More Than Love, page 1
More Than Love
by
Sharon C. Cooper
Copyright © 2020 Sharon C. Cooper
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For permission, contact the author at https://sharoncooper.net
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Disclaimer
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Blurb
Going from friends to lovers doesn’t come easy…
Corporate attorney Benjamin Jenkins is one of Cincinnati’s most eligible bachelors, but he’s only interested in one woman—Makena Nichols. Though life took them in different directions, they’ve been friends for over forty years. Now Ben wants more than just friendship. He wants all of her.
Makena compares every man, including her ex-husband, to Ben. He’s her heart. She’s crazy about him, and what they share is more than love. But she’s not willing to risk their friendship for a romance that might not last. However, Ben is persistent, and her stubbornness is no match to his.
When a Jenkins’ family secret shatters Ben’s world, Makena is the one he turns to. But will their friendship survive a roller-coaster of emotions? Or will their eternal love bring them through this challenging time?
Chapter One
“Want something else to eat, son?”
Benjamin Jenkins glanced at his mother, Katherine, as he ate the last forkful of smothered chicken and rice on his plate. “I’m good, Mom, but thanks. As usual, dinner was excellent.”
“Dang, Momma. You didn’t ask if I had enough to eat,” his sister, Carolyn Jenkins-Richwood, grumbled with mock disgust.
Ben stopped by his parents’ estate after work at least once during the week to check on them, and again on Sunday for the family’s weekly brunch. With six brothers and sisters, a ton of nieces and nephews, and a few great-nieces and nephews, it was rare to show up and not have other family members present.
Today, it was Carolyn. She was sitting across from him rolling her eyes.
Standing, she walked across the huge kitchen to the center island and grabbed another slice of bread. “I always knew big-headed Ben was your favorite.”
Ben grinned, not surprised by her comment. Even in their fifties, his siblings still took every opportunity to complain that he was the favorite child.
He shrugged. “What can I say? It’s true.”
“Now y’all know I don’t have favorites. I love all of you the same,” their mother said as she wiped down the kitchen counter. That was her standard line whenever the conversation came up. It might’ve been true that she loved them all the same. Katherine Jenkins had a way of making everyone feel special.
After rinsing his plate and placing it in the dishwasher, Ben draped his arm around his mother’s shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. There weren’t enough words in his vocabulary to describe how much he loved the woman. She was the heartbeat of the Jenkins family, and he couldn’t imagine a life without her in it.
Growing up, his parents were always present. His father used to put in a lot of hours getting Jenkins & Sons Construction on the map, while his mother took care of them and the household. Yet, one of them always showed up at their kid’s school events, sporting activities, and was always there to get them out of jams. They made raising the seven of them look easy.
With two boys of his own, Ben knew better. Raising children—and now parenting adult kids—was no easy feat, which made him respect his parents all the more. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for either of them.
His heart fluttered as he smiled down at his mother. In her late seventies, with her long salt-and-pepper hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, she still looked youthful. She had a few laugh lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth, but she could easily pass for someone twenty years her junior.
Considerably shorter than his six feet, his prissy mother had ruled her household like a master sergeant in the military and put the fear of God in all of them. Most of the time without raising her voice.
No one would dare cross her or talk back. They knew better.
“There’s so much food left. Take some for lunch tomorrow,” she said, lovingly patting his cheek before moving out of his hold. She grabbed a carryout container from the pantry and started filling it.
“What about everyone else?” Ben poured himself a glass of lemonade. “I’m sure there will be others stopping by this evening.”
“There’s plenty,” his mother insisted. She lived to take care of her family. Cooking for them was just one of many ways she expressed her love.
Ben’s cell phone buzzed, and he pulled it from his pants pocket. A slow smile kicked up the corners of his mouth and warmth spread through his body when he glanced at the screen.
Makena.
The woman who starred in his nightly fantasies. The woman he could see spending the rest of his life with. And the woman who insisted they just be friends.
Makena Nichols. His best friend.
Ben skimmed the text.
MN: Are we still on for tonight?
He loved this woman and would do anything for her, but spending a Friday night painting a home office didn’t sound like fun. Especially since his youngest son, Ben Junior—or as the family referred to him, BJ—was a painter by trade. All it would take was a phone call to get the room taken care of in a couple of hours.
Ben typed a quick reply.
BEN: Change of plans. Friday night painting—not interested. You and me—jazz club.
MK: Ben, you promised.
Ben smiled. He could picture her gorgeous, pouty lips turning into a frown as she glared at the phone.
