After Ben started his own practice, Christina came in with him. Probably not a sensible career move, but after several years in corporate America, she was ready to do something she could care about. She’d had enough of helping multinationals weasel out of their contracts and pollute the environment. She wanted work that mattered. And with Ben Kincaid, she got it. With Ben, everything mattered. With Ben, every case was a holy crusade. He took the cases that made a difference; he represented the people who really needed help. Of course, half the time he couldn’t get paid, but when all was said and done, did you want to spend your life amassing money, or doing work that was genuinely important? That helped other people, that made their lives better?
It had been a real pleasure, watching Ben mature over the years. Not that he wasn’t still a trifle naive. Painfully reserved. Mildly neurotic. But at the end of the day, it was all rather endearing. He was cute, damn it. Even her most cynical girlfriends, she noticed, had more than once mentioned that they wouldn’t object to going out on a double date with Ben in the package. Some of them, she suspected, assumed that she and Ben were dating on the sly. Or doing something on the sly, anyway. But they weren’t. Never once. Never even close.
Well… maybe close. But never.
She wondered what he was doing tonight. Was he feeling just as traumatized by the case and… well, she had to be truthful about it. Lonely? It sometimes seemed as if he lived for his cases. Maybe he didn’t mind spending the night alone, just him and the files. Maybe he liked it.
She didn’t. Not that she minded working, but…
It had been too many years now since she’d split from her husband. She’d had a few boyfriends since, but nothing that really took. They ended all too soon, and in reality, she was rarely sorry. You’re married to your work, one of them said. Well, perhaps she was. Perhaps she and Ben were married and they just didn’t know it.
The flaw with that theory being that he was at his place and she was here gazing at Zen fountains. Not much of a marriage.
She headed back to the café. She was being silly, but what was the fun of being alive if you couldn’t engage in a little silliness now and again? For all she knew, Ben was out on the town, a girl on each arm, doing some serious party-hardy. Well, Ben, enjoy yourself. Live it up. Have a round for me. I wish you the best.
No matter what you’re doing, she thought as she retook her seat and reopened the file, I wish you the best.
Ben had read the file on Erin Faulkner’s death for about as long as he could stand it, then decided to walk home, taking a shortcut through LaFortune Park. The weather outside was spectacular, and he always enjoyed dodging joggers, watching children play and lovers smooch.
But he’d gotten tired of it all too quickly. A park could be a wonderful place, he supposed, when you’re hand in hand with your loved one, or pushing little Susie on the swings. But when you’re on your own…
He thought about motoring over to Novel Idea, checking out the new books, maybe grabbing one of those flavored coffees that tasted more like hot chocolate. Was the new Anne Tyler out yet? It was tempting, but there’d probably be no one there this time of night, and he’d just end up being lonelier than he was now.
Lonely? Wait a minute. He’d meant to think bored. More bored than he was now. But somehow, that slipped out.
He needed to devote more time to his private life. He’d told himself so a million times. Every year it was his top New Year’s resolution. But it never seemed to make any difference. He worked far too much and he never made enough time for anything else. And what was the result? A sister who wasn’t speaking to him. He didn’t even know where she lived. A mother at the other end of the state. Certainly things were better with her than they had been for years, but it would still be a gross exaggeration to say they were close. About the only people he ever saw with any regularity were Mike and the tenants in his boardinghouse and people with whom he worked.
Now, Christina-there was someone who knew how to live life. He had no idea where she was tonight or what she was doing, but whatever it was, he knew she wasn’t bored and she wasn’t alone. Christina knew everyone, did everything. She had more friends than a politician. She was a member of every civic organization and social club. He could learn a lot from her.
So why didn’t he? Or better yet, why didn’t he join her?
Mmm. There were some mysteries even the great Ben Kincaid couldn’t solve.
Well, he didn’t have time to wallow around in self-pity. He had miles to go before he slept. Work he couldn’t put off. It was now or never for Ray Goldman. And never really did mean never.
Ten minutes later he arrived at the boardinghouse where he lived. The boardinghouse he now owned, courtesy of the legacy of the previous owner, Mrs. Marmelstein. Why were those cats swarming all over the place? Thank goodness Giselle can’t get out, he thought. Some of them looked like major ruffians. A pampered pussy like Giselle wouldn’t know what to make of them.
“Should we have this place sprayed?”
From her seat on the porch swing, Joni Singleton smiled. “For cats? I don’t think that’s legal, Benjy.”
“Too bad. How’s the house?”
“Fine. If I’m not mistaken, someone even paid their rent today.”
Wonders never cease. In addition to going to TU, Joni worked part-time as Ben’s handyman. Handyperson. Whatever. It was a perfect position for her. Especially perfect because Joni knew how to fix things, and Ben knew how to fix nothing. “Get everything taken care of?”
“Well, Mr. Perry’s toilet threw me for a loop, but after about two hours’ effort and a bucketful of parts from Home Depot, I think I’ve got that resolved. I rewired the electricity in the Silvermans’ apartment to avoid that circuit that always crashes. I even washed some windows.”
“You’re a wonder woman.”
“Well, yes.” Joni cupped her naturally curly black hair in the palm of her hand. She was in her early twenties, perfectly thin, and in a pair of blue jeans, Ben noted, she had never looked better. “Now that you mention it.”
“I do. May I also mention how spectacular you look these days? Have you been working out?”
Her face glowed. “Benjy, I can’t believe you actually noticed. Mother bought one of those machines she saw on an infomercial.”
Indeed. The same month she said she was too poor to make her rent. “And you use it?”
“Hey, it worked for Suzanne Somers. Speaking of which, are you still taking those martial-arts lessons? Going to the gym?”
“As a matter of fact. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I’m not sure, but I thought I detected just a hint of muscle tone.” She grabbed his arm and squeezed. “Yes, I did! I felt a muscle!”
Ben yanked his arm away. “Why do I think I’m being patronized?”
“Can’t imagine. You’re a handsome dude. By the way, handsome dude, I’m doing this short-story reading at TU next week, and I wondered if you knew a handsome dude who would like to be my escort.”