The Shepherd of Ashburn Court Pt. 02

"You're really going to buy Joanne's home too?" she asked.

"Yes! It's a good investment and when I sell it I'll definitely make a profit."

She looked at him with a worried expression.

"We will make a written contract indicating that we've agreed that you and Mason will live in the house for a specified number of years at a specified rent. Will this ease your fears about me selling the house out from under you? Would that make you feel more comfortable?" he asked.

She smiled timidly. "Yes."

"Let's go see my place so you can get an impression of what the final state of the home could look like." Ben suggested. "We need to get Christopher's bassinette and Tina's suitcases anyway."

Tina walked back into the living room with Christopher in her arms and a happy, satisfied look on her face.

Ben and Trish smiled at her.

They made their way to Ben's and Ben told Trish to have a look around while he spoke with Tina.

They heard her exclamations down the hall as she saw the master bath and walk in closet.

Ben sat down in the living room with the young woman. "Tina, starting tonight you are going to live with Trish. You know she needs help keeping her place organized. There may also be another tenant if Joanne's daughter Lily decides to take a room there. She is a sweet young woman and I think you two would get along."

Tina was looking down again. Ben reached over and lifted her chin with his finger. Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"What are these tears for?" he asked calmly, though inside he was dying.

"I- I was hoping I could live... with you." Tina said in a whisper.

"You know that isn't part of the life plan I am setting out for you. I've explained that already. I'm not cutting you out of my life but you will follow my directions if you want to remain in it. Is this understood?" he said firmly and calmly. Inside, he squirmed in torture.

"Yes." she said sadly.

Ben listened and looked over towards the stairs to the lower level. That's where he'd seen Trish heading. He turned back to Tina. "We'll plan another visit this week, alright?"

Her eyes brightened. "Overnight?"

He realized that she had to feel like she was earning it. "If you follow my instructions, yes."

The young woman was back to vibrating with excitement. "May I kiss you?"

One more glance to see Trish was nowhere to be seen. "Yes."

Then she was pressed hard against his body, her lips crushed against his, and her tongue exploring his mouth aggressively. He'd been expecting a kiss on the cheek so this caught him completely by surprise and he wasn't sure where this was coming from.

Then he remembered her standing in the hall outside Trish's bedroom. Watching?

He put his hands on her body and she instantly began to moan and tremble. He slid his hands down and squeezed her cute little ass. She squealed into his mouth loudly and the noise startled him so he reached up and gently pushed her back. She clung to him until he growled. She instantly let go and sat back quietly with a smile on her face. The smile froze and her eyes darted up behind Ben.

He closed his eyes and sighed as he realized she was probably looking at Trish. He heard footsteps as she walked from the dining room entrance into the living room and sat in a chair opposite him.

"Do you want to explain what I just witnessed?" Trish said.

Ben opened his eyes and looked directly into hers. "No." he said.

"No?" she asked.

"No."

She looked flustered. "Ben, she's half your age!"

Ben looked at the young woman. "Tina, am I your boyfriend?"

"No."

"Did I tell you I was going to marry you?"

"No." she said wistfully.

"Did I directly tell you or imply in any way that I wanted sexual favours from you?" he asked firmly.

"No." Again with the wistfulness.

"Will I keep my promise to pay your way through University?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Did I tell you that you will meet someone your own age who will make a new wonderful life with you?"

"Yes." she said sadly.

Ben looked Trish right in the eye. "While it's none of your business I'm being polite. Keep in mind that I don't tolerate gossip or small mindedness. Tina has tremendous potential. I'm going to make sure she doesn't waste it." He looked back at Tina. "Now, why did you kiss me like that?"

Tina's eyes got big and she looked nervously between Ben and Trish.

"Brutal honesty." Ben reminded her.

"I saw you and Trish on her bed. The way she rode you. So hard and fast. It was so hot! I wished it was me riding you!" Tina blurted.

Ben was watching Trish's face so he saw her embarrassment bloom across her face. He was glad he was able to remind the woman that she wasn't faultless in the chaos his life was becoming.

Trish looked at Tina. "Then you two haven't..."

"No." Tina said sadly. "He's so big and I'm so small! One day I would like to try though. What he can do with his mouth and hands is incredible!"

