Returning to the kitchen, Charlotte couldn’t help overhearing Ben once he’d picked up the phone. She didn’t mean to pry, but she did admit to being curious.
“Hello, David,” Ben said coolly.
It sounded as if Ben and his son were estranged, and that saddened her. She wondered what had happened. A misunderstanding? A long-held grudge? Or simply years of insufficient contact? And why wouldn’t Ben tell her? After his less-than-enthusiastic greeting, he was silent for some time. Unfortunately Charlotte was privy to only one side of the conversation.
“I believe we’ve already gone over this a number of times. The answer is no, so please don’t ask again.”
Ben’s words were followed by another lengthy pause.
Charlotte joined Ben and slipped her arm around him, offering her love and support. Her husband should be grateful David had phoned and that he and Charlotte had now had a chance to meet, even if it was only by phone. The last people Charlotte had expected to disapprove of their marriage had been their children. In fact, Olivia’s objection to her remarriage had caused the first major rift in their relationship. Olivia’s lack of faith had hurt Charlotte deeply. Ben’s son, however, didn’t seem to have any opposition to her marrying his father.
“I’ll check,” Ben said. He held the receiver against his shoulder. “David will be in Seattle on business early next month and he wants to know if we can join him for dinner.”
Charlotte smiled. “Tell him I’d love to.”
Ben frowned again, as if he wasn’t sure what to say as he brought the receiver back to his ear. “It appears we can make it,” he said in lackluster tones.
Charlotte resisted the urge to poke him in the ribs with her elbow. This was no way to act! Despite their apparent falling out, David was making an effort; the least Ben could do was meet him halfway.
Ben reached for the pencil dangling from a string by the calendar and wrote down the date and time. “We’ll walk onto the Bremerton ferry,” he told his son, “and take a taxi to the restaurant. We’ll meet you there at seven.” With no further conversation, Ben replaced the receiver.
He turned back to her. “As you might’ve guessed, my son and I have had our share of differences.”
“He seems like such a nice young man.”
“He can be,” Ben murmured, his face impassive, difficult to read. “Especially when he wants something.”
“Oh.” Perhaps David had more than one reason for getting in touch with his father. “Did you find out what he wants, then?” she asked tentatively. She wouldn’t ask too insistently. But Ben was closing himself off from her and Charlotte found that troublesome.
Ben shook his head. “I generally don’t ask David a lot of questions,” he said. “I didn’t question him when he left his wife of one year for his secretary—and abandoned his infant daughter. That second marriage didn’t last long, either.” He paused. “Frankly, David is a disappointment to me.”
“I’m so sorry.”
She didn’t say it, but her own son was a disappointment to her, too. Olivia had never said a word, nor had Olivia’s best friend, Grace Sherman. But Charlotte had caught wind of what Will had done from something Justine, her granddaughter, had mentioned. It had been a casual, offhand remark about how Grace was trying to patch up her romance with Cliff after her Internet relationship with Will. Apparently this wasn’t the first time, either—at least for Will. Georgia, his wife, had hinted that Will had a problem with fidelity. Charlotte didn’t know whether he’d had actual affairs or they were all e-mail relationships. She had no idea what had happened in her son’s life to explain his behavior. Clyde would roll over in his grave if he learned of the careless way their son was treating his marriage vows.
“I wish now I’d said we couldn’t make it,” Ben muttered.
“But we can. I want to meet your son.”
“He’s a self-centered young man. Well, not that young anymore. He’s over forty now. I suppose I’m to blame for his selfishness. Joan spoiled them both while they were growing up. I was so preoccupied with my Navy career and gone so much of the time that I didn’t realize until it was too late. Unfortunately both my sons lack discipline and self-control. When I recognized what they’d become, they were already adults.”
“I’m sure we’ll have a perfectly lovely dinner,” she said in a soothing voice.
“I’m not,” Ben countered sadly. “But we’ve made the commitment, so we’ll do as David wishes and go into Seattle. I want you to meet my children, but it’s important that you know in advance the kind of men they are.”
“My children have disappointed me at times, too,” Charlotte confessed. She’d been mortified to learn that at one point her own daughter had hired Roy McAfee to investigate Ben’s background.
Ben stared blankly out the window. When he spoke, his voice was low and thoughtful. “Sometimes I feel as if my sons begrudge me any happiness. I think they believe I’d be more use to them dead.” At Charlotte’s gasp, he added, “If I know David, and I do, he’s counting on his inheritance to get him out of another financial mess.”
“But Ben, you should’ve told him…” Before their marriage, Ben and Charlotte had adjusted their wills. They’d left the majority of their estates to each other. Ben had left one-third of the remainder to each of his sons, and the last third to charity.
“It’s important that we attend this dinner with a positive attitude,” Charlotte warned.
“I know.” Ben sighed heavily and then hugged her.
“Everything will work out just fine,” she whispered. She had a good feeling about meeting David. She wanted to be a peacemaker in the family, to bring Ben and his sons together, and hoped that David would eventually grow to love her.
The timer on the oven buzzed and Ben lifted his head. “Does that mean what I think it does?” he asked.
“As soon as these cinnamon buns cool down, I’ll frost them and give you a small sample.”
“A small sample?” he protested.
Charlotte raised her eyebrows. “I don’t want you to ruin your lunch.”
“I won’t,” he promised. Ben sounded like a youngster, pleading with her.
“Sometimes I think you married me because of my baking,” Charlotte said, smiling to show she didn’t mean it.
The laughter fled from his eyes as he gazed down at her. “Then you’d be wrong, Charlotte. I married you because I’ve never loved a woman as much as I love you.”
Three
Cecilia Randall arrived at Smith, Cox and Jefferson Accounting ten minutes early on Monday morning. She was just as glad to get to work. Being home by herself, without her husband, was lonely, despite her friends. The weekends were the worst, especially now that she was pregnant. Ian, her Navy husband, was out to sea on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
