Thanking her again, he turned and headed back toward the elevators.
Suddenly, his steps slowed. He turned around, unable to pinpoint what it was that was niggling at the back of his mind, telling him to take her up on her suggestion. His feet started to move toward that snack machine, and before he knew it, he was standing in front of a glass door exactly like the one opposite it over on the other side of the courtyard. The one that led to the maternity wing.
He peered through the glass. The trees were still sparkling like a convention of fireflies, but he didn’t see anybody. Sheila and Kevin were probably inside by now, but even if they weren’t, was he really in that much of a hurry?
He sighed. He was here for Courtney, and it wouldn’t do anybody any good for him to waste more time. Besides, knowing his mom, she was probably ready to call hospital security to go track him down by now. He might as well buck up and take the shortcut.
He pulled open the door and stepped out into the night. Crisp air filled his lungs, reminding him of God’s promise that as long as the earth lasts, there will always be cold and heat, day and night. There was an odd comfort in that as he started walking on the cement path between the planters.
A sound took him by surprise and he realized that someone was sitting on the bench where he and Sheila had sat reading a little while ago. Not wanting to disturb whoever it was, he quickened his steps, then stopped.
Crying. That was the sound. A gasping sort of sob.
His stomach leaped to his throat as he immediately thought of Courtney and the fact that he hadn’t heard how things were going. No news was probably good news, but it could also mean that no one had thought to call him yet. He sidestepped around the edge of the planter just to make sure it was no one he knew.
It was Sheila, sitting with her back to him, bent over as if she was leaning on her arms, her shoulders shaking.
Oh, man. He was the worst brother in the world. Something had gone terribly wrong, and he’d been so caught up in his own problems that he hadn’t even...
“Sheila...?” Before he knew what he was doing, he was standing next to the bench, shaking in fear, wanting desperately to be wrong about the reason she was crying.
She jumped a little as she looked up. Her eyes were puffy and moist, and she clutched the book in front of her like a piece of armor.
Springing to her feet, she gasped as though she was struggling to get air. He froze, wanting to take her in his arms but resisting. His heart slammed against his ribs as he waited for her to tell him the news that obviously wasn’t good.
Chapter 9
Ben was back. Standing right there in front of her. And all Sheila could do was clutch the book to her chest and sob like a baby.
“Sheila...what...?” Taking a step toward her, he held out a hand, then stopped just short of touching her arm. “Did something happen?”
Where was her voice? Biting her lower lip to keep from whimpering, she managed a nod. His face fell. Eyes darting around as though he thought he might see something lying on the ground that would help him know what to say, he ran a hand through his hair. Then with a slight shake of his head his eyes met hers again and he stepped forward, pulling her into a hug.
Surprised by that, she managed to get one arm around him while pressing the book firmly to her chest with the other.
When he stepped back, his eyes were glistening. “Tell me.” His voice was barely a whisper.
Where was she supposed to start? She could see it now so clearly. She’d been clinging to the idea of Kevin out of desperation for a relationship, but he was the wrong man. Did the right man even exist outside of her own dreams? She looked at Ben—all flesh and bone and real and standing right in front of her. If only things could be different with him. If only she could trust him.
Composing her thoughts, she set the book down next to the bag of candy and sat. “I told Kevin to leave.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “He just wasn’t—”
“Wait a minute.... Kevin? This is about Kevin?” Taking the seat next to her, he let out a breathy “huh” and looked up to the night sky, his mouth curving into a grin.
She frowned. He was laughing? Hurt and confusion stepped aside for a tidal wave of righteous indignation. Her heart was broken and he was laughing.
“You mean—” he looked at her again “—the baby’s okay?”
“What...?” Suddenly, she got it. He had assumed... She looked away, feeling like a fool for not understanding how this had seemed. She let out a breath. “Oh...yes, as far as I know.”
His eyes closed, and she saw his lips move as if he was thanking God. When he opened them and looked at her, the urgency in his expression had dissipated. “Look.” He rested his arm on the back of the bench and faced her. “I’m sorry. I just thought that...” He stopped as if the words were too terrible to say.
She held up a hand. “I know. I’m sorry. Everything’s fine.”
His eyes softened. “It’s too bad about Kevin, though.”
It was her turn to huff out a little laugh at her own out-of-control emotions. She shook her head. “I’m not really crying over Kevin.” She folded her arms. “He didn’t turn out to be the guy I thought he was.”
“No?” A smile played on his lips as though that news somehow pleased him.
She couldn’t help but smile back. “No. I just think that I’ve been so focused on my career that I haven’t let myself have much of a personal life. I just wanted him to be the one.”
He rolled in his lips and looked down, as if calculating the right response. “So how long were you two...?” He let that trail off, moving his index finger back and forth to indicate some sort of togetherness.
She startled. “Oh, no. We weren’t...” She mimicked the gesture, wanting him to understand that they weren’t ever a couple. “We only just met a few weeks ago, and we went out a few times. That whole ‘boyfriend’ label was his perspective, not mine.”
