Not So Zen Ben

Chapter 4

After a fast week in New York City that consisted of extensive visiting with Ray’s family, and a much needed airing of their apartment, the boys were back on the road heading for Toronto.  Melanie had been the “big cheese” in charge for several months.  She was looking forward to going home and for some down time.  She was ready to turn over the reins to Gus and Ray. 

Kinnetik North had also hired a new branch manager.  Shelly Weinstein was a recent graduate from a local university.  She had grown up in the Toronto area so she knew the city well.  Most importantly Shelly knew the diversity of its people and its businesses.  Both Cynthia and Brian had a few reservations about turning over their fledgling agency to a fledging manager who had neither an artistic background nor an advertising background.  But what Shelly did have was a lot of chutzpah and that, in Melanie’s eyes, made her worth her weight in gold.  Ted pointed out that Melanie would have never hired Shelly if she thought Shelly couldn’t handle the job.  So to be fair, Cynthia and Brian gave Shelly a six month trial period.  So far, Shelly had braved the Melanie Marcus storm and come out unscathed.  Next up was Gus and Ray.

“So who is this Shelly person?” Ray asked Gus.  Gus was trying to catch a few minutes shut-eye before landing in Toronto.  He wasn’t very successful.  “Are you listening?” Ray asked as he poked Gus in the ribs.

“Hey!  What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t like being ignored.”

“I’m not ignoring you.  I’m trying to sleep.”

“You slept all night.”

“No, you slept all night.  I, on the other hand, was reviewing personnel files including that Shelly person,” Gus said smugly as he readjusted his neck pillow.

“And...?”

“And what?”

“Doesn’t this piss you off?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That Shelly person is taking the job your father promised you!” Ray stated bitterly.

“Hey, hey,” Gus began gently, “it’s not like that.”  Gus lovingly patted Ray’s arm.  “Look, Pop and me had a very long talk.  And as much as the thought of running my own Kinnetik branch really appeals to me I don’t want to be this far from home, plus I’m not ready.”  Ray was about to protest.  “Yeah, I know, I could do it if I want to but do I really want to?  I mean now, at this time in my life.  In our life?  Look at all the shit you gave me for staying on the lane for so long.  Unless you feel like relocating to Canada, this seems like the best solution.”

“Do we still fly back and forth?”

“For now.  That’s another reason not to be tied down to one branch, we still get to visit each Kinnetik.  We’re going to London soon, for fuck’s sake and maybe Paris.  And New York remains our home base.”

“Until we have to move to Pittsburgh.”

“Ray, we don’t have to move anywhere.  You’re right, my dad has this dream stuck in his head about me taking over Kinnetik and living at the loft.”

“Yeah, my dad has a similar dream about me taking over his business one day,” Ray said with some sadness.

“Another reason why moving to Canada isn’t such a great idea.  If we stay in New York, you can still do it.”

“And work for Kinnetik at the same time?”

“Nothing says you can’t work at Kinnetik and work for your dad as a part time consultant.  Anything is possible in business.  Look at my day dad, he’s been working remotely for years although that’s not what he’d call it.”

“No he’s been calling it semi-retirement.  And my dad is nowhere near retiring.”

“There ya go.  So let’s not sweat this Shelly person.  Besides, Momma likes her,” Gus said with a smirk.

“So that makes it okay?” Ray asked.  Gus shrugged then closed his eyes with a sigh just as the captain announced their approach to the Toronto airport.  Gus’ eyes snapped open then narrowed as he scowled at Ray.  Ray smiled innocently at his partner.

*****        

"How the fuck much farther is this place?" Jacqueline demanded as she drove down the interminable country road.

"We're almost to the General store, and it's not far from there," JR replied trying not to take offense at her partner's words.

"General store?" Jacqueline asked.  "Are we going back in time as well as into the fucking middle of nowhere?"

"It's not that bad," JR said softly.

"If I see another forest, I'm going to start burying nuts!"

JR giggled in spite of being really annoyed at Jacqueline's critical comments about everything.  "I'll help you bury them," JR said with a smile at Jacqueline.  "You knew we were going to the country."

