The Shepherd of Ashburn Court Pt. 05

He turned to her and kissed her forehead. "I'm not sure what that was. I was thinking of something and now it's gone." He felt than uneasy sensation in the back of his mind and shied away from it. "Let's clean up the kitchen." he said rubbing his hands together. He led the way into the dining room. Tina followed with a concerned look.

Later that night Ben headed off to bed and Tina said she had a little more work to do in the kitchen. When she heard his deep breathing noises she went to the kitchen and picked up the phone. She dialed Hannah's number. It was late but she thought the woman might still be awake. After the third ring the phone was answered.

"Hello?"

"Hannah? This is Tina."

"Hi Tina. What's wrong?"

"Ben had a strange moment tonight and it worrying me." Tina said.

"Can you explain 'strange moment' a little?" Hannah asked.

"We had the new neighbors over for dinner and they are very nice. The husband wasn't there. Just the mother and three kids. They all behave a little differently. Nervous maybe? Anyway after they left Ben said something about there being too much fear then he just froze. I asked him what he meant but he didn't answer. He wasn't moving. He just looked at something far away and I took Christopher from him. Then he came back. He said he was thinking of something but he couldn't remember.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" came angry screams from down the hall. Tina dropped the phone and raced back to the bedroom. She burst into the room and Ben was sitting up in bed panting, his eyes wild. She crawled onto the bed and took his face in her hands looking into his eyes which were now just showing confusion.

"Tina? What's wrong?" he asked.

"You were screaming in your sleep, Ben!" Tina gasped.

"I was?"

"You don't remember why?" she asked.

Ben shook his head. He looked exhausted. He kissed Tina and apologized then flopped back down.

Tina watched him slip back into sleep then she hustled back to the kitchen. She picked up the phone and heard Hannah's frantic voice. "Hello!"

"I am sorry for dropping the phone but Ben was screaming in his sleep!" Tina said.

"Screaming frightened?"

"No, screaming angrily! He screamed NO twice. When I got to the room he was sitting up and his eyes were frightening but he again does not remember screaming or why. I am frightened for Ben!" Tina said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Tina, it's OK. These are likely suppressed memories resurfacing. Something in Ben's past triggered by the new neighbor's behavior maybe. There are still too many holes in his past. I will call Dr. Granger in the morning and let her know. When he gets up tomorrow tell Ben to call me at work. And Tina? It'll be alright. If he's suppressed something that's coming out now then that's a good thing. We can help him heal if we can access the memories."

"Thank you Hannah!" Tina cried.

"Hang in there, Tina!" Hannah said and Tina hung up. She rushed back down the hall and snuggled in beside Ben. She felt his body relax and she trembled with relief.

Chapter 25

Ben drove Ashley and her kids to the bank the following morning to set up the local accounts and to ask about her credit card limit. Ben went in to speak with the manager regarding Tina's house and discovered the Bank was ready to put it on the market. The bank had attained legal ownership over the house and its contents so it was no longer tied to the lawsuit. Ben found out how much they were going to ask and told the manager he could have a sale today if he'd let him buy it at asking for house and contents. The manager contacted head office and got permission to accept the offer. Ben called his lawyer who already had the paperwork ready and they made the transaction happen.

With a big smile on his face Ben walked out into waiting area and saw a despondent woman sitting with her kids. His mood dipped. "What's wrong?"

"I don't understand. I was sure I had a credit limit of $3000 when I left Texas but now they tell me the card is limited to $600. I don't know what I did to make that happen. I can't afford to do anything I need to do before Eli gets here." Ashley said, her lips trembling.

Ben thought for a second. "Are you authorized to change the limit?"

"What?" she asked.

"Can you call in and ask them to increase the limit? Are you authorized on the account to do that?" he asked.

"I didn't set up the card. Eli did."

Ben caught the eye of the bank manager who was also feeling really good because Ben had saved his branch a lot of money in realty fees and headaches. The man came over with a smile. "What can I do for you Ben?"

"Dan, is there any way to find out when a credit card limit is changed and by who?" he asked.

"Sure, I can just speak with the credit card company and ask for an activity report." the manager said.

