Текст книги "A Few Broken Rules"
Автор книги: Kate Kane
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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
Chapter 21
Most of the women were in the kitchen doing clean-up duty. Jess had taken Liza into the formal living room to talk. Pauli, Papa, Roy, and Ben’s uncles were in the hearth room watching football. Ben rounded up Tony, Joey, Jake, Jamie, and Gabe for a little three on three. Ben played basketball on a league every week, and while he’d played with both Jake and Jamie, he had no idea what Gabe’s abilities were except that Jamie had caught him with an elbow in the ribs yesterday. Better to have Gabe on his own team where he could keep an eye on him. “I’ll take Jamie and Gabe.” He said as he tied his shoes.
They went out the patio door and headed toward the basketball court. Ben held a quarter in his hand and looked at Tony as he flipped the coin in the air he said, “Call it.”
“Heads.” Tony said as Ben let the coin drop to the ground.
They both leaned down to look at the coin. Ben handed Tony the ball and picked up the quarter. Tony nodded to the goal he was claiming for his team and took the ball out of bounds at the opposite end of the court. He tossed the ball to Joey and stepped in bounds as Ben and Jamie were doing two on one coverage, Joey bounced the ball to Jake who muscled his way to make the first three point score.
Ben took the ball out of bounds and tossed it to Jamie, who was immediately guarded by Jake. Jamie passed the ball to Gabe, who was immediately covered by Joey. Gabe had some fancy moves. Probably learned them for some movie role. Joey thought as they went up under the basket. The ball was in with a swish and the score was three to two. Joey took it out and tossed it in to Jake.
The game continued with no steals and each basket answered by one for the other team. Tony, Joey, and Jake were behind by one and they’d agreed to a 15-point game meaning the next team to score would win the game. Gabe had the ball and went up for the shot. It rolled around the rim and fell out. Both Gabe and Joey went up for the rebound. When they came back down, Joey had the ball and Gabe was on the ground.
Gabe shook his head and got up. In the scramble under the hoop, both men trying to get the ball, Joey’s elbow had caught him in the nose. It was bleeding like crazy and he was sure it was broken, but this was street ball where neither fouls nor time-outs existed. He got up and followed the ball to the other end of the court where Joey scored the winning basket for his team.
Ben noticed Gabe who was holding his shirt to his nose and walked over to him. “I warned you that Bellini Ball was brutal. Are you all right?”
Gabe looked at Ben, and gave a slight nod. “I’m pretty sure it’s broken, but I’m good.”
Ben shook his head. “Come on let’s go in and have Dr. Bellini take a look.” He looked back to the court. “You guys play some two on two. We’ll be back in a bit.”
He gave Gabe a wad of paper towels and sat him at the kitchen table with his head tilted back, holding the paper towels to his nose.
“Pauli, will you step in here for a minute?” Ben called as he opened the freezer and started rummaging for frozen vegetables. He pulled out a bag of frozen corn and looked back to Gabe. The bruising was already forming around his eyes.
Jess, who had been in the living room talking with Liza Conrad, heard Ben call to Pauli. She knew that someone was hurt, so she followed Pauli into the kitchen.
Gabe tentatively moved the paper towels and looked from Pauli to Jess. “Believe it or not this isn’t my first broken nose and it probably won’t be my last.” He turned toward Ben, “Once the bleeding stops I’ll be ready for a rematch.”
Jess walked to the table, and pushed Pauli aside. “Greer, what happened?”
“Jess, let the doctor have a look.” Gabe responded as he took her hand and moved her to his side.
She put fists on her hips and looked at Ben. “We start filming in less than a week. What happened?” She demanded.
Ben put the bag of frozen corn on the table. “He and Joey went up for a rebound at the same time. Joey got the ball.”
Jess was out the door before anyone could say anything else. She stomped her five-inch heels to the middle of the court and stood toe to toe with Joey. The game came to a screeching halt. Her brothers knew enough to back off and stay out of the way. Even Tony kept his distance. Joey was totally on his own.
