Adversaries and Lovers (16 page)

They ate in silence, Linda seeming to be in deep thought, but after a while, she said to Kate, “It’s funny. You’re very different from Gayle, yet you seem to fill the void in Ben’s life in a way that perhaps Gayle never did. I like to see him happy again.”

Kate blinked back tears that threatened and said, impulsively, “What was Gayle like?” She looked at Linda, surprised at her own audacity, and added, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. It’s probably hard to talk about her.”

“Sometimes it is," Linda admitted, "but this isn’t one of those times.” She looked off in quiet contemplation and Kate knew she was assimilating memories. Then she began to talk with animation. “Gayle was a very high-spirited and vivacious young lady who loved life and often strayed close to the edge, tempting danger and taking chances. We allowed her to date Ben at an earlier age than we’d intended because he was a settling influence on her. We also knew he’d protect her from herself and her own rash actions.” Linda paused for a few moments, then gave Kate a wry smile and said, “Gayle was also a bit spoiled, I’m sorry to say. Ernie and I were older parents by the time she came along, and she being an only child, well, we tended to overindulge her and give into her whims. Ben let her have her way a good part of the time too, but he knew when to put the brakes on. But even when he did that, she knew how to handle him, kind of like handling a big, overgrown puppy. When he growled, she corrected him with firm, but gentle discipline. You instinctively do that, which is probably why Ben's drawn to you.”

“I don’t know about instincts,” Kate said. “It’s just the way I react when he treats me like a child.”

“Like I said, he’s being protective. I doubt he even knows he’s treating you that way. Give him time. He’ll come around. We know this man. We also love him like a son. When Gayle died, we were afraid we’d lose him too, but it turned out he needed us as much as we needed him. Then he bought the river property and started building that house with a vengeance. His visits tapered off. Oh, he’d call each day, but the only time we’d see him was when we drove to his place. At first we knew it was his means of dealing with his loss. But somewhere along the way he began to find joy in what he was doing and started to smile again. And we discovered he was an artist, a very fine one, though you can’t tell him that.”

“I know, I tried.” Kate visualized Ben’s beautifully-carved gargoyles and the pieces of metal art he’d offhandedly put together, and said, “When I was in art school, I saw nothing to compare with what Ben can do. He has a natural eye for what I’ve struggled to learn, yet he has no appreciation of his own work.”

Linda looked at her, curiously. “I didn’t know you’d attended art school. Ben never said anything.”

Kate shrugged. “I mentioned to him, but it isn't relevant now. I haven’t painted in years.”

Linda’s delicate brows gathered in a frown. “Why not?”

“I guess nothing inspired me. But after seeing Ben’s work, and then going to Cooper’s Landing—that place is an artist’s dream—well, I’ve been thinking about getting out my old paint box and starting in again. Maybe after the zoning appeal's over.”

Linda reached across the table and patted Kate's hand. “Follow your heart, honey. If Ben inspired you to paint, then that’s what you should be doing."

Kate smiled, pleased that Linda seemed to be taking an interest in her. After a few moments, she asked, with curiosity, “Was Gayle artistic?”

Linda flashed a radiant smile. “Oh, heavens no,” she said, laughing. “I’ve often wondered what she would have thought of Ben’s funky place with all its gargoyles and hodgepodge of stained glass windows and junkyard relics. Gayle’s idea of a home was to live in the city in a high-rise condo with stark white walls, glass and chrome tables, framed advertisement posters and bean-bag furniture."

Kate wondered if Ben surrounded himself with everything opposite of what Gayle would have wanted as a means of blocking her out of his mind. Yet, in spite of his efforts, Gayle’s shadow hung over his place like a shroud. But Kate refused to let some petty jealousy over a dead woman haunt her. Biting her lip to stifle a giggle, she said, “I’m sorry, but I just had an image of Ben sitting like a giant pretzel in a beanbag chair.”

“And speak of the devil…” Linda looked beyond Kate and flashed a brilliant smile. “I mentioned to him that we'd be eating here, but I didn't expect him to drop by.”