"Can I ask you to check for activity on this card for the past three days?" Ben handed him Ashley's card. Dan nodded and walked away.

Ashley was looking at Ben with a worried expression.

A few minutes later the manager returned, handed the card back and said that the card had been reverted to the initial credit limit at the request of the primary card holder at 10AM yesterday morning via a telephone request.

"So the primary card holder called the credit card data center, gave his validation information to prove he was who he said he was, and then requested the limit reduction? And he is the only one who can do that?" Ben confirmed.

"That's right." Dan agreed.

"OK, thanks very much Dan!" Ben smiled and shook the man's hand.

He turned back to Ashley with a grim look. "Do you know of any reason why your husband would send you all the way up here to deal with opening the house and getting your services online only to take measures to ensure you didn't have the required funds to do it?"

Ashley looked scared and the girls were wide eyed as well. Ben realized he was growling. His face dropped. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't angry with you. Please forgive me! As you heard from the manager this wasn't your fault at all. I just don't understand your husband's actions. I haven't met him yet so I'm trying to not form any impressions but this is very confusing."

Ashley nodded and bit her lip as she tried to think of what to do next.

"When is your husband going to be arriving?" he asked.

"I don't know." she said, sounding lost.

Ben looked stunned at the woman. She had no money because her husband had limited her funds. She was in a strange town with her three kids. There were loads of things she had to do to get their lives started in this new location, she had no money to do them, and no idea when the man who could resolve the money issue would arrive. Ben couldn't help her set up the services as they had to be set up on her own working credit card but he could make sure she and her family were fed... wait a minute. "There's no power on at your place is there? Heat? Water? Telephone? Cable?" he asked.

She shook her head with sad eyes. "So you can't cook the food you bought at the grocery store. You haven't had breakfast!" The girls looked at him nervously but hopefully. "Let's go take care of that now."

Ben led them out of the bank and across the street to a family restaurant. He told them to order whatever they wanted, his treat. The teens ordered pancakes and bacon and chocolate milk. Ashley was going to have coffee but Ben insisted she needed to keep her strength up for her family so she ordered scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with her coffee. Ben didn't order anything as he'd had breakfast. While they ate Ben discussed next things they could do including registering the girls for school. He sent a text to Catherine quickly explaining Ashley's situation at home and asking if he could order some pizzas and bring the neighbors to her place to visit.

Before brunch was over Catherine responded with a yes for pizza dinner, she'd pay, and an invite to let the ladies sleep at her place until they got their services running. He sent her a thank you.

"OK, we have dinner plans tonight at Catherine's place. I hope you like pizza!" Ben smiled at the teens and they grinned with powdered sugar from their pancakes on their faces. Ben turned to Ashley. You also have a warm place to stay tonight with running water. Catherine will put you up until your husband arrives to resolve these issues. Her two oldest daughters are staying at the University so their rooms are available."

He saw Ashley beginning to get teary eyed. "Please stop. No water works. This is just the hospitality you get when you move into our neighborhood. There are some really amazing people living there. I think you'll like them." Ashley pursed her lips together to stop her tears then smiled broadly at Ben. "That's better!" he smiled.

"Gabriella will likely want a turn as well. Tomorrow I'm picking up a prototype I designed and probably on Thursday I'll be flying down to Austin, Texas for a little work. I'll likely be back on the weekend." Madison's and Savannah's eyes lit up when he mentioned Austin. "Is that where you're from?" he asked. They glanced at Ashley and she nodded.

"Savannah and I were born there but we moved to Houston where Momma died and Daddy met our new Momma." Madison explained and Ben nodded with a smile but he felt a pang of sadness.

They finished up their meals and Ben paid. Then he drove them to the high school where Ashley registered the teens while Ben took care of Joshua.

When they were done Ben had one more stop for himself. He picked up his passport and the girls had a giggle at the bad photo of Ben inside. Then he drove everyone home. Ashley said they still needed to unload boxes so they would do that while they had daylight. He suggested that they pack some clothes and toiletries for a couple of days and meet at Catherine's place at 6:30PM. Before he left he asked what they liked on their pizzas. He made gross, silly suggestions for toppings until he got the answers from the girl's. He sent the order over to Catherine by text.

