Yours For The Taking Part 6

"He's only the half owner of this place, until the divorce, that is."

Gina shrugged. "So, it's not as if he lives here. It sounds as if he's spending most of his time in" -she snapped her fingers twice before remembering it- "Idaho."

"I can't believe you have a hard time remembering where your husband went."

"I told you we're married in name only. We went to the closing together so I could sign the doc.u.ments. I moved in, then he went his way and I went mine." Gina didn't bother telling her little sister about that kiss Ben planted on her before he'd left. She refused to think about that. She'd all but erased it from her memory bank, or she was trying to at least. The only reason she could come up with was the way the cabby was looking at her. Still, it didn't make sense that Ben would notice or even care.

"What are you thinking about that has you blushing?"

"Oh, that's a good one, Tina. I don't blush."

Tina leaned against the marble counter. "Right, that's why your cheeks just turned magenta."

Ben landed in Boise and tossed his bags into the back of the Land Rover he'd left in the hanger the last time he'd flown out. Someone had given it a wash and even detailed the inside. Not bad. He should leave it here more often. Of course, they may have washed it out of necessity-he'd left the vehicle covered with a thick layer of dust and mud which probably didn't smell so nice heated to room temperature. He'd spent the weekend winter camping and four-wheeling with his cousins in the desert and had come back so dirty, he had to take off his boots before climbing onto the jet and throw a towel over the seat before he sat down. He'd showered just as soon as they reached cruising alt.i.tude and spent the rest of the flight sleeping off a weekend of rock climbing and four-wheeling.

He headed toward his grandfather's house on the other side of the Boise Valley, stopping at a light on the rim overlooking the city. He never tired of the view. The white Capital Dome stood out against the brown foothills. The few tall buildings rose before the Boise Front.

Ben loved Boise; it was an incredible small city with enough culture to keep him happy. Between Boise and New York, Ben had everything he wanted. Well, everything but the ranch. Now that he'd lived up to his part of the bargain, he'd have that too.

Ben drove to his grandfather's house in the foothills and parked in the attached garage. He entered the alarm code at the door to the house in case Kate was there by herself, and let himself in. "Kate, I'm home."

Ben heard her stomping through the kitchen as he put his bags on the bench in the mudroom. "It's about time." He heard something being slapped down on the counter, a towel, or an ap.r.o.n maybe. "What took you so long?" Her reddish-brown hair and tanned face poked through the doorway. "Where's Gina?"

Ben dropped his jacket on the hook by the door. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but it's just me."

"You got married without even telling me and then you don't even bring the girl home to meet me?"

Ben winced. Kate may be the housekeeper, but she was way more than that-she and her kids were part of the family and Kate had been running his and his grandfather's lives since Ben's parents were killed and he'd moved in with his grandfather twenty-five years earlier. She ran the house, the estate, and single-handedly raised Ben and her four kids while living in the guesthouse a stone's throw away from his grandfather's.

Ben pulled her into a hug so he didn't have to look her in the eye. He didn't exactly lie, but he didn't tell the whole truth, either of which, in Kate's book, was the same as lying. "Gina's busy getting settled in our new house and she has work on Monday. She has her own career in New York and can't just drop everything to run here and meet my family."

Kate hugged him back and then held his shoulders searching his face. Her short hair curled around her face and seemed to be lighter than usual; could it be it was mixed with gray? He'd never noticed the fine lines feathering around her eyes and mouth as she smiled up at him.

"Karma told me you proposed to her first."

Ben winced feeling like he was sixteen again and getting caught making out on the couch. "I wasn't going to touch her, Kate, I swear. I was just going to marry her. I needed to get married..."

She placed her fingers on his lips to silence him. "I know all about it." She released him and he followed her into the kitchen where she poured coffee and handed Ben his. Ben leaned back against the granite counter and took a sip.

Kate added cream and sugar to hers. "Believe me, I don't agree with your grandfather's ultimatum." She returned the creamer to the refrigerator and sat beside him on a stool. "I tried to talk him out of it, but you know how stubborn he is. Once Joe has his mind set on something, there's no talking to him. But that doesn't make what you're doing right either. If you weren't ready to marry, you should have refused."

