by A. J. Pine
Ben blew out a breath. He’d be pissed off if he hadn’t given his brother and friend more than good reason to doubt him. But that was the whole reason for this project. To prove to them—to himself—that he could commit to something. The ranch was all Sam and Colt. Not that horses and ranching weren’t in his blood. They were. But Ben would have stayed put in Oak Bluff, running their father’s horse boarding business and his and Sam’s contracting business on the side. He didn’t much care one way or another. But he wanted to care now, wanted to show everyone who thought he was incapable that he could.
“Look,” Ben said. “I know I haven’t been carrying my weight. And you’re right. Maybe I should have said something. It’s another thing I don’t have much experience with. Maybe you two can school me on, I don’t know, speaking up when I’m a mess.” But he was climbing his way out. Maybe, in time, he’d have done so on his own. His mother coming back into the picture, even now when their father lived in a memory care facility, would have eventually taught him that no matter how many years were left, they were worthy years. Sam had figured it out. Okay, so maybe he had some help from Delaney. She knew about the possibility of him carrying the gene and somehow made him see that his life had value no matter what the future held.
Ben was starting to realize that not speaking up when he was a mess had done nothing but leave him alone and scared. Maybe everything he was doing now—becoming friends with Charlotte, owning up to his less-than-stellar behavior toward his brother and friend—was a start to him being able to let people in.
HELP. Friend in need. Please respond ASAP.
Ben laughed when he saw the text from Charlotte—or Doc as she was labeled in his contacts. He’d just gotten out of the shower and was contemplating what he was going to do with his night off. Usually it meant heading to Midtown Tavern and ingratiating himself to a tourist who might be looking for a cowboy to entertain her for the evening. But the urge to do so oddly wasn’t there.
How can I be of service? he wrote back, sitting on the edge of his bed in nothing but his towel.
Are you alone? she asked. Can I call you? I don’t want to put this in writing. Gran’s eyes are everywhere.
Ben laughed before texting back, Sure. His phone rang a second later.
“What’s up, Doc?” he asked with a grin.
She groaned. “How long have you been waiting to use that line?”
He shrugged, even though she couldn’t see him. “Didn’t realize I had it in my arsenal until you called. So what’s this top-secret mission you so desperately need me for?”
There was a long pause, long enough that he checked his phone to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.
“Doc?” he asked. “You still there?”
“A date,” she blurted. “I need you to take me on a date.”
This time Ben was the one who was at a loss for words.
“Gran hasn’t been home a full two days and is already on my case about finding someone to spend my time with while I’m here. She thinks if she finds me the right man that I’ll up and leave New York and stay here forever, even though she knows if I break my contract with my practice, no one will hire me after that. Not to mention the fact that they treat me really well there, and I could become a partner physician one day. But that’s beside the point.” Charlotte’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Why are we whispering?” Ben finally asked.
“Because when Gran told me she had a line of suitors for me and that she was setting me up on my first date tonight, I told her I couldn’t possibly go out with Ray from the Everything Store because I already had a date tonight—with you. And I don’t want her supersonic hearing to let her know that I’m lying. But I don’t have to be lying if you could maybe, possibly, play along and take me out tonight?”
Ben could actually hear her wince. At least he could sense it. And then something weird happened. Before he even had a chance to process what she’d said, he heard himself saying, “Sure thing, Doc. Didn’t have much planned tonight to begin with.”
It was only after the words left his mouth that his head flooded with questions.
Is this a real date?
Am I just picking her up and walking her around the corner so Pearl thinks she’s on a date?
Why am I nauseous at the thought of Pearl setting her granddaughter up on a date or two?
Why the hell am I overthinking this?
“Really?” she said, breaking the silence. “Ohmygod you’re a lifesaver. I so owe you for this.”
“Twice,” he said. “Now you owe me twice.” But he didn’t know what else to say after that without launching into his barrage of questions and likely sounding like he was off his rocker.
“Just keep a tab for me, okay?” she asked, and he could hear relief flood her voice. “And this doesn’t have be like a date date or anything. Gran just needs to believe I’m on a date so she’ll let up on the whole setting-me-up thing.”
Ben cleared his throat, mentally preparing himself for the next question, yet not sure what he wanted the answer to be. “And what’s to keep Pearl from setting you up the next night you have off?”
She sighed. “Maybe after we have such a nice date, I can come home and tell her that…well…that you and I are going to see each other for the duration of my stay? She knows I’m not looking for a commitment—as much as she wants me to find one—and she’ll have no trouble believing that you’d want to keep things casual. No offense…” She paused.
“None taken,” he lied. He got that he was going to have to earn himself a new reputation, but it didn’t take the bite out of Charlotte’s assumption.
“We’d just have to go out maybe once a week. Or every other week if that’s too much. Just enough to convince her that she doesn’t have to worry about me and that I’m not interested in her meddling, only in her getting well. As friends, of course. It’s not like she’ll know what happens on our outings.”
It hit him right then and there that friends or not, he didn’t want to spend the next several weeks watching her be courted by other guys. If anyone was going to court Charlotte North, it was going to be him.
