First Class Rescue (First Class Novels) (10 page)

They spent the next several weeks really getting to know one
another. Beth had started a ritual where every night before they fell asleep
together, they would each share a memory of their childhood. If Tim was
working, Beth would call him before she went to bed and they would talk for as
long as they could before Beth drifted off to sleep or Tim had to leave for a
call.

At dinner, whether eating out or dining in, they would each
ask three questions of the other that had to do with their work and career,
including university and all jobs prior to their current one. Tim had always
felt uneasy about sharing his experiences, but with Beth, it seemed so natural
to bring her into his world. She’d been to the station several times and had
even won over Ralph Lindberg. Bringing cupcakes when she visited had helped.

Tim had been an excellent student but hadn’t been an avid
reader…until now. Beth introduced him to her favorite authors and she would
regularly read him excerpts from the manuscript she was editing. He discovered
he was enjoying reading her recommendations and afternoons in the park with
Cleo would often end lying on a blanket under a tree, each of their noses in a
paperback.

 She was the first woman he’d ever had in his apartment,
other than family of course. She’s expressed great curiosity in his home gym
and Tim had become her personal trainer, although more often than not, the
sweat that covered their bodies was from making love rather than working out.

Cleo accepted him willingly as her new ‘dad’ and Tim had
purchased a huge bed for when she stayed over. The guys at the station loved
her and she visited with Beth often. A couple of the guys were even ‘borrowing’
her when they went on runs. She had made lots of new friends.

After two months of spending every possible minute together,
Tim knew it was time to introduce Beth to her family. They had been asking, no,
begging to meet her since he had reported back that he had gone to her
apartment that Sunday evening and they had each bared their souls and it
couldn’t have worked out better. Matt was especially proud of his baby brother
and had told him on more than one occasion that a real man was one who was able
to share their feelings. Tim was appreciative of the compliment.

With Independence Day approaching, Tim decided it would be
the perfect time to introduce her to his family. As they had done years before,
Peter and Maureen had rented a house in the Hamptons and the whole family was
going for the three day weekend. Tim had called in every favor he could to get
the holiday off. He’d reminded everyone how he’d worked for them during the
winter when they were sick and grudgingly, one by one, his coworkers had come
through and he, for the first time in six years, was not going to work on the
fourth of July. He was going to the Hamptons with Beth.

The Sunday before their trip he’d used the family dinner
table to plead with them all to be gentle with her…to go easy on her.

“We really need to meet her, you know,” said Rory, Andrew’s
husband, “Because the only Beth I’ve known was Matt’s ex.” A few of the family muttered
in agreement.

“Sorry Janie,” he added.

Janie laughed. “You know, I hadn’t put that together, but
yeah, we need to give the name Beth better representation, and I am sure that
your
Beth will do the trick.”

Matt smiled at his wife, lifted her hand and kissed it. “I
love you,” he mouthed.

“I know,” she grinned.

“I’m sure she is a lovely girl,” said Maureen. “If she’s
captured your heart then I’m sure that we will
all
love her too.” 

So on Thursday of that week, Tim arrived at Beth’s apartment
and loaded her suitcase, a bag of dog food and Cleo’s bed into the trunk of his
black Volvo C70.

“I’ve never had a dog in the backseat,” he said. “I hope she
fits.” Cleo jumped in as soon as Tim pushed the seat forward. “That answers
that question,” he laughed. After kissing Beth, he helped her into the front
seat and ran around and jumped in beside her. “Off we go,” he exhaled. “Are you
ready?”

Beth grinned. “I hope so.”

“They already love you, you know. No pressure.”

“No pressure,” she repeated, adopting it as her mantra for
the drive to the beach.

Getting out of the city was tricky. The Long Island
Expressway was more like a parking lot than a freeway, but eventually the
traffic lightened and they were moving at a good pace. It ended up taking
almost four hours to reach the beach house and as they pulled in the driveway,
Beth had a minor panic attack as she saw all of the cars.

“Bloody hell!” she cried. “It looks like a car show!”

