“You two are nuts.”
“There’s nothing like a medical opinion.” With a great deal of self-control, Cori was finally able to stop laughing. “Do you want the long version or the short version?”
“Let’s go for the short.”
Cori launched into the story, oblivious of the pained look on Ben’s face. “You know,” she said, “if the town had a health club I wouldn’t have this problem.”
He closed his eyes. He knew he was going to ask. “Why?”
“Because I’m very good with aerobics. And with the way my stomach is pooching out, I need a regular workout.”
Ben eyed her slim figure. “You’re fine. You could actually gain more weight without any problem.”
“Maybe now, but it won’t last. I need to do something more energetic,” she protested.
“I can think of something more energetic,” he murmured, glancing at his message slips.
Cori smiled to let him know she’d overheard him.
“I’m off for that walk everyone has suggested I take,” she announced.
“You might want to stay away from Vivian’s,” Ella suggested.
“I’m rapidly running out of places where I can go,” Cori grumbled good-naturedly. “It would be a nice idea if the town could experience a healthy growth spurt in the next few days.”
Ben shook his head in bemusement. “Don’t worry, you’ve got a dinner invitation to look forward to. My mom wants us over for dinner tonight after I close the clinic.”
Her eyes widened. “Me? Why?”
He shrugged. “She was out of town when you arrived and now that she’s back she wants to meet you.”
A soft moan escaped her lips. “But we don’t know what horrible stories about me she might have heard.”
“Then going out there for dinner is a good way to find out, isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry about Lucia, darlin’,” Ella assured her. “She’s one of the loveliest, most down-to-earth women you can meet. She’s lived in Farrington so long that I doubt anyone remembers she had come here as one of those war brides.”
“The only idea of a war bride I can visualize is Cary Grant wearing a WAC uniform and horsehair bangs,” she muttered, walking out.
Ben chuckled at Cori’s reference to the movie I Was a Male War Bride.
“I’d say you’re way off base with your description,” he told her, still chuckling. “But I can guarantee Mom would love the comparison.”
“Then let’s allow her to continue thinking the worst about me, shall we?” she playfully blew him a kiss. “Ciao.”
Cori hadn’t been walking for more than two minutes before she found Dan, Zeke, Carl and their crony, Alex, walking behind her. But then, they were never far from her, she noticed. She spun around and planted her hands on her hips.
“Why are you following me?”
As if orchestrated, Dan looked at Zeke with a silent question in his eyes. Zeke then looked at Alex and Alex looked at Carl. Then they looked at her.
“‘Cause it’s a good idea,” they said in unison.
“I thought you spent your mornings at Myrna’s.”
“Mornin’s over.”
She took a deep breath. “All right, the morning is over. And then you spend the afternoons on the bench in front of the city hall because it’s shady there and you can play liar’s poker without anyone bothering you.” She was pleased to recite the schedule known to all who remained in Farrington more than twenty-four hours.
“Now we’re only over there the days you’re not out here.” Dan appeared to be appointed the group’s spokesman.
Cori could only ask. “Why?”
“Because you’re pretty to look at and you give us more entertainment than television.”
Cori wondered why she didn’t feel insulted. But she looked at the elderly men, dressed in their well-worn jeans, plaid shirts, billed caps and work boots and saw four men who, for some reason unknown to her, actually liked her.
“Well, you might not look like the kind of male entourage a lady would wish for,” she finally said, flashing them her brightest smile, “but I don’t think I could ask for anyone better.”
“We’ll make sure Pudge won’t bother you,” Dan told her.
“Sounds fair to me.”
“Were you ever in Wichita not all that long ago?” Dan asked.
“Does it make a difference?”
All four grinned. “It could,” Zeke answered this time, then asked hopefully, “Did you ever meet Sharon Stone?”
Cori shook her head. “Sorry, I never met her.”
“Michelle Pfeiffer?” Dan asked.
She shook her head again.
“Meg Ryan?” was Alex’s request.