Holy shit.
How was that for finally being able to commit?
Ben wanted to date her.
Ben wanted to give her a reason to stay.
Ben wanted to prove to her, to Pearl, to everyone, that he really had changed.
“Once a week,” he said. “I’ll take you out once a week, and you won’t have to worry about having to date anyone else.” He paused. “Unless you want to.”
“I don’t!” she said without hesitation. “I really don’t. Wow, Ben. You’re the best. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Pick you up in an hour, Doc,” he said.
“Thank you!”
And then he ended the call.
One hour. That was all he had to show her he could pull off romantic as hell. He remembered when the fire department once hosted a picnic for the local elementary school, letting the kids climb onto the trucks to eat their sack lunches with a view from the top. All he had to do was call in a favor to Lieutenant Carter Bowen, and Ben could turn a school field trip idea into the most romantic date the good doctor had ever seen.
Chapter Nine
Charlotte knew she shouldn’t be spying out the window, but she had to make sure Ben didn’t give their secret away. And of course Gran was waiting on the porch for his arrival.
“If you’re staying for two whole months…” Pearl had said, cornering Charlotte in the kitchen earlier in the morning while she helped the staff prep for the day. “You’re not spending that time cooped up at the inn. I may not be able to run things twenty-four-seven by myself, but I can certainly manage enough to give you a little free time every now and then.”
Charlotte had opened her mouth to protest, but her grandmother didn’t give her a chance.
“Now, Eli Murphy says he still isn’t ready to date, per se, but when I told him my grandd
aughter was all by herself without so much as a friend to share a meal with—”
“Gran!” Charlotte said, forcing her way into the conversation. “I have friends. Delaney, Ivy, and Casey have already been so welcoming and kind and— You did not set me up on a date with a grieving widower. Did you?”
She’d winced at the thought. Poor Eli having to take her on a pity date.
“Colt Morgan who runs the ranch with the Callahan brothers is single too. And not grieving. Though I do think there was a broken engagement in his past…”
“Oh. My. God. Gran. I came here to take care of you. Not to date.”
Pearl rocked the lever of her motorized wheelchair back and forth as she let out an exasperated sigh.
“There’s also the fire station,” she said, as if she hadn’t even heard Charlotte. “Your cousin Carter would be happy to introduce you to anyone in his company. And Ray who runs the store is probably free tonight—”
“I’m still dating Ben Callahan!” Charlotte had blurted. “A-and he’s taking me out tonight. On a date. As people who date tend to do.”
Pearl narrowed her eyes at her granddaughter. “Still dating Ben Callahan? I’ve never known Ben Callahan to date anyone. Don’t get me wrong, sweetheart. I love those Callahan boys like they are my own flesh and blood, but you are my own flesh and blood, which means it’s my job to protect you from getting hurt.”
Charlotte groaned. “I’m a grown woman and am perfectly capable of protecting myself. Besides, there’s something different about Ben since I’ve been back, and I’d like to get to know him better while I’m here.”
That part hadn’t been an act. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something had shifted in the man she’d met weeks ago. From him waiting at the hospital during Pearl’s surgery to getting her out of bed and on her feet after way too much drinking the night before, he’d already made good on the whole friendship thing. And now he was coming to her rescue again.
“You need a man with staying power, and I’m worried that Ben Callahan isn’t that man,” Pearl had finally said, which made it all the more painful for Charlotte to remind her of the inevitable.
“I can’t stay, Gran. You know that.”
Now she watched as the man who may or may not have staying power—not that it mattered—hopped out of his truck. Tonight, all that mattered to Charlotte was that he’d stepped up to the plate when she’d asked him to. Whatever happened next was gravy.
Ben checked his hair in the side view mirror, and Charlotte laughed softly to herself.
Staying power or no, did Ben Callahan honestly think there was anything he could do to make himself unattractive in the physical sense?
Heat spread to her cheeks, and she had to remind herself that this date was a ruse, even if it was sweet to think Ben cared that he looked like he was playing the part of suitor.
She opened the inn’s front door a crack, allowing herself to peek and listen, because now that she’d committed to spying, what did it matter if she threw in a little eavesdropping?
“Evening, Pearl,” Ben said as he strode up the steps. “How’s that new cast treating you?”
Her grandmother’s silver hair sat in a long braid over her right shoulder, her right arm in a sling. A blanket covered her legs, one of which Charlotte knew was covered in plaster from the knee down. A warmth spread through her at Ben not only knowing that she’d been given a plaster cast after surgery but at him caring enough to ask how she was doing.
Pearl tugged at the blanket with her good hand so her toes and green cast peeked out.
“It itches like the dickens, and even though the pain isn’t so bad, doctor still says no weight on it for six weeks. I love this inn, Ben, but being trapped here puts a whole new spin on things.”
He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “How about I take you for a spin tomorrow afternoon. Got the morning shift at the ranch but should be free around two o’clock.”
“Let me check my mental calendar.” She paused, and Charlotte wished she could see her grandmother’s expression. “Yep. I’m free,” she said.
