"Don't get too far ahead of yourself. Let me see what I can find. I need to talk to Nichole."
"Yeah, well get your keys, because I'm sure that the way my conversation with her just ended, she'll be packing up her shit right now."
* * *
Ben pulled up in front of Nichole's house with Phillip in his cruiser right behind him. Both men got out of their vehicles and went straight to the door. She must have seen them coming because she opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.
Her eyes narrowed on Ben before shifting to Phillip. "Gentlemen, what can I do for you?"
Phillip stepped in closer before Ben could speak.
"Nichole, Ben says you've had some fraudulent charges made to your accounts."
He saw the relief blanket her face as she looked at him and then back to Phillip. "Yes."
"Bank accounts have been emptied and cards run up?"
"Yes."
"Also, your father's identity compromised."
"Yes."
Phillip removed his sunglasses. "Can we come in and talk about this? I want to help you take the next step in getting charges pressed when they find the party responsible."
There was some hesitation, but she eventually opened the door for them to walk inside.
Ben had been right. He noticed right away that Laura's toys were not in the living room where they always were, and there were a few duffle bags in the hallway that hadn't been there an hour earlier.
"All of my notes are on my computer in the kitchen," she said, steering them through the house. "Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?"
"I'd love a glass of water," Phillip said.
"I'll get it," Ben offered, moving past her. Guilt twisted in his gut when he noticed how red her eyes and cheeks were from the crying jag she must have had when he'd left.
He watched as Nichole nervously sat down across from Phillip. As he pulled down a glass from the cupboard, he decided she'd need a glass of water too. He filled them both and walked them to the table.
"So, Nichole, tell me what's going on," Phillip began as he gave Ben a nod of thanks for the waters..
Ben then stepped back to lean against the counter and watched her fold her hands tightly in her lap before taking a deep breath.
He listened as she relayed the story, just as he had. The tale of debts that had been created and the charges that had been charged.
Phillip took a notebook from his pocket and made notes. "Your father, has he had his accounts compromised as well?"
"I haven't talked to him quite yet. I'm waiting for him to return my calls." Her voice shook as she relayed the information and Ben saw tears well in her eyes.
Since Phillip was there, and chances were she wouldn't attack him in front of Phillip, he moved in and placed his hand on her shoulder.
To his amazement, she placed her hand on his but didn't shift her eyes in his direction. It wasn't until Phillip mentioned her taking the kids that he felt her tense up beneath him.
"I did what was best for my family and me. I don't regret that."
Phillip nodded slowly. "I understand that. By the parameters of your divorce agreement, what does it state about you moving away with the kids?"
Nichole chewed her bottom lip, and he watched as she picked at the skin around her thumbnail. "Phillip, I'll move on with them if I have to. I'll do anything to keep them safe."
"And why do you think you're not safe?"
She shrugged off Ben's hand and leaned her elbows on the table. It hurt to watch her shoulders rise and fall because she was crying, and all he wanted to do was scoop her up and hold her.
Phillip reached out a hand and rested it on hers. "You take your time. This isn't easy."
After a few moments, Nichole's tears eased, and she sucked in a breath. "He didn't want a divorce," she said sniffing and wiping at her eyes. "He didn't understand why I wanted it, even after everything I had was gone."
"You had him served?"
Ben stood against the counter again, and now he could see the corner of her mouth twitch into a slight smile. "Had him served in the middle of a poker game with his friends. He was up a grand and lost it all in the next hand after they handed him the papers. I'm not above some humiliation when I'm hurt," she said sharply.
Phillip sat back in his chair. "I'd like to ask you not to run off to anywhere. I'm going to follow up on this and see if I can get some leads. I might want to ask you more questions."
Nichole nodded in agreement. "I'll stay, as long as my kids and I are safe."
"And I'll do everything in my power to make sure you are. You're heading into work today?"
Nichole shook her head. "It's my day off. Usually, Laura and I do our housekeeping on Mondays, but I sent her to the sitter so that I could work on all of this."
"I want you to keep living your normal life," he instructed. "But I would like to request that you consider letting Ben stay here with you, or even better, maybe the two of you could hole up at his place for a bit."
Ben shoved his hands into his pockets because he was readying himself for a fight with her. Instead, she turned, teary-eyed and faced him. "Would you consider it?" she asked as she knuckled away tears from her cheeks.
"Staying here? Of course."
Smiling, she said, "No. Can my children and I move out to your place?"
His heart slammed in his chest. God, she hadn't given up on him after he got Phillip involved. That was love, he figured. Trust and true love had a woman asking to uproot her family and move in when she could run again, just as she'd planned to.
"I can't think of anything I'd like more than to have you there with me for as long as you'd like to be."
32
Laura had been picked up from the sitter's, and Ben called in a few favors from his brothers to do his part of the work on the ranch for the day, and then to meet him at his house when school was out to settle in the family.
True to the Walker family ways, not one person asked why or what was wrong. They all simply stepped up and agreed to help.
