Ben somehow managed not to roll his eyes. Washing two plates and her milk glass took ten times longer than it should have. Emily felt inclined to provide detailed instructions on how to make proper bubbles.
When they finished, her dress was soaked and she had bubbles in her hair.
“Did your mom send extra clothes?” Ben asked, wondering if he could wrap her in one of his T-shirts and toss her clothes in the dryer.
Emily gave him a look that let him know he was a hopeless member of the male species. She fisted a tiny hand on her hip and tipped her head to the side, staring at him. “Of course.”
Ben removed her bag from the backpack he’d carried all afternoon and set it on the couch. Emily tugged open the zipper and removed a pink T-shirt and a pair of shorts. “My mommy always sends stuff.”
“Apparently, she does,” Ben said, looking in the bag. There were two more outfits along with a first aid kit, storybooks, snacks, and a list of emergency phone numbers. Somewhat insulted Lindsay didn’t think he was capable of dialing nine-one-one, he thought she should at least have left it off the list of twenty-some phone numbers.
The little girl marched down the hall with her clothes.
“Do you need help, Pinkie?”
“No, thank you.” A dismissive look over her shoulder brought him up short as she shut the bathroom door.
“I guess I’ve been told what’s what,” Ben muttered as he stuffed everything back inside Emily’s bag and set it on her car seat by the door.
Lindsay said they’d be back by seven and it was now a few minutes past six. On the home stretch, Ben decided he would survive the experience.
Smug with his success, he sat down on the couch and expelled a satisfied sigh.
High-pitched screams rent the air and yanked him out of his musings. In his mad scramble to reach the bathroom, he tripped over the easy chair then banged his face on the doorjamb of his bedroom.
Emily ran toward him with her shorts in one hand and the T-shirt half on, trapping her other arm inside.
“What’s wrong, Pinkie? What’s the matter? Are you hurt? Where are you bleeding?” Ben dropped to his knees, frantically searching for a sign of injury, but couldn’t find one. He tugged her shirt off, still seeking a gaping wound.
Emily did a frightened jig and pointed behind her. “Spider!”
The breath Ben had been holding whooshed out of him. “A spider?”
With anxiety still spurting through his veins, he entered the bathroom and looked for a spider. He finally located a tiny, harmless one cowering behind the toilet and killed it. Swiftly disposing of the body, he returned to the living room where Emily sat on the couch, dressed in her shirt and shorts, holding the remote control in her hand.
Ben righted the overturned chair then sank onto it as the rush of adrenaline ebbed and his heartbeat slowed from erratic to something resembling a normal beat.
“Uncle Ben?”
He gazed at the child who would surely be the death of him before the day was through. “What do you need, Pinkie?”
“You gots something there.” Emily pointed to his eye.
Carefully reaching up, he winced when his fingers connected with the spot he’d hit against the doorframe.
Dread of what he’d see in the mirror made him reluctant to look, but he stepped into his bedroom and stared at his reflection in the mirror above his dresser.
No doubt about it, he’d have a shiner tomorrow. When the guys at worked asked him where it came from, there was no way he’d tell them a three-year-old pink princess gave it to him.
“Are you okay, Uncle Ben?” Emily stood in his bedroom door with a puckered lip and tears forming in her big, blue eyes.
“Yeah, honey. I’m okay.” Ben picked her up and kissed her cheek. “How about we watch a cartoon until your mommy and daddy come back?”
Emily’s face brightened. “Okay! Can we see Sheriff Callie? I love her.”
“Sheriff Callie? Have I met her?” Ben asked, taking a seat on the couch and picking up the remote.
Emily climbed on his lap. “No, silly. She’s on TV. Sheriff Callie is a kitty and she makes her town the friendliest in the West and…”
Five minutes before seven, a knock sounded at the door. Ben set Emily on the couch and hurried to answer it.
Trent and Lindsay both wore broad grins as they stepped inside.
“Mommy!” Emily yelled when she spied her mother. Lindsay hugged her close and counted to make sure her daughter still had all her fingers and toes.
