Gentle Ben Read online

  Gentle Ben

  Rita Hestand

  Gentle Ben

  Rita Hestand

  Copyright© 2016 by Rita Hestand

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN # 9781370804641

  Cover Art by Swoon Worthy Book Covers

  License Notes

  This book Gentle Ben is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. Please purchase an additional copy for each person you share with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  This book Gentle Ben is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  About the Author

  Rita's Other Books

  ~Dedication~

  Life is full of ups and downs and good and bad days. The thing is we have to figure out how to deal with them. To all of those having trouble dealing with them, I say keep trying, the effort is worth it.

  God Bless

  Rita Hestand

  Chapter One

  "Man do they ever need help." Ben Tyler shook his head with disgust, as he took his helmet off and stared at the landscape stretching against the road for what seemed like miles. The Baldwin farm was in a dilapidated condition. He immediately saw the lack of work on the farm. That hay needed bailing now. He noted the shape the fences were in and shook his head. If he took this job he'd have his work cut out for him. He made a disgusting sound in his throat, shook his head and continued down the road on his motorcycle.

  He wasn't sure about what he was doing, but that wasn't anything new either. He hadn't been sure of anything since he came home.

  He licked his lips, the sweat dripping down his cheek made it taste salty. He took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat away, then slipped his helmet back on.

  He drove down the road, staring at the land that needed his help so bad it nearly cried out to him.

  A pretty blonde in shorts and t-shirt was gathering the mail at the side of the road where he pulled into the long gravel drive. "Want a ride," He offered with a grin.

  "Sure, why not." She returned his smile. She straddled the backseat and held on to his waist as he drove down the long drive.

  He didn't say a word, and neither did she.

  As he pulled up to a small vehicle, he stopped and parked his cycle.

  He took his helmet off, displaying a closely cropped head of dark hair. He waited until she hopped off.

  After securing his helmet on the back of his cycle, he watched her walk up the steps to the porch and to the door. She turned to look at him. "You coming?" She smiled.

  He followed. She opened the screen door, he walked inside.

  She turned and looked at him over her shoulder with another smile, "So, can I help you?"

  His eyes did a quick take on the ranch house, it was an adobe house, cooler than a frame or brick house. The living room faded into a adjoining kitchen, where she stared across the open bar at him.

  "Are you the one advertising for farm help?" He asked as though he might have the wrong house.

  "No, that would be my mother." Her smile immediately faded as she busied herself at the sink. "She's gone to the store. I'm Kitty Baldwin and you are?"

  "Ben Tyler," He stood up, walked around the long bar and came closer. He stuck out his hand and smiled.

  "You applying for the farm job?" She asked, eyeing him closely as their hands met.

  "Yeah," He nodded, his glance sweeping her with obvious pleasure. The young woman had a perfect figure, and she had a mane of long blonde hair that caught his eye, and the most sparkling blue eyes he'd seen.

  "Well, make yourself comfortable, she'll be back shortly." He watched her move about the kitchen with ease.

  "Want something to drink while you wait?" She asked.

  "Sure, whatever you have."

  "We have tea, sweet or unsweet?" She asked and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder as she shot him another glance. Her eyes traveled him slowly too and the grin on her face told him she enjoyed it as much as he had ogling her.

  Undeniably the girl was gorgeous, but he tried to concentrate on something besides her good looks. He'd come about a job, not to admire the little lady.

  Then memories of his childhood had him relaxing. He eyed her sharply. She was as pretty as he remembered, maybe more so. "Sweet, gives you more energy." He remarked with a grin.

  She smiled and poured them both a glass of tea.

  "Want some lemon?" she asked as she cut one and squeezed it into her glass.

  "Sure, sounds good."

  "So, have you worked on a farm before?" She asked as she brought them both a glass of tea and motioned for him to sit down.

  He sat on the edge of the couch, and took the tea.

  "Yeah sure, I worked for E.R. Davis over in Newton, and Phil Grimes in Elkton." He said.

  She seemed to listen, then turned her eyes on his. "So did you quit, get fired, or what?"

  He settled back against the couch as she had taken the chair in the room. The leather moved with him like a saddle, he thought to himself. "Phil Grimes only hired me part time, I worked for him for two years straight though. Davis, I worked for a year full time."

  "And did you quit him or what?" She asked taking a sip of tea, but watching him closely all the same.

  "Mr. Grimes didn't need me anymore and Mr. Davis I had to quit, as I moved here."

  "So you live in Cedar Creek now?" She asked incredulously.

  "Yes ma'am. " His head shot up and their eyes met.

  She smiled again.

  "Why would anyone in their right mind move to Cedar Creek?" She asked with a pout to her pretty full lips.

  "My mother lives here." He tried to sound off handed about it.

  "Your mother huh?" She gave him a quick once over. And then she reacted, "Of course," Her eyes narrowed on him now, as though she just now realized. "Ava Tyler Harrison," Kitty waved a hand as though she should have known. "Why, I know you. That explains the feeling you get when you look at someone and feel as though you know them. You've been gone a while, haven't you Ben?" Her voice softened.