"Tina!" Ben growled, embarrassed. "Remember what I said about being discrete."

"Sorry Ben. I shouldn't have pried into your personal life." Trish said contritely.

"Trish, I understand curiosity. That's fine. What I have a problem with his being judged before the facts are known. And sometimes those facts aren't for public knowledge." He was looking at Tina when he said the last part and she had the good grace to look sorry. "I know it's not easy but I've always tried to follow the policy of, if you don't know, don't judge."

Trish nodded as did Tina.

"So we can put all that behind us and move forward?" he asked.

"Yes." the women replied.

"What did you think of my house? Would you like to see some of these renovations in your place?" he asked Trish.

"I can have a master bath and walk-in like yours?" she asked incredulously.

"No." Her face dropped. "It would be a little bigger than mine because your house's floor plan is larger." he said.

Trish giggled in glee and clapped her hands.

"I take it that's a yes? You still want to sell your place to me?" Ben smiled.

"Yes!" she squealed.

Tina grinned and clapped her hands too. Christopher started to laugh at all the happy noises.

Trish made plans to join Ben Monday morning with her cousin to sell her house to him. Shelly had promised her cousin to only take half her usual commission. Ben had to go to the bank anyway to get the money out for the gambling debt. Before she left Trish went up on her toes and gave Ben a deep slow kiss and asked if that was more his speed. He could only nod as his head was spinning. Trish carried the bassinette and the small suitcase with her. Tina left with her and got a playful spank on her butt as she went out the door. She squealed and smiled back at Ben with real fire in her eyes.

Ben looked at the number on the realty sign on the lawn of the Miller's home. He dialed it and spoke to the realtor. He asked what the house was going for but was told it had already sold for 1.25 million to a young family from Texas. Ben had missed his chance with the house.

That thought made him a little anxious about Joanne's home. He thought he might just pop in and see if she was ready to move on the sale. He yanked on his coat and made his way over to her place.

Joanne greeted him with a smile and invited him in. Lily was in the living room knitting... something large and deep blue and she greeted him as well. When they were all situated Joanne asked the reason for his visit.

"I was wondering if you'd care to continue our discussion about your house." Ben said glancing at Lily.

Joanne caught the glance and smiled. "It's OK Ben, Lily is quite aware of my plans. Yes, I am still interested. Are you going to purchase Trish's place as well?"

"Yes, I was just over there a short while ago. She already had an assessment done. I did an inspection and told her what I'd be willing to spend and told her about the renovations I'm planning to do to the house. I showed her my home so she could see what the renovations will be and she's in. We'll do the sale tomorrow. Tina and Christopher are going to be moving in with her as Tina's likely going to lose her home. James did some nasty stuff with their finances. I don't think I'm going to be able to straighten that out. The bank will likely take the property back. If I can I'll try to buy it too but just to renovate and resell."

Joanne was staring at Ben. "Are you going to buy the Miller's home too?"

"I called but it was already sold to a 'young family from Texas'." Ben replied.

"And you were worried I'd sell mine to someone else too?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd like to buy it but if you think you can get a better price putting it on the market that's your call." Ben said honestly.

"Well there was the caveat of having Lily live in the home for the next two years." Joanne said.

Ben looked over at her daughter. "Would you consider renting a room from Trish? Then you wouldn't have to live alone and could share food expenses. Tina and Christopher will also be living there and Tina keeps a home really neat and clean so that's a big help."

"That would be preferable to living alone!" Lily said.

"Ben... that just eliminated the primary reason I had for selling it exclusively to you! You aren't much of a negotiator." Joanne said.

"I'm not going to try to trick or blackmail you into selling it to me. I don't work that way. I thought Lily would be better served by living with Trish so I let her know she had the option. This frees you from your constraint and lets you pursue other options. I'd be willing to do my own assessment and leave you with what I'm willing to pay for it. Then you can take that number with you when you speak with a realtor." Ben said frankly.

"OK, yes, please do the assessment. Let me know what you'd pay." Joanne said. Ben nodded and began his inspection.

Once he'd left the room Lily glared at her mother "How can you treat Mr. Shepherd like that? That wasn't very nice!" she complained.