He went home and dropped himself in his chair in the living room. He wanted to punch someone. Specifically someone driving up from Houston, Texas.

Tina walked into the living room and sat on the ottoman by his feet. "Did you call Hannah?" she asked.

Ben smacked his forehead. "Sorry Tina, I completely forgot. I got some excellent news at the bank. I now own your house. I'll pick up the keys from the bank tomorrow. It's the house and the contents. So unless someone stole something the house should still have all of the stuff you had before." She looked at him nervously. He caught on immediately. "No, I still want you here with me! Just if there was anything you wanted from it hopefully it will still be there. Do you know how to drive? What kind of car did James have?"

"A BMW." she said relaxing a little.

"Ugh. I'll be selling that immediately." Ben growled.

"What you will do immediately is call Hannah!" Tina growled.

"Sorry! Dialing." he said lifting his phone to his ear.

"Administrator Cooper." she answered.

"Hi Hannah! It's Ben."

"You were supposed to call me this morning!" Hannah growled.

"There's a lot of growling going on!" Ben replied.

"Tina has reason to growl if you don't listen to her instructions!" Hannah complained.

"Sorry! It was a busy morning!" Ben explained.

"Well, you missed the opening I was able to get for you. You'll just have to take it up with Dr. Granger on your session on Friday morning."

"Yeah, about that. I need to travel down to Texas on business so I'm going to need to reschedule my Friday session." he said expecting a blow up.

"Ben, you need to put your mental health ahead of everything else. You know that!" Hannah said gently, surprising him.

"Agreed, if there was something concrete to work with at this time. I had a momentary brain fart and a nightmare. That's it. And I don't even remember any details to discuss with the doctor. I have some people waiting on this solution I've designed and it will only take a few days to see if it works. Then I'm home and we will see if there are any further issues then. Thank you both for your concern but for now I'm ok. Can I ask you to reschedule me for next week? I'll even do Monday if you want." Ben asked.

"I'll see if Dr. Granger has an opening early next week." Hannah said but she didn't sound happy.

"Thank you!" Ben replied.

"Call me when you get back from Texas!" she insisted.

"I will Number 4." he grinned.

"Oh hush you!" Hannah huffed but Ben could hear the smile.

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Tina was still looking at him with sad eyes. "I'll talk to the doctor. Next week. Hannah is setting it up. OK?" he touched her chin gently.

"OK."

Ben pulled Tina onto his lap and she rested her head on his chest.

"We're having pizza at Catherine's with the new neighbors. Their services aren't on yet so no power, no heat, no water. They're staying with Catherine overnight or until her husband shows up to adjust her credit card to get the services running."

"If you don't mind I will stay home tonight." Tina said as she ran a finger over his chest.

"You don't like pizza!?!" Ben said incredulous.

"I don't like pizza." she said snuggling in.

"Fine." Ben chuckled and wrapped his arms around the petite woman. This felt like a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

It was shortly past 6:30PM when Ben met up with Ashley and the teens on Catherine's front step. They had a couple of small suitcases with them and Ben was carrying the clamp-on highchair for Catherine's dining room table. Ashley smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"Is Tina not coming?" she asked.

"Tina's otherwise occupied this evening and incredibly, she's not a big fan of pizza. Crazy, right?" he said to the teens who gave him a grin. He could see they were becoming much more comfortable around him.

Catherine pulled the door open with a big smile and welcomed them in. Ben made the introductions and their host insisted they all call her Cat. She explained that her daughter Megan was with her study group and would join them later. Ben affixed the highchair to the side of the table then waited in the living room while Cat led the ladies upstairs to drop off their bags in the rooms they would sleep in. She led them all back down to the living room and told them the pizzas were on their way. Everyone got comfortable.

"How goes the unpacking?" Ben asked.

"I'm so forgetful! I can't find the bolts to assemble the bed frames. I put them in envelopes and I was sure I taped them to the headboards but they're all missing. And the hoses for the washing machine. I was sure I put them inside the machine as I recall draining them but they aren't there. I was so sure but..." She shook her head in frustration and worry.