Jacqueline paid no attention to the smile.  "The country, yes," she said.  "But not another country in a different time warp."

"It's not that bad."

"I'm telling you right now that I'm not sleeping in a fucking falling down, ramshackle log cabin!"

JR drew in a breath at that comment.  Should she tell her griping partner that they actually could have been staying in a log cabin, her father's log cabin?  She thought maybe she'd keep that piece of information to herself until they got to the lane.

"Want to stop for ice cream at the General store?" JR asked.  "It's just around the bend coming up."

"I just want to get to this god forsaken place before nightfall," Jacqueline complained.

"It's two in the afternoon," JR reminded her.

"And we've been driving for hours."

"You are such a baby sometimes.  Don't you ever leave the city?"

"Not unless I have too."

JR heaved a big sigh.  "We came out here to enjoy some peace and quiet and get away from the city.  If you hate the country so much, we should just turn around and go back."

"I'm not driving for another twelve hours back to Pittsburgh," Jacqueline declared.

"You haven't even been driving for two hours," JR reminded her.

"Seems like twelve."

"That was the General store that you just blew by," JR said looking over her shoulder at the General store receding from view.  And with it was her hopes for a yummy ice cream cone.  "I would have liked some ice cream."

"Too late."

"Remind me to never go on a long road trip with you.  One of us won't come back from that."

"Are you sure we're both going to come back from this trip?" Jacqueline asked, but her mouth curved up in a smile.  "I'd go anywhere with you, sugar."

JR turned her head and smiled at her lover.  This was the Jacqueline that she cherished - the one who was sweet and caring and ... not complaining.  "Slow down!" JR commanded.

"Why?"

"Because we're here."

"Here?  Where?  I don't see any houses," Jacqueline said looking around.

"Pull into this next lane," JR ordered.

Jacqueline did as instructed and was quickly confronted by a big wrought iron gate.  "Is this it?" she asked.

JR nodded.  "Pull up to that post and push the button."

Jacqueline did as instructed. 

"Who is it?" Justin's voice asked.

"JR and Jacqueline," Jacqueline replied.

"I'll let you in and meet you at the B&B."

"B&B?" Jacqueline asked as the gate swung open.

"Since you don't want to stay in a log cabin, I thought we'd take the B&B," JR said with a smirk.  She had arranged this with Justin before they left Pittsburgh.  She didn't want to stay with Ben when he was trying to write, and she hadn't yet told him that they were coming.  She wanted it to be a surprise, a pleasant surprise she hoped.

"Just follow the lane," JR said.  "This is called Edna's Treasures Lane."

"That's a weird name."

"You'll have to get Brian and Justin to tell you the story about it."

"Maybe I will," Jacqueline replied.  "Oh my fucking god!  Look at this place," she exclaimed as they whizzed by Emmett’s cottage; some of the cottages of the lane were coming into view.  Jacqueline could hardly believe her eyes.  "This ... This isn't rustic at all.  Except for that!  Is that actually a thatched roof cottage?"

"Yes, it is.  Grandma Deb and Carl live there."

"No shit!"

"No shit," JR giggled.  "That's the B&B there," she said pointing.  "Pull over."

Jacqueline brought the car to a stop in front of the large B&B.  It looked like a pretty nice place to stay.  Maybe this time in the country wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Ladies," Justin said as he came down the lane and arrived at their car.  He opened the door for JR while Jacqueline climbed out of her side of the car.  "Welcome to Edna's Treasures Lane."

"JR says I should ask you about that name," Jacqueline said with a smile.

Justin chuckled.  "It's kind of a long story.  Why don't you two join us for a barbecue this evening and I'm sure we can take you through it."

"That sounds good."

"Let's get your bags inside," Justin said.

Jacqueline popped the trunk of the car and Justin helped them carry their suitcases inside the B&B.

"You have the place all to yourselves," Justin informed them.  "We recently got rid of our other guests."

"Your dad?" JR asked.

"Yeah, among others," Justin said with a touch of sadness in his voice.  "He's doing a lot better with the new hip.  He'll soon be back to his old self."

