Cynthia lasered Tess with a cool look, her lithe five-foot-nine in stiletto heels making Tess look like a little girl. “Ah, yes, you’re the sweet neighbor who bakes brownies for Ben.”
Bobbing her head, Tess patted Ben on the back like a bosom buddy. “Among other things or else the man would starve, wouldn’t you, Ben?”
Ben absently loosened his collar with a finger, his grin as stiff as Tess’s. Yep, and something tells me I will again ...
Cynthia sidled close to ruffle her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. “Oh, I don’t know—we had some pretty long days in Libya as I recall, but we always managed to eat.” Slipping him a seductive wink, she bumped his hip with her own. “Among other things.”
Ben’s heart stopped the moment Tess’s body went stiff, her eyes dilating in apparent interest. “Libya?” she said with a rapt tip of her head. “You were in Libya?”
Cynthia hooked her arm to Ben’s, and he froze. All words fused to his tongue while she smiled up at him as if they shared a secret.
A deadly secret.
One about to explode in his face.
“Oh, only for a month,” Cynthia gushed, obviously caught up in the wonder of her very first medical mission trip. “But it was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life.”
“I’ll bet.” Tess’s smile stretched so wide, Ben thought it might crack.
“So …” Cynthia pivoted to adjust the lapels of Ben’s suit coat. “Come on, Ben,” she said in a pouty tone, “how ’bout that dance?” She peered at Tess over a bronzed shoulder, her smile patronizing at best. “Your neighbor won’t mind, will you, Tess?”
Ben gripped Cynthia’s hands to remove them from his chest. “Cynthia, no—”
“Don’t give it another thought, Ben, please.” Tess snatched the chain strap of her evening bag from the back of her chair and slung it over her shoulder, jaw tight enough to snap. “I certainly don’t intend to.”
His stomach lurched as he reached for her hand. “Tess, wait—”
She jerked free, shoving her chair in so hard, the glasses teetered on the table. “He’s all yours,” she said with a quivering jut of her chin, constricting his gut when he saw a sheen of tears in her eyes. “For the rest of his miserable life.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Hey, you’re awfully quiet, Teach, or have I been talking your ear off?”
Shannon managed a smile as she glanced over at Sam while they waited at a red light. Although it wasn’t hard to do given the way he’d been bubbling over since they’d gotten in the car—like a boy at Christmas who’d just scored the latest Sony PlayStation with five of his dream-list games. Her smile tipped as she patted one of her ears. “Nope, ears still here, so I must just be tired, although happily so after hearing such good news.”
For Sam.
Not me.
The flash of his grin filled both the car and her heart as he veered onto the highway, from zero to sixty in under five seconds—both Sam and the car. A smile tickled at the edge of her lips.
“I’ve said it before, Shan, and I’ll say it again—you missed your calling as a shrink or counselor, my friend, because every single thing you’ve told me to do has worked like a charm.”
She expelled a quite sigh. She should be happy—Sam’s burgeoning romance with Jasmine was going as well as Princess Olivia’s with the playboy, well on track for their “Love Everlasting.” Chest expanding with the need for more air, Shannon leaned back in the leather seat with a wry smile. “Charms imply magic, Doc. I prefer to think of it as prayers and a healthy dose of self respect.”
His low chuckle vibrated like the chassis beneath them. “Well, whatever you want to call it, kiddo, it sure worked.”
For one of us, at least. Resting her hand on the open window, Shannon closed her eyes. How she wished the balmy breeze that fluttered stray wisps of her hair could blow the malaise from her mind as well.
His fingers skimmed her arm, and warm chills followed in their wake, having little to do with the crisp air or rush of speed in a Vette on a highway. “And it’s all due to you, Shan, the true ‘Doctor Love.’” Flipping his blinker to exit the expressway, he shot another grin. “Hey, you could go in business as the Date Doctor! You know, like in the movie, Hitch?”
Her lips curved as she shook her head, eyes still closed while she rested against the seat. “No credentials, Doc. One really bad relationship doesn’t exactly qualify on a resume. Besides,” she said, opening her eyes to pin him with a look, “after you, I’m going back into hiding.”
