Elli (A Second Chance Novel Book 1) Read online

  “Very funny.” She applied triple antibiotic ointment and a Band-Aid to her wound, both of which she found in the tackle box. When returning the supplies to the box, she noticed deworming medicine, ear powder, and several syringes. “Is this a first-aid kit for your dogs?”

  “Sure is.” He closed the box and put it back under the cabinet. “Do you need to take antibiotics or something?”

  “Not unless it looks like it isn’t healing properly.” She shrugged. “It usually does.” She stood. “Thank you for your help. I’d like to see the rest of the place now.”

  Ben’s sour mood returned as he led her through tall, double, swinging doors from the kitchen directly into a sunny dining room behind it. The dining room was huge, round, and surrounded on three sides by tall windows. She recognized this room as the Victorian addition. She knew a room mirroring this one was on the opposite side of the house and held the library. As Ben led the way through the dining room toward a huge open archway, Elli made a quick inventory of its sparse contents—a dull, antique, walnut dining table for six; a single, chipped, antique oak sideboard; a brass 1980s chandelier; and two common white plastic folding chairs. Vintage dust was everywhere.

  “Don’t use this room much, do you?” Elli asked, prompting a sharp look from Ben’s hot green eyes. His lips, however, twitched in what she knew was a smile trying to break through.

  They quickly passed through an enormous hall and into the library. Books were stacked on the floor, against the windows, almost as high as Elli’s five-foot-ten frame, blocking whatever natural light the pulled back, dark red velvet drapes allowed in. The room felt heavy and oppressive. The bookshelves along the back wall were empty and felt equally depressing.

  “The drapes have to go,” she mumbled.

  Ben stopped and turned to face her full on. Elli stared right back at him, expecting him to apologize for the quarter-inch-thick dust on all the surfaces and the frantic disorder of the room. “You can only throw away half the drapes. Leave my half alone.” He turned and walked out of the room.

  “I’ll only remove half the dust too,” she shouted after him as he began to climb the creaky stairs to the second floor. His dog appeared from the wind it seemed and raced up the stairs past them and disappeared back into the wind before they reached the landing Elli figured she would see him again.

  Elli knew from the property description that the cypress floors continued upstairs, where all of the bedrooms were located. There were five, each with their own white marble bathroom. The first one they walked into was the master—Ben’s room. It had a huge, king-size bed and tall boxes for end tables. The bed was made in that sweet, endearing way men made beds; the white sheets and brown blankets were all on the bed but they dragged on one side and were hiked up on the other. The center was a bit lumpy, as if the sheets weren’t smoothed beneath it.

  Elli smiled, imagining Ben climbing out of the warm, soft bed, wearing plaid boxers and a white rumpled T-shirt. His longish hair would be tucked behind his ear and flopping around his head. She could even see the sexy crease in his cheek where his face had rested against his bunched pillow. He’d turn, bend over, grip the edge of the sheets and blankets together, and shake them out over the bed. Without a second look or thought, he’d toss his pillows at the top of the bed and walk away. Or, maybe, he’d pick up the lint roller that she spotted on the end-table box and roll it across the bed to remove the dog hair that was invariably there.

  She heard herself sigh, and then, to her horror, heard Ben grunt. He looked at his watch. “Even if I had the inclination to take you in my bed, cher, I don’t have the time.”

  Elli felt her face ignite, certain it was red and blotchy. No, there was no cute, rosy blush when she was embarrassed. It was pure ugly and rashly looking. “Oh, darlin’,” she drawled in a way she imagined Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke might. “If I had the inclination, you’d make the time.” She turned and exited stage left.

  “Not before you put some calamine lotion on that red, spotty face of yours…darlin’.” He chuckled. So much for her acting skills; that’s why she produced movies and didn’t star in them.

  Elli rushed into the bedroom beside the master. “Oh,” she gasped as she stumbled over a Star Wars light saber on the floor. She bent down and picked it up. “Yours?”