  "Yeah. Quite a while." He acknowledged.

  "We all heard you went to juvenile." Kitty chuckled. "Or was that just a rumor. In little towns rumors get started you rarely know which are true or not."

  "That's right, I did, when I was a kid."

  "What were you in for?" She asked with a curious tilt to her head. "You didn't seem like such a bad apple to me."

  "I stole my step-dad's car." He smirked.

  "No kidding." She chuckled but she immediately saw his eyes flash, as though the pain of those days still lingered in his mind. "And he pressed charges?" Her blue eyes sparkled with life.

  There was an empathy there he hadn't expected.

  He remembered her, one of the most popular girls in middle school. He bet that she hadn't changed. Except she might be out of school now.

  "Yeah, he did." Ben let his smile fade.

  "He must have had it in for you." She looked a tad sympathetic.

  "Actually, I just wanted to drive the darn thing. He wouldn't let me. I totaled it. That's
why he pressed charges. It was one of those remodeled 1956 Chevy's. You know the kind a man works on forever, fixing it up, making it perfect. I remember I use to go outside and stare at thing for the longest, wondering what it might feel like to get inside and just take off."

  "You totaled his car?" Her eyes widened is surprise.

  "Yeah, I was only twelve. They sent me to juvenile for six years for it."

  "Oh my God." Her eyes narrowed and a little worry wrinkled furrowed her brows. "That's terrible. You were still just a kid. I mean, it must have been like putty a piece of candy before you and telling you that you couldn't have it. Did anyone get hurt? Is that why the sentence was so long?"

  Ben stared at her caring. Why would a girl like her care one way or another? But it was obvious that she saw the injustice in it all.

  "No, just totaled the car was all. I was alone in the car. I hit a tree. He told them to be rough on me, teach me a lesson."

  "Ouch! And you weren't hurt?" She seemed very interested in his story.

  "Hit my head on the steering wheel had a slight concussion was all, but otherwise I wasn't hurt. But it sure messed that pretty car up. I never saw a car I wanted more."

  "That's pretty wild for a twelve-year-old." She laughed. "You always were kind of bold."

  "You live and you learn." He said without benefit of a smile. But Kitty seemed a lot different now than when he went to school with her. Although she was friendly there was something about her that didn't seem as brash as when he knew her from school. Like maybe she had some rough times herself. He wondered. Maybe it was just a matter of her growing up, but she was a lot friendlier now, in a nice kind of way.

  "You gonna tell my mother about it?" She looked at him with a slight grin.

  "Sure, I wouldn't lie about it. Everyone knows what I did. Besides, I don't lie."

  "Really." She pursed her lips and stared.

  "Really." He assured her with another grin.

  "We went to school together, didn't we?" She asked, her glance sweeping him once more.

  "Yeah, not together, but at the same school. You were Miss Popular; I was the Bad Boy across the tracks." He commented drily. "Kind of funny when I think about it now. Geography could separate people back then. I guess they were right, I did live across the tracks in the poorer part of town. But I was in jail before I ever got to high school. I finished in Juvenile though."

  "Oh yeah, that's great." She smiled again. "Sounds like you put that time to use. Some never do."

  "I'm taking college courses at home now." He informed her.

  "You've got ambition that's good. What are you studying?" She nodded her approval.

  "Agriculture. I want to know more about the land, how it produces, what makes it produce and how we can improve it. That kind of stuff."

  "Well, you certainly didn't deserve six years."

  "To tell the truth, I'd just as soon be in there as home at the time." Ben admitted.

  She smiled again. "You didn't like your step-dad much, did you?"

  "Nope! The feeling was mutual though."

  "How's your mother doing now?"

  He couldn't believe how interested she was. It flattered him, made him rethink her.

  The subject of his mother had him tensing again. "She's confined to a wheel chair now. That's why I moved home. She didn't have anyone to take care of her."

  "What happened to your step-father?"

  "The same old story. He left, about the time she got sick." He said trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. It certainly wasn't her fault.

  "That must have been very hard for her." Kitty's voice lowered and she stared at him.

  "Yeah, anyway, I take care of her at night and on the weekends. My sister takes care of her during the day. It works out." He shrugged as though he were tired of talking about it.

  "I see Rose every now and then in the grocery store. She waves at me, but she's got two kids now, too doesn't she?"

  "Yeah, she turned out okay. She got married and moved off. Until Mom got worse, now they sold their house and are staying at my Mom's."

  "Must get pretty cramped." She asked.

  "Yeah, we're pretty crowded." He smiled at her.

  Her mother pulled up in the drive way. Kitty made a face, but Ben didn't understand it. It seemed a new tension entered the room. Not the kind that had been there before, the kind between a man and a woman, but something much darker, more sinister. Ben wondered.

  But then he'd never met her mother either. Maybe she had good reason to look that way.