For good.
“Well, that’s a crying shame, Teach, because you’ve got a real knack.”
I know—falling for the wrong guys.
“I mean, if you’d told me two months ago that Jazz would hint at breaking up with Mr. Wonderful to come back to me” —he melted her with a crooked grin— “which is a first, by the way, since I’m the one who asked her to come back the last two times—I would have said you’re nuts. And yet, here I am, the ‘good friend’ she says she can trust and rely on, getting positive vibes from the woman I love.” He unleashed a soft exhale of air, the sound pure contentment. “She told me tonight she thinks she made a mistake dating the intern and wanted to know what I thought she should do.”
Shannon’s breath hitched in her throat. “What’d you tell her?” she whispered, half hoping he hadn’t taken her advice to play it straight with integrity rather than swooping in for the kill.
Both his smile and tone were steady and calm. “Told her what you told me, Teach—that choosing a person to love for life is huge and one of the most important decisions she’ll ever make. Said she needed to think about it long and hard, weighing his love for her against his love for himself. And that she needed to make darn sure it was a love that could weather life’s storms and fickle feelings.” He looked her way, a deep and serious respect glowing in his eyes. “Unconditional love, Shannon, like you taught me, where we sacrifice our needs for the sake of the person we care about, establishing a rock-solid love we can count on no matter what.”
“A love everlasting,” she whispered, the kind of love her soul had ached for with Eric. And the kind of love that was only rooted in faith.
“Yep.” A twinkle lit in his eyes as he slapped on the blinker again when they approached her exit. “And then I quoted one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.” He glanced her way to deliver a wink. “I said ‘a love worth having is a love worth praying for,’ so she needed to do that too.”
Tears stung at the back of Shannon’s lids.
“So, you see, Teach, you taught me about the kind of forever love I never even knew existed or had even seen before, and I’m pretty sure Jazz hasn’t either.” His chest rose and fell in a satisfied sigh. “Till now.” Voice husky, he grazed her arm again. “I owe you my life, Shannon, in more ways than one, and I wish there was something I could do to express how grateful I am.”
She angled toward him, displacing his fingers. “Just be happy, Sam,” she whispered, unable to thwart the sheen of tears in her eyes, “that’s all the thanks I need.”
“Hey …” He reached to caress the side of her face with his thumb, dark brows pinched with concern. “What’s wrong? This doesn’t change anything between us, I promise. We’ll always be friends, kiddo, so why the saltwater?”
Because … we’ll always be friends.
She quickly swiped at her eyes, relieved when he pulled into her driveway where the darkness could hide the heat in her cheeks. “I guess I’m just worried about my mom,” she said quietly, grateful it was the truth even if it wasn’t all of it. She took the tissue he pulled out of his console. “Cat said Mom left early because she didn’t feel well, asking Chase to give her a lift home since Jack drove his two-seater. But she’s not answering her cell, so I suspect she forgot to recharge the battery again.” Shannon dabbed at her eyes, a semblance of a smile resurfacing. “She calls herself a space cadet, which certainly fits when it comes to her
phone.” Drawing in a deep breath, Shannon released it again in a wavering sigh. “But Ben left right after that, promising to check on her, so hopefully she’s okay.”
“Yeah.” Sam turned the car off and shifted to face her, reaching across to twine his fingers through hers. “Probably just a headache from the band—it was pretty loud tonight. Which is fine for us wild clubber types, but not for normal people.” He squeezed her hand, his voice suddenly as serious as his eyes. “I treasure your friendship, Shannon,” he said quietly, grazing her knuckles with his thumb, “and oddly enough, your prayers.” He sagged back into his seat, breaking the clasp of their hands. “Because God knows I’m going to need a boatload to say no to Jazz if we get back together.” He cut loose with a grunt. “Especially if I propose, which given this new morality kink you’ve introduced into my life, should be rather soon.”
“It’ll be worth it, Sam, I promise.”
He assessed her beneath dark lashes. “Well, you’ve never lied to me yet, Angel Eyes, so I’m putting my money on you.” He jagged a brow. “Unless, of course, gambling is off-limits in your world too?”
