A Family Affair: Fall Read online

  Heartache. Betrayal. Forgiveness. Redemption. It’s time to head back to Magdalena, New York, and spend a little time with the people we love to love and even a few we love to hate.

  Gina Servetti was raised to believe she wasn’t enough—not thin enough, not pretty enough, not clever enough. She’s more comfortable with a spreadsheet than a conversation and doesn’t trust easily, especially where men are concerned, most notably the good-looking, smooth-talking ones like Ben Reed.

  When city boy Ben Reed arrives in Magdalena, he’s not planning a long-term stay in a town filled with too many busybodies and too little excitement. He just needs things to settle down in Philly for a few months before he returns to his old life and his plan to win back his ex-wife. But once he gets to know the people in this town, he starts to care about them: one in particular—Gina Servetti. The longer he’s around her, the more he realizes she’s so much more than a woman with a scowl and a sharp tongue. She’s real and honest, and as afraid of trusting as he is.

  But can Ben and Gina open up and take a risk for a chance at real love? Well, if the rest of the town has anything to say about it, and they always do, this couple will take the big leap and end with an “I do”!

  And would the story be complete without checking in on Harry Blacksworth’s latest debacle…ahem…adventure? Harry’s moved his brood to Magdalena and is taking advice but, thankfully, not fashion lessons from Pop Benito. That spells trouble on so many levels. Oh, but it’s going to be interesting…

  Join me as we peek into the lives of some of our favorites: Pop Benito, Lily, Nate and Christine Desantro, Harry and Greta Blacksworth, Mimi Pendergrass, Bree Kinkaid…and many more.

  See you in Magdalena!

  Truth in Lies Series:

  Book One: A Family Affair

  Book Two: A Family Affair: Spring

  Book Three: A Family Affair: Summer

  Book Four: A Family Affair: Fall

  Book Five: A Family Affair: Christmas (Nov 2014)

  Book Six: A Family Affair: Winter (April 2015)

  Book Seven: A Family Affair: ... (TBA)

  NEW FEATURE: Magdalena’s growing! People are getting married, having babies, and moving back to town, so I’ve decided to include a list of characters and their backgrounds—some new faces, some from previous books. You’ll find Who’s Who in A Family Affair: Fall located right after the dedication.

  Bonus Material: If you enjoyed the small-town sense of community and caring in A Family Affair (Truth in Lies Series), you’ll experience that same coziness in Simple Riches. There’s heartache, betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption, all wrapped up and waiting for you. Included in this e-book is the first chapter of Simple Riches, That Second Chance, Book Three. I plan to introduce Simple Riches’ “Bad Boy,” Michael Androvich and “Good Girl,” Elise Pentani to Magdalena, New York in A Family Affair: Winter.

  A Family Affair: Fall

  Truth in Lies, Book Four

  by

  Mary Campisi

  Table of Contents:

  Dedication:

  Who’s Who in A Family Affair: Fall

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  The End

  Bonus Material:

  Simple Riches

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  About the Author

  Other Books by Mary Campisi:

  Dedication:

  To friends—that word for rare and precious people who care about one another

  Who cry together

  Laugh together

  Dream together

  You live in my heart

  Thank you, my friends!

  Who’s Who in A Family Affair: Fall

  Ben Reed: Policeman from Philadelphia, partnered with Cash, best man at Cash’s wedding

  Naomi Reed: Ben Reed’s grandmother

  Paige Reed: Ben Reed’s cousin, lives in Philly, “dated” Cash, is a dancer

  Melissa Reed: Ben Reed’s ex-wife

  Kenneth Stone: Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia, fiancé to Melissa

  Gina Servetti: Physical therapist, no-nonsense friend of Tess, Bree, and Christine, has weight and trust issues

  Natalie Servetti: Magdalena’s “sleep-around” woman, and Gina’s cousin

  Carmen & Marie Servetti: Gina’s parents; they believe good looks trump intelligence and integrity

  Daniel “Cash” Casherdon: Former policeman, married to Tess, works with Nate in furniture business and has camp with wife to help troubled kids

