Never Say Never (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 3) (15 page)

T
he following Friday
evening was hot and sticky and Robin cursed the fact that the air-conditioning unit really picked its moments to give up and stop working. She wasn’t long home from work, the heat was putting her in bad form and she debated whether to make dinner or just phone Luigi’s for a pizza. There was little point in cooking for herself when yet again Ben was working a late night. Last week and the week before, if he wasn’t working late in the evenings, he was spending extra time at the office doing the American equivalent of a ‘nixer’ in the office.

Robin thought he was taking a chance doing this, as the management of Grafix Solutions would not be impressed to learn that a senior staff member was using company equipment and resources outside of normal working hours. But Ben was determined to complete whatever project he was working on, irrespective of Robin’s warnings, or indeed complaints. They had been a bit cagey around one another since ‘that’ conversation, and Robin knew that Ben still couldn’t understand why she was so determined not to take the chance on ever having a child.

Since then, things had been a bit tense, and Ben had said nothing more about looking for another house. The one they’d gone to see in Bronxville had been snapped up before they’d even had a chance to bid on it. Lately, he was being decidedly cool with her and as he was normally so happy and carefree, Robin didn’t know what to make of it.

To make it worse, they’d visited Sarah and Kirsty in New Jersey the previous weekend and while Robin was playing with Kirsty in the living-room and telling her silly made-up stories, she overheard Sarah commenting to Ben in the other room about what a wonderful mother Robin would make. Ben had said nothing and quickly changed the subject.

Her head snapped up as she heard the telephone ringing. It had to be Ben, on his way home and asking if she wanted him to bring anything for dinner. Robin raced to answer it. Great, at least she wouldn’t have to cook tonight. It had been a busy day at work and she really wasn’t in the mood.

But the caller wasn’t Ben.

“Hi, stranger!” Leah’s sunny tones almost bounced out of the receiver. “How are you?”

“Leah – hi! Good to hear from you. What time is it over there?” A pointless question, Robin knew, but one she instinctively asked, just so she could picture Leah’s surroundings and get an idea of what she might be doing.

“About eleven – Josh is out, and I’m here on the couch, stuffing my face with Pringles and watching a
Sex and the City
rerun, so obviously I thought of you and how I haven’t been talking to you in about …oh, I’d say it’s nearly two months now. Did you get my message from before?”

Robin felt guilty. She did get Leah’s message – weeks ago – but in truth had completely forgotten to call her back. “I’m sorry, Leah – things have been manic.”

“I can only imagine,” Leah said dryly. “All the shopping, and the movies, and the theatre and all that …”

“Hey, it’s not quite like it is on the TV shows, you know!” Robin laughed, “We do actually do the odd day’s work here too.”

“Don’t ruin all the glamour for me!” Leah scolded. “But seriously, how are things? You and that fine Irishman still going strong? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Robin Matthews – I really don’t know how you manage it. Probably the only decent single man left in the country and you have to nab him.”

“Ah, he wasn’t in the country at the time, Leah!”

“I know, but it wasn’t fair that we couldn’t at least have had a crack at him first!” She laughed. “No, seriously, how is he?”

“He’s great – working late a lot these days, though.”

“Working late in
that
sense? That doesn’t sound like Ben.”

“No, working late in the
actual
sense,” Robin said, feeling a bit foolish for mentioning it and allowing Leah to plant a previously un-thought-of idea into her brain. Not that Leah would be malicious, but now that Robin thought of it, what else would her friend say to something like that? There wasn’t a chance that Ben would … was there? Robin shook her head, and resolved not to think about it.

“So how’s everything with you?” she asked Leah, changing the subject.

“Great, we’re all fine. Did you get those photos I sent you of Andrew’s wedding, by the way?”

“Yes, Amanda looked amazing.” Typically, Amanda looked every inch the radiant bride on the day and she and Andrew looked very happy together. Robin had been invited to the ceremony but she couldn’t get the time off work. At least, that was her excuse. The truth was she just didn’t feel right about it. She just wasn’t ready to face them all again. “You looked stunning too – and I loved Olivia’s red dress.”

“Yeah, she’s looking great, isn’t she?”

“So are you,” she replied. “And Josh is still as gorgeous as ever. How are things going with you two?”

“Fine.”

Immediately, Robin sensed a slight hesitation in her voice. She knew, of course, about Josh’s reticence to have children, and wondered if Leah was having second thoughts. Her friend had always insisted that she’d love a family, but then had settled for having the man of her dreams instead.

