"Oh yeah. Okay." Rosie replied, giving her mother a substantial pink-encrusted grin before losing total interest in the conversation. She was munching on dried fruit snacks and singing along to the song in her ears.
Oh my! Greer was right, Taylor thought; that was a lot of lipstick. Oh well, thought Taylor, the way her child was munching, it would be eaten off by Mobile.
Four hours into the trip, they pulled into a gas station to fill up and use the bathroom. As they piled back into the car, Taylornoticed that Rosie had already put her earbuds back in and was absorbed in her book. Reaching over to Greer's side of the car, she took a moment to give him a sexy smile. "Thank you. I know it is not how you would like to spend the holiday. I appreciate you doing this for me and Rosie."
Greer flashed her his seriously devilish smile and gave her a wink as he pulled her in close. Nibbling on her neck, he growled, "Woman, don't you know I would go to hell and back for you? Just didn't expect hell to be in the middle of Arkansas."
Laughing as much from how his whiskers tickled her as his words humored her, she replied, "Oh well, think on the bright side. At least it is November and not August."
"That's the truth. But, even without the hundred degrees and one hundred percent humidity, it still qualifies as the throne of darkness, complete with its own devil," he quipped.
"Oh, play nice," Taylor whispered. "Searcy is not that bad, and Bennett is actually a really good guy. You know that. And besides,…”
"Blah blah, blah," he cut her off. "Why don't you use that beautiful mouth for something better like kissing me than talking about him?" With that, Greer captured her lips in a full-on tongue-snogging to keep her from singing her ex-husband's praises.
The kiss extended longer than was appropriate in front of their daughter, and Rosie did not let them forget it even though her parents had momentarily forgotten her.
"Yuck. Stop that. It's gross!" Rosie yelled from the backseat, effectively ending the kiss and getting the trip rolling again.
They got to Little Rock a little after 6:00. Joules was there to meet them, and they ate dinner at her little cottage in the Heights. Around 10:00, Greer and Rosie said goodnight and took themselves off to bed. Joules and Taylor stayed up until almost 2:00 in the morning talking. At times like this, Taylor wondered how she couldhave moved seven hours away from her. But whenever she asked herself that question, she immediately knew the answer was Greer.
He had claimed that he would go to hell and back for her. Well, she would walk through the fires of hell for him and very nearly had.
Chapter 5
Clinton International Airport
Little Rock, Arkansas
November 23, 2023
Thanksgiving Day dawned early and was more hectic than the day before. Bennett and Poppy’s oldest child and only son, Benjamin, was coming home for the holiday. His flight was due to arrive at Little Rock National at 8:30. Poppy decided that everyone should go to meet him. Not only because they were all greatly missing Ben, but he was bringing home what he termed "a friend." Said friend just happened to be female. All they knew about her was that she was a drop-dead gorgeous Hispanic girl from Napa named Ella. They had learned those tidbits when he had casually announced that she would be coming with him for Thanksgiving the week before. This was the first time he had brought anyone home to meet the family. No one knew quite what to make of that.
They knew Ben had dated several girls over the last five years, but nothing seemed serious. Something significant must have happened to change that. Neither one had felt right asking Ben too many questions. He was a great kid with a strong head on his shoulders. Both knew he would share what was happening between him and Ella when he was ready. Ben was finishing hismaster's degree in Political Science. The plan was for him to finish in the spring, return home, and start law school at the University of Arkansas Little Rock in the fall. What impact, if any, this Ella person might have on that plan was a primary unspoken concern for both Bennett and Poppy. Both knew that if he fell in love with a girl in California, it might mean he would stay there and never return to Arkansas. Neither one was ready even to contemplate such a scenario. They had both missed him so much.
Ben and Ella had spent the last five days skiing in Colorado. They met up with some of Ben's college friends who had moved to Denver after graduation. The biggest clue that something had changed besides bringing her home for the holiday was when Ben told Bennett that they would be staying in their own condo for privacy in Denver. The need for privacy was a red flag. In the past, all of his friends had all bunked in together. The last few days, Poppy had been in a real snit trying to decide if she should make up the guest room for Ella or just assume the girl would be sleeping in Ben's room. While Poppy considered herself hip and cool, something about allowing her son to sleep in the same bed as his "friend" with his younger sisters down the hall had convinced her she probably wasn't. After all, Lizzy and Lola were only seven and six. Bennett had convinced her that she was overreacting and to go with the flow by letting the kids choose their accommodations. In the end, that was what she had done. The guest room was made up, but if they decided to be together, she would do her best to let it go.
