Kathryn Shay - A Time To Give

“Do you ever think about her?”

His face flushed. “No.”

“I wonder where she is.”

“Last I heard she went to New York.” He crossed to the bank of windows and stood in the spring sunshine, staring out at the front lawn. “Before we married, she worked in a bookstore.” He shook his head. “She loved to read to you.”

“Not enough to stick around, apparently.”

It seemed as if her dad was about to say something, then he shook himself and checked his watch. “I have to go. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right.”

“You don’t have to escape. Stay for lunch.”

“No, I can’t. I have a meeting.” He kissed her cheek and strode to the door, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Emily sighed as she watched her father leave. She suspected he didn’t have a meeting, but that talking about his ex-wife made him uncomfortable. When she thought about her mother, Emily just got sad. She had to fight hard not to dwell on the fact that the woman who’d given her life didn’t love her enough to stick around and raise her. She’d never be that way with her kids, if she ever had any.

Slowly Emily sank onto the Aubusson carpet. “You’re lucky to have those pups, Lady. I envy you.”

Fatigue settled on her like a heavy blanket. How pathetic it was to be jealous of a dog.

BEN SWORE SILENTLY at himself as he rode the bus from the inner city to Corn Hill, where he used to live and where Trey still did. After finishing a day’s work that just about broke his thirty-eight-year-old back, coming off a night of no sleep, he couldn’t resist the urge to make this trip. He didn’t even know if Trey would be home, but after last night, he needed company.

As Ben got off at his stop and covered the few blocks to Trey’s upscale condo, he thought about delivering the puppies. He hadn’t felt that needed in two years.

And then what had happened in the parking lot with Emily: he hadn’t backed away from the hug and couldn’t help brushing his lips across her corn-silk soft hair. God, she’d felt good against him. Curvier than she looked. Just the right complement to the hard planes of his body.

A body that had given him grief for hours because of that simple indulgence. Damn it.

He reached the brick building on Hoffman Street where Trey lived and caught sight of the Porsche in the condo’s parking lot.

You got a Porsche? What’s wrong with you?

Just because you prefer those little Jags….

Their taste in cars had been as dramatically different as their taste in women.

Man, give me a redhead any day, his friend always said.

Not me. I’m a brunette connoisseur.

And he had been. Mallory had worn her black hair short, styled in a careless bob. She’d been rail thin, too, and most of the time she’d looked like she’d just walked out of Vogue. Hell, when had he begun to prefer strawberry-blondes with generous curves and freckles?

He slipped into the building along with another couple and made his way to Trey’s unit. Punching the doorbell, he forced Emily out of his mind.

Trey answered before he could ring again. “I don’t believe it. You haven’t been here in two years.”

Ben jammed his hands into the pockets of his best jeans. “Hello to you, too.”

“Hey, Ben.”

“So, are you going to invite me in or not?”

Trey moved aside.

Ben stepped into the living room with its floor-to-ceiling windows and designer furniture. He remembered his own condo and how he’d worked with a decorator—at Mallory’s urging—to furnish it. “I forgot how nice this place was.”

“Like yours was, buddy.” When Ben didn’t comment, Trey said, “Sit. Can I get you a beer—” He cut himself off. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Ben hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol in over eleven months. “I’ll take a soda.”

Trey glanced to his own drink on the table in front of a large-screen TV.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“All right.”

Trey got Ben his soda and took a chair facing him. “It’s a crime you’ve never visited me here just because you hit on hard times.”

Ben took a swig of the soda. “It was a little more than hard times.”

“It didn’t have to be. Your life as you knew it didn’t have to be over.”

“Mallory didn’t agree with you.”

“What did you expect from a snob like her?”

“She had her good points.” And she had. Loyalty just wasn’t one of them. Of course, he hadn’t given her much choice when he’d drunk himself into the gutter and stayed there for months.

Trey sipped his scotch. “So what brings you here?”

“I delivered pups last night. Five of them.” He shook his head. “It reminded me of Harriet. I got thinking about my old life, I guess.”

“No kidding? Where was this?”

“At Cassidy Place.”

“You still work there?”

“Not exactly. Long story.” He glanced around the apartment. “So, how’s everything going?”

“Great.” Trey’s expression intensified. “Since you seem more open tonight, I’m going to ask again if I can help get you out of this funk and back to your real world.”

“My real world has no appeal to me anymore.” Except for the fact that, if he wasn’t a bum, he might be able to go after Emily.

“Come on, Ben. I can help you get a job. A good job. You can start over in the corporate world.”

He felt himself weakening. “Nobody’s going to hire me after my two-year disappearance.”

“You don’t know that.”

Ben didn’t say anything.

Trey studied him. “It’s a woman, isn’t it?”

He glared at his friend. “What are you talking about?”

“Why you’re here.”

“I came here to see you.” He scanned the living room. “Like I said, I miss sitting around and shooting the breeze with you.”

“I think you miss your old life. And I think maybe some female’s got you thinking that way.”

Ben frowned at the validity of what Trey said.

“I recognize the signs, buddy. I’ve known you for a long time.”

“There’s no woman, Trey.” He picked threads on a pillow. “But I have been thinking about what you said about investigating Mackenzie.” Ben wondered if, down deep, that’s why he’d come here tonight.

“I haven’t done anything more on it, like you said. But I could put out some additional feelers, if you’re interested?”

“I guess I am. What harm could there be for you to at least look into it?”

“None that I can see.”

He looked at this friend. “And it might help out the employees.”

“Just the employees?”

He shook his head. “I’d rather live like I do, than go back to where I went the year after Mackenzie screwed me.”

“Is playing it safe worth the price?”

It had been. Until Emily. But he wouldn’t tell Trey that, at least not yet. “Yeah, it is.”

Trey just waited.

Finally, Ben said, “So, okay, do it. Poke around some. Don’t go all out or anything. But see if you can get some dirt on Mackenzie.”

EMILY PULLED INTO CASSIDY Place’s parking lot at five o’clock. The air was still warm and filled with the smell of budding flowers. Since it was Wednesday, she wouldn’t see Ben, but she wanted to get her mind off her own issues.

The first thing Emily saw when she entered the building was Alice standing by the stove with Jimmy and the three volunteers who’d come in to cook at four o’clock. The older woman’s expression was a mixture of anger and disgust.

“Oh, my God, what happened?” Emily asked, looking past them.

The tables and floor were covered with milk and flour, creating a gooey mass. Ripped apart bread bags, fresh vegetables and frozen meat had been tossed into the mess.