Lost and Found - Danielle Steel Page 0,91

book, so you don’t look like a liar.”

“I’d like that anyway.” He smiled at her and kissed her. They went back to the house, and he slid down the fire pole twice, just for the hell of it, and then raced up the stairs to her bedroom and grabbed her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, startled as he kissed her passionately and pushed her onto the bed.

“I’m having withdrawals! Quick! Save me! You’re the only one who can! You haven’t made love to me since this morning!”

“You’re crazy,” she said, laughing at him as he took her dress off and fondled her breasts and she unzipped his pants.

“Crazy about you,” he said, as their clothes landed in a heap on the floor, and he made love to her. He was more in love with her than ever, even after meeting Deanna.

* * *

—

Deanna called Ben as soon as she got home. He and Laura were about to leave for a dinner party.

“I think Mom has a boyfriend,” she said darkly, as though telling him their mother had been arrested for shoplifting or drunk driving.

“Oh? What makes you think that?” He sounded neutral. Deanna sounded panicked. Not furious, but scared.

“We just had dinner with some guy she invited us to dinner with, and they look suspiciously cozy together.”

“Is he some kind of derelict or something?” It would have surprised him of their mother.

“He’s English, a writer. Some famous biographer.”

“And the problem is? Is he a drunk? A drug addict? Recently out of prison?”

“Don’t be an ass. I just think it’s weird if she’s dating again at her age.”

“What is your obsession with her age these days? Leave the poor woman alone. I don’t think she’s had a guy in her life for years. She’s a beautiful woman, and if she’s found someone, more power to her.”

“She doesn’t need someone. She has us.”

“Really? Me, three thousand miles away who sees her twice a year and calls her twice a month if she’s lucky? And you, who never sees her at all, and wants to shove her into assisted living in her fifties? Or Milagra, who hasn’t called her since she threw up at school when she was six? What part of that picture do you think is such great company for her? I hope she does have a guy. At least she’d have some fun for a change instead of working her ass off all the time. Is he nice?”

“I don’t know…yes…maybe…he paid for dinner.”

“At least he’s not a deadbeat. So what’s your complaint?”

“Nothing. I just think she doesn’t need that. It’s unnecessary. What if she marries him?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Laura was screaming at him by then that they were late. “I think you need to get off Mom’s back. For all you know, they’re just friends. Did she say she was dating him?”

“No, but I could tell.”

“Get over it, Dee. She’s not just your mommy anymore. She’s a grown woman, and she needs a life. Maybe more than she needs children who don’t pay attention to her. Maybe next time, she’ll run away with this guy. It might be good for her. Where does he live?”

“In Big Sur.”

Ben stopped and smiled then. “That’s interesting. That was the last stop on her big driving trip. Maybe she met him there. Or maybe he was the last man on her list she was checking out. Either way, he doesn’t sound like a bad guy to me. If she introduces me to him, I’ll let you know what I think.”

“I bet she will,” his sister said conspiratorially.

“We’ll see. Good night, big sis. Go watch TV and leave Mom in peace.” He hung up and hurried out to Laura who was waiting in the car and annoyed with him.

“I like the guy,” David said to Deanna when she hung up. He couldn’t help overhearing.

“You just want him as an author,” she snapped at him.

“True. But I like him anyway. He’d be nice for your mother. It would be good for her to have a man in her life.”

“Why?” Deanna said to him coldly.

“Because everyone needs someone to love and be loved by, Deanna. You forget that sometimes.”

“She’s my mother, not some twenty-five-year-old floozy.”

“She’s a woman, and she’s not as old as you like to think. And you’re lucky if she is dating him. He’s not some thirty-year-old gigolo. He’s a great guy.” Deanna didn’t answer him. She went upstairs to her bedroom to get undressed, thinking about her mother, and wondering