Whitney in Charge

by Craver, Diane

  “Hey,” she said with a smile, looking between Ben and Adam. “I guess we did.”

  “And who is this?” Ben asked, looking past Regan to the little girl beside her who stared wide-eyed at the monkeys.

  “I’d like you two to meet my daughter, Lily.” She glanced down at her little girl with auburn hair. “Lily loves the zoo. Lily, remember I told you about Aunt Whitney’s new neighbors. This is Mr. Spencer.”

  “Hi. Do you like monkeys?” Lily asked Adam.

  “Yes, I do a lot.” Adam stared at one, and pointed. “That monkey never stops swinging.”

  Lily smiled. “The monkey’s name is Leo.”

  “I didn’t know his name was Leo,” Adam said.

  Regan grinned. “Lily likes to name her favorite animals.”

  With an excited look on his face, Adam said, “Let’s name all the monkeys.”

  While the children discussed names for the other monkeys, Regan asked, “Are you getting settled into your house?”

  “Pretty much.” Ben crossed his arms and watched the kids, debating whether he should ask Regan about her sister or not. Finally, after several moments of comfortable silence between the adults while the kids picked names like Joe-Joe and Brittany, he took the chance. “I have something to ask you.”

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “I got the impression you were playing matchmaker the other day when you dragged Whitney to meet me.”

  “I wanted to meet you too.”

  He grinned. “Okay, but your main agenda was for me to see your sister. I saw her wedding ring when she brought over a casserole for us last night. I’m wondering why she didn’t mention being divorced when I told my marital status.”

  “She’s not divorced. She’s a widow.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry.” Ben grimaced, immediately regretting his question.

  “We all are.” Regan sighed. “She was married to Rob Benson. He was a correspondent in Iraq and was killed there. Right after he died, she came home to take care of our mother.”

  Ben squinted his eyes, trying to put a face to the name. “Rob Benson. I remember him. He was a great reporter. I watched him a lot on the news. It’s so tragic what happened to him. I didn’t think about whether he was married, let alone whether he left behind a widow.”

  “Well, now you know. I’m glad you asked me.”

  Ben paused to listen for a moment to Adam’s happy chatter. “Those two are hitting it off.”

  “I’m glad. We’ll have to get them together to play.” Regan turned from watching the kids to look at Ben. “How was the casserole?”

  “It was delicious. Enough for two meals so I won’t have to cook tonight either.”

  “Whitney hates to cook for herself and eat alone. She wants us to go into some kind of business…like catering or a bed and breakfast, so she’ll have home cooked meals.”

  He got Regan’s point. She was hinting that he could’ve invited Whitney to eat dinner with them, so she wouldn’t have to eat alone. He shoved his hands in his jean pockets. “I asked her to join us but she had other plans.”

  Lily pulled on Regan’s arm. “Mommy, I’m hungry.”

  “How about some ice cream? My treat,” Ben said.

  “We love ice cream, don’t we?” Regan glanced at Lily.

  “Daddy does too. He’s looking at us. He doesn’t look happy.”

  Regan turned to look at a group of men. “After we got here, my husband Casey saw his firefighter friends so he left us to watch the monkeys while he talked to them.”

  Before Ben could comment, a man appeared by them, lifting Lily in his arms. He asked, “What are my girls talking about now?”

  Lily declared loudly, “Ice cream.” She put her arm around Casey’s neck. “Mr. Spencer is going to buy us some.”

  Casey ignored Ben. “That’s not necessary. Now that I’m here, I can buy ice cream.”

  Regan gave Casey a stern look. “This is Ben Spencer and his son Adam. They’re Whitney’s new neighbors.”

  After a brief unfriendly stare at Ben, Casey said, “Oh yeah, I heard all about you and Adam.”

  Regan shook her head, and said to Ben, “I guess you realized this guy happens to be my husband, Casey.”

  “Hey, I recognize you from TV.” Ben raised his eyebrows. “You were one of the trapped firefighters at the house in my old neighborhood. I’m glad you survived. That was scary seeing the fire and knowing some of you might not make it.”