"He offered!" Joanne hissed.

"After he generously freed you from finding me a place to live!" Lily admonished.

"He offered." she said weakly.

Lily just scowled at her mother and went back to knitting.

Ten minutes later Ben returned and went over his findings. Again, the house was in pretty good shape but the furnace and water heater were in need of replacing and electrical panel was full. It would need replacing if Ben were to do any renovations. He explained his finding and described the showers he'd install and intended to install in Trish's place. Lily's eyes lit up then she heard what she'd get to use living there.

"So, I'd be willing to spend 1.15 million on your home." Ben said.

"That's your final offer?" Joanne asked.

"MOM!" Lily cried incredulously.

Ben smiled at the young woman. "No it's fine. Yes Joanne, that's my final offer. If you believe you can get more please go ahead. The Miller's home sold for 1.25 million so you might find someone willing to go at least that high, but their place has that big pool in the backyard with all that landscaping. You'll also be on the hook for paying the realtor commission. Let me know when you can."

With that Ben said his goodbyes and went home.

He was looking at the bank paperwork for Tina and thinking of all the calls he'd have to make.

Ben called his lawyer and left a message with James' lawyer's details and asked for a call back to discuss a way to salvage Tina Lee's legal rights to her home and any funds her husband had before the bank took it away.

He thought about the bank and the money he'd need to withdraw tomorrow for the gambling debt. He was a little concerned the Selleni brothers might try to keep extorting money from them. While he didn't really want to involve their older and smarter brother, Ben needed his advice on how to deal with his brothers. He'd shared classes with Dominic and had kept him from being included in the expulsions when the Selleni's poker ring was busted. Ben knew Dominic had nothing to do with his brother's dirty little game and had gone to the Dean to clear Dominic's name. Angelo and Michael were kicked out and never went back to school. They opened the restaurant instead and it seemed they reopened their crooked game as well.

Ben looked up Dominic's number and called him up.

"Selleni residence."

"Hi, may I speak with Dominic Selleni?" Ben asked.

"Speaking. Who's this?"

"It's Ben Shepherd."

"Ben? How ya doing man! God! It's been years!" the man boomed in the phone. Ben smiled. Dominic always had been a little larger than life.

"I'm doing very well. Keeping myself busy. How about you?" Ben admitted.

"Fantastic! My third grandchild will be arriving any day now!" Dominic said proudly.

"Congratulations! That's wonderful!" Ben said.

"Hey! I heard through the grape vine that you found yourself a woman. God we thought you'd never speak to a girl much less marry one! Hahahahaha!" The laughter thundered from the phone.

"Yeah, I married one but it... didn't work out." Ben said a little stiffly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." He heard the sincere regret in the man's voice.

"That's life. I'm really glad your life is treating you so well! You really deserve it!" Ben said trying to change the conversation. He was getting more and more uncomfortable about bringing the issue with man's brothers up but there was that potential threat to Trish.

"Thanks man!" Dominic said.

"Listen, do you keep in touch with Angelo and Michael? Do they still run the Celestial?" Ben asked.

Dominic's tone became worried. "Yeah, they do. I try to keep my distance from those bozos. Why?"

"I think they've started up that poker game of theirs again."

"WHAT? Those fucking losers! They didn't get you, did they? Wait a minute, stupid question, of course not." Dominic rumbled.

"The husband of a friend of mine was into them for $40K. He died months ago and the widow is getting threats. I told them I'd pay the debt and it went up to $60K. I just want to make sure if I pay Angelo that's the last I'll hear from them. I'm supposed to pay them tomorrow."

"Don't you pay them one fucking cent! Promise me you won't!" Dominic pleaded.

"Dominic, I don't want to get you involved. I just wanted your advice. You know them better than me. The widow doesn't need the grief. I'm willing to pay to make them go away as long as stay away."

"Oh, I'm not going to get involved. Not at all. I'm taking my wife and kids out for a very public dinner tonight. But don't you pay a cent to those low life scum. Promise me! I'm sorry to call them my brothers. Listen I got to make some calls. You have a great night! Don't be a stranger! Come visit and I'll let you bounce a grandkid on your knee! Does wonders for your soul!"

"Thanks Dominic!" Ben said a little shaken.