Kate turned and saw Ben standing in the foyer, eyes scanning the crowd. As she looked at him, the conversations that buzzed around began to fade, and she was unable to take her eyes off him. He’d never looked more handsome, his powerful presence seeming to sap her energy. Then she took a long breath to clear her head, shifted her gaze to Linda, and said, “If my mind was of a suspicious nature, I’d say you were a matchmaker.”

Linda gave her a sheepish grin, and shrugged. “A mother knows what’s best.”

Ben’s eyes flitted over the diners and fixed on Kate, and he started toward them. He gave Linda a peck on the forehead, then turned to do the same for Kate, but when he stooped over to place the kiss on her cheek, she turned in surprise and he kissed her square on the lips. He smiled into her eyes and said softly, “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”

Kate flushed deeply and shifted her gaze to Linda, who was smiling like the cat who’d swallowed a canary. So much for convincing her they were friends.

Ben pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table. He looked from Kate to Linda and said, “So, what have my two favorite ladies been discussing?”

“Mainly your grandfather and Katie’s grandmother,” Linda lied. When he looked disappointed, she added, “This may come as a surprise to you, sweetie, but you’re not the only cock in the henhouse. We do have other things to talk about.”

Ben took Kate’s hand, and said, “As long as I'm the only cock in your henhouse.”

Kate pulled her hand from his and replied, “If you don’t stop this, Linda will not believe a word I’ve been telling her.”

Ben arched a brow and looked at Linda. “What has she been saying?”

Linda smiled. “My lips are sealed.”

Ben signaled the waitress and ordered coffee, then insisted the women have dessert. While Kate and Linda enjoyed chocolate truffle cheesecake with brandied fudge sauce and whipped cream, Ben sat back and sipped his coffee. He seemed distracted, brow furrowed, gaze fixed on Kate, as if expecting her to say something. She had no idea what he was after, but he also seemed... annoyed? After a few minutes she raised her eyes to meet his gaze and said, “Is there something bothering you?”

Ben tucked a credit card into the bill folder the waitress placed on the table. “They’re setting up for the swim fin commercial right now and I have to get back.” His gaze shifted between Kate and Linda, and fixed on Kate. “I don’t mean to break this up,” he said, his words touched with impatience, “but I expected you to be there too. It’s your baby and I’m disappointed you forgot.”

Kate looked at him, miffed. “Stop treating me as if I were a child. You’re acting like a scolding father. And I didn’t forget. I intended to come by later.” She lifted her chin, and added, “Life isn’t just about work, Ben. Besides, I was distracted. We’ve been talking about you. Surely your ears must have felt hot.”

Ben looked at Linda, who winked at him, and said, “You seemed to have met your match in stubbornness, sweetie. I suggest you approach Kate a different way.”

Ben looked at Kate, studied her for a few moments, then covering her hand with his, said in a low, quiet voice, “Will you come with me, honey? I really want you there.”

Kate nervously batted her eyes, and replied, “Well, since you asked me that way... Yes.”

Ben looked at Linda, and said, “How did I do?”

Linda winked. “She’s going with you, isn’t she?” Ben kissed Linda on the cheek, and after they'd said their "goodbyes," he took Kate by the elbow and guided her toward the door.

Two hours later, with little awareness of the passage of time, Ben stood next to Kate at the side of the pool. The place was a hive of activity: the director yelling directives, the cameramen taking their cues, the models in Sealskins strutting their stuff. It was their fifth take, and things were not going well. The models failed to fulfill Kate's vision of a man and a woman deeply involved with each other, while being propelled through the water by their Stassen DolFins.

Kate folded her arms and glared at the models, and said to Ben, “Where the devil did you get this pair? He’s in love with himself and she can’t keep her eyes off the cameraman. And when they’re swimming together, there’s nothing there. They’re two bodies that might as well be an ocean apart. It’s just not working.”

“I agree,” Ben said, “but we’ve got less than two hours to wrap it up.” Hands on his hips, brows drawn, he watched the models going through the routine, but after a few minutes he said, “Wait here. I want to talk to the director.”

Kate watched as Ben stood talking to the director while gesturing with his hands, pointing at the models, and occasionally glancing at Kate. After what looked to be some kind of an understanding, the director looked at Kate and nodded. Ben left the pool area and disappeared into the elevator. A few minutes later, he returned wearing a green Sealskin, and had a ladies green Sealskin in his hand. He offered the suit to Kate. “Honey, go into that dressing room across the pool and slip this on. We’ll show them what we have in mind.”

