A Shepherd Afield Pt. 01

"Ah! Yes, that's a very nice one. If you don't mind I'll swap cars with you until I can pick up one of these."

Ashley set a plate in front of Ben and he smiled at her, seeing the eggs, bacon and toast she'd made for him. "Thank you!"

She swatted his arm playfully. "Oh please Ben, breakfast is the least I can do to repay your kindness!" She put plates in front of the girls and one for herself and sat. They took each other's hand and Madison looked at Ben. He held out his hand to her and Savannah reached for the other one. Ashley's cheeks were going to burst from the smile she wore. They bowed their heads and said their prayer.

Everyone tucked into their breakfast and the chatter was happy and light. Once they finished the girls scooped up the dishes, rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher. Ashley got her purse and they exchanged registration forms for the cars. Ben headed home, drove his truck back and put it in their driveway. They swapped keys and Ben drove the BMW back to his place. He'd head down to the dealership this morning.

He went back inside the house and heard the bustle of activity in the kitchen. He poked his head in and saw Tina standing next to Karen at the counter. The mess was gone and in its place were neatly organized ingredients for something they were making.

"Hi, how is it going?" he asked.

The ladies turned to look at him with smiles. "We're making cookies!!!" Karen cheered.

"We are learning how to bake properly. Then Karen will help prepare dinner for tonight," Tina explained. Karen looked thrilled.

"Wonderful! I'm going to head down to trade in Ashley's SUV for a minivan she wants," he said looking at Karen to make sure she wasn't upset. She smiled at his look of concern and nodded. He gave them both a kiss on the cheek then headed out.

The BMW drove very well but he found the driver's cockpit to be a little too snug. He pulled into the car dealership and parked up by the front door. The business had just opened so there were no other customers and most of the staff seemed to be getting their coffees and starting up their terminals. As Ben walked inside he saw the minivan Ashley was talking about in the showroom and headed over to take a look at it. It wasn't quite as odd looking as the fish tank had been so it had that going for it. This one was white and wasn't the model with all the nice features. He'd have to ask what was available.

"Looking for a more practical family vehicle?" said a woman's voice from behind him.

Ben turned and spotted two sales people having a quiet... discussion. Ben got the impression that the two were arguing over who got to serve him. The woman had spoken first. It was a cut throat business. She flashed a grin at her coworker then stepped forward with a smile as he turned to leave.

Her face froze as she got a look at Ben's face. "I know you!" she said as her grin widened.

Ben groaned inwardly as he expected her next words would be about that blasted bronze statue!

"You're the boyfriend of Daniel's mother... Burt, no wait... Ben!"

He took a closer look at the woman and she did look familiar. Then it came to him. "Gwen?" The last time he'd seen her he'd been picking up Daniel from his friends place and Gwen had lit into him about his lifestyle. She'd been wearing tight spandex workout clothes at the time and had a super buff body. The business attire she was wearing now hid those impressive muscles.

Her smile went up a thousand watts as he remembered. "Yes!" She moved forward and they hugged. God! He was bigger and stronger than she remembered.

"How are you doing? You look amazing!" Ben smiled. Her body felt just as hard and tight as it had been the last time they met.

"Thanks! I'm in a much better place than I was then." She rolled her eyes and smiled. "I have a new boyfriend," she pointed her thumb over her shoulder at the man she'd beat earlier. "He's a great guy! How have you be-" she began then she got a closer look at the scar across his face and her eyes went wide. "What happened?"

"Had a disagreement with a knife wielding drunk," Ben shrugged.

She was taking in the scar on his chin and the nicks visible on his forearms. "Geezus, he was pretty good with that knife."

"Actually he wasn't, thankfully. So, this is a nice van!" Ben said deliberately changing the subject. She caught that blunt hint and moved with him.

"It's our best seller! Would you like to take a test drive?"

"Sure!" Ben said. He might as well make sure that it drove well. Ashley told him she'd drive anything but he'd make sure it was safe and comfortable at least.

"I'll get the tester and meet you out front," she said with a smile. Ben nodded and walked towards the front door.

Gwen walked towards the back and saw the secretaries looking past her at Ben and pointing at a monitor. Her boyfriend Troy was standing behind them with a grim look on his face. He glared at her and her eyebrows went up.

"How do you know this guy?" he blurted.

