Cinderella's Sweet-Talking Marine Read online

  “Yeah.” Ben cleared his throat. “Thanks.”

  “I mean it. If you ever need to talk…”

  “Just call Striker,” they said in unison, grinning to hide their discomfort at having revealed too much. “Collect.”

  “What do you think of your new room?” Ellie asked her daughter. “Do you like it?”

  Amy nodded. “It’s big. I like the castle you drewed on the shades. Can I go next door and play with Mandy?”

  Amy had taken the shy little three-year-old under her wing since moving in, and being the stronger one for a change had given Amy a burst of confidence that made Ellie’s heart proud.

  “Yeah, sweetie. Mandy and her mom are expecting you.” She walked her next door and talked briefly with Mandy’s mom before returning home.

  Ellie was so happy these days that she was tempted to pinch herself. Finally it seemed like all the bad times were behind her. Sure there were still things to work out, but for the first time in a long time she was optimistic about her future and her dreams to have a family.

  The sound of a knock on her front door interrupted her thoughts. Thinking it was Amy, she said, “Did you forget something—”

  Her words ended abruptly as she realized who was standing on her doorstep.

  “Hi, honey,” her ex-husband Perry drawled. “Did you miss me?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ellie gripped the door frame with one hand. She wasn’t afraid of Perry, she was just stunned to see him after so long. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

  “Now, honey.” His smile was as charming as ever. His face was tanned and he appeared to be in great shape. He was wearing a designer polo shirt that matched the blue of his eyes, and a pair of expensive leather shoes peeked out from the knife-like hem of his khaki pants. “Is that any way to greet your long-lost husband?”

  “ Ex-husband. How did you find me?”

  “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

  She hesitated. She really wasn’t keen on having him invade her space.

  “Unless you’d rather we aired our dirty laundry out here on the front porch where anyone can hear.” He turned around and waved at the woman across the way, who’d just gone to get her mail from the mailbox by the street.

  Ellie let him in. “What do you want?”

  “What makes you think I want anything?” he countered as he strolled into the living room, taking stock of everything with one glance.

  “Because you’re you.”

  “Maybe I just wanted to see my daughter after all this time.”

  Her resentment about his cavalier attitude toward fatherhood bubbled to the surface. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you keep in touch with her? It was bad enough that you rarely sent any child-support payments, but to forget your own daughter’s birthdays. That stinks!”

  Perry shrugged and flashed one of his supposedly endearing grins. “You know I’m no good with dates.”

  “You’re no good, period,” she muttered under her breath. He didn’t even have the decency to act repentant.

  “So where is Amy?”

  “She’s at a friend’s house.”

  “Good. Then we can talk alone.”

  Ellie folded her arms across her chest, trying to contain her anger. “You never answered me. How did you find me?”

  “You gave your new address to my mom.”

  “So she did know where you’ve been all this time.” Ellie had suspected as much.

  “Not all the time, no. But I do check in with her from time to time to see how things are going.”

  “To borrow money, you mean.”

  Perry shot her a reproachful look, a lock of his sun-streaked hair tumbling over his forehead. “I’m sensing some hostility on your part. That’s a shame. It looks like things have turned out great for you, so you’d think you’d be in a better mood. Nice place you’ve got here.”

  “What do you want?”

  He grabbed an apple from the bowl on the dining room table. “I can see that life has been looking up for you lately, Ellie, and I’m glad. Real glad. My mom told me you got remarried.”

  “That’s right. And he’ll be back any time now, so you’d better get to the point.”

  “My mom also told me that you married into money.”

  “Ben is just a Marine.”

  “A Marine with money. Don’t bother lying, Ellie. I checked him out. He inherited several million dollars. Given that fact, I think it’s only fair that you share some of your recently acquired good fortune with me.”

  “Why should I?”

  “Because if you don’t, I can make life very difficult for you in a wide variety of ways. Starting with Amy’s adoption. I could drag that out for years.” His voice remained pleasant, which made his threat all the more disturbing.

  “Why would you do that? Are you telling me that, after all this time, suddenly you want to be a good father to Amy?”

  “This isn’t about being a good father.”

  His words struck her deeply. “You’re right. It’s not. It’s all about you and what you want. The way it always is.”

  “If you don’t give me what I want I can make trouble for you, Ellie. And not just about Amy. Has this new husband of yours told you that he loves you?”

  The look on her face said it all.

  “Ah, I didn’t think so. I’ve heard he’s the Dudley Do-Right kind. Always tells the truth. He can’t lie and say he loves you if he doesn’t.”

  In her panicked state of mind Ellie had no doubt that Perry would do as he threatened and make her life miserable any way he could. “What do you want?”

  “I already told you. I just want you to share some of your good fortune with me. Give me the money I need and everyone goes away happy. What do you say?”

  Ellie suspected that Perry would take pleasure in trying to ruin her newfound happiness with Ben. She knew that Perry would make good on his threats. She also knew firsthand how convincing Perry could be when telling his lies. He was a consummate con man, able to pull the wool over the most experienced person’s eyes. He could indeed make the adoption difficult and Amy certainly didn’t need that. The little girl needed a reliable father who would always be there for her. She needed Ben.

