Part 38 (1/2)
The men spotted Eli Beecher, b.l.o.o.d.y and unconscious, and began to holster their weapons as they realized the scene had already been secured.
”I take it you're McKenzie,” one of the agents said, young, dark-haired and eager. ”Everybody here okay?”
Ben nodded. ”That's Beecher. He isn't dead, I'm sorry to say. He just looks that way.”
”We'll take care of Beecher.” The young agent smiled. ”You just take care of your family.”
His family. Two of the people he loved most in the world.
”Then again, it looks like you've been doing a pretty fair job of that already.”
Ben looked over at Beecher. ”He's lucky I didn't kill him.” Would have if Beecher had given him the slightest excuse. But there was Molly to think of.
And Autumn.
It wasn't time to speak to Autumn about the future, not yet, but soon the time would come. He just hoped he meant half as much to her as she meant to him.
He returned his attention to his daughter. ”Are you doing all right, angel?”
Molly watched the agents handcuff Eli, haul him to his feet and out the door.
”Is Eli going to jail?” she asked.
”Yes, Molly. For a very long time.”
”If I go home with you, what will happen to Sarah? Who's going to take care of her and the baby?”
She had always been loving, even as a little girl. He wanted to hold her so badly. He needed to rea.s.sure himself she was really alive and there with him now. ”We'll make sure Sarah and her baby get everything they need, okay?”
One of the agents walked back in, carrying a handheld radio. ”The pilot got lucky. He located a spot not too far from here that was wide enough he could set the chopper down. He's waiting for us there. One of the men can show you the way whenever you're ready to leave.”
Ben turned back to Molly. ”Everything's going to be all right,” he said. ”I promise.”
”Okay.”
”Let's get out of here.” He couldn't resist catching her hand to lead her out the door. When Molly didn't pull away, hope blossomed inside him. She was his little girl and in time she would know how much he loved her.
It was a beginning.
A new beginning with Molly was a gift from G.o.d-and Autumn Sommers-Ben never thought he'd have.
Thirty-Two.
Autumn sat across from Terri Markham at O'Shaunessy's. She hadn't seen Ben in more than two weeks, not since the night they'd been choppered off the top of Angel's Peak.
He'd called every few days, which didn't surprise her. In the weeks they'd searched for Molly, they had become good friends. And there was the debt Ben felt he owed her for helping him find his little girl. That's the way he would think of it, she was sure. Ben was an honorable man. Honorable and caring, among the many other qualities she had come to admire in him.
The reasons she had fallen so deeply in love with him.
Her heart squeezed. Dear G.o.d, she missed him.
Autumn looked across the table at Terri. Her friend hadn't said more than a couple of words since they had climbed up on the stools at the small round table.
The ghost of a smile curved Terri's lips. ”You're thinking of Ben.”
”Actually, I'm trying not to think of Ben.” She sighed. ”Unfortunately, it isn't all that easy.” She took a sip of the Cosmo she had ordered instead of the white wine she usually drank.
”You're in love with him, aren't you?”
Autumn ran a finger through the mist on the side of her gla.s.s. ”I tried not to be. It didn't do any good.”
”How does Ben feel?”
”I don't know. Right now his most important concern is his daughter.”
Terri shook back her thick dark hair. ”Yeah, it must be tough trying to put things back together with Molly after so many years.”
”He's making progress. That's what he said when he phoned.” She took another sip of her drink and changed the subject. ”What about you? You look a little down in the mouth today. What handsome male has managed to get you brooding over him? It's not an easy thing to do.”
Terri took a drink from the frosty, long-stemmed gla.s.s in front of her. ”Actually, I was thinking about Josh.”
”Josh Kendall?”
Terri nodded. ”I asked him out but he turned me down. I didn't tell you. My ego wouldn't let me.”
”You asked Josh out on a date?”
”I called him, invited him out to dinner. I told you I was going to-or at least I was thinking about it. Josh agreed. We were supposed to go out that Sat.u.r.day. I picked a place I thought he'd like, you know, something not too sophisticated. I figured that would be best.”
”Josh can hold his own pretty much anywhere. His family's got plenty of money. He just doesn't enjoy that kind of thing very much.”
”Yeah, that's what I figured.”
”So what happened?”
”That Sat.u.r.day morning, he phoned me. He said he'd changed his mind, that he was seriously dating Courtney Roland. He said he'd finally figured out what he wanted in life.” She looked up, a soft, sad smile on her lips. ”Apparently, it wasn't me.”
Autumn couldn't believe it. Josh had been in love with Terri for as long as Autumn could remember. ”I'm proud of him, Terri. I know that isn't what you want to hear, but it's true.”
”I know. In a way, so am I. Josh finally figured out what's important, that finding someone you love who truly loves you is what really counts. I only wish that would happen to me.”
Autumn reached over and caught her hand. ”I think you're on your way-I really do.”
Terri smiled. ”I kind of think so too.” She took a sip of her drink. ”So what about you? Have you figured out what it is you really want?”
I don't want to feel like this. I don't want to ache for Ben, to think of him every minute and miss him every hour of the day. She shrugged her shoulders. ”I had my fling. Now it's over. I'm resigned, I suppose. I still feel like s.h.i.+t.”