Trent shook Ben’s hand, then noticed his black eye. “You didn’t… you didn’t have that this morning, did you?”
Ben wanted to lie. To tell Trent he got it at work, but he didn’t.
“No, I got that when Emily discovered a spider in the bathroom a little while ago.”
Trent tried not to laugh, but the chuckles made his chest jerk and his lips twitch. Finally, he burst forth with such mirth, Ben couldn’t help but smile at him.
“It’s not that funny, man.”
Trent wiped his watering eyes and shook his head. “I know, dude. Just give me sec.”
“Does that hurt as bad as it looks?” Lindsay started to touch the bruised skin near his eye then thought better of it. “Do you have any frozen peas?”
Ben gave her a mocking glare. “Do I look like I keep a variety of frozen veggies in my freezer?”
Lindsay grinned. “Do you have some ice, though?”
“That I do have, but I’ll take care of it later. It’s not my first black eye.” He smiled at Lindsay. “Did you have a good time today?”
“We had a wonderful time.” Lindsay had a dreamy look on her face as she smiled at Trent.
“Tell me again what you guys did?”
“We had lunch at a place on the water with Lonnie and Maren then we went for a drive through the vineyards around McMinnville and ate dinner at a quaint little restaurant.” Lindsay offered Ben a grateful nod. “We can’t thank you enough for keeping Emily today. I hope she wasn’t any trouble.”
“No, not at all.” Ben smiled at the little girl as she reached out to her dad and settled contentedly in his arms. “As long as we don’t count the spider incident.”
“I forgot to tell you she’s terrified of spiders,” Trent said, handing Emily back to Lindsay and picking up his daughter’s things.
Ben decided showing her the tarantulas at the zoo probably caused the meltdown and not anything he’d done specifically. He’d make sure to remember to do a spider check before he babysat Emily again.
The thought that he might be willing to endure another day of providing childcare caught him by surprise.
Not in the mood to evaluate the reasons behind that, he ruffled Emily’s hair and thanked her for spending the day with him. He shook Trent’s hand again as Lindsay started down the hall to the elevator.
Ben put a hand on Trent’s shoulder and squeezed. “If you breathe a word about this black eye to anyone, I will hunt you down without a speck of mercy.”
“I won’t say a word, Ben. I kind of owe you for taking care of our baby today.” Trent gave him a lopsided grin. “We really do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. She’s a good kid.”
Trent smiled. “Did taking care of her give you any ideas?”
Ben laughed. “Yeah. That I don’t need one of my own. With all of you, why would I?”
Trent scowled at him then offered a friendly wave as he and Lindsay stepped onto the elevator. Emily blew him a kiss. “That’s for your booboo, Uncle Ben!”
He caught the kiss and made a show of putting it on his eye when he noticed a neighbor down the hall watching him. A single, attractive neighbor who was most likely sizing him up as potential father material.
Flustered, he hurried back into his apartment and took some ice out of the freezer. He placed it in a resealable bag and held it against his eye.
Beyond exhausted, he dropped onto the couch and tipped his head back, holding the ice
against his face. When his phone rang, he didn’t even look at the caller, just answered it with a tired, “hey.”
“Hey, yourself, Captain. Did you get your little charge safely back to her parents?”
Ben sat up and dropped the ice on his coffee table. “Harper?”
“The one and only.”
The smile in her voice made him wish she sat beside him. “What are you up to?”
“About five-six the last time I checked.”
Ben sighed. “Alright smarty, if that’s the way you’re gonna be, I’ll…”
Harper laughed. “Fine. I was worried about you after you called earlier and wanted to make sure both you and Emily are okay. Was she just hot and thirsty?”
“No, I think I traumatized her for life.”
Dead silence hung between them until Harper finally spoke. “What do you mean by that?”
“Trent and Lindsay failed to tell me she’s terrified of spiders. At the zoo, I took her through the exhibit with all the tarantulas and exotic spiders. Looking back, that’s about the time she started screaming and crying.”
