Idle Hours (8 page)

Ben tugged at the napkin he had stuck into the neck of his shirt then glanced to his left. A fancy dressed couple held hands and made eyes at one another while their steaks got cold. For the first time in his life, Ben understood.

Spending time with a good woman was worth letting your prime rib turn to ice.

He glanced around the room and noticed two things: those who were eating didn’t seem to be making eyes at one another, and none of the men wore napkins in their collars. Ben jerked at his napkin and let it drop to his lap just as Lia came around the corner.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just wanted to check on Mother to be sure she’s fine.”

“And is she?”

“Of course.” Lia met his gaze then looked away. “Ben, I’m really sorry about this.”

“Sorry about coming here with me?”

“No.” She shook her head. “My mother, she’s just-”

“She’s just helping nature along.” He reached for her hand and patted it. “I for one am glad. I don’t know if I’d have found the courage to ask you on a date. I owe her a debt of thanks for doing that for me.”

Was she blushing?
 

Had the waitress not come along to take their orders, he might have figured that out. Instead, he spent the rest of the evening trying to decide if it was a trick of the light or just his wishful thinking that had Lia paying attention to everything he said and looking like the prettiest girl in the room at the same time.

Woman, he corrected as he ushered her to the truck to drive her home. They rode in silence until Lia nodded to the radio. “May I?”

When she sang along with the first song that blared through the speakers, he knew he she was the woman for him. She hadn’t even changed the station. Just sang along. So did he too until their harmony filled the cab of the truck and spilled out into the evening air.

Like they were meant to be together.

Too soon they reached her house. “Lia, I’m no kid,” he said as he turned to face her. “And I know what I like.” He paused. “I like you. A lot.” He waited, barely breathing, until she smiled.

“I like you a lot, too, Ben.”

There it was, the statement that might have sent him shouting with a whoop and a holler. But being a gentleman, he settled for a broad grin instead.

“I believe I’d like to court you right and proper.” Ben narrowed his eyes to study the woman who held his heart. “You okay with that, Lia Stephanos?”

“My mother will be thrilled.”

Well, that wasn’t the answer he’d hoped for. “Lia?”

Her smile could have lit the sky. “I believe I’m fine with that, Ben Corbin.”

He reached over to hug her and she fit just right in his arms. Intending to break the embrace, he ended up nose to nose with her.

Time stopped, and he could have sworn his heart did too. Then Lia’s eyes slid shut.

He should have kissed her right then and there. A reasonable man would have. But all reason headed for the hills when he got anywhere near the pretty lady.

Instead, he leaned out of the embrace and opened the door to trot around and help Lia out. By the time he reached her, she’d already jumped down and was waiting for him.

Of course. The woman was as independent as it got.

When she headed toward the house, he followed a step behind like a puppy trailing his master. A light burned back in the little bedroom belonging to Mrs. Stephanos but the house was otherwise dark.

“That you, Lia?” she called through the open window.

Lia paused to lean against the porch rail, and the moonlight caught her smiling. “Yes, Mother.” Then she turned her attention to Ben. “Thank you for a lovely evening.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve had fancier meals. Our town doesn’t compare to New York City.”

“No,” she said slowly, “it doesn’t. And that’s just fine with me.”

Well now.
 

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Ben said just quiet enough to escape her mama’s hearing, or at least he hoped. “No more waiting until Wednesday to see you.” He placed his finger beneath her chin and tilted it up. “I intend to court you proper, Lia Stephanos. I just thought you’d want to know. For the record, I think you just might be a keeper.”

For a minute he thought she might respond. Instead she bid him a quick good-night and then ducked her head and disappeared inside, leaving the screen door to close behind her.

Had he been a younger man, Ben might have headed for the truck at a trot. Instead, he tried not to step into any uneven terrain as he made his way through the moonlight back to the truck. He got all the way back to the main road before he finally let loose with the whoop of happiness he’d been holding in.

