Yours For The Taking Part 25

"All set."

"You don't look like you've slept. I guess you could sack out in the back. I've got a sleeper back there."

"I'm fine." If she kept telling herself that, maybe she'd believe it. Her phone rang. She checked; it was Ben calling again.

"Aren't you going to answer that?"

"No." She turned the phone off and tossed it into her handbag.

Buck held the door for her. "You'll never resolve anything if you don't talk to him."

Gina walked past him out the door. "That's the plan."

After choking down her toast, they got back into the truck and headed through Yellowstone Park. It was spectacular. She saw where the buffalo roam, although when Buck told her they were bison, it kind of ruined it for her. They stopped at Old Faithful which just had her thinking about Ben since faithful is the last thing he'd be called. They had lunch at the Inn, not that Gina was hungry. She barely touched her sandwich.

Buck checked his cell phone. "If you don't eat at least half of that, I'm going to have to tell Kate. She's not going to be happy."

"I don't suppose you could lie."

"Nope. I learned my lesson about lying to women a long time ago."

"Fine." Gina took another bite and thought for sure she'd throw up. "I guess you'll just have to disappoint her, I can't eat any more. I don't know what it is. I usually eat like a butcher's dog."

"Yeah, you're in love. It happens to the best of us."

"Oh no, I'm not. I don't do love."

"Really? Then why were you crying all night and you haven't had a decent meal since you left your husband? If you're not lovesick, I think we'd better get you to the doctor."

"Maybe it's a bug, or it could be traveling. I'm not used to traveling any farther than from Manhattan to Brooklyn."

"You keep telling yourself that." He felt her forehead. "No fever. Yup, you're just lovesick."

Gina got up and pulled her wallet out to pay the bill.

Buck waved the money away. "No woman pays the tab when they're with me."

"Buck, it's not necessary. Buying lunch is the least I can do to pay you back for the ride. You've been really wonderful."

He tossed an arm around her and gave her a hug. "It's nice having the company, even a mopey pa.s.senger with a sweet puppy is better than driving alone. Besides, it's fun showing you our great country. We'll make a detour and I'll take you to Mt. Rushmore and through the Badlands. Mt. Rushmore is only about eight hours away. We'll do some sightseeing in the morning."

"That would be great." Thanks to Ben, she knew all the presidents whose faces were carved in the mountain. She just wished she could get Ben out of her head.

Ben ran up to Gina's door and rang the bell. Okay, he sat on the bell. A very tired looking Sam answered two minutes later. He did not look happy.

Ben stuck his foot in the door. "I need to talk to Gina."

The look on Sam's face turned from anger to fury. "I thought she was with you. Where the h.e.l.l is she?"

"She's really not here?"

"If she was, would I be considering getting my gun?"

Ben walked in, put Gina's hiking boots up against the wall with the other shoes, and threw himself into a chair. "Maybe. h.e.l.l, I don't know." He held his head in his hands. He just went from worried sick to whatever was worse. He didn't even know what to call what he was feeling.

Sam closed the door and stood in front of him with his arms crossed looking scary. Ben was too tired to be scared for anyone but Gina.

"Now would be a good time to explain."

Ben wiped his face with his hands. "She left yesterday afternoon. I don't know where she went. I thought she'd be here, so I took the first flight out this morning."

"Why did she leave?"

"That's personal."

"So is your well-being."

"She hasn't called Tina?"

"If she had, do you honestly think I'd tell you?"

"If she had, you wouldn't have been surprised that she left, and you probably wouldn't be threatening my life, though, maybe you would. h.e.l.l, my family even turned on me. Why shouldn't you?"

"If you're expecting sympathy, you came to the wrong house."

"That's a shocker. Look, Sam. I'm worried sick. I just want to make sure she's all right. I need to talk to her."

"It doesn't sound as if she wants to talk to you. I'm a.s.suming you tried her cell?"

"She's either not answering or she can't answer. I've called her a few thousand times, left voice mail and text messages, I called home and no one will tell me a thing. Sam, she's all alone, or maybe not, I'm not sure which would be worse."

"Gina's a smart woman. She can handle herself."

"Yeah, she has no problems here in New York. You get her out of the city and she's defenseless."

