Dante smiled.  “Mama and I are here if you need anything.”

Ben nodded.  “Jess is coming home tomorrow and Lane is taking the day off.  I think we just need to be sure he’s not alone and we need to keep him busy so he doesn’t have time to think about it.”

Dante nodded his understanding.

Ben inclined his head toward the Board Room, “I’d better get back.  I’ve stepped into the kitchen twice tonight.  Lane’s going to start wondering what I’m doing.”

As Ben turned to go back to the Board Room, Dante pushed a CD into the sound system and pushed the play button.  “Make them think you’ve been back here cooking up a surprise.  Go ask your bride to dance.”

It was the CD that Ben had playing when he’d proposed to Lane.  Ben smiled at his father.  “With pleasure.  Thanks.”

Ben walked back to the table.  “Dance with me.”  He said as he extended his hand to Lane.

She took his hand and stood.  The main dining room didn’t have a dance floor, but the Board Room did and this wasn’t the first time that they had used it.

Jake looked at Meg and inclined his head toward the dance floor.  Meg nodded and stood.  Abbey reached her hands up.  Jake laughed, and as he picked her up, he said.  “I guess I get to dance with two beautiful girls.”

Ben smiled as he watched Jake carry Abbey to the dance floor.  Remembering that it was the way he and his siblings first learned to dance.  Before they were big enough to dance with a partner, they had “danced” as their parents held them.  His parents, Dante and Teadora Bellini, had taught him and all four of his siblings children to dance, and it suddenly occurred to Ben that while he and Lane had been dancing here and at home for months now, he’d never asked her where she learned.

In a low and sexy whisper he said, “So, Red, are you just naturally good at following my lead, or did you have lessons sometime in your past?”

Lane, who had her head against his chest as they danced, leaned back to look at Ben and gave a coy smile. “Well, darling, I’m just good at following your lead.”

Ben could tell there was more to the story, but replied, “Yes, on and off the dance floor.”  He laughed and kissed the top of her head, “But really, where did you learn to dance?”

Lane smiled. “Really, Philip and I took ballroom dancing lessons.  The place where we took lessons had a mixer where we went to dance almost every Sunday night.”

Ben loved to dance, and it seemed few women really knew how.  It was just one more way that he considered himself lucky.

Jamie and Tanner sat alone at the table.  Jamie looked at Roy Tanner. “Mr. Tanner?”

“What is it, Jamie?’

“What are you and Dad going to do tomorrow to figure out who killed Coach?”

Tanner looked at Jamie.  “That depends.”  He looked at his watch.  “I’ll give the detectives a call after dinner and see if they have anything they’re willing to share.  Depending on what I get from Duncan, I’ll decide what steps I want to take next.  Don’t worry about anything, Jamie.  We’ll figure this thing out.”

“I know.  It’s just that I think I want to help.  I thought maybe since you’re school’s cancelled tomorrow and you’re on protection detail, that I could hang out with you tomorrow.”

It was all Tanner could do to swallow his coffee instead of choke on it.  Ben would kill him if anything happened to Jamie and even if by some miracle, Ben didn’t kill him, he’d never forgive himself.

Yet, he still heard himself say, “Call me in the morning, and we’ll talk about what’s going on.”  As he handed a business card with his cell number on it to Jamie.

Chapter 10

In the weeks since the wedding, Ben and Lane had worked through most of the things that rock households when two people who are used to doing everything themselves are suddenly merged together.  Even the seemingly small mundane things like doing laundry, cooking, and shopping had been an adjustment for each of them.  Ben sent everything but underwear and workout clothes out to a laundry service or the dry cleaner.  He even sent his linens out to a service.  Ben and Lane had very definite ideas about how to do their personal laundry, and they had agreed they should each continue to do their own. Lane had insisted that her children learn to do their own laundry by the time they had turned 12, so Jamie continued to handle his own clothes.

Ben had a cleaning service come in weekly to take care of the house and just because he had a wife now, he saw no reason that Lane should take over the cleaning duties.  That had been a welcome adjustment for Lane.  Ben had a service, Grocerygopheropks.com, who did his grocery shopping and Lane welcomed that too.  Naturally, Ben shared the cooking duties; growing up with a family in the restaurant business had made Ben a fabulous cook and he made dinner at least twice a week.

Both Lane and Ben were both taking Wednesday off.  Jess was coming home and Lane would be making an airport run sometime in the early afternoon.  Ben planned to work in his home office for part of the day since he was still doing some pre-trial prep.

Ben slept in a bit Wednesday morning, but he was still up, had done his 10-mile run, finished his work out, and was back in the master suite.  It was nearing eight o’clock when he paused in the bedroom to watch Lane as she slept, before quietly going into the bathroom to shave and shower.

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.”