“I suppose we should stop by the cabana,” Ben said once he and Katie returned the kayaks that afternoon. “Might as well go ahead and get it over with it.”
She braced for his demeanor to change, which she had noticed seemed to happen when he had to interact with his family.
But to her surprise, his smile remained, and he remained cheerful and talkative as they walked toward the cabana holding hands.
She’d felt a bit of trepidation herself at the thought of another encounter with Lydia, but to her relief, Laura and Brady were the only ones present.
"Where is everyone?" Ben asked once he’d greeted his sister and been tackled by Brady.
"Oh, mom went back to the ship because she was getting too hot,” Laura said from her lounge chair. “Dad and Dale felt like the server was taking too long to bring them drinks, so they both went to the bar. They said they’d be right back, but that was at least an hour or go.”
Brady tugged on Ben’s shorts. “Would you build a Sandcastle with me, Uncle Ben?"
“Of course, Braidster! We need to ask your mom first though.”
Laura frowned as she adjusted the broad-rimmed straw hat on her head.
“I guess, but you have to stay where I can see you.”
Brady jumped up and down, squealing in delight and then he took Ben’s hand and began to pull him toward the water.
“Don’t let him go anywhere near the water, Ben,” Laura called out, and Ben turned back to look at her with a scowl.
“It’s hard to build a sandcastle without wet sand, and in order to get wet sand, you have to go near the water.”
“I don’t want him in the water unless Dale or I are with him."
“Seriously? Do you not remember that I was a lifeguard for three summers.”
Laura’s lips protruded in a pout. "Yeah, well, that was like 15 years ago before you killed all your brain cells partying in college.”
“Whatever,” Ben said as turned to go. “It’s not like I’m taking him out for a swim in the raging sea. We’re just building a sandcastle.”
“You have to watch him though.”
“I realize that, Laura!’
His sister rolled her eyes but then smiled as she looked at Katie and patted the lounge chair next to hers. “Have a seat. I’m excited that we have a few minutes alone for some girl time. The server should be by soon and you can order whatever you'd like. They have a full bar.”
“I’m not really much of a drinker."
"Oh. That's perfect for my brother."
Katie plopped down on the lounge chair and fixed her gaze on Ben and Brady, admiring the muscles in Ben’s sculpted back as he dug a hole in the sand.
“Well, this is different,” Laura said. “Nice, but different.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ben hanging out with the family. Ben bringing a girl to meet the family. Ben laughing and smiling with someone other than Brady.” She lowered her shades on the bridge of her nose and stared at Katie. “You’re good for him. He seems happy.”
Katie wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she just forced a smile and continued to watch the sandcastle construction.
“And don’t worry about Mom,” Laura said, adjusting her hat so she could lay her head back against the chair. “She’s going to fight tooth and nail in the beginning, but I think eventually she’ll get used to it.”
Katie turned to her in confusion. “Get used to what?”
“You not being Allison.” Laura sighed, crossing one ankle over the other. “She’s always been convinced she could get them back together one day. She won’t give that up easily, but hey, what can she do if he chooses you instead? Am I right?”
Katie knew the wise thing to do would be to politely nod and refuse to engage. Her romantic entanglement with Ben was strictly imaginary and would end when the cruise ended, so whether his mother preferred Allison was a moot point, and none of Katie’s business or concern.
But she was concerned. Ben deserved to be happy, and he had every right to choose whom to pursue that happiness with. As someone who had long struggled with her own domineering mother’s inability to respect boundaries, Katie was outraged that Lydia would go to such lengths to try and control her son’s love life. And the fact that everyone else in the family seemed to find it an acceptable status quo made her angrier.
“If he’s not in love with Allison, why on earth would she want them together?”
Laura let out a derisive snicker. “For several reasons, and none of them have anything to do with love. Allison’s family has been around forever. Old money, if you know what I mean. That’s not just what they have in the bank account; it’s also the power and connections that come with it. If my brother were to marry Allison, that would bolster my family’s standing—and let’s be honest…we’re just talking about my mother here. None of the rest of us care.”
“So, she wants him to marry someone he doesn’t love so she can boost her social status?”
“You say that like it’s nothing, but in the circles my mother travels in, it’s everything. And it’s not just about the exclusive lists my mother could get her name added to or the wealth Allison would bring to the marriage, though that certainly sweetens the deal. When Ben was with Allison, he stayed on the path. He was checking off all the boxes my mother had drawn for him. And when they broke up, he went way off path. And I mean way off.”
Laura waved her hand through the air to illustrate her point, and then she took a sip of her drink before continuing.
“Ever since then, he’s been like some kind of vagabond, living all over the world, never in the same place for more than a few months at a time, never coming home. And evidently, he’s done with law, and he’s convinced he’s going to make it with the art thing. And I’m happy for him,” she said in a tone that couldn’t sound less genuine if she tried. “But it’s like he’s determined to do the absolute polar opposite of what Mom expected. I think she feels like Allison would be the key to reigning Ben back in. Allison kept him in line when they were together.”
“Kept him in line?” Katie’s indignation on his behalf swelled, and she found it hard to keep the emotion from her voice. “It sounds like he was miserable, and I applaud his courage in recognizing that and doing something about it. Can’t your mom see that he’s happier now?”