  Casey said to Lily, “Let’s get that ice cream.”

  What the hell is Casey’s problem? He saw Regan’s puzzled look at her husband. She obviously wondered about Casey’s rudeness to him. He might not have liked him mentioning the dangerous fire situation in front of Lily, but still Casey’s whole demeanor had been uncalled for. How could such a gorgeous and sweet woman be married to such a jerk?

  Chapter Four

  The phone rang, waking Ben up from a light sleep. He rolled over and picked up the phone, reading Meredith’s name on the LCD screen. His ex-wife probably didn’t consider the fact that West Coast time was three hours behind him. He sat up in bed and grabbed the ringing phone.

  “Hi, Meredith. You’re calling late.”

  “Sorry. Did I wake you?”

  “Yes, but it’s okay. You know I fall asleep pretty quick.” She’d always complained how she couldn’t go back to sleep after he woke her up during the night which had never happened that often. How could rolling over in bed wake her up, for crying out loud? If he snored, he might have understood her bitching, but he wasn’t a noisy sleeper. Maybe if she’d been less tense about her job, she’d have slept better.

  “I heard you have a girlfriend. How’s Lily?”

  He chuckled. “Lily’s not my girlfriend.”

  Irritation laced her voice when she said, “Adam said you three went to the zoo together.”

  For a lawyer, Meredith’s listening skills were poor when it came to family conversations. Her mind seemed to be focused on her cases and not on them. Obviously, she hadn’t improved in this area. “I took Adam to the zoo. We happened to see Regan and her husband with their little daughter, Lily. Adam and I had met Regan when she visited her sister in our new neighborhood. Any more questions?”

  “Ben, I’m just concerned because you haven’t moved on with your life since our divorce. It’s been a year now. I’ve remarried but you haven’t gone out with anyone.”

  “I’ve been busy raising our son.”

  She sighed. “I know. I’m a terrible mother. I told you we shouldn’t have any kids. But you thought we needed to have a child together. Well, you got what you wanted.”

  He heard the sarcasm in her voice. What he’d wanted was for all three of them to be happy together. He’d seen firsthand how happy his sister Pam was after she had children. She’d been on the fast track, but had cut her hours down as a pediatrician. Pam never seemed to have trouble juggling her career and motherhood. She’d said both kept her balanced. But Meredith hadn’t wanted to be a mother. He’d talked her into having Adam.

  “I’m sorry you wish we hadn’t had Adam. I don’t regret having him. He’s what makes my life so worthwhile.”

  “I know you think I’m not normal for not wanting children.”

  “It’s not that at all, Meredith,” Ben said. “I assumed you also wanted kids. We should’ve discussed our views about having children before we married. But I’m grateful to you for having Adam. He’s a great kid.”

  “He is. And in my own way, I do love him. I guess that’s why I keep telling you to date. I know he needs a full-time mother.”

  An alarm went off in his head and he sat up straighter in bed. Something must be wrong. Was she ill? Meredith had never mentioned wanting Adam to have a stepmother. “Are you okay? Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

  “I’m fine but I’m afraid I can’t take Adam for two weeks this summer.”

  “You can’t cancel on him. He’s so excited about flying to Seattle to see you
.” How can I tell Adam that his own mother can’t spare two weeks to see him?

  “Jim and I have a chance to go to Italy and other places in Europe this summer.”

  “You’re taking off that much time to go abroad?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised,” Meredith said. “You know I’ve always wanted to go to Europe. I thought Adam could come over Memorial Day weekend and maybe another long weekend this summer.”

  “He’s already had to leave his old neighborhood. He doesn’t need another disappointment right now.”

  “You didn’t need to uproot Adam. You could’ve stayed in our house.”

  They’d lived in a beautiful neighborhood and it’d been hard to move because when he’d bought the house with Meredith, he’d looked forward to filling it with lots of kids. But that was before our divorce. “It became too expensive with just one income.” He exhaled a deep breath. “I hate to break it to him now. I think we should wait a month before we tell him.”

