He took her to the Korean restaurant and she was able to order some favorites. She was also able to use her Korean to order and the staff treated her very well. Ben ordered some rice and some beef dish in a sweet sauce.
They found a table near the edge of the food court so he and Tina could people watch.
Ben was pleased to discover that eyes were sliding past him to gaze at Tina. He looked at her too and saw she really was glowing with health and happiness. It warmed his heart.
“It’s good?” he asked as she devoured her food.
“I have such a craving for this dish. I do not know why,” she said perplexed.
Ben smiled. “I believe food cravings are a normal thing for pregnancies.
Tina looked up in surprise and grinned at him.
They finished their meal undisturbed which was a relief for Ben. He thought they were going to actually make it out alive as he wheeled Tina back to the exit when he heard a commotion behind him.
“It’s him!”
“The Bronze Man!”
“OMIGOD!”
“-autograph!”
“Selfie!”
Ben sighed and Tina looked up at him in concern. The voices were definitely female and didn’t sound young.
They managed to reach the info kiosk to return the wheelchair and he was helping Tina to her feet when the two women swooped in.
“Mr. Shepherd?”
Ben turned to see two women, probably in their thirties, fresh from the salon, dressed very well with maybe a few too many designer labels on display, eagerly waiting for him to acknowledge them.
“Yes?”
Huge smiles blossomed on their faces. “Could I have your autograph?” one woman pleaded.
“You know, I’m not a celebrity. I don’t give autographs,” he said, trying to be civil.
“A picture then?” the other stepped forward holding up her cell and Tina wobbled back on her crutches.
Ben braced Tina with a hand on her back and his other hand protectively touching her tummy. The cell’s flash went off and the two women suddenly seemed to realize Ben wasn’t alone.
“Who’s this?” the autograph chaser blurted.
“OMIGOD! She’s having your baby?” the photographer exclaimed. Ben scowled and they took that as confirmation.
“But- but she said you were sterile!” responded the first.
“WHAT?!?” Ben growled as he reeled back.
The women leaned away but their eyes were twinkling with the excitement of a shared discovery.
“The woman claiming to be your wife told the reporter that you were sterile! In Peeps magazine!”
Tina tugged on his sleeve and Ben came back to the moment. Ears and cheeks burning with humiliation, he turned and walked with Tina out of the Mall. He could hear the excited giggles of the two women behind him and he trembled with undirected rage.
He got Tina back into the truck and got them driving back to the house. Ben was silent, his jaw clenched, as Tina watched him from her seat.
“I had a lovely lunch Ben,” she said quietly.
Her words seemed to snap Ben out of his funk and he glanced apologetically towards her. “Oh, I’m sorry Tina. I did too! It was really nice to just be two people out for lunch in the food court. I really missed that.” His brow furrowed once more as a troubled look stole back onto his face.
His cell began to ring so he passed it over to Tina to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Tina?” asked a voice.
“Yes, who is this?”
“It’s Joanne White. May I speak with Ben?”
“Ah, hello Joanne! May I put you on speaker? Ben is driving,” Tina explained.
“Oh, sure.”
“Go ahead,” Tina prompted as the phone went on speaker mode.
“Ben? It’s Joanne White.”
“Hi Joanne! How is Florida?”
“Hot! But I’m not complaining!” she said and Ben heard the smile in her voice. “I- I’m calling about your offer. It’s still on the table?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going to lower it or tell me I told you so?”
“Joanne! I wouldn’t do that! I’m sorry your other bids fell through,” Ben said sincerely.
“Thank you Ben. I’d like to take you up on your offer then. I was going to contact you after the last buyer backed out but I was so embarrassed.”
“Joanne, please! There is no need to be embarrassed. Listen, I’m going to give Trish’s cousin Shelly a call. She’s a realtor. You give her a call and she’ll make all the arrangements. Here’s her number.” Ben gave her the number and Joanne repeated it back. “Just give me a few minutes to fill her in, ok?”