Laura’s brows lifted, and she took off her shades. “You don’t get it, do you? My mother doesn’t want Ben to be happy. She wants him to be punished.”
Katie drew back as though she’d been slapped. “Punished? What do you mean? Punished for what?”
The grin on Laura’s face spread wide and slow, reminding Katie of Alice’s Cheshire Cat. “Oh. I see. You don’t know. He hasn’t told you. Interesting.” She looked back toward her brother and then sat up in a panic as she shouted, “Ben! What are you doing? I said not to go near the water.”
“We’re just rinsing his hands,” Ben called back. “We’re not going in.”
Part of Katie wanted to latch onto Laura’s arm and insist she tell her what the hell that meant before Ben got back within earshot. What was Ben not telling her? Why would his mother want him punished? For what? What had he done?
But a little voice kept chanting in the back of her mind that this was none of her business, none of her concern. She was here for a week. Nothing more. Whatever Ben had done and whatever drama he had with his mother as a result was his problem to solve. She didn’t need to know, and it would likely bring her nothing but misery to try and get involved.
Laura clucked her tongue against her teeth as she relaxed against the seat, standing down now that Ben and Brady were walking back towards the cabana.
“Did I not say to him that I didn’t want Brady in the water? You heard me, right? I swear, no one in this family takes me seriously.”
She sat up again and turned to put her feet between their chairs so she could lean in closer to Katie and whisper.
“You know what you and Ben need to do? You need to get pregnant as soon as possible.”
Katie looked at Ben’s sister like she’d sprouted a new set of feet from the top of her head. “What?”
“I’m serious,” Laura said, laying her hand on Katie’s arm. She glanced at her brother and son to gauge their closeness and then dropped her voice even lower. “It’ll change everything. Mom hated Dale, but as soon as Brady was born, she was the happiest I’ve ever seen her. She’s nice to Dale now, and she lets me do pretty much anything I want as long as she thinks it’s Brady who wants it. He has her wrapped around his finger. Never underestimate how much leverage a grandchild can give you.”
“That’s horrible,” Katie whispered, unable to stop the words from popping out.
“Oh, please.” Laura waved away Katie’s comment with a laugh. “It’s the way things are. She controlled my father with us. I bet he never would have married her if she hadn’t been pregnant with Ben, and he threatened to leave so many times, but there was always us to keep him there. As far as I’m concerned, she’s reaping what she sowed, and I’m reaping the benefits of it.”
“Mommy!” Brady yelled as he rushed to Laura’s side. “Come and see the sandcastle Uncle Ben and I built. It has cannons pointed toward the water so we can shoot any ships that approach.”
“Really?” She glared up at Ben. “Cannons? You know we’re raising him to be anti-violence.”
“It’s an imaginary sandcastle with imaginary cannons to shoot at imaginary pirates,” Ben said. “You and I built a thousand just like it when we were kids, and we didn’t turn out violent.”
“It’s the point I’m making, Benjamin,” she said, sounding eerily like their mother. “I expect you to respect my wishes if you’re going to spend time with Brady.”
“Of course,” Ben said, his grin fading into the nothingness Katie had seen before around his family.
“I think I’m ready to head back to the boat,” Katie said as she fought to maintain her composure and refrain from telling Ben’s sister she was just as awful as their mother.
“Me too.” He put his hands on his hips as he stared down at her. “I was thinking after we get cleaned up we could go back to that gelato place in the gallery and see if it’s open. Maybe check out the chocolate shop, too?”
His eyes had softened when he looked at her, and his grin was trying to return.
She had another overwhelming urge to hug him, but this time it was because she wanted to wrap her arms around him and protect him from the vile nastiness he’d come from.
Despite her mind’s protest, her heart carried her forward. She stood and went to Ben, raising up on her toes to wind her arms around his neck and squeeze him to her, as though she really could shield him from the pain they’d caused.
She didn’t know what he’d done or why he needed to be punished in his mother’s eyes—or why his sister was okay with it—but in the short time she’d been around Ben and the even shorter time she’d spent with his mother and sister, she suspected she’d be on his side even if she knew.
Putting his arms around her waist, Ben held her as she clung to him.
“Wow,” he said quietly against her ear. “That’s quite the response. You must really like chocolate.”
“Are you guys gonna kiss?” Brady asked. “Because that’s gross, and I’m going to cover my eyes if you are.”
“Brady!” Laura admonished. “What is with you and kissing lately? Did Grandma Jackson let you watch soap operas again?”
Reminded that they had an audience, Katie released her grip on Ben, but his arm remained firmly around her waist.
“You okay?” He said under his breath, his voice so quiet she barely heard him.
She nodded and pulled away, and his hand lingered on the bare skin of her back before he let it fall.
Laura had stood while they embraced, and she was watching them with her hand on top of Brady’s head as he buried his face against her and said, “They’re yucky.”
“Don’t mind him,” she said to Ben and Katie. “Dale and I are always careful not to touch or kiss in front of him, but Dale’s mom leaves the television on with the soap operas playing, and Brady’s getting quite the education. I told Dale if she keeps it up, we’re going to have to put our foot down and not let Brady go over there, but he won’t stand up to his mom.”
Ben chose not to acknowledge her comments and instead nodded toward the ship. “You guys heading back now? You wanna walk with us?”
“No, I better wait and see what Dale wants to do.”
“All right then. We’ll see you at dinner.”