The Shepherd's Crook Pt. 02

"What happened?" the Sergeant asked in concern. They all looked down the road to see an ambulance with lights flashing, pull into the driveway of 2 Ashburn Court. The Sergeant's eyes were wide with concern as she looked over Ben's body for injuries.

"What happened?" Trish pushed. Rain handed him the bottle of water she was carrying. He took it gratefully, rinsed, and spit into the grass.

Ben shook his head. "Tatiana didn't understand the true nature of her situation and the deal the General and I worked out. I showed her how incorrect her assumptions were. She probably has a mild concussion." He dabbed at his mouth as his stomach cramped once more.

"Is she going to come after you?" Trish asked nervously.

"I don't believe she will. After all, she pulled her knives on me, but I let her live. That message can't be any clearer."

Evelyn bristled and turned to run over to 2 Ashburn Court. Ben grabbed her and pulled her back against his chest with his arms around her. She struggled for a moment until he moved his lips to her ear. "She needed to learn this lesson in humility. I hope it helps her understand we aren't targets but friends. She's welcome back if she understands, but I will ask you to continue your vigilant observation of her. She is a master at deception and lies with ease."

The Sergeant was struggling not to tremble as Ben's warm breath tickled her ear. The strength in his arms wrapped around her was doing things to her. Tingly things! Not trusting her voice she nodded. When he released her, she turned to see the knowing smiles on the faces of Trish and Rain. Her face felt hot.

"Come on, let's get back to our friends," he sighed.

They spent the next few hours talking with their neighbors as the kids played then Ben walked back to his driveway and settled into his lawn chair. He had some things he needed to get sorted in his mind, and he needed a little quiet time.

Life felt like it was accelerating once more. So much had happened since he got confirmation on the ownership of the deeds. He understood he owed Tatiana a debt of gratitude for ensuring the Mafia were in no condition to threaten that or his family. He was pretty sure she knew he was grateful.

With the massive windfall, he'd assisted Walter with the expansion of his legal practice. So far that was yielding excellent results. The parceling of the property and the sale of those parcels was going exceptionally well. There was a plan in place, and the effect of these sales was going to be a dramatic revitalization of the areas in these cities.

Catherine was blossoming in her new role as the head of his foundation. She was ensuring it was properly registered as a charity in each jurisdiction he was setting up headquarters in. Trish was working closely with her and getting the word out that this was coming. She'd even arranged television interviews for Cat. That was accelerating as well though it was still early days.

His worries about Chanel and Catherine's relationship hadn't been unfounded. The day he'd announced the foundation to his friends and neighbors, the couple had a major blowout about it. Gabriella stepped in before their marriage fractured. She'd pointed out to Cat that she'd failed to communicate with Chanel the changes Ben's plan made to their lives. When she was done, the couple was clinging to each other in tears at how close they'd come to losing something so precious.

Ben offered the Head of Security position to Chanel. One of her duties would be to ensure Catherine was safe when she traveled. The job would expand considerably once the foundation offices were open. She hadn't given him her answer yet but there was time.

Thinking of the foundation reminded him of a call he'd had the night before with Phil DeMonte. The actor was giving him an update on the progress of their movie. When the studios refused to give them artistic control over the film, they'd contacted him to see if he was still willing to back them. He'd agreed, and that had begun a whirlwind of activity. Ben did his best to keep his fingers out of that pie as his life was already too full. On the call, he'd promised Phil to visit the set in New York soon.

He sighed.

He suddenly felt lips on his forehead and opened his eyes. A vision of loveliness smiled down at him. Long, platinum blonde hair, striking, green eyes with thick lashes, delicate brows, high cheekbones, slender nose, and full, lush lips... and the scars on her arms. Willow. He sat up in surprise.

A short distance behind her, Dan Bishop stood waiting, a smile on his face.

Ben grinned as he stood. "Willow! Dan! I wasn't expecting to see you, but this is wonderful!"

He gave Willow a gentle hug and shook the man's hand. He looked back at the beauty then touched his forehead. "What was that for?"

Willow blushed. "For protecting Dan. He told me how you saved him back in Russia. Thank you!"

"My pleasure and he saved me too!" Ben grinned.

"I'm in town to meet a client who's looking to take their home off the grid. I promised Willow we'd stop by to say hello," Dan explained. "We were actually on our way to the client. If you don't have plans tonight, perhaps we could catch dinner someplace?"

"You can join us for dinner here at home!" Ben said happily. "7 PM?"

"That would be great! Thanks!"

Willow gave him a peck on the cheek as Dan smiled at Ben's happy expression. Then they were waving and heading back to their rental car. He waved as they drove off.

Ben settled back into his chair to contemplate how many whirlwinds his life was collecting. His mind calmed as the heat of the sun soaked into his body.

Sometime later he felt fingers running through his hair.

"Simply scandalous length." Ben stifled the snort as he enjoyed the southern twang in Ashley's sweet voice. He kept his eyes closed as he enjoyed her fingers running over his scalp.

"Mmmm, I've meant to do something about that," he sighed.

"Definitely needs a cut," she said, and he could hear the excitement in her voice, the slight tremble in her fingertips.

His smile became a grin. "You ready to do something about it?" he said boldly.

"In the afternoon?" she gasped in surprise. He simply nodded.

He felt her hand tremble in his hair then her grip tightened.

"Yes! I- I believe that can be accommodated," she stammered out.

He opened his eyes and saw Ashley's blush and the excitement in her eyes.

Trish was right. Sometimes it was fun to push people outside of their comfort zone.

Life may be accelerating, but there was time to stop occasionally and enjoy the beauty around him.