From Fake to Forever (12 page)

Denise tapped a finger on her lips. “Hmm. So…maybe instead of blaming me, you should be thanking me.”

“And maybe you should be shutting up.”

“Right.”

“What am I going to do, Denise? I can’t stop thinking about her. I have to make it up to her somehow. But I don’t think she’ll even speak to me again.”

Denise slowly sat down, staring at him with a quizzical look. “This is really it for you, isn’t it? You’re really in love. Wow. It’s so…not you. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you want marriage and the whole white-picket-fence thing.”

Yeah, join the club.

But he did. He wanted it all. With Sandra. If she was willing to take a chance on him, he was willing to try.

“This feels so strange,” he confided, “but I can’t remember ever wanting something this much in my entire life.”

Denise furrowed her brows. “Oh.”

Ben looked at her. “What, oh? That’s all you have to say? Some friend you are. At least try to cheer me up.”

“Well, I
did
have something to tell you that I thought would make you feel better. But now, I’m not so sure. Maybe the news can wait.”

“No, no. Is Todd doing better at football? Tell me something.
Anything.
I need a distraction from Sandra and all the reasons I’ve gotten myself into this whole stupid mess.”

Denise hesitated, folding her hands then unfolding them. Then she cracked her knuckles.

“Just tell me,” he demanded. “What is it?”

She cleared her throat, but her voice became weaker. “Congratulations are in order. You did it. You got the part.”

Chapter Eleven

Sandra finished drawing a pink glitter heart on Hannah’s cheek as she heard her sister enter the school. “Hey, Missy,” she called. “Come in and see the princess.”

Missy sprang into the office, wearing a long-sleeved black dress, and raised both hands to a lime-green face. “Oh, my goodness!” she cried. “Hannah, you look great. Wait until all your friends see you. You’re going to be the most beautiful princess at the Halloween party.”

Hannah blinked up, her mouth hanging open in a dazed O. “Aunt Missy, your face is green. You don’t look pretty at all. Ha-ha, I look more beautiful than you!” she said with a loud laugh. Then she held out her fuchsia skirt and spun around, giggling even louder when her dress stuck out like an open umbrella.

Sandra laughed, too. “There’s nothing quite like humble royalty.”

“I’m not supposed to be beautiful,” Missy said, pretending to be insulted. “I’m supposed to be a witch.”

“Green’s definitely your color.”

Missy smirked as she put on a black pointy hat that looked as if it’d seen better days. The hat had lost more than a little of its point, but Missy’s less-than-pressed look hadn’t deterred her from throwing herself into the Wicked Witch part. She’d even blackened two of her teeth and had a huge wart on the tip of her nose.

“Mommy, I just love you.” Hannah wrapped her arms around Sandra’s legs, giving her a tight squeeze, and then looked up with blue beseeching eyes. “Can I go play now? I promise I won’t get my dress all dirty.”

She smiled and couldn’t resist fussing with her daughter’s swept-up hair, not because it needed it, but because her insides brimmed with love for the one little person who brought her so much joy. It only made her heart ache all over again when she realized how much she’d wanted to share that joy with Ben. “Of course, Princess. Just be careful you don’t trip on your gown.”

Hannah bunched up her skirt in her little fists and tiptoed out with extra care. After she left, Missy folded her arms and assessed Sandra’s casual attire. “What are you supposed to be dressed as?” she asked.

Sandra puffed out her lips in thought. “A jilted woman with a broken heart?”

Missy didn’t find that comment amusing. But neither had she, really.

Sandra opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a bunny-ear headband. “Okay, then, I’m a rabbit.”

Missy eyed the ears and then her. “That’s pathetic.”

With a sigh, she tossed the ears on her desk. “I’m sorry, but my heart really wasn’t into dressing up. That’s the best I could do for myself.”

Missy nodded, and the tip of her witch hat drooped farther. “How are you holding up?”

“Ben’s only been gone two weeks. I’m doing fine.” That statement was far from accurate. Her doing fine implied she was going about her life as best as she could, maybe even pretty darn well.
Wrong, wrong.
Ben wouldn’t be around to make her laugh—or even fume—with his charming antics anymore. She missed his little pep talks, too. He’d had a way of smoothing out the stresses in her life, always making her feel in safe hands. Now without him, she felt less than whole.

“I’m glad you’re doing better,” Missy said. “I’ve been so worried about you. Carol’s been worried, too. You tend to keep a lot inside. I thought, well, when you’re in love, four weeks can sometimes feel like four years.”