Weird, Robin thought, that she was going through a similar situation at the moment, although in her case she was being the reticent one. Despite his lack of paternal feelings, Josh seemed lovely and she hoped he and Leah were OK. It would be a shame if Josh’s situation upset it all for them.

But when Leah explained all about Andrew’s involvement in her business, and that lately Josh seemed a bit put out about that, and the fact that she would have to work around the clock to get the store open, Robin realised she’d been wrong.

“So, do you lot see one another much these days, what with Kate being pregnant and Olivia busy with her little girl …” she trailed off, wondering if the others were still as close as they had been all throughout college.

She was no longer part of the ‘gang’, no longer a paid-up member of the close-knit group that existed all throughout uni and afterwards. Leah kept her updated, but to be perfectly honest, Robin now felt very much detached from them all. They were once as close as a group of friends could be, but now, over time, distance and circumstance, the once-formidable strength of the friendship had been broken.

“Oh, I can’t believe I almost forgot to tell you!” Leah cried, and Robin could almost picture her large dark eyes widening in anticipation.

“What? Tell me!”

“You won’t believe it, but Amanda is pregnant too! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it when we talked about the wedding earlier and –”

“I don’t believe it! Is she thrilled?” Robin knew without any doubt that Amanda would be.

“Well, of course, she is,” Leah replied. “Sure, won’t all the attention be on her now for the next few months or so, and you know our Amanda – she’ll only be too happy to lap it up.” She giggled. “You should see her, Robin – she’s so funny. Barely a few months gone and she’s walking around, supporting her back and waddling away like she’s carrying a sack of potatoes. I’m telling you, she’ll milk this for all it’s worth.”

“Oh, Leah, stop!” Robin burst out laughing, recalling how little patience Leah had for Amanda’s theatrics. She could imagine Amanda doing just that, not to mention bending the ear off everyone she knew about how ‘dreadfully wearying’ it was being pregnant.

Despite her airs and graces, or even more so because of them, Amanda’s antics could be hilarious. Robin could be much more gracious about how Amanda had treated her in college, now that she was thousands of miles away and it was unlikely she would have much to do with her any time soon.

“Well, tell her I said congratulations,” she said. “And say hello to Kate.” She paused slightly before adding, “And tell Olivia I was asking for her too, of course.”

“Don’t you have her number? I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.”

“Oh, that’s right, sure I have,” Robin said quickly. “I might give her a call.”

“Do. She really would be thrilled, Robin. She often asks about you and I know she’d love to hear how you’re getting on.”

Robin bit her lip. “You should come over some time,” she said, trying to keep her voice light. “You’d really enjoy it and I haven’t seen you in so long –”

“But when are you coming home again, Robin?” countered Leah. “It’s been years now. I know your parents have visited, but don’t you miss home at all? Don’t you miss us? We hardly know what’s going on with you these days.”

“There’s nothing much going on at all, Leah,” Robin said, laughing nervously. She didn’t want to get into a conversation like this. “I’m sure your own life is a lot more interesting. As I said, Ben and I are working hard at the moment, but there’s nothing much else happening.”

“Well, try and keep in touch more often, OK? You might not miss us, but we miss you, me in particular.”

Robin was touched. “Thanks, Leah. And believe me I do miss you, but as I said I have a life here now and this is my home.”

“You don’t think you’ll ever move back?” Leah asked, and Robin knew she was faintly shocked at the thought that there was a good chance she might not.

“Certainly not at the moment, anyway. Then she added, hoping to lighten the tone, “I’m up to my eyes in credit-card debt!”

“I’m not surprised – with all that temptation!” Leah sounded decidedly envious. “Listen, now that I think of it, will you try and get a copy of the new Godiva catalogue? I need to keep an eye on what the competition are doing – I wish!”

“No problem,” Robin answered. “I’ll get on it straight away, and listen, I’ll let you go, this call will be costing you a fortune.”

“It is, but not to worry, you’re worth it. Speak to you soon!”

Leah rang off and Robin replaced the receiver, a little sad that their conversation had ended, but at the same time relieved that Leah seemed to have forgotten her earlier enquires about when she would next be returning home.

As far as she was concerned, it wouldn’t be any time soon.

