A Wife For Ben

“This is so much to take in,” Stephanie said.

Ben crossed the room, his forehead creasing into a small frown. His strides were long and quick as he closed the distance between them. Before she knew it, he’d reached up and clasped her shoulders. Squeezing them gently, he held her.

The warmth of the long, curved hands providing support and understanding was her undoing. She shuddered, and a sob escaped.

Mortified, she tried to pull away, not knowing why the floodgates of Hoover Dam had suddenly opened. Ben wouldn’t let her. Pulling her in to his chest, he wrapped his large arms around her. “This has been coming for a long time,” he said. “Let it out.”

She didn’t know what he meant, but his words had the desired effect. Her arms going around him, gripping to keep her from sliding into a puddle at his feet, she cried.

CHERYL WOLVERTON

RITA® Award finalist Cheryl Wolverton has well over a dozen books to her name. Her very popular HILL CREEK, TEXAS, series has been a finalist in many contests. Having grown up in Oklahoma, lived in Kentucky, Texas and now Louisiana, Cheryl and her husband of twenty years and their two children, Jeremiah and Christina, consider themselves Oklahomans who have been transplanted to grow and flourish in the South. Readers are always welcome to contact her via: P.O. Box 207, Slaughter, LA 70777 or e-mail at [e-mail]. You can also visit her Web site at www.cherylwolverton.com.

A Wife for Ben

Cheryl Wolverton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

He will not forget your work and the love

you have shown Him as you helped His people and continue to help them.

—Hebrews 6:10

Writing a book is always a fun process. And the acknowledgments are always something I like to do. I want to thank the librarians—all three of them—from Pride Branch in Pride, Louisiana. They were so helpful in finding the information I needed.

I would like to acknowledge Christina Wolverton.

Also Jeremiah Wolverton and my husband, Steve—a wonderful man. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to find my computer on some days!

Dear Reader,

Not too far from here there is a town called Pride, Louisiana. I thought it would make a wonderful setting for a story. Pride represents any small town, perhaps even the one that you live in. Its residents are everyday folk, people that you know.

In Pride and other communities all over the world, people become heroes by their simple actions. Giving a cup of water to someone who is thirsty or calling someone who is in the hospital or visiting someone who lives by himself or herself can be in itself a heroic act. You don’t have to save someone from a burning building or from something horrific to be a hero. Sometimes the simplest act of kindness is heroic to the person who receives it.

I’m sure we all can come up with someone who is an everyday hero to us. Take time to let those people in your life know how much you appreciate them. Let them know how much they mean to you. And remember that by helping someone, you might just become an everyday hero, too!

Blessings,

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter One

When you think life is going along just fine, life pulls an April fool.

—Ben’s Laws of Life

I still can’t believe it. Here I am, Ben Mayeaux, standing at the altar, about to commit myself to the best person I could have ever met.

Instant family.

I’ll have a five-year-old stepdaughter.

Who would have thought?

A staid and sure bachelor at thirty-eight years old. Not husband material. Not father material. And certainly not hero material.

At least, not until that day that turned my world on its axis like a top out of control…

Let me tell you about it.

Push it, Ben. Almost halfway there.

Sneakered feet pounded the asphalt as Ben Mayeaux worked to make the four miles. Ahead he saw the tree that marked the two miles where he would turn and head back to his house.

It was still dark in the predawn hours in Pride, Louisiana, dark and already humid. A thick early-morning fog was starting to build and cover the road where he ran, filling the wooded pine forests around him, making his feet echo hollowly as he pounded onward.

Come on, Ben. You can do it, just like when you were twenty. So, what if you’re thirty-eight, nearly thirty-nine. You’re at your best right now, at your prime. You have everything in life you want.

In and out, in and out, his breathing continued, if a bit labored.

He might feel like he was still twenty, but his body was telling him he should have called it quits at the mile marker.

He reached the turnaround point and headed down the road, inhaling the scent of crisp budding pines and exhaling in cadence with his running.

Pace yourself, Ben. You can do it.

Inhale…pound, pound, pound…exhale…pound, pound, pound.

Inhale…pound, pound… What was that smell? He continued another mile inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling, as the smell got stronger.

Distracted by the scent of wood burning so early on a spring morning, Ben slowed, glancing about. Stumbling to a halt, he bent, dropping his hands to his knees and inhaling as he tried to catch his breath. The odd smell was a good excuse to stop, and he didn’t have to admit he wasn’t as young as he used to be.

Ah, age. The wonderful joys of it. He was satisfied with all he had, where he was in life and everything else. But his body told him he was getting older.

Lifting his head, he again inhaled.

Yeah. Definitely wood smoke.

He wondered who would be outside burning trash or dead trees this early in the morning. The haze of dawn was just rearing its head. Walking forward to cool down until he caught his breath, he glanced around, speculating just who else might be up this early.

