Running Wilde (The Winnie Wilde Series Book 1) Read online

  “Do you want to shower here before we leave,” Ben asked when they were done eating, “or wait until you get home? I keep a stash of clean towels in the bathroom.”

  Winnie looked around, then said, “I am home. Can we sleep here tonight?”

  Ben shrugged, “Sure if you don’t mind a sleeping bag on a hard wood floor.”

  She grinned, “I’m game if you are.”

  Ben reached out and stroked her face, tracing the thin lines at the corner of her left eye. “I know you have to go back to the Cheviot Hills house sometime, but you don’t ever have to sleep there again if you don’t want to. We can buy you a new bed.”

  She thought about that while she polished off the last of the fried rice. “As tempting as that is, it will be easier packing and planning if I’m there. And you can finish this place faster if I’m not underfoot. I should be back here in a couple of weeks.”

  “Less,” he told her. “I’ll start by painting the master bedroom that dove gray, just in case you change your mind.”

  “And my bedroom furniture will be moved here,” she told him. “I bought it after Edward and I split.”

  “That explains why it doesn’t match the rest of the house,” he said. “It’s more casual in design and the rest of the house is very traditional. It’s the only room in the house that feels like you. It will go nicely in the bedroom here.”

  She gave him a warm smile, pleased at his observation. “Have you ordered appliances yet?” she asked, turning her attention to the empty spots in the kitchen.

  “Not yet,” he told her, “so if you want to pick out the ones you want, go for it. We can go together sometime this weekend to do it. And we can pick the paint for the other rooms. I was thinking of a soft taupe for the living and dining rooms and maybe a soft salmon for the kitchen, similar to what’s in the bathroom. I’ll get some paint samples for you to check out.”

  “Sounds good. And Kathy said she wants to go with me to shop for furniture.” She paused. “I’m going to wait to see if Edward buys the house, lock, stock and barrel like he said. If not, I’ll have some things to bring over.”

  After eating, they curled up in the sleeping bag and talked until they fell asleep. In the morning they made love. Not with the animal wildness of the night before, but sweet, tender lovemaking. By nine, he was painting the garage wall at the other house and she was packing up the kitchen. Vicki/Victoria may be sitting on her furniture in the near future, but Winnie wasn’t about to let her use her pots and pans and dishes. Just after noon, Kathy had called with a counter offer from Edward, which Winnie turned down, as Kathy knew she would. She said she’d counter him with another figure, still much higher than what he wanted to pay.

  After a quick lunch of leftover lasagna and salad, Ben left to pick up packing boxes and moving wardrobes while Winnie continued going through things. In the cabinet at the bottom of the hutch in the dining room were padded containers containing her good china and crystal, most of which were wedding gifts. Kneeling on the carpet, she pulled out several containers and opened them, studying the beautiful but fussy pattern on the fine porcelain. She like it, but it hadn’t been her first choice. It had been Edward’s. Same with the crystal. Choosing wedding china, crystal and silver had seemed so important to her when she was a young bride, even if the dishes were only used two to three times a year. Closing the quilted containers, she returned them to the breakfront. Her life was not going to be so formal now, she decided. Let Vicki have them. Winnie would take the everyday dishes and if she needed nicer ones for entertaining, she’d buy some that she liked better. She looked into the cabinet at the dishes returned to the safety of their containers. No, she thought, let Tiffany have them. This was her wedding china and she wasn’t about to surrender that to Vicki and Edward. The house was enough.

  Winnie heard the front door open and shut and went on alert. It had been locked and Ben didn’t have the key. Her first thought was that Edward had returned, but he didn’t have the key either. She’d had the entire place re-keyed when they’d split up. Nadia had a key, but Winnie didn’t expect her today. Just as she got up from the floor in front of the breakfront, she heard Chet called out, “Mom, you home?”

  “In the dining room,” she called.

  Chet and Tiffany came around the corner. Winnie started to greet them with a hug but the look on their faces stopped her in her tracks “What’s wrong?” she asked with alarm, worried that something had happened to Amanda and Kate or to Mark. “Why are you two here on a work day?”