“Oh, Ben. That’s awful. Did she say something?”
“Not exactly.” Ben touched his swollen eye. “After I talked to you, I took her to the café and got her some cold water and ice cream. She wouldn’t touch the ice cream, but did drink her water. She fell asleep almost as soon as we got back to the pickup. Anyway, she was in my bathroom and found a spider, and started screaming like some ax murder had hacked his way in there. That’s when I found out about the fear of spiders. She didn’t mention the spiders at the zoo after she woke up from her nap, so I’m hoping she’ll mentally block out that whole part of the day.”
“But she’s fine now, right?”
“Yes, and on her way home with her parents.” Ben sank back against the cushions and relaxed, pleased Harper had called. The sound of her voice both calmed and excited him.
“How did you end up on babysitting duty, anyway?”
“Between the usual suspects being sick and gone, I was kind of a last option.”
Harper giggled. “Don’t sell yourself short. I’ve seen you with those kids. They all adore you.”
Ben blew out an exaggerated sigh. “Yeah, but adoring me for an hour or two in Grass Valley is one thing. Placing me in charge of their well being for almost eight hours is a whole different story.”
“Other than the spider incident, I’m sure Emily had a wonderful day.”
“I hope she did.” Ben reached down and found one of Emily’s ruffled socks between the couch cushions. He held it between his fingers, studying the pink fabric trimmed in lace. “I just wanted her to have a special day she’ll remember.”
“She’s only three, Ben. I wouldn’t count on her having too many lasting memories, good or bad.”
Ben smiled. “As long as she forgets the spiders at the zoo, I’m good with that.”
“I better run. I have some things I need to do here at the house, but I wanted to make sure you survived.”
He didn’t want Harper to say goodbye. In fact, Emily’s words about goodbyes meaning people get hugs and kisses made him wish he could give a few to Harper.
Then again, she’d probably laugh at his black eye as much as Trent had.
“Thanks for checking on me, Tinker Bell. You take care and have a good evening.”
“Bye, Ben.”
When she disconnected he stared at his phone for a long moment before tossing it down on the couch beside him and returning the ice pack to his eye.
There was no way he could tell everyone at work the truth. He’d never hear the end of it.
Chapter Nine
Adieu! I have too grieved
a heart to take a tedious leave.
William Shakespeare
“Are you kidding me?” Ben asked as the other captain gave him the news that the grain auger wasn’t working and it would be at least an hour before repairs would be completed.
“I don’t kid about wasted time,” the captain said, staring at the two men working to fix the problem.
“With the repair time and the time to load, we’ll probably be here another hour and a half or two.” Ben glanced at his coworker. “Since this is on your watch, do you mind if I take my bike out for a run?”
“Just make sure you’re back here by the time we’re loaded.”
Ben grinned. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll be here.”
He hurried to his quarters to change then retrieved his motorbike from where he stored it on the tug.
After strapping on his helmet, he fired the bike up and rode it off the boat onto the dock then took a road up a nearby hill. He followed it for a few miles then turned and drove down a dirt road between two wheat fields. One had been harvested while combines stripped the full heads of grain from the other field.
He turned onto a gravel-paved driveway, stopping in front of a farmhouse with a yard full of flowers. The vibrant blossoms stood out in the midst of all the wheat fields and pastures of fat cattle.
Removing his helmet and leaving it on his bike, he hurried up the front walk and rang the doorbell.
Footsteps inside let him know someone was home. The door opened and he stared into the face of his cousin’s lovely wife.
“Ben Morgan!” Kenzie Morgan gave him a welcoming hug and invited him inside. “What are doing here?”
“We’re taking on a load of wheat at the elevator, but the auger is down. While they’re making repairs, I thought I’d run up here to see you and Tate.” Ben stepped inside the cool interior of the house.
Although his cousin was several times removed, he was one of the few Morgan relatives Ben knew and liked. Tate and Kenzie owned a sprawling ranch near Kennewick, Washington, where they raised wheat, cattle, and one adorable son.