The road was deserted except for the shift workers who left around five to make it into Baton Rouge for shift change. Soon he’d be seeing buses as the local schools got ready to pick up kids for class. Then the everyday crowd of cars heading into Baton Rouge, the only place that really had a job market around, would finally start making its way toward town.

Pride, with a population of a few thousand, and neighboring Zachary, with less than ten thousand, certainly couldn’t support them selves.

So most folks traveled into Baton Rouge for work.

Taking a deep inhalation of the muggy morning he searched again, wondering just who might be up. It was possible a straight day, eight-to-five worker had some chores that needed doing and was performing them before he left for work.

But Ben didn’t have that many neighbors. Along this road there were maybe six houses in a six-mile area.

A haze caught his attention. That way, he realized, spotting where the haze drifted from. He instinctively started off the road toward the nearest neighbor he had. A woman lived there, if he remembered correctly. He’d seen her out occasionally in the evening when he ran. She was usually taking out trash or heading into the house. Sometimes he’d spotted her trying to clear out the front garden.

A cold chill worked its way up his sweat-covered body as he walked partway up the two-hundred-yard driveway. It wasn’t like him to interfere with neighbors. He was a bachelor and a loner and liked it that way. But he couldn’t picture this woman out at dawn burning excess wood as she cleared away her yard. And if that wasn’t enough to cause his unease to grow, the fact that few people had fireplaces and those that did didn’t use them in spring-time—unless they were crazy—really caused his spine to tingle with foreboding.

He’d just take a quick peek to see what she was doing and make sure she was okay and…

And call for help, he realized as he saw smoke billowing from the side of the house.

The back part of the house was in flames.

His heart leaped to his throat as he realized he was witnessing a house fire. He rushed to the front door and pounded on it. The sound of crackling flames could be heard echoing in the early-morning stillness.

Ben couldn’t perceive any movement inside the house. He hit the doorbell, then quickly pounded again. “Fire! Get up!” he called.

Impatiently he stood on his toes to peek in the door window.

He should call the fire department, but it was over a mile to his house. And he knew the woman had to be in there, most likely asleep. Her car was in the driveway.

Glancing around, he saw a flowerpot on her front porch.

He grabbed it and slammed it through the spacious front bay window. “Anyone home? Fire!” he called, all the while clearing the glass from around the frame with the red clay pot.

As soon as he had a spot cleared, he shoved back the curtains and climbed in. The semidark living room was scattered with old furniture including a couch that he stumbled over. Across from him were the kitchen and a window that showed the backyard. No one was in sight.

The smell of smoke hung in the warm air. A clock ticked loudly. Ben covered his mouth and nose with his hand and rushed toward the hallway, certain the woman would be down that way, more certain than ever that she had to be in trouble, otherwise she would have answered by now.

“Fire! Get out!” he shouted, choking on his words as the acrid smell hit him. He saw a phone on a small table next to the entrance to the hall, snatched it up and dialed 911 before dropping it and continuing. He knew someone would respond, since the number had been dialed. That was enough.

Down the hall the smoke was thicker. Something out back was on fire, and this was the side of the house affected, he thought dimly. Suddenly the fire alarm in the front room started blaring.

If anyone was asleep, that would wake him or her up, he thought, glancing through the smoke, wanting to believe no one was there, that surely he was overreacting. His eyes burned and watered from the thickening smoke. Still, he was able to see enough to spot a closed door.

He started toward the closed door a few feet away. He had only taken two steps when his foot snagged something on the floor.

With a grunt he went down hard on the carpet, skinning both knees. Turning, feeling for what he’d tripped over, his hands met with flesh.

It was a woman. The woman, he realized. The one he was looking for. Enshrouded in pink pajamas, the woman lay still, one arm outstretched, her blond hair covering her face, keeping him from seeing it.

The smoke intensified and choked him. Galvanized, he worked to get the woman in his arms. Coughing, his eyes watering and burning, he grabbed her limp arm and swung her over his shoulder.

A gasp and raspy cough broke from his bundle. He felt relief to know she was still alive.

He headed toward the front door. The heat had already increased drastically.

“No.” She coughed. He could hardly hear the feminine voice over the blaring sound of the alarm as he rushed through the living room.

“Fire, ma’am,” Ben said.

The woman started fighting him.

“Be still, I don’t want to drop you.” He shifted her weight and anchored her firmly, visions of dropping her and not making it out of the house flashing in his mind.

He reached the door and fumbled with the lock, then jerked it open and rushed out. Air, clean and plentiful, met them. He got away from the house and deposited his bundle on the ground, working to breathe and clear his lungs.

“No! No…” The woman gagged, her raspy voice barely audible between the hoarseness and coughing. Out of the soot-covered face, two deep blue eyes pleaded with him, terrified, desperate. Her hands gripped his arm as she sucked in air, trying to calm her coughing.

