“I’ve spent approximately half an hour with Gwen including the ten minutes back in May. We’re barely acquaintances. The idea that we’re having an affair is insulting to both of us. She’s in a relationship with you and I have my own. Again, you don’t know me. When I met Gwen today the first thing she told me was that she was in a much better place than when we first met and that she had a boyfriend who was a ‘great guy’. This isn’t the behavior of a great guy.”
Troy wasn’t sure why but he believed Ben. Completely. His rage evaporated like mist and in its place was a sick desperation to repair the damage he’d done.
Ben turned his head to look at the glaring woman. “Gwen, men are fuck ups. Especially when we’re beginning a relationship. We read the clues all wrong. It’s a woman’s burden to see a man’s worth behind all his bumbling. If you truly believe Troy can be a good man please consider this as just strike one.” Troy blinked at Ben as did Gwen.
“I would hate to think I had anything to do with the break-up of a lovely couple just because of a stupid misunderstanding,” Ben stressed the ‘stupid’ while looking at Troy. He had the good grace to nod. “If she accepts your apology remember you’re already at strike one. You have to do better. She’s worth it.” Troy nodded again. Ben raised his eyebrow and tipped his head at Gwen. The man’s eyes widened as he caught on.
“Gwen, I’m sorry I made such a colossal ass of myself. Please forgive me,” Troy said humbly.
The woman’s eyes got a little shiny with tears as she smiled and nodded. Eyes turned back to Ben.
“Eat your cookie while it’s still warm,” Ben mumbled as he munched on his own cookie. The couple had big smiles and ate their cookies. He did his best to ignore their admiring glances.
When they finished their snacks Ben paid, then drove the van back to the dealership with a very happy Gwen sitting in the passenger seat. Troy held the door open for them when they arrived and the staff who had placed bets on Troy blowing the relationship looked on with disappointment.
Ben sat down across from Gwen at her desk. She was trying to get her equilibrium back.
“So, what do you think of the van?” she finally managed to say.
“It’s really nice. Does it come in red?” he asked and her eyes twinkled as she realized she had a sale.
“Yes, yes it does. Which features are you interested in?”
Ben and Gwen spent the next thirty minutes tweaking the options until they had met all of Ben’s requirements.
“Do you have a trade-in?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said and pointed to the BMW SUV parked by the front window. “How much will I get for that?”
Gwen’s eyes went wide. “You’re trading that in for a minivan?”
“Yup.”
“You’d get a much better price selling it privately. The dealership can’t give you anything close to what it’s worth,” Gwen explained.
“I have no time to spend on selling it,” he grumbled.
“It’s fully loaded? Top package? All the toys?”
Ben nodded.
“Mileage?”
“22, 000 miles. What will you give me for it?”
“Personally I’d give you $30, 000,” she said with a grin.
“Sold,” he replied returning her smile.
Gwen froze and her eyes went wide. “You’re kidding, right?”
Ben looked curiously at her. “Were you serious?”
Gwen glanced over her shoulder. “It’s against policy for us to personally purchase trade-ins. That said, I’d kill to get my hands on such a sweet ride for that price. Seriously though you could easily get $50, 000 for it if you listed it yourself.”
Ben scowled. “I don’t have the time or the inclination to sell it myself. I’m going to be crazy busy for the next month or so renovating a house in my neighborhood. If you want it for $30, 000 it’s yours. It needs a tune up.”
Gwen snorted with a grin. “Sold. We’ll put no trade-in here.” She finished the invoice. Gwen handed Ben a business card with her home number written on the back. “We’ll arrange the sale of your car next week if that’s alright with you. I have to sell my beater and arrange the financing. That won’t be a problem.” Ben nodded and pocketed the card.
She went through the invoice with Ben and he signed on the dotted line.
“When can I expect to get the new van?” Ben asked.
“I’ll submit the order and they’ll give me an ETA. I’ll give you a call then we will arrange the handoff. They’ve been really responsive lately so I should get an answer later today.” Gwen stood up and Ben got to his feet too. They shook hands then she gave him a hug.
“Thanks Ben! For straightening out that earlier issue,” she said quietly.
Ben just shook his head. He walked over to Troy and shook the man’s hand. “Good meeting you.”
He got back into the SUV and drove home. He walked over to Ashley’s place and pressed the doorbell. He held up the van brochure and invoice. The door opened with laughter and Ashley’s grinning face was smiling down at him as the door opened. She pulled him inside and the girls all jumped up and down as they looked at the pretty red van on the brochure. Savannah finally pushed past Ben to look out in the driveway.
