8. Ben

The sharp crack of billiard balls broke through the obnoxious honky tonk music for a split second, and Benjamin Fairweather's mouth gaped open as he watched the woman at the opposite end of the pool table easily blow through his trap.

"Five in the corner pocket."

As if commanded, the ball disappeared into the hole, and Laura Jean straightened with a grin. "Did you want to wait for Albie to get back from the bathroom, or should we keep playing?"

Son. Of. A. Bitch.

Narrowing his eyes, Ben didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. When Albie started to lose and suddenly needed to use the restroom, he should have known something was up.

"I didn't know you played pool."

"Six and seven in the side pocket." The balls snapped together, dropping obediently into their holes. Laura Jean tossed her long, wavy blonde hair over a shoulder and shrugged. "I could say the same for you. Albie didn't have a clue until it was too late. Where did you learn to line up a series of shots like that?"

"Long nights in random hotels growing up."

Moving around to where he stood, she rested her hip on the table. "Traveling with your dad?"

Yes, traveling with none other than Satan. When Charlie proved incapable of representing the Fairweather name during his teen years, the duty had fallen on the second son. "I think I was fourteen the first time I went to Texas with him for business. It was boring, so I snuck off to the hotel's game room where I taught myself how to play and then win."

Coming around the table, Laura Jean sipped her beer. "And while traveling with your dad did you teach yourself how to ruthlessly destroy your opponents in any other games?"

He snorted. Having James Fairweather as a father and mentor had taught him how to ruthlessly destroy all kinds of things.

Businesses. People. The world as a whole.

"I will kick your ass at pinball."

Tapping her beer bottle against the one in his hand, she giggled. "Sounds like a plan."

Ben wondered if Albie realized how lucky he was to have this woman. She was beautiful, of course. Dainty and feminine, like a tiny woodland fairy lost among mankind. But that wasn't the only thing about Laura Jean that made her so alluring. Her personality matched her appearance. Enchanting beyond words, there wasn't an ounce of pretentiousness to be found, and absolutely everything that flew out of her mouth was always one hundred percent authentic.

She never apologized for her way of thinking, or for the wicked sense of humor she occasionally let show. Two traits that came in handy when dealing with the women who constantly threw themselves at her husband.

Like now.

"Do you think he'll do the spin and pass or the duck and run?" she asked, nodding toward Albie trapped in the hallway leading to the bathroom. "Spin and pass would be my guess."

Turning to join in on her observation, Ben chuckled at the two females blocking his friend's path. The crowded Port Michaelson bar wasn't a regular spot for any of them, but Albie had insisted it was the perfect place for a bachelor party.

"You two are totally lame," Laura Jean had complained on the drive to the bar. "Bachelor parties should involve strippers, and heavy drinking. A wild time, you know?"

That idea sounded horrible and was the very last thing Ben wanted to do. Miranda had chosen to have a quiet weekend alone with Josie for her bachelorette party, so why couldn't he do the same?

Not that there was anything wrong with strippers. He hired them as needed, like when an investor hesitated on signing a contract. A little extra attention from a stunning woman was an old tool Fairweather Holdings often used to get the job done.

And the heavy drinking he could do without. That only led to trouble. Well, not trouble. Small, perfect miracles could happen after a night of drinking. Selah was proof of that.

Continuing to watch Albie's attempts at deflecting the women, Ben leaned down to whisper in Laura Jean's ear. It was now or never, and if he kept this secret any longer, she would be upset.

"Miranda is pregnant."

Eyes on her husband, the only indication of her hearing his announcement was the subtle lift of her chin. "Congratulations."

He wanted to kick himself when her exquisite emerald eyes shone with tears. He could pretend they were tears of joy, but he knew better because he knew her. Since the day he discovered this woman, lost and wandering the empty halls of that Louisiana courthouse, Laura Jean had become a part of him. She was Albie's, of course, but she was also his. He could read her like a book, having spent immeasurable amounts of time memorizing each line of her story from the start.