“You’ve inhaled smoke. You need to lie still.”

“You—under—and. Baby…”

Ben’s heart dropped at her words. His breath stuck in his throat.

“Baby? Someone else is in the house?”

Frantically she nodded, her black-streaked hair falling into her face. “Five. I have—her.” She broke into another round of coughing.

Ben’s stomach clenched with queasiness. Whirling, he stared at the house. Flames engulfed the back part. The roof was smoldering and would go at any time. In the distance he heard the sound of sirens, but with all the smoke and fire, they wouldn’t make it in time.

He didn’t think. He simply acted. Taking a deep breath, he barreled into the house. Thick billowing smoke met him, and he prayed he’d find the child before he choked on the noxious odors.

Think. Think!

The woman, lying in the floor near a door. Yes. That was it. She had to be going after her daughter. Rushing that way, Ben met scorching heat. Putting his hand to the door he found it warm, not hot, and hoped it was safe to open without causing damage.

With a quick jerk, he opened and closed it behind him. Smoke, not as thick, had started filling this room. Wiping an arm across his sweat-covered face, he called, “Anyone here? Come out. We have to get you out of here.”

He broke into a round of coughing, feeling as if his lungs were on fire. He could hardly make out the bed across the room—only enough to see the covers were disturbed, as if someone had been in it.

He jerked the closet door open, found no one. A quick move around the room. He was getting frantic. He couldn’t breathe. The heat was intense against the door. He was out of time.

As a last shot he went to the bed and suddenly realized he hadn’t looked under it. Sure enough, a small child was bundled under there, crying. He heard her as soon as he went down on one knee. Brown curly hair surrounded the child’s fearful face. Big brown eyes, filled with fright, locked on to him. In her arms she held a white teddy bear. Her breathing was uneven and labored as she stared at him, frozen under her bed.

“Come here, honey,” Ben said, and without waiting for a reply grabbed her. She dropped the bear, her arms clutching at his neck, to his ever-lasting relief. “It’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. We’ll get you outta here.”

The little girl whimpered in his ear, clutching his neck and burying her head against his shoulder.

A sense of purpose took over him. He’d get this little girl out.

The door was too hot, out of the question to go back that way, so he chose the window. Covering her with the blanket from the bed, he went to the window. Using his hands, he managed to get the glass out, then kicked out the screen. The mother was on the other side of the window, unsteady but working to help. Her deep blue eyes were determined and steady. She wanted her child out of the burning house and in her arms.

He’d never seen that look in a woman’s eyes before. It was a mother’s willingness to do anything to protect her child.

He gladly handed the coughing child to her mother before slipping through the small square exit and landing unsteadily in the flower garden, going to one knee. He forced himself to his feet, slipped an arm around the tiny frame of the mother and pushed her farther from the house. “Others?” He rasped the word out, trying to breathe in the warm muggy morning air but feeling like he was breathing in razors over raw skin.

“No. None. Oh…” Gasp, cough. “Thank you.” Hugging her child closely to her chest, she dropped to her knees.

Between her sobs and her coughs, Ben couldn’t make out much of what the pink-enshrouded woman said. Falling to his knees, he knelt and worked on breathing.

The crunching of gravel as a fire truck pulled in mixed with the sound of the corner of the roof collapsing on the house.

In what seemed like seconds a fireman was beside them administering first aid, giving them oxygen and easing their painful attempts to breathe.

Ben watched the ambulance arrive. Technicians checked out each of them. He noted that the woman, her long blond hair smudged with soot, clung to her daughter. The little child, who had dark hair and big brown eyes, looked like the mother except in coloring. She looked more scared than ill from the smoke.

The technicians took no chances and gave the child oxygen. Then it was his turn. The two ambulance technicians worked on them as the firemen shouted back and forth, spraying water on the fire to get it under control.

Finally, with the woman on a stretcher and the child and Ben strapped into seats across from her, the ambulance headed for the hospital in Zachary.

Over and over he heard the woman saying, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” And the entire time, as he watched the woman try to comfort the child and be brave while coping with the fact she’d just lost most of her house and nearly her life, he thought, Where’s your husband?

Chapter Two

Women are a species all to themselves, with the ability to cause you to make crazy decisions.

—Ben’s Laws of Life

Okay, okay, I admit I was ashamed not to know my neighbors. But when you see a good-looking woman with a kid you expect to find a husband attached.

At least I did. Of course, I was going to find out many of my bachelor ideas were inaccurate, to say the least. But first, I had to learn just how out of touch with the real world I was.

And boy did I get a dose of reality right after we arrived at the hospital.

“You don’t know her name?”

Ben shrugged. “No.” He could feel the dull flush creep up his cheeks as the nurse inspected him like he was some odd microbe under a microscope. Turning to the bed next to him, he asked, “Can you tell me your name?”