They arrived at the airport with just a few minutes to spare. Even though she had promised to discuss the run for governor more in the morning, Poppy was glad that Bennett had yet to bring it up. Every time he looked at her, Poppy could tell he wanted to. She could literally see the words dancing on the front of his tongue, just dying to rush out. So far, Bennett had managed to restrain himselffrom pushing her for an answer, and she had worked to pretend they would never have to discuss the whole awful business again. As they walked toward baggage claim, Poppy knew what she had to do. Grabbing Bennett's arm, she whispered, "I have thought about what you asked last night. I have decided to go along with whatever Taylor and Ben say. But please promise me you won't bring it up until after dinner tonight. If they are good with it, so am I."
The smile that broke out over Bennett's face told her everything she needed to know. Grabbing her and pulling her in for a deep kiss of gratitude, Bennett used his lips to let Poppy know how much her answer meant to him. The kiss also told her that Bennett wanted this badly. He wanted to be governor. God help her; she prayed that her son or Taylor would have the strength to tell Bennett no because there was no way she could.
Bennett hugged his wife, saying, "With that settled, let's go get Ben and find out the deal with him and this mystery woman. Remember, go easy on the questions. We don't want to scare her off."
Giving him a look, Poppy said, "I make no promises."
Ben and Ella were already at the luggage carousel when the family caught up to them. The first thing that struck Bennett and Poppy was how young Ella was. Like barely legal young. Her age gave them pause, and they exchanged a concerned look but said nothing. Instead, they engulfed Ben in a family hug and made so much noise, shrieking and laughing, that the other passengers all turned to see what the commotion was. Ella stood off to the side and said nothing until Ben extricated himself, walked over, and, putting an arm around her shoulders, said, "Mom, Dad, meet Ella."
Immediately, Poppy swooped in, gave Ella a hug, and said, "I am Poppy. It is so nice to meet you. Welcome to Arkansas."
Right behind her, Bennett gave Ella an abbreviated pat-hug and echoed his wife's sentiments. "Yes, welcome. I am Bennett, Ben's old man. We are happy to have you."
Lizzy and Lola then swarmed Ella and gave her side hugs while commenting on how beautiful she was and how gorgeous her long dark hair was, which fell like a curtain of black silk.
While the women began to get acquainted, Bennett and Ben moved to the luggage carousel to collect their belongings. Bennett had expected them to have a ton of luggage since they would have their snow equipment and suitcases. However, Ben had arranged to ship their snow gear home before leaving Denver. All they had were their individual bags. They quickly located their suitcases, loaded the car, and headed home.
The car ride home was a noisy affair, with Lizzy and Lola asking questions a mile a minute. Bennett repeatedly asked them to calm down and give Ella and Ben a break, but both young people just laughed and took it all in stride, claiming it was fine. They realized the girls were excited to see the big brother they both adored. They also seemed to have fallen entirely under Ella's spell as well. Bennett had no trouble seeing what his son saw in the beautiful young woman. She was gorgeous. But talking with her, Bennett realized she was also intelligent, witty, and confident in her own skin, especially for one so young. At the first opportunity, he planned to find out just how young she actually was. It took a lot of moxie to spend a holiday with people you barely knew. A bonus of the girls' non-stop questioning, it kept Poppy from having to ask a bunch of intrusive questions. The girls were basically asking what Poppy wanted to know anyway, but it came off much better from them. Poppy seemed to understand this, and so she sat back and just listened.
So far, they had gleaned that Ella's family owned a diner in Napa and that she had worked there since graduating high school. Nomention of college or training had yet been mentioned. Bennett could tell that Poppy was dying to ask what year she had graduated from high school but was managing to hold it back. Lola finally asked the right question and got the answer they were all wondering about.