  Tess Casherdon: Married to her true love, Cash, after years of separation due to tragedy. (He shot her kid brother while on duty.) Might not be able to have children; dog named Henry

  Ramona Casherdon: Cash’s aunt, raised him since he was eight, keeps to herself

  Will Carrick: Former police chief, widower, uncle to Tess, mentor to Cash, in love with Olivia Carrick, his sister-in-law

  Olivia Carrick: Widow, mother of Tess, lost son in shooting incident that tore Tess and Cash apart, hasn’t seen oldest daughter in years, in love with Will Carrick, her brother-in-law

  Nate Desantro: Married to Christine Blacksworth, brother to Lily and son of Miriam. Runs ND Manufacturing, and has a furniture building business with Cash, stands for strength and principle.

  Christine Desantro: Charles and Gloria Blacksworth’s daughter, married to Nate Desantro, is a financial advisor, has daughter, Anna,

  Lily Desantro: Daughter to Charles Blacksworth and Miriam Desantro, half-sister to Nate and Christine, has Down syndrome, is the “light” of Magdalena

  Miriam Desantro: Charles Blacksworth’s mistress, Nate and Lily’s mother, artist/woodworker

  Jack Finnegan: Plant manager at ND Manufacturing, works for Nate, worked for Nate’s father

  Harry Blacksworth: Former playboy turned husband and father, married to Greta, has two stepchildren and a baby (Jackson), he’s Charles’s brother and Christine’s uncle (or is he?)

  Greta (Servensen) Blacksworth: Married to Harry, former cook for Charles and Gloria Blacksworth, has three children

  AJ & Lizzy Servensen: Greta’s children, Harry’s stepchildren

  Gloria Blacksworth: Deceased widow of Charles Blacksworth, mother of Christine, and a woman bent on destroying her husband’s “other” family…one way or another

  Pop Benito: The Godfather of Magdalena, member of The Bleeding Hearts Society, town matchmaker, dispenser of wisdom and common sense; superb pizzelle maker

  Anthony Benito: Pop and the late Lucy Benito’s son, lives in California, has a daughter, Lucy

  Mimi Pendergrass: Mayor of Magdalena, President of The Bleeding Hearts Society, proprietor of Heart Sent Bed and Breakfast, widow, lost a son, Paul and is estranged from daughter

  Bree Kinkaid: Married to Brody, friends with Tess, Gina, and Christine. Lifelong goal is to be a wife and mother

  Brody Kinkaid: Married to Bree, works for Bree’s dad, more brawn than brains, on a mission to increase his “brood” and have a son

  Rex & Kathleen MacGregor: Bree’s parents, Rex owns MacGregor’s Cabinets

  Rudy Dean: Police Chief of Magdalena, father to Jeremy

  Jeremy Ross Dean: Junior policeman in Magdalena

  Mrs. Olsteroff: Dispatcher for police department, has dog named Marjorie

  Chapter 1

  Ben Reed had spent most of his thirty-f
ive years beating the odds. He’d never met his father, never even known the man’s name, or if there was a definite name, or merely a list of possibilities. Despite a rough start, he’d found his path to the military, college, and later the Philly police force with the guidance, prayers, and help of the one person who had never given up on him—his grandmother.

  But Naomi Reed was long gone and if Ben had any chance of beating the odds stacked on his chest right now, then he was in serious need of guidance, prayers, and help, not in any specific order.

  “Kenneth has threatened to press charges.”

  The words squeezed his gut, made him wish he could rewind the last five years. Did every guy whose ex-wife was on the verge of getting remarried feel this way, or only the ones whose ex had a baby growing in her belly that wasn’t his? Damn. He settled his gaze on Melissa’s face, careful to avoid the evidence of another man’s handiwork bulging beneath the maroon top she wore. That baby could have been his and—

  “Ben? Did you hear me?” She sat on the tweed couch next to him, touched his forearm.

  “I heard you.” But hearing and understanding weren’t the same. And accepting, well, that was a helluva different matter altogether.