"What the Hell? Where is that coming from?" she barked back at him. He pointed at the monitor so she looked.

There was Ben in all his naked glory... in bronze. He was... big! Her eyes went wide. "Oh my god! That's HIM?!? Ben is the bronze god?" she gasped.

"Again I ask, how do you know him?" Troy said belligerently.

"He's the boyfriend of the mother of one of my son's friends! We met once for like... ten minutes last spring," she exclaimed.

"You met him for ten minutes months ago and you greet him like that?" he blurted.

Gwen was getting seriously pissed with the attitude. "Yes, he was a really nice guy and made me think it might be possible to meet a nice guy of my own one day. Maybe I was wrong!" She stormed off and grabbed the key to the van. She pulled it around the front of the building and got out. Forcing a smile on her face she held the keys out to Ben.

He could see something was wrong. She was smiling but her jaw muscles were clenched. He took the key and got in the driver's side as she climbed in the passenger side while looking back inside the dealership.

He started the car and pulled it out of the lot. It had good power and accelerated smoothly. He changed lanes and took some corners a little faster than he normally would to see how it handled and it was ticking all the boxes. It felt like a safe vehicle. Normally a sales person would be peppering him with details about the car but Gwen just stared out the window with a frown. Ben saw a nice little coffee shop that sold wonderful homemade cookies. He pulled into the lot and shut off the engine. Gwen came out of her daze.

"Come on. I'll buy you a coffee and a cookie and you can tell me about it," Ben said as he slid out of the van. Gwen's mouth opened to apologize but Ben was already walking across the parking lot. She got out and heard the doors lock behind her. She walked inside and saw Ben sitting in a booth. She slid onto the seat opposite him and a young waitress stepped up to the table. They ordered coffee and cookies as Ben promised and he waited for her to speak.

"It's stupid," she finally blurted.

Ben smiled and waited.

"The ladies in the office recognized you from that bronze statue that was in the news. Troy, my boyfriend, maybe my ex-boyfriend, saw it and started barking at me for knowing you," Gwen finally admitted.

Ben grimaced and the scar across his face lightened drawing Gwen's eyes. "That damn statue," he growled.

She looked at him in shock. She was no art critic but she thought the statue was gorgeous. "I don't mean to pry but what don't you like about that statue?"

"It's destroyed my privacy. Everyone thinks they now have a right to my personal space," Ben grumbled then shook his head. "Forget that. I'll deal with it. Does your boyfriend think you're cheating on him?"

"This is the first time I've seen him act like this. It's good I found out now that he can be a jealous prick before we got more serious."

Ben looked out the window and saw Troy sitting in his car looking in the window. Ben gestured for Troy to come inside and join them. Troy spun the wheel and screeched his car into a spot.

The waitress was going by so Ben ordered another cookie and turned to Gwen. "How does Troy take his coffee?"

She was shaking with rage and blinked at him. "What? Oh. Black."

"And a black coffee please," he said and the waitress left to get his order.

Troy yanked the door open and strode across the room like an avalanche. Ben calmly slid further into the booth and gestured for the man to sit. Troy's eyes flashed with contempt.

Ben locked eyes with Troy and scowled. His scar flared and Troy froze.

"There are moments in a man's life when he discovers himself standing at the precipice of a colossally stupid decision. Most don't recognize it until it's too late. You are having one of those moments right now. You could open your mouth and lose everything or you can open your ears and heart, sit and listen and learn how you almost lost it all. Be the man she needs you to be. Sit," Ben's voice was deep and calm.

Troy was still really pissed but the big man was seriously intense. Shit, he could be equally cool. Troy slid into the booth facing Gwen. He froze again when he saw how pissed she was and she wasn't showing any guilt for having been caught having a liaison with him.

A waitress appeared and put a mug of black coffee in front of him and a plate with a cookie on it. He stared at the cookie, confused. What was going on here?

"The coffee is really good and the cookies are made fresh in the back," Ben said and took a sip from his mug.

Troy was feeling totally off balance. He began to speak but Ben locked eyes with him again.

"You don't know me. You saw that damn statue and you made some assumptions about me. You're wrong." Ben wasn't smiling and Troy was beginning to sweat.

