Double Jeopardy (13 page)

He gave the paint samples a cursory glance.

“These are great.” Then he tossed them on the small table by the door. “This is a nice place,” he commented, gazing around at the plants and colorful cushions and cheap prints she’d used to make the rented apartment her own.

“Look around. I’ll just be a minute.” She raced into the bedroom and snatched up her straw bag.

“Bring a swimsuit. They have a pool,” Ben called just when she thought she had everything. She swore under her breath and ransacked a drawer, hunting for her old navy tank suit. Why hadn’t she bought a new one this summer?

With a breezy smile and an attempt at tranquility she was far from feeling, she hurried out to where he was waiting. He’d moved to the windows that overlooked Lost Lagoon and Stanley Park. “Great view.”

“Nothing like yours, but it’s okay. It’s the reason I rented this. I like being able to see the trees and the water.”

“Me, too.” But he was gazing at her instead of the view. “You’re beautiful, Sera.”

She grimaced at him and crossed her eyes. “Your sight’s failing.”

He laughed. “Not with my glasses on it isn’t.” Catching her off guard, he bent toward her and kissed her briefly.

Her Ups tingled and she felt a telltale blush come over her face. “Let’s go.” Being alone with him was far too tempting.

“Okay. I can’t wait for you to meet my godson.” He glanced at her dress. “That is washable, isn’t it? I’ve learned never to go near Stanley in clothes that aren’t washable. In fact, I’ve often thought Greg oughta issue hospital scrubs to whoever walks in his front door.”

He took her hand and held it all the way down in the elevator. His truck was parked right out front in a No Parking zone.

“Hey, I didn’t get a ticket.” His surprise told Sera he usually did.

“I thought you’d be the hot sports car type,” she teased. Then added, “I'm green with envy. I always wanted a truck this color.”

“I get ribbed about it all the time. I guess purple’s funny for a truck.”

“It’s not purple. It’s eggplant.”

“Eggplant? Eggplant. Yuck. No wonder the guys have been giving me a bad time.” His expression had her giggling. Grendel spied her just then and went into a frenzy of barking.

Sera waved at him through the tiny back window. “Can I say hello to him before we leave?”

Ben obligingly opened the door, undid the dog’s safety harness and allowed him to leap out. Grendel licked Sera’s hands and wound himself around her legs ecstatically.

“Okay, enough, you lovesick idiot. You’re gonna get hair all over Sera’s dress. You can drool at her through the back window.”

Still nervous about meeting Ben’s friends, Sera asked questions as soon as they drove off.

“Greg Brulotte’s a doctor?”

“ER surgeon at St. Joe’s. And Lily’s an emergency room nurse. They met on the job. She’s pregnant with their second baby.”

The ride wasn’t long. The Brulotte family lived in Point Gray, one of the more exclusive areas in Vancouver. Sera remembered Ben’s telling her that the impressive waterfront house with the circular drive had been his, and she admired it with that in mind.

No other cars were in the driveway.

“Are you sure we’re not too early, Ben?”

He shook his head. “Greg and Lily asked us to come early. They want to get to know you before the others arrive.”

As Ben rang the doorbell, she wondered again what she was getting into.

Grendel hung back.

“He’s learned to be cautious around Stanley,” Ben had time to say before a totally naked small boy opened the door and flung himself at Ben, wrapping first his arms and then his legs around him and trying to shinny up his body as if Ben were a climbing pole.

“Uncle Ben, I knew it was you. I saw you through the window.” He had violet blue eyes and a thick head of unruly blond hair, but it was his animation that drew Sera’s attention. His energy and exuberance shone around him like a bright light.

Ben grunted and steadied himself against the doorsill. Stanley was exceptionally tall and husky for three.

“Hey, tiger, what’s going on? Where are your clothes?’ ’

“Well, actually, I just had a poop upstairs,” he confided. He spoke with a slight lisp, and his huge eyes danced with mischief.

The expression of horror on Ben’s face was genuine this time. “You did wipe afterward, didn’t you, sport?”

Stanley gazed up at Ben, face angelic, smile devilish. “Nope, I came to ask you for help. See, I was sleeping and it woke me up, the poop.”

“Oh, ssshh-oot. Where’s your—” Ben’s desperate question was cut short.

“Stanley Brulotte, you little imp.” A tall woman with dramatically short silver blond hair and amazing green eyes hurried to the door.

“Ben, come in, if you can even move with that lump hanging on you.” She smiled at Sera. “I’ve given up apologizing for my son. Please do come in. You must be Sera. I’m Lily.” She wiped a wet hand on her maternity sundress before extending it to Sera and warmly shaking her hand. Sera liked her immediately.

Lily Brulotte was both beautiful and hugely pregnant. She took her son’s hands and, with some difficulty, peeled him off Ben. “Say hello to Ms. Cardano, you exhibitionist, and then go upstairs and tell Daddy to find you some clothes.”

“Hi, Stanley. You can call me Sera.” She smiled at the little boy. She loved kids, and this one was obviously unusual. He gave her a shy grin and a long, considering look, then turned to his mother. “I’ll go scare Daddy. Okay, Mommy?”

“Be my guest.”

Stanley charged off, and Lily gestured down a sunny hallway. “I’m just finishing the salads. Let’s go in the kitchen. You can cut up potatoes for me, Ben. Greg will be down as soon as he wrestles that kid into some clothes.”

They walked down a hall that was a minefield of abandoned toys. The family style kitchen lay at the back of the house, its patio doors opening wide to a cedar deck equipped with a child’s wading pool and even more brightly colored toys. Below the deck, Sera glimpsed a large swimming pool, and beyond that stretched the inlet, sparkling in the afternoon sunshine.