“How’d you get here?” Kenzie asked, then glanced outside and noticed Ben’s bike. “I see you’re still trying to live up to your bad boy reputation.”
Ben grinned and followed her into the kitchen. “You know it. I apologize for just dropping in, but I don’t get too many opportunities to see you guys.”
“No, Ben, I’m really glad you did. Give me a minute to let Tate know you’re here. He’ll want to see you.” Kenzie motioned to her kitchen table. “Have a seat.”
Ben listened as she called Tate and asked him to the come to the house while she poured tall glasses of iced tea and placed cookies on a plate. When she disconnected the call, she carried the refreshments to the table.
“He’ll be right in. You caught him at a good time because he’s working close to the house today.” Kenzie handed him a glass of tea and slid the chocolate chip cookies his direction.
“Where’s the little guy?” Ben asked, trying to remember how old Gideon was on his last birthday. If his memory served him correctly, the little guy turned two in the winter.
“It’s nap time, which means I get a few hours of peace and quiet. Gideon is getting to be quite a talker.”
Ben smiled. “We should get him together with Emily Thompson. That child can talk for days on end, and she’s only three.”
Kenzie laughed. “Wait until she gets older and starts adding boys to the conversation.”
The back door opened and Tate stepped inside. “Hey, man, good to see you.” He reached out a hand to Ben in welcome. “Nice wheels. Did you get a new bike?”
“In the spring. This one is lighter and goes a little faster.” Ben stood, shaking Tate’s hand then returned to his seat.
“Speed is king.” Tate grinned as he took a seat and accepted the glass Kenzie handed to him. “So what brings you to our neighborhood?”
“We’re picking up a load of grain but the auger’s down, so I thought I’d run up here to see how things are faring in your corner of the world. It looks like you’re getting a great wheat harvest this year.” Ben pointed outside to the surrounding fields.
“It has been a good harvest so far, and cattle prices are holding strong, so we can’t complain.�
�� Tate took a cookie then passed the plate back to Ben. “How are your folks?”
“Great. Dad would like it if Brice and I moved back to the ranch, but I don’t foresee that happening. Brice and Bailey are doing really well where they’re at.”
Kenzie smiled. “Their baby is so cute. Your mom sent a photo a while back.”
Ben shook his head. “Nothing like a proud grandma to spread photos far and wide.”
“And Tess and Travis are about to become parents, too?” Kenzie asked, getting up to refill their tea glasses.
“Yep. The baby is due to arrive around Thanksgiving. I keep telling Tess she can name it Butterball, but she’s not too receptive to the idea.”
Tate laughed and Kenzie gave him a scowl that let him know she agreed with Ben’s sister.
“What about you, Ben? With your siblings happily married and starting their own families, aren’t you interested in settling down?” Kenzie asked as she handed him his tea glass.
“No, thank you. That is one bug I’m determined not to let bite me.”
The look Tate and Kenzie shared made Ben uncomfortable. He asked Tate about his cattle, his friend Cort, and if he still kept up with news from the rodeo since he used to be a professional saddle bronc rider.
As they talked, Ben kept one eye on the clock. It seemed like he just got there, but an hour flew by. He knew he needed to head back to the river.
“Thanks for taking time out of your day to visit. Anytime you’re passing through Grass Valley or in Portland, stop by,” he said as he set his tea glass in the sink.
“We might take you up on that one of these days,” Tate said, rising to his feet to walk Ben out.
Kenzie started to follow them outside, but the sound of Gideon waking up from his nap echoed over the baby monitor. She gave Ben a hug and a warm smile. “Don’t be a stranger. Feel free to stop by anytime.”
“Thanks, Kenzie, and thank you for the tea and cookies. They hit the spot.”
She waved and hurried upstairs while Tate accompanied Ben over to his bike. After admiring it, Tate offered his cousin a cocky grin. “What’s her name?”
The Cowboy's Last Goodbye (Grass Valley Cowboys Book 6) Page 13