“No comment.” A smile twitched on her lips as she gathered her purse and shawl.
He stilled her with a hand to her arm, the tenderness in his eyes warming her from the inside out. “As God is my witness, Shan, I’ve never met anyone as wholesome as you, not to mention a woman with such a pure heart.”
She shook her head, blood broiling her cheeks. “Nobody has a ‘pure heart,’ Sam, least of all me.”
“I don’t buy it. Believe me, I’ve dated my fair share of liberated women, and after just months knowing you, I’m pretty sure you rank right at the top of the purity scale. And I’ll even bet that moron you dated gave you plenty of grief for your commitment to stay pure, didn’t he?”
“He did,” she said quietly, too ashamed to admit that she’d failed in that commitment, at least not to this man she was hoping to nudge toward morality.
“See? That’s what I mean—you’re an anomaly in today’s society—untainted and pure.”
Her pulse stuttered along with her words. “Oh, Sam, no—”
“Strangely enough,” he continued, cutting her off with a wink, “despite my proclivity for wild women, I’ve always been a sucker for ‘pure,’ so who knows?” One edge of his mouth crooked as he opened his door. “I just might like celibacy till marriage more than I think.”
Shannon’s heart pounded as he circled the car to open her door. Tell him.
He grinned. “And then again, maybe not, because it sure isn’t going to be easy. But the way I figure it, Teach, is if you can do it, I can too.” He helped her out and gave her a quick hug before walking her to the door. “And if all this works out the way I hope and Jazz and I do tie the knot someday, Jack may be my ‘best man,’ Shan, but when it comes to counselor and best friend? You’ll always be my ‘best woman.’”
She blinked.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. Thanks for being my date tonight. It sure didn’t hurt for Jazz to see me dancing with a hot babe and having fun, good friend or no.”
He gave a wave on the way to his car, and she returned a half-hearted one of her own. She watched until his brake lights disappeared down the street before she slipped into the house, a cramp in her heart.
Yeah, best woman. She swiped at the tears springing to her eyes.
Wrong girl.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Never thought I’d say this, but thank you, God, for that stupid hedge.
Dabbing a tissue to her swollen eyes, Tess rose from the chair she’d tucked in the shadows behind her patio, her hiding place for the last hour while she’d waited for Ben to go to bed. He’d banged on all her doors and phoned and texted nonstop, but she’d ignored it all. Including the last call and text over forty minutes ago, right before his backyard light went out, turning the stupid hedge into an insurmountable black wall.
Like my heart.
She’d been so upset, she’d driven home and gone straight to bed, feigning sleep when both Shannon and Cat had peeked in, never more grateful Davey had spent the night with Spence. She didn’t want to talk to anybody right now, least of all the man who had just shattered her heart into a million pieces.
“We had some pretty long days in Libya as I recall, but we always managed to eat.” Tess’s eyelids weighted closed as she swayed on her feet. “Among other things.”
Other things.
The stupid leak in her eyes started up again and she blew her nose hard, the earlier click of his slider lock indicating Ben was safely in bed and long gone.
“Just like me tomorrow morning,” she muttered, her bags packed and stowed in her car while a note to the twins lay on the kitchen table.
Cat and Shan, I left early to spend a few days with Lynne Feuerstein at her Hilton Head beach house, probably till Tuesday. Spoke with her last night, and she needs a good friend right now—lots of heartache going on.
Tess fought the rise of more tears as she fisted the envelope that contained Ben’s ring. And it’s all mine.
I already called Davey to let him know, so if you could just pick him up from his overnight at Spence’s and keep an eye on him for a few days, I’d really appreciate it. You can reach me on my cell. I promise it’s charged. Love, Mom.
Releasing a shuddering sigh, she swiped at her eyes and marched down the driveway with purpose. She needed to get away to think and pray, and as a recent widow, Lynne had been begging her to come, so the timing was perfect.
Unlike Tess’s love life.
