Part-Time Wife

Nothing like performing under pressure, she thought, staring at Ben and praying for inspiration. Like a gift from heaven, it arrived.

She smiled, then bent over and swept everything off the right half of the coffee table. Books, magazines, the television remote control, three glasses that were, fortunately, empty and plastic, and a half-eaten sandwich. Ben looked startled. Good. Better to keep him off-balance.

She knelt in front of the coffee table and placed her elbow on the slick wooden surface. She flexed and released her hand. “You ready to back up that smart mouth with some action?” she asked, trying to sound confident and tough. This was all going to blow up in her face if he beat her.

“What are you talking about?”

“You and me. Right here. Right now.” She smiled. “Arm wrestling, Ben. If you win, you get to sit here and watch TV until you’re old and gray and your bones are dissolving. If I win, you do what I say. Starting with turning off the TV and coming with your brothers for a meeting.”

“Cool!” C.J. said. “You can beat him, Jill.”

Ben glared at his brother. “This is stupid,” he muttered.

But he wasn’t looking at the television anymore, Jill thought triumphantly. She shrugged. “Maybe. If you’re chicken.”

“I’m not chicken.”

Danny made a clucking noise.

“Shut up, brat.”

“I’m not a brat.”

“You’re a shrimpy brat.”

“Boys.” Jill spoke firmly. Both of them looked at her. She stared at Ben. “Put up or shut up, young man. Either you’re tough, or you’re not. Let’s find out.”

Those dark eyes stared at her. She tried to figure out what he was thinking, but along with his father’s good looks, Ben had inherited Craig’s ability to keep some of his thoughts to himself.

“If I win, I get to watch TV and I get five bucks.”

She thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. “If I win, you not only do what I say, but you give up TV for the weekend.”

Ben glanced at her right arm, then at her. “Deal.” He slid off the sofa and onto the carpet. After placing his elbow on the coffee table, he clasped her hand with his. C.J. and Danny moved closer.

“Come on, Jill, you can do it,” Danny said loudly. He ignored Ben’s glare.

Jill hoped the boy’s confidence in her was going to pay off. Since moving in with Kim, she’d started working out with light weights. She knew she was stronger than she had been, but was it enough? She knew very little about the strength of twelve-year-old boys. She could only hope that Ben’s inactive lifestyle gave her an advantage.

Her gaze locked with Ben’s. A flicker of uncertainty flashed through his eyes. She thought he might be a little afraid of winning. That would give him more power than most children would find comfortable. At least she liked to think so.

“C.J., you say go,” she said, and shifted on the carpet. Ben would probably go for the quick kill. If she could hold on during that, she might have a chance. If she could win, she would make it look hard, so Ben could save face.

Ah, the complications of dealing with a houseful of men, she thought. She leaned forward so she could have the maximum leverage and sucked in a breath.

“Go!” C.J. yelled.

Chapter Three (#ulink_610ad731-db14-5915-9a96-b2ae42ac4136)

Jill thought she’d prepared herself for the assault, but when it came, Ben nearly drove her hand into the table. She managed to keep him from slamming it down, but barely. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.

She didn’t look at him or either of the other boys. She focused all her attention on her arm, willing it to be strong.

She finally managed to get their hands back in an upright position. She pressed hard, and he gave. She risked glancing at him. She saw the panic on his face. He was about to be humiliated in front of his brothers.

Her heart went out to this stubborn, proud, overweight boy who probably endured the taunts of his classmates and the lack of confidence that went with not fitting in. She was torn between wanting to make him feel better and needing to establish a presence in the house. As she’d decided, if she could win, she would. But she wouldn’t make it look easy.

Her arm was shaking, but not as badly as Ben’s. They knelt there, with their arms perpendicular to the table.

“You gonna beat ‘im, Jill?” Danny asked, earning a glare from his oldest brother.

“I’m trying,” she said through gritted teeth. She moved slightly to the left, forcing his wrist down.

C.J. laughed. “Come on, Ben. She’s just a girl.”

“Then you try it,” Ben complained. “She’s stronger than she looks.”

“Lesson number one,” Jill said. “Never underestimate the power of a woman.”

With that she pressed the back of his hand down onto the wood. Both C.J. and Danny cheered. Ben released her fingers and rubbed his wrist as if it hurt.

“I thought I’d win for sure,” he said, then smiled sheepishly. In that moment, he looked exactly like his father. He was going to be a heartbreaker when he grew up, she thought. He leaned over, grabbed the remote control, turned off the television, then handed the clicker to her.

“Haynes men keep their word,” he said simply.

He sounded so serious. The words were those of a mature man, not a twelve-year-old boy. But the way he said them, she believed him.

“You’re being very gracious,” she said. She was surprised. She’d thought he would be a sore loser. One point for him, she thought, deciding that if he really cooperated with her today, she would let him watch a little TV tonight. She’d learned early on it paid to compromise.

“Okay, why don’t the three of you give me the nickel tour.”

Danny frowned. “We get a nickel if we give you a tour?”

“No, stupid. It’s just an expression.”

Apparently Ben’s magnanimous attitude didn’t extend to his brothers. “No name-calling, please.” She stood up and placed her hand on Danny’s shoulder. “But Ben is right. ‘Nickel tour’ is just an expression. It means to give someone a quick tour. Not a lot of details.”

“Oh, okay.”

C.J. looked at her and grinned. “Are you sure you want to see the rest of the house?”

She glanced at the piles of laundry by the door to the garage, then at the dishes in the kitchen. “Sure. How bad can it be?”

The three boys laughed together.

Fifteen minutes later, Jill didn’t feel like laughing. She wanted to turn tail and run. She didn’t understand how people could live under these conditions. It didn’t make sense. Didn’t anyone notice that virtually every possession was out of the cupboards, closets and drawers and on the floor?

She stood in the center of the upstairs hall, staring at C.J.’s room. “Doesn’t your dad make you pick up your stuff?” she asked.