BEN: I promised we’d get your room painted. I’ll get BJ to paint.
Seconds ticked by without her responding. Unlike most people Ben knew, especially in the legal field, Makena’s way of relaxing was doing projects around the house. That was okay sometimes, but he was on a mission. He was determined to prove to her that they were more than friends.
After her divorce, Makena had moved back to Cincinnati almost two years ago with her daughter, Ava. Now that Ava was in college, Makena was ready to date. Except, according to her, dating Ben wasn’t an option. Never mind that he was crazy in love with her and wanted to take their relationship beyond the friend zone.
MK: Send BJ over to help paint, and you go to the club.
Ben laughed out loud, then ducked his head when he realized his sister was watching him. He typed his response.
BEN: You’re not funny. I’ll be there.
He didn’t have to wait long for her response.
MK: K. And bring dessert.
Grinning, Ben shook his head and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He ignored his sister’s knowing look as he thought about Makena. He had to convince her that their friendship wouldn’t be in jeopardy if they dated. They’d known each other for over forty years, growing up in the same neighborhood. That day in third grade, when he fought off a kid bullying her, was the day they became friends.
The older they got, the closer they grew. Yet, they never crossed that friendship line. After going their separate ways, to different colleges, then law school, they tried to keep in touch. But their lives moved in various directions.
Makena had lived in Columbus and married a junior partner at the law firm where she worked shortly after law school. A year later, Ben married, but he soon realized he married the wrong woman. But he had grown up believing that divorce wasn’t an option. When you married, you stayed married, and he had every intention of making the relationship work.
Yet, the constant arguing and being accused of one thing after another—including cheating—started to wear on him. He questioned his own sanity, wondering what he’d been thinking marrying a woman who didn’t trust him.
There had even been times when he wondered if he had gotten married because Makena had married.
Ben would never know. All he knew was that divorcing his wife and putting his two boys through the resulting emotional turmoil had been one of the hardest things he’d ever experienced.
“Do you have a date for the community center fundraiser on Saturday?” Carolyn asked, cutting into Ben’s thoughts. “Before you say no, let me inform you that Sydney Greer will be there. I saw her the other day. If you go without a plus-one, she’ll be all over you.”
Just hearing the insufferable woman’s name sent anxiety spiking through Ben’s veins. Sydney was the last person he wanted to run into. She’d been trying to hook up with him for years, in between her numerous marriages.
“If you don’t have a date, I know the perfect person you—”
“No,” Ben said before Carolyn could finish.
The women in his family, his sisters as well as his nieces, were always trying to fix him up with someone.
<
His law firm had purchased a table for the event, and he was expected to attend. And there was only one woman in the world he would ever consider going with.
“Let me guess. You’re going to ask Mac,” his sister said, referring to Makena by her childhood nickname.
“I can’t think of a better person to take as my plus-one.” He and Makena spent what little free time they had together. Dinners. Movie nights. They even carved out time during the weekend to hang out.
They were also always each other’s date for events. Technically, he was dating her without the official label. Well, that and Makena didn’t think he was serious about pursuing her. Now that she was seriously thinking about dating other men, Ben really needed to up his game.
He had to show her that she was his; that they belong together and have for nearly four decades…ever since third grade.
But how? How could he convince her that they belonged together?
Carolyn shook her head. “I don’t know why you guys keep pretending you’re only friends. We all know the real deal.”
“Leave him alone,” their mother said, placing a shopping bag with the food she had packed in front of him. “If she’s the one it’ll happen in time.”
There was a Jenkins family myth that had been around for generations, claiming that when a Jenkins man meets the one, he immediately knows. Makena had always held a special spot in his heart. Ben just hadn’t realized how much she meant to him until she married another man.
Now that he and Makena were back in each other’s lives, Ben was ready to take their relationship to the next level. Yet, each time he brought up the subject, she’d say something about not wanting to ruin their friendship. He wasn’t giving up, though.
Soon. She’ll be mine soon.
*
Makena sat at her round conference table and couldn’t stop staring at her new client. Edward Foxall was the splitting image of what Ben would probably look like in thirty years. The resemblance was spooky. Not only did they have the same cinnamon skin tone, facial features, and similar build, but they also had some of the same facial expressions. But what really held her captive was his eyes. He had the same light-brown eyes as her Ben.
They have to be related, she thought. But Makena knew most of Ben’s family, and had never seen this guy before. The resemblance was probably just a coincidence.