“Then it’s a date,” Ben replied, and those stupid butterflies began dancing in Charlotte’s belly.
It’s an act for Gran, she reminded herself. Ben’s a good guy, but he’s going overboard to sell our story. He’s a good friend, but that’s all this is.
“Not so fast,” Pearl said, wrapping a hand around his wrist. “I have some questions for you.”
Charlotte winced.
Here we go.
“Ask away,” he said. “I’m an open book.” He sat down next to her on the porch swing.
“Excuse me for sounding a little old-fashioned, but are your intentions with my granddaughter genuine?” she asked.
Charlotte froze.
Ben raised a brow. “How do you mean?”
She slapped him gently on the knee. “You know I love you, your brother, and Colt like you’re my own grandsons, but Charlotte’s different. I’m closer with her than I am with my own daughter, and she’s putting her whole life on hold for me. I’d love to give her a reason to consider Meadow Valley her home, but she’s fighting me every step of the way. And please don’t take this the wrong way, honey, but I don’t see you being the one to do that. I just don’t want to see her get attached to the wrong man.”
Charlotte’s heart squeezed. It was hard to be angry when she heard the tenderness in her grandmother’s voice. She loved Pearl, loved Meadow Valley even, but she’d created a stable life for herself in New York. She’d committed to her practice. In writing. She’d committed to science, the most stable thing in her life. Science didn’t thrust you into a life of uncertainty. Science didn’t pull the rug out from under you and send your parents halfway across the globe—or your grandfather six feet underground.
And Ben…Say what you will about his past track record. She could see something different in him, even if Pearl couldn’t. It didn’t mean he was going to sweep her off her feet and then break her heart. They were in this together. They were friends. They could make certain they didn’t blur those lines.
Ben rocked back and forth on his heels a couple times.
“Here’s the thing,” he finally said. “Remember summers when you were a teen?”
Pearl laughed. “Darlin’, I barely remember last summer, and that was only a few months ago.”
Ben leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I know it’s autumn, and soon it’ll be winter, but this thing with me and Charlotte, it’s like those summers when we were sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. As soon as school’s out, you know the first day of the new school year is just around the corner, but you ignore it and live each and every day like summer’s never coming to an end.” He wrapped his palms around Pearl’s good hand and squeezed. “I like spending time with your granddaughter, and I’m pretty sure she likes spending time with me. Sure, she has a life in New York, but right now, it feels like anything is possible, and we just want to enjoy the time we have.”
Charlotte’s throat tightened. Who just said something like that off the cuff and made it sound so sincere? This was too much. Her emotions were getting the best of her, and Charlotte prided herself on keeping those in check, on keeping herself safe.
Pearl slid her hand from his gentle grip and patted his knee.
“I believe you mean well, Ben. I also believe my granddaughter can take care of herself and is certainly capable of making her own decisions.”
Charlotte snorted, then covered her mouth. If Gran truly believed that, she wouldn’t have tried to set Charlotte up with every eligible bachelor in town. And now poor Ben was getting the third degree because Pearl didn’t believe he was eligible.
“It helps knowing she has someone on her team if things at the inn—or taking care of her old gran—get to be too much. But it doesn’t mean I don’t worry,” Pearl added.
He nodded once. “Fair enough.”
Pearl cleared her throat. “I wasn’t finished.”
Ben remained silent.
“Don’t hurt her,” she said bluntly. “That’s all I ask.”
“You have my word,” he said.
And Charlotte bought the whole thing—hook, line, and sinker—even though she knew it was fake. That meant Pearl would, too, right?
Ben was a better actor than Charlotte anticipated. A tiny voice in her head whispered how nice it would be for someone to talk about her like that for real. But this trip to Meadow Valley wasn’t about Charlotte, so she told that little voice to keep quiet and let her focus on why she was here in the first place—her grandmother.
Pearl let out a bitter laugh. “That’s what my husband said once upon a time, and then he went back on his word. I’m still working on forgiving him for that.”
“I’d have liked to have met Mr. Sweeney,” Ben said. “I know he was a good man.”
She nodded. “As good as they come,” she said. “So is our chief. Guess I’m a lucky woman, finding love twice.”
Charlotte quietly clicked the door shut. She couldn’t listen anymore, not if she was going to collect herself and make it look like she hadn’t just violated both Ben’s and Gran’s privacy to the extent of almost bringing herself to tears.
I am not going to fall for Ben Callahan.
If she said it enough times, it would be true, right?
Ben rolled his shoulders like he was about to walk into one of his high school wrestling matches. Except Charlotte wasn’t an opponent. She was his date. He spun toward the door and raised his hand to knock, then remembered this was a public establishment and he could walk inside any time he pleased.
So he did.
There she was, behind the front desk, talking to Tyler.
“Make sure you give this couple a champagne reception.” She pointed at the screen of Tyler’s open laptop. “And this group arrives late morning. They’re traveling all the way from Florida—a knitting retreat. Prep the kitchen staff if anything changes. Otherwise they’re extending breakfast an hour so there’s a hot meal when they get here. They’re going to need something besides airplane food.”