She enjoyed the look of relief that washed over his boyish features, even if she was still mad at him. Why was she being so quick to assure him of her own virtue when she was so certain of his lacking the same quality?
She breathed out a sigh. “You were trying to tell me something earlier.”
He glanced up. “Oh, right.” He slapped his hands on his knees as though he was summoning his courage. “I have something I want to tell you, but I realize now that first there’s something I have to ask you.”
She bit the sides of her mouth. She couldn’t allow herself to fall. She couldn’t. No matter what he said.
Pulling in a deep breath, he looked her in the eye. “Our week together last summer meant the world to me.”
Her heart jumped into her throat. She had to protect herself at all costs. She started to stand. “I don’t—”
He grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her down. “Please hear me out. Because a few minutes ago, I thought that something terrible had happened to my sister or her baby and that made everything that’s standing in the way of really loving the people in my life seem not very important. Things like fear and pride. The way things have been going, I might not ever be brave enough again in my whole life to say this, so please stay and listen.”
Her mouth froze around the verbal expression of all her own fear and pride, and she slowly shifted in her seat to give him her full attention.
He held up his hands as if he was at a loss. “I just don’t understand what happened.” He looked down, as though his shoes were fascinating. “I need you to explain why you suddenly dropped me the way you did.”
Confusion and hurt rose up in her throat. “I dropped you?” Her head started to spin as if she were standing on one of those playground merry-go-rounds that threatened to steal her balance and send her flying. “What about Stephanie?”
“Stephanie?” He regarded
her through narrowing eyes. “Who’s Stephanie?”
So now he was going to try to lie about it? Or had that relationship really meant so little to him that he honestly couldn’t remember? Her jaw firmed. “I heard you tell someone that your ‘girlfriend, Stephanie,’ was going to pick you up at the airport in Fresno.”
He thought for a moment, and then his expression lightened and he burst out laughing.
She stared. He really thought this was funny?
He smiled as he spoke gently. “Stephanie is the four-year-old daughter of the couple who lives on the other side of my duplex. They volunteered to pick me up.” He affected a confident air. “She’s crazy about me.”
Sheila couldn’t speak beyond a weak “oh....” Embarrassment washed over her along with the realization that she had spent almost a full year seething in jealousy over a preschooler. She put her face in her hands. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Now I get why you were so upset.” He put a comforting hand on her arm. “But why didn’t you just ask me?”
Good question. She lifted her eyes to meet his. “I guess I was embarrassed. I was hurt and angry and I didn’t want you to know I’d overheard.”
“I can’t believe you thought I had a girlfriend. The truth is I haven’t had a real girlfriend since...well...ever.”
“Really?” Relief mixed with joy, diluting her utter humiliation.
“Pathetic, right? The closest I’ve come to having a real girlfriend—besides Stephanie, I mean—was that week with you. Nobody else I’ve dated has been special enough for me to want to pursue anything. You can ask Courtney. She’ll be happy to confirm what a total wallflower I am.”
A laugh rumbled from her throat at the truth of that statement.
Taking her hand, he went on. “All I know is that the week we spent together was the best week of my life. If I had my way, I’d spend the rest of my days reading with you and going horseback riding and being together through all the hard times, too.” He enclosed her hand in both of his. “Do you think that maybe we could hit Refresh and start over?”
She looked into his eyes, suddenly realizing that her initial impression of him, that he was a sweet, wonderful man, had been true. She’d made a snap judgment based on a misunderstanding and had been too full of pride to have a simple conversation with him that would have changed everything. She’d spent a year in misery as a result.
Her lips started to tremble and she could feel her eyes burning. “Ben. I think you’re great. And as hard as a long-distance relationship might be, I—”
He held a finger in front of her lips. “I’m glad you mentioned that. Because the thing I’ve been trying to tell you all week is that I have an opportunity to move to L.A.”
Her heart nearly stopped. Had she heard him right? All she could do was stare. “What?”
“My company has offered me a transfer if I want to take it.”
The simultaneous chime, buzz of her phone and what she assumed to be his made them both jump, then laugh. She clutched at her purse while he reached into his pocket and they read at the same time.
“The baby’s here!” she exclaimed, even though it was obvious that he’d also received Janessa’s message.
“Kelli Anne Greene.” Ben beamed. “I’m an uncle.”
“Congratulations, Uncle Ben. And I’m a godmother.”
He regarded her with a raised brow and half a goofy grin. “No kidding. Then you and I are going to be working together as a team because I happen to be Kelli’s godfather.”
“Well, what do you know?” Trying to quell the giddiness in her voice, she quickly tossed all her belongings into her purse and slung it over her shoulder. “I guess it’s a good thing we get along so well.”
“I guess it is.” He offered his arm, and she slipped hers through it. Together they went back inside to meet the newest member of the family that wasn’t yet hers—but hopefully someday would be.
* * *
An hour or so later, Ben sat in a really comfy chair in what looked more like a hotel room than a hospital birthing suite. Everything he had pictured involving a cold sterile space filled with beeping machines and harsh lighting had been totally unfounded. So, too, were the rules about two visitors at a time. Courtney looked as if she were hosting a party.