Sandra exploded. “Yes! Yes! I know! Look at me, I’m a mess!” She gestured wildly to her jeans and plain white sweatshirt. “I couldn’t even come up with a decent Halloween costume. And I forgot the candy. How can we have the children trick-or-treat without candy? What was I thinking? I’m not doing fine, okay?” She flopped down in her chair and covered her face with her hands. “Oh, Missy, why couldn’t I have fallen in love with a plumber instead of a famous movie star? That would’ve been a no-brainer. Everything would’ve been normal. Why can’t life ever be simple?”

“I don’t know, honey. We don’t have control over who we love. We just…love. I think you’re—”

Missy’s unsolicited philosophy on her love life was shortchanged when the phone rang.

Sandra dropped her hands and automatically picked up the receiver. “Hello, Storybook Land,” she answered without enthusiasm. She listened to a woman speak on the other end of the phone then sat up with attention. “Yes. But this year is… Well, okay. Sure. Let me have your address, and I’ll send you a mailer.” She picked up a pen and quickly scribbled down the information.

As soon as she hung up the phone, Missy asked, “What was that all about?”

Sandra sat back and couldn’t help but chuckle—not so much from the humor of the situation, but from the absurdity of it. “That was a mother wanting to enroll her two children in our preschool.” She paused. “For next year.”

“For next year,” Missy repeated. “Already?”

“She said she wanted to get a jump on things.”

“Considering there’s no one else jumping, I’d say that’s a pretty big jump. Besides, we’re not even through two months of this school year.”

“I know. It’s the strangest thing.”

The telephone rang again. Sandra looked at her watch and thought it was unusual for it to be so active since it was just after nine in the morning. “Hello, Storybook Land,” she answered. “Yes, I am. Sure, but… Did you? Well, yes, I’d be happy to.” With wide eyes, Sandra shrugged at Missy. “Okay, let me have your email, and I’ll send you out all the information,” she said into the phone.

She hung up again and, afraid it was some sort of weird Halloween prank, didn’t take her eyes off the phone. “You’re not going to believe—”

“Let me guess, another mother wanting to get the jump on next year’s enrollment?” Sandra just nodded.

Missy cocked her head. “I wonder if a preschool in the area is closing.”

Out of nowhere, Carol charged through the door, clad in sky-blue doctor’s scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck. “Check this out,” she announced, waving a thick magazine. Pausing in front of the desk, she brought the magazine to her chest and eyed Missy’s costume from head to toe.

“What?” Missy asked, setting a hand on her hip.

“Uh…green is your color.”

Missy wrinkled her witch nose. “The children will love it.”

Carol’s face registered doubt, and then she looked at Sandra. “Where’s
your
costume?”

Sandra simply pointed to the rabbit ears on the desk.

“Nice effort.”

She gritted her teeth. Everyone’s Halloween spirit was starting to get on her nerves. “Look, what did you want to show us?”

“This.” Carol folded the magazine in half and thrust it out before them. Sandra glanced at the smiling
GQ
picture of Ben then looked up at Carol with apprehension. She wasn’t so sure her heart could take hearing about the star-studded life Ben had gone back to.

“Just read it,” Carol insisted.

It was a short two-page article entitled “Proud Papa,” which talked about Ben’s new change in attitude toward his career choices and how he was in negotiations for the lead role in the film
Heaven Sent
.
But Sandra couldn’t get past the first page and the reference to Jennifer Lawrence, who had expressed a keen interest in getting involved with the project. Sandra wasn’t surprised. Why wouldn’t a battalion of women already be lining up to become the next flavor of the month? With a nauseated feeling, she turned away. Reading halfway through the article hadn’t given her any information she didn’t already know.

“Very interesting,” she muttered.

“That’s what I thought, too,” Carol said. “Don’t you think that was sweet of Ben?”

Sandra whipped her head back around. “Sweet?”

“Yeah, didn’t you read the article?”

She paused only briefly, but it was enough for Carol to thrust out the magazine again. “
Read.
”

She hesitated then took the magazine and began to read where she’d left off. She soon realized how wrong she’d been about the article. It did convey information she wasn’t aware of. Like how much Ben had learned about love and family from her, and how spending time at her preschool had taught him valuable real-life lessons he planned to use when he raised his own family some day. Questions sprang up and flooded her mind, and when she’d finally finished reading, she stared at Carol and her sister in puzzlement.

“That…that was nice of him,” she said.

“
Nice?
” Carol cried. “He mentions the name of this little preschool in a nationally known and read magazine, mentions what a wonderful program it has to offer, mentions your name, and all you have to say is, ‘Um, that was nice of him.’ Sheesh! He practically said he loves you. And he practically handed over your number to hundreds of mothers in this area. I’d say it was more than nice. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were getting calls on this by this afternoon.”

Missy shifted uncomfortably. “Actually, we hav—”

“Missy.” Sandra’s tone held a note of warning. “Let’s not let this get out of hand, okay? I mean, I think we’re reading more into this than there is.”

