She dressed as she mused. She knew Ben had dated a number of women, and she knew him to be monogamous. Serially monogamous is how she'd say it. She on the other hand, hadn't dated much. When the kids were younger, she hadn't dated because she didn't want to take a chance of messing up their lives any more than the divorce had done already. Of course, that hadn't been her idea. And, even though it took years of therapy to convince her, it hadn't been her fault either. Her husband, Phillip had discovered, or come to grips with the fact that he was gay. Either way, it really had nothing to do with her. It was all about Phillip. Just as Gus’s infidelity was all about Gus, not about her. But, the two experiences still made her, perhaps less than trusting where men were concerned.
Still, she'd moved three years ago and she'd met Ben they had become friends. And, even though neither of them called the time they spent together dating, they did spend every Saturday night together. They talked together on the phone several times a week. When either of them was out of town during their Saturday night, they'd get together as soon as everyone was back. That was, unless it was on Ben's Friday night date night. As far as Lane knew, in all of the time she'd known him he had never had a free Friday night until three nights ago. So now what, she wondered.
She wondered if Pauli had returned and if the guys were dressed and ready to go. She wondered if she should pack or if they'd be staying another night. She was supposed to be back at work on Wednesday, so no matter what she'd have to head back to KC Tuesday. Lane knocked on the door between their rooms.
Pauli opened the door. "Ben's in the shower. You can come in if you're not worried about being accused of flirting with me."
She laughed. "I'll just sit over there in that chair and read. That should be safe."
She walked toward the chair as Pauli sat on the sofa. Who knows what possessed her, she picked up the throw pillow from the chair and threw it at him. They both laughed, but he left the pillow next to him where it had fallen. Ben came out of the bathroom completely dressed.
"I was thinking we could grab some breakfast before you need to meet Maggie at the airport.” He walked to Lane and bent to kiss her but paused to whisper in her ear "I could get used to waking up this way, you know." Then he brushed his lips across hers.
He looked at Pauli. "Wasn't that pillow in the chair earlier?"
Both Lane and Pauli looked at him with all the innocence they could muster. "I think it might have been." Pauli said.
Lane looked at the Bellini men. "Maggie gets in at 9:45. So, we only have about an hour. Shall we try the hotel restaurant? It's only a few minutes from here to the airport and we could wait until she calls to leave."
Ben handed her his keys. "Why don't you pick her up? I'll ride with Pauli and we'll meet you at the hospital.
They were seated quickly, ordered breakfast and were able to talk while they enjoyed coffee and Diet Coke.
"So, Dr. Bellini, what's your specialty?"
"I'm doing my ER rotation right now, but I hope to go into orthopedic surgery. I'd like to do sports medicine. What do you do, Ms. Parker?"
She smiled at him "Please, call me Lane. I'm the Chief Privacy Officer at Telco Unlimited."
Before Pauli could ask what a Chief Privacy Officer did, Ben asked. "With all of the other excitement, I forgot to ask, did you talk to the kids last night?"
Pauli looked at his brother. He was dating a woman who had kids, interesting. As he recalled, kids had always been a showstopper for his brother. He must really have it bad for Lane if he was willing to overlook kids.
"Jess called to say they'd made it to L.A. They had everything unloaded and all was well. I'd been able to let them know we'd found Jeff. Jake especially was happy to hear it. Jamie told me Jess had let him have a turn driving through the desert. "
Pauli looked from Lane to Ben. Her kids drove to L.A. How old were her kids he wondered. Was it impolite to ask the ages of a woman's kids, the same way it was impolite to ask a woman's age? Maybe they were visiting their father in L.A. That had to be it; he had to have misunderstood something.
"Are your kids visiting their father in L.A.?" Pauli asked as their meals arrived.
"No, my daughter, Jess is a student at UCLA. My sons drove out with her to help move into the condo I bought for her." She could have been evasive, could have said that their father lived in Chicago. But, this would be the test Lane guessed. Ben had gotten used to their 12-year age difference, but how would he take it when he realized that she had children about the same age as his youngest brother. What the heck, just as well get all of it out in the open.
"My son, Jake is a grad student at KU, Jess is a sophomore at UCLA, and my youngest Jamie will be a senior at Rockhurst this fall. They're quite old enough to drive across the country or so they convinced me, not without a great deal of help from your brother, might I add."
Pauli was doing some quick math in his head. Ben was 36 and Lane couldn't be much more than that so she'd had her first kid when she was what 12? He shook his head. He didn't know what a Chief Privacy Officer did, but he did know that "C" level positions were very high in a corporation. Not that it couldn't be done, but most teenaged mothers didn't grow up to have "C" level positions he was sure about that.
Ben's phone rang and he excused himself to take the call. Lane smiled at Pauli. She could tell he was, either trying to figure out how old she was or how she got kids who were almost his age. She was trying to decide if she should just tell him her age, or if she should let Ben deal with it. If nothing came of her relationship with Ben, then it didn't matter.
Ben rejoined them. "That was Tanner. Blondie made a deal. She rolled over on Daddy and neither you nor Jeff will have to testify. In fact Jeff won't even need to pick her out of a line-up."
Before she had a chance to comment, Lane's phone rang. "Looks like this is Maggie, excuse me." Lane said as she stood and stepped away from the table.
Ben looked at Pauli. "Here's the deal, I know she doesn't look it, but Lane is 12 years older than I am. Yes, she has grown children and I don't care. It's no one's business other than ours, and I've convinced Lane it doesn't matter, so don't you dare make a big deal out of it. Got it? If you have anything and I mean anything to say about it, you hold it until Lane's gone to get Maggie."
Pauli was speechless. He was a doctor. While he hadn't examined Lane, based on his observations, he would swear - that is testify in court - that she wasn't even 40 yet. In the short time he'd spent with her, his observation was she was beautiful, sexy, smart, and funny.
Lane returned to the table. "Maggie's flight has just landed, and I need to take off. I'll see you at the hospital. Dr. Bellini."
Both men stood. Ben gave her a quick kiss. "Drive carefully."
Pauli smiled. "My friends call me Paul, as you know my family call me Pauli. Please feel free to call me by whichever name makes you most comfortable."
Lane leaned forward and hugged him. "I think Pauli doesn't sound right from someone who hasn't known you your whole life. See you soon Paul." She grabbed her purse and left the restaurant.