"I haven't told Albie yet, but I'll want him to look Miranda over and make sure everything is running smoothly."

A watery laugh erupted from Laura Jean, and she wiped her eyes and nose. "Jesus, Ben. She's not a car."

"Check her oil." Relieved to hear her laugh, he poked her shoulder, craving the sound again. "You know, the basics."

Giggling, she set down her empty beer bottle and swiped the one he held to polish it off. "I like your goofy side. You should let it show more."

"No one wants to see him acting goofy." Ty appeared out of the heavy cigarette smog to drape an arm across Laura Jean's shoulders. "I witnessed it once, and that was enough."

Ty was his oldest friend, although they had to be careful in public, which is why Albie picked a bar two counties over. Unwanted attention could find its way back to his father, or worse, his mother, and then there would be hell to pay.

Helen Fairweather excelled at inflicting a very special kind of evil upon her children. Ben supposed he should thank her for teaching him to hate his family early on, and the importance of molding himself to act as they did in order to survive among them.

Only once had he broken character. Only once had he given her reason to doubt his allegiance.

All because of Ty.

In the years since planting that first kernel of distrust in his mother's head, Ben had never discovered who the man was or why Helen had invited him to lunch with her at Parkland Grounds.

Being the same age, he and Ty were hardly apart growing up, forced into a friendship neither minded. On the day his mother met with a man who was apparently a new business associate of Fairweather Holdings, and the call came in for Ty to present himself downstairs, Ben had naturally gone with him.

Yet, when they reached the ground floor, his mother intercepted them and ordered Ben to return to the playroom. "Ty is the only one I need for this."

Perhaps it had been that gleeful maliciousness in his mother's eyes, or that sinking feeling in his stomach that had him ignoring her. All Ben had known when he snuck back downstairs was that he needed to find Ty.

And it had been easy.

Because when Ty cried, he cried with his whole heart.

On the ground floor, the daytime staff went about their business, each of them pretending not to hear the sounds coming from Helen's private study. They never looked in Ben's direction as he crept closer, nor did they try to stop him from gaining access to the room.

Opening the door and seeing Ty squirming on the strange man's lap had been a shock, one that Ben's young brain hadn't quite understood at first. But as he slowly comprehended what was happening, that was when it ended. That was when the thing that called itself Fairweather died in Ben. Gone. Obliterated in no more than a millisecond of time.

And while he might have been young, he was still fearless, and barged into the room to strike the man square in the face. Once Ty was free, the two of them pounded the ever-loving shit out of the stranger before running off to hide in the playroom.

Ty had been worried his aunt would lose her job as a nanny at Parkland Grounds, and if fired by the Fairweathers, finding employment in Hollingsdale was nearly impossible. Scared, but wanting to do what was right, Ben made a promise never to tell, and the two of them had kept each other's secrets ever since.

Helen had remained quiet on the incident as well. There had never been a doubt in Ben's mind that she orchestrated the entire thing, but he couldn't prove it. Not that anyone in his family would have cared.

"Where have you been?" Ben signaled for the waitress, or at least who he thought was a waitress. No one in this bar was dressed in any type of uniform. "We've been here for an hour."

Laura Jean arched up on her toes to kiss Ty's cheek. "And where's SiSi?"

Ben and Ty laughed together. SiSi would never be caught dead in a dive bar. This place would offend her on every level, but even if she had wanted to come, they definitely couldn't risk being in public together.

"I took a lady friend to dinner before heading this way," Ty replied, giving Laura Jean a one-armed hug. "And my sister would burst into flames if she stepped foot into a honky tonk."

"Not if she's with me," Laura Jean insisted. "I would have her line dancing in no time."

"Hell, I would pay to see that." Ty arched an eyebrow at Albie. "Is he ducking and running or spinning and passing?"

"I say he's in too deep to spin and pass," Ben replied. "It's going to be a definite duck and run."

As expected, Albie dipped under one of the women's arms and sped walked over to kiss Laura Jean in a way that made it clear he was taken.