"That's too bad," JR said with a knowing smile.  Justin merely shook his head.

Jacqueline watched this exchange.  She was about to ask what it meant, but thought it might be wiser to ask JR later on when they were alone.

"The fridge is stocked and the beds made up.  Take your pick of whatever room you want," Justin advised.  "You can have as much privacy or as little privacy as you want."

"That's great, Justin.  Thanks," JR told him.

"Yeah, thanks," Jacqueline agreed.  "I had no idea you had a little village hidden away here."

Justin chuckled.  "I've never heard it called a village before, but ... I guess that's kind of what it is ... our little village."

"So where's your house, Justin?" Jacqueline asked.

"Farther up the lane.  You should get JR to give you a tour."

"Maybe I will."

"Um, how's Ben doing?" JR asked.

"He's ... okay.  He's been writing from what I understand, but he keeps pretty much to himself.  How's Michael handling all this?" Justin asked.

"Not so good.  He has that wide stubborn streak up his back, and it's hard for him to admit that he might be wrong."

"That's too bad.  He'll never find another Ben."

"That's for sure, and he's miserable without Ben.  He refuses to admit it though."

"Are you going to work on Ben while you're here?" Justin asked.

JR thought about that for a moment.  "Probably not in the way you're thinking.  I want Dad and Ben together, but I'm not going to coerce Ben into doing something he doesn't want to do."

"Good.  Ben deserves some time to write and reflect."

"I agree," JR said with a smile.

"So what are you going to do?" Jacqueline asked.

"I'm going to show you around and maybe lie in the sun a bit, and visit with Ben when he's ready," JR declared.

"That sounds like a plan," Justin said with a grin.  "Enjoy yourselves, and if you feel like joining us for dinner, Brian's barbecuing."

"No shit!" Jacqueline exclaimed.  "Brian Kinney barbecues?"

"He's excellent at it," JR told her lover.

"Who would believe it?" Jacqueline asked.

"Join us and you'll see," Justin replied.  "I need to get back," he added as he headed for the door.

"We'll be there," Jacqueline called after him.  He nodded before he closed the door.

"We don't have to go the barbecue, you know," JR advised.

"Why the fuck wouldn't we go?  I want to see Brian Kinney cooking for us," Jacqueline laughed.

"Okaaay," JR agreed.  "But I want some alone time for us too."

"You got it, babe. We’ll have lots of that while we're here."

"Great.  Do you want to unpack or go for the tour?"

"Tour!  I can't believe this ... place exists way out here in the middle of nowhere ... and that's where Brian Kinney chooses to live."

"Uncle Brian is a man of many surprises that nobody knows about, except his immediate family," JR said with a little smile.  She understood how her uncle wanted his privacy, but was so much different in private from his public persona.

"He's a lot different than what I thought he would be, and so is this place," Jacqueline said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you thought we'd be staying in a tumbledown shack, not a state of the art B&B," JR reminded her.  "If you want this tour, let's go.  You won't believe Uncle Brian's house."

"A gigantic mansion?"

"Oh yeah, humungous.  You'll see," JR said coyly.

They left the B&B and JR started up the lane.  JR showed Jacqueline the greenhouse including the waterfall which was in full force.  They spent a few minutes ogling the colorful koi that were contently swimming in their costumed made pond.  JR expertly distracted her partner as they walked passed Edna’s Treasures toward the meadow.  She had heard a little about the new cottage but not the full details.

"That's new," JR said pointing to the new cottage out in the meadow.  "I wonder when that got built."

"You haven't seen it before?"

"No, but it's been quite a while since I was here.  I'll have to find out who it belongs too.  It looks great out there by itself."

"Do people live in all these buildings or does Brian just build them?"

"That's a weird question."

"Well, the B&B..."  Jacqueline made air quotes around those words.  "It sits there empty, doesn't it?"

JR frowned.  "Yeah, for some of the time, but then when someone, like us, needs a place to stay out here, it's available."

"So all the buildings belong to someone."

"Yes, and they're occupied most of the time."