“And just how are you reading it?” Carol asked.

She slowly licked her lips. “That he’s only promoting a movie.”

Carol and Missy waited for a better response. Their stares told her so.

“
Okay,
” she said, stalling for time. “Maybe he feels guilty about using Hannah and me for his personal research.”

“And maybe this is his way of showing you he cares,” Missy offered.

“I know you guys are trying to cheer me up, but it’s not working. Just stop, okay?” She didn’t need this weak show of encouragement or any more false-hope speculations from them. She’d already pushed Ben away. It wouldn’t do any good to boost her spirits for no reason. She needed real comfort. Something tangible…like Ben to walk through that door again and confess his undying love.

The phone rang instead.

Missy reached over for the receiver. “Hello, Storybook Land,” she said in her singsong voice. There was a short silence. Then she shot Sandra a smug smile as she told the person on the phone she’d get out information to them about the school’s enrollment as soon as possible.

Sandra had to sit down. It was all too much to take. All the phone calls. All the future enrollments. It had never occurred to her that Ben would continue to take it upon himself to do anything nice for her—especially after everything she’d said to him. Had he really meant what he’d told her? Did they really have something special? Obviously not, since he wasn’t here with her now. He didn’t care enough to stay. So what if he’d said a few nice things on her behalf? It didn’t change anything. Not one single thing.

Except her business.

He had helped her business. Then why wasn’t she happy? She should be thrilled—doing a Snoopy dance around her office—at the prospect of so much business coming in. And she hadn’t even spent a dime of her own money. She still hadn’t even decided what to do with the money Ben’s agent had given her. This was a dream come true. Things couldn’t be more perfect.

Her business was going to thrive. She’d have the financial support to raise her daughter comfortably without the worry of bills, debt, or foreclosure. And things—no, life—couldn’t be more…

Terrible.

What was the matter with her? Had she gotten herself so wrapped up in Ben Capshaw that she’d lost sight of the real objective in her life? Yes. She had. Because now the success of her business wasn’t enough anymore. The token of friendship he’d tried to convey through that article just wasn’t enough. She wanted more.

She wanted Ben.

…

Ben nudged open the classroom door, hoping to slip in and surprise the kids, but all heads turned in his direction at the exact moment the tip of his boot made contact with the threshold of the door. Maybe it was a little presumptuous of him to think a six-foot-tall man dressed as a pirate would go unnoticed.

“Ahoy, mateys,” he said with a grin. “Who here among ye buckos has a suitable welcome for Captain Big Bens?”

“Big Bens!” Then there were giggles and chatter, as half the kids were already out of their seats by the time he fully entered the classroom.

Hannah jumped up and down in front of him, chattering with excitement. “Big Bens, how do you like my costume? Look at the heart my mommy drew. Don’t I look beautiful? I’m a princess, but not Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. I’m not Snow White, either, because I don’t have a red bow. My mommy made me a regular princess.”

Ben smiled as he gazed down at Sandra’s angelic little girl. A crushing feeling began to form in his chest as he realized what he’d lost. How he missed being a part of this family. The reality of being loved and loving someone else. He hoped he wasn’t too late to change things.

He shook his head. “Not a regular princess, sweetheart. You’re the most beautiful princess ever made.” He stole a glance at the other children’s fixed stares and tried for a lighter mood. “Maybe if I’m lucky, Santa will get me a princess costume like that for Christmas,” he said with a wink.

Hannah giggled but shook her head at him. “Sorry, Big Bens, but you can’t have a princess costume. Only girls can be princesses. You just get pants and tires and stuff.”

“Ben!” Missy cried. “We thought we’d never see you again.”

He looked over and did a double take at the green woman in black. “Missy? Is that you?”

“Of course it is.” She gave him a sunny, blackened-tooth smile, and the fake wart on her nose fell off.

He cringed. “Uh, nice costume.”

Ignoring his comment, she raced up to him. “Have you spoken to Sandra yet?” she asked.

“No. Carol let me in. She said Sandra forgot candy or something for the party. I was kind of hoping to talk to her, though.” He paused and looked down, making a show of inspecting the tips of his black boots. “So…uh…how is she?”

“Sandra? Oh, you know,” she said with a casual wave of her hand. “The same as you, I’m sure.”

Oh, man. Missy had no clue. He missed Sandra so much he could barely see straight, let alone function. And if Sandra was experiencing just a fraction of the mental incapacity he had over their separation, he’d consider himself a fortunate man.

“Did she happen to see my interview in
GQ
?” he asked. “I mean, I was just wondering if she liked it and…” He cleared his throat. “And if she said anything. About me.” It was almost pitiable. Just like that, Sandra had reduced him to a sixteen-year-old, searching for scraps of information on a girl.