  “We both left work early today to come talk to you, Mom,” Chet answered. “It’s important.”

  “Are you going to sell the house to Dad?” Tiffany demanded.

  Winnie relaxed, relieved that the crisis wasn’t an important one. “We’re in negotiations now. He wants it and I don’t.” Winnie eyed her children as she walked from the formal dining room back into the kitchen where they could be more comfortable. “Did he send you here to get the price down?”

  “You can’t sell it to him, Mom,” Chet said following her. “We don’t want that.”

  Winnie went to the fridge and opened it. “Can I get you some tea or a soda or something?” When both shook their heads, Winnie grabbed a bottle of fizzy lemon water for herself. “I thought you two didn’t want me to sell the house. By selling to your father, it keeps it in the family and you can still come here like always. It’s a win-win for everyone. In fact, you can probably still keep the stuff here that you haven’t moved yet.” She unscrewed the cap from the water and took a long drink.

  “We want you to stay here, Mom,” Tiffany said with a long face. “We don’t want that little bitch here.”

  Winnie took a seat at the kitchen table. “According to your father, that little bitch is going to be your step-mother in about two weeks. As for me, I just put an offer in on the cutest little place in Santa Monica and I’m pretty sure the owner will accept it. By the time your father returns from his honeymoon, I’ll be gone from here for good.” She hesitated while the news sunk into their skulls. “By the way, I don’t want my wedding china and crystal, so if either of you want it, take it before Vicki and your dad take possession of the house.”

  “But Mom,” Chet protested, taking a seat at the table with her.

  Winnie held up a hand to stop him. “I’m starting over. I have a new life and new interests. Even before your father made a bid for the house, you knew I was going to sell it and move. This isn’t news.” She leaned forward and patted Chet’s arm. “It’s all going to be okay.”

  “Is that a hickey?” Tiffany asked in horror.

  Winnie glanced at her daughter and noticed her looking down the front of her shirt, where it gaped when she leaned forward to comfort Chet. She looked down and saw one of the hickeys from the night before, the largest, exposed like a purple blossom just above her left bra cup. Winnie straighten, “Yes, it is,” she answered truthfully. “You said you wanted me to find companionship and I did.”

  “That’s disgusting,” Tiffany spat out. “So Dad’s right? He told me you’re sleeping with the handyman.”

  “What?” Chet asked with surprise. He turned to his sister. “You didn’t tell me that, Tiff.”

  “Because I didn’t believe it until now.”

  “Ben is not a handyman,” Winnie said, getting defensive. “He’s a licensed contractor with his own business and a college graduate.” She swallowed hard. “And even if he was just a handyman, it’s really none of your business. I like him. We like each other.”

  “What happened to the guy you met running?” Chet asked, getting to his feet. “I thought you were dating him.”

  “That’s Ben,” Winnie answered. “We met while running, before he came here to work on the house. We’ve been dating for a couple of weeks now.”

  “Dad said this guy is our age,” Tiffany said with growing disgust. “Is part of finding yourself becoming a desperate cougar?”

  It was Winnie’s turn to leap to her fee
t. “Listen here, young lady. I’ll do with my life as I please. For the record, Ben is twenty-eight. We like each other and we’re going to continue seeing each other. He treats me much better than your father ever did.”

  “I don’t recall you ever having love bites when you were married to Dad,” Tiffany shot back.

  “No, I didn’t,” Winnie snapped. “Maybe if I had, we would have been happier in our marriage.”

  Just then the back gate opened and Ben entered carting folded up moving boxes. The three of them watched through the large kitchen window while he stacked them against the inside wall and left to get more.

  “Is that him?” Chet asked. “Is that the Ben guy?”

  “Yes,” Winnie answered. “He’s done with the house and is going to help me pack and move.”

  “Does he have hickeys all over him too?” Tiffany asked with a sneer.

  Winnie turned on her daughter. “As a matter-of-fact, he does. Maybe if you ask nice, he’ll raise his shirt and show them to you.”