  He took it from her and placed it gently on the single bed. Unlike Ben’s bed, this bed was made as neatly and tidily as a military bunk. Its cheerful blue and red quilt with playful black and golden Labrador retriever appliqués stood in contrast to the somber feeling in the room. Elli noticed a bright, royal blue rug where a child could play and Ben’s dog now laid on his side. His eyes followed her as they meandered around the room. Colorful toys stacked at the foot of the bed and along the wall were positioned just as orderly as the room was kept. Nonetheless, she still felt heaviness in this room. Not unlike the heaviness she felt in the library with the thick, red drapes blocking the natural sunshine.

  On the lone TV tray used as an end table, she spotted a few Newfie Movie figurines. She smiled. She loved making that film and it pleased her to see a child liked it enough to not only buy but play with the toys they’d merchandised for the movie. At one time, that was more important to her than the twice-a-year royalty check she received for the Newfie merchandise sales. Those royalties once made her a very wealthy woman, even though she took a much smaller percentage than industry norm for her position. She had given a portion of her royalties to get the marquis actors she wanted to star in Newfie. Elli was glad she had, because the movie was a huge success due to the great performances by those top actors and she still managed a modest income years after Newfie peaked in popularity.

  She picked up the little Newfoundland pup toy. “Bow-Wow.” She smiled and lifted it for Ben to see. “He’s my favorite.”

  “Joey’s, too.”

  “Joey is…?”

  “My son.” He took the toy from Elli, his fingers brushing against hers, causing her heart to skip a beat and her face to heat. She started to turn away, not sure what the hell had happened and why she was reacting to an accidental touch from a man who clearly hated her. He gripped her arm and turned her to face him. “Joey has nothing to do with our problems,” he said, looking hard into her eyes.

  “I didn’t know you had a son.” She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. His dream of the little boy playing under the oak tree wasn’t a fantasy for a utopian future. It was something he wanted for the son he had now. Elli felt a lump form in her throat. “Joey has everything to do with our problems.”

  She turned so he wouldn’t see the tears stinging her eyes. She felt like a monster. The dog lifted its head and Elli would have sworn he sneered at her. Of course he did.

  “No, he doesn’t,” Ben insisted.

  Elli couldn’t talk with the emotion clogging her throat. She had a dozen little Joeys counting on her to help their mommies survive breast cancer. Was she supposed to choose between one who played with Bow-Wow and ran barefoot in the cool grass of Sugar Mill Plantation and one who might have the same cancer gene threatening his mother’s life? Could she? God, she needed time to think. She needed an easy button. Why wasn’t there an easy button? She looked at the dog as she walked out of the room. He seemed to frown at her.

  She cleared her tight throat. “Who sleeps here?” she asked, looking into the third bedroom complete with two single beds, a torn, tan leather recliner, and a lamp on another TV tray between the single beds. It was void of any personal items except for a lopsided rawhide dog bone on the floor.

  “You are pretty damn nosy.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Not that it is any of your business, but this is where aunts or cousins that care for Joey sleep when I’m out of town.”

  Elli rushed through the final two bedrooms used for storage and a tidy doggie hotel for animals needing to remain under close watch overnight. Then, because the realization of the impossible choice she had to make was so oppressive and heavy on her h
eart, Elli did what she always did during difficult times, she joked.

  “Do you really want me to believe that you brought all of this…uh…exceptional furniture in here on purpose?” she said, closing the last guest room door.

  Ben shrugged, then looked at his watch. “I’ve got an appointment at one. Are you ready to head back to the bunkhouse?”

  She smiled and followed him downstairs. “No. Not the bunkhouse. I need to go to a grocery store that sells organic food.” She needed supplies and was happy for the distraction of shopping.

  “Organic?” He shook his head. “I think your best option for that froufrou stuff is in Californ-i-ay. If you get on the road before dark, you can be at a real fine froufrou store in a couple of days.”

  She smirked. “Nice try.” They walked toward their vehicles. “I’ll try my luck in town.”

  Her stomach chose that moment to echo with a loud bear growl. Elli knew by the way Ben was trying to hide a grin that he heard it, too. If she wasn’t mistaken, the entire population of Cane heard it. She needed to feed the bear.