She reached up and jabbed her right index finger in Joey’s chest punctuating each word. “What the hell were you thinking?” She said in that low, mad, Parker tone Joey knew so well.
On the fifth poke, Joey grabbed her hand and held it against his chest covering it with his own. What the hell was it with her and his chest?
“We were just playing basketball.” He said quietly but firmly.
She didn’t attempt to pull her hand from his grasp. “His nose is broken and we start filming in five days. I can already see the bruising around his eyes.”
Gabe had come outside and was jogging toward them. He took in the scene and the body language between Jess and Joey.
“Jess. It’s not a big deal; we’ll film around it. I have scenes that could easily cause this type of injury. It’ll just give the make-up artist a little head start. That’s all.” He shook his head. “They just play a rougher game of basketball in Kansas than we do in Hollywood. Jamie caught me in the ribs yesterday. Joey didn’t do it on purpose. Trust me.”
Joey still held her hand against his chest and his eyes hadn’t left hers. “What he said. It was an accident.” He nearly whispered.
“Like I said in the house, it isn’t my first broken nose and it probably won’t be my last. I’m not some candy assed movie star who’s made of glass for God’s sake. Shit happens, Jess. It’s fine. I’m fine.”
She turned her gaze away from Joey and looked at Gabe. Everyone else had gone into the house and the three of them stood alone on the lighted basketball court.
“And what are you going to tell the paparazzi as we walk through the airport Monday?” She snapped.
Gabe laughed. “Oh, that’s easy. I’m going to tell them we had a fight because I made you sing Santa Baby at the nursing home and you punched me.”
“You what?” She practically seethed.
Gabe shrugged. “I’m going in the house. Pauli gave me a painkiller and I should lay down now. You kids play nice out here, okay?” Gabe said as he turned and walked to the house.
She couldn’t believe that Gabe had just turned and walked away from her. Sure, she sort of understood the practical joker in him would say that he was going to tell the paparazzi that she’d given him the black eyes. She was worried that the paparazzi would believe him.
She turned and looked up at Joey. “I’m sorry. I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
He still held her hand against his chest and now reached around her with his other hand and pulled her close to him. “I guess you did.” He whispered.
He turned so his back was toward the house and she was completely hidden from anyone who might be looking out the window to watch them. Joey knew that Gabe Greer had just screwed up big time by walking away from her and while he was still trying to figure out what Gabe was doing there, the guy had come out to defend him.
“I know you’re pissed right now.” He smiled the mega-watt Bellini smile. “At both of us. But Jess, with what Pauli must have given him, Gabe probably had to get to bed before he fell down.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Why did you bring him here, Jess? What’s going on?” He whispered against her ear.
“We’re doing the movies together. He’s a friend. My best friend in Hollywood, but just a friend. Trust me Joey, he’s not attracted to me.” She said.
How could the guy not be attracted to her? Joey thought. “That doesn’t answer why you brought him here. I thought we’d finally have some time together before you left but then you brought another guy home with you.” He still held her close, as though his life somehow depended on having contact with her.
“Joey, there’s nothing going between me and Gabe. He’s here because he didn’t have any place else to go for the holiday and we leave Monday anyway.”
She and Joey had started getting close last month when Ben had sent him to L.A. to bring her home and keep her safe from the stalker. They’d spent the past several weeks trying to work on the logistics of a long distance relationship, but between her schedule and his, this was the first time they’d even been able to see each other. He hadn’t been seeing anyone else, but he had been seeing pictures of her with Gabe all over the internet and on covers of the tabloids. Pictures of them leaving her condo, Gabe’s house, the gym, restaurants, and the movie studio. The reporters had them practically married for God’s sake, and they were going to be sharing a villa in Italy while filming there. On one hand, she was standing here right now, in his arms, telling him there was nothing going on between her and Gabe. On the other hand, she was an actress. God how could one small woman cause so much turmoil in his life? So what was he going to believe? What he read, or what she was telling him and what he was feeling right now?
