by Maria Geraci
“What’s gotten into you?” Mom asked, propping her swollen feet up on the rickety coffee table in the living room. “I usually have to beg you to put out the trash.”
Ben shrugged, ashamed that what she said was true. “I figured I’m old enough to help you now.”
She smiled. “What did I ever do to deserve such a sweet boy like you?” In that moment, she looked young and almost carefree. He wished she could look like that all the time.
That night he made a vow that his mother would never have to worry about anything ever again. He studied hard, made straight As and began doing most of the housework and the cooking. After Jake was born he learned to change a diaper and how to rock a baby to sleep. When he was fourteen, he got a job at Hopalinka’s only diner, washing dishes and taking out the trash, cleaning the bathrooms, or anything else that needed to be done. He gave his mom all his paychecks and between the two of them and some government assistance, they somehow made ends meet.
He graduated high school top of his class, getting a free ride to any of the state colleges of his choice, but scholarship money wasn’t going to put food on the table for his mom and Jake. So he put off college and joined the army and sent her every spare nickel he could.
After his stint in the military, he used the scholarship he’d earned at the University of Miami. Between the GI Bill, the scholarship, and the money he made working as a bouncer, he was still able to send her money. What he hadn’t been able to help her with was Jake. Despite Mom’s best efforts, Jake had grown up wild. He’d cut class, smoked weed and by the time he was twelve, he was stealing cars. Ben had hoped that a stint in Florida’s juvie system would knock the stupid of out of his little brother, but it had done the opposite.
Ben scrubbed the memories from his head. He couldn’t do anything to help his brother now, but he sure as hell was going to make certain that his niece never followed in her father’s footsteps.
He hated seeing the worry lines on his mom’s forehead. “If you don’t like any of the houses we can look somewhere else.”
“It’s not that I don’t like them. It’s just…so much money.”
If he told his mother how much money he made last year she probably wouldn’t believe him. He gently plucked the brochure from her hands. “Just think about it, Mom. You want to do what’s best for Rachel, right?”
Before she could answer, the front door opened, and Rachel and Greta came in from their walk on the beach.
“Grandma! Uncle Ben! Look what I found!” Rachel ran to the couch and plopped down next to Mom. She opened her hand to reveal a small starfish. “It’s a fish star!”
“Oh my,” Mom said. “It certainly is.” Her dark brown eyes glowed with happiness as she scooped her granddaughter into a spontaneous hug.
“Rachel, you need to clean up before you get sand everywhere,” Greta scolded. She glanced at her watch. “It’s nearly three o’clock. We need to change if we’re going to make the preschool open house in time.”
“School?” Mom glanced up at Ben. “But she’s only four!”
“Oh, yes, preschool,” Greta said. “And the child is almost five. She really should have started preschool two years ago. She’ll be behind but there’s not much we can do at this point. Naturally, this local preschool isn’t nearly up to the quality of the one she’ll be attending in Miami, but while we’re here over the next few weeks, it will be a good way to accustom her to playing with other children. A skill, I’m afraid, she’s sorely lacking.”
“That’s enough,” Ben said, giving Greta a look that made her press her lips together tightly. Note to self: talk to the nanny about her fucking attitude.
He playfully ruffled the top of his niece’s head. “Why don’t you go upstairs with Greta and change out of your bathing suit? We’re going to visit your new school and afterwards we’ll get hamburgers.”
“And milkshakes?” she asked hopefully.
“And French fries, too.”
“Yay!” She dashed up the stairs with Greta behind her admonishing her not to run.
“I don’t like that woman,” Mom grumbled.
“I agree. But she came highly recommended.”
“By who? Stalin?” She looked down at her hands. “I don’t need her, Ben. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of my own granddaughter.”