"Ha, Gina is stubborn, hard as nails, capable, and irreverent, sure. Defenseless, never."

"Have you ever seen Gina outside of New York?"

Sam shook his head.

"I have. All those street smarts don't matter when you take her out of her comfort zone."

Sam pulled up a chair and sat. "You might as well tell me what happened because I'm the only one here who is going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Tina sure as h.e.l.l won't when she finds out you lost her sister."

Ben sat back in the chair and gave Sam a good long look. "Do you know why Gina hired a private detective to research land t.i.tles?"

"No."

"Yeah, me either. I get a message from this guy because Gina called him from my satellite phone when we were up at the ranch. He said they struck gold and the next thing I know, my grandfather is signing the deed to my ranch over to Gina."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "I take it that wasn't part of your plan."

"No, and when I asked Gina what the private d.i.c.k was after, she didn't say a word."

"So you added two and two, and came up with trouble."

"Wouldn't you?"

Sam held up his hand like a traffic cop. "Don't try to drag me into your problems. I know Gina, and I know she'd never steal. I'm also sure she has a d.a.m.n good reason for hiring a private detective. I don't know what the reason is, but I know she has one."

Ben stood to pace, took his keys out of his pocket and tossed them in the air, catching them before turning toward Sam. "If she's in some kind of trouble, she could have come to me. h.e.l.l, I love her. I could give her anything she wanted or needed."

Sam shook his head. "You got a lot to learn about Gina. When she's in trouble, she takes care of it herself. In all the time I've known her, she's never once asked anyone for help. I'm surprised as s.h.i.t she hired help. This would answer the question of why she married your sorry a.s.s in the first place. I knew there had to be more to it than a house, even one as nice as this. She could buy a home of her own eventually."

Ben continued to pace and toss his keys. He turned when he hit the fireplace and faced Sam again. "What do I do now?" He raked his hands through his hair and rubbed his unshaven chin. "I love her, and I'm afraid I'm gonna lose her, Sam. I need your help."

Sam rolled his head and cracked his neck. "f.u.c.k, okay, give me the name of this P.I. and I'll see what I can find out."

Ben took out his phone and scrolled down through his calls. "The guy's name is d.i.c.k Sommers. s.h.i.t, a private d.i.c.k named d.i.c.k. He should change his name." Sam smiled which was a good sign.

"I know of him. He's a quality guy, so that's good. I'll go and talk to him."

"We can go together. Maybe he'll tell me what the h.e.l.l Gina is after."

Sam held up his hands. "Whoa, there is no we in this situation. I'll go on the QT, just to make sure she's not in trouble, and I don't think she is. Gina's spent her life making sure she and Tina stayed on the straight and narrow. I'll check it out on my own. I can't play both sides of the fence on this one, Ben. I want to stay happily married."

Pacing wasn't helping so Ben plopped down in the chair. "Yeah, so do I. I need to know she's safe. I just want to get her back."

Stretching his legs out in front of him, Sam crossed his bare feet at the ankles. "Sorry, Ben, but there's no way I'm crossing Gina. Not only because I'm scared to death of the woman, but because if I cross Gina, I cross Tina. Tina is the best thing that ever happened to me and I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize that."

Sam got up and went into the kitchen. Ben trailed after him, accepted the beer Sam offered, and took a long pull.

Sam leaned back against the counter. "I don't know what to tell you. Gina has sworn up and down she never wanted to get married. That's why I was so shocked to see that honking ring on her finger. When she said you two had a deal to get divorced after you got your ranch, I thought it made a weird kind of sense. I still didn't like it or you, for that matter, but the deed was done and like I said, Gina's not one to ask for advice or help."

Sam picked up his phone and texted someone. After a moment, he got one back. "Gina's fine. She told me to throw you out of her house."

Not surprising. Ben would deal with her anger later, now he just wanted to find her. "Did she say where she was?"

"No, but I wouldn't tell you if she had. Any information you receive from now on is going to come from Gina. Finish your beer and then take off. I'm really not in the mood to throw you out."

Ben took another swig of his beer. "You don't know how much I appreciate that."

When he finished his beer, Ben asked to use his own d.a.m.n bathroom. Gina wouldn't let him wait in their house, but there was no law saying he couldn't wait in the park.

