He was standing in the shower his eyes closed with his face turned toward the rain showerheads in the ceiling when he felt her hand on his back. He turned and caught her in his arms. “Reducing our carbon foot print, are we?” He said and then began nuzzling her neck. Ben loved his wife and was glad to find her in the shower with him. Generally, it meant great shower sex quickly followed by a second round of more leisurely sex in their bed, which Ben often followed with a quick shower to get rid of the messy hair caused by the activity in the bed. This morning followed that delightful pattern.
He stepped out of his second shower, went to his closet to dress, and went back into the bedroom expecting to find Lane getting dressed. She wasn’t in the bedroom, and Ben heard sobs coming from her closet. Ben found her, sitting on the floor, wearing only her underwear, crying. He sat on the floor next to her, put his arms around her, and held her as he rocked gently back and forth.
As he stroked her hair, he murmured. “Shhh, don’t cry. Whatever it is, I’ll fix it.”
He was worried that she was having a delayed reaction to Jamie finding a body yesterday. When he got her calmed enough to talk, she told him that her jeans were too tight and she was barely three months along and while she wasn’t trying to hide her pregnancy from anyone, she didn’t want to have to start wearing maternity clothes yet. His solution was simple; he reached into his pocket and produced a Black American Express card. A shopping spree for what he called tween clothes was in order. He could go with her or she could take Jess. Either way, the card, he handed her, had her name on it.
She looked up at him, tears still welling up. “Why are you so good to me?”
He shook his head. “God, Red. I love you and that’s all that matters.” He waved his hand around signifying the nearly 6000 square foot house that had been his and was now theirs. “Everything else is just stuff.”
She started crying again and he picked her up and carried her to their bed. He went into the bathroom, got a face cloth, and sat on the bed holding her hand as he smoothed the cool damp cloth across her forehead and around her eyes.
“I love you.” She said when she’d finally gained control again. “It’s just the hormones.”
He kissed her forehead. “I love you. I’m here, Red, whatever we need to do. Whatever it takes. Whatever it costs. I just hate to see you cry.”
She smiled at him. She knew it was hormone overload. After all, this was her fourth pregnancy and while the last one had been almost 18 years ago, she could still remember the crying jags that could be triggered by anything or by nothing at all.
He smoothed a lock of hair away from her face and kissed her again. God, sometimes he couldn’t believe how much he loved her. “Everything’s going to be fine.” He’d do everything humanly possible to make sure of it. “What time does Jess get in today?” He asked, knowing full well when Jess’s flight would land. He just wanted to get Lane to focus on something else.
“Her flight gets in at one. I’ll leave here around noon to pick her up.”
Ben glanced at the clock. It was almost nine o’clock. He needed to talk to Tanner and see what he’d found out overnight. He had seen Jamie in their home gym earlier and knew he was probably in the kitchen. During football season, it seemed like they couldn’t keep enough food in the house for Jamie.
“I need to check in with Tanner this morning, but maybe I can go with you to get Jess.” He wondered if he should say anything about helping her find something to wear. He rubbed her abdomen and even though she was lying on her back, there was a definite bump.
She saw his thoughtful smile as he rubbed her baby bump. It seemed to have expanded overnight. She smiled. She could almost hear the Italian macho voice in his head. “This is my baby.” She tugged his arm so he lay next to her and she nestled against him. “I have some leggings and a long sweater I can throw on for now. Maybe Jess and I can shop this afternoon for a couple of things. There’s no way I’m going near the mall after today for at least a week, maybe longer.”
He knew what she meant. He had always thought that a person would have to be crazy to go near the mall anytime during Thanksgiving weekend. Yet, they were going to be in St. Louis Friday night and Saturday, and he hated to waste a trip to St. Louis. He could always stand to order another Brioni suit from Neiman’s.
Ben loved his wife beyond anything he ever thought was possible and he would like nothing better than to stay in bed and hold her in his arms for the rest of the day, yet he had things that needed to be done today. He kissed her gently. “Let me check-in with Tanner while you dress and then maybe we can go out and grab some breakfast.”
“Remember to invite him for Thanksgiving dinner.” Lane called as Ben closed the bedroom door.
Ben went into his home office, picked up the phone, and dialed Tanner’s cell phone.
“Tanner.”
“Any news?”
“Nothing new from the police. I have feelers out to some people on the odds angle; did Tony point you to his bookie?”
“He didn’t need to give me the name, I know who it is. I’ll make that phone call today.”
“I still want to do some checking on the assistant coach. Jamie asked me last night if he could hang with me today. If it’s all right with you and his Mother, I thought I’d let him ride shotgun today. Maybe I can find out more about the team, see if there are any rifts between the coach and any of the players or the coach and parents.”
“Yeah, that would keep him out of danger and give Lane and Jess some girl time this afternoon. Let me check with him and Lane. I’ll call you back.”
Ben ended the call and walked to the kitchen where he found both Lane and Jamie. “Hey, Bambino. I’m planning on taking your mother out for breakfast.” He said as he patted Jamie’s shoulder. “Would you like to join us or would you rather hang out with your protection detail for the day?”
Almost nothing kept Jamie from eating and Lane was surprised when she heard him say, “I’ll hang with Mr. Tanner. I can call him. He gave me his cell number last night.”
Jamie stepped away from the kitchen table and used his cell to call Tanner.
“Tanner.”
“Mr. Tanner? It’s Jamie Parker. My folks say I can hang with you for the day.”
Tanner laughed. “Okay, Kid. I’m on my way there now. I should be there in about ten minutes.”
Jamie ended the call and turned to face Ben and Lane. “He’ll be here in about ten minutes. You guys could go to breakfast now if you want. I’ll be fine until he gets here.”
“Bambino, there’s no doubt about that, but I need to talk to Tanner, and if he’s that close we’ll just wait until he’s here.”
Jamie eyed Ben suspiciously, thinking the truth was that they didn’t want to leave Jamie alone. God, he’d be glad when this mess was sorted out and he could get back to a normal life. He’d been the baby of the family for a long time and was used to the way the family sometimes still treated him as though he was six, and he’d be glad to relinquish his “title” to the new baby of the family when he or she arrived.
Lane went into the bedroom and pulled on a pair of riding boots that would look good with the leggings and sweater she’d put on earlier. She had just grabbed her purse and tucked her new American Express card into her wallet when her cell phone rang. She checked the caller ID as she picked it up and pushed the talk button.
“Jess? What’s up?”
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m bringing someone home with me for Thanksgiving.”
“Jess, you know that’s fine. The more the merrier. I’ll pick you up at 1:00.”
“No, Mom, Gabe wants to rent a car.”