The next Sunday, he did save a seat at church, and the Sunday after that. He discovered the only thing more welcoming than the Sunday morning service was listening to the music and preacher with Lia by his side. He even got used to the smiles her mama slipped him when she thought Lia was busy paying attention to the goings-on in the pulpit.
 

Pretty soon preparations for the fishing tournament took almost all his time, that is except for his Wednesday fishing trips with Lia.
 
He wouldn’t think of missing those, nor did Mrs. Stephanos have to burn any more pork chops to convince the two of them to have dinner out on the weekends.

And though he still hadn’t made good on that kiss, his hopes were rising with every time Lia smiled his way. One of these days, when the time was right, he’d know just what kissing Lia Stephanos was like.

One thing he already knew. She would be worth the wait.

They enjoyed the next Saturday together and the next, until the corner booth at the steak house became their regular spot for supper. At least once a week, they would share a meal and some good conversation. Sometimes Lia would even get him to talking about his dreams. When he told her about the RV, she listened and smiled. Even asked him to tell her about some of the places he wanted to go.
 

While she’d coax him out of just about anything in the way of future plans, there was one thing he hadn’t found the courage to admit. There was no future without her in it. He’d figured that out weeks ago. The only problem was deciding how to tell her.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Whistling the theme from
High Noon
, Ben rolled out of the parking lot and came to a stop at the light. In the rear view mirror, he caught a glance of the bait shop, the place he’d spent his entire adult life and a good part of his growing up years.

“Wonder what it will be like . . .”
 

A horn honked behind him and he shifted his attention to the flashy pickup and the kid who seemed to have more impatience than time to spare. His irritation edged up a notch as he aimed the truck toward Lia’s place, but by the time she climbed into the seat beside him, he felt as happy as a rooster in a henhouse.

She wore pink again, from her ball cap to her sneakers, and it looked to Ben like the Lord had created that color just for her. Something in his heart jumped to life when she looked his direction.

“What’s that smile for, Ben?”

“You.”
 

He turned his attention to easing the truck over the rutted road without jostling the canoe. In no time they’d reached the dock and unloaded their supplies. As Lia adjusted her life jacket, Ben put in the canoe then set the cooler in the center. Five minutes later, they were headed for Ben’s special fishing spot.
 

Today Lia was quiet. Like something was wrong. While he cast his line, Ben tried to think of a way to ask her what he’d done.
 

Finally he leaned over and stole a kiss. She smiled, barely.
 

His heart sunk. “I’m sorry,” Ben hurried to say. “I shouldn’t have…that is, I might ought to have asked you before I just presumed that you were ready for…” Exasperated with his inability to say what he wanted to, he gave up and fell silent.

“Ben,” she finally said, “if you ever apologize for kissing me again, I’ll have to take offense. You hear me?”

He gave her a sideways look. “Offense at the kissing or the apologizing?”

“The apologizing,” she said as her gaze met his. “And for the record, I’ve been wondering what took you so long.”

All the worry went out of him. Then he noticed she wasn’t looking as happy as he expected she should. “Something else bothering you, then?”

Lia seemed to give the question some thought before nodding. “Actually, there is,” she said. “I need to tell you something.”

Ben wrapped his arm around her and inhaled the faint sweetness of her flowery perfume before resting his head against hers. “Long as it’s not good-bye, I can take just about anything.”

She nodded. “I hope you’re right. See, I want you to be completely honest with you about my . . . well, my health.”

* * *

Ben’s smile gave her courage, as did the way he held her close. And oh, that kiss. If she allowed herself, Lia might have thought on that and ignored the issue at hand. But she couldn’t.
 

She wouldn’t. It wasn’t fair to Ben.

“Go on and tell me.”

“I’ve got a defective heart,” she said. “I could give you the technical diagnosis, but suffice it to say I’m damaged goods. That’s why I had to leave the publishing industry. Too much stress and not enough rest. At least that’s how my cardiologist put it.”

As Lia delivered the news, she watched Ben’s face for any sign of his reaction. To her surprise, he merely nodded.

“I wondered if there might be something like that going on the day I first met you.” He nudged her shoulder with his. “You may find it hard to believe but not every woman swoons when I show up.”

