His Wife for a While (22 page)

"Then why would you do this?"

Her tongue darted out to moisten her suddenly dry lips. "Well," she began. She stopped long enough to swallow. "I know that my money will cover only a small fraction of the loss. But if you accept it, you won't have to lay off the men."

He started to speak, but she charged ahead. "Not right away, anyway. That money will keep those men employed for a few months more. Those men have families. They have bills to pay. They need their jobs. You said as much last night." She knew she was rambling, but she couldn't help it. "I'll continue to save and…" she shrugged one shoulder "…who knows, maybe the fall harvest will bring enough profit so that you'll be able to repay me."

Her rush of words was a diversion, a smokescreen she hoped would distract him from his original question.

Ben leaned forward and rested one elbow on his desk top. "But what if you become pregnant before the fall harvest? What if you want to leave before then? And what if the profits aren't enough to enable me to pay you back right away?"

In her agitation, she stood and rounded the chair, fighting the urge to run away from his questions. She should have told him about the baby last night. Now, he'd never accept her help. How could she explain why she was offering her life savings to him, when she had successfully conceived the child that would make their deal complete? When it was time for her to leave Reed's Orchard? She couldn't even explain it to herself. Well, she
could
, but it was easier to turn a blind eye to the truth. She faced him, her hands gripping the chair back.

"Ben, I don't have all the answers, okay? I was only trying to…"

Chelsea
was interrupted by May pushing open the door of Ben's office.

"Good morning, you two," May said. "
Chelsea
, I'm going to need my till money." Then she directed her attention to Ben. "I'm sorry about the peach crop. Have you checked out just how bad it is?"

"Totally destroyed," Ben told her. "I'll be surprised if the harvest equals even a few bushel baskets."

"That bad?" May asked.

Ben only nodded.

"We'll survive this." May plunked a fist on her ample hip. "I know you're worried and you think it's bad, but we've survived worse."

"I hope you're right, Aunt May."

May placed her hand on
Chelsea
's shoulder and grinned wide. "Well, Ben, what do you think of
Chelsea
's news?"

Chelsea
felt her insides freeze.

"We were just talking about it," Ben said. "I'm not sure it's anything to be smiling about. In fact, I think it would be wrong for me to take her money."

Realizing that he was confusing issues,
Chelsea
tried to break into the conversation by speaking Ben's name, but neither Ben nor May responded. Other than being outright rude,
Chelsea
could see no other recourse but to stand there and helplessly listen to May delivering news that she
should
have revealed yesterday.

"
Money
?" May asked. "I don't know what money you're talking about, but I'm talking about the
baby
."

Bewilderment passed fleetingly across Ben's face before his gaze zeroed in and locked on
Chelsea
's. She wanted so badly to look away, but his expression was as strong as iron manacles.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you," she said weakly.

"You didn't know?" May asked, her tone horrified. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ben. It's obvious you two need to talk. I'll come back later."

The door closed, leaving Ben and Chelsea alone with the awkward silence that lay between them. Neither one spoke, they only stared at one another.
Chelsea
tried hard to sense what he might be feeling. Was he angry that she hadn't told him? Was he…?

"When did you find out?" His question was hushed.

Guilt forced her gaze to the floor. "Yesterday morning. I meant to let you know immediately. But then May told me about the hail, and I rushed out to find you and let you know." She looked at her hands and then back to him. "I got so caught up with the weather and the crop damage, I forgot about it. But then when the baby came to my mind again, you were feeling so bad that I... I didn't think it was a good time to give you the news."

He inhaled deeply, his slight nod told her he understood her reasons for failing to tell him right away.

His gaze never wavered as he said, "You'll be leaving now."

The finality in the sound of his words crushed her. It was so decisive, so… terminal.

"But, Ben, I don't have to leave right away," she tried. "You'll need a bookkeeper. I'm willing to stay long enough to train whoever you hire."

"
Chelsea
." Her name exploded from him in a burst. "You'll be staying much longer than that."

His eyes narrowed with anger or frustration,
Chelsea
couldn't tell which. But at the sight of them, her stomach tightened with trepidation.

"Did you forget that you've given me the money that was supposed to get you away from here?"

He stood up now, his shoulders tense, his back straight.

"Here." He picked up her check and thrust it at her, his barely controlled outrage making his hand shake. "Take this. I can't allow you to give me money that you and your baby are going to need."

Reaching out, she gently plucked the check from his grasp with trembling fingers.

His reaction confused her. She'd only been trying to help. Not accepting her money was one thing, but why was he so angry?