Besides, there was always the possibility that there wasn’t really anything between them, except the closeness that had been borne out of the pressure of keeping her safe from the stalker. The fact that they hadn’t worked out getting together since seemed to support that possibility.
It was almost as though they’d both figured it out at the same time, but it was Jess who spoke first, “Look, Joey, maybe we should give this thing we think we have a rest. I’m going to be out of the country for who knows how long, and we weren’t even able to get together when we were in neighboring states.”
He looked down at her. She had a point and it wasn’t as if he was never going to see her again, her mother was married to his brother. If there was something between them, they had plenty of time to do something about it. “You’ve got a point. Maybe when you get back, we can see if there’s still anything.”
He kissed the top of her head and walked her back to the house.
Chapter 22
Friday morning at 5:30, Ben was up and dressed for his run. He was surprised to find Gabe, who was sporting two black eyes, in the kitchen waiting for him.
“I’m doing the ten mile route again this morning.” Ben said as Gabe followed him through the garage.
“Works for me.” Gabe replied as they stood in the driveway doing stretches.
Again, Ben started out south on Mission Road and again this morning, Joey joined them just south of 99th street. Ben thought that the tension between Gabe and Joey had dissipated last night after Joey had broken Gabe’s nose during the basketball game. Maybe it was after the two of them had stood on the court talking with Jess.
Ben had no idea what anyone said last night, but Gabe came back to the house alone and went straight to bed. Shortly after that, Joey got Pauli and went to Parker House. Jess came in later, changed clothes and went straight downstairs to the gym.
This morning, as they neared Parker House on the return trip, Joey peeled off, leaving Gabe and Ben to run the last half mile to Ben’s house alone.
Again, this morning, Ben didn’t get many cobwebs cleared. He had Jury selection starting Monday morning and he hadn’t spent much time thinking about it. He also hadn’t been able to talk with Tanner much yesterday about what was going on with the football team.
The game would be tonight at 7:30 in St. Louis. Jamie was supposed to make the trip on the team bus, while the family would be flying over on the Lucky Bets jet. Ben wasn’t sure how he felt about his son making the trip on the unsecured team bus, but he couldn’t let go of the feeling that whatever was happening wasn’t really about the whole team. Sure, they knew now that someone had put peanut dust in the ventilation system, and peanut oil on the door handle and steering wheel of Justin’s Jeep causing his peanut allergy to trigger. If Jamie hadn’t gotten there when he did and acted quickly, Justin could have died of anaphylactic shock. It was also true that the next day Jamie had found the football coach with the back of his head bashed in. However, it was also true that nothing had happened to any member of the football team in the two days since. Of course, much to Jamie’s frustration, he’d had someone with him every waking minute since finding Coach Ferguson.
Ben handed Gabe a bottle of water as he leaned against the counter and downed his own.
He went into the master suite to change into his workout clothes. Lane always slept on the side of the bed that was closest to the bathroom, but as usual after Ben had gotten up, she’d migrated toward the middle, to the warm space he’d left. She had pulled the covers up tight under her chin. He could stand here and watch her for hours, but he needed to change and get to the gym. He changed out of his thermal running gear into shorts and a T-shirt, pausing to watch Lane sleep again before kissing the top of her head and leaving the bedroom.
Gabe was in the gym doing a full body workout on the rowing machine. And, for God knew what reason he was singing Row, Row, Row your boat. Jamie was on the weight machine finishing his upper body workout. Ben knew Jamie would move to do leg presses soon. He turned the TV on, sat on the weight machine next to Jamie, and started his upper body workout.
Ben and Jamie normally worked out this way every morning and because they were men, they worked out silently. Gabe was a chatterbox though. It was enough to make father and son grind their teeth.
“Jamie, what time is the game today?” Gabe asked as he rowed his way merrily down the stream.
“Kick off is at 7:30 tonight.” Jamie replied.
“It’s across the state, how long does it take to get there? What time will we leave?”
Ben looked at Gabe. “The bus for the team will leave around 2:30, but the family will fly over in the Lucky Bets jet, so unless you have an overwhelming desire to drive,” God please, he thought, “we’ll leave the house around 5:00.”
