Chapter 32
Des Arc, Arkansas
“Hey, you’re home? I was worried something had happened to you.” Sitting up, Ben ran a hand through his tousled hair.
“Just a late dinner at the Waters’s. If I had known you were here, I would have asked you to join us, or better yet, left earlier,” called Ella from the bathroom. After a moment, she emerged with her face scrubbed clean and wearing a pair of her new, very large maternity pajamas.
“I only got here about an hour ago. I played golf in Searcy, then had dinner with my folks and the girls. All of them send their love and are excited to see you tomorrow.”
Walking around and climbing into bed, Ella snuggled under the covers next to Ben. “I am glad you had a nice afternoon. I felt really guilty leaving you when I had to leave so abruptly today, especially after you took time off to be with me.”
Ben gave Ella a kiss on the forehead. “I understood. Goodness knows I have left you high and dry a lot over the last few months. Sometimes work calls. I hope it all went well.”
Smiling her brightest smile, even though she was exhausted, Ella said, “It went great. The project is almost done. We will finish next week. Waters and Blesson were very impressed.”
Pulling Ella close and spooning her, Ben replied, “I am not a bit surprised. You are amazing. They were very lucky to have you helping them. Not going to lie though, I am ready for this to be done and have you back home with me.”
Closing her eyes, Ella said, “Well, I am pretty sure I was the lucky one here. This study is going to look great on my resume for years to come.” Yawning loudly, she added, “I hate to ask this, but I am so tired. Would you be mad if we turn off the game and go to sleep?”
Kissing her softly on the lips, Ben said, “Sure, baby. Love you,” as he clicked off the television.
Ella echoed the words back in a whisper as she quickly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Ella woke just long enough to kiss Ben goodbye because he had an early tee time.
Needing to be in the office by 8:00, she pushed herself out of bed and into the shower.
The day sped by. She and Blesson finalized all the plans for the ending of the project.
They finished around 2:00, and he left for the airport shortly thereafter.
Exhausted, Ella finished up some paperwork, then went back to her house for a nap. She slept until almost 4:00. Knowing she needed to get up, shower, and dress for the Crawfish, Ella once again pulled herself up and out of her bed. Within an hour and half, she was on the road to Searcy.
On the ride over, she thought about all the fundraisers and country club dinners she had attended since January.
She had not grown up doing these like Ben had.
She found them tiresome and boring. If she knew anyone at the events other than family, they might have been better.
But the only friends she had made were at her job.
Lynn and the guys who were on the crew were a lot of things, but country clubbers they were not.
Ella acknowledged that Poppy always made an effort to talk to her and keep her entertained, but Bennett was forever calling her away to meet one person or another.
More often than not, Ella sat alone, trying not to look like a lost puppy—or worse like the beached whale she was fast becoming.
Just as Ella had feared, the Crawfish Golf Dinner was not much different than all the other club events she had attended over the past few months.
Sitting alone at the huge table, she found herself spending way too much time comparing herself to others and worrying about how she looked.
She was becoming insecure about her looks and her lack of social skills in Ben’s world.
To her, these events were just something to be endured with a fake smile and as little said as possible.
Afterall, Ella had come to realize she was just seen as Ben’s lovely wife by the older people—and as the witch who trapped Searcy’s most eligible bachelor by the younger ones.
It had not escaped Ella’s notice that several gorgeous young girls around Ben’s age, along with some who were slightly older, looked upon her with contempt.
They saw her as the girl who stole their chance with him.
She knew Ben had no interest in any of them.
If he had, he would never have been with her.
She knew he loved her, case closed, but that did not keep her from feeling fat and frumpy in front of them, especially because she was currently experiencing a massive amount of swelling.
Her feet and hands were so huge she could not wear her rings, and the only shoes she could get on her feet were flip-flops.
So here she was at a country club dinner, in a black sundress she had bought the day before with shower shoes on her feet.
If she did not feel so tired and blah, she would have been embarrassed.
As it was, she was doing all she could do to be there.
For once, Ben had actually eaten his large plate of crawfish with her. She had passed on the swamp critters and instead nibbled on the corn and potatoes. No way was she going to eat something that wiggled around in the mud.
After dinner though, Ben did what he always did at these things—even though he had promised to stay with Ella.
Of course, he had asked for permission before abandoning her for his golf buddies as they all went outside to look at the scoreboard.
He asked if she wanted to join him. She promptly said no and encouraged him to go ahead.
The last thing she wanted to do was stand around in the heat watching her feet grow even larger.
Instead, she sat at a table with people she did not know and pretended she was interested in the conversation of the lady next to her going on and on about her terrible maid.
It was all so cliché Ella fought the urge to say, “Finding good help is a first-world problem.” Ella doubted the lady would even get it, so she said nothing.
Around 8:00, the band began playing. Ella was surprised at how good they were. She was tapping her swollen feet and swaying to the music when she saw her mother’s name pop up on her phone. Answering, she said, “Hey, Mom, it is really loud in here. Hang on a second while I step outside.”
Stepping outside, Ella took the call by the empty pool area. As quickly as she could, she scurried over to one of the deck chairs and plopped down into it. Holding the phone off to one side, she put her mother on speaker to make it easier to talk.
“Okay, are you still there?” she asked, a little out of breath.
“Yes, dear. Where are you? The music is so loud,” said her mom.
“We are at one of Ben’s golf things.”
“Golf at night?” asked her mother, confused.
“They play golf during the day. At night they have dinner and dancing.”
“Sounds like a lot to me. You are eight months pregnant. You should be home resting.”
Ella did not respond to her mother’s critical comment.
She knew full well that her mom had worked on her feet all nine months of five of her pregnancies.
Why she suddenly was all about pregnant women needing to be treated with kid gloves and spend time resting was comical.
Of course, Ella did not say any of that.
Truth was, Ella would have much preferred to have been home resting, but she was not going to say that either.
Instead she asked, “What’s up? Why did you call? ”
“I called because I am worried about you. How are you feeling?”
“I am okay. I feel like a bloated, beached whale most of the time, but I’m making it.”
“That is great, honey. Make sure you keep an eye on the swelling. Remember your cousin Lueann got toxemia. She almost died. Make sure they check you for that if you are swelling too much.”
Ella rolled her eyes. It was only May, but it was already ninety degrees here.
Of course, she was swelling. Not wanting to get into a long discussion with her mother about her cousin and all the things that could go wrong with her, Ella said, “Yes, Mother, I will ask the doctor when I see her this week.”
“I wish I were there with you. Don’t worry.
I have already booked a flight for the second week of June.
I hope that I am able to be there when the baby is born.
I hate you are there all by yourself with no one to help you.
I wish you had not stayed there so long, working on that project.
If you had left in April like your father and I begged you too, you could have had the baby here with your family to help you.
Since you can’t come home now, how is the counseling going?
I knew when you married so quickly it was not going to end well.
You know nothing is set in stone. We are here for you.
I mean obviously you two are trying, but maybe this is just not meant to be. ”