  “Cher, it was a real pleasure meeting you,” he said with fake sincerity as he stood in front of his truck. “I hope you have a safe trip home.”

  She waved her arms toward the house and yard. “I did.”

  His eyes widened and his mouth set in a hard line. Before she saw his heated reaction, she knew she’d made a mistake insult-wrestling with the stubborn Ben Bienvenu. Bad move, she thought, and chastised herself for being so impulsive. She had to be smarter than that.

  He walked over to her, standing as close as a person could without touching. His eyes were sharp, piercing, and cold. “Cher, as long as you are on Bienvenu land, you will never be home.”

  Timing was everything in the movie business as it was in life, so when her cell phone began to ring, she thanked the forces that created this timing gem. Answering her phone gave her something to do other than try to pretend his words hadn’t stung.

  “Hello, Abby,” she said, after retrieving her phone from her jeans pocket and reading the caller ID.

  “Elli, your sources were right,” she began with an easy laugh.

  “Which sources are you talking about?” She looked over her shoulder and watched Ben climb into his truck and drive away.

  “Whoever told you that Country Charm is looking for a location to do their exterior shoot.”

  “That would be the recently fired location director for that sweet romantic comedy.” She walked to her car and slid into the driver’s seat. As soon as she turned the car on, the Bluetooth took over the control of her phone, and Abby’s voice came over the car’s speakers.

  “Like you told me, most of the movie is set in Chicago, but the opening scenes need to be on a southern country farm. They found a nice farmhouse near Chicago to film the interior scenes before they fired their location director,” she continued, “but they haven’t found suitable locations for farmhouse exterior shots to set the right tone for the story of a-country-lawyer-moves-to-big-city. They’re still looking. One of your pals at the studio came up to me during lunch. He said he recognized me from the fundraiser, didn’t believe that we accidentally were dining at the same restaurant on this particular day, and definitely didn’t believe in coincidences.” Abby laughed. “I thought he was coming on to me with a lousy pickup line.”

  “Men do tend to do that with you. You are so gorgeous, you make men nervous.”

  “Well, anyway, he wasn’t.” She laughed again. “He said you called him a couple of days ago to ask him to let you know if Country Charm found their country location. At the time, he had, but…to make a long story short, now he doesn’t.”

  “He still doesn’t have a country location?”

  “And according to your pal…God, why didn’t I get his name…anyway, he said it was Kismet that he saw me at the exact moment he got off the phone with one of the producers who said the new country location was a no-go. The bottom line—he wants Sugar Mill.”

  “Perfect. Perfect. Perfect,” Elli shouted. She backed out of the driveway and headed toward the bunkhouse; she wanted to check on Donna before going into town. “Sugar Mill is perfect. They were looking for greener and lusher than what’s available in the Illinois winter. We got that here.”

  “Great,” Abby laughed. “Make the deal. I’ve already started preparing the contract. And Elli,” she paused and her tone became more serious when she spoke again. “Get the check ASAP. We just got the invoice from the genetic testing lab for January.”

  “I’ll make a few calls and send a few photos to the right people. I think they’ll be ecstatic to shoot their exteriors at Sugar Mill. I’m not sure I can say the same about Ben.”

  “Elli, even though we desperately need the money, as your attorney, I have to advise you to make sure Mr. Bienvenu is on board. We are already dealing with major damage control since the fundraiser, and reneging on a deal because your partner won’t sign the contract will be…well…bad.”

  Elli knew Abby wanted to say final but couldn’t. Like Elli, she understood you had to fight final. “I get that. I’ve got it handled,” she said, not really believing her own words. Yet. “When I place a sweet check for ten thousand dollars in his hand for just two days of minimal inconvenience, he’ll start seeing things my way. I expect he’ll look for a pen to sign the papers to sell the plantation to other movie people who’d have a check with a lot more zeroes on it. Family land is a noble thing, Abby, but the practicality of the almighty buck will win out.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Ben Bienvenu will want to own one hundred percent of his kennel more than he’ll want to live on family land.”