“
M
ornin
’, you.” The following morning Ben reached over and planted a light kiss on Robin’s forehead, waking her up. She’d had a couple of glasses of wine the night before and had stayed up late watching crap TV. Suddenly she realised she couldn’t remember going to bed or hearing Ben come in. He couldn’t have been working that late on a Friday night, surely? Recalling her conversation with Leah, her stomach gave a fearful flip.

“Morning to you back,” she replied before adding, tentatively, “What time did you get in last night?”

Ben swung his legs out of bed. “Not sure, sometime after one, I think. You were flat out on the sofa when I came in. I had to carry you to bed.”

“Was I?” Robin couldn’t focus on trying to remember – she was too busy worrying about what was keeping Ben out until one o’clock in the morning. “Did you go out after work with Dave, or something?”

“No way – I was shattered!” There was little sign of a lie or evasiveness in either his tone or expression. “I thought I’d never get it done in time, but luckily I did.”

“Well, whoever he or
she
is, I hope they’re happy,” Robin couldn’t keep the petulance out of her tone, “because I’ve hardly seen you this last week.”

“Oh, I think she’ll be happy,” he said, cheerily. “In fact, I think she’ll be over the moon when she gets a load of this.”

Typical Ben, Robin thought, completely oblivious to subtlety – no, just completely oblivious full stop. Here she was, trying to let him know that she was teed off at him for all these mysterious late nights, and there he was letting it go right over him.

Robin tried a different tack. “What was so important that kept you in the office every night this week?” she asked, yawning as she pulled a sweater and some jog-pants out of the wardrobe.

“Come here and I’ll show you,” he said, his expression mischievous, and Robin suspected that whatever dumb presentation or corporate brochure it might be, she had better pretend be impressed.

But when Ben led her into the living-room and pointed out the slim booklet lying on the coffee table, she didn’t have to pretend anything.

“Oh, my goodness – it’s amazing!” she said, studying Ben’s work and his amazing computer-aided illustrations.

Kirsty had recently suffered another bout of severe hayfever, and last weekend while visiting, Robin had picked up the beanie toy she had given her at the hospital, and come up with a silly little story about an alligator that also suffered from hayfever.

She hoped it might help teach Kirsty about trying to control her exposure to pollen and to take her medicine. ‘Atchoo’ was a big, strong and very adventurous alligator, but he was always running into trouble as a result of his allergies. The moral of the story was that Atchoo could have lots more adventures if he looked after himself and took his medicine when he was supposed to.

Kirsty was fascinated by the tale, and made Robin tell it over and over again that afternoon. Upon their return from the house, Robin had written down the story from beginning to end, so that she wouldn’t forget it between then and the next time she saw Kirsty.

Ben had obviously ‘stolen’ her scribbled notes for the story, had come up with some cute graphics and had reproduced the entire story from beginning to end in attractive font, along with stunning animal illustrations.

“
Atchoo the Alligator
– cool, huh?” Ben was leafing through the pages. “It’s a great story and Sarah was raving about it, so I thought, why not give Kirsty something she can keep, something to remind her of Atchoo’s adventures? It might convince her that it’s OK to take her inhaler in school, that it’s cool to be a little bit different.”

“Oh, Ben, this is just incredible!” Robin said, putting a hand to her mouth as her eyes wandered through the story. She marvelled at the amount of work he had put into the graphics. “This is what you’ve been working on all week?”

“Well, I knew we’d be going up there today so …” he shrugged as if it was no big deal, but by his beaming smile she knew he was delighted by her reaction.

“She is just going to love this,” Robin cried, awed by this thoughtfulness. What a lovely, considerate, gesture! And here she was thinking he was out having it off with someone or other. She should have thought more of him, she should have known Ben was a far better person than that.

Again, Robin wondered what on earth she had ever done to deserve such a kind, loving, and gentle man like Ben McKenna. This was truly incredible.

They visited Kirsty that same day, and as expected, she adored her personalised copy of
Atchoo the Alligator
.

“I never knew I had such a talented brother!” Sarah was equally thrilled, and hopeful that Atchoo’s experiences and the instructions in the book would help Kirsty feel more at ease.

“Hey, I can’t take all the credit – it’s Robin’s story,” he said, ruffling his girlfriend’s hair.

Robin was secretly thrilled that the little rocky period she’d been imagining was over.

“Can I show it to the girls in school, Mom?” Kirsty asked.

“No, hon, Uncle Ben and Auntie Robin worked very hard on your storybook. It might get ruined in school.”

