His Wife for a While (26 page)

Chelsea
grinned, realizing that the euphoric expressions on their faces told May all she needed to know.

"It's dusty in here," Ben told his aunt. "We're going to have to clean this place out. What are you up to?"

"See for yourself." She proudly handed the neatly typed paper to Ben. "Took me three tries, but I finally got it worked up, good and proper. Not a single misspelled word in this one."

"Elvis Alive and Well in
Acapulco
," Ben read the title aloud. His mouth split into a grin as he immediately understood. "It's an article. For the tabloid. Are you going to submit it?"

May nodded proudly, her face beaming.

Chelsea
frowned, and then she chuckled. "Elvis?
Acapulco
? I didn't know you'd been to
Mexico
, May."

"She hasn't," Ben commented wryly.

May cocked an eyebrow and haughtily snatched the article from her grandnephew. "Everyone's always tellin' me that you shouldn't believe everything you read." She sauntered from the office as though she'd just put both of them in their place.

When
Chelsea
and Ben's laughter subsided, Ben wrapped her in his strong, protective arms. A fuzzy warmth curled inside her and she marveled at how their baby was snuggled between them.

This baby had been her dream. The one thing she'd thought would fulfill all her hopes of a happy future. But now, gazing into the eyes of the man who loved her, she understood just how happy and contented her future would be. With Ben by her side, she knew she could face the memories of yesterday and the unknown of tomorrow.

Slipping her finger through Ben's hair, she pulled him closer. She placed her lips on his in a long, lingering kiss and knew for certain that all her dreams were coming true.

Epilogue

The sun shined brightly as
Chelsea
pushed the big-wheeled carriage, rolling and bumping over the uneven ground of the orchard. The warmth and freshness of spring was in the air and she couldn't help but smile as she inhaled the delicate fragrance of the blossoming apple trees that surrounded her and her beautiful baby girl. Bees buzzed the age-old tune of nature as they flitted from bloom to bloom.

The crew of working men came into view, and
Chelsea
sought and found the broad shoulders belonging to her husband. Ben's sinewy back muscles bunched, relaxed, then bunched again under the thin fabric of his cotton work shirt, and a flame of desire flared in the pit of her belly. She was amazed how, even after nearly a year of marriage, fiery passion still blazed white-hot at the mere sight of him.

One of the employees must have alerted Ben to her arrival, for he turned toward her, his handsome face conveying his pleasant surprise when his gaze locked on her. He hurried toward her, tugging off his work gloves and stuffing them into his back pocket.

"Hi," he said, then tipped up her chin with his fingers and kissed her full on the mouth.

The feel of his warm, firm lips on her own made her heart lurch with overwhelming love. He pulled back and smiled. One of the men whistled and several others let out soft cheers of appreciation at Ben's show of affection.

"Hi, yourself," she whispered. "Kelly and I thought we'd come and visit Daddy."

Ben leaned over the carriage. "So, my ladies came to see me." He reached in and gingerly scooped up the precious bundle.

Chelsea
watched him cradle their baby in the crook of his arm and run a gentle finger over the velvety softness of Kelly's cheek. Seeing father and daughter together brought blissful contentment.

The baby cooed and Ben's fascinated gaze never left Kelly's face as he remarked, "Look. Look. She's smiling at me."

"I know,"
Chelsea
said. Then she wryly added, "Although Aunt May keeps insisting it's only gas."

"May's become extremely opinionated these days." Ben's mouth twisted with humorous.

Chelsea
had to chuckle. "You do have to admit, her advice column in The Whig is a huge success."

Back in the fall, May had been approached by a friend who had told her she believed her husband was cheating. The woman gathered irrefutable evidence and confronted her husband. Later that same day, May's friend showed up at the store and said, "He denied everything. And he said it would never happen again. Should I believe him?"

That's when May decided an advice column was her calling and she'd approached the editor of the local newspaper. No question was too outrageous, none too intimate. Young and old, rich and poor, moral and not, people wrote letters to Ask Aunt May. The responses May printed were filled with practical advice, but the fact that they were funny, witty and wise, not to mention highly entertaining, kept readers hankering for more.

"Yes, but does that success have to go to her head?" Ben laughed, and then grew quiet as he gazed lovingly at his baby girl. "She's inherited my mother's dimple." There was awe in his voice and he tenderly traced the tiny indentation in Kelly's cheek.

Chelsea
took a moment to look around her. "The trees are beautiful this year.''

Ben nodded. "I've never seen so many blooms," he told her. "If Mother Nature is cooperative, we'll have an excellent harvest this fall. One that will go a long way in making up for last year's loss."