  In a firm voice, she said, “I was hoping you’d tell him soon. And he might be excited about coming already in May for a long weekend. I doubt if he’ll care about not being here for two weeks this summer. He’d miss you a lot anyhow.”

  “I’ll tell him sometime,” he muttered. “Remember how I wanted us to go to Europe, but you were too busy at the law firm to leave?”

  “I was busy,” she refuted defensively. “Things are different now.”

  “Fine, Meredith. I need to get up early in the morning so I’ll call you when I tell Adam about the change in plans. Bye, Meredith.”

  He hung up without waiting for her reply. He flopped down in the bed again and tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. Restless now, he threw the covers off and climbed out of bed. He walked down the hallway to his son’s bedroom. The aquarium shone enough light for him to see Adam’s sweet face. His little man. He could never regret marrying Meredith when she’d given him this incredible child.

  Meredith had never spent much time with Adam even when they were married. How could a mother give up precious time with her son to go to Italy? Man, Adam had gotten shortchanged in the mother department, but he intended to make up for it. It was hard being a single parent, but he wouldn’t change his life for anything. A child gave such purpose and meaning to life.

  Adam had kicked the bedspread down to the foot of the bed. Ben leaned down, straightening the covers over Adam. Geez, when had his hair grown so long? He better take Adam to get a haircut over the weekend before he started looking like a girl.

  On the way back to his room, he wondered if Whitney was still up. He’d enjoyed their conversation when she’d brought over the casserole, and had a new respect for her after learning what she’d done for her mother. It couldn’t have been easy leaving a highly rated morning show. He couldn’t imagine Meredith quitting her job to take care of a dying mother. She was not the nurturing type when it came to children or elderly parents. Or first husbands.

  He looked out one of his windows facing Whitney’s house. He saw the light on behind the French doors, but didn’t see Whitney. Was she by herself or did she have friends over? Or maybe a boyfriend? He didn’t think a boyfriend was in the picture though since Regan and Whitney had seemed eager to meet him. Regan had reminded him of his own sister, Pam, trying to play matchmaker. At the zoo, Regan had made a point of telling him how Whitney hated to eat alone.

  He’d been surprised to learn that Rob Benson had been Whitney’s husband. He remembered how Benson had made him feel like he was right there experiencing some of the things the soldiers felt. Even though he hadn’t know the reporter personally, he’d felt sad when Benson had died.

  And now he lived next door to the well-known reporter’s widow. Hard to believe.

  Pam planned to visit soon to see what he’d done with the house so far. If she happened to meet Whitney while at his house, Pam might consider his new neighbor good mother material.

  Was he ready to ask someone out on a date? Maybe he should make an effort and get on with his life. Meredith sure had gotten over him quickly with starting a glamorous life with husband number two. Ben didn’t know about dating again just so he could get a mother for Adam, but he did know one thing. He picked the right house to move to with pretty Whitney Benson living so close by.

  Maybe he’d ask her out to dinner soon. Two single and lonely people should have a lot in common.

  * * *

  On Monday, Whitney busied herself with cleaning the house and doing some laundry. While getting the towels out of the dryer, she heard the phone ring. She carried a handful and rushed to the kitchen. Before answering, she threw the towels on the table.

  “Hi, Whitney. It’s Molly. It’s so good to hear your voice.”

  Whitney felt a twinge of guilt since she hadn’t called Molly for a long time. Actually had she ever called her? She remembered Molly phoning her once to see how she was doing. Although she’d sent Molly a thank you note for her generous donation to the cancer foundation in memory of their mother, she hadn’t been very good about staying in touch with her old friend from The Bold News. She felt the worst about not speaking to Molly of all her old friends; Molly had even been her maid of honor. “It’s good to hear yours too.”

  “I’m so sorry about your mother’s passing.”

  “Thanks, Molly. I miss her but I’m glad she’s not suffering any longer. Mom was weak at the end, but she was a trooper. She insisted on getting out of bed and staying mobile. She wouldn’t give up.” Visions of her frail mother using her walker flashed through her mind.