Kate backed away. “No, absolutely not.”

Ben took her by the arm before she could walk off, and said, “If we can’t show them how to do it we might as well give it up. Please, honey, put on the suit and come swim with me. We'll run through it one time—three minutes in the water—so they can get the idea. That's all. Nothing more.”

Kate reluctantly agreed, and after changing into her suit she returned to where Ben stood waist-deep in water. She sat on the edge of the pool while Ben held each foot and fastened on her swim fins. Curving his hand around her calf, he looked at her bare ankle, and said, “Why did you take your anklet off?”

Kate looked at him and replied, “Because when I’m swimming with you out there today, I have to know that I’ll be the only woman in your arms, or this won’t work.”

“Believe me, sweetheart, I can absolutely and unconditionally guarantee you that there will be no one out there with me but you.”

The director gave them last minute instructions, and with a flurry of activity, and amid a gathering of technicians and onlookers, they pushed off from opposite ends of the pool and swam toward each other. As choreographed, they circled like a pair of courting dolphins, spiraling together in the middle of the pool. In the center of the spiral, Ben moved around behind Kate so her back was against his chest, and his arm was curved snugly around her midriff, and they glided through the water in a series of elongated figure eights.

Gradually Ben's awareness of the activity around them faded, until he could focus on nothing but the feel of Kate’s body against his, their hearts beating in cadence, their legs moving together as if their bodies were one. During a wide turn, he said against her ear, "Take a deep breath, honey," and they dove beneath the surface, twisting and twirling and gliding through the water. Then in one fluid movement, Kate turned in his arms, and although it hadn't been choreographed, their lips came together. Legs entangled, arms entwined, lips clinging, they spiraled as one until they broke the surface of the water. Their lips parted, but their eyes remained locked. The look that passed between them was deep, and intense, their unspoken promises unmistakable...

It wasn’t until the director yelled, “Cut! That’s a take!” that they broke apart.

Kate looked around with a start, the expression on her face clearly showing her shock and embarrassment. “Relax, honey,” Ben reassured her. “This film bunch could care less that we... umm… got carried away. Besides, if those models don’t get the idea now, they never will.”

They swam together to the edge of the pool, but once out of the water, Kate shed her swim fins, drew a towel around her shoulders and headed for the dressing room. As she walked away, Ben couldn't put out of his mind the feel of her body against his, as if it imprinted against him for all eternity. And for the first time since they’d met, he seriously questioned his meticulous planning and single-minded determination to locate the corporate offices in Sellwood, and considered looking for another location, yet knowing there was no alternative.

But how could building the new office in Sellwood be right, if in the end, Kate walked out of his life? But he didn’t want to think about that now. All he knew was that for the first time in six years, a woman other than Gayle dominated his heart, his mind, and his being. Like a steady stifling heat, thoughts of Kate sopped his energy, until he felt as if Gayle’s soul was being released from his, and Kate’s was being united.

With that thought, an almost forgotten sensation began in his solar plexus, a mixture of hope, and yearning, and something he couldn’t quite grasp, until gradually he realized what it was. For only the second time in his life he was falling in love, and with a passion that was slowly consuming him, as if the absence of their physical union made his desire for Kate grow with a purer, more intense flame. In time he’d tell her, but not yet; she’d only think he was trying to weaken her resolve. Nor could he dismiss the fact that she’d saved herself for one man, one marriage, one lifetime of loving. And until he knew, unequivocally, that he was that man, and she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he could not, would not possess her body. And with that thought, the all-consuming flame burned hotter.

***

Ben glanced around the projection room and saw that the board members were waiting for his response. He had to come to grips with things. His realization that he was in love with Kate was a complication he didn’t need in his life right now. It was dominating his mind and effecting his business decisions. He sat up straight, determined to stay focused. “Yeah, the model release. I’ll ask, but I doubt if Kate O’Connor will sign. She only did the session to show the models what she wanted. Rerun those last scenes with the models. There's got to be something there.”