Ben was watching Ashley when his mind suddenly locked on an image of an older woman, her face a picture of her broken spirit, and a purple black bruise on her cheek.

Catherine asked Ben if he had any spare hoses and noticed he was staring off into space with a grim look on his face.

"Ben? ...BEN!" Catherine called becoming a little concerned. He finally turned his head and blinked.

"Sorry. What?" he asked, a little dazed.

"You OK?" she asked.

"Yes, just a little tired I guess. Sorry, what were you saying?" he tried to get his mind back in the conversation.

"I was asking if you had any spare hoses for the washing machine." Catherine repeated.

"No, they're easy enough to pick up at a hardware big box store but you won't get to use them until you get your water turned on which requires Ashley's husband to get here." He turned to Ashley. "He'll just have to go to the store when he gets here. It's just past the grocery store."

She nodded but looked down.

The doorbell rang and Catherine popped up. "Pizza's here! I'll need helpers to carry it. Not you Ben! You'll eat it all before we get to the dining room." she teased for the girl's benefit. They giggled as Ben frowned sadly. Ben led Ashley into the dining room. Ashley insisted he sit in the guest of honor seat and she sat on the other side of the high chair after she got Joshua situated. Moments later Catherine, Madison, and Savannah walked in loaded with boxes and bags.

There were three large pizzas, chicken wings, two kinds of salads and a variety of soft drinks. Madison and Savannah looked like they were in heaven and Ashley smiled at the teen's happiness.

Once more Ashley and the two teens clasped their hand and closed their eyes in prayer before they began to eat. The woman gave a grateful look to Ben and Catherine for waiting and remaining silent through their prayer.

Megan arrived home and introductions were made. Ben informed the young woman that they'd registered Madison and Savannah at Megan's high school that day. Megan proceeded to fill in the two teens about the amazing clubs and after school programs offered by the high school. The girl's moods took a nose dive and Catherine discreetly signalled to Megan to change the subject. She switched to talking about which teachers were good and how to manipulate the not so good ones. Madison and Savannah perked up but Ben could see they were still sad about the clubs. Ben tried to keep a smile on his face but the idea that their father would prevent the girls from participating in the clubs adding yet another black mark on his impression of the man.

Ashley looked at Catherine and saw how she looked at Ben. She was very confused at the relationships going on in this neighborhood. She saw Ben was a very nice man and would go out of his way to help his neighbors. She was grateful for his assistance and for introducing her to these nice people. She knew that once Eli arrived she would have much less contact with them so she was really enjoying herself now. She'd be punished later but that was later.

She saw there was a lull in the conversation so she thought she's see if Cat knew any anecdotes about Ben like Tina did. "Last night when we had dinner at Ben and Tina's place she told us the story of how Ben saved her son. He saved us from a long walk home with our groceries the first day we met. Did he save you as well?" she smiled at Catherine who was grinning widely by this point. Ben looked nervous.

"Many of us think of Ben as a white knight riding in to our rescue and he has certainly proven willing to step up to that role when necessary. My fairy tale is a little different. When Ben was injured by that man with the club he was rushed to the hospital and it was touch and go for a time. It was so bad that he died four times before they finally managed to stabilize him but by then he was in a coma. For over two months Ben rested in a sleep he wouldn't wake up from. Gabriella went to the hospital every day and sat by his bed reading to him, freshening his flowers, giving him sponge baths-" she froze as she realized she's divulged a secret. Ben's eyes went wide as did Ashley's. Catherine pushed forward. "Anyway, Ben had been in a deep sleep for over two months. I visited most nights after work and Gabriella and I discussed measures for waking him." Ben's face began to go red as he figured out where this story was going. "We'd exhausted everything and were getting a little desperate. We were standing next to his bed, looking down at his peaceful face and I called him Sleeping Beauty. Gabriella suddenly looked at me with this big smile and said she was going to try kissing him awake. I heard the nurse coming so I told her there wasn't time but she went ahead and did it. She kissed him and she jumped when she felt him returning her kiss. When I looked Ben still wasn't moving so I kissed him as well and he kissed me so sensually it sent tingles right to- well, it was very, very good. Then his eyes opened and he was back!" She smiled at Ben drinking him in with her eyes.