  With that in mind, Ellie was momentarily tempted to give in to Perry’s demands. “How much do you need?”

  “I think a hundred thousand should do it.”

  Ellie was momentarily speechless. Had he always been this bad? She hated to think so. There had been a time when he’d had moments of being much better than he was now. But years of self-indulgence had obliterated any sign of good in him obviously, if he was willing to in effect sell his own daughter for one hundred grand.

  Where had the man she’d married gone? Sure, he’d had his faults, but he’d also had a few good traits. She was saddened at the realization that the man she’d fallen in love with and had a child with was gone, transformed into someone who’d use his own daughter to get ahead.

  If she gave in to him now, he’d only want more next time. And with a guy like Perry, there would always be a next time if he thought you had something he wanted.

  “What’s wrong? You don’t think your happiness is worth that much?” He smiled at her again, his perfect teeth a slash of white in his tanned face. “Of course it is. So what do you say?”

  Looking at him, Ellie knew what she had to do. “What do I say? I say forget it.”

  “You’re making a big mistake.” His smile had a nasty edge to it now.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “I can make this adoption deal drag on for years.”

  “You can try, but I have faith in our attorney. Your track record speaks for itself.”

  “I can turn over a new leaf, tell the court I’ve seen the error of my ways and that I want to be a good father to Amy.”

  “Which would be a lie.”

  Perry shrugged, her accusations rolling off him like water off a duck. “Doesn’t matter.
I can convince the court of my sincerity. I’m telling you, Ellie, you’d be wise to listen to this offer of mine. I can make all kinds of trouble for you, not only with Amy’s adoption but with that new husband of yours. You know, the one who hasn’t said he loves you. I could tell him how you drove me away….”

  “You can tell him whatever lies you want, but Ben won’t believe you,” Ellie said.

  “Damn right, I won’t believe a no-good con man over the woman I love,” Ben said from the doorway.

  Ellie barely had time to register the fact that Ben had just declared his love for her for the very first time before he advanced on Perry, who quickly backed up.

  “I do believe it’s time for you to leave.” Ben used that Marine Corps voice of his, the one that demanded instant obedience. “Let me show you the way out.”

  “Ben…” She didn’t want him getting into a fight with her ex. That wouldn’t help their case for Ben to adopt Amy.

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control.”

  She sank onto the couch, only now realizing that her knees were shaking. She still couldn’t believe Perry had the audacity to come here and demand payment for his daughter. She still couldn’t believe he’d shown up at all. Without any indication that he wanted to see his daughter. What he’d wanted to see was a big check with his name written on it.

  She nervously wiped her damp palms on her black shorts. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so quick to turn down his offer. Had she done the right thing? Had Ben really said he loved her? What was taking him so long? What was he doing out there with Perry?

  As if on cue, Ben walked back into the house.

  “What happened?” she demanded.

  “Perry made me another offer, lowering his price this time.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I told him to get his attorney to put it in writing and send it to our attorney.”

  “You’re going to pay him off?”

  “I’m going to make sure that he won’t have the opportunity to take advantage of you or Amy ever again by making sure he’s out of your lives forever.”

  “How did you know he was here?”

  “Amy told me.”

  “Amy knew he was here?”

  “She saw him through the living room window next door when he first pulled up. She went outside to greet him and heard him talking to you. She didn’t like what she heard, so she had Mandy’s mom call me.”

  “Where is she?” Ellie was frantic at the thought that Amy might be faced with the reality of how shallow her biological father really was.

  Ben put a hand on her shoulder before sitting down on the couch beside her. “Calm down. She’s still over at Mandy’s and she’s fine.”

  “She didn’t hear Perry demanding money, did she? No, she couldn’t have,” Ellie muttered, reassuring herself. “The front door was shut.”

  “So I rush in here only to find that you’ve taken care of things yourself and didn’t need me to save the day.”

  “I don’t need you to save me, I just need you to love me,” Ellie said.

  “And I do.” Ben took her hand and raised it to her lips, palm uppermost. “Have I told you yet how very much?”

  “No.” Her voice was unsteady but her smile was wide. “But feel free to go ahead and give it your best shot.”

  “Not until you tell me how you feel about me.” He held her hand against his face.

  “I think I first started falling in love with you when you walked into Al’s Place and told that guy to keep his hands off me. I know you kept stealing bigger and bigger pieces of my heart when you made up Amy’s bedtime stories for her. But you know when I was a real goner?”

  “No, when?”

  “When you gave me that coffeemaker and set it up so I’d wake up to coffee on my wedding morning.”

  He grinned at her, his dimple flashing. “So that’s your weakness, huh? I’ll have to remember that. And here’s something for you to remember. I love you and I always will.” He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her.

  “I give up!” Ben dramatically declared later that evening as he sat on the edge of Amy’s bed.

  “Marines don’t give up,” Amy reminded him.

