She put the take-out bag on the breakfast bar and started to leave the kitchen when Ben spoke to her.

“Jess, could I talk to you in the family room for a minute?”  She turned a frosty stare toward him but followed him anyway.

She stood, arms crossed across her chest, and stared up into his eyes.  “What?”

“I know you’re pissed about last night, and I do owe you an apology.  Not for everything, but you were right about your mother deserving a better proposal than the one I’d planned to deliver last night.  I’m sure she’ll tell you about it, I just wanted you to know that you were right and to say I’m sorry.”

“I know you love my mother.  I forgive you, because I think I understand where you were coming from, but just so you know, there aren’t enough shoes in the world to make up for your comment about my little stage.”

Ben looked at her, really looked.  He hadn’t realized how much he’d hurt her.  He regretted saying it and yet he still meant every word of it.

“So, can we get past this?”

“I told you, already forgiven.  We’re already past the proposal.”

“So, are you going to call me Dad?”

“Don’t push it,” she said as turned and left the room.

Jess looked at Lane.  “I raided your closet.  Come talk to me while I change out of your top.”

Jess followed Lane to her room.

Ben looked at the boys.

“I can fill in a couple of blanks in the timeline,” he said as he handed Jamie’s timeline to Jake.

“I only dated Liza for a couple of weeks.  She was a student getting her graduate degree while she was a cheerleader.  We broke up just before the stalking stopped.  And, I didn’t meet Carol Anne until she was already at KEAU.”  He looked at Jake.  “Carol Anne did call me the week before last to say she was going to be in town and wanted to get together.  I told her I was with someone and we’d have to play it by ear.  But I had no intention of meeting her, at least not without your mother.  She didn’t say what she wanted and I didn’t ask.”  He looked at Jake.  “And before you ask, your mother knows she called me.”

Lane sat on her bed as Jess changed.  They were closer than any other mother and daughter that either of them knew.  Lane hadn’t had a mother to have a relationship with, and she treated Jess the way that she had longed to have a mother treat her as she was growing up.  A co-worker had once told Lane that her relationship with Jess was abnormal.  During a family counseling session, Lane had asked about it and the counselor had assured her that while it was unusual, it wasn’t an unhealthy relationship.

“So tell me all about the proposal,” Jess said as she sat on the bed with her mother.

Lane glowed as she told Jess about the roses lining the aisle to the gazebo.  She showed Jess the necklace. “He said it was because I hold the key to his heart.”

Jess looked at the ring, which she knew had to be at least 10 carats.  Ben had done the proposal that her mother deserved.  Jess’s heart softened a little.

“When I told him he was going to spoil me, he said, ‘only for the rest of your life.’  I didn’t know how much I loved him.  He’s a good man, and he loves me and my kids.  Jess, are you happy for me?”

Jess smiled.  Of course she was happy for her mother, and deep in her heart, she cared for Ben too.  But he’d hurt her and she remembered the old adage, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.  She’d never let a man get close to her.  If you don’t let them get close, they can’t hurt you.  She knew her mother had been married twice, and she remembered the man her mother had dated in Omaha.  Her mother was naïve and far more resilient than anyone she knew, but she wasn’t her mother.

“He wants to get married right away.”

“Mom, it takes time to plan a wedding.”

“I told him that and he made a good argument that I need a dress, he needs a tux, we need you kids and a church.”  She saw the look on Jess’s face.  “Jess, the wedding isn’t the important part.  It’s what happens afterward that’s important.  I love him.  He loves me.  And as you have pointed out, it’s like we’ve been dating for the last three years.  I’m not in my twenties and we don’t know how long we have.  There’s no reason to wait.”

Chapter 16

Tuesday

It was Tuesday, flower delivery day, and before lunch Meg brought the flowers into Lane’s office.  “There are an extra dozen roses today.  Anything you want to tell me?”

“As a matter of fact, yes and I’m sure the number means something.  I need a cheat sheet.” She smiled as she waved Meg to a visitor chair and held out her left hand.

It was the biggest diamond Meg had ever seen.

“So when’s the big day?”

“Ben’s picking me up for an early lunch so we can go apply for the marriage license.”  She laughed.  She couldn’t believe that the gorgeous Ben Bellini who was Kansas City’s most eligible bachelor only yesterday had not only proposed, but was indeed rushing her to the alter.  “He wants to get married before Jess leaves for L.A.  We’re looking at a small intimate ceremony Friday with a big reception later.”

Meg’s eyes were wide as she shook her head in a cross between amazement and disbelief.  “That man doesn’t mess around, does he?”

At eleven o’clock, Ben picked Lane up at her office, and they went together to the Johnson County clerk’s office to apply for the marriage license.  He couldn’t believe how much he’d missed her and they’d only been apart for 12 hours.  He’d have suggested they take the afternoon off, but they both had meetings they couldn’t get out of.

“Jess and I are going to shop for dresses tonight.” She told him, as he dropped her back at the office.

“Come over after you finish.”  He kissed her.  “I need to see you naked.”

She laughed.  “You’re incorrigible.  What have I started?”

“Whatever it is you’ve started, I hope you never stop,” he said as he kissed her again.  “I should take the guys to buy suits.  I’ll stop by this evening.”

She shook her head.  Ben favored Brioni suits which retailed for thousands of dollars and the closest retailer was in St. Louis, who knew what they’d end up with.

“I love you.  I’ll see you later.” She kissed him.  Ben got out and opened her door.  As she stepped out of the car, he whispered, “And I love you.”

As she walked into her office building, her cell phone rang.  She knew by the ring tone that it was Jess. “Hey, what’s up?  Are we still on for dress shopping later?”

“Yes.  I got a call from my agent though, and I need to be in L.A. on Friday for an audition.  It’s a big deal, Mom.  It’s for a starring role in a movie trilogy.  I’ll tell you about it when you get home.  Right now I have to run out and see if I can find the books the movies are based on. Love you, b-bye.” And she was gone.

Lane called Ben. “Red, you really do love me.”  He answered.

She hoped he still felt that way when she was finished. “Yes, I really do.  I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is Jess has an audition for a starring role in a movie trilogy.  The bad news is it’s on Friday.”

His reaction thrilled and surprised her.  “That’s amazing news.  So I guess we have to put our plans on hold.  We can talk about it tonight.  I want to marry you as soon as humanly possible, but I wouldn’t dream of doing it without all three of the kids.  I love you Red, don’t doubt it for even a minute.  I’ll see you tonight.”

She wondered if they could have Jess fly to L.A. and then back home on Saturday.  Like Ben said, they’d all talk about it tonight.

She rode the elevator to the fifth floor and went to her office.

“Your dentist’s office called.  You have a cleaning scheduled for tomorrow morning.”  Meg had been Lane’s administrative assistant for three years.  They’d agreed long ago that Meg was to be in charge of the calendar, so that meant when Lane had appointments, she came back to the office and handed the card to Meg.  She scanned her memory, wondering if she’d forgotten to tell Meg about the appointment.