Love Under Two Benedicts (13 page)

“You’re probably right. I have one of my husbands, Preston, tucked away in the admin office here preparing…ah, there he is.”

Preston Kendall looked as if he stepped right off the cover of a men’s fashion magazine. Though he had to be in his sixties, he didn’t look a day over forty.

“Here you go, sweetheart,” he said, handing his wife the paperwork. “Three copies, as you requested.” Then he bent down to peer at Benny, who had fallen fast asleep. “He’s a lovely child.”

Kelsey swallowed the urge to say thank you. Benny was
not
her child. In fact, any moment now, Mrs. Kendall was likely going to—

“This form appoints you as temporary guardian for Benjamin,” Samantha said. “If you’ll sign on the line above your name, then we’ll file this on Monday, taking care of the legalities.”

“I’m sorry?” Kelsey felt her heart leap. She couldn’t have heard what she’d thought she’d heard.

Samantha gave her a matter-of-fact look. “We don’t have a Department of Children’s Services here in town.
Someone
has to look after him. Besides, with my son and Matthew on the case, they’re likely to find Benny’s parents soon.” The magistrate shrugged. “This is easiest all the way around, don’t you agree?”

“We’ve lots of room out at the ranch,” Steven said. “You and Benny can stay there. With your business it’ll be easier if we all pitch in. Plus,” he lowered his voice and winked, “I’ve got horses.”

Just then, the door to the clinic opened, and Tracy’s mother, Heather Jessop, came in. “Where would you like these?” She held two full-to-bursting shopping bags.

“Here, I’ll take them,” Preston said. “Your Jeep outside, Steven?”

“Yes, Preston, it is. It’s not locked.”

“Of course not,” Preston said.

“There’s some pajamas and enough outfits for a few days, and a few toys as well. We’ll have some more things gathered for you tomorrow,” Heather said to Kelsey.

Kelsey looked down and saw Matthew and then Steven sign as witnesses each of the three pages that Preston Kendall had produced.

“Here, let me have him for a moment,” Steven said. “I think I’m the only one of us who hasn’t held him yet.”

Kelsey watched as Steven deftly plucked the sleeping child from her arms and settled him in against his big chest. She had the same thought now that she had when Matthew had scooped him out of the booster chair in the restaurant and run with him to the clinic.

The Benedict brothers would make good fathers one day.

With her arms empty, Kelsey accepted the pen and papers from Matthew. She didn’t let herself think. She just signed her name in the appropriate place on all three pages.

She handed the pen and papers back to Samantha.

Preston came back into the clinic. “Anna and Jackson have brought over a child’s car seat. They said it’ll just take a few moments for them to install it, then you’re good to go.”

Samantha smiled. “With all the grandchildren floating around these days, I doubt you’ll want for anything for this little man.”

“There was a letter in Benny’s bag,” Adam said quietly. “I’ll come over in a while and show it to you.”

Matthew put his hand on Kelsey’s back. “Do you need to go back to work, sweetheart?”

“No. Tracy will close up for me. Oh, but I have to tell her.”

Heather, who was still there, came over and gave Kelsey a hug. “I’ll tell her. Michelle will likely help her. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

“No.” Kelsey felt as if she’d been covered in bubble wrap in that she felt a little outside of herself. Everyone was being so kind and generous, and all for a little boy they didn’t even know. “No, I won’t worry about anything. Well, except Benny.” She turned to look at Matthew and Adam. “I hope you find his mother soon. A little boy—” Kelsey had to stop because her throat tightened and her voice caught.

Too close, too close
.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, fought for control. And then she continued. “A little boy needs his mother.”

“Don’t worry, love. We’ll find her,” Matthew said.

“You go on, the three of you, and get him settled for the night,” Adam said. “I’ll begin the preliminary investigation. Don’t need two of us for that. And then I’ll be by, give you an update, and show you the letter.”

Kelsey looked over to where the doctors Jessop stood talking to the receptionist and a couple of townspeople. Kelsey couldn’t recall if they were Kendalls or Benedicts, and nodded her thanks.

She received a nod and a smile back.

“You want to sit in back with him?” Matthew asked. The men, one of them holding a sleeping Benny, flanked her as they walked out of the clinic.

“Yes, please.”

She’d thought they would have to turn this child over to a nameless, faceless social worker, and she’d almost geared up for that. Now as she got into the back of the Jeep and helped Steven fasten the sleeping little guy into the car seat, she tried to come to grips with the sharp, unexpected turn her life had just taken.

For the next little while, at least, she would be taking care of a child. A little boy child, who on first sight, had reminded her so much of her Sean.

Chapter 12

Benny woke up when the Jeep came to a stop at the ranch. Because it was early summer, daylight still reigned at seven-thirty in the evening.

Kelsey unbuckled the child from his safety seat, but she didn’t get a chance to lift him into her arms.

He’d looked out the window and crowed with delight. “Horsies!”

Despite the gravity of the situation and the emotions and memories that had been bombarding her, Kelsey smiled. Was there a four-year-old alive who didn’t love horses?

“That’s right. Horsies.”

“Can I go see them? Can I ride one? Please?”

“How about we just go and say hello for tonight?” Steven said.
 
“It’s almost the horsies’ bed time.”

Kelsey found herself nodding when Steven looked at her, one eyebrow raised as if he asked permission.

“Cool!” Benny seemed wide awake as he scrambled to get out of the Jeep.

The little boy had no qualms about putting his small hand in Steven’s large one and trooping off to the outdoor corral.

“We have a lot of young ones in the families,” Matthew said when she’d stepped out of the vehicle.
 