He hadn’t meant to imply anything to the contrary. He knew this was a sore spot for Mom. Despite reassurances from every mental health and drug addiction counselor they’d talked to, she still blamed herself for what happened to Jake. “You’re a fantastic grandmother, and Rachel is lucky to have you. But isn’t it nice to have someone who can help you with the everyday stuff? So that you can enjoy yourself every once in a while.”
“And do what?”
“I don’t know. The stuff women do. Shop. Go out to lunch.”
She looked at him incredulously. “Shop and go out to lunch? Is that what you want me to do all day?”
“After you mop all the floors and sweep out the chimney,” he said with a straight face.
“Ha-ha.”
“I just want you to be able to relax. If you don’t like Greta, we can fire her and hire someone else when we get back to Miami.”
“I never said I’d move to Miami. You know how much I hate big cities.”
“We can move to the suburbs, and I’ll commute.”
“The Miami suburbs are just as congested as the city itself. Why can’t Rachel live with me here? We… You’re always wanting to buy me a new house, so all right. You can do that. You can buy me a new house in Hopalinka.”
“You want to raise Rachel in Hopalinka? By yourself?”
“I wouldn’t be by myself. I’d have you. You can come visit more.”
“My job is in south Florida and I work twelve-hour days.” His patience was beginning to wear thin, but this was his mother. “Look, Mom, we have to compromise. Rachel needs a permanent home and stability. She needs both of us. We can figure out the nanny thing later. Just promise me you’ll look at this brochure again with an open mind.”
Chapter Ten
Jenna sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples. It was the third time she’d gone over the spreadsheet in the past hour. The fiscal year ended in two days and she had to present this budget to the city council tomorrow for an official vote. Add to that, she also had her first town hall meeting tomorrow evening as city manager.
“You look tense,” Mimi said. She sat in the chair across from Jenna’s desk sipping a cup of herbal tea, looking extremely relaxed for a woman who was seven months pregnant with twins and had been in meetings all day. “You should definitely go to Bunco with us tonight. There’s nothing better for the soul than a girls’ night out.”
Along with their other best friend, Shea Masterson, Mimi and Pilar had founded Whispering Bay’s infamous Bunco Babes. Jenna wasn’t sure exactly what went on at the weekly Thursday night dice games, but it was rumored frozen margaritas were involved.
“If only I could,” Jenna said, thinking about all the work still left to do. “Maybe some other time?”
“Consider it an open invitation.”
“Thanks, but I thought someone had to die before a new member came into the group.”
“True,” Mimi mused, “but we’re always looking for subs. Besides, half the time we don’t even play. You can hang out and gossip with us.”
“How do you do it?” Jenna asked.
“Do what?”
“Work, a husband, kids, friends. And still manage to look so serene all the time?”
“I’m taking your advice and staying well-hydrated.” She pointed to her large tote where a big bottle of water stuck out of the opening.
“Seriously?”
Mimi laughed. “Oh, doll, I’m anything but serene right now. My lower back aches, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are sumo wrestling inside my uterus and I’m trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight. Zeke is working late, and my conscience just can’t give Cameron froze
n pizza twice in the same week. No matter how much he might love it.” She lay her cup of tea down on Jenna’s desk and stretched out her back. “When’s your new desk coming in?”
“Next week sometime. I can’t wait.”
“Let me know how you like it. I’ve been thinking of getting one of those new ergonomic desks myself. So tell me, how’s the budget looking?”
“I know I sound a little OCD, but I think we need to do another audit.”
“You’re kidding. So we’re going to have to spend more money to find out that we don’t have any?”
“I have a friend from grad school who’s starting up her own company and she needs clients. I’m pretty sure I can get her to do this for practically nothing if not completely free in exchange for a testimonial or some word of mouth. And she’s good. If there’s something wrong with our books, she’ll find it.”
“Do you think there’s something wrong with our books?”
Jenna hesitated. She didn’t want to alarm Mimi, not yet anyway. “No,” she lied, “but it never hurts to take another look. Right?”
Mimi sighed. “Okay. Call her.”
