic again with her.” Ben picked Taylor up, gave her a quick cuddle and then handed her to Anna. The tiny girl’s face looked up at hers and at the sight of her sweet, trusting eyes, her heart melted. She put her finger out and the baby grabbed it in her hand and squeezed tight. She cuddled her close and patted her back until she burped several times and then fell asleep again. When she was sure she was totally out, she carefully set her in her bed and looked up to see both Betty and Ben watching her with pleased expressions.
“See, I told you I found a good one,” Ben said to Betty.
“You did say that. I would tend to agree. Now, shall we all enjoy our coffee?”
Anna settled back into her seat and Betty added a splash of hot coffee to her mug.
“Betty showed you around?”
Anna nodded. “She did. Your house is lovely.”
He smiled. “Thank you. It is peaceful here. I worried that it might be too quiet but I’m loving it. There’s no one distracting me—except for Taylor, of course—but she’s different. And with technology, I can work from anywhere. The wifi is surprisingly good here.”
“He lives on his computer.” Betty shook her head.
Ben laughed. “I do, actually. In fact, I’m going to head into the office in a minute, and I’ll be tied up on calls and online meetings for most of the day. But, don’t hesitate to interrupt me if you need something. I’ll probably skip lunch unless Betty sneaks a sandwich in and I remember to eat it. But, I’ll probably see you back here for dinner.”
Anna nodded. She liked the idea of having the day to herself to get used to the place and for Taylor to get used to her.
“I’ll go grab your bags in a minute, too, and bring them up to your room. Oh, there’s one more thing.” He got up and disappeared into his office for a moment, then came back and handed a slim box to Anna. It was a brand new MacAir laptop. Anna had a laptop, but it was a very old and painfully slow generi
c windows one.
“What’s this for?”
Ben grinned. “The main office sent me a bunch of files and office supplies that I’d ordered and somehow they sent two new laptops instead of one. It’s easier to just give it to you than to send it back. So, enjoy! Oh, wifi password is Rivers End Ranch. Thought that would be easy to remember.”
A moment later, he was gone, and it was like all the energy left the room. Betty looked at her and smiled, and Anna got the feeling she was reading her mind when she said, “Feels quiet in here now, huh? That’s Ben. He’s like one of those Energizer bunnies, just goes and goes until he drops.”
Chapter 3
Ben brought Anna’s bags up to her room then grabbed a breakfast bar, topped off his coffee and disappeared into his office. As he turned on his computer, he tried not to think of how cute Anna had looked. She was even prettier than he’d remembered, with her long, pale blond hair. It fell to her shoulders and was sleek and straight. Her jeans were well worn and fit her slim figure perfectly. He also liked her floaty, peach-colored top and caramel-colored cowboy boots. They were a different pair than the ones he’d seen her in before at the coffee shop. He made a note of the fact that she liked cowboy boots. He did that when he met people, filed away little mental notes about things that stuck out about them. It was helpful when the holidays rolled around. He’d once remembered that his sister liked red sweaters. Except he wouldn’t be buying her any more sweaters.
He stared out the window and thought about his sister for a moment. They’d always been close and losing her had been one of the hardest things he’d ever gone through. He couldn’t even imagine how hard it must have been for his parents. They had all lived in the Silicon Valley area, but after Jessica died, his parents decided to sell their house and move to Florida. It was something they’d always talked about doing and with Jessica gone and Ben deciding to move, there was no reason for them not to go, too. He’d tried to talk them into coming to Riston, but Florida in the winter had always been their dream. They did promise to come for a long visit during the hot summer months, though.
He never knew what might trigger thoughts of Jessica. Sometimes it was a song, or a picture or a date, like her birthday or holiday. Christmas had been especially hard this year. And now he had her baby. His parents had offered to take Taylor, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He and Jessica had talked about the possibility of this day coming, though they’d both been thinking more along the lines of a freak accident or something, not cancer. But he’d agreed—insisted, actually—to take Taylor and raise her as his own. And he didn’t think of Taylor as his niece. He did at first, but after just a few weeks, they’d bonded and now she was his daughter. Jessica had never married so they shared the same last name, but if they hadn’t he would have adopted her so that they did.
As much as he loved that little girl, he was relieved that Anna was there to help. This way, he’d be able to make sure that any time he had with Taylor was quality time, when he could focus his attention on her totally. He had a new respect for single parents. For all parents, actually. Being a parent was hard work.
He smiled as he thought back to how chaotic his first weeks with Taylor had been when he was naïve enough to think he could juggle feeding her and being on a conference call at the same time. He’d screwed up repeatedly, but he learned quickly and now he could change a diaper as well as anyone. His phone rang and brought his thoughts back to the present. It was time for his first conference call.
His morning flew until it was almost noon and time for him to head over to River’s End Ranch for a meeting with Wade. They were going to have lunch at Kelsey’s Kafe and Wade wanted to introduce him to Steven. The name was familiar and when Wade explained who he was it made sense. He’d asked his friend, Adiel, about him and he said they’d worked together once on a project and it had been a good experience. Given that information, Ben was intrigued to find out what Wade had in mind.