"You take care now! Bye!" The man hung up and Ben wondered what he had just started. He hoped he didn't cause trouble for Dominic.

Ben recalled that Hannah and Beth would be coming over tonight after dinner to have an informal group therapy session. He thought maybe they could sit in his living room or for a more intimate setting there was the media room in the basement. The chairs and couches were a little more comfortable and the lighting more soothing downstairs. He'd play it by ear based on how Beth felt.

Ben looked around and realized that until recently very few people had ever been in his house. Yet within the past few days four of neighbors had visited. He wondered why none of them ever visited before. Was it him?

There was one call he could make today. He looked up the number and called the shop where he'd bought his California King pillow top mattress and ordered a new one with a mattress protector. Having learned his lesson he also ordered some protectors for the other mattresses in the house. The salesman said that they had only one of the extra-large mattresses in stock and could get it to him before the dinner hour if he paid the extra $100 for rush delivery. He gave them his credit card number and they said it would arrive before 6PM and they'd dispose of the old one no charge.

That taken care of he moved the queen mattress from his room back to the first guest room and replaced the sheets. He made himself busy baking some cookies for Beth and Hannah (but mostly for Beth who needed to put some mass back on her bones). Once the cookies were in the oven he grabbed his tablet and checked out his favorite Engineering forums and Trade Papers. He saw a few projects he might be interested in tackling and book marked them. That done he wrote up the rental agreement for Trish. He'd get her to sign it to tomorrow. He spent the rest of the afternoon baking and reading and before he knew it the truck arrived with his new mattress.

His bed was back to normal and had fresh sheets for tonight's sleep. He wondered how he'd sleep considering how well he'd slept with Tina at his side. He'd see.

He made himself dinner and was cleaning up when the doorbell rang. He wiped his hands and let Hannah and Beth in. He took their coats and gave them both hugs.

"Do I smell... peanut butter cookies?" Beth smiled.

"Yes, I made them especially for you! You like them right?" Ben asked.

"I LOVE peanut butter cookies! How did you know?" she asked.

"I was out for a walk one day when you and the kids were getting back from school and I overheard you mentioning it to Jane when she gave you some she baked at school." he said

Beth stared at Ben. "That- that was... what, three years ago!"

"Seemed like an important thing to remember." Ben smiled at her.

Beth looked at Hannah with tears in her eyes and a frustrated look on her face. "Jesus, Larry couldn't remember the color of my hair and Ben remembers what kind of cookie I like from a single comment he overheard years ago."

"It just proves Larry wasn't the yardstick to measure good men by. Men who deserve your attention. Ben, where shall we sit?" Hannah said.

"I was thinking it might be nice to sit down in the media room. It's cozy and more conducive to conversation." Ben suggested.

"Lead the way! You have a beautiful home by the way!" Hannah said looking into the living room.

"Would you two like a tour? Trish was over earlier today looking at the renovations I did on mine to see what I will do on her house after I buy it. She quite liked it." he said.

"That would be very nice, yes!" Hannah said.

Ben showed them the living room, through to the dining room and the updated kitchen which was a big hit. They couldn't really see the deck well but liked his French doors which led out to it. They made appreciative noises in the guest bedrooms and when he led them into the master bedroom Beth was stunned by the size of the bed. She looked at him and back to the bed.

"Ben, I know you're a big man but do you really need a bed that large?" she exclaimed.

He shrugged and frowned. "Wendy needed her space on the bed and I just got used to having a bed this size."

"Looks like it could sleep three with room to spare!" Beth gushed then the three of them looked at each other suddenly aware of the implication. Beth giggled nervously.

"Through here is the master bath." Ben said to change the topic to safer grounds.

They entered and Hannah took one look at the oversized shower stall with surround jets. She looked at Beth. "Looks like the shower could fit three as well." she said with a grin and Beth's giggles just got worse.

Ben led them out and down the hall to the stairs to the basement. They did the tour downstairs and ended up on the couches Ben had arranged in a circle in the media room. Each of them had a couch facing the other two. There was a plate of cookies sitting on the table in the center. Ben picked one up and handed it to Beth. When she just opened her mouth Ben picked up her hand and put it in her palm with a grin.