"I've spent approximately half an hour with Gwen including the ten minutes back in May. We're barely acquaintances. The idea that we're having an affair is insulting to both of us. She's in a relationship with you and I have my own. Again, you don't know me. When I met Gwen today the first thing she told me was that she was in a much better place than when we first met and that she had a boyfriend who was a 'great guy'. This isn't the behavior of a great guy."

Troy wasn't sure why but he believed Ben. Completely. His rage evaporated like mist and in its place was a sick desperation to repair the damage he'd done.

Ben turned his head to look at the glaring woman. "Gwen, men are fuck ups. Especially when we're beginning a relationship. We read the clues all wrong. It's a woman's burden to see a man's worth behind all his bumbling. If you truly believe Troy can be a good man please consider this as just strike one." Troy blinked at Ben as did Gwen.

"I would hate to think I had anything to do with the break-up of a lovely couple just because of a stupid misunderstanding," Ben stressed the 'stupid' while looking at Troy. He had the good grace to nod. "If she accepts your apology remember you're already at strike one. You have to do better. She's worth it." Troy nodded again. Ben raised his eyebrow and tipped his head at Gwen. The man's eyes widened as he caught on.

"Gwen, I'm sorry I made such a colossal ass of myself. Please forgive me," Troy said humbly.

The woman's eyes got a little shiny with tears as she smiled and nodded. Eyes turned back to Ben.

"Eat your cookie while it's still warm," Ben mumbled as he munched on his own cookie. The couple had big smiles and ate their cookies. He did his best to ignore their admiring glances.

When they finished their snacks Ben paid, then drove the van back to the dealership with a very happy Gwen sitting in the passenger seat. Troy held the door open for them when they arrived and the staff who had placed bets on Troy blowing the relationship looked on with disappointment.

Ben sat down across from Gwen at her desk. She was trying to get her equilibrium back.

"So, what do you think of the van?" she finally managed to say.

"It's really nice. Does it come in red?" he asked and her eyes twinkled as she realized she had a sale.

"Yes, yes it does. Which features are you interested in?"

Ben and Gwen spent the next thirty minutes tweaking the options until they had met all of Ben's requirements.

"Do you have a trade-in?" she asked.

"Yes," he said and pointed to the BMW SUV parked by the front window. "How much will I get for that?"

Gwen's eyes went wide. "You're trading that in for a minivan?"

"Yup."

"You'd get a much better price selling it privately. The dealership can't give you anything close to what it's worth," Gwen explained.

"I have no time to spend on selling it," he grumbled.

"It's fully loaded? Top package? All the toys?"

Ben nodded.

"Mileage?"

"22,000 miles. What will you give me for it?"

"Personally I'd give you $30,000," she said with a grin.

"Sold," he replied returning her smile.

Gwen froze and her eyes went wide. "You're kidding, right?"

Ben looked curiously at her. "Were you serious?"

Gwen glanced over her shoulder. "It's against policy for us to personally purchase trade-ins. That said, I'd kill to get my hands on such a sweet ride for that price. Seriously though you could easily get $50,000 for it if you listed it yourself."

Ben scowled. "I don't have the time or the inclination to sell it myself. I'm going to be crazy busy for the next month or so renovating a house in my neighborhood. If you want it for $30,000 it's yours. It needs a tune up."

Gwen snorted with a grin. "Sold. We'll put no trade-in here." She finished the invoice. Gwen handed Ben a business card with her home number written on the back. "We'll arrange the sale of your car next week if that's alright with you. I have to sell my beater and arrange the financing. That won't be a problem." Ben nodded and pocketed the card.

She went through the invoice with Ben and he signed on the dotted line.

"When can I expect to get the new van?" Ben asked.

"I'll submit the order and they'll give me an ETA. I'll give you a call then we will arrange the handoff. They've been really responsive lately so I should get an answer later today." Gwen stood up and Ben got to his feet too. They shook hands then she gave him a hug.

"Thanks Ben! For straightening out that earlier issue," she said quietly.

Ben just shook his head. He walked over to Troy and shook the man's hand. "Good meeting you."

He got back into the SUV and drove home. He walked over to Ashley's place and pressed the doorbell. He held up the van brochure and invoice. The door opened with laughter and Ashley's grinning face was smiling down at him as the door opened. She pulled him inside and the girls all jumped up and down as they looked at the pretty red van on the brochure. Savannah finally pushed past Ben to look out in the driveway.