Tim pointed out the vehicles and their owners. “The black
beamer is Matt’s and the Land Rover is Matt’s. Huh?” He was confused. “Oh wait!
I bet Ray drove the beamer up with mom and dad. And Matt would’ve brought the
Rover. Okay,” he continued. “So the Red Audi is Andrew and Rory and the white
Audi is Mark and Katy.”

“A popular car in your family?” Beth grinned.

Tim laughed. “The Lincoln is Paul’s, the Ford is David’s
and…and it doesn’t look like Ben is here yet.” Tim looked up and down the
street for any sign of Ben’s red Porsche 911. “Oh, but Tyler’s here,” he said
pointing to the navy blue BMW M5. “I bet he has Adam with him.”

“I know we’ve gone over all your family and I’ll try to
remember everyone,” Beth said, wringing her hands with anxiety.

“You’re gonna be fine!” Tim took her hands in his and kissed
her knuckles. “I’m not gonna let you out of my sight. I’ll be beside you the
whole time, k?”

Beth nodded and took a deep breath. “Who’s Ray again?”

Tim grinned and told her all about Matt’s driver and how he
was really a member of the family. Beth leashed Cleo and led her from the car
as Tim hauled in their suitcases and Cleo’s giant pillow. Maureen met them at
the front door of the huge house that had grey shake siding with white trim. It
was exactly what she would expect a beach house to look like.

“Oh Beth,” Maureen smiled as she stretched out her arms, “It
is lovely to meet you dear.” Maureen embraced her warmly and then hugged her
son. “And this is the famous dog, Cleo.” She petted her on the head.

Beth smiled. “Yes, this is Cleo. Thank you very much for
inviting me Mrs. Lathem.”

“Pff,” Maureen snorted. “Call me Maureen. And thank
you
for coming. We’re all very anxious to get to know you.”

She led them inside into the comfortable dwelling. The foyer
was small but inviting, a huge staircase directly in front of them. To the left
was a dining room with a massive dark wood table and to the right was a large
living room with lots of comfortable looking sofas and chairs. It was also full
of people.

Beth took a deep breath as Tim squeezed her hand and they
took a step into the mass all eager to say hello. Ella pushed her way to the
front and looked up at Beth with big blue eyes.

“I’m Ella,” she announced and held out her hand.

“Hello Ella,” Beth smiled and squatted and took the chubby
hand in hers. “My name is Beth and I’m very happy to meet you.”

“Momma, she talks funny,” Ella turned to look for Janie.

Beth laughed. “I do, don’t I?” Ella nodded. “I’m from
England. That’s a country far away from here and we all talk like this.”

“That’s silly,” Ella giggled.

“It is, isn’t it?” Beth grinned. Ella nodded again.

Tim introduced everyone that was in the room. There were a
few outside on the beach and Ben, of course, hadn’t arrived yet. Ella was
enchanted with Cleo. She hugged the dog tightly and Cleo patiently waited for
the mauling to come to an end. It took several minutes.

“Let me show you up to your rooms,” Maureen smiled and took
Beth by the arm.

“Rooms?” asked Tim.

Katy let out a squeal of delight and Beth heard laughing as
she and Tim went up the stairs.

“This is your room Beth. It’s small but I think it will be
fine for you, dear.”

“Oh yes,” smiled Beth. “It’s just lovely, thank you.”

“The bathroom is just there,” Maureen said and pointed at a
door a few feet away. “And Tim,” she continued down the hall, “You’ll be in
here with the twins. I’m not sure if they’ve already picked their beds yet.”

Tim stood in the hallway dazed by his mother. “Mom! Um, we
need a room
together
.”

“No,” she shook her head. “You don’t.” Her voice said there
would be no arguing. “Let me know if you need anything else Beth.” She smiled
and headed back downstairs.

Beth bit on the insides of her lips to keep from smiling.
She turned and stepped into her room. It was small, about eight feet by ten
feet, and on one side the ceiling was angled because of the pitch of the roof.
There was a double bed under the window and a small dressing table and stool.
Behind the door was a wardrobe with a mirror on one of the doors.

“There’s no way that…” he began.

Beth cut him off. “No. If your mother wants us in different
rooms then we shall abide by her rules. It’s kind of sweet.”

“Blue balls are not sweet,” he muttered under his breath.

Beth laughed and slapped him on the arm. “It’s three days.
You can go three days.”