“I’m debt-free, and I’ve already given away almost everything of value,” Edward explained. He removed the small portable oxygen tank from the conference table and set it in the chair next to him. After adjusting the oxygen tubes hanging from his nose, he continued. “Drawing up my will won’t take long.”
When he first walked into the office with his caregiver’s assistance, Makena had wondered if he was mentally capable of making a will. They’d been chatting for the last fifteen minutes, and he was easy to talk to and had insisted she call him Edward. Makena soon learned that he was a prime example of why not to judge someone by the way they looked. He might’ve had physical limitations and needed the extra oxygen, but there was nothing wrong with his mind.
During the conversation, Makena learned that he served in the army for twenty-five years. After retiring from the military, he became a certified accountant, which he did for twenty years until retiring for good five years ago. Not only was Edward easy to talk to, he was also charming and a little flirtatious. His quick wit had her laughing through much of their discussion.
Makena typed information into the form on her laptop. “Okay, who are your beneficiaries, and what are you leaving them?”
“I only have one beneficiary, and I’m leaving him my land. Here’s his contact information.” Edward reached into the interior pocket of his black wool coat and pulled out a slip of paper. “His name is Benjamin Jenkins.”
*
“Makena? Makena!”
Makena startled when her partner at the law firm, Halle Pierce, clapped her hands.
“That is the second time today that you’ve zoned out on me. What’s up with you?”
Makena shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t stop thinking about Edward Foxall. I’m still debating with myself on whether to tell Ben about him.”
“I know how you feel about Ben, but you can’t tell him. It’ll be unethical.”
Makena stared at her friend, wishing she could disagree.
For over a week, Makena had wanted to tell Ben about her new client. But as an attorney, she was bound by attorney-client privilege. It didn’t matter that she trusted Ben more than anyone else in the world, except for maybe her daughter. Still, she had to keep her mouth shut.
Her throat tightened. The suffocating feeling had Makena gripping the edge of her desk. “Edward said that he and Ben never met, but what if they really are somehow related? Ben will never forgive me for not telling him.”
It didn’t help that her client looked as if he was living his last days. Even with the oxygen tank and his caretaker by his side, Edward was barely able to move around. Yet, his mind was sharp, and he was adamant about how he wanted his will drawn up.
Halle sighed and stood. She tugged on the tail of her short navy-blue suit jacket and smoothed out the matching pencil skirt. Beautiful inside and out, Halle always looked like she meant business whenever she stepped out of the house. She and Makena had similar taste in clothing. Their similarities, though, stopped there.
Halle, with her fair complexion and freckles sprinkled across her nose, had curly red hair that hung past her shoulders. She was five-ten, thin, and outspoken.
Makena was golden-brown with shoulder-length hair that she usually kept in a conservative bun. At five-six with womanly curves, she was more reserved than her friend.
“Ben could never be mad at you for long. He loves you. Heck, the man more than loves you. He worships the ground you walk on. In his eyes, you can do no wrong.” Halle lifted a finger when Makena started to deny that claim. “Don’t. Don’t insult my intelligence and try to argue what we both know.
“Halle, listen.”
“No. You listen. Just because you’re keeping your head in the sand about your feelings for him doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
Of course she was right. Makena could admit to herself that she was in love with Ben, even if she was trying to fight her feelings. But changing their relationship status would just be too weird. They had too much history. How could they cross over from friend and confidant to sex-charged lovers? So what if he knew her better than anyone and was always only a phone call away… Makena couldn’t cross that line.
Been there. Done that. Ended up divorced.
No. Ben meant everything to her. Stepping over that line was too much of a gamble.
She and her ex-husband Preston had started as good friends. Yet, they couldn’t make their relationship work. What if she and Ben became lovers and things didn’t work out? Then Makena would lose him. The one man she could always count on. There would be no recovering from that type of loss.
“As for Ben,” Halle continued, “he, more than anyone, will understand why you couldn’t discuss your client with him.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Makena conceded, but a sinking feeling settled in her gut. If she lost Ben because of not sharing her suspicions about her client, she’d be devastated.
Chapter Two
An hour later, Makena headed home. As she drove through the streets of Cincinnati, she reflected on how much her life had changed in the last couple of years.
Shortly before she moved back to town, her parents had retired to Florida, selling their house to her. It was a win-win for all of them. The purchase gave her a place for her and Ava to live, while providing her parents the freedom and the money to finally start their retirement.
Makena was also working at a law firm that she was proud to be a part of and loved the people she worked with. For the first time in her career, she wasn’t putting in twelve- to fifteen-hour days. Granted, she still put in the occasional long day, but it wasn’t the norm anymore.