Across the room, Courtney sat propped up with pillows on a huge bed and holding an impossibly cute, tiny bundle of pink. Kelli had made the rounds and Ben had been surprised not only at how anxious he’d been to hold her but at how easy it had seemed. She’d opened those tiny blue eyes and he was sure she’d smiled at him. Favorite Uncle was a label he’d wear proudly, at least until Micah became legally qualified to contest it.
“This place is downright plush, Court.” Sheila sat in a chair next to the bed, alternately cooing at the baby and sending Ben flirtatious glances. “How long do you get to stay here?”
“It is great, isn’t it?” Courtney seemed more elated than exhausted. “But I’m anxious to get home. I think we’ll try to leave tomorrow.”
“And I’m sure Kelli’s anxious to see her new room.” Ben’s mom sat next to his dad on a little couch by the window. “She’s a lucky baby to have a Ben Jacobs original on her wall.”
Ben swallowed hard as everyone turned to look at him.
Courtney frowned. “A Ben Jacobs original? Don’t you mean...?” Her voice trailed off as she pointed at Dad.
Dad held up his hand. “I did the painting, but your brother did the design. It turns out my artistic talent has been passed down to the next generation.”
Sheila gave Ben a surprised but impressed look.
He shrugged. “I guess my secret’s out. I do more in my free time than write computer programs.”
A soft ringing sound cut through the conversational commentary. Bobbing his head in apology, Hank reached into his pocket and silenced the sound, then said something to Andra and slipped out of the room.
“Well—” Mrs. Greene stood and moved over to the other side of the bed, where Adam sat with his arm around Courtney “—you know you’ll have all the help you could want with this little one.” Holding her hands folded in front of her, she looked as though she might burst into tears.
Adam smiled. “Mama, would you like to hold her again?”
Her arms shot out before he’d even finished the question. “Well, since you asked.”
As Courtney handed over the baby, her eyes flew open wide. “Mama Greene! What is that?”
Taking Kelli, Mrs. Greene looked at her own hand. There was a collective movement around the room as people shifted to see what all the fuss was about. When Mrs. Greene turned, it became clear to Ben that she had something on her finger that was large enough for him to identify as a multicarat diamond.
“Mama!” Adam coughed out astonishment.
Janessa ran to her mother, double-checked the ring and gave her a hug, then did the same to Mr. Bloom, who was by now standing next to the woman Ben presumed to be the future Mrs. Bloom.
Courtney flapped her palms against the comforter she sat on. “But, Mama Greene, you said you didn’t want to get married again.”
Without taking her eyes off little Kelli, Mrs. Greene lifted her hand in a dismissive wave. “I only said that because I didn’t think Travis did. Then, of course, I had to wonder when Blair came to town—”
“Blair?” Mr. Bloom frowned. “Don’t tell me you were suspicious of Blair?”
“Me?” Mrs. Greene gave him that look women get when they’ve been doing too much thinking and not enough asking. “No...it’s just that Courtney got me wondering....”
Everyone in the room looked at Courtney, who flashed an exaggerated look of innocence that she’d probably picked up from her years of working with diva movie actresses. “Hey, all I did was observe. Mr. B., I know that you and Blair are f
riends, but you have had your heads together an awful lot this past week.”
Mr. Bloom laughed. “Blair and I have been talking about the delivery of this ring. She’s the one who connected me with the jewelry designer, and we had a little concern about how and when it was being shipped.”
Mrs. Greene gave Mr. Bloom the same loving look Ben had always liked seeing his own mom give to his dad. “I knew I could trust you, dear. Blair is a lovely woman, but I know your romantic interest in her was fleeting.”
“A thing of the past.” Mr. Bloom reached over to offer Kelli his finger.
Sheila giggled. “Boy, Court. I guess you’re going to have to retake that final exam if you want to get a passing grade in Matchmaking 101.”
Courtney did the best she could to playfully kick her, sending her fuzzy pink bunny slipper sailing off the bed. Ben stood to go retrieve it for her.
“Besides,” Mr. Bloom continued, “Blair’s been asking my advice for months about a certain reality-show host. They’ve been keeping it quiet, but I think we’ll be reading about them in the papers any day now.”
A pleased murmur made its way around the collective group, and the conversation turned to wedding plans. As Ben put the bunny back on his sister’s foot, he caught Sheila’s eye and gave her a look that expressed all his hope for their future together. It would take some time and trial, but he was willing to follow his dad’s example and humble himself to do whatever was necessary to become the husband God would have him be when the time came.
Kelli started to whimper and Ben looked over to see her face turning from peachy-pink to tomato-red under her little pink-and-blue-striped hat.
Adam reached over to reclaim her. “Well, folks. I think visiting time’s about done.”
While the group said their goodbyes and shifted toward the door, Ben waited for Sheila to give Courtney a hug.
“You know, Court—” Sheila stepped back “—you might have been wrong about Blair, but you were right about something.”
Rocky Mountain Romance Page 15