The women booed.

After he finished making a spectacle of himself, Albie relieved his wife of her pool stick. "Next time, come rescue me. I'm fragile, and they were scary."

"No way." Laura Jean crossed her arms. "I could say the wrong thing, and since you're a public figure now, Dr. Eddins, we have to be careful. One day, those women might become patients and get you right where they want you." She winked at Ben. "Under their hood."

Ben grinned. He'd never had an inside joke with anyone before. Not with Albie or even Ty. "You just never know when a woman's check engine light might come on."

Albie slapped his wife's butt as she spun away laughing. "I see you haven't taken Fairweather out while I was gone."

"I didn't want to bruise his manly ego." Laura Jean danced her way over to the fresh round of drinks being delivered. "Fairweather has never been the type to take losing very well."

Losing wasn't an option. It was the difference between suffering and thriving, and too many people depended on him.

"Because I don't lose."

The music switched to some slow, bluesy tune, and Laura Jean squealed. "I love this song. Ty, come dance with me."

Ty gazed out over the mass of cowboy hats and buckles shining under the dance floor lights. "Girl, you ask too much." He held his hand out. "But come on before I change my mind."

Several conversations halted as Ty and Laura Jean approached the floor. Mostly men, gawking as she passed in her jean cutoff shorts and cowboy boots.

"You're staring at my wife, Fairweather."

"I'm watching to make sure those assholes don't mess with her."

"My girl can handle herself." Albie made his shot, completely missing the target. "But do you want to tell me why you were making her cry while I was trapped?"

There was no other way to do it, so he ripped the band-aid off. "Miranda is pregnant."

Albie wouldn't look at him for a second. "How far along?"

"We think two months."

Technically, it was his turn, but Ben said nothing as Albie lined up another shot. "Good thing you're getting married next week. Your mother and hers would have an absolute fit if anyone found out you knocked her up before the wedding," he said, sinking two balls. "I'm guessing you want me to check her out?"

Guilt gnawed at Ben. It was easy to joke with Laura Jean, but with Albie it hit harder. Those monthly negative pregnancy tests were just as tough on him as they were on her. Being a gynecologist, Albie felt that he should hold the solution to all their baby problems.

"I'm sorry."

There was nothing else to say. The two of them were beyond the one day it'll happen bullshit, and Ben refused to pretend to understand their pain.

"You shouldn't be." Albie straightened, giving him the go ahead to take a turn. "You're about to marry a wonderful woman who is going to be a great stepmom to Selah, an amazing mom to this next one, and a perfect person to have whenever the shit hits the fan."

It was true. If everything went according to plan, and he ended up as the head of Fairweather when his father finally died, Miranda would remain strong at his side whenever he revealed his son to the public. No doubt there would be a scandal, but he was marrying the type of woman who could handle idle gossip and respond to it properly.

Miranda also adored Selah and would become a dedicated mother. Simone liked her, as did Laura Jean, and Albie. His parents tolerated her, agreeing to the marriage for the sake of the business thanks to a patent Miranda's father held.

Sexually, they were compatible, both ticking off each other's boxes in that department.

But he didn't love her.

He couldn't.

He'd tried.

Hell, he'd tried with nearly all the countless women he'd slept with, Simone included. Although that was a secret he would take to the grave.

The emotion served no purpose, and if there was no purpose, why did it matter?

Selah was the only exception.

Ben loved his son.

Helplessly.

Hopelessly.

From Selah's first breath, the sweet swell of devotion struck every time Ben thought of his boy, and while it was a dangerous game he and Simone were playing, he sure as hell was going to make it worth it. Their son would hold the keys to the kingdom, and never want for anything.

"Miranda is an ideal partner to have in life."

"A partner in life?" Albie tossed the stick on the table, their game obviously over. "Do you even hear what you sound like?"

Settling at one of the high-top chairs next to their pool table, Ben didn't need to explain, but tried because it was Albie. "I can't look at this marriage any other way."