"Where is it?" she asked.

"They are looking to see if they already have one built with all the options I selected. If not they will build it," Ben explained. "It might take some time to get it."

"Oh," she said with disappointment in her voice.

Ashley just grinned and kissed the top of her head.

"I'll let you know when it's ready. Just thought you'd like to know it's been ordered," Ben said.

Ashley stepped close and pulled Ben into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her to return it. He felt good for helping them and the hug felt really good too.

The hug went on longer than Ben expected and he felt Ashley swaying slightly. He looked over at Madison who was grinning madly. Savannah's eyes were growing wider and wider as she watched the endless hug.

Madison couldn't contain her giggles any longer and Ashley jumped as she realized what she was doing. She pulled back quickly and her face was crimson with her embarrassment.

"It was a really nice hug," Ben said gently.

A smile burst across her face and her eyes flashed with happiness. Ben was a little dazzled as he hadn't seen her inner beauty shining out like that before.

"Ok, I- I guess I'll be going. I'll call when the car calls- I mean when I hear about the van's delivery date." It was his turn to blush. Madison's giggles just got louder and Ben headed out.

He went home and went inside looking for his family. He found a note. Tina went grocery shopping with Trish and took Lucy and the girls. He did see a plate with three cookies on it with a note from Karen saying they were for him.

Ben ate the cookies and was pouring himself a glass of milk when he heard the doorbell ring. He went to the door and saw Rochelle standing on his porch with Jayden who wasn't looking too happy. Ben sighed. The young man never looked happy.

He opened the door. "Rochelle, Jayden, this is a nice surprise. Please come in."

They left their shoes in the foyer and followed Ben into the living room.

"What's up?" Ben asked as Rochelle looked uneasy.

"As you know Jayden is under house arrest. There is GPS monitoring on him and he has to stay within range of a cell phone which connects to the monitoring center. I've arranged for the range on the device to allow him to be within our neighborhood. That's as much concession as the court would allow," she began.

Jayden's look was sour.

"I'm going to need to go back to work and Trish told me you were going to begin renovating the Walker's place this week. Do you think you could use another set of hands on the project? I know it's a lot to ask."

Ben looked at Jayden who was avoiding his eyes. "Do you have any skills?"

Jayden's eyes snapped to Ben. "DO I HAVE SKILLS?"

"Do you know how to use a hammer, a drill, a saw, power tools?" Ben clarified.

"Yeah, I've done a little of that." Jayden's feathers settled and Ben looked at his mother.

"Not every question is an attack, Jayden," Ben said quietly and the boy nodded stiffly. "Have you ever done any renovations?"

"No."

"The first couple of days will be fun for you. We'll be removing all of the fixtures from inside the house to donate then we get to break things. Demo days are highly cathartic," Ben said with a smile and Jayden's eyes lit up a little. "You get to hit stuff with a crow bar." A smile cracked on his face for a moment.

"So Jayden can work with you?" Rochelle said, sounding immensely relieved.

"Yes. On the condition that he follows instructions not only from myself but especially from the job foreman and his boss, Dominic Selleni. Construction sights are dangerous places. He'll need proper work boots and a helmet. Dominic's company is doing this job with me as a favor. They don't typically work on projects this small. They do neighborhoods not individual houses. They also don't typically let the home owners work with them. We need to respect their authority on the worksite. Can you do that Jayden?"

Jayden looked at him seriously and nodded.

"I'll pick up the boots and helmet," Rochelle said.

"Get gloves too. This work can be rough on the hands. And eye protection," Ben suggested. He looked back at Jayden. "What kind of work were you interested in getting into."

"Music. I'm gonna be a producer," Jayden said just a touch defensively.

Ben just nodded. "Ok, well this is nothing like that. We start 9AM Monday morning. There may be a lot of standing around for a bit but that's part of this job as well. Some of the guys smoke so if you need to smoke take your break when and where they do. Coffee breaks and lunch are covered. Any food allergies?"

Jayden looked at him in surprise but shook his head.

"Good, I think you're going to like the lunches. It was so popular with the guys when we renovated the daycare I've booked some gourmet trucks to serve us lunch. The team works really hard so they deserve the perk. I'll expect you to pull your weight as well. Hard work is fulfilling on its own but it also earns rewards." Ben looked at Rochelle. "Shall we discuss compensation?"