“Bette Davis?” Carl asked. “Now there was a lady who had a mind of her own.”
“Bette Davis?” Zeke turned on him. “She’s dead!”
“Maybe she met her when she was a little girl!” he argued before turning back to Cori.
She looked apologetic. “Sorry.”
They looked at one another again, as if debating something. “She’s still better looking than Mavis, old Holloway’s secretary,” they decided before looking at her expectantly.
Cori took a deep breath. “Gentlemen, since your fair town doesn’t have a health club I am forced to take walks.” She dipped her head. “Shall we?”
She started up the street with the foursome not far behind her. As she walked, Cori realized they were already turning into a habit she didn’t want to break.
“Oh, no,” she whispered to herself. “I’m turning into a local!”
*
WHAT DID ONE WEAR when meeting a man’s mother? Especially the mother of a man with bedroom eyes?
Cori had a few dresses to choose from, but she didn’t want to overdress for the occasion. Since Ben tended to believe a doctor’s attire consisted of jeans and T-shirts, she told herself she wouldn’t have to worry.
In the end, she chose a pair of bright pink linen tailored pants and topped them with a dark blue V-necked weskit. Her chunky-style beaded choker and dangling earrings echoed the same two colors.
“You have a thing about bright colors, don’t you?” Ben commented when he stopped by to pick her up, looking devastating in tan jeans and a cream-colored button-down shirt with the cuffs rolled back.
She looked down at her outfit, suddenly worried. “Is it too loud for your mother?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “No, I wouldn’t worry about that.”
Ben helped her into the truck, but didn’t close the door. He kept one hand on the door, the other flat on the top. “Looking at you brightens up a day,” he said softly, just before he dipped his head and captured her mouth with his. His tongue traced the soft seam of her lips before delving inside. Cori was allowed only a brief taste before he lifted his head and looked down at her, noting her flushed features and glowing eyes.
“If we weren’t expected at my mom’s…” he murmured, running his thumb across her moist lower lip.
“Let’s not think about that.” She hastily turned around and fumbled for her seat belt. It didn’t help when she realized she had two of the same. She dropped the driver’s belt and hunted around for her own.
“Having a problem, Miss Peyton?” he asked silkily as he climbed in behind the wheel.
“Not at all, Dr. Cooper,” she replied in an equally silky tone. “Why don’t you tell me about your mother?”
“Ah, the change-the-subject ploy so I’ll forget about that kiss.”
“No, I call it the change-the-subject ploy so I won’t think about the kiss,” she muttered, staring out the windshield.
Ben didn’t hide his triumphant grin as he started up the engine. “It’s nice to know I’m so unforgettable,” he murmured, guiding the truck up the driveway.
“Doesn’t your mother live in town?” Cori asked as Ben drove toward the outskirts.
He shook his head. “No, she said she always preferred liv
ing away from the general populace. My brother-in-law took over running the family farm and my mom said the best way not to turn into an interfering motherin-law was to have her own place. Mama had a house built on the edge of the property where she’s close enough for baby-sitting and the grandkids to visit her, but far enough away to have her privacy.”
Cori thought of the Italian matriarchs she’d seen in movies—always laughing, bodies like large soft pillows and eager to mother anyone who came along. For someone who lost her mother at a young age, the idea was appealing.
“What did you tell her about me?” she asked Ben.
“Didn’t have to say a thing,” he said cheerfully. “Everyone else told her everything she needed to know.”
She moaned, covering her face with her hands. “That isn’t fair! She’s going to think I’m worse than the aliens in the supermarket tabloids.”
“Have you been reading those things again?” He shook his head.
“When you’re standing in line for what seems like hours because Mrs. Murphy brought a bag full of coupons on double coupon day for her two weeks’ worth of grocery shopping, you read whatever is in front of you,” she defended herself.
Ben knew all about the frugal Mrs. Murphy, as well as all the other townsfolk Cori talked on about. But he delighted in seeing her amusement turn to genuine concern as she spoke about them.