  “I ended the story with Lady Blush and Sir Goodknight flying off on Flamebo’s back and you didn’t like that. I ended it with Sir Goodknight putting Sir Breedembad in the dungeon and you didn’t like that.”

  “Don’t forget the version where an entire unit of Marines overtake the All-Moat castle,” Ellie said from the other side of Amy’s bed.

  “Right.” Ben nodded. “I ended it a dozen other ways, and you’re not happy with any of them. Maybe I should just let you come up with the ending.”

  “Okay,” Amy immediately said. “I think they say they love each other and they adopt Flamebo and then eat cake and live happily ever after.”

  “That’s it? No big rescues?”

  “They already saved each other, Ben.” Amy sounded much older than her years.

  Ben gave Ellie a wry smile. “Like mother like daughter.”

  Amy leaned forward. “But you don’t just like us, you love us, right, Ben?”

  “Right.”

  She took his hand and placed it in her mother’s before putting her little hand on top of their clasped fingers, nodding approvingly. “Outstanding. We’re a family now.”

  “Yeah,” Ben agreed, his eyes filled with love. “We’re a family.”

  “So when are we getting a dragon?” Amy asked.

  A year later…

  “Are you ready for your storybook wedding to begin?” Latesha asked Ellie as they stood in the anteroom of the church.

  “Actually we’re renewing our vows on our first anniversary.”

  “A brilliant idea,” Ellie’s sister-in-law Kate congratulated her. “You look absolutely beautiful, by the way. Like Cinderella.”

  “I’ll tell you who looks beautiful. That baby of yours.” Kate had had a boy named Sean five months ago.

  “Striker and I think so.”

  “So does Amy. She won’t let him out of her sight. She told Ben she wanted us to get a baby next.”

  “What did Ben say to that?”

  “That he was working on it.” Ellie’s grin reflected her happiness.

  “Are you girls good to go in there?” Ben’s dad called the question through the closed door. “It’s time.”

  “I think it’s so cool that he’s walking you down the aisle and giving you away.”

  “Me, too.” Stan and Angela had indeed become real family to her. It might be bending the rules to have her father-in-law walking her down the aisle, but she didn’t care. Today was all about celebrating love and she’d grown to love Stan like a father.

  Ellie took a last glance in the full-length mirror. Her dress, with its off-the-shoulder bodice over a multi-layered French tulle skirt, was indeed something that would have done Cinderella proud. Dainty horizontal bands of silver glass beads adorned the entire bodice while a seventy-two-inch train trailed royally behind.

  Ellie touched her fingers to her reflection as if unable to believe it was really herself she was staring at. Then she carefully turned to face her wedding party—Frenchie as matron of honor, Cyn and Latesha grinning wickedly, and Kate.

  “All right, girls, it’s time we made our grand entrance. Let’s go.”

  Unlike last time, when Ellie had been so nervous she’d almost run out of the Love Me Dew Wedding Chapel, this time she was utterly confident in her love for Ben and his for her. His adoption of Amy had gone through only a week before, so today was a double celebration.

  Amy, now a happy and confident six-year-old, was dressed like a princess and carrying a stuffed dragon named Ernie Infernie along with her basket of flowers. She still loved hearing about the continuing adventures of Lady Blush, Sir Goodknight and the rest of the gang.

  Ellie smiled at Stan as she placed her hand on his arm. Then her attention turned to Ben, waiting at the end of the ais
le for her along with his groomsmen brothers—Striker, Rad and the twins Steve and Tom. Like Stan, all were dressed in their Marine dress blue uniforms.

  The church was filled with friends and family. Ellie didn’t get teary eyed until the moment when Amy stepped forward along with Stan to give Ellie into Ben’s safekeeping.

  “They save each other,” Amy told the minister. “And me, too.”

  At which point Ben just had to pick her up and hug her.

  As Ellie renewed her vows to Ben, she marveled at how her love for him had only increased over the past year. And when the minister finally said, “You may kiss your wife,” Ben flashed her a grin that still had the ability to make her heart stop, before kissing her in a way that made her knees weak.

  The crowd cheered, the large Marine audience shouting, “Ooh-rah,” as they walked back down the aisle and out of the church.

  Once outside, they were greeted with six commissioned officers, including all of Ben’s brothers. Ben and Ellie paused as Rad issued the command—“Center face.” The officers formed two facing lines, three on each side. “Bridge swords.” They all raised their swords up to form an arch.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Captain and Mrs. Kozlowski.”

  As she walked beneath the arch with her husband at her side, Ellie sent a prayer of thanks to her brother, who was with her in spirit.

  The reception was held at a country club nearby. Magnolia trees blossomed outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. When Ben and Ellie walked in, the band played the “Marine Corps Hymn.” Decorations on the white linen-covered tables included American flags and standards of Ben’s Marine Corps unit along with red roses.

  Amy claimed her favorite part was when Ben and Ellie cut the wedding cake with Ben’s sword. He presented it to Ellie, who cut a slice of the wedding cake with his hand resting over hers.

  Latesha maintained that her favorite part was when she caught the bouquet, only to have Earl propose to her minutes later.