Nichole worked to pack up clothes, toys, and necessities that would get them through a few nights. Glenda had a couple of blow-up mattresses that she offered for the kids to sleep on, until Ben and his brothers would come back and get the beds.
Ben paid Nichole’s rent and took care of the fees the landlord had been charged from the bank. She had five more months on her lease, but Ben would be happy to pay for it if it meant keeping her with him, he thought. It was something to bring up after they'd all piled into his small home and tried to live as a family. It was going to be an experiment of epic proportions.
As Nichole made phone calls to the few people she'd written checks to over the past few weeks, Ben took Laura out back and pushed her on the swing. He knew his nephew Lucas loved to swing high and fast, but Laura enjoyed a softer touch. She just wanted to go back and forth, slightly.
There was great comfort in enjoying the moment with her. Her giggles and that infectious smile had him grinning at the little girl who looked so much like her mother. Would his daughter look like Laura, he wondered, and then the thought smacked back at him. He'd never thought much about having children, nor had there ever been a woman in his life that made him even consider it. But looking at Laura, and the joy it gave him to see her eyes light up when he pushed her on that swing, well, suddenly it meant something to him. It meant a great deal to him.
Ben watched as Nichole moved to the back door. The reality was that Nichole had a lot on her plate right now, and sure, he was the knight in shining armor—the superhero. But her mind was probably a million miles away from where his had just gone.
She had three kids to think of already. Even hypothetically introducing the topic would be inconsiderate of him. Then the jolt that kicked him right in the gut popped into his head. And what if things didn't work out between them after they had gotten married and had their own children? Would she steal them away from him too, just as she'd done to their father
?
"Go inside," Laura looked up at him as the swing slowed.
Her small voice snapped him from his thoughts, and he scooped up the little girl who had wound her way around his heart so tightly it ached.
"It looks like you two were having a great time," Nichole said as Laura reached for her.
"Ben push."
"He sure did," Nichole said laughing as she kissed Laura on the top of the head and then set her down to run into the house. But she didn't move from the doorway. Instead, she lifted her eyes to Ben's and watched. "What's wrong? You have worry all over you."
He was sure he did. He'd worked up quite the freak-out in his head. "I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind I guess."
She nodded as she lifted her hand to his chest. "If at any time you decide that this is too much you just…"
Ben took her hand and kissed her fingers. "I'll say the word. But it's not going to be too much. I love you, and I love your kids. It's all going to be just fine," he assured her, and himself, as he pulled her to him and kissed her gently on the top of the head.
Gerald worked with Ben to unload his truck while Nichole stayed in town to pick up the boys from school.
"Aren't they almost done with school for the summer?" Gerald asked as he carried in a box of toys, some of which were shooting or whirring in the box.
"Soon, I'd think."
"Then what? She has to put them all into daycare?" Gerald asked as he walked into the house and deposited the box into the bedroom they had marked for the boys. "That's got to be expensive."
Ben set his box in the living room and listened to his brother. He hadn't considered the burden to her when the kids were out of school. Did she make enough money to feed, clothe, and shelter her kids as well as find care for them all summer while she worked?
Some things never crossed his mind, and why would they have? When school was out for him and his brothers, they enjoyed the lazy summer on the ranch. Sure, they had their jobs, and the older they became, the more intense the jobs became. But their mother never had to worry about their care. They had their grandparents in the main house and plenty of ranch hands to keep an eye on them.
As they headed back out to his truck for another load, he figured Nichole had faced this dilemma every year. The boys were seven after all. A year ago, she would have had her family nearby, but by the sounds of it, her ex-husband wouldn't have been any help.
"Hey, heads up," Gerald yelled as he threw out a box from the back of the truck. "You're in la-la land. What's up?"
"Just thinking about all the things Nichole has to deal with. That's all."
He saw the grin on his brother's face, and the barrage of questions was bound to follow if he didn't turn and hurry that box back into the house.
As he climbed the steps to the porch, he heard another truck coming up the road. A moment later Dane and Russell pulled in next to his pickup.
"Mom sent these mattresses over, and boxes of food," Russell said as he climbed out of the passenger side of the truck. "I guess she figured you would starve out here."
Ben chuckled. His family would never cease to amaze him. Perhaps they were precisely what Nichole and her family needed. A good dose of Walker family values.
Dane picked up a box out of the back of his truck. "I have a hammock. Where do you want it?"
Ben stopped and looked at him with wonder. "I don't even know why you have a hammock."
"The boys are going to be cramped in that little room. They're going to want to be outside. What better way to do that than to swing on a tree. Seriously, you have nothing out here to entertain kids."
"It's a temporary situation," Ben reminded him. "No need to build a tree house and a swing set."
When Dane and Russell both looked up at him with wide eyes, he knew that there would be a treehouse above that hammock by the end of the weekend.
Dane passed by him and shouldered him as he did. "You're screwed, man. My wife is in on the pool that says you'll be married in a month."