Before Cori knew it, Ben pulled up in front of a charming white clapboard house. A black-and-white border collie jumped off the porch and walked, with tail wagging, toward the truck.
“Hey, Shasta.” Ben squatted to pet the dog as he got out of the truck. “How’re you doing, boy? Where’s your mistress?”
“Where do you think she is? She’s preparing a meal you will never forget.” A husky voice with a trace of accent came from behind the screen door just before it opened and the owner of the voice stepped outside.
Cori’s eyes widened to saucer shape as she stared at a woman she couldn’t believe was Ben’s mother—but judging by the way she was addressing him had to be. Lucia Cooper was about the same height as Cori’s five foot six inches, but the similarity ended there. Waves of dark brown hair had been swept up in a loose knot, revealing a delicate-featured face that should have been immortalized in a painting. Dark brown eyes, like her son’s, danced with the same laughter as her red glossed lips. Her slim figure was clothed in black linen pants and a red blouse.
“She could give Sophia Loren a run for her money,” she muttered, still in shock. “Talk about aging gracefully.”
“Yeah, I guess she could.” Ben grinned just before he hugged his mother and dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Mama, this is Cori Peyton. Cori, my mom, Lucia Angiani Cooper.”
“So you are Cori.” The older woman smiled. She picked up Cori’s hands and studied her. “You are much lovelier than the town grapevine said you were, although I do hear that Dan has a crush on you.”
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Cooper,” she said numbly, then rushed on. “There is no way I can believe you had eight children!”
Lucia’s laughter rippled in the air. “Thank you, my dear. And you must call me Lucia. Mrs. Cooper was my motherin-law’s name. Now come in and tell me all the nice things you’ve noticed about my baby.” She smiled fondly at her son. She looped an arm around Cori’s waist as they walked toward the house. “I guess you have already guessed that as the only son he was spoiled shamelessly.”
“Bossy and pushy is more like it. He’s always telling me what I can and can’t do.”
“Ah.” Lucia nodded in understanding. “His father was like that every time I was pregnant. Doctors are bad enough, but when you are married to them—bah! They are even worse!”
“Thanks, Mom,” Ben said wryly.
“You are and you know it.” She reached over and patted his cheek. “But that is why I love you, my darling son. Because you remind me so much of your father. I hope you two are hungry because I couldn’t stop cooking today.”
“Nowadays, I’m always hungry,” Cori confessed.
“That is natural when one is eating for two.” Lucia led them inside the house and toward the room emitting tantalizing aromas that sent Cori’s salivary glands working overtime. “Besides, my dear, you are too thin.”
“That’s what everyone says.”
Lucia gestured for Cori to be seated at the table while she poured three glasses of iced tea.
“Do not worry, it’s herbal lemon tea,” she told Ben as she placed the glasses in front of them. “I made lasagna. Bennie’s favorite,” she confided in Cori.
“Bennie?” Cori repeated in an undertone.
“Only to my mother,” he warned her. “Otherwise, I don’t answer to it, so don’t even think about using it.”
Lucia placed a large green salad in the center of the table and a basket filled with warm bread.
“This all looks so wonderful,” Cori enthused, buttering a piece of bread.
“Now tell me why you would leave California and travel to Kansas,” Lucia asked Cori.
“Mama,” Ben warned her.
“That’s all right, Ben.” Cori placed a settling hand on his. “I honestly don’t know how or why I ended up here,” she told Lucia. “I just got in the car, started driving and here I am.”
“What does your papa think of you being pregnant?”
Ben muttered a curse.
“Bennie, you know better than to say those words at my table!” She raised a cooking spoon in a threatening manner.
“My father doesn’t know,” Cori confessed. “And if he did know, he probably wouldn’t be very happy to hear about it. He feels I don’t handle my life very well.”
In an instant, Lucia was out of her chair and engulfing Cori in a hug. “Don’t worry, my dear,” she soothed. “You have more than enough family in this town, eh, Bennie?”