"So who's 'cottage' is this?" Jacqueline asked as they came towards the conjoined cottages.

"This is where Uncle Brian and Justin live."

"What?  I thought you said it was a mansion."

"No, you said it was a mansion."

"I know you said it was humungous," Jacqueline said with annoyance.

"It's actually much bigger than it looks.  John and Bobby live there too."

"That's Brian's brother, right?"

"Yep."

"They live together?"

"Not exactly.  You'll see tonight at the barbecue."

Jacqueline frowned.  "Curiouser and curiouser."

"If you look up the lane, that's Rachel and George's house.  Rachel is Bobby's sister.  I'll show you the stream and the thinking rock tomorrow."

"Thinking rock?"

"Yes, all will be explained," JR laughed.  "Let's go back down the lane."

They turned and retraced their steps going toward the B&B.  JR pointed out Molly's little cottage and Emmett's.

“You flew past Emmett’s when we first came through the gate,” JR snarked which Jacqueline promptly ignored.

 And they stopped to look at the thatched cottage for a few minutes.  JR decided that Debbie and Carl must be out somewhere or her grandmother would have come flying out of the cottage and squeezed her to death.

"So where's your dad's place?"

JR pointed across the lane.  "Behind those trees."

"Let's see."

"Okay, but I don't want to disturb Ben."

"We won't unless we see him," Jacqueline agreed.

As they proceeded up the lane and beyond the trees until the log mansion came into view.

"My god!  It is a log cabin, but it's huge.  Cabin is hardly the right word to describe it."

"I know," JR said with a sigh.  "I think that's why it's hidden behind the trees.  John and Brian wanted cottages on the lane, but Dad kind of got carried away."

"No shit!"

"Tomorrow we can talk to Ben and I'll show you the inside," JR stated.

"I can hardly wait," Jacqueline said shaking her head at all the unexpected things this place was revealing.

"Let's go unpack and get ready for dinner."

Jacqueline followed her lover back to the B&B, shaking her head every now and then as she continued to look around.

*****

“Hey Brian!”  Ben called out as Brian emerged from the hedges. 

Brian had finished weeding Molly’s back garden then had taken a hidden path that ran parallel to the stone wall to the log cabin.  It wasn’t as direct as taking the lane but it was much cooler and well hidden by the trees and bushes.

“What’s up Doc?”  Brian replied with a smirk making Ben laugh.  “Now that’s what I like to see, a happy professor.”

“What are you up to?”  Ben asked then groaned at his double entendre.  Brian chuckled but quickly put his friend out of his misery.

“Chill, Doc, I’m no longer the stud of Liberty, I’m the flower whisperer of Edna’s Treasures.”

“You certainly are,” Ben said with awe as he looked around his garden.  The boys wanted their yards kept simple and easy to maintain so it was mostly paved with colorful paving stones.  Interspersed were small mounds of stone and soil that held hearty shrubs and hostas.  Along the edges of the yard were perennials of day lilies, daisies, black eyed susans, and purple cone flowers for color.

“But right now I’m the weed wrangler so pay no attention to me.  You may continue with your regularly scheduled activities,” Brian states as he headed for the potting shed. 

To make his life easier, Brian made sure each home on the lane had its own small shed stocked with his favorite gardening tools.  This way Brian didn’t have to tote things from one garden to the other.  Each yard had its own compost heap as well for the weeds and other small house hold compostable items. 

“I’d like to talk to you about that,” Ben said hesitantly.  Brian stopped what he was doing to pay attention to his friend.

“You know we can talk about anything,” Brian said with concern in his voice.

“I know and I appreciate it.  We’ll be fine, I’m sure of it.  He’s stubborn and I’m not giving in this time; we’ll work it out somehow.  But that’s not what I wanted to discuss.  Come inside, let me get you an iced tea then we can talk.”

“Sure Professor,” Brian said as he followed his hunky friend inside the cabin to the kitchen.  Brian gratefully accepted the iced tea then quietly waited for Ben to start talking.