Despite the butterflies in her stomach, Lia giggled. “That is hard to believe.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “Ben, be serious a minute. This could be bad.”

“It might.” He grasped her hand in his and squeezed it. “But I’m willing to take that chance.”

For a moment, Lia allowed her hopes to soar. Then reality crashed in. “I don’t think you understand what could happen.”

“No, Lia, I don’t think you understand. I don’t care what happens.” Ben shifted to the seat across from her. “None of us get any guarantees. I figure I’d rather risk something I don’t like if it means I might have something I do like. Besides, the Lord can heal a broken heart in a lot of ways. If He chooses, that is. Our part is to call on Him, wait and see what He will do, and then refuse to complain about whatever the outcome is. Make sense?”

She looked up into his eyes. “Yes,” she said, “it makes perfect sense.”

“Know what else makes sense, Lia?”

“What’s that?”

He lifted her fingers to his lips. “You and me,” he said. “We make sense.”

Lia smiled. “We do, don’t we?”

“After this fishing tournament’s finished. . .” Ben looked away. “Maybe I ought not talk about this. I reckon you’ve got plans that might not fit with mine.”

Plans. Yes, she had plans to settle into the life of a restaurant owner and Ben, well, it seemed as though he intended to take his life on the road in that RV he’d told her about. Maybe they didn’t make sense after all.

“Lia, did you hear me?”

She focused on Ben, who now held both her hands. “No, I’m sorry. What did you say?”
 

“Will you be patient with me until after the fishing tournament? After that I promise I’ll go back to courtin’ you proper.”

His question emboldened her. “I might.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Lia lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug as she kept her attention focused squarely on the handsome bait shop owner. “I mean I might be patient if I knew that you weren’t too busy with the fishing tournament to give me a kiss every once in awhile.”

Ben leaned toward her. “Lia Stephanos,” he said slowly, “I might not be able to find the hours in the day to court you proper, but nothing will keep me from kissing you. Not fish, not bait, and especially not a fishing tournament. You understand that?”

It was, she decided as she looked into his eyes, the most romantic declaration she had ever heard. Or read. And she had read some pretty romantic declarations in her years at the publishing house, at least in print.

Then he proved it.

* * *

Lia had made good on her promise not to tell about buying the bait shop, but she was chomping at the bit to get her hands on the inside of the place so she could fix it up. Ben could tell by looking at her. Oh, she was still the prettiest thing he’d laid eyes on, but she looked plumb tired of waiting.

“You know Will won’t say a word,” she told him as they stood in the bait shop parking lot a few days after their memorable first kiss. And second. And third.

“He might not, but then again what if he does. Unintentionally, that is? Maybe he mentions it to Cara who accidentally says something to her mama who heads up the church benevolence society, and then there you go. It’s all over town.”

“I resent that, Ben.”

He gave her a good looking-over and knew the color in her cheeks wasn’t from any romance sparking between them. “I guess you do.”

“Look,” she said in a tone he recognized as one intended to make peace while still getting her point across. “Will needs time to look over my ideas and draw up some plans. Nothing can happen until then, and nobody has to know what we’re up to.”

“Well, you’re right about the first part,” he said as he turned his attention to the stillness of lake and the gray clouds covering the sun. “Nothing can happen, nor will it.”

“You are the most stubborn man, Ben Corbin.”

“Reckon I am,” he said. “You want me to take you back home so you don’t have to be plagued with my aggravating self?”

“I’d rather you just listen to reason and let me have a tiny discussion with Will. No details, just a few general things.” She sweetened the request with a smile.

“I just can’t let you do that, Lia. I’m sorry.”

For a minute, he thought the conversation might end right there. Her smile hung on just long enough to give him hope. And then her expression turned sour and she looked away. “I think maybe you do need to take me home now.”

A dozen good responses occurred to him, but each of them would require him to give in on the one point he wasn’t willing to concede. Finally he set his jaw and reached for the oars. “All right then,” was his last word on the subject, at least until he had her in the truck and headed toward that little cottage of hers.