His green eyes were like a powerful magnet that drew
Chelsea
's gaze.

"Your money saved us this winter," he said. "I didn't have to lay off Tom or Jimmy or any of the other…"

"
Our
money," she gently corrected him.

He reached out and ran his fingertips along her jaw. "Damn, I'm a lucky man."

Reaching up,
Chelsea
cupped her hand over his and pressed his work-roughened palm to her cheek.

"I'm the lucky one."

Ben pulled her to him and she snuggled against his chest next to their baby. The aroma of apple blossoms and baby powder wafted around them. Then another fragrance overtook her senses. A familiar male scent that impelled her to reach on tiptoe and press her nose to the heated skin of Ben's neck. She planted a kiss there and was delighted to feel his pulse quicken against her lips.

"Tonight."

The whispered promise had his mouth pulling into a sensuous, knowing grin.

The aura of love that surrounded the three of them was strong, stable and secure.
Chelsea
watched Ben tuck Kelly into the padded carriage and marveled at the warm sentiment coursing through her as he fussed with the soft, pink blanket.

Entrusting Ben with all her honest, open emotions had been the hardest, yet the most wonderful decision she'd ever made. All the years she'd spent distancing herself from others had been a terrible, lonely mistake. But all of the missteps her distrust had forced her to take seemed to slowly be righting themselves as her world opened and even expanded. It was only natural that Roxanne, Tom's wife, and Chelsea were drawn to one another since the young Hispanic woman was due to deliver her first child in two short weeks. Roxanne had introduced
Chelsea
to her older sister, Mia, who owned a small coffee shop in town. The three women had become fast friends, and
Chelsea
marveled at how they continuously enriched her life.  

She reached out and touched Ben's silky, sun-bleached hair and was rewarded with another smile. He took hold of her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.

The heavy burden she carried from her past had somehow lightened over the months simply by revealing, one by one, all her bad memories to the man who loved and cared for her. Slowly, but surely, Ben was helping her to understand that she couldn't possibly hold herself responsible for the awful things that had happened to her as a child. Releasing the anger she felt toward her mother and other people who had harmed her in one way or another, intentionally or not, was a tedious but necessary and healthy process.

The closeness and intimacy that she and Ben had developed over the past year continued to bring her unspeakable joy. Standing in the middle of the apple orchard with the man of her dreams and the beautiful baby they had created,
Chelsea
understood she couldn't know what the future held for them, but she did realize that, with Ben by her side, she could face anything. Absolutely anything.

***

A note from the author:

Child abuse comes in many forms — physical, psychological, sexual, neglect. If you, like my heroine, are a survivor of child abuse, start the healing process now. A counselor is available to help you twenty-four hours a day. Call Childhelp/IOF Foresters National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD. If you are hearing impaired and have TDD, call 1-800-2-A-CHILD. Or visit the site on-line at www.ChildHelp.org.

I love to hear from readers. Please connect with me on-line!

My blog: www.DonnaFasano.blogspot.com

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I want to thank you for reading my book. I do hope you enjoyed it. Posting a review or telling a friend about good books is the best way a reader can support an author. I encourage you to help me in this respect. I'd also like to share the opening scene of my next book, tentatively titled Nanny and the Professor. Please understand that this is an uncorrected proof that is just now beginning the editing stage. Enjoy!

Warmest Regards,

~Donna~

Nanny and the Professor

Cassie Simmons parked her car in front of the impressive stone Tudor-style home and rechecked the house number carefully. In the hopes of calming her jittery nerves she smoothed her hand against her tense abdomen, closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Mary Kingston, Cassie's landlady, had claimed that her nephew was desperate for a live-in nanny. Cassie hoped it was true — because she was desperate for a job.

She turned off the ignition and fixed her anxious gaze on the big house that sat back some distance from the road, wishing the butterflies in her stomach weren't having such a wild time rocking out to the anxious and uncontrollable jam session going on inside her.

Mrs. Kingston had said that the nanny position came with room and board, that the salary was generous. Of course, Mary could sometimes become a little absentminded, but if the lovable lady's information was correct, this job was a perfect solution to Cassie's predicament. She only hoped she could make Professor Kingston understand about Eric and that she had to have him with her.

As she thought of the impending interview with Joshua Kingston, her hands trembled. Was she crazy going to a college professor for a job? Working for an intelligent and scholarly man wouldn't be easy. Cassie knew she'd have to keep her wits about her if she were to keep him from discovering her secret.