Chuckling to himself, Ben bent over, unlaced his boots, slipped them off and left them by the door next to his brothers’. Isabel Harper had very few rules in her home. He and his brothers could pound on each other until they were bruised and bloody as long as they didn’t break anything in the house, or each other’s bones. But if you walked into the house with dirty shoes on, the wrath of God would come down on you.
Turning the corner, he saw his father leaning back in his favorite recliner with a plate of snacks on his lap. His brothers were on the couch eating from another plate of snacks in front of them on the coffee table, and the TV was blaring with the football game.
His mother came hurrying out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron. “Ben, sweetie. Happy Thanksgiving.” She stopped and looked around the room quickly then back to him, confused. “You’re alone?”
He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Happy Thanksgiving. And yes, I’m alone. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I just thought maybe you would have brought Presley with you?”
He choked on that, then turned and eyed his brothers. Phil threw his hands up in surrender, chuckled and nodded his head toward Alec. Alec picked his beer up and looked the other way. “Sorry, Mom, we’ve only been dating a few weeks. We aren’t at the bring-you-home-to-meet-my-mom stage,” he said with a chuckle. “And besides, she’s working right now.”
“Working? On Thanksgiving?”
“She’s a nurse in the Pediatric Unit. She primarily cares for the kids with long-term illnesses,” he said proudly. Until that moment he hadn’t realized how proud he was that she did that kind of work. “Someone has to be there.”
He was saved by the timer going off in the kitchen and watched his mother hurry away. Squinting his eyes in a hard glare at Alec, he asked, “What the hell is wrong with you? Thanks a lot. You know how she has babies all in her head. Geez, Alec, now she’ll be on my case.”
Alec smirked, totally ignoring the warning signs of Ben’s anger. “Just getting even for the other night.”
Ben narrowed his eyes even more. He would prefer no one knew about what happened when Alec walked into his house unannounced. Though looking at Phil, he suspected he was aware. His brothers kept very little from each other.
“What other night?” his father asked from his recliner.
“Nothing, Dad,” Ben said snickering, covering any anger he had toward his brother. “You know Alec, he likes to play pranks. I just happened to get one up on him.” Thankfully Alec knew enough to keep his mouth shut.
Thirty minutes later, Kaitlin and Ryan walked in, with his mother running forward to greet them and pulling Kaitlin into the kitchen with her. That left Ryan outnumbered in the living room.
Unfortunately, it was Ben that was soon outnumbered. “What, no Presley today?” Ryan asked coyly. Almost like he knew it had been asked already. Of course, Alec and Ryan were close and most likely had decided ahead of time they were going to team up against him.
“No,” Ben said pointedly. “Do you see her here?”
“Guess she had a better offer,” Alec replied with a devilish grin. “I don’t blame her. She looked a little smothered Saturday night.”
Ben reached over and grabbed one of his brothers’ beers. He didn’t know whose, didn’t care, and took a big swig. “Jealous?”
“Of you?” Alec asked. “No way. Of having her on your arm, hell yeah. Damn, she is smoking. What does she see in your ugly mug?”
Ben wasn’t so sure he liked Alec talking about Presley like that. And that was a new experience for him. He’d never been possessive about a woman before. Shaking those thoughts from his head, he answered, “Bet you wish you knew. I haven’t heard any complaints from her.”
Phil, who had remained quiet so far, snorted. “Like she’s going to actually tell you any complaints. You probably terrify her,” he said and added a snicker for good measure. Phil might be quieter, but he got his licks in just like everyone else.
Pushing his recliner back in place, William stood up and walked over to get more food off the table. “If she does tell you, Ben, then she’s a keeper.”
***
“So what time does Presley get out of work?”
Ben sighed, he had been fielding questions—or avoiding them—regarding Presley all day. But his mother had him locked at the table and she knew it. “Her shift ends at eleven thirty.”
“Did she get to spend any time with her family today?”
He knew his mother meant well, but he didn’t want to talk about it. Because the truth of the matter was, he felt guilty leaving Presley today. He had spent the night. He really enjoyed their time together last night when he got out of work. He even made sure he got out on time yesterday, something he never worried about before.
They had slept in late, had a nice breakfast and relaxed before he left her house to come here. He hated to think of her alone today. Only when he brought it up, she shut down, just said that she didn’t have any close family left, and no one else lived closed by. “No, Mom.”
“That’s sad.”
She seemed to sense the change in him and stopped whatever she was going to say. Either way, he wasn’t taking any chances, so he turned the conversation to something else. “Kaitlin, did you get your bridal gown yet?” He cringed when his brothers laughed at him over the ridiculous question. They knew what he was doing and he didn’t care in the least. But the fact that his mother jumped right into wedding plans was his goal.
Here he was hours later, close to Presley’s lunch break, walking down the hallway with leftovers in his hand. His mother wouldn’t let him leave the house until he agreed to take them and bring them to her, telling him she should at least enjoy a homemade dinner. “Hey,” he said when he saw her rounding the kids up in the game room for last call.
She was clearly shocked to see him, but she smiled brightly regardless and walked over. “What do you have there?”
