Bring Me Back

by Jessie Gussman

  His gram nodded and smiled without opening her eyes. “Take care of that boy. He looks like a tough one, but them’s the ones that always have the soft insides.”

  Riley slanted her eyes at him. Her thoughtful look made him uncomfortable. How much exactly had she heard of his conversation with his gram earlier?

  He supposed it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like he was hiding anything. Not on purpose. But sometimes there just wasn’t much point in taking all the crap out of your heart and examining it.

  Without thinking any more about it, he took Riley’s hand as they walked out of the room and down the hall, waving at the nurses, before getting on the elevator. At that point, there truly was no reason for him to still be holding it. Maybe she’d think he’d forgotten, when in reality, his whole focus was on the slim hand in his.

  He shouldn’t want to hold it, and as they stepped on the elevator—the last possible time anyone could see them, and with that, his last possible excuse for still cradling it in his—he made himself drop it. Like letting go of a lifeline.

  The elevator doors closed behind them. Riley let out a deep breath. “I thought that went well.”

  “Yeah.” He forced his mouth open. Maybe she still looked down on him. If she did, it hadn’t interfered with helping him convince his gram they were married. “Thanks. I know I didn’t give you an easy choice. Actually, I kind of pushed you into this, but I appreciate the fact that you took it seriously. That look on my gram’s face made everything worth it for me. Thank you.”

  He’d been staring at the elevator door as he spoke, but he looked down to see her staring up at him.

  “I didn’t expect you to thank me,” she said softly, her eyes a little wide and her brows slightly lifted.

  He wished she’d quit looking at him like that. It made him want to do more than hold her hand. He looked back at the elevator door. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  She shrugged. “We made a deal. I’m just keeping my end.”

  “It’s not a given, in today’s world, that you would do what you said you were going to do.” They had never made any promises to each other, so that wasn’t a slam. It was a simple statement of fact.

  She nodded. She’d worked with the same kinds of people he had. She knew it to be true.

  The door opened. He pulled the parking ticket out of his pocket and walked to the machine to pay.

  Focusing on what he was doing, he said, as casually as he could, “What did your dad want?”

  “How’d you know it was my dad?”

  “I saw it on your phone.” Even if he hadn’t, he would have guessed by the look on her face. The one that was half fearful, half determined. He got the feeling she’d do anything to make her dad happy or proud. A clawing and tightening ripped up his throat. Jealous? Of her dad? He almost snorted.

  She straightened. “He was just confirming that he’d had our house here cleaned and staffed and ready for me...us...to arrive.”

  His hand stilled. The machine chirped at him to do the next step, but he just stared at the screen before slowly turning to her. “House?”

  “Well, yeah. We have a house here, several actually, that we keep for when business associates visit or for family when they come in. The one that I always use when I come in happens to be about halfway between here and the terminal, and I just thought...”

  “You thought wrong.” His words were much harsher than he’d meant them to be. But the anger that moved like lava through his chest wouldn’t let him say them any differently.

  She blinked. Her eyebrows slowly raised. They stared at each other for several heartbeats. Him angry. Her defiant.

  She stuck her chin out. “Where were you going to have us stay?”

  He hadn’t gotten that far, to be honest. Hadn’t even thought about it. “A hotel, until I found a rental place. I can provide for myself and my wife.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Stop being a caveman.”

  His brows shot up, even though he had figured out on the way down that she would never appreciate the things he could offer her in exchange for what she’d already given him. “If providing for my wife makes me a caveman, I’ll own it.”

  He turned back to the machine, punching in the buttons and swiping his card, letting her know he was done discussing it.

  “Fine. You can stay wherever you want to. If you won’t drop me off at my house, I’ll get a cab.”

  She moved to walk away. His pride would never allow him to stop her. It wouldn’t even let him watch.

  “I’ll drop you off,” he said to the machine.

  “Fine.” That one word hit his back like a bullet.

  Chapter 12

  Riley walked with purposeful stride to Ben’s pickup. The man was infuriating. They could stay in a house that was furnished, set up like a real married couple. Or they could be in a cramped hotel for a few days or so...however long it took him to find them a “rental” which, in her mind, did not bode well for comfort and furnishings.

  It was a no-brainer.

  It’s a good thing she hadn’t bet that Ben had a brain.

  That wasn’t nice. Seeing how gentle he was with his gram, how he cared for her, how he took Riley’s hand in his and made her feel safe and protected and cared for. She could get used to walking by that man’s side.

  Then he had to go and be a Neanderthal.

  She stopped at the passenger door and blew a breath out, waiting for the door to unlock, staring at her reflection in the window. She looked annoyed. Jacked off. And why?

  Because the man wanted to take care of her.

  Some of the anger stiffening her spine drained out. Isn’t that what she was enjoying there in the hospital? Him holding her hand and that feeling of protection? Why would she get angry when he was just doing what she admired—taking care of her. Albeit, not in the way she wanted.

  The lights flashed, and the locks clicked. She reached for the handle, but Ben’s thick forearm cut in beside her, and he opened her door.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled.

