“Humor me, okay? What can it hurt, telling me about your marriage? Unless you’re still so in love with the guy that you don’t want to talk about it.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, but not because I’m still in love with Perry. Oh, I loved him in the beginning. Blindly so. I met him in my freshman English class in college. He asked to borrow my notes and never gave them back. That should have been a clue that Perry was only out for Perry. But he was a sweet-talking charmer. Incredibly good-looking. He swept me off my feet, promised me the world. We got married a few months later and I quit school to support him. Dumb I know, but Perry made it seem like the most responsible plan. He could focus on getting his business degree and then he’d get a great job and I could stay home with the family we wanted. At least I thought we both wanted a family. Perry said he did. He said all the right things. And we were happy in the beginning. Then I got pregnant. That wasn’t part of Perry’s plan. Not until he graduated from college. Even so, he pretended to make the best of things. And I worked until a week before Amy was born.”
“What happened then?”
“Perry acted like he was so proud of his baby daughter. He showed off pictures of her to everyone he met. But there were signs that things weren’t going well. We were always short of money. Perry would come up with one get-rich scheme after another. This time, babe, he’d tell me. This time it’s the real thing. But it never was. He graduated from college when Amy was two. A few weeks later we discovered that Amy has asthma.”
Ellie sighed and sat on the couch, kicking off her sandals to curl her feet beneath her. Talking about her marriage made her feel sad and stupid. “Perry didn’t take the news well. He likes perfection and suddenly Amy wasn’t his perfect little girl any longer. He took off a few months later and we haven’t heard much from him since.”
Ben sat on the couch beside her. “He doesn’t stay in contact with his daughter?”
“No. Not really. I keep telling her that her daddy loves her, and he probably does in his own shallow way. But Perry isn’t really capable of loving anyone other than himself.”
“Is he at least paying child support?”
He could feel Ellie retreating from him even though she didn’t move. “Look, I shouldn’t have gone on about things the way I did. I never meant to. When I’m tired, my mouth gets away from me sometimes.” She leaned forward. “Can I get you something to drink? A can of soda maybe?”
“Relax.” His hand on her arm prevented her from leaping up and retreating to the kitchen the way she clearly wanted. “I’m fine.”
Ben suspected that her refusal to answer his question about child support meant that slimebag Perry wasn’t paying. No surprise there. The guy didn’t sound like the responsible kind. He wouldn’t make a good Marine.
John had never gone into any detail about his sister’s ex-husband, other than referring to him as a dirtbag and much worse. Ben hadn’t pushed him for more information, that wasn’t his way. He wasn’t sure now that John had known the exact specifics. Ben suspected Ellie had shielded her brother from the worst of what had really occurred in her marriage.
Ben’s anger at her jerk of an ex-husband made him lose his focus on diplomacy. “You need money. I’ve got money.” He reached for his wallet. “More than I need or could possibly use. Here.” He held out a bunch of hundred dollar bills. “Take it.”
“I’m not for sale. Not in this lifetime,” Ellie growled, before leaping to her feet and pointing to the door. “Get out!”
Chapter Three
Ben realized his error immediately and jammed his wallet to his back jean pocket. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have put it that bluntly.”
“You shouldn’t have said it at all.” Ellie’s voice vibrated with anger.
“Let me explain. Please. Hear me out.”
Her look warned him that he’d better talk fast so he did. “A little over a year ago I inherited a lot of money from my wealthy oil baron grandfather. I thought he’d disinherited me years earlier. He never really forgave my mom for marrying an unknown Marine from Chicago named Kozlowski. And he never approved of my brothers and me joining the Marine Corps instead of his oil company down in San Antonio. Anyway, I’ve got all this money that I did nothing to earn.”
“Then give it to a charity.”
“I’d rather give it to you.
“And I didn’t mean to imply that you had to do anything to earn it,” Ben quickly clarified before her mind went down that path. “I’m just trying to help out here.”
“Don’t. I’m not your responsibility. So thanks, but no thanks. I’m not accepting money from a stranger.”
“If you get to know me better than I won’t be a stranger.”
“It won’t change my mind.”
“We’ll see.”
“You’re incredibly stubborn.” Her voice reflected her exasperation.
“So are you.”
“Exactly. So don’t go wasting your time thinking you can change my mind.”
“Spending time with you is not a waste.”
“It is if you think you can change my mind.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
“You haven’t talked much about Johnny,” she noted, changing the subject abruptly. “Is that because you think that talking about him will upset me?”
It upset Ben. Not that he mattered in this equation. Keeping his promise to his buddy by looking after Ellie was the only priority here. Nothing else was relevant. Not the fact that he was attracted to Ellie, that she made his heart beat faster, that the flash of her smile made him want to kiss her. All those things were totally irrelevant.
Telling himself that didn’t make the feelings disappear. Reminding himself to stay focused, he belatedly answered her question. “I didn’t want to say anything to upset you more than I have.”
“My brother loved being a Marine. He loved being part of a team that way. I know Marines are a tight-knit group and Johnny had never been part of something like that before. I just wanted you to know that. I can’t talk about it much right now. The wound is still too fresh.”
Ben nodded. He understood better than she could possibly imagine. “Wound” was an accurate description.
In the Marine Corps he’d been trained that pain was weakness escaping the body. But what about guilt? That showed no signs of leaving him. Instead it haunted him, darkly gnawing away at his insides.
“I understand that it’s too soon,” he said quietly, “but we’ve got time. I’m not going anywhere. Like I told you earlier, I’m based near here at Camp Lejeune. I really want to get to know you and Amy better. With that in mind, how about we get together tomorrow?”
Ellie shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of anything.”
“We’re all afraid of something.”
“Even a big bad Marine like you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Fine. Then what are you afraid of?”
“Snails,” he said promptly. “They give me the creeps.”
“Snails?”
“Hey, they’re all slimy and stuff.”
“They