  Ben returned with more boxes and stacked them with the others, oblivious to the drama going on inside the house. Chet yanked open the back door and stormed outside. “Hey,” he called to Ben before he could leave to fetch more boxes from his truck. “I’m Chet Crenshaw.”

  Ben turned and smiled, holding out a hand toward Chet in greeting. But Chet had other ideas. Instead of shaking Ben’s hand, he threw a punch at him, landing it squarely on Ben’s jaw. Ben fell back against the wall. He staggered to get his bearing and came back to take his own swing at Chet. Chet ducked and the blow glanced off his side shoulder. Chet responded with another jab, but this time Ben saw it coming.

  Winnie and Tiffany both let out a succession of short screams. Winnie ran out to stop the fracas. By the time she reached them, the two men were locked tightly together, getting in whatever blows they could, grunting and swearing, moving and turning together like dancers to disjointed music. They were getting very close to the end of the pool. When they were on the edge, Winnie ran at them, shoving them into the water.

  The two combatants came apart in the pool. Flailing and sputtering while they each got their bearings.

  “Enough!” Winnie shouted at them. “Enough.” She turned to her daughter, who was standing by the back door wide-eyed. “Tiffany, go grab some towels.”

  Ben was the first to climb out of the pool. He hoisted himself up and over the side and rolled onto the concrete apron. By the time he was on his feet, Chet was sloshing his way up the end steps. Tiffany came out with the towels but just stood there clutching them. Winnie grabbed them from her and threw one at each man.

  “Chet, shame on you,” she said to her son as he dried off. “Ben offered you his hand and you hit him.”

  Ignoring her, Chet pointed at Ben, “You stay away from my mother.”

  Ben ran the towel over his head. “That’s her decision, not yours.”

  Chet looked at Winnie, his face contorted in anger and hurt. “Have you no shame, Mom? He’s my age.”

  Winnie crossed her arms in front of her. “Vicki is your age too,” she said to both of her children. “Did one of you try to punch her lights out when she started dating your father?”

  “That’s different,” Chet said, rubbing the towel over his body.

  “How is that different, Chet?” Winnie asked angrily. She moved to stand in front of him. “Both your father and I have found people much younger than us. Big deal! Look around. It happens all the time. At least I waited until after our divorce to sleep with someone. Your father was having sex with Vicki upstairs in our bed when I wasn’t around.” She looked from Chet to Tiffany. “Did you guys know that? And who knows who else he had up there when I wasn’t home?”

  “That’s not true,” Tiffany protested.

  “Oh, baby girl,” Winnie said, moving in front of her and shaking her head slowly, “but it is. Remember when I went to spend a few days at a spa with Kathy right before your father and I split? Well, I came home a day early to find your dear father and Vicki going at it like a couple of wild monkeys on my bed.” She pointed a finger at her horrified daughter. “If you don’t believe me, ask him. Why do you think I threw him out of the house so suddenly? That very day, in fact. And it’s why I got rid of that bed and bedroom set. I slept in your bed until the new furniture arrived.”

  “Dad said he left you,” Chet said.

  Winnie shook her head again. “Edward left me emotionally a long time before that happened, but I threw his ass out that very day. I just didn’t want you two in the middle of all the drama so I didn’t say anything and let him spin whatever tales he pleased.”

  Ben came up to Winnie and put an arm around her. She leaned into him not caring that he was soaking wet. “I think you two owe your mother an apology,” he said to Tiffany and Chet.

  Winnie looked at Chet. “And I think you owe Ben one.”

  Instead, Chet threw down his towel and headed for the back door. “Come on, sis, let’s get out of here.”

  With one last hate-filled glance at her mother, Tiffany followed her brother. Winnie did not go after them, no matter how much her heart ached. “I expected something like this from Tiffany,” she said to Ben. “She’s her daddy’s girl and not very flexible about things. But Chet’s always been much more understanding. He’s the sweet one.”

  Ben drew her closer. “It’s going to be okay. You’ll see.”