  She wasn’t going to give in. Sure, she just realized she could see his side of things—he wanted to take care of her himself—but that didn’t make him right. She wanted a furnished house and a comfortable bed.

  He got in on his side and started the truck.

  She’d just explained in as short a way as possible where her house was when his phone rang.

  He answered on the hands-free.

  “Twins,” he said, and Riley’s mouth tugged up.

  “Yep, it’s both of us.” Eve’s voice was a little more of an alto, and she spoke first. “How’d your wedding go?”

  “Got hitched.”

  Eve snorted. “I guess it’s a bit of a relief that you didn’t all the sudden turn into a hopeless romantic, but still...poor Riley. Is she there?”

  “I’m in the pickup.” He looked over and met her eyes. “She’s beside me.”

  Was there a deeper meaning in those words? It almost felt like there was. She was beside him. What was his brain trying to say?

  “Hi, Riley!” the twins called.

  “Hey, Eve. Eden.”

  “Has our big brother been treating you okay?”

  “He’s been great.” Which was true.

  “Are you guys booking the honeymoon suite at the local hotel?”

  “I think we’re staying at different locations tonight,” she said. And for who knew how long. Riley glanced over at Ben and wished she wouldn’t have said anything. His mouth had twisted. Yeah, he probably didn’t want anyone, even the twins, knowing about their private life. She should have kept her big mouth shut.

  “What?” Eden said. “You’re not staying together? How are people going to believe you’re really together if you’re not...together?”

  Ben’s hands tightened on the wheel as he motored slowly out of the parking lot. Riley sighed and looked away.

  “Why are you staying in different places? What different places?” Eve asked.

  Ben
didn’t offer any explanation, and since Riley was the one who opened the can of worms, she figured she was the one who needed to eat it. She crossed her arms over her chest. “My family has a house. It’s furnished and staffed, and it’s ready for us. But your brother,” she couldn’t quite bring herself to say his name, “thinks we should stay in a hotel anyway and then look for a rental.”

  “Oh.” Eve sounded disappointed. “So, you’re not even married for a day, and you’re having your first fight.”

  “We’re not fighting,” Ben said in a tone that sounded an awful lot like one he would use in an argument.

  “Of course you’re not.” Riley could almost hear Eve’s eyes roll through the truck speaker. “You just probably gave her some spiel about how you’re the man so you have to provide everything, and she probably responded in a perfectly reasonable way that she’d rather be comfortable than cater to your pride.”

  It was too close to the truth, and neither of them said anything.

  “And what she doesn’t understand is that pride and providing is all you have, and what you don’t understand is that a man’s pride doesn’t mean anything to a woman.” Eden’s voice ended on a soft note, almost like a plea for one of them to be sensible.

  Ben kept driving.

  “That sounds reasonable, Eden,” Riley said. But there was no solution there.

  “Very reasonable, Twin,” Ben said, sounding unreasonable. “And so we made the also very reasonable decision to stay in different places tonight.”

  “Ben...” Eve drew his name out. “If this were Eden and I fighting, you know what you’d say.”

  “Someone has to give in,” Eden supplied the answer.

  “And that’s the more mature person,” Eve finished for her.

  Ben’s chest went in and out. His eyes never left the road. “Did you two actually want something? Or did you just call to harass us?”

  “We missed you. The house makes all kinds of noises that we didn’t notice before.” She lowered her voice. “I think it might be haunted.”

  Ben shook his head and opened his mouth, but Eve started talking before he could. “We know, though, if there were any danger at all, you wouldn’t have left. We’ve said that to each other a couple of times, and then we just wanted to talk to you. Because we can.”

  Riley looked out the window, staring into the darkness. Ben was a protector. And a provider. Eve and Eden both knew it. That’s why they’d called him when they were scared of the house noises. And that’s all he was trying to do with her. Protect. Provide.

  Even though it made a lot more sense for them to just use the house, wouldn’t it be big of her to let it go and allow Ben to do what he was good at?

  As soon as the twins hung up, she would tell Ben she’d go to the hotel tonight and move into a rental place when he found one. Let him live his strength.

  They chatted a bit more, with the twins saying they’d be down tomorrow evening and Ben promising to meet them at the hospital. They talked a little about their day and everything they needed to do in order to leave and come down. Riley listened. This was a side of Ben she’d really not seen. He was their brother, but he played the role of both mom and dad to them, and they obviously adored and respected him.

  She had always thought of him first as a man she was attracted to and second as a great employee and a huge asset to their company. This side—the softer, gentler side—of Ben was intriguing and attractive.

  He ended the call when they were just a few minutes from the turn for her house. She was lost in thought and didn’t speak right away.

  Beside her, Ben tapped the steering wheel. “You know, the girls were right. It’s just my pride. Let’s stay at your house. I’m sorry I made a big deal about it.”

  Her head whipped around. “No. You don’t get to be the big person. I was going to say we’d just stay at a hotel like you said.”

  His eyes cut to hers, like he was judging whether or not she was joking. One side of his mouth kicked up, and he grunted. “Are we going to fight about it again, only on different sides?”

