girl wiggled and moved into her mother’s arms. The mother bowed her head over the girl and shuddered. Finally, she looked up. Through the mask she said, once again, “Thank you.”
He shrugged. “I’m glad you made it out okay.” He found breathing became easier as he relaxed.
“I have no idea what happened,” the woman said. “I woke up. Having…bad dream and smelled…smoke. I thought Katie…” She shuddered and squeezed her daughter. Bowing her head, she gasped as if fighting tears. “I have no idea what we’re going to do. My house burned down. We don’t have family here.”
“No husband?” Ben asked then flushed, realizing that wasn’t something he should ask. But surely she had a husband. She had a kid.
“No. No husband.”
The woman was alone.
“No one to stay with?” he asked. Aw, man, for some reason this just didn’t sound right. A woman wasn’t supposed to live isolated from all of her family. Everyone had family. Even he had a sister who lived over in Slaughter, just north of Zachary.
“No. I mean…” He could see she was trying to think of someone. “I guess I could find someone…maybe. I don’t know….”
It was the tears that did it.
He knew when he saw those tears no matter what happened at the hospital, he was going to make sure this woman was okay once she left.
First one, then another tear slipped over her cheeks, past the mask to run down her neck, leaving clean streaks through her darkened face.
He couldn’t handle tears. He’d never been able to handle tears. “You can stay at my house until we can get to your home tomorrow and make sure you can move back in,” he said, though he didn’t think she’d be able to move in that quickly. They’d have to check the damage. “By the way,” he added belatedly, “I’m your neighbor, Ben.”
The woman glanced up, the surprise in her face mirroring what he felt.
What was he doing? He was a bachelor. He didn’t have time for people—especially people of the female sort or the small sort. He hadn’t just invited a woman and kid to share his house, had he? No way would he do something so stupid.
It was impossible.
But sitting there, staring at the woman and child, at the look of utter helplessness on her face as she continued to struggle to breathe, Ben realized his major weakness was a woman in peril. His sister swore he couldn’t say no to a woman. And here was this young mother needing help. How could he turn them away?
He couldn’t.
It was that simple.
With an inward sigh he admitted he’d done it. He’d invited them to stay with him. And he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
What was he getting himself into?
Chapter Three
Bachelorhood is simply a way of saying I don’t know anything about women.
—Ben’s Laws of Life
There had been a ton of paperwork to sign, and even though the doctor had seen them they still had tests that needed doing. While the nurses had been busy poking and prodding, Stephanie had asked about calling a taxi, but Ben had insisted on calling his friend.
She was glad for the ride. She couldn’t afford a taxi, and even if she could pay for a cab, where would she go? She had been honest when she’d said she couldn’t think of anyone to stay with. She was still probing her mind for someone who might have room to put her up for a day or two. She wasn’t sure what she could do. She’d had a house and now she didn’t. At least, she didn’t think she did. It had been burning when they’d left.
When they’d finally straightened everything out with the paperwork and it was time for a signature, Ben’s friend had shown up.
“I’m certain that it’ll be fine if you stay with me until we get something done with your house,” Ben said, and Stephanie felt herself redden in the early-morning light. “The doctor said it’d be a good idea for all of us to rest today, and you certainly aren’t going to do that back at your house. I’ll have John go by and board up what he can and tomorrow you can look at it.”
Confused, Stephanie asked, “Board up?”
He nodded. “Cover whatever there is left to cover. The entire house didn’t burn down. There’ll be things you can salvage. We’ll need to call the insurance company, of course, but everything else can wait until tomorrow. You had a close call this morning.”
Ben Mayeaux. It suddenly clicked who this man was.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. I mean, you aren’t exactly a stranger, Mr. Mayeaux.”
Stephanie knew that sounded like an odd thing to say to a man she’d really never met. But as they drove back from Lane Hospital, she couldn’t help but chat to cover her nervousness. And she was nervous. Why had she accepted his invitation? Though she said she knew something about him, she only knew the basic facts. He was her neighbor, lived alone but was more involved in the community than she was. Everyone around town said he was a very nice person and really cared about people—even if he was a bit of a loner.
“Oh?” he asked, though the wary look that crossed his face told his true feelings.
“I know you’re at all of the town meetings and are on the board to build a better school even though you don’t have children. You’re quiet and keep to yourself and build stuff.”
“I build houses, Annie.”
“Stephanie,” she corrected.
“Yeah,” he murmured. His voice still sounded hoarse from the smoke.
“Thank you again,” she whispered. She reached up and rubbed her throat, thinking it felt raw as she talked.
“You’ve said that before,” he countered lightly.
She squeezed her daughter closer to her side. She didn’t think she would ever stop saying thank-you. The fear that had consumed her as she’d realized the house was on fire and her daughter was down the hall—her heart pounded just remembering the terror.
“I won’t get tired of saying it. You saved my daughter’s life.” She felt tears come again as she said those words.
The man driving the car rolled his eyes. Ben Mayeaux stiffened with unease.
Bachelors, she could tell. Not used to women, but she couldn’t help it. Her child had almost died. This man had saved them. “You’re my daughter’s hero. I can’t thank you enough for what you did.”
“Yeah. Well…” Ben shifted uncomfortably.
Stephanie cleared her throat. “I know we’re supposed to rest, but is there any way…I mean…” She shrugged, holding her daughter as close as the seat belts would allow. “I really need to stop and see my house today. Just to assure myself. I know it sounds crazy but…”
“No, it doesn’t.” Ben turned to the driver. “John, let’s stop by there first. But it’ll only be for a few minutes,” he added without looking at her.
Stephanie felt duly reprimanded for disobeying doctor’s orders. But she just had to see her house. The fire hadn’t been out when they’d left. She couldn’t explain why it was so important, but she just had to see, to make sure something was there. The fire seemed almost like a dream.
John turned onto the Pride-Port Hudson road before taking another turn onto a road that led to the house.
The first thing she noticed was that there were still small clouds of smoke hanging over the house, coming up in thin spirals from some blackened wood to the side of where her daughter’s room used to be.
The second thing she noticed