  Mrs. Baldwin came in the back door with groceries and Kitty went out to help her get the rest in.

  Ben followed and helped too.

  He didn't pay much attention to Mrs. Baldwin until Kitty introduced him.

  "Momma, this is Ben Tyler, he's here about the ad."

  "Oh, good, Ben Tyler, where do I know that name from?" Her mother asked as she carried a sack of groceries inside. Ben didn't see much of her except he heard the clicking of her three-inch heels.

  When she set her groceries on the counter, she turned her full attention on him. His eyes went from her heels, all the way up her long legs to her short-shorts, and low cut t-shirt. He cleared his throat and looked at Kitty as if trying to put it all together. Kitty's expression said it all. She was totally embarrassed by her mother and who could blame her. Mrs. Baldwin looked as though she worked the streets of Los Angeles at night.

  "His mother is Ava Tyler." Kitty informed her.

  "Oh yes, of course. I knew your step-father, but your mother rarely spoke to me when I'd see her at the grocery store. He told me you went to juvenile for six years. I thought that a little harsh for a boy who just wanted to try out a car. He came to tell me he was leaving too. But at the time I didn’t know your mother had gotten that sick. He said he couldn't keep a job and take care of her too. Such a shame. I really liked him, as much as I got to know him."

  Ben shot her a strange look. Mrs. Baldwin knew her step-father? That was news. He gave her another glance and then surmised, maybe not so strange, since he knew his step-father pretty well.

  He could see her now, she was wearing shorts that were shorter than Kitty's, and a t-shirt that was cut low so her breast hung out as she stooped over. It was the heels he couldn't understand though. Who wore high heels with shorts? Of course, he knew little about how women should dress, but he found it odd. Everything about her seemed odd.

  "So, you've come home." She smiled at him now. "How have you and your family been? I should have been over to visit your momma, but I stay so busy with this place. And I don't think she likes me very much. Of course, not many women do." She smiled. Her eyes went all over him, almost as though she were hungry for male companionship. "Ordinary housewives don't like pretty women very well. Have you ever noticed that?" She cooed as she stared at him.

  Her vanity shocked him too. She thought a lot of herself, that was for certain.

  He ignored what she said about his mother. "I saw your ad in the paper and decided to apply for the job. I've worked for several farms around and thought this would be very close to home." He said. He started to tell her about the people he'd worked for but she went on and on.

  "You've moved back home then?"

  "Yes ma'am, to help my mother out."

  "That's wonderful, Ben. I'm so glad for her." The way she moved about, slowly, seductively, had Ben squirming. And the way she called his name, soft and drawling a bit, called attention to herself. He came here for work, he wanted to keep it on a work level too. "Well, I do need someone around here to do some of the heavier work. I can't do everything myself, of course. You heard my husband died, I suppose." She sat down and leaned over to scratch her leg, drawing attention to her breasts that were barely contained.

  For some odd reason her outward display embarrassed Ben a bit. He felt unease creep up his neck.

  Ben glanced away. He wasn't sure why, but her subtle approach angered him.

  Ben gave her a quick once
over, wondering why a woman like her tried to compete with her daughter for attention. The way she was dressed left little to the imagination. But she wasn't a bit shy about it. Ben was nervous. This wasn't why he came here. And if he went to work for her, he'd have to make it clear, he wasn't interested in Mrs. Baldwin.

  "Mother was telling me about it, yes. I’m sorry. I knew him, a long time ago. Always liked him."

  Kitty shot him a smile from the kitchen, but he saw it. Something in her expression warmed him. Not flirty, but a strange understanding between them.

  Seeing that Kitty had all the groceries in and was putting everything away, Mrs. Baldwin got up and bent down to pick up something on the floor, intentionally in front of him so he got another look, this time at her backside as her shorts rode up her cheeks a bit. Kitty's face went red

  "When could you start Ben?" Her voice practically cooed, as she came up and stared boldly into his red face.

  He didn't like this, he gave her no references, no job knowledge and she was ready to hire him on the spot. That didn't figure. Either she was very desperate for help, or she was looking for something more. And he was determined he wouldn't be the something more.

  "Tomorrow be too soon?" He asked. Why was he grabbing this job, he could smell the danger in her sweet-smelling perfume that she seemed to have bathed in, and the way she kept bending over to allow his gaze to fall there. He saw right through her and he didn't like it, yet he was already accepting the job. Had she somehow snared him in her web.

  "Not at all. I got a lot of hay that needs bailing and put up in the barn, fence mending, stuff like that. It would keep you busy year around. Since Greg died, things have been going to seed around here. Think you could handle it?" She asked her words carefully chosen and softly spoken. Her eyes never left his.

  "Yes ma'am. I could." He assured her. "I was telling Kitty, I worked for E.R. Davis, and Phil Grimes. Would have stayed but Mom isn't doing too well, so I decided to move home for a while, see how it goes."

  "I couldn't believe it when I heard. Multiple sclerosis, wasn't it?" She snarled up her nose.