He found a park bench with a good view of the brownstone and sat in the late May sun wishing he'd thought to bring sunscreen. He took his blazer off, rolled up his sleeves, and made himself at home. He waited until they closed the park. When she didn't come home, he sat in his car, drinking coffee, watching, and waiting. He was afraid every time he had to run down the street to use the restroom or get something to eat, praying he wouldn't miss her.

At eight o'clock the next morning, someone tapped on his window. Ben rolled it down and was glad to see the cop was only Sam.

Sam handed him a hot cup of coffee. "Gina's going to be a few days. I can't tell you when she'll be back, but I think we're looking at least another four days."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, she didn't give me an exact time or anything, but it's a h.e.l.l of a drive across country the way she's going. You should know you are persona non grata. She wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire, and those were her exact words. I just can't stand to see your sorry a.s.s hanging out here day and night. Go home, get some sleep. I'll let you know when she gets home safely. But if you tell her I did, you'll never know what hit you."

"Thanks, man." Ben pulled a card out of his wallet. "Here's my cell number. Call me any time. And if you talk to her, tell her-"

Sam shook his head. "You're gonna have to do that yourself. If she knew I was talking to you, she'd have my head."

Ben nodded. "Thanks, Sam. I owe you."

"Yeah, just don't ever tell Gina and we'll call it even." Ben watched as Sam went into the house. s.h.i.t, what he wouldn't do to be able to go inside his own home.

Gina looked up at Mount Rushmore from a distance. It wasn't much different than the pictures she'd seen in the books at school, just bigger. It certainly didn't blow her skirt up. She listened to the park ranger rattle off information with half an ear as the cell phone vibrated at her hip. She checked to see who it was and wished she could remember how to block calls. Still, if she did that, she'd have nothing to listen to that wasn't country music.

"Is that Ben again?"

Buck stared down at her with his gap-toothed grin when she nodded. "He sure is persistent. Maybe if you talk to him, he'll stop calling you."

"He'll stop calling eventually. When I get home, I'll change my number."

"Talking to him might make you feel better. Venting is healthy. If he was so wrong, telling him off could only help. And just between you and me, you could use some help because, sweetheart, you're not lookin' too good."

Gina tugged on Jasmine's leash to keep her from eating a cigarette b.u.t.t someone tossed on the only place dogs were allowed. "You sure know how to sweet-talk the ladies. No wonder Kate was so happy see you leave. And I thought she was just helping me out."

Buck laughed and threw his arm around her. "Aw, honey, Kate adores me, she just don't know it yet. Kinda like you and Ben."

Gina rolled her eyes. She was too tired to tell him he was wrong. The man was maddening.

"I might just have to get you drunk tonight so you'll sleep. That little body of yours needs a good rest, even if it is artificially induced."

"I'm fine. Now that we've seen the mountain and hit every gift shop known to man, can we leave?"

"Not before we stop for lunch. Kate's gonna want a report. I hope you're hungry. I, for one, am tired of listening to her yell at me for your lack of appet.i.te-as if I have anything to do with it. Besides, I'm gonna gain weight if I have to finish another one of your meals. I don't want to lose my boyish figure."

Gina knew to laugh on cue; she'd been doing it since she met Buck. "You're really sweet to try to cheer me up, but I have no problem with feeling like c.r.a.p." She turned and walked Jasmine around the gra.s.s as Buck trailed along beside her. "I've definitely learned my lesson about relationships. It'll take a long time for me to forget how awful they make you feel. I can't imagine how bad it would be if I actually did love Ben. The way I look at it, I'm lucky I'm incapable of loving anyone but Tina, Sam, and my friend, Rosalie. From now on, I swear I'm not going to start relationships with anyone who doesn't have fur."

"Ha, it's a good thing I'm a furry guy then, huh, Gina?"

"It's a good thing." She tugged on his beard. "You could use some manscaping though. When we get to New York, I'll have Tina give you a haircut and trim that beard and mustache. Kate won't be able to resist you once Tina's worked her magic."

Buck smiled, that gap in his teeth winking out under his bushy mustache, and stroked his beard. "Maybe I'll give your sister a try. It's been a while since I hit the barbershop."