  “That’s exactly what I told Chet shortly before he lost his temper and went after you.” Winnie turned and looked up at Ben, her eyes filled with fear. “I couldn’t bear to live without my children or seeing Emily.”

  “Give it time,” he assured her. “They’ll come around.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Winnie stood staring hopefully out the front window of her new house. She was holding Emily in her arms. The little girl was tired from all the activities of the day and was half asleep, her tiny head resting on her grandmother’s shoulder.

  “She’s not coming, Mom.” Winnie turned slightly and saw Chet standing behind her. “Tiffany’s not coming,” he repeated. “She told me this morning she wouldn’t be here.”

  It was the official house warming party for the Santa Monica house. Winnie had planned a catered barbeque in the back and everyone was having a grand time. Kathy and Zoe had come, along with Ann Marie and her husband. Nadia and her husband had made a brief appearance on their way to a family gathering. There were also a few members from both Winnie’s writing class and her yoga class. She hadn’t seen or spoken to either of her children since the fight at the big house over a month earlier. She’d left them messages and sent them e-mail invitations to the house warming, but had heard nothing. When Chet arrived with Amanda and Emily, Winnie had cried with happiness.

  Everyone loved the house. She and Ben had done a great job finishing the inside and he had painted the outside and found a landscaper who had spruced up both the front and back yards. Along the wall lining the driveway, Winnie had flowering vines planted so that when someone looked out one of the windows on that side of the house they would be treated to something pretty instead of a blank wall. The place was perfect, reflecting both elegance and casual comfort, and every bit of it was testament to Winnie’s taste and preferences.

  Winnie kissed the top of her granddaughter’s head. “But you’re here,” she whispered to Chet.

  Chet chuckled but didn’t smile. “Amanda said if I didn’t come today, she’d divorce me.”

  Winnie eyed him. “Is that the only reason you’re here?”

  He looked away, weighing his answer. “No, Mom, it’s not. Amanda set me straight on how you’re entitled to your life and your decisions. It took her a while, but she finally pounded it into my thick skull. After that, I was too ashamed to call or come over. We owe you a huge apology, Mom. You’ve been nothing but supportive of me and Tiffany all our lives, much more than Dad has been, and we treated you badly.”

  “Don’t apologize for your sister, Chet. She needs to
do that herself. If you’re going to make amends, do it for yourself.”

  “You’re right, as usual.” Chet took a deep breath. “Mom, I’m very sorry for the way I’ve behaved. You seem so happy now. Happier than I’ve seen you for a long time, and that makes me happy. Seriously, it does.”

  “What about Ben?” she asked. “You owe him an apology too.”

  “I already took care of that. We shook and buried the hatchet.”

  Amanda approached. “Why don’t I take that sleepy girl and put her down for a bit?”

  When Winnie handed Emily off to her mother, Amanda leaned forward, kissed her mother-in-law on her cheek and whispered, “You’re my hero.” Then she disappeared with her daughter.

  As Winnie and Chet watched them leave, Winnie said to her son, “You’re a very lucky man.”

  Chet laughed, “Don’t I know it.” He looked down at his mother. “You really are quite beautiful, Mom, and smart. No wonder Ben is crazy about you. And he does seem like a great guy. Is this serious?”

  She thought about her words before answering. “Ben and I are quite fond of each other, Chet, but we’re not going to live together. We’re just taking it day-by-day. Besides, I’m not in the market for another husband. I’m still planning on doing a lot of traveling and I’m pursuing my writing. Ann Marie thinks I could do quite well with it.”

  “Really?” Chet asked with real interest.

  “That’s her opinion and I think I’m going to see what happens in that regard now that I’m settled in here.”

  Chet gave his mother a long tight hug. “Whatever you do, I’ll support you, Mom. I promise.”

  When he released her, he said, “I’m going to go back to the party. You coming?”

  “I’ll be along in a minute, sweetie.”

  After Chet left, Winnie continued looking out the window at the street. A few minutes later, strong hands gripped her upper arms and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “The party’s going well,” Ben said. “Why don’t you come back to your guests?” He pulled her back against him and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. She snuggled against his firm warm body, finding some comfort.