"Afraid you'll fall in love with your wife?"

Ben took a long sip of his beer. "Love is a liability."

"Is that what you tell your son when you tuck him in at night?"

"I don't get to tuck Selah in at night, or did you forget that part?"

"I never forget." Albie came to sit with him, relaxing a little as he watched Laura Jean on the dance floor. "Do you understand that SiSi could've run? Hell, it would have been the smart thing to do."

"I'll be sure to let her know you think she's stupid for staying."

"The hell you will." Albie's gray eyes snapped back to him. "I will not have that woman mad at me."

"Simone would take you down faster than Richard Forsyth."

"Kiss my ass, and yes, Simone is scarier than Dick Foreskin," Albie grumbled. "I heard he's working on Wall Street now."

Richard Forsyth, also known as Dick Foreskin to his enemies, had been Albie's childhood bully until Ben finally got tired of seeing the scholarship kid get his ass kicked day in and day out. All it had taken was one word from a Fairweather for Albie's torment to end.

And while Richard Forsyth remained a dickhead until they graduated, his utter shit behavior forged a friendship that would last a lifetime.

"Listen, I know I don't deserve a healthy boy and another kid on the way," Ben said as the song ended, and Laura Jean weaved back to them with Ty on her arm. "Not when there are people like you and Laura Jean who deserve it more."

"That's the attitude pissing me off," Albie swung around in the seat to point a finger in his face. "You're walking around with this misplaced guilt because you think we won't be happy about this."

"I don't care if you're happy for me, Albie."

Lowering his finger, Albie smirked. "Yes, you do, you arrogant ass."

"Yes, he does what?" Laura Jean slid up to her husband and stole his beer, having left Ty in the care of a woman by the bar. "And why does Ben look so pissed?"

Albie's smirk deepened. "Shall I tell her, or do you want to do it?"

Glaring at his friend, Ben tried to think of how to approach this. Laura Jean was a weakness of his, and Albie knew it. "I was concerned you guys would be upset about Miranda's pregnancy."

Laura Jean shrugged. "I am, but I'm also happy for you." She waved the beer bottle between them. "Let me guess, Ben was hesitating on telling his news because he didn't want to hurt us, but Albie, I bet you were all, don't be an asshole. We're happy for you. Why would you think we wouldn't be?"

Neither he nor Albie said anything, knowing she wasn't done. Laura Jean aimed the bottle at her husband. "Refusing to acknowledge that it hurts to know we've been screwing our brains out trying to get pregnant while Ben is over here knocking women up left and right is not how friendship works. You're just as guilty of being a jerk."

"I have gotten two women pregnant," Ben mumbled, swiping a hand through his dark hair. "Two women, Laura Jean."

Laura Jean rolled her eyes and pointed the bottle at him next. "Hiding important stuff just because you think it's going to hurt us is shitty on your part. Life always hurts, Ben. It's what we share that makes it worth living."

As usual, she had a point. Life, in general, was nothing but pain. It didn't matter how much money or power he had; there would always be small slices of suffering to keep him humble.

But then, some moments made the pain tolerable. Like tonight or when he held Selah. Times like those burned at the pain yet held the same grounding effect.

"Your wife is a genius."

Albie pulled Laura Jean closer. "Yeah, I know."

From somewhere close by, Ty let out a nervous laugh. None of them could see who he was talking to, but if Ben didn't know any better, the cute brunette Laura Jean had left him with had turned into a group of giant country boys.

"Ah, shit," Albie mumbled. "Behave."

Laura Jean frowned. "Who are you talking to?"

"Me." Ben tossed back the rest of his beer and stood. "He's talking to me."

"I am a doctor." Albie rose to go with him. "You are an upstanding citizen who owns half the land in this county and the county next door. We do not get into bar fights."

"Ty can handle it." Laura Jean placed a hand on each of their chests. "Sit down."

Neither of them said a word as they watched. Ty didn't look too distressed, and if things got wild, he had a powerful punch under all that height and lean muscle.