When Ben arrived at Wade’s office, he smiled at the chaos he seemed to walk into. Bernie, Wade’s assistant, was on the phone while a FedEx delivery guy stood waiting for a signature. The other girl, Lily, had a mother and what he guessed were her four daughters gathered around a portfolio with pictures of wedding cakes. Meanwhile, her phone was ringing off the hook and she was letting it go to voicemail so she could give her full attention to the people in front of her. Ben approved of that whole-heartedly. Not that it mattered, of course, but one of his pet peeves was someone leaving the customers they were helping in person to attend to someone calling on the phone.
Since both girls were more than busy, Ben poked his head into Wade’s office. He was on a call but waved Ben in and gestured for him to have a seat. A moment later, he hung up the phone. It immediately rang again. Wade glanced at it, scowled and stood up. “Let’s go. Whoever that is can leave a voice message.”
Ben followed him outside and when they stepped on the front porch, Wade pulled something out of his pocket and clicked it. He heard a whirring sound and then was impressed to see a golf cart back itself up, turn around and head their way. It pulled up right in front of them, and Wade looked delighted.
“What do you think? Cool trick, huh? A vendor dropped this off last week for me to try it out. He wants me to fall in love with it and buy a few more.”
“Think you will?”
“Probably,” Wade admitted. “Why not? I bet the guests will love it!”
Ben agreed and was tempted to order one himself.
“Hop in. We could walk. But it’s kind of a hike and I’d rather spend the time at lunch. Steven and his business partner Brandon Chin, should be there waiting for us. Brandon is the one that finds most of their investors and sponsors.”
“So, are you going to tell me what this is all about?” Ben asked.
Wade chuckled. “Honestly, I don’t know much more than what I told you already. Steven is executive producer for a TV project that will be filming here at the ranch. He mentioned that they were still looking for some additional investors and asked me if I knew you.”
“Okay, good enough. I asked my friend Adiel about him. Turns out they’ve worked together and he gave him the thumb’s up. I look forward to hearing what he has to say.”
“Have you been to Kelsey’s Kafe yet? My sister manages it and the food is pretty amazing. It’s stick-to-your-ribs kind of stuff. Bob makes a burger so good it will make you cry. Though you can’t go wrong with one of his specials, either.”
When they walked through the door, a pretty blonde woman ran over to them and gave Wade a big hug. She glanced at the clock on the wall. “You’re actually early. Did you take the golf cart?”
“We did.”
“I want one. All of us do. We can discuss at Sunday dinner. But the consensus is the more of these golf carts at the ranch the better. Remotes for everyone! Oh, Steven and another man are already here, waiting for you in the corner booth. Root beer?”
Wade nodded and Kelsi looked his way.
“And what about you? Root beer okay or do you want something else?”
“That’s fine for me, too.”
“Good. Oh, by the way, I’m Kelsi. This rude one’s sister.”
Wade smiled and apologized. “I’m sorry, I should have introduced you. Kelsi, this is Ben Turner. He recently moved here.”
Kelsi nodded and ran off to get their drinks. Ben couldn’t help but notice that she and Wade shared the same icy blue eyes that were almost startling, they were so light.
Wade shook his head. “My sister is always feisty, but she’s been unusually so lately.”
“She seems great.”
“Oh, I’m not complaining. There’s never a dull moment with Kelsi.”
Wade introduced Ben and Steven introduced Brandon to both of them and they sat across from him in the booth. Ben noticed that Brandon was still wearing his coat even though they were inside.
“He’s not used to cold weather here,” Steven said with a laugh.
Kelsi ret
urned a moment later with their drinks and menus.
“Bob’s special today is shepherd’s pie. There’s also a low-fat version in case that interests you. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Kelsi dropped the menus on the table and Ben smiled. She’d made it abundantly clear that she was not a fan of diet versions. He had to agree. He’d rather hit the gym or have less of the real thing than a low-fat imitation.
When she came back for their orders, they all got the full-fat special. Kelsi nodded in approval and took their menus away.
“So, I filled Ben in with what I know about your project,” Wade said.
Steven smiled. “I was surprised and delighted to learn you moved to Riston. Is this a permanent move? Or more of a short-term thing? Just curious.”
“I hope it will be permanent. I needed to get out of the public eye, now that it’s not just me I have to worry about.”
“I heard about your niece and the passing of your sister. I’m very sorry.”
Ben appreciated that. “Thank you.”
“I read that you stepped down as CEO of Blue Sky Pages and wasn’t sure, given your move, if you were planning to continue investing in film and TV projects?”
Ben nodded. “I stepped down because it was time. The company doesn’t need me there on a daily basis anymore. I’m still a majority shareholder and very involved, but more on an advisory basis. Which frees up more time for various investment projects.”
“That’s encouraging to hear.”
Ben grinned. “And I don’t have to be present in LA, either, to invest in these types of projects. Now that people know what I’ve done, they don’t seem to have any problem reaching me by email.”
Steven nodded. “Good. But I have to admit, I’m excited that you are local as we’d love your input if what we are doing interests you.”
“That is definitely a selling point. Even though the bulk of what I do can be done remotely now, I still always visit the set of any production I invest in just to take the pulse of what’s going on and to weigh in if I have any insight to offer.”
Billionaire's Baby (River's End Ranch Book 42) Page 3