  “If you are right about this,” Abby said, picking up on the thread of her reasoning, “with his share of the sale of the plantation, he can buy you out of the kennel business. The will allows him to do that. It will give him a fresh somewhere else.”

  “It will be a new chapter in the Bienvenu dynasty.”

  Chapter Three

  I thought I had scared a sweet, elderly man in the chemo lab today. It was when I started dancing around with the IV pole I was attached to when another patient played Forget You by Ceelo Green on her iPad. There I was bald, wearing dark sunglasses, black yoga pants, a red Juicy Couture sweatshirt and UGG patent leather rain boots twirling around the room with my IV pole…I was pole dancing! The dear, hunched over tiny man shuffled up to me with his walker and without hesitation stuffed a dollar bill into my waistband. He wasn’t frightened of me one bit. It was a great day! I wish you good health, E.

  Bosom Blog Buddies Post

  “Out!” Ben stormed into the guest room and closed Elli’s open suitcase, zipping it shut before speaking again. “You’ve got some nerve moving into my home, lady.” Two hours ago, he thought he’d made it clear to her that she was not welcome anywhere on his land. “Either go back to the bunkhouse for the night or find a hotel…preferably in Kansas!”

  She lunged for the suitcase and sat on top of it before he could pick it up. “This is my house, too. I can stay here if I want. You can threaten me all you want, but I have rights. I asked my attorney, and she said I had the legal right to domicile on the plantation if I want…and I want.” She folded her arms across her chest as if that made it final. The hell it did.

  He gripped the suitcase handle, looking at her a full three seconds to give her ample warning she had better move her West Coast derriere off the suitcase. When she just stared back with that stubborn look he’d seen much too often in the short time he’d known her, he figured they were at an impasse. Again. He shrugged his shoulders and yanked the suitcase off the bed, causing Elli to tumble to the floor. Her little prissy dog, resting on the bed pillow, raised her head and looked at her owner, sniffed, and put her head back down. It was then that Ben realized the dog was lying on a stack of newspapers. What in the hell was that about?

  “I’ll have you arrested for assault.” She stood and sat on the narrow bed. It was old and the spri
ngs probably rusty; they squeaked under her unsubstantial weight.

  He tossed her his cell phone. “Go ahead, call the law, cher. When you get our sheriff on the phone, tell ole Uncle Ronald that I’m bringing crawfish boudin for the card game tomorrow night.”

  She had the nerve to pick up his phone and punch in 9-1-1. “I’d like to report an assault,” she told the operator. “Uh…yes,” She stood and turned her back to Ben, lowering her voice. “Yes, it is Ben Bienvenu’s phone. It’s him I want to have arrested.” Ben could hear the laughter from the operator from where he stood. He’d bet it was his cousin Rachel, who usually worked the afternoon shift. “Here.” She handed him the phone, her face bunched in a frown. Damn, if she still wasn’t pretty all pinched up.

  “Hi darlin’,” he drawled. “No, she’s not a Yankee. Worse. She’s one of those surfer dudettes from Californ-i-ay. No, no kidding. Uh…hold on.” He looked at Elli, now sitting on her suitcase on the floor. “She wants to know if you know any movie stars. In particular, she wants to know if you’re friends with George Clooney.”

  “Yes, I know movie stars.” She dropped her elbows on her knees and clasped her hands. “But I don’t know George Clooney. I am friends with his stylist.”

  Ben started to repeat what she said, but he had had enough of this silliness. “Rachel, I have to put this conversation on hold. I’ve got to go. I’m in the middle of tick removal.”

  “Ha-Ha. Very funny.” He hung up and tucked the phone into his back pocket, looking at her all folded over on the suitcase. She slouched in her defeat, but her eyes sparkled with challenge. Damn it if she didn’t look like makeup sex with those sexy baby blues goring him like a charging bull.

  “Look, I don’t want to play tug-a-war with your suitcase,” he told her evenly. “And I certainly don’t want to carry you out of here over my shoulder.” He looked hard into her gorgeous eyes. Instead of being intimidated, she turned her icy eyes on him. Again. Only this time, it felt like a smack right in the gut. “But do understand me, I will physically remove you if you insist on being difficult.”