“It’s not a problem,” Ben said easily. “The paper quality isn’t the best so it probably will get wrecked. In any case I’ve got it saved on the PC, so I can always print out another copy.” He stroked Kirsty’s dark curls. “You can show it to your class if you like, kiddo.”

“Yay!” Kirsty cried happily.

Robin had to smile at Ben’s so easily adopted Americanisms. She’d picked up a few expressions herself over the years, but compared to her, Ben had only been here a wet week. He was worse than those who went to London for a weekend visit, and then came back asking for ‘arf a laager, mate’.

“Just be careful you don’t get sacked for using company equipment, Ben,” Sarah said, her face worried as the thought struck her.

“For printing out a teeny insignificant booklet like that? Not a chance.”

B
ut by the following weekend
, Ben had to print out ten more copies of
Atchoo the Alligator.

Robin had been at work one day mid-week when she got a call from Sarah.

“Hi, what’s up?” she asked, feeling slightly concerned. Sarah usually called only if something was wrong with Kirsty. “How’s Kirsty?”

“She’s great,” Sarah said cheerfully. “She’s been using her inhaler properly ever since you and Ben gave her that little book.”

“Great.”

“But the thing is, well, you know she brought it to school with her?”

“Yes?” Robin suspected now that she knew the real reason for the call. The flimsy copy of
Atchoo
had already come apart.

But she was wrong.

“Well, Kirsty must have shown it to one of her teachers, because just this morning I got a call from the principal asking where they could pick up a copy.”

“What?” Robin instinctively checked the date on her computer screen to reassure herself that it wasn’t April 1
^st
. Sarah, like her playful older brother, was no stranger to playing tricks on people.

“I’m serious. I explained the situation to her, and she wants to know how to go about getting more copies. She asked if you wouldn’t mind giving her a call.”

“She’s looking for printouts of the story?”

“I think so. She thought it was a great idea. Will I give you her number?”

“Just let me get a pen.” Robin was intrigued and also a little bit proud of the fact that the school had been so impressed. When Sarah had finished reciting the number, she rang off, and immediately Robin rang Kirsty’s school.

“Hi, Robin Matthews here – Sarah Freyne asked that I contact you.”

The principal was very friendly. “Robin, hi, thanks so much for calling. I understand you’re responsible for that neat little storybook Kirsty brought to school last week.”

“Yes, well, I wrote the story, but the illustrations were done by Kirsty’s Uncle Ben.”

“Well, I must admit it’s very well written. Are you a children’s writer by profession, Ms Matthews?”

Robin burst out laughing but she was pleased by the thought of it. “Gosh no – I work in finance.”

“Well, you certainly have a way of getting through to children, especially children like Kirsty.”

“She’s been having a tough time of it with her asthma lately. I just thought this might help.”

“It’s difficult for children, and Kirsty’s not the only one having problems. That’s why I think this is such a great idea. Do you know I have at least three other children in Kirsty’s grade alone suffering from asthma? Not to mention the kids in the other grades.” She sighed. “Sometimes I think all that talk about air-pollution is correct. It can’t be good for kids. Anyway, I asked Kirsty to let me keep the book for a day or two, and I brought it along to our most recent parent/teacher meeting. When I showed it to the parents of the kids with asthma, and told them the kind of effect it had on Kirsty, they went crazy for it.”

“They did?”

“Yes, they all wanted a copy. So, that’s why I called Mrs Freyne today. I wanted to know what bookstore stocked it, so I could tell the parents where to get it. But then she told me that it wasn’t in bookstores, that it was just something you guys had done on computer.”

Robin resisted the urge to laugh. It was nice, though, to think that something she and Ben had done would be so helpful to kids with asthma. Robin could have done with something similar when she was in school, as not only did it help take the stigma out of being different, it also meant that you had something the other kids couldn’t get. Robin was pleased for the little girl.

“Well, look, leave it with me. I’ll talk to Ben and see if he can get some more copies printed out for you.”

“The parents are only too happy to pay you, of course.”

“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary!” Robin was embarrassed now.

“Believe me,” the principal informed her, “if this little book can help parents and teachers educate these kids on how to control their asthma, it’s worth anything.”

“No, please. We’d be delighted to help. I’m sure it won’t be a problem but I’ll check with Ben and give you a call in a few days – OK?”

“That would be great, thank you.”

The principal rang off and, as she hung up the phone, Robin couldn’t help but smile.

Ben would get a right kick out of this – that was for sure.