A Wife For Ben

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.

It was impossible.

But sitting there, staring at the woman and child, at the look of utter helplessness on her face as she continued to struggle to breathe, Ben realized his major weakness was a woman in peril. His sister swore he couldn’t say no to a woman. And here was this young mother needing help. How could he turn them away?

He couldn’t.

It was that simple.

With an inward sigh he admitted he’d done it. He’d invited them to stay with him. And he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

What was he getting himself into?

Chapter Three

Bachelorhood is simply a way of saying I don’t know anything about women.

—Ben’s Laws of Life

There had been a ton of paperwork to sign, and even though the doctor had seen them they still had tests that needed doing. While the nurses had been busy poking and prodding, Stephanie had asked about calling a taxi, but Ben had insisted on calling his friend.

She was glad for the ride. She couldn’t afford a taxi, and even if she could pay for a cab, where would she go? She had been honest when she’d said she couldn’t think of anyone to stay with. She was still probing her mind for someone who might have room to put her up for a day or two. She wasn’t sure what she could do. She’d had a house and now she didn’t. At least, she didn’t think she did. It had been burning when they’d left.

When they’d finally straightened everything out with the paperwork and it was time for a signature, Ben’s friend had shown up.

“I’m certain that it’ll be fine if you stay with me until we get something done with your house,” Ben said, and Stephanie felt herself redden in the early-morning light. “The doctor said it’d be a good idea for all of us to rest today, and you certainly aren’t going to do that back at your house. I’ll have John go by and board up what he can and tomorrow you can look at it.”

Confused, Stephanie asked, “Board up?”

He nodded. “Cover whatever there is left to cover. The entire house didn’t burn down. There’ll be things you can salvage. We’ll need to call the insurance company, of course, but everything else can wait until tomorrow. You had a close call this morning.”

Ben Mayeaux. It suddenly clicked who this man was.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. I mean, you aren’t exactly a stranger, Mr. Mayeaux.”

Stephanie knew that sounded like an odd thing to say to a man she’d really never met. But as they drove back from Lane Hospital, she couldn’t help but chat to cover her nervousness. And she was nervous. Why had she accepted his invitation? Though she said she knew something about him, she only knew the basic facts. He was her neighbor, lived alone but was more involved in the community than she was. Everyone around town said he was a very nice person and really cared about people—even if he was a bit of a loner.

“Oh?” he asked, though the wary look that crossed his face told his true feelings.

“I know you’re at all of the town meetings and are on the board to build a better school even though you don’t have children. You’re quiet and keep to yourself and build stuff.”

“I build houses, Annie.”

“Stephanie,” she corrected.

“Yeah,” he murmured. His voice still sounded hoarse from the smoke.