“We’ll see.”

*****

Throughout the afternoon the rest of the family was
introduced to Beth, including Ray and Shelby. Tim leaned over and whispered to
Beth that he would tell her about Shelby later, but Beth didn’t have much of a
chance to talk with her as she and Adam were heading off into town to get some
things Adam had forgotten to bring. It seemed a little suspect to Beth, but she
kept her thoughts to herself.

Within just a few hours, Beth already had her favorites of
the family. She’d told herself she shouldn’t like one person more than another
but she couldn’t help being drawn to Nic and Paul. Maybe it was that their ages
were similar, or maybe it was the fact that she couldn’t get enough of baby
Gregory. She could hold him all day long and never grow tired, but she would
have to fight off all the other women in the family who waited somewhat
impatiently for their turn.

And then there was Matt and Janie. It was strange for her to
think that just a couple of months before she’d looked out of the limo and
gazed at them on the red carpet. She’d assumed their life was glamorous and
that they were probably snooty. In her experience, rich people often were. But
her stereotypes were shattered with these two; two of the most down-to-earth,
kind, friendly, generous human beings she’d ever met. Janie had been thrown up
on twice by Gregory and had laughed both times and when Matt’s son, Christopher,
smeared his peanut butter sandwich all over his white polo shirt, Matt licked
it off his shirt and continued playing cars with the boy. She didn’t consider
that snooty in her book.

The real test came when they heard Ben roar into the driveway
and enter the house, throwing his bag on the floor and yelling a string of
obscenities.

“BEN!” Janie yelled at him. “There are children here than
can hear you.”

“Oh, sorry,” he muttered. He stomped in and flung himself
into a chair.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mark asked.

“Just had a phone call from Jill.”

“Ah.” It was a collective sigh from several members of the
family.

“And?” Katy asked.

“Oh, she was just thinking about how lonely she was and
decided to give me a call.”

“Bitch!” Everyone turned to Rory. “Well she is!”

“Don’t let that girl weasel her way back into your life,
Benjamin.” Maureen said what everyone else was thinking. “She was not good for
you. Remember?”

“I know,” he muttered.

It was then that Ben looked up and saw Beth. His eyes grew
wide and his head tilted just a little. “And this must be the infamous Beth,”
he said. “I apologize for that bad first impression. Please don’t judge me
too
harshly based on that?” he pleaded.

The family looked over at Beth, curious as to how she would
handle the moody brother.

“Of course not,” she said smiling. “Woman can be just
beastly sometimes.”

“Amen!” replied Ben. “I think I need some fresh air. Anybody
up for a walk on the beach?”

Ella wanted to go so Matt hoisted her on his shoulders and
ducked low to get through the French doors that opened onto a patio outside.
Ben followed close behind.

“Oh good!” sighed Katy with relief. “Matt can get him into a
decent mood and then we’ll allow him to come back in.”

Beth looked at Tim, eyebrows raised, but not verbalizing her
question. Maureen saw and answered.

“He was with Jill on an off for several years and then last
year it was off…for good. I don’t know what happened but I, for one, was
thrilled. I never liked that girl. I can tell a keeper when I see one…and you,
my dear, are a keeper.”

Beth blushed forty shades of red and Tim rolled his eyes.
“And this is why I waited so long before I subjected her to you lot!” He shook
his head as he spoke.

“Careful,” said Peter. “Your mother doesn’t take kindly to
being referred to as ‘you lot’,” he winked at Beth.

“I’m going to get the lasagnas in the oven. Why don’t you
come and help me Beth?” Maureen asked.

 Beth smiled and got to her feet. Janie and Lindsey offered
to help too.

Once in the kitchen, Beth learned a lot more about the
dynamics of the Lathem family. Maureen was obviously in control, and as much as
her children and their spouses rolled their eyes, everyone loved the matriarch
dearly. Lindsey, a much celebrated chef in Manhattan, praised Maureen on the
food going into the oven, winking at Beth as Maureen graciously accepted the
compliment. They all catered to Maureen but over the course of the evening Beth
came to understand that she deserved the respect she was given. She had already
fallen head over heels for Tim, and now she was falling hard for his family
too.