Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(93)

“That’s not true, but we can discuss Will later.”

“Will?” Ben looked up, his face a picture of astonishment.

“I’ll say more about him when we’re finished. Please, tell me what’s got you in such a state.”

He seemed relieved to finally tell her, and Charlotte silently scolded herself for delaying this conversation. Instead of fretting, she should’ve asked him sooner.

He waited until she’d poured hot water in the teapot and assembled cups. When she sat down with him at the table, she noticed that he’d placed Harry on his lap. Not so long ago, the cat had taken exception to sharing Charlotte’s affections, but Ben had won him over—as well as everyone else in her life. Harry purred contentedly as Ben stroked his sleek body.

“You know Steven phoned a little while ago.”

“Yes.” Charlotte had talked briefly with Ben’s older son. It’d been a bit awkward at first, but Steven sounded like a fine young man. Unlike his brother, he wasn’t a charmer and seemed to have difficulty carrying on a conversation. Fortunately Charlotte had no such problem and she’d done her best to let him know how pleased she was to be part of his family.

“Do you remember Steven said that David had gotten himself into a financial mess—again?”

“Yes. He declared bankruptcy a few years ago, didn’t he?”

“Right,” Ben confirmed. He looked past Charlotte, not meeting her eyes. “What I didn’t tell you has to do with yet another mess my son’s gotten himself into. I’m not sure of all the details. According to Steven, David was recently arrested for fraud. It was because of an insurance claim he made.”

Arrested? “Oh, dear,” she gasped.

Ben continued to pet Harry, his fingers smoothing the cat’s soft fur. “Then all of a sudden, he had the money to hire a high-priced attorney to represent him.”

“All of a sudden?” Charlotte repeated. “You mean he came into some unexpected funds?”

Ben grew very still. “Apparently this was shortly after the break-in and arson at The Lighthouse.”

Charlotte felt a chill. “Are you saying David might somehow have been involved in that?”

“Yes,” he said hoarsely.

“Ben, surely David would never do anything so…so vile.”

“You think I want to believe my own son could do something like this?” he asked. “I have lived with this information for nearly a week now, and I can’t ignore the possibility any longer. I checked the dates and they coincide.”

“Oh, Ben.”

All the color had drained from Ben’s face. “I didn’t say anything earlier because…because I didn’t know if I could. It’s one thing to suspect my son of such an ugly, underhanded crime and another to give his name to Sheriff Davis as a suspect.”

Charlotte’s heart ached for her husband. What an impossible decision he had to make. Regardless of anything else, the young man was Ben’s son. No father wanted to be responsible for turning his own child over to the authorities.

“While you were at the Senior Center this morning, I paid Sheriff Davis a visit.”

“Oh, Ben.” Charlotte stretched her arm across the table, wanting to clasp his hand, to offer what comfort she could. He didn’t seem to notice.

“Sheriff Davis took down all the information and said he’d look into it,” Ben said stoically, gazing down at the cat. “If it does turn out that David had something to do with the fire, promise me, Charlotte, that you and your family—” He seemed incapable of continuing.

“I love you, Ben. If David is involved, you can rest assured that no one in this family will blame you in any way for your son’s actions.”

Her husband glanced up, and his eyes shone with appreciation. “Thank you,” he whispered, taking her hand at last. “If David did this, I’ll personally reimburse Justine and Seth for their losses.”

“Ben! You can’t possibly do that.” Restitution for The Lighthouse wasn’t his obligation—and it would wipe him out financially. “They have insurance.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I won’t allow my son to hurt you, directly or indirectly.”

Charlotte thought she might weep for his pain, for his disappointment in David and his nobility in assuming an obligation he didn’t need to.

But that was Ben, wasn’t it? And those were the reasons she loved him.

Forty

“Can’t you do something to help my wife?” Jon pleaded with the labor room nurse. The middle-aged woman with gray-streaked hair wore a name tag that identified her as Stacy Eagleton.

“Honey, I’m fine,” Maryellen whispered, her brow damp with perspiration. Her death grip on Jon’s hand said differently.

Jon was worried. Maryellen had been in labor for nearly twenty hours, and with each passing minute, his fears mounted. Everything about this pregnancy had been difficult. He didn’t know why he’d assumed the labor would go smoothly when nothing else had.

The hospital staff had all assured him that his wife’s labor was progressing normally. “These things take time,” Stacy had repeatedly told him. If one more person uttered that trite remark, Jon thought he might not be able to control his temper. Twenty hours wasn’t normal. It couldn’t be. Katie had arrived with far less effort on Maryellen’s part.