  “You must take after her. You kept going when we had to fight to do a complete makeover at the network. Weaker producers would’ve quit at some of the worthless comments made by the heads.”

  “But we stuck to our guns and got the changes we wanted,” Whitney said. “I saw where you hired Connie Murphy for the new morning host.”

  “It might be too late. Our ratings have plummeted since you left. Instead of calling it The Bold News, it should be The Shitty News. There’s nothing bold about it any longer. ”

  “What happened?”

  “Your replacement’s part of the problem,” Molly said. “John’s an ass.”

  “I hate to hear how things have gotten. But I think Connie will boost the ratings. She’s a topnotch anchor. Anyhow I hope so.” A whiff of freshly baked goods tickled her nose and she eyed the plate of still warm cinnamon rolls on the kitchen counter. Her stomach grumbled at the sweet spicy smell. Thoughtful Regan had dropped the rolls off for her.

  Molly sighed. “Whitney, we need you in the worst way. Please come back. We had a meeting today and regardless if you come back or not, John’s getting the boot. You have to miss New York, don’t you? You’re a big city girl.”

  She hadn’t expected they’d want her to return. It’d been close to two years. She had loved working in New York but couldn’t imagine leaving her family. When she was eighteen, she hadn’t wanted to be like her sisters and stay in Cornett. She’d felt smothered by them and had loved going to college in New York. Then getting a job in the big city had been exciting. New York had been an important part of her life, but now this was the place she wanted to be. Besides having a business with her sisters was important to her.

  “I’d like to help but I don’t want to move back to New York. I’m enjoying small town life. Plus I’m going into business with my sisters.” She broke a piece of roll off and popped it into her mouth. Regan’s rolls melted in your mouth. If they decided on selling cakes, she wondered if Regan would consider baking cinnamon rolls for their business.

  “What’s the business?”

  “We have several ones in mind but haven’t narrowed it down to one yet.” She licked frosting off her finger, waiting for Molly’s negative comments. She knew her too well.

  “Sounds like an ulcer waiting to happen. I’m sure you can handle the stress but do you want to? Your income will be nonexistent until you get established. You have to learn about business banking, in
surance, sign-making—”

  “I can hire people to do what I can’t do.”

  “You’re meant to be a news producer,” Molly said. “Why don’t you get on a plane and visit? I can order your ticket for any day you’d like to come. I’ll tell you now if you produce the morning news again, your salary will be considerably higher than before so you can afford to buy whatever your heart desires.”

  What Molly didn’t realize was that she didn’t need more money. As the beneficiary of Rob’s huge life insurance policy, she could be comfortable for a long time. After the settling of her mother’s estate, she’d have even more money. It wasn’t about making money. It was about making a life. She cleared her throat. “Molly, I appreciate you thinking of me, but I don’t want to give you any false hope.”

  “Please don’t say no right now. Think about it.”

  She couldn’t return to New York. It was the place of too many memories of where she’d been loved so well by Rob. She knew now why she’d never called Molly after returning to her roots. Molly reminded her of Rob. She’d been the one to introduce him to her. She’d said they were made for each other. No, she couldn’t fly to visit Molly, and do the job she’d loved so much. Her heart couldn’t survive in New York without Rob. It still hadn’t healed in the broken places.

  “I have to go, Molly,” she answered, avoiding commitment. “I’ll call you soon.”

  She hung up before Molly offered any further argument. After putting the cordless phone back in its cradle, she grabbed the coffeepot. Once the coffee was done, she carried a mug and the paper to read outside on the patio. She’d only read the front page headlines when a deep male vice said, “Hello,” and made her jump.

  Ben stood by her chair, her casserole dish in his big hands.

  “Ben, you startled me.”

  “I apologize. I didn’t realize you hadn’t heard me.”

  She smiled at him, and refolded the paper. She felt butterflies in her stomach just from being so close to Ben. “I take it you didn’t have to knock anyone out this morning.”