“One more thing. It’s about the new rec center. Is the grand opening still set for November?”
“Fingers crossed. I’ll be presenting all the details at the town hall meeting tomorrow night.”
“I know I’m late to the party, but I’ve been going over the construction costs. Remind me again how all this is going down.”
“Pappas-Hernandez Construction is doing all the work pro-bono, which means Steve Pappas isn’t going to make a dime off this project. But, it’s still huge. It’s the biggest expense the city has had in years. It’ll definitely be worth it, though.”
Steve Pappas was Gus’s nephew and a great guy. He and his wife, Kitty, lived next door to Aunt Viola. Once again, she scanned the computer screen in front of her. “So all this was completely necessary? It just seems like some really high-end stuff was used.”
“We left that to Steve. Or rather, his company. They send a detailed report every month, which, I have to admit, I left to Doug to handle.” Mimi moaned. “Please tell me that Doug kept up with those.”
“Oh, he kept up with those all right. To the last little penny. It was like he was obsessed.”
“That’s good, right?”
“I suppose,” Jenna said.
“But something doesn’t look right to you?”
“We’re talking about the guy who robbed the ticket booth at the Spring into Summer festival.”
Mimi made a face. “Not only did he take off with all the money we’d made at the concert, but he and Bruce Bailey were in cahoots to make me look bad.”
Bruce Bailey was Whispering Bay’s former mayor and according to Aunt Viola he’d suffered a nervous breakdown after Mimi had beat him in the last election. Jenna had read all about it in back copies of The Whispering Bay Gazette when she’d been acclimating herself to local politics before taking the job as city manager.
“What’s good ol’ Bruce up these days?” Jenna asked.
“He and his wife are taking a cruise around the world. After he got some major psych help.”
“So all this building material that’s been paid for has been used in the construction?” Jenna persisted.
“If you’re wondering if anything suspicious has been going on, you can always contact the security company that monitors the construction site.”
“We Gotcha, Inc?”
Mimi grinned. “Cute name for a video surveillance company, huh?”
“And they’re on the clock twenty-four seven?”
“Yep. A couple of years ago when the old rec center was torn down there was some vandalism centering around an incident. After that Pappas-Hernandez Construction insisted on video security to protect their equipment.”
“That makes sense. Any problems?”
“Nope. Not even a missing hammer. Remember, this is Whispering Bay, the safest city in America. But if you have any questions you should ask the guy who owns the surveillance company. I think his name is Stuart Malloy. They do surveillance for all the city buildings, by the way.”
“I remember Aunt Viola mentioning this incident. Something about a ghost?”
“Don’t laugh. It caused a big ruckus in town. Poor Tom Donalan. You’ve met him? He’s married to my sister-in-law, Allie. Anyhow, he’s the construction supervisor on the project and before he could tear down the old building he had to basically prove to the town that the building wasn’t haunted.”
“How do you prove that?”
“You hold a séance,” Mimi said.
Jenna giggled.
“It was the Sunshine Ghost Society that created the most trouble for Tom, but the Gray Flamingos and even my Bunco group protested the demolition. Naturally, that was before I was elected mayor.” Mimi’s blue eyes lit up with mischief. “We even crashed the séance.”
“Where have I moved to again?” Jenna teased.
“Most people think small towns are boring but there’s never a dull moment in Whispering Bay.” Mimi watched her reaction carefully. “So, what do you think about the motion to contest Earl’s will? And this so-called compromise Ben Harrison has offered?”
As promised, first thing Monday morning Ben had filed the motion on behalf of his clients to contest the will on grounds of undue influence. Pilar had been angrier than a bull facing down a red flag. She’d stormed through city hall alternating between laughing and cursing Doug Wentworth and, as she’d put it, “his bold-faced lies.”