"You know what?" Laura Jean squared her shoulders. "I'll go over to listen and signal if you need to come over."

Ben spared her a glance. "The hell you are."

"Nah, let her," Albie said with a nod. "She looks harmless, and if they have any type of manners, they won't start something with a beautiful woman watching."

"That big one in the back just spit tobacco on the floor," Ben grumbled as Laura Jean reached Ty. "I'm going to go ahead and assume he doesn't even know how to spell the word manners, let alone understand when he's supposed to use them."

They went silent, watching as the rednecks gaped at Laura Jean. Ben couldn't blame them for the reaction. She was probably the most stunning creature ever to grace their existence.

"No wonder Ty looks nervous." Albie sat back down. "That woman in the middle of all those guys is basically fucking him with her eyes."

Ben stretched to see, which was ridiculous because he was already the tallest person in the room. "His dick is going to get him into trouble one day."

"Pot, meet kettle." Albie shook his head before chugging the rest of his beer. "You're not one to talk, Fairweather."

Laura Jean finally managed to drag Ty away. "Just a misunderstanding," she said, making it to the table. "But everything is fine."

"It's hard being this pretty." Ty shrugged. "Maybe one day you two will understand."

Ben returned to his seat, drawing another two chairs around. "Keep coming to bars like this, and you'll end up with a few scars on that pretty face."

Already moving on, Ty locked eyes with a blonde two tables over. "Leave me alone. I'm tired after dealing with a sick boy and my exhausted sister."

Ben stilled, anger coiling tight in him. SiSi hadn't mentioned anything when he called earlier, and knowing her, she would have withheld the information, thinking she could handle it on her own.

Which, if that were true, would really piss him off.

Selah had been sick only once in his life, and it hadn't been pretty. Fever to the point of delirium with loads of vomiting. The illness had stuck around for days, and SiSi went through it alone while he remained in North Carolina, oblivious as to what was happening.

"Selah came down with a stomach bug yesterday," Ty said, wincing when Ben stood abruptly. "He's fine. A little throwing up, and not much else."

"What about Rebecca and Livy?" Albie asked. "One good round of dehydration can harm a baby."

Charlie claimed to have had no idea that Rebecca was only seventeen when their affair began, but Ben had called bullshit from day one. His brother was an idiot, not blind.

Pitted in constant competition growing up, they had never been close. But even tossing their years of family dysfunction aside, what Charlie was doing was nothing short of disgusting. Vivian loved him. Completely and totally.

And no matter what anyone else thought, Ben knew damn well his brother was devoted to his wife. It made no sense why he would continue this ridiculous affair or why it had even begun in the first place.

The arrival of Rebecca and Charlie's child only made it worse. While Ben was going to move heaven and earth to make sure his niece lived a good life, Charlie needed to decide which woman he wanted. Preferably, it would be Vivian since her father was digging his fingers deeper and deeper into Fairweather Holdings as of late. It wasn't a problem yet, but it could be, and real fast, if The McIntyre's daughter came home crying to daddy.

"I guess I'll see you later at the house." Already knowing where the evening was headed now that he'd opened his mouth, Ty said his goodbyes. "That is if I make it home tonight."

Ben quickly paid the tab while Albie argued that the bachelor shouldn't be responsible, and the three of them made their way through the crowd. He'd left his car at his family's beach house but asked them to drop him at Haven since his only thought was getting to Selah.

"We'll drop you off and then bring the car over," Albie said once they were on the road. "I'll check on Rebecca and Livy and see if they're exhibiting any symptoms we need to be concerned with."

"I'm sure they're fine."

Albie cut him a sideways glance. "I think it's time to work on being a little more empathetic toward Becca. She's basically just a kid."

Basically, just a kid.

The same words Albie used the day Charlie approached him about performing an abortion. The entire time Rebecca was up in Alabama waiting for her prince charming to whisk her away, Charlie had been pressuring Albie to help him handle the situation he'd found himself in.