“Sera, sit down here so we can get acquainted.” Lily was tearing lettuce into a huge wooden bowl.

“Why don’t I peel these potatoes, and Ben can chop them.” Sera was at home in a busy kitchen; she’d grown up helping with the huge Sunday meals her mother and aunts took turns preparing.

“If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it.” Lily gave her a thankful smile and handed Sera a knife. “Ben tells me you’re a set designer for a sitcom taped here in Vancouver. He also said you chose those scrumptious new chairs in his office. All his friends and patients are grateful to you for that.”

Sera shot Ben a glance, curious what else he might have said about her. All she could see was the top of his head, bent diligently over the potatoes.

The sound of small feet pounding down the stairs and along the hall announced the reappearance of Stanley. He raced into the kitchen, then stopped abruptly and struggled hard until he’d succeeded in pulling down the madras shorts he wore.

“Look, Uncle Ben, I gots big boy underwear now, just like you wear.” He turned a full circle, stumbling over the shorts around his ankles. His chubby face was wreathed in smiles, and his small bottom was encased in bright red Calvins.

It was all Sera could do not to laugh, but she took her cue from Ben. Without a trace of a smile, he studied the small boy and nodded solemnly.

“You really are a big fella, tiger. Now you and I have matching underwear.”

Sera caught his eye and couldn’t resist winking suggestively.

A tall, handsome man with curly dark hair and deep-set brown eyes followed Stanley into the kitchen.

“Hi, Sera, welcome.” He was warm and charming. “I’m Greg, the father of this miniature male stripper.” He took Sera’s hand in his for a moment and gave her a wide smile, then helped his son pull his shorts back up. Then he went over to his wife, casually pressed a kiss on the back of her neck and ruffled her hair. “How’s it goin’, sweetheart? What can I do?”

The way he touched her, the tender note in his voice, telegraphed his devotion to her.

“You can rinse the strawberries and then use your surgical skills at cutting them up for the shortcake.” Lily smiled at him, and here, too, love was palpable.

Their visible affection for each other set the tone in this household, Sera concluded as the afternoon wore on. There was much laughter and bantering as everyone helped prepare for the party, and by the time other guests began to arrive, Sera felt accepted and totally at ease.

Two other couples came, both as friendly and outgoing as Greg and Lily. As Sera got to know them, she realized they were connected in various ways with St. Joseph’s hospital.

Lily’s brother, Kaleb Sullivan, was a fireman, married to Frannie, a social worker at the hospital. They had a two-year-old named Harry and an older girl, Zoe, whom Sera learned was Kaleb’s from a previous marriage. Zoe was extraordinarily lovely, with feather soft hair and huge eyes.

Thea and Wade Keenan were the parents of Marshall, a husky, serious five year old, and adorable five month old twins, Della and Frank. Sera admired them and silently thought how lucky they were not to be identical. She didn’t say anything about being a twin herself, and she noted that Ben didn’t mention it, either.

Wade, who’d been severely injured in a motorcycle accident, was a counselor with a private practice, but he also worked with patients at St. Joe’s who’d sustained spinal-cord injuries. He walked with a cane and had a pronounced limp, and he told Sera that Ben had done an incredible job of repairing his hands and his face.

“My sister was in an accident recently. Her face was badly injured,” Sera heard herself saying. “Ben operated on her. She looks so much better already.”

“Don’t reinforce the fact that he’s a genius. It takes us weeks to get him back to normal afterward,” Greg joked.

It was almost impossible for Sera to believe that Wade’s wife, Thea, had produced three children and was still breast-feeding twins; she was incredibly slim and strikingly lovely. Not surprisingly, she’d been a fashion model. She cheerfully announced that she was taking time off from her career to raise her kids. “And once they’re ready for school, I’ll be too old to do much modeling, even if I get Ben to remove all the loose skin on my face and belly,” she laughed. “So I’m going to set up my own agency. I’m doing courses in business admin at night school.”

Sera found these people intriguing. All the women were dynamic, each pursuing careers while juggling the demands of young children.

Sera couldn’t help but contrast their get togethers with Cardano gatherings, where the women and children segregated in one area and the men in another, and the brunt of the child care and all the cooking falling to the women.

These men, on the other hand, shared equally in the household chores, from supervising the toddlers to helping with dinner. They obviously enjoyed doing so. To witness equality in action was refreshing for her.

The quantity of kids made for a noisy, hectic gathering. Ben was attentive to her, but he didn’t hover, and she appreciated that. Everyone seemed genuinely interested in her job, and Sera found the conversation fast paced and stimulating.

She cradled one of the twins, loving the smell of the small baby and the warmth of the tiny body. The baby had just fallen asleep when Ben appeared at her side.

“Can I lure you away for a swim before we eat?” he asked. “You and I are the only ones free to enjoy the pool, so we might as well take advantage of it.”

Sera nodded, and Wade quickly held his arms out to take his baby, “I can’t believe there’re actually people who can go for a swim without arranging baby-sitters and feeding schedules or having lifeguards stand by,” he said, pretending to complain. His proud smile as he shouldered his daughter showed that he didn’t for a moment consider his life a hardship.

CHAPTER NINE

The pool was set into a rock wall on one side and securely protected by a sturdy wire fence on the remaining three sides. The Brulottes had planted climbing rosebushes to disguise the fencing, and glorious pink and yellow flowers perfumed the hot afternoon air. The sound of the other guests’ voices and occasional bursts of laughter or cries from a child floated down, but Sera felt a delicious sense of intimacy in being there alone with Ben.