“She has the best medical care in the state,” he said flippantly, aware of what his mother was trying to say.
“Of course she does!”
For the balance of dinner, Lucia efficiently interrogated Cori and learned just about anything there was to know about her. It wasn’t until they were relaxing over decaf coffee and the lemon chiffon cake Lucia had made that the older woman dropped her verbal bomb.
“I understand your pregnancy is about three months along.”
“That’s right.”
“How interesting. Bennie was in Wichita about three months ago,” she commented. She turned to her son first, then smiled at Cori. “Perhaps that is why the town is convinced he is the father of your baby.”
Ben, who had just forked a piece of cake into his mouth, coughed, sending the bite of cake across the table. Cori, who had picked up her glass of ice tea to drink, immediately lost hold of the glass.
Lucia, calm and serene, smiled at the couple amid the disaster her comment triggered.
“I guess this means they’re right!” She held up her arms in a victorious gesture and beamed.
Chapter Eight
Cori’s Cottage
“You must come back and see me again when Bennie isn’t here to stifle our talk,” Lucia told her, more an order than a request as Cori and Ben took their leave later that evening. She reached out and hugged Cori tightly. “And when you do, I will tell you all about my baby boy.” She bestowed a fond smile on her son.
“Terrific,” Ben muttered. “She’s going to drag out those damn baby pictures where I’m holding the diaper I should have been wearing.”
Cori laughed. “I’d love to come again, Lucia, but I don’t have a car.”
“Then take Bennie’s truck,” she insisted before turning to her son and hugging him tightly. She said something in Italian to him, which he answered in the same language. “You are too handsome for your own good.” She patted his cheek. “I am so glad that Valerie didn’t get her claws in you. I never liked her. This one—” she smiled fondly at Cori “—I like.”
“Be careful,” Ben cautioned Cori, taking her hand and
pulling her toward the truck. “Next thing you know you’ll be adopted.” Or married, his inner voice intoned.
Ben put the casserole dish holding leftover lasagna and a plate filled with cake on the floor of the truck’s cab, then helped Cori inside.
Lucia remained outside, with the dog by her side, as they drove down the narrow lane.
“I like your mother,” Cori told him.
“She is one in a million.” Affection warmed his voice.
“Do you think she’ll be able to stop the rumor that the baby’s yours?”
“No, because people will believe what they want to. The timing happens to be right in their eyes.” He turned onto the main road. “Does it bother you?”
“N-no,” she stammered. Why did she suddenly feel so overheated? It couldn’t be the thought of Ben as her baby’s father. Still, she couldn’t hold back the fantasy of her and Ben in bed together, wrapped in a jumble of silk sheets, his eyes looking into hers as his body pleasured hers and— Get a grip, girl! “I’m only concerned about you,” she finally said. “I don’t want people to think less of you.”
Ben reached over and took Cori’s hand. He was surprised to find it icy cold to the touch. He kept it cradled in his, hoping his warmth would sink in. He lifted it to his lips and pressed a soft kiss in the tender center of her palm.
“I wouldn’t worry about it. It seems they’re happy to have proof I’m human.” He tugged on her hand, urging her closer to his side.
She unfastened her seat belt and slid across, refastening the center seat belt when he gestured toward it. When Ben’s right arm dropped around her shoulders, she snuggled up against his side.
“This is all so crazy. I end up in a town I’ve never heard of. My car is under a canvas tarp because I can’t get it fixed. I’ve been fired from pretty much every business in town—”
“You haven’t worked at Ed’s Video Rentals yet,” he suggested. “And there’s the hardware store and the post office and—”
She shot him a look. “May I finish, please? In this town, I meet a man who’s—” She waved her hand back and forth as if trying to come up with the description she wanted and ultimately forgoing it. “And I’m not only pregnant by another man, but the man I met is now my doctor. It sounds like a soap opera!”
Mommy Heiress (Accidental Dads #2) Page 12