  She laughed. A tension-easing laugh. “No. Let’s stay at my house. It has six bedrooms. I’ll have the staff get two more ready for Eve and Eden, and they can stay with us while they’re here. It sounded like they’re coming down for a while anyway?”

  He shrugged. “We’ll see how things go.”

  She could accept that answer. “I was hoping to go to the terminal tomorrow. Dad said next week, but we could get started early.”

  “If the guy I’m replacing is there, it could be awkward.”

  “It was a woman, and she’s gone.”

  Ben made the turn down the road that led to her property. It was a dark lane, but the old fixed-up farmhouse glowed as they topped the rise.

  Ben stared at it. “When you said ‘staff,’ what, exactly, did you mean?”

  “Just a maid and a handyman. Nothing crazy.”

  “You have a maid and a handyman here?”

  “They might not be in the house. There’s a smaller house over there.” She pointed off to the left where a smaller, darker home stood. “That’s where they stay.”

  “They don’t have families?” Ben still hadn’t moved more than the few muscles it took to keep the slowly moving pickup on the drive.

  “Well, my dad lives on the other side of town, about forty-five minutes away. That’s where they usually work and where their families live. If I stay for any length of time, we’ll hire my own staff, and Dad will get his back.” It sounded rich as she said it, and she could only imagine how it came off to Ben. “Just think of it as one of the perks of being married to me. You’re going to work your butt off for the company, and this is what you get in return.”

  “I get a paycheck in return.” He stopped the pickup in front of the garage. “Not servants.”

  “Okay. So it’s what you get for putting up with me.”

  His eyes slanted over. “Putting up with you hasn’t been as hard as I was afraid it might be.” He shifted into park and shut the pickup off. “You do snore, though.”

  “I do not!”

  “It was kind of adorable, actually.” He opened the door and hopped out.

  She snored? She supposed that wasn’t such a huge surprise, but no one had ever called her adorable before.

  ~~~

  Ben opened Riley’s door. She looked surprised again, and he hid a smile. He liked surprising her.

  Even if she did make him feel like he wasn’t good enough because all he could provide was a cramped hotel room, not a house. With servants.

  After his initial gut reaction that she was showing him how much better she was than him by insisting they stay in a house, he’d realized that she probably just wanted to be comfortable. The house wouldn’t cost them anything and would be far nicer than a hotel. She hadn’t been lording it over him. He needed to give her the benefit of the doubt.

  He walked to the back and grabbed his duffel out of the pickup along with Riley’s suitcase and three of her smaller bags. He’d carry the rest of the luggage in in a bit.

  She’d walked to the door. “I’ll have to have a copy of this key made for you.”

  “There’s probably a machine at the shop that will do it.” There’d been one in Maine, and that was a smaller place, so he’d assume that this terminal would have all that and more.

  “Remind me to give it to you in the morning.”

  “I will. I’ll have a copy of my pickup key made as well so you can drive it if you need it.” He supposed that’s what a real married couple would do. The line between when they faked it and when it was real was getting harder and harder to see, and they hadn’t even been “married” that long.

  It was funny, but when he allowed himself, he forgot what Riley had done and just enjoyed the woman she had become. She was still way out of his league. He needed to keep that in mind, or he was going to end up hurt over this.

  The lock clicked, and she pushed the door open. He step
ped into the roomy entry, hardwood floors polished and gleaming. A staircase had an old-fashioned wooden banister lining the length of it. Glistening lights hung from the ceiling, and everything looked picture perfect. A far cry from his comfortably worn home and furnishings. Cozy, comfy, and easy to clean were his main requirements in home décor. Here he felt like he’d stepped into a magazine.

  The general unease that had been simmering in his chest since she’d mentioned having a house and wanting to stay there caught fire. He tried to snuff it out but was afraid that he only fanned the flames.

  “I’ll carry your stuff to your room if you tell me where it is.” His voice sounded almost normal. Weird.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “Am I sleeping in the servants’ quarters?”

  “They’re not ‘servants’ quarters.’” She put a hand on her hip. “And no, why?”

  “Then I assume I’m going up, anyway. I’ve got your stuff. I’ll carry it. Tell me where.” Like he had to have a reason for offering to carry her stuff up.

  “Okay. Follow me. I’ll show you around.” She led the way upstairs, and he followed, admiring the beautifully refinished woodwork and wide hall. “This room is mine.” She opened the first door on the right.

  He took a quick peek as he set her things down. Neutral colors. Sheer curtains in the windows. Nothing stood out to him. A generic room. A far cry from the bright colors, posters, and scattered clothes and books that made up his sisters’ rooms.

  “And here’s the only other room with a master bath.” She opened the door across the hall. A big, dark wood bed sat in the center of the room with dark wood dressers on either side. Definitely a masculine room.

  “So, you guys did that on purpose—there’s a girls’ room and a boys’ room?”

  She chuckled as he set his duffel down. “Yep. That way we’re ready for whoever needs it.”

  “I see.” He was just one of many. Like a hotel, only he wasn’t paying.

  “Come on back downstairs. There should be some cold cuts and cheese for sandwiches. And I’ll show you where everything is. Judy will make supper for us, but breakfast and packing a lunch are our responsibilities.”