"Yeah, I get it," Ben said. "But I don't see her the way you two do. She might appear innocent and naive, yet there's more underneath. She's not letting her real intentions be known."

Laura Jean clucked her tongue, disgusted by his remark. Going out of her way to be kind, she'd mothered Rebecca right along with SiSi. "It's because Becca understands the tenuousness of her situation. She has a right to go on the defensive. I mean, what do you expect? She's trapped."

"Like a wild animal." Ben gazed through the window. They were passing the county line where civilization faded, leaving endless rows of pine. Fairweather land held ever so tightly in his father's grip. The potential for the area far outweighed their other investments, but James always refused, leaving it a wasteland of nothingness on the Gulf of Mexico. "The kind that attacks even when you're trying to help."

"You need to install some lights out here," Albie mumbled. Hardly anyone traveled this late at night on the two-lane highway connecting Port Michaelson to Hollingsdale, and he hit the gas. "At least one near Haven."

Cutting across the median, they turned onto a clay road. The car dipped and rumbled down the drive, always making the final stretch to Haven House feel like a descent into hell for Ben.

Built by some great-great of his, the place had been left vacant for decades until his grandfather restored it well beyond its former glory. The old man died just shy of its completion, and Ben's father had no interest in continuing the project. It was dumb luck that James had started to entertain the idea of selling it when Simone became pregnant. Seizing the opportunity, Ben managed to convince him to keep the place as a tax write off and assign a small staff to maintain the estate.

Albie parked directly at the end of the front walk. "We'll bring your car over and come back to check on Livy."

"But should we leave the car here?" Laura Jean chewed on her bottom lip. "I don't want your parents to see it at Haven late at night."

Ben wasn't worried about his parents. With James' health declining, his father couldn't go far without a nurse or extra help on hand. The doctors said it was a watch and wait game, and none of them minded playing it. When it came to his mother, Helen never left her kingdom of Hollingsdale these days. Parkland was her castle, where she ruled over the other society wives with an iron fist.

"It's okay." Smiling at her, he lingered. He wouldn't see her—them—again until his wedding. "But instead of coming back over to check on Becca, how about you guys spend the night at the beach house, and I'll call you if I think Livy isn't feeling well? It's late, and I'm sure she's asleep."

Laura Jean loved the beach and squealed in excitement. "I can get behind that idea!"

Warmth hummed in the center of his chest, and Ben fought the urge to rub his thumb over it. Making her happy shouldn't feel this good.

"You fight dirty, Fairweather," Albie said. "And don't be a jackass to SiSi. She had her reasons for not telling you Selah was sick."

Exiting the car, Ben leaned down. "Not good ones."

He said goodnight and jogged across the lawn, careful of the rainbow garden. Selah loved the flowers Ty planted when he and SiSi moved here, and he wasn't about to be the one to ruin them.

Fishing his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the front door, knowing SiSi had the place secured tighter than a vault. His concern over his parents coming out here might be minimal, but she lived in a constant state of paranoia that never allowed her to let her guard down.

It was dark inside the house, with only the soft flare of the hall lamp allowing him to see. From above, a pair of shoeless feet padded down the stairs, stopping halfway. "Oh, it's you."

Reminding himself that she was indeed no more than a child, Ben came to stand at the foot of the staircase to look Rebecca over. She appeared tired and pale, clutching baby Livy tightly to her chest.

"I heard Selah had a stomach bug, and I came to check on him," he said softly, not wanting to wake Livy. "Are you feeling okay?"

"You left your bachelor party to check on Selah?" She tilted her head to peer into the foyer. "Is Charlie with you?"

"Ah, no."

He wasn't going to be the one to tell the news. SiSi might hate him for making her do it, but Ben refused to be the one to tell Rebecca that her boyfriend's wife had miscarried again, and he was at home where he should be.

"Is SiSi in her room?"

Rebecca turned to go back upstairs, her long, dark ponytail swaying as she went. "Yeah, but Selah doesn't have a stomach bug. He ate the bag of chocolate chips we were saving to make cookies."