It had been five days (six if you counted today) since her dinner with Ben, and so far she’d kept her vow to never be alone with him. Of course, that hadn’t been an issue because he hadn’t called or dropped by or made any attempt to see her. It was lovely really, that he was respecting her wishes.
Only… Blast.
I was just being polite.
Had she really said that to him? Yep. She had. Except that kiss had been anything but polite. It had been hot and steamy and the best kiss she’d had in years. Probably even in forever.
As if on cue, Pilar poked her head in the doorway. “Did someone just mention the two most evil words in the English language?”
Mimi waved her inside the office. “We were talking about Ben Harrison.”
“That would be them.” Pilar took the chair next to Mimi and kicked off her heels. “I just sent him a response to his offer.”
“I hope it was a big fat no,” Jenna said.
“I wish.” Pilar sighed. “I have to present the offer to the city council tomorrow for an official vote. Then I can send him his thanks-but-no-thanks-get-your-hot-butt-out-of-Whispering Bay letter.”
Mimi grinned. “I’d like to read that.”
Pilar sniffed. “I’ll word it a little more formally.” She looked at Jenna. “What did you think of the offer? I sent it to you in an attachment in my last email. You read it, right?”
She could pretend that Pilar’s email was the first she’d heard about it, but that wouldn’t be honest. “Ben and I already discussed the offer during dinner last Friday night.”
“Dinner?” Mimi’s gaze narrowed. “I thought the two of you were meeting for drinks.”
“Well, it got late, and we were hungry, so—”
“So,” Pilar interrupted, “this guy who you barely remember from college, but who definitely remembers you and wants to get into your pants invited you to dinner?”
Mimi and Pilar gave each other the universal I-told-you-so look.
She couldn’t go on hiding the fact that she and Ben had a history. Nor did she want to. Mimi and Pilar were the closest thing she had to friends in this town, and she wanted to keep it that way. “I have a confession to make. Ben Harrison has already been in my pants.”
Mimi sat up straight. “When did this happen?”
“About thirteen years ago.”
Pilar slapped her hands together. “I knew it!” She gave Mimi a snarky look. “Didn’t I tell
you?”
“The two of you have been talking about me?”
“A little,” Pilar confessed. “But only because it was so obvious that day at The Bistro that you and Ben Harrison had something.”
“We had something all right. A one-night stand that will never again be repeated.”
Pilar winced. “Ouch.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you both the day his name first came up, but, frankly, I was embarrassed.”
“Oh, sweetie, did he break your heart?” Only Mimi could ask that with just the right amount of sympathy to make Jenna answer as truthfully as possible.
“A little. But like I said, it was a long time ago. We had a semi-cordial dinner, talked a little about old times and that was that. I’m probably never going to see him again.” At least the last part was completely true.
Mimi sighed, then glanced at her watch. “I should get going. I’m supposed to give a speech at the Sunny Days preschool celebration this afternoon for the inauguration of the new playground.”
“In this heat?” Pilar asked. “Does your OB know how hard you’re working?”
“You could always take my place,” Mimi offered.
“I would if I could, but Bunco’s at my house tonight, remember? I have to leave work early to go set up.” She turned to Jenna. “How are you at giving speeches?”
“Me?”
Mimi’s eyes turned pleading. “Oh, yes, you’d be great. Will you? There’s really no speech to give. All you have to do is look official, thank everyone and talk up the city. Please.”
Jenna closed her laptop. “If it means I don’t have to look at another spreadsheet this afternoon, then yes, I’ll be thrilled to go to the preschool celebration.”
“You’re the best!” Mimi said.
“I thought I was the best,” Pilar shot back.
“Not today you’re not.”
Jenna smiled as she listened to the two women continue their banter on their way out the office. It was exactly the same kind of back and forth she and Kate shared. She’d been avoiding Kate’s instant messages ever since her drinks date with Ben, but she was going to have to give in and ring up her best friend before Kate sent a posse (or worse, Jenna’s mother) up to Whispering Bay to investigate.