“Leftovers.”
“Going to have a second dinner?” she asked, a touch of humor in her raspy voice.
“Actually, these are for you, courtesy of my mother.”
“Your mother?” she said gasping. Obviously she felt just as uncomfortable about the whole thing as he did. “Why would she send me leftovers? And how does she even know about me?”
He chuckled. “Seems Alec has the same problem with his mouth that Lucy does.”
“Oh,” she said, glancing around the room. He noticed her eyes landing on Sarah in the corner, watching the two of them. “Sarah, you need to pick up and get back to your room.”
Ben looked at the teenager in comfortable pajamas, an orange bandana on her head, and a sad, confused look on her face. She picked up her book and walked toward them. “Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?”
He tried not to laugh. Adults didn’t normally refer to each other that way, but she was a kid. “I don’t know,” he said, a twinkle coming into his eyes. “Depends what Presley thinks.” He knew he put her on the spot, but she knew these kids better than he did. He wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.
“We are friends, Sarah.”
“You look like more than friends to me,” Sarah said, her face showing clear signs of distress.
And then it hit Ben, that Sarah was upset Presley and he were together. He should have seen the signs of the crush Sarah had, but he played them off every time he stopped in to say hi to her. He stopped to see a lot of the kids, checking on their progress and seeing how their days were going.
Now he wished he’d handled the situation with Sarah better, or at least saw all the signs. “There you go, Sarah,” Ben said. “Looks like we are just friends.” He held up the container of food. “Friends who bring each other food.”
Sarah nodded and walked away, leaving Ben and Presley standing there, feeling uncomfortable. “I’ll go talk to her,” he said.
“I better do it.”
“No, it’s better coming from me. I had a younger sister, remember? I think I can handle it.” He hoped.
***
“Sarah,” Ben said, knocking on the doorframe a few minutes later. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” she said, looking anywhere but at him.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” She continued to look around the room, not meeting his eyes.
Then he saw her eyes land on a photo on the table, one that hadn’t been there before. He knew, he’d been in the room plenty of times before and he would have noticed that photo. He picked it up. A young man in a Navy uniform stood with a laughing Sarah, looking healthy with long brown hair, her arm around his waist with a happy and carefree face. “Is this your brother?”
She grabbed the photo out of his hand and placed it back on the table. “Yes.”
“What’s his name?”
“Ethan.”
“Where’s he stationed?”
“He is out to sea right now. I don’t remember the name of the boat. Ship. Sorry, he always corrects me.”
“No problem. How long has it been since you’ve seen him?” he asked curiously, trying to get her to warm up to talking to him.
“A year. I haven’t talked to him in months either,” she said, the tears glistening in her eyes.
He started to sweat, tears always made him nervous. “And you miss him?” When she nodded, he continued. “Is that why you like me? Do I remind you of him?”
“How did you know?”
“I just do. I have a younger sister. She missed me when I was out to sea and deployed. And you know what? I missed her a ton, too.”
“You were in the Navy? I mean, I figured you were in the military. You’ve got that look to you. But I didn’t know the Navy. Were you a SEAL?” she asked in an astonished whisper.
“Maybe.” He winked.
“Ethan wants to be a SEAL, but he says it’s really hard. And that very few can even make it through training.”
“He’s right, it is hard. But if you work hard you can make it. It’s all about your mental strength,” he said pointing a finger at his head. “Just like what you’ve got.”
“How do you know I’ve got mental strength?” she asked warily.
“Because you do. Look at you. You’re a fighter, Sarah, and fighters always win in the end.”
She wiped a few tears from her face. He was trying not to cringe. This wasn’t going well, and he didn’t want more tears to fall. “I have to have another treatment tomorrow, and it’s going to be worse than the last two. Then they will run more tests to see if the treatments are even working.”
He reached over and picked the picture back up. “I bet Ethan is thinking of you right now. And I bet he is sending you every bit of strength he has and
knows
just how strong you are. Think positive. Think good thoughts. Happy thoughts will always get you through in the end. If that doesn’t work, then strong ones will.”
“Ethan always told me that. That strength is mental and the stronger I thought, the stronger I would feel.”
“He’s a hundred percent correct. Listen to your older brother. We’re all pretty smart.” He stood up and placed the picture back on the table. “You okay now?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Ben.”
He turned to leave when she called his name. “Presley is pretty great, you know. Be good to her. I think she’s lonely.”
Closing his eyes, he let out a deep breath, gathered his thoughts and turned back with a smile. “Don’t tell her you think that. Otherwise she might make you leave the game room before closing time.” He didn’t think Presley would appreciate Sarah’s comment. Unfortunately, Ben had a feeling Sarah had hit the nail on the head with her assessment of Presley.
He didn’t have to worry about Presley knowing about Sarah’s comment, though. He was fully aware she’d been standing outside the door the entire time listening to the whole conversation.
Late Saturday morning Ben opened Presley’s front door after rapping his knuckles on it. “You shouldn’t leave your door unlocked,” he said, scolding her.
“Sorry, I actually unlocked it for you. But I can kick you out, lock it and make you knock again if it will make you feel better,” she said sarcastically when she walked into the living room.