He wondered why the nurse had asked him instead of the woman, anyway.

Through the oxygen mask she wore the woman muttered, “Nie…ebber.”

Glancing at the nurse, he said, “Annie Webber.” He remembered the name Webber on the mailbox.

The nurse studied him. “This is your wife, sir?”

Shaking his head, he admitted, “No. We’re not married.”

The woman next to him grabbed his hand.

“I see,” the nurse said, looking pointedly at their hands.

“St…nie,” the woman said, jerking on his hand.

The little girl, who shared a bed with her mother, got down from the cot and moved next to Ben. She grasped his jogging sock.

Ben glanced from the woman’s hand, which was soot-covered, to the small child, who was suddenly hanging on him, and imagined just what the nurse thought she saw. “No, you don’t understand. I don’t know—” He started coughing.

The nurse tsked and adjusted the mask on his face then lifted the little girl to sit next to him.

He stared at the child, trying to figure out just why the nurse would put her there.

The little girl smiled beatifically then pulled at her mask, adjusting it, before leaning against him.

“St—nn—nie.” The woman stuttered again, drawing his attention from the alienlike being who’d just claimed one of his arms as her own.

This was unreal, he thought, looking from the woman to the child to the smirking nurse.

“I was jogging and came upon the—” His voice broke as he fell into a fresh spasm of coughs.

The nurse adjusted his mask again—and then slipped the clipboard under her arm. “Just relax. Breathe in and let the oxygen do its work. Give me a license and I’ll have the desk clerk finish this, Mr….?”

“I don’t have a license,” he said between gasps. “I told you. I was jog—”

“Ah, here is the doctor now.” The nurse didn’t act as if she cared that he hadn’t gotten to give her a lick of information. Instead, she was all business as she nodded toward the man who’d entered the room.

A young man full of energy strode into the curtained area where the three of them sat—or rather two sat and one lay, he thought, glancing at Annie.

“We’re going to get some X rays and do some blood gases and then, most likely, you can go home.” He went from Annie, checking her eyes and fingernails, to Ben and then the child. He paused long enough to listen to their hearts and lungs. Ben gratefully used that time to catch his breath and relax so his throat would stop clenching in pain against his attempts to talk.

“No burns,” the doctor said, nodding approvingly. “That’s good. From what the techs say, you guys were really lucky getting out of the house when you did.” He didn’t ask questions or stop to get to know the three of them. Instead, he offered a smile and added, “Don’t you worry now, everything will be fine.” With a quick nod he replied, “Gotta run. Busy morning. By the way, you have a cute daughter,” he added to Ben as he strode out.

“She’s not—”

The nurse followed the doctor.

Ben raised his hand to stop her and then gave up. He leaned back on the bed and realized the child still clung to him.

Glancing at her, uneasy at such a close proximity to something so small, he wondered what he was supposed to do with her. His niece and nephew never clung like this.

“Katie?” The woman reached toward the child, forcing herself into a sitting position.

The little girl wiggled and moved into her mother’s arms. The mother bowed her head over the girl and shuddered. Finally, she looked up. Through the mask she said, once again, “Thank you.”

He shrugged. “I’m glad you made it out okay.” He found breathing became easier as he relaxed.

“I have no idea what happened,” the woman said. “I woke up. Having…bad dream and smelled…smoke. I thought Katie…” She shuddered and squeezed her daughter. Bowing her head, she gasped as if fighting tears. “I have no idea what we’re going to do. My house burned down. We don’t have family here.”

“No husband?” Ben asked then flushed, realizing that wasn’t something he should ask. But surely she had a husband. She had a kid.

“No. No husband.”

The woman was alone.

“No one to stay with?” he asked. Aw, man, for some reason this just didn’t sound right. A woman wasn’t supposed to live isolated from all of her family. Everyone had family. Even he had a sister who lived over in Slaughter, just north of Zachary.

“No. I mean…” He could see she was trying to think of someone. “I guess I could find someone…maybe. I don’t know….”

It was the tears that did it.

He knew when he saw those tears no matter what happened at the hospital, he was going to make sure this woman was okay once she left.

First one, then another tear slipped over her cheeks, past the mask to run down her neck, leaving clean streaks through her darkened face.

He couldn’t handle tears. He’d never been able to handle tears. “You can stay at my house until we can get to your home tomorrow and make sure you can move back in,” he said, though he didn’t think she’d be able to move in that quickly. They’d have to check the damage. “By the way,” he added belatedly, “I’m your neighbor, Ben.”

The woman glanced up, the surprise in her face mirroring what he felt.

What was he doing? He was a bachelor. He didn’t have time for people—especially people of the female sort or the small sort. He hadn’t just invited a woman and kid to share his house, had he? No way would he do something so stupid.