Well, that explained it. Selah's stomach couldn't handle sweets.

Heading down the hall to the rear of the house, he opened SiSi's door without knocking. She'd picked the large suite on the ground floor when moving in. A chamber of rooms that offered enough space to hold her private bedroom and a nursery for Selah.

As he entered, the soft rumblings of a cartoon played on the corner TV while SiSi lay on the room's large bed, reading a book as Selah slept with his head in her lap.

She didn't look very happy to see him. "You stink like cigarettes."

"I was at a bar. You should have joined us."

"Don't be ridiculous." She expertly extracted herself from under their son as only mothers could do. "Take a shower and change into something else."

Her audacity floored him at times, and he followed as she marched into the bathroom. "I don't care what I smell like. I came to check on my kid."

"The vomiting has aggravated Selah's throat, and he's coughing horribly." She shut the bathroom door behind them and started the shower. "Guess what will make it worse. Cigarette smoke."

"Damn it." He swiped off his shirt and dropped his pants, smirking when she turned away as his underwear hit the floor. "Find me something to wear."

The shower took less than two minutes, and when he got out, a set of sweats and a T-shirt were waiting for him on the counter. He recognized the clothes immediately as belonging to his brother.

Returning to the bedroom, he found mother and son in the same position as before.

SiSi didn't look up from her book. "Did you have fun?"

"Hell no." Ben joined them on the bed, smoothing a hand over Selah's head. "How is he?"

"We just have to keep him comfortable during his coughing fits, but at least the vomiting stopped."

Selah let out a little moan, and Ben's heart stumbled. He should have been here.

"Why didn't you call?"

Simone closed her book and repositioned Selah so she could lie on her side. "Why would I call?"

"I want to be able to help."

"You flew in this morning for a meeting with Hal Burbank and then took off to go to your lame bachelor party." Selah's moans turned into babbling, and she smiled. "Then I'm sure there was the regular James and Helen crap to deal with, so I just assumed you were busy."

"Add Charlie bullshit to that list," he whispered. "Have you told her about Viv?"

"Not yet, but I will."

The cartoon on the TV continued to play, the colors flashing across the walls. "How was your meeting with Hal?" she asked. "Did you get what you wanted?"

"He won't give up the shoreline on the bay. It's not a major deal, but I don't like being told no, and if we don't get the land, it holds up a condo project waiting in the wings."

Simone might not want to admit she needed help, but knowing someone else was here to carry the burden of parenting had her eyes drifting closed. "Hal has a son named Milton," she said with a yawn. "He's studying theology to become a pastor."

That was common knowledge. Father and son were known to quote scripture during business meetings and walked around with giant crucifixes hanging around their necks as if vampires might attack at any minute.

"Yeah, I know."

SiSi cradled her hands under her cheek, and two slits of brown stared shrewdly at him. "Did you also know that his son's favorite color is cocaine white?"

If it were anyone else, he wouldn't believe it. "Go on."

"Ty found himself in the bed of Margie O'Connell's daughter last month."

"Okay?"

"Margie works for the Burbanks, and they don't bother to hide their true colors in front of the staff. That is one nasty family."

"They're friends of my parents, so I don't know why you're surprised," he replied. "Got anything else?"

"The wife has a gambling problem. A big one."

Rolling to his back, Ben watched the flashes of the cartoon dance on the white ceiling. "That's good."

"No, it's bad." SiSi rested a hand on Selah's back. "But if it's what we need to keep pushing forward, use it."

The bribes, the threats, the women, the lives lost in the fight to prove his worth to his father. All of it covered his hands in Fairweather filth, but it never bothered SiSi. The woman next to him never wavered in their plans. She understood with crystal clarity that a win for him was a win for her and Selah.

"One day this will be over." He shifted to his side, placing his hand on top of hers. Selah smiled in his sleep as if he understood that the two people who loved him most were there. "One day, we'll know peace."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm always right."