Then it came to her, and she understood perfectly. In proposing that he use her money, she had offered him a solution to his problem, but then she'd jerked it away.

She wanted so badly to help him, but the only way to do that now would be to force him to accept her savings. But if she did that, he'd eventually work out the truth, that helping him meant more to her than fulfilling her plans of leaving. Her mind whirled with another truth… his happiness meant more to her than the hopes and dreams she'd nurtured for more years than she could count.

Feeling as if she were moving in slow motion, she folded the check and slipped it into her pocket. She could never let him realize her feelings. She'd never survive being rejected by him.

"I'm still willing to stay long enough to train someone to do my job," she said quietly. "In fact, I'll… I'll look for someone. I'll call the paper. I'll place an ad. I'll take care of it."

He searched her eyes for a moment before answering, "I'd appreciate that."

They stood in the thick silence; she, feeling disheartened and guilty that she was unable to help him, and he, looking tormented by the problem that continued to weigh heavily on his mind.

"Well, I should go," she said. "I have plenty of work to do."

She was at the door when he called her name and she turned back to face him.

"Don't wait dinner for me," he told her. "I'll be late. Clearing up the peach grove with the guys."

"Do you want me to bring you something…"

"No."

He cut her off with his sharp retort.

"I mean," he added, "that won't be necessary. Thank you. But… I'll be fine."

Chelsea
's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know what to say. Conversation hadn't been this difficult, this stilted, in weeks. Hell, the awkwardness was fog thick.

"Listen, Ben." Her hand automatically went to her tummy. "Now that I've… now that I'm…" She stopped, pressed her lips together and took a calming breath. "There's really no reason for me to stay at your house any longer. I'll move my things out today."

It killed her to say the words. But she had to make a clean break now, or she might never find the strength to do it.

~  ~  ~

Ben watched his office door close behind
Chelsea
and felt his whole world was falling apart. He'd never felt so alone in his life.

A knock at the door sent his hopes soaring.

"Chels?"

"No," May said, opening the door and coming inside. "It's only me. I came to share this outlandish news article with you. Do you believe that these scientists have taken pictures of a covered wagon that they found on the moon?"

"Aunt May, you really shouldn't believe…"

"Everything I read," May finished for him. "I know, I know."

Ben closed his eyes a moment, and then looked at his aunt. "I'm really not in the mood to hear any of your tabloid stories."

"Okay," May said. "Just tryin' to put a little smile on that sour puss of yours."

"I'm sorry, Aunt May," Ben said. "It's just that I'm in an awful mess."

"I know. It's awful what Old Man Weather did to us."

Ben shook his head. "I'm not talking about that," he said. "
Chelsea
's leaving. She's moving out today, and she could leave town any day."

May gazed at him a moment before replying, "I tried not to butt into your business when the two of you hatched this crazy deal. I didn't like what either of you were doing, but my brother couldn't have made your situation more difficult, so I kept my yap shut. I don't mind saying that the worst part of the plan was the bit where
Chelsea
up and leaves us once she's pregnant. That's had me worried from the start. She never talks about family. Heck, she never talked about much of anything until recently. Where's she going to go, Ben? What's she going to do?"

He just shook his head at the questions he couldn't answer. "I wish I knew, Aunt May. I was certain that, to save my orchard, I could marry
Chelsea
, make her pregnant and let her go."

Reaching up, he massaged a sudden ache at the back of his neck. His voice was pensive as he admitted, "But it appears that I've fallen in love with my wife."

May eased herself down in her chair to listen, and Ben followed suit. He looked at his aunt across his desk, knowing full well that his eyes held a haunted look.

"When I first married Chels, she was so stiff, so damned… solemn. I decided to see how often I could make her smile. That smile ate its way right into my heart, Aunt May. Like a drug. Something I couldn't live without. I began thinking about it all day while I worked. I dreamed about it at night. I lived to see
Chelsea
's face brighten with that beautiful..."

He sighed. "It sounds so stupid, when I hear the words out loud. But it's true." He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "Pretty soon, though, I didn't have to work so hard at making her smile. She began to relax around me. We had such good times when we were together."

Ben rubbed his fingers along his jaw as he contemplated the past couple of months since he'd married
Chelsea
.

"The very thought of her made me feel… I don't know… energetic. Happy. I couldn't wait to get home after work." He chuckled. "I even started letting the men off a little early, so I could get home to
Chelsea
." After a moment, he remarked, "You know, one day I even went to the nature center looking for her."