With a quick glance at her watch, she peeked around the hedge, satisfied to see that Ben’s Range Rover was obviously in the garage and all lights were out. One o’clock. She’d never gone over to his house this late because Ben was usually in bed early, even before he and Tess had gotten together. An image of the leggy Dr. Andreyuk standing in Ben’s kitchen a year ago in a barely-there bikini suddenly surfaced, taunting her with a whole new take on being “in bed,” and the waterworks started all over again.
“No!” She strode toward the wooden gate with shoulders back and head high. “I will not allow Ben Carmichael to do this to me,” she hissed, resolve coursing through her veins as she unlatched the gate that was, thankfully, on the other side of the house from where Dr. Doom and everyone slept.
Dr. Doom. Tess unloaded another grunt. Now there was a nickname that certainly nailed it to the wall. “Just like I plan to do to you once I get my hands on you … you …middle-aged Romeo,” she muttered, relieved that anger was finally chasing the tears away. But nails and walls would have to wait because she was in no frame of mind to confront Dr. Doom right now, not unless she was fond of manslaughter.
Which was a distinct possibility at the moment.
Tiptoeing to the corner of the house, she paused, surveying Ben’s darkened backyard. Satisfied all was quiet, Tess inched her way to the slider door where Ben had installed an oversized mailbox last year. Right after Lacey left a bag of homemade cookies tied to the handle when Ben wasn’t home. Poor, sweet Beau had snarfed the entire bag of cookies down before Ben could even stop him, puking them all over Ben’s bed. Tess opened the mailbox with painstaking care, an evil smile sprouting on her lips at the memory.
Poor Ben.
Her mouth took a slant. She was tempted to go home and bake cookies just to do it all over again. The slant curved into a deliciously slow smile.
Laced with MiraLAX and ipecac.
“I thought you didn’t like sneaking around?”
With a throat-cramping squeal, Tess vaulted at least three inches in the air while the envelope flew even higher, pretty darn sure she was going into cardiac arrest. “Are you deranged?” she shrieked, gaping at Ben as he nonchalantly rose from a lawn chair hidden in the bushes at the back of his yard. She slammed a palm to her chest, rib cage heaving so hard, she thought she might puke. Which could come in handy if he came close enough ... “Oh my gosh, what kind of crazy lunatic sits in the
bushes in the middle of the night?”
“The same kind that stalks into a neighbor’s yard at one in the morning, I guess,” he said in a casual tone, strolling forward with hands in the pockets of his Gap pajama bottoms. If she wasn’t so ticked, she would have rolled her eyes at the T-shirt Lacey gave him for Christmas that said, “When Hearts Break, I Fix ‘Em.”
Yeah? Well not this time, Doc.
He nodded to the envelope at her feet, a faint smile on his lips as he slowly approached. “What’d you bring me? Restraining order, lawsuit, or cyanide?”
She jutted her chin, shoulders squared for battle. “I guess you’ll just have to find out after I leave.” Spinning on her heel, she tossed a squinty-eyed glare over her shoulder as she strode toward the gate. “I’d say ‘good night, Doc,’ but I wouldn’t mean it. And unlike some people I know, I don’t lie.”
Oh!
In one violent whoosh, the breath left her lungs when he pinned her to the wall of his house, biceps taut as he held her in place with a grim smile, not even breaking a sweat. Never would she imagine a middle-aged man could move that fast, but then Ben kept himself in great shape. She squirmed to break free. For Dr. Barbie, no doubt.
“You didn’t really think I’d let you walk away, did you, Tess?” he said in a calm tone that held the slightest bit of an edge. “After camping out in the weeds to catch you on one of your infamous midnight treks?” His lips curved in a tight smile, eyes far more sober than the tease in his tone. “You are so predictable, Ms. O’Bryen.”
Her brows slashed high. “Yeah? I’ll-show-you-‘predictable,’ you … you … womanizing, two-timing, lower-than-dirt brute!” Thrashing beneath his iron grip, she reared up a knee, which he promptly disarmed with a knee of his own, butted tightly against hers to lock her in place.
“So, is this how it’s going to be, then?” he said, finally showing some exertion with heavier breathing. “Being married to you? Running away instead of discussing things like a rational human being?”