“Perfect! Thank you Ben!”
“Good doing business with you Joanne! Take care!”
“Bye!” she said and hung up. Tina dialed Shelly.
“Shelly Spencer, how may I help you today?”
“Hi Shelly, it’s Ben Shepherd with Tina Lee on speakerphone.”
“Hi Ben! Hi Tina!”
“Hello!” Tina answered.
“You are about to get a call from one of my previous neighbors, Joanne White. I’ve agreed to buy her home for 1. 15 million. Can I ask you to take care of that for me?”
“Of course you can! You know you’re my favorite buyer!” the woman said.
“Thanks Shelly! Let me know when you need my signature.”
“Will do! Thanks again!”
Once she hung up Ben had Tina dial the bank to speak to the manager. Ben spoke with him to let him know he was going to need another check.
That taken care of they pulled into a gas station and while Ben pumped the gas, Tina made her way inside the little store to pick up snacks for her cravings. She returned with a bag and Ben’s eyebrows rose. Tina stuck out her tongue and Ben smiled. She managed to get in by herself and Ben drove them home.
“I can get myself into the house on my own,” Tina insisted and Ben wasn’t even allowed to carry her bag of snacks.
He closed the garage and held the door for her but she made it in on her own and shooed him away once they were inside. He gave her a kiss and made his way downstairs to his office.
Ben stopped once more before the panic room door and stared at the dented surface. He was desperate to find something to occupy his mind, something to distract him from the incident in the mall. Examining the structure of the door he decided he was going to design a new one himself. He would work from the existing door’s design but add gusseting to its back to stiffen the surface so it wouldn’t bend under the pounding of a hammer. As that would increase its weight he’d improve the guides, the bearings and the hydraulics on the closer to bear the extra load as well as allow it to close faster.
Brain happily stimulated, he sat at his drafting table and got to work.
Tina sat in her favorite spot in the living room and listened for Ben. He was in his office so she knew she had a few hours at least. She pulled the magazine from her shopping bag. She’d grabbed an issue of Peeps and turned to the page with Wendy’s story. Tina looked at the image of the woman. Greying blonde hair, sad eyes, tight thin lips, lines on her face, and very plump. She did not look like a happy woman.
Tina read the story which was only two pages. Aside from the picture of Wendy at the beginning of the article the only other photo was a wedding picture of Ben with Wendy. Attached as proof she supposed.
Wendy didn’t paint a very flattering picture of her marriage to Ben or of Ben himself. She spoke of his disappointment when he discovered he was sterile and his subsequent loss of interest in her. By the end of the article Tina wanted to strangle the woman.
She flipped on her tablet and started a new email. She addressed it to Gabriella, Catherine, Trish, and Hannah and filled them in on the latest development with Wendy. She added the pertinent information Wendy had disclosed in the story and let them know how upset Ben had been when he’d been confronted by the two women in the mall. She snapped a picture of Wendy’s face with the tablet and added it to the email. That done she sent it off.
First to respond to the message was Trish but that was no surprise. The language was very colorful but the message was clear, Trish loved Ben and would defend him to her dying breath. She offered to be at his side when the court case happened. Tina was sure all of the women in Ben’s life would be there. She wasn’t sure if that would be a good or bad thing to sway the judge’s opinion. Something to speak to Gabriella about.
Speaking of the woman, Tina’s tablet chirped with a video call request. Looking towards the stairs there was no sign of Ben. She dug her earphone out of the end table drawer and answered the call as she plugged it in.
Gabriella’s concerned face popped up on the screen.
“Hi Tina! Is Ben there?”
She looked and the coast was still clear. She kept her voice quiet just in case. “Hi Gabriella! No, he went down to his office.”
Gabriella’s expression relaxed. She knew he’d be working on some engineering puzzle. “How are you doing?”
“Very well! I enjoyed very much my lunch with Ben today until the two rude women showed up,” she said with a shrug.
“Tina, be honest with me. Does Ben need me to come back?” Gabriella asked.