He stood beside her, his hand on her back as they both watched Benny with Steven. “Quite often, especially during holiday weekends, we’re up to our asses in kids here.”

Since he said that with a smile she guessed that meant he didn’t mind.

Before long, Benny came running back to her, a huge smile on his face. “Tomorrow I get to meet them all!” He stopped when he got to Kelsey, then yawned.

“Are you hungry?” she asked him.

“I’m thirsty,” he said.

At home here as much as in her own apartment, Kelsey took Benny’s hand and led him into the house to the kitchen.

“Matthew and I will go and make up the bed in the room across the hall from ours,” Steven said.

That was the room Kelsey had been going to suggest they use because it was closest to the master bedroom. “Good. I’ll take care of the tummy issues.”

She lifted Benny onto one of the stools by the center island and opened the fridge. “We have apple juice, orange juice, and milk.”

“I like milk!”

He gave her such a wide smile, she felt her breath catch and her heart squeeze. “Milk it is. Would you like some toast with peanut butter, too?” He’d eaten at her restaurant but that had been a few hours ago. Sometimes, little ones ate like birds and sometimes like elephants.

“Peanut butter!”

Kelsey set a slice of bread in the toaster and poured him a glass of milk. In a couple of minutes, the toast popped, and Kelsey got down a saucer and prepared the snack.

She froze when she saw what she’d done. She’d cut the covered toast into eight finger-like pieces. She used to call them soldiers in an effort to encourage her son to eat them.

Here are your soldiers, Sean. Gobble them down!

Like soldiers, Mommy.

Kelsey yanked herself back to the present.

“Here you are, Benny. Toast with peanut butter.”

The little boy ate only a couple of pieces before he pushed the plate away.

“I don’t want anymore, Kelsey.”

“Okay. Let’s go see if the men have your bed ready.” If she still had him here tomorrow night, she’d bathe him. Right now, she needed to get him into pajamas and into bed. She felt things happening inside her and wanted to get the boy settled. Then she needed to find herself some privacy.

She couldn’t go home. Benny was here, and she was responsible for him, so here she’d stay, too. She’d have to find somewhere to be alone in this house. The place was massive. It shouldn’t be a problem.

They made a stop in the bathroom for necessary matters and so she could at least wipe his face and hands. A typical boy, he scrunched his face in response to having it wiped. Then she took his hand and led him into his bedroom.

“Good timing,” Matthew said.
 
He and Steven had just finished emptying the bags. There were books and toys and clothes as advertised.

The men had the blankets of the double bed pulled back. The little boy looked at it, his eyes wide.

“Big bed,” he said.

“It is,” Steven agreed.

“If you wake up in the night and need us,” Matthew said, pointing, “we’ll be right across the hall.”

“Okay.”

Kelsey grabbed a pair of pajamas and, in short order, had the boy in them. Steven lifted him and spun him through the air while Matthew held the blankets up. One deposited the child onto the mattress, and the other covered him.

Benny giggled, then yawned.
 
He blinked a few times and then focused on Matthew. “You find my mommy tomorrow?”

“I’ll do my best, Benny. Right now, I think Mommy wants you to be good and get some sleep.”

Benny put his thumb in his mouth and nodded. “Mommy said Kelsey would babysit me.”

Kelsey felt her mouth open and closed it quickly. Adam had said there was a letter. Did she somehow know this child and his mother and not realize it?

“Kiss!”

Since Benny looked at her when he said that, she obediently bent over him and gave him a kiss on his forehead. His small arms went around her, and the scent of soap, boy, and peanut butter swamped her. She pulled back from him and felt a wrenching deep inside her.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Not yet
.
 
Trying not to show the turmoil within, she brushed his hair gently with her hand. “Sleep well, honey.”

“’Night.”

Kelsey couldn’t hold on another moment. She turned, her legs carrying her out of the room, her vision already blurred by her tears so that she couldn’t see where she was going. Frantic, feeling everything inside her beginning to unravel, she nearly ran as she found her way into the master bedroom, then kept walking all the way through it and out onto the balcony.

The spa tub gurgled in the early evening air, the sound of bubbles and birdcalls all seeming so peaceful, so normal.

A tortured groan came from deep inside her from the black hole she’d carried within her for more than five years. Then came another and another. Her knees gave out, and she ended in a squat, her body curving in on itself as she gave herself over to the despair seething within her as she finally broke.

* * * *

Matthew’s heart tore apart.

He looked over at Steven, unsurprised to see his brother’s eyes, like his own, filled with tears.

Unable to bear it a moment more, he went to Kelsey, lifted her into his arms. She struggled, and he held her tighter.

“It’s all right, baby. It’s all right.”

He brought her over to the bench, moving her so that she lay across his lap and Steven’s who sat down beside him.

“It’s not all right! It can never be all right! My baby, my baby, my baby!”

Kelsey sobbed uncontrollably, and Matthew had never felt so helpless. He swallowed over the lump in his throat.

“We’re so sorry, love, so, very, very sorry.” Steven’s voice shook with emotion.

Matthew held her tighter, his head resting on hers when her struggles stopped, and she just sobbed. Steven, beside him, stroked her legs. He slipped her shoes off her and rubbed her feet.

Matthew crooned to her, not words so much as sounds, an echoing of her pain, an acceptance of the tears she shed, tears he knew had been buried far too deep for far too long.

Her sobs dwindled to tiny hiccups. She clung to him now, her body purged not only of grief but of strength.

He looked around, needing something, then raised one eyebrow when Adam stepped out onto the balcony carrying a glass of brandy and a box of tissues.