“Where is it?” she asked.
“They are looking to see if they already have one built with all the options I selected. If not they will build it,” Ben explained. “It might take some time to get it.”
“Oh,” she said with disappointment in her voice.
Ashley just grinned and kissed the top of her head.
“I’ll let you know when it’s ready. Just thought you’d like to know it’s been ordered,” Ben said.
Ashley stepped close and pulled Ben into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her to return it. He felt good for helping them and the hug felt really good too.
The hug went on longer than Ben expected and he felt Ashley swaying slightly. He looked over at Madison who was grinning madly. Savannah’s eyes were growing wider and wider as she watched the endless hug.
Madison couldn’t contain her giggles any longer and Ashley jumped as she realized what she was doing. She pulled back quickly and her face was crimson with her embarrassment.
“It was a really nice hug,” Ben said gently.
A smile burst across her face and her eyes flashed with happiness. Ben was a little dazzled as he hadn’t seen her inner beauty shining out like that before.
“Ok, I- I guess I’ll be going. I’ll call when the car calls- I mean when I hear about the van’s delivery date.” It was his turn to blush. Madison’s giggles just got louder and Ben headed out.
He went home and went inside looking for his family. He found a note. Tina went grocery shopping with Trish and took Lucy and the girls. He did see a plate with three cookies on it with a note from Karen saying they were for him.
Ben ate the cookies and was pouring himself a glass of milk when he heard the doorbell ring. He went to the door and saw Rochelle standing on his porch with Jayden who wasn’t looking too happy. Ben sighed. The young man never looked happy.
He opened the door. “Rochelle, Jayden, this is a nice surprise. Please come in.”
They left their shoes in the foyer and followed Ben into the living room.
“What’s up?” Ben asked as Rochelle looked uneasy.
“As you know Jayden is under house arrest. There is GPS monitoring on him and he has to stay within range of a cell phone which connects to the monitoring center. I’ve arranged for the range on the device to allow him to be within our neighborhood. That’s as much concession as the court would allow,” she began.
Jayden’s look was sour.
“I’m going to need to go back to work and Trish told me you were going to begin renovating the Walker’s place this week. Do you think you could use another set of hands on the project? I know it’s a lot to ask.”
Ben looked at Jayden who was avoiding his eyes. “Do you have any skills?”
Jayden’s eyes snapped to Ben. “DO I HAVE SKILLS?”
“Do you know how to use a hammer, a drill, a saw, power tools?” Ben clarified.
“Yeah, I’ve done a little of that.” Jayden’s feathers settled and Ben looked at his mother.
“Not every question is an attack, Jayden,” Ben said quietly and the boy nodded stiffly. “Have you ever done any renovations?”
“No.”
“The first couple of days will be fun for you. We’ll be removing all of the fixtures from inside the house to donate then we get to break things. Demo days are highly cathartic,” Ben said with a smile and Jayden’s eyes lit up a little. “You get to hit stuff with a crow bar.” A smile cracked on his face for a moment.
“So Jayden can work with you?” Rochelle said, sounding immensely relieved.
“Yes. On the condition that he follows instructions not only from myself but especially from the job foreman and his boss, Dominic Selleni. Construction sights are dangerous places. He’ll need proper work boots and a helmet. Dominic’s company is doing this job with me as a favor. They don’t typically work on projects this small. They do neighborhoods not individual houses. They also don’t typically let the home owners work with them. We need to respect their authority on the worksite. Can you do that Jayden?”
Jayden looked at him seriously and nodded.
“I’ll pick up the boots and helmet,” Rochelle said.
“Get gloves too. This work can be rough on the hands. And eye protection,” Ben suggested. He looked back at Jayden. “What kind of work were you interested in getting into.”
“Music. I’m gonna be a producer,” Jayden said just a touch defensively.
Ben just nodded. “Ok, well this is nothing like that. We start 9AM Monday morning. There may be a lot of standing around for a bit but that’s part of this job as well. Some of the guys smoke so if you need to smoke take your break when and where they do. Coffee breaks and lunch are covered. Any food allergies?”
Jayden looked at him in surprise but shook his head.
“Good, I think you’re going to like the lunches. It was so popular with the guys when we renovated the daycare I’ve booked some gourmet trucks to serve us lunch. The team works really hard so they deserve the perk. I’ll expect you to pull your weight as well. Hard work is fulfilling on its own but it also earns rewards.” Ben looked at Rochelle. “Shall we discuss compensation?”