Ben put his coffee down and faced her. "He would have sold the ranch to a developer."

"He may have, but Ben, it's not as if you're ever going to live there. It's just a place."

"It's home."

"No, this is your home. You've lived here longer than you lived in Three Wh.o.r.es Bend."

"It's all I have left of my parents, Kate." As usual, the pain slammed into him. No matter how old he got, thinking about his parents still hurt. "I can't lose the ranch too."

Kate slid off the stool and held him close. "Honey, I've told you, you haven't lost your parents; they're with you in your heart. They're not at that ranch you disappear to every time you need to lick your wounds. Maybe the memories you have of them took place there, but they aren't. Your parents are with you always."

He'd heard her say it a million times, but the only place he felt close to his parents was at the ranch. He could still picture his mother by the stove or reading to him in the meadow, his father helping him build his fort or fixing the generator. For Ben, that was where all the memories of his parents were. Where they would always be.

She studied him. "I've always worried about you, you know-losing both your parents at such a young age. You were taken away from everything you knew and thrown into a much different world."

Ben took a sip of his coffee, set it down, and stared into it. "I was fine." The last thing he wanted to do was talk about this. It brought back too many memories-bad ones. No one wants to think of their parents flying into the side of a mountain.

Patting his hand, Kate silenced him with a nudge. "You went from being homeschooled to private school. From being an only child running around the mountains to one of five living under the same roof in town, with your grandfather introducing you to world leaders and grooming you to take over his empire. That's a lot of change and pressure for a little boy."

"I had you and Gramps. I was fine."

"You've always been a chameleon." Kate sighed. "No matter who you met or where you were, you seemed to blend right in. I kept waiting for you to react, to lash out, something... I thought for sure you would end up on a shrink's couch for the rest of your life."

"But I didn't."

Kate sipped of her coffee before dabbing her lip with a napkin. "I can't tell you how many sleepless nights I had worrying about you. I thought for sure you were burying your pain and would finally snap and show us who was really behind that chameleon persona. It never happened. It took me a while but I've realized that you are just comfortable in your own skin. No matter where you are, who you are with, you have a G.o.d-given ability to relate to anyone. Though, I don't think it would hurt you to see a shrink. You're far from perfect." She studied him in that way she had that made people want to confess all. "And you still have that little problem."

Ben wanted to roll his eyes but didn't since Kate wasn't above giving him a smack upside the head. "What problem?"

"You, Benjamin Joseph Walsh, are a card carrying commitaphobe."

Ben laughed. "Gina says I'm OCD and now you tell me I'm afraid of commitment? How can you say that? I just got married."

"Yes, but not because you're committed to your wife. The only thing you're committed to is that ranch."

"I need the ranch, Kate. It's mine."

She gave Ben a big hug before she released him. "You and Joe are on your own with this one, Benji. I've decided to stay out of it. You're a grown man and so is Joe, although sometimes you both make me wonder."

Ben bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Kate. If it makes you feel better, I don't like it much myself, but he's given me no choice. You know how much that ranch means to me."

"Maybe Joe will learn a lesson about interfering in other peoples' lives. It would serve the old goat right. Still, I'm worried about your relationship if this blows up in both your faces. He needs you, Ben. I know it seems like he's going to live forever, but he's slowing down. He needs you to pick up the slack or he's going to have to find someone else to do it."

"That's why I'm here. I figure I'll telecommute when I can, and when I can't, I'll be here."

"Have you called Karma and the boys to tell them you're home?"

Ben lifted the top off a pot she had simmering on the stove. "Not yet. This smells great. What is it?"

"Elk stew. Hunter went and filled my freezer and your grandfather's in one trip."

"I figured I'd go over to Humpin' Hannah's and surprise Karma if she's working tonight."

"She is, but I still don't know what a girl with a college degree is doing tending bar."

Oh, the same argument Kate had had with Karma since the day she graduated. "She's making great money, more than she'd make at an entry-level job."

Kate stirred the stew. "Sure she is but entry level means she wouldn't stay at that pay level for long. She'd do better as she worked her way up the corporate ladder. But no, she's all about getting paid the big bucks now."

Ben shrugged. "Karma's a smart kid. She knows what she's doing."

