“Why do you call him the old man?”

Joey laughed.  “He’s been bossing me around for as long as I can remember, like he thinks he’s my old man.  Lean back and relax.  I’m going to change.”  He smiled. “The neon green does nothing for my eyes.”

Joey got up and headed behind the half wall.  Apparently there was a closet.  He pulled out what appeared to be an identical black pinstripe suit.  He opened a drawer and pulled out a shirt and tie.  She really had done a number on that suit.

Chapter 9

A reunion

It was after 10:00 p.m. when they landed at the Johnson County Executive Airport.  Joey had called Ben as they were landing, and he was waiting for them when they walked out of the plane and down the stairs.  He stood, wearing his casual uniform of khaki slacks with a light weight sweater, leaning against his black Lincoln Navigator.

Joey had his left hand in the small of Jess’s back as he guided her toward Ben.  “The package is delivered,” he said, as he handed Jess’s duffle to Ben.

Ben shook hands with Joey.  “Thanks.  I owe you.”

“We’re probably even.  It worked out.  I have a whale in St. Louis.”

Joey looked at Jess and winked.  “Next time, Toots, I’ll wear my fedora for ya.” And he turned and headed back toward the plane.

Jess shook her head and mumbled, “Next time I’ll shoot you in the face.”

Ben opened the passenger door for Jess. He walked around and got in. “Better call your mother and tell her you’re making an unscheduled visit.  I’ve got someone in L.A. looking into the incident.”

Jess dialed her mother’s house.  “Hi Mom.  Did I wake you?”  She paused, “You just sound really tired.” Another pause as Lane spoke.  “I’m in town.  A friend is going to drop me at the house.  I should be there in about 15 minutes.  I’ll explain when I get home.”

Ben only heard Jess’s side of the conversation and it was enough to worry him.  “Is she all right?”

Jess looked at him; she could tell that being away from her mom was killing him.  “She said she’s okay, just a little tired.  It’s late, you know. I think I woke her.”

They both knew better than that.  Lane was almost always up at this time of night.  She’d be sitting in bed reading.  She’d go to the bedroom at ten o’clock and brush her teeth and wash her face while the news was on.  After the weather report was over, she’d turn off the TV and read.  First she’d do her devotional Bible reading and then she’d move on to whatever mystery novel she was reading.  She read between three and five books a week and under normal circumstances, there was no way Lane would be asleep at 10:45 p.m.

“I want to know if she’s sick.  If there’s anything wrong, call me.  Jess, promise me.”  Yes, he was supposed to be taking a break, needing a little space, but both he and Jess knew the truth.

“If she’s sick, I promise, I’ll call you.  But she said she was just tired.  Maybe she’s not sleeping well.”

“Yeah, I know that feeling,” he said almost to himself.

He pulled into the driveway.  “It’s good that you called the Bambino.  I’m in court tomorrow.  The prosecution is wrapping up.  We could be doing final arguments next week.  If you need anything, call my cell or the office.  They’ll get word to me even if I’m in court.”  He looked at her.  “Jess, give her a kiss for me, will you?”  He waited in the driveway until Jess was in the garage and had closed the garage door.

Lane met Jess in the mud room.  “Was that Ben?”

What could she say?  Her mother knew Ben’s SUV when she saw it.  “Yeah, he picked me up.”

“Why didn’t you call me, I’d have come to get you.”

“It was a last minute thing; I caught a ride with a friend in a private plane.  We landed at Johnson County Executive Airport and I called Ben to come get me.  I just wanted to talk to him, you know?”

She’d have to tell her mother about the stalker, but it could wait until tomorrow.  Right now, she just wanted a good night’s sleep in her own bed.

Lane put her arm around Jess’s waist and they walked together toward the bedrooms.  She knew that all three of her kids had relationships with Ben.  In fact, the day after he’d told her he needed some space, he’d taken Jake and Jamie to Neiman Marcus in St. Louis to be fitted for suits.  Suits he was getting them for the wedding that he and Lane were supposed to be having. Now he’d picked Jess up at the airport and brought her home.  Apparently, he only needed space from her.

Jess looked at her mother.  She really did look tired, and pale.  “Are you sure you’re okay?  You really look pale.”

Lane pulled Jess into her room and closed the door.  She needed to tell someone.  Maybe it was fate that had brought Jess home at just this moment.  She sat down on her bed and motioned for Jess to sit too.

“I’m fine.”  She paused. “I’m pregnant, but I’m fine.”

Jess looked at her.  Oh. My. God.  Pregnant.  She’d promised Ben she’d call if her mother was sick.  Pregnant.  Pregnant is pregnant, she thought, not sick.  “Mom, how do you feel about this?”

Lane laughed.  “Well, I admit it was a bit of a shock.  Mick McGuire came to get me for lunch today.  We went to Aunt Em’s Diner and when we walked in the door, I guess the smell of greasy food overwhelmed me and I fainted.  I woke up in the ER where I found out I’m pregnant.  I have an appointment late tomorrow morning with an OB who specializes in high risk pregnancies for women over 45.”

Mick McGuire was with her when she found out.  Jess had met him at her mother’s forty-ninth birthday party a couple of months ago.  She remembered the way he had looked at Lane.  He was so obviously enamored with her mother that Jess had felt sorry for him at the time.  But moving in on the fiancée, no check that, the pregnant fiancée, of another man wasn’t cool, no matter how much he thought he loved her mother.

“But you’re happy?  What about your break from Ben?”

Lane smiled.  “Yes, I’m happy.  Ben has to be told.  Break or no break he has a right to know.  But for right now, you and Mick are the only two people who know.”

“You told Mick before you told Ben or us kids?”  Oh, the Italian in Ben isn’t going to like that one bit. Jess wasn’t too happy about it herself.

“It was a mix-up at the hospital.  I was unconscious and Mick was there. The doctor saw my engagement ring and thought Mick was my fiancé.  She told him.  He knew before I did.”

Okay, that was an explanation, but Jess knew Ben was still not going to like it.  She hugged her mother.  “If you’re happy, I’m happy.  Get some sleep, Mom.  You really do look tired.”

“Don’t tell the boys, I want to do it.  I’d have told them tonight, but I didn’t want to tell them without telling you.”

Jess got up and went to her room.  There were two things the Parkers said about themselves.  Blood may be thicker than water but Parker blood was thicker than molasses and that the fastest forms of communication were telephone, telegraph and tell-a-Parker.  Still, she’d keep this to herself, for now.

Jess hadn’t told the boys about the conversation she’d had with Ben to get him to back away from their mom.  The Parker boys both stood six feet four inches tall and weighed between 200 and 220 pounds.  They’d both been ready to knock the crap out of Ben, but she’d convinced them that everything was fine.  Holy hell, who knows what they’ll do when they find out Mom is pregnant.  It was good that she was home to do damage control. In more ways than one.  Directing the lives of her family would leave her very little time to worry about her crazed fan.

Speaking of crazy, she wondered what the situation was with the nut jobs in Ben’s life.  Not long ago, Jess and Lane had gone out for lunch and Lane had stumbled on a body in the Ladies’ room.  The body was one of Ben’s ex-girlfriends.  The Homicide Detective was one of Ben’s ex-girlfriends and she really wanted to pin the murder on Mom.  Then the day that Jess had gone back to L.A., the receptionist at their dentist’s office had seen Mom’s engagement ring and when Ben had said he was the lucky man Lane was engaged to, Rochelle had gone to Ben’s house and broken in to convince him that she was his one true love.