“You’re going to make me spell it out all at once, aren’t you?”  Ben stated with resignation.  Brian silently nodded.  “Okay, here it goes.  It occurred to me some time ago that our cwazy widdle family as you call it, isn’t so little.  We’ve grown and we have a lot of moving parts.  My original plan was to honor the family by telling our story and I still intend to but where do I begin? 

“At first, I thought that was easy, I’d start with Debbie.  She’s the rock or the foundation of the family or so I thought at first but then the other parts didn’t make sense.  I couldn’t tie her directly to Hunter becoming a Social Worker or Curtis, Raph, and Hector joining the family or Lacy or Katerina and her brother.  Then I realized it all boils down to the night you met Justin under that street lamp.  I know I wasn’t there at the time but that event set something in motion that affected all of us and still does to this day.

“So with your permission I’d like to write about our family.  I can fictionalize it if it’ll really get your knickers in an uproar but I don’t think I should have to.  It’s all a matter of public record.  And no, I’m not going to name former tricks but more of chronical of how our family came together.  I’ve already done some research.”

Ben stopped talking as he handed Brian a thick folder.  In the folder were pages of notes, copies of birth certificates and adoption papers.  And even a copy of “Art World” the issue that contained the articles Richard Connolly had written years before. 

“There’s my title,” Ben said as he pointed to the words in the Connolly article.  “I have his permission as long as I give him and his wife the credit due them and of course have your permission as well.”

“And Justin?”  Brian growled out.

“I needed time for my preliminary research and to set the title of the story.  I find that the right title sets the tone for the story.”

“That’s one hell of a lot of permission slips you have to get.  I bet we have enough people in our family to fill a phone book.  Do they still make phone books?”  Brian asked as he stood and handed the folder back to Ben.

“Brian, I can stop it now before I get in too deep,” Ben said to Brian’s retreating back.  Brian began walking out of the cool kitchen.

“You talk to the blond tonight.  If he says yes then it’s fine with me.”  With that Brian left the cabin to continue his fight with the weeds.

“Oh boy,” Ben murmured to himself.  Convincing Brian was one thing, convincing Justin would be another.  Ben opened his folder to carefully examine each paper then arrange them in a logical manner in preparation for his encounter later that night with “the blond.”

*****

“What do we bring to this party?”  Jacqueline asked.

“It’s not a party it’s a barbecue and we just bring ourselves.  Actually if you give me fifteen minutes I still have time to go to the General Store to pick up ice cream,” JR grumbled.

“Okay, I get it.  This is the country.  I can slow down to smell the roses and visit the General Store.  Let’s go before we’re late to the party.”

“Barbecue,” JR mumbled as she grabbed the car keys and headed for the door.

“Oooo!  This is cute,” Jacqueline exclaimed as they pulled up to the store.  JR said nothing just smiled in agreement.  While Jacqueline looked around the quaint store, JR purchased the ice cream.

“May I help you?”  A kindly gentleman asked.

“Yes, a gallon of your homemade ice cream please,” JR replied.

“Flavor?” 

“Oh, good question.  I’m not sure what everyone likes,” JR said with a worried look.

“May I ask, is this for the folks on the lane?”  The gentleman asked with a knowing smile.

“Yes, it is,” JR said with a grin.

“Then allow me to suggest vanilla, a small strawberry, rocky road, chocolate, and a black cherry.”

“Um, sure!”  JR agreed.  Within minutes she had her ice cream all packed up in a handy cooler.  “Thank you.”

“Thank you, and please give them my regards,” the man said.

“I will,” JR said with a bright smile.  She and Jacqueline were back on the road to the lane.  When they got to the gate, someone buzzed them in and they drove directly to the conjoined cottages.

“What’s wrong?”  JR asked as they got out of the car.

“Not sure.  I guess I’m a little nervous,” Jacqueline replied as she gazed down at what she was wearing.

“You look fine.  It’s a barbecue and if I know Uncle Brian he’ll be rattling the grill in a tank top and cut offs.”

“You’re sure?” 

“I’m sure.”

Jacqueline grabbed the cooler and then followed JR up the path to Edna’s Treasures.

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