Kate thumped the wooden spoon on the side of the big pot with more force than necessary. "I don't like her working there until all hours."

"I know, but the boys keep an eye on her. The three of them are there all the time."

Kate shook her head as if to clear it. "So, how long are you staying?"

"I don't know. I'm in no rush to get back to New York."

"And your wife doesn't have a problem with that?"

"Gina knows the deal. It's business."

Kate held up her hand. "Stop, I don't want to hear anything else. All I want to know is that you are okay with it. That's all I care about."

"I'm fine with it."

"Good then. Why don't you take your bags up to your room while I set the table?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you better actually put your clothes away. I'm not your personal maid."

Ben smiled as her lecture followed him down the hall. It was good to be home.

The phone rang and Gina reached for it, flipped it open, and growled.

"Hi, honey, I'm home."

She rolled over and pushed her satin sleep mask off her eyes onto her forehead. "Who the h.e.l.l is this?"

Ben's deep voice came through the phone. "You've forgotten about me already?"

Gina opened one eye, the blue numbers on the clock said 11:43. "Ben? Why are you calling this late? You better have just survived a plane crash or I swear I'll make you wish you had."

She heard his soft chuckle. "Aw, you were worried about me, weren't you?"

Gina sat up and pushed the feather pillows behind her. "Yeah, that's why I was sleeping so soundly."

Tina rolled over and groaned. "Who is it?"

"Go back to sleep. It's just Ben being a pain in the a.s.s."

"Gina, who the h.e.l.l are you talking to in bed?"

The first thing that came to mind was that it was none of his business, but since they'd agreed to forgo bed partners of the opposite s.e.x, or in his case, the same s.e.x, she figured she should answer him. Still, it didn't mean she had to like it. "My sister. Sam works nights so I invited her to dinner and she ended up sleeping over."

"You have seven bedrooms and you're sleeping in the same one?"

"Yeah, so? It's not like we're sharing a twin. This thing is as big as our first apartment."

"Kinky. I like that about you."

"Yeah, you would." His gravelly voice gave her goose pimples. She rubbed her bare arms and tried to control her temper. "So is there a reason you called me in the middle of the night and woke me out of a dead sleep?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize the time. I just thought you'd like to know I arrived in Boise safe and sound."

"I know I should say thank you, but right now, I'm not feeling that charitable. I'm glad you didn't crash is about as nice as I get at this hour."

"I guess that'll have to do. Sleep well, Gina, and have a great day tomorrow. I'll give you a call tomorrow night."

"You will?"

"Yes."

"Do me a favor, then."

"Sure, what do you need?"

"If you're going to call me, do it before 11:00 my time, or the next time I see you, you'll have a real brush with death."

His low chuckle rang out until she hit the end b.u.t.ton. She missed having a real old-fashioned telephone. There was something so satisfying about slamming the phone down on an annoying caller.

Tina rolled toward her. "He sure is attentive for a relative stranger."

Gina scooted under the down duvet. She'd never slept in a bed this comfortable or under sheets this fine. She doubted they'd come from K-Mart. They felt glorious on her bare arms. "I think he just gets off on yanking my chain. Plus, he's staying with his grandfather who thinks he interrupted our honeymoon. Calling me to say he arrived safely just makes it look good for the old guy." Only his grandfather wasn't there earlier to witness that uber-confusing, not to mention meltingly hot, kiss. She still couldn't figure out what that was all about. Not that she was thinking about it.

"Oh yeah, that's why he mentioned the kink factor. He sounded weirdly jealous."

"You heard that?"

Tina pushed her hair out of her eyes. "It's not like I'm in the next room. He sounded equal parts turned on and mad."

"Tina, he was joking. Besides, we made a deal not to see anyone for the first year. I'm hoping the marriage doesn't last that long, but we both agreed to give up men just in case the old guy gets curious and sends someone to check up on us. The marriage has to look legit."

"That must be difficult to explain to your boyfriends."

Gina laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I guess it's a good thing I don't have any, and, at the moment, neither does he."

Ben hung up the phone and laughed. Gina really didn't like being woken up. He'd completely forgotten about the time change. For some reason, he just needed to talk to her.