Ben turned and called after Dane who was now walking around the side of the house. "Who has a pool on that?"
"Lydia," Dane called back as he disappeared around the back of the house.
"Tori is at least giving you through the summer. She figures Nichole will want a big wedding," Russell added.
Ben watched as Russell carried the rolled-up mattresses into the house.
Well, he had a lot to think about, he decided, as he picked up a box of Laura's toys and carried them into the house. Perhaps they'd see where things went when everyone was living under one roof.
33
From behind the house, sitting in the hammock that Dane had hung, Ben heard Nichole's car pull up and the sound of the boys as they slammed doors and ran up onto the porch and around to the back.
"That's cool!" Wyatt called out as Zane ran up next to him. "When did you get that?"
Ben grinned up at them as Nichole, with Laura on her hip, walked around the back of the house. "Dane thought you guys needed a place to hang out."
Zane started toward him. "Can I sit in it?"
"I want to sit in it," Wyatt called after him as he followed.
Ben laughed as he struggled to climb out. "There's enough room for all of us, so I know the two of you can be in it together."
Laura wiggled down from her mother's arms and toddled down the steps and toward her brothers. Ben helped to load both boys in and squeezed Laura in between them.
The three of them giggled as they gently swung in the hammock and looked up into the trees. As Ben walked toward Nichole, he heard Zane calling out that one of the clouds looked like a butt, and that started the laughter that rolled from them.
"They might be in there all night," Nichole said as Ben moved toward her and pulled her into him.
"Dane was damn sure that was what they needed. How do you feel about tree houses?"
Nichole eased back and looked at him. "You don't need to uproot everything for my kids."
"Oh, that wasn't me. Dane and Russell got it into their heads that it needs to happen," he offered to pull her to him again. "I think this weekend Russell is going to bring Lucas out and they're going to plan it."
Nichole rested her head on his shoulder. "I can't believe you'd take us all in and take care of us."
"Believe it. I'll always take care of you. I want you safe, Nichole. I want all of you to be safe."
"I don't think my life is in any danger."
"No, but someone is messing with you, and I feel better having you close. Let me be manly and protect you."
He felt her laugh against his chest as she rested her head there. "They have a pool going at the Mecca you know."
"I heard. I'll give you fifty to add to it, you choose the date."
She stiffened but didn't move. "Let's not discuss that right now. If their gleeful giggles cease in a few days because they've been uprooted again…"
"You'll move back to town. I know."
He held her there, both of them understanding that what was between them was only a small part of the puzzle. The kids and their feelings would always come first, even if it caused the demise of what they had for each other.
When the kids finally tired of the hammock, they climbed out, and both boys took care to carry Laura to the porch, where she finally wiggled away from them.
"Mom said we're going to be staying here," Zane said shooting a stare at Ben. "Are we really?"
"We were going to try that out. Do you think that'll be okay?"
Zane exchanged looks with Wyatt. "You live really far away from our school and our friends."
"I do. But you only have a few more weeks of school. Summers are pretty fun out here."
"How long are we going to stay?"
Ben noticed Nichole ready herself to jump into the conversation. "Well, I'm not really sure," Ben began. "You boys feeling up to a manly talk? Both of you and me?"
Now they all looked toward Nichole, whose lips had pursed.
"Why don
't you girls get settled. The boys and I are going to take a walk," Ben decided before she could say no.
"Ben…"
He knew the next words she was going to speak. That said a lot, didn't it? When a man had that power, then they'd moved past casual and falling in love. They'd dived into it wholeheartedly.
He gave her a nod that told her he'd protect them. He knew talking man to man would ease some of their fears as well.
Ben started off the porch, and eventually, Zane and Wyatt caught up to him, one on each side. He kept walking in silence for a few more moments gathering his thoughts, but Wyatt helped pave the way for his conversation.
"Mom said she's your girlfriend. Is that why we're staying out here?"
Well, that would give them a place to start, Ben thought. "It's one of the reasons I offered. Do you know what identity theft is?"
Zane shrugged. "They say it on TV."
"They do. It's a serious crime."
Wyatt picked up a rock and threw it out into the pasture. "Did Mom do a crime?"
Ben smiled easily. "No. I can't imagine your mother committing a crime. But someone is using her name and all of her money. So right now, we thought it would be best if you all came out here until things get sorted out."
Zane stopped. "Someone stole all of Mom's money? She said she'd take us to Disney World someday."
"I can see where that would be worrisome," Ben agreed. "That part is all temporary. She'll get her credit cards back, they just had to freeze them for a bit until they can issue her new ones. But she will have to save money again, and if you're all out here, that'll help."
They stopped at the fence overlooking the pasture. Each boy climbed up a rung until they were as tall as Ben, and the three of them stood there looking out over the cattle.
He noticed the boys exchanging glances as if they had something to say too.
A moment later, Zane turned toward Ben. "We told Mom it was okay if you marry her."
Beginnings Page 16