“That’s Joey’s plane, right?”
Jamie shot a look at his father as he moved to do leg presses, as if to say, “God, is this guy ever going to shut up?”
Ben knew that there were mixed statistics, and that the average man spoke between 2000 and 7000 words per day, maybe Gabe was trying to get ahead in anticipation of a forced silence in his future.
“Yeah.” Ben replied as he got up and made his way out of the gym. He winked at Jamie as if to say, “Sorry Bambino, but you’re on your own now.”
Ben walked into the master suite and paused to kiss the top of Lane’s head before going into the master bathroom.
He shaved, and then turned the water on in the shower. He stepped in and stood with his face turned upward toward the rain showerhead in the ceiling.
Six months ago, he was single, living in this 6000 square foot house alone. Now he had a wife, a seventeen-year-old son, a baby on the way, and the house was full of family, who weren’t even related to him. He laughed thinking, Oh, and a super star houseguest who's a chatterbox in the mornings.
His wife, and now his son seemed to be murder magnets and he needed to find the current killer before anything happened to his family. The current killer, he thought, who even thinks like that? It didn’t matter; he didn’t feel good about Jamie getting on that team bus. He needed to talk to Tanner and see what he had been able to find out on his own or from Detective Duncan.
Ben finished showering, dried his hair, and went into his closet to dress. He quietly walked through the bedroom and went into the kitchen. They had a house full of guests who still needed to be fed.
He was surprised to find Evie at the stove when he got to the kitchen.
“I hope you don’t mind that I’m helping myself.” She said as she cracked eggs into a skillet.
“I don’t mind, but my wife might strangle me when she finds out.” Ben said as he made his coffee.
Evie laughed. “Don’t you worry about Lane, I can handle her. Can I fix anything for you?” She asked.
Ben shook his head. “My normal breakfast is a protein shake and a cup of coffee. If you don’t mind, I think that’s what I’ll have.”
“I guess you can’t eat like a lumberjack every morning and keep that toned body.” Evie replied.
Ben laughed, thinking of his son. “Only when you’re seventeen, I think.”
Evie looked at Ben, she wanted to say something about Jamie; wanted to tell him she was glad that Jamie had a father whom he was going to get to know. She loved her only son, but she knew that Philip Parker hadn’t done right by his kids. It didn’t matter that he was gay, he still had children, and he shouldn’t have abandoned them.
“Ben, I want you to know I’m glad you and Jamie have a chance to know each other, to bond. You’re a good dad.”
Evie didn’t know it, but Jamie had come into the kitchen and had overheard her.
“Nana?”
She smiled at her grandson. “Jamie, I’ll always be your Nana.”
Evie Parker was five foot nothing, and Jamie bent to hug her. “Ben’s been more of a father to all of us over the last three years than Philip has been in the last seventeen. I know he’s your son, but it’s true.”
When had Jamie started calling her son Philip? Jess had been calling him Philip since she was old enough to form the word, but her grandsons had continued to call Philip, ‘Dad.’
Evie held Jamie and patted his back. “I know. Believe me; I raised him better. Now what can I get you for breakfast? A growing boy like you needs a hearty breakfast.”
Ben, who had been leaning against the kitchen counter during this exchange, finished his shake and put his dishes into the dishwasher. There was nothing for him to say, and he was glad that Evie was letting Jamie know that their relationship wasn’t going to change.
“I need to make some phone calls.” He said as he left the kitchen heading toward his office.
Gabe had showered and joined Evie and Jamie in the kitchen just as Ben was leaving. “Did I hear someone say something about protein shakes?” He asked.
Jamie directed him to the cabinet where Ben stored his protein powder. Gabe opened the dishwasher, retrieved the blender’s pitcher, and rinsed it before pouring milk and mixing the powder into it. He blended the concoction and poured it into a glass. He took a drink and then rinsed the blender and put it back into the dishwasher.
“I don’t know how anyone can eat like we have been for the past two days and not weigh at least 300 pounds.” He said as he finished his shake. “My personal trainer would have a fit if he had any idea what I’ve eaten the last couple of days.”