He chose to ignore her. “So what did you want to do today?”
“How about shopping?” she said with a bright smile.
“How about no,” he replied back with just as big of a grin.
Her smile faltered. “Why not?”
“I hate shopping.”
She drew her eyebrows together. “Hate is an awfully strong word.”
“Yes, it is.” There was very little that could get him to a mall. On a Saturday, no less.
She tilted her head to the side and slithered toward him. Slithered was the best way to describe the way her hips swayed, the way her arms and legs moved fluidly, until she stopped within a foot of him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I can make it worth your while.”
Interesting. He might be able to use this to his advantage. But he still wasn’t sure it was going to be worth it. Nothing was worth going to the mall. “Oh really. What do you have in mind?”
She leaned up on her toes, placed her mouth over his ear and whispered, “It’s a surprise. But I guarantee one hundred percent satisfaction.”
His body started to stir instantly. “I’m going to hold you to that,” he said, his arms coming around and pulling her body tight against his.
Thirty minutes later, he was cursing and wondering why he agreed to this. The parking lot was completely full and he had been driving around the large mall for over ten minutes. “What the hell is going on today?”
She turned her head and looked at him, dumbfounded. “Yesterday was Black Friday. So today is notoriously busy, too.”
He drew his eyebrows together. “What’s Black Friday?”
She threw her head back with a laugh. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-two. What does that have to do with anything?”
She shook her head. “Have you lived under a rock for the last thirty-two years?’
He snorted. “Hardly.” But he was beginning to wonder because, whatever this Black Friday was, he had a feeling he was in trouble.
“The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. I have no idea why and don’t really care. But it’s the kick off to Christmas shopping. Stores have all these great deals and such. It’s a rush to shop on that day, but I didn’t want to try to squeeze it in between sleep and my shift. Today should have some good deals, too. It’ll be fun.” She stopped, pointed and said chuckling, “And there’s a parking spot. Think you can fit this big thing in there?”
***
Three hours later, Ben held the front door to her apartment open with his foot while he carried several bags. She followed behind with her arms loaded down as well. “That was great. I can’t believe how much I bought today.”
“Yeah, great,” he mumbled.
“I heard that. You had fun, admit it. You even bought a few shirts.”
“I didn’t have much choice with you throwing them at me one after another. You’re worse than my mother.”
She giggled. “You’re comparing me to your mother. I’m not sure if that is sweet or creepy.”
“Don’t push it, Presley. What do you want me to do with all of these?” he said, holding up his arms while the bags all bounced into each other. “I thought this was supposed to be a day for Christmas shopping. It seems to me all you did was buy stuff for yourself.”
“That’s right, I did. I bought myself Christmas presents.”
“Talk about creepy.”
She held her smile, even though there was no joy behind it. It
was
creepy and a bit sad, she knew that. But it made her feel better to buy a bunch of things and put them under the tree anyway. She had been doing that since she was kid.
If she wanted gifts under the tree she had to buy them herself. And wrap them
and
sign her mother’s name to them. Otherwise there would be nothing there on Christmas morning—not even a tree—if she didn’t go pick it out herself and decorate it.
“You won’t be thinking creepy thoughts later,” she said smirking, trying to erase the bad memories of past Christmases.
“All I know is your surprise better be a good one.”
“It will be,” she called over her shoulder as she walked into her bedroom with Ben on her heels. “Let me just pack quickly and then we can run to the grocery store and go to your place.”
“We have to go to another store?” he asked, a pained expression on his face.
She bit her tongue, but he looked so darn cute. Her big tough guy, all flustered over spending the day shopping and having to go to another store. Oh, she planned on making it up to him all right. “I’m going to cook dinner for you. I doubt you have food in your house, but I could be wrong.”
“I’ve got food in my house. What did you plan on cooking?”
“What’s your favorite?”
“I’m not sure I want to tell you my favorite, because if you make it and I don’t like it, then I would be forced to lie to you,” he said, his face serious, his eyes anything but.
Regardless of the amusement evident in his eyes, she fought not to be insulted over her cooking. Granted, she hadn’t really cooked much for him other than some quick breakfasts, but she was a damn good cook.
She had been cooking since she was twelve. She’d had no choice, unless she wanted to eat frozen foods or take-out. “I guess you will just have to be surprised then. And no lying. If it’s bad, then tell me so.”
He snorted. “Yeah, like that will go over well.”
Grabbing jeans and a shirt, she threw them in her overnight bag. “Are you afraid of me?” she asked, conceited. Now wouldn’t that be funny, she thought to herself.
“I’m just afraid you won’t follow through with your surprise if I tell you your cooking is bad.”
He laughed when she shot him a nasty look. “I guess you will have to take your chances tonight then, won’t you? I forgot to check my mail. Can you see if anything was there for me?”
She waited until he was out of the room and then quickly sorted the bags, looking for the right one, and threw that in her overnight bag, too. It was her lucky day. He happened to get a call while they were shopping and needed to find a quiet place to take it, allowing her time to make a purchase without his knowledge.