Evie had finished making eggs over easy, bacon, fried potatoes, and toast for Jamie. She placed the plate on the table in front of him and smiled at the boy who would always be her grandson regardless of whose genetic material made up half of his DNA.
“Thanks, Nana.” Jamie said. As he dug into his breakfast, he looked at Gabe. “It helps if you’ve inherited Mom’s metabolism.”
Jess walked into the kitchen. “What about Mom’s metabolism?”
“You know, Mom’s had three kids and she barely knows what the inside of a gym looks like, let alone ever worked out in one.” Jamie said as he continued to shovel food into his mouth.
Jess put a k-cup into the Keurig to make a cup of coffee and turned to look at her brother. “I know, but why are we talking about Mom’s metabolism?”
Jamie inclined his head slightly in Gabe’s direction. “He was asking how we could eat like we have been and not weigh 300 pounds.”
Jess was still not ready to forgive Gabe. She couldn’t figure out why he had come out to defend Joey and pain medication or none, she sure wasn’t happy that he had taken a parting shot and left before the conversation was finished last night. She looked at Gabe. He was drinking some smelly concoction and grinning at her with that, well that, Greer grin. She shook her head. He was a lot like a big puppy dog only he didn’t chew on her shoes. In other words, it was hard to stay mad at him.
Gabe looked at Jess. “Maybe we should run some lines later. If you don’t have anything else going on, I mean.”
Jess put bread into the toaster, “Sure maybe after I eat. We could use my room.” She was going to have to talk to him. Firstly, he was her best friend and not just in Hollywood, and secondly he was her guest her, and thirdly they were going to be together practically 24x7 while doing Harts in Time over the next three months, and probably longer. They had to make-up and sooner was better than later. She gave her head a slight shake. He probably didn’t even know they were fighting.
*****
Ben walked into his home office and closed the door. It was nearly 8:30 and he had so many things to do that he wasn’t sure where he wanted to start. He picked up the phone for the landline that was in his office, clicked the talk button, and dialed the number for the offices of Luciano and Bellini. When the receptionist answered, he greeted her and asked for Daniela. His cousin picked up.
“Ben, what’s up?”
“Hey, Dani. I don’t know if the gossip made its way to you yesterday, but Jamison Parker is my biological son. I need to update my will accordingly. Can you put something together? I have the Garcia trial starting Monday, but if you send me a text when it’s ready, I’ll come by and pick it up. I can read it and get it signed and notarized at the courthouse if I need to.”
She laughed. Daniela was the youngest of Vinnie Luciano’s four children. She and Ben were born only a few months apart, and they’d grown up more like brother and sister than like cousins. They’d even gone off to college and law school together and her cousin’s exploits were legend back in the day.
“Yeah, I heard. I’m guessing there’s a little more to the story than what I heard from Papa though. Is Jamie going to change his last name? If so, can get the ball rolling.”
Ben laughed, “I’ll tell you all about it someday. We haven’t talked about all of the particulars, but you’ll be one of the first to know. Have you seen uncle Sal today?”
“I think he’s in his office. You want me to reroute your call?”
“That’d be good. Thanks Dani.”
Ben sat down and began flipping through some papers in the Garcia file when Sal picked up.
“Luciano.”
“Uncle Sal, it’s Ben. I have some things I’d like to run by you on the Garcia case. I’d like to invite you to join us for the game tonight. I thought maybe we could talk a little on the flight.”
“Sure, Nipote. Tell you what, I’ll drive your Navigator to your house tonight and ride with you to the airport.”
Ben had completely forgotten that he still hadn’t gotten his SUV after giving the keys to Uncle Sal on Tuesday.
“Sure, that’s good. We’re spending the night in St. Louis and flying back tomorrow afternoon. I can get you home when we get back.”
“Anything I need to do in the meantime?”
“No, it’s just some jury selection strategy questions that I want you to take a look at. We plan to leave the house around 5:00, so I’ll see you then.”