  “You think there’s such a thing as a hospital interior designer?” He ran a hand along the back of the nubby fabric, zeroing in on the flecks of black amidst the rust pattern. If he stared hard enough, he could almost block out visions of Melissa and another man’s baby. “I’ve spent a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms and damn, but the furniture all looks the same. Feels the same, too. And the pictures—”

  “Stop it.”

  He glanced up, noticed the way her dark eyes narrowed in that “I’m really annoyed with you” look. “What? I was commenting on hospital couches and paintings. What’s the harm in that?”

  More eye narrowing, right down to a semi-slit. “Can you for once in your life deal with the real issue, head-on, instead of avoiding it?”

  His gaze slipped to her belly, darted back to her face. He should have broken Kenneth’s jaw instead of his nose. See if the jerk could make any more snide comments about how much he planned to enjoy Melissa’s body. “I’m not avoiding anything. I told you, your boyfriend was talking trash about you and I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.” He paused, let the words sink in. “I had to defend your honor.”

  “Defend my honor? You broke his nose and gave him a black eye, and for what? Because he told you to stay away and start your own life?”

  That damn liar. “That’s not what he said and he knows it.”

  She blew out a breath and those pink lips he’d once known so well flattened. “Kenneth is in the emergency room right now because you still can’t accept the fact that I’m going to marry him.”

  “The guy’s a jerk.”

  “You think so?” She leaned toward him, eyes glittering, jaw tense. “I think the guy who won’t talk about the pain of his past—the mother who left him, the father he never knew—that’s the guy who’s a jerk. He pretends it doesn’t matter, like life is one great big party and he’s the host. No matter how hard the wife tries to break through the barrier, he won’t let her in.” Her voice dipped. “Until one day, she stops trying.”

  She was talking about him, about them. “I’ve changed.” He clasped her hand, squeezed. “I’m a regular touchy-feely guy these days. I can share anything, just ask me.”

  Of course, that wasn’t true and of course, she knew that, but he was desperate for one last chance to make things right.

  His ex-wife eased her hand from his and stood, her expression more disappointed than annoyed. “You still don’t get it, do you, Ben? I would have done anything for you. You were my life and all I wanted was the real Ben Reed, the one who was hurting inside, the one who needed to heal.”

  Why was she talking about him like he was a pathetic loser with personal issues? Just because he didn’t want to puke out emotions that were buried deep inside did not mean he had issues. Or at least no more than any other guy. Especially guys who were cops.

  “I get it.” He forced his voice to remain even. It wouldn’t do if she spotted his annoyance with the whole “You never opened up to me” spiel. “You want me to cry on your shoulder? Fine, I’ll do it. I’ll tell you what it feels like to know your mother didn’t care enough about you to stick around and how you learned to make up elaborate tales about how your parents died rescuing you from a fire, or a capsized boat, or a would-be kidnapper, whatever the hell else signified unconditional love in the eyes of a kid. The bigger, the better, even though the other kids eventually figured out it was all a lie.” He cleared his throat and continued, “I’ll share it all if that’s what you want.”

  “What I want is for you to accept that Kenneth and I are going to be married in two months and we’re having a baby.” She paused, gentled her words. “And you’re not part of that. You’re not part of anything in my life. Not anymore.”

  Those last words burned deeper and hotter than the bullet he’d taken in the thigh the first year on the force. Bad enough she was pregnant with Assistant District Attorney Asshole Kenneth Stone’s baby and that she planned to marry him in sixty days or less, but to cut Ben out of her existence? He’d always believed he could win her back with time and hard work, maybe even a counseling session or two if she insisted. Apparently, he’d been wrong. “So now what? I just disappear and pretend we never knew each other?”

  “You start over. Find someone and show her the real Ben Reed, because I guarantee he’s someone she’ll want to know. But you have to move on, and you have to do it now. Kenneth is in the emergency room getting treated for a broken nose and who knows what else? He will press charges,” she paused, “unless…”

  Oh, this would be good. The jerk wanted him to grovel at the foot of his throne and beg forgiveness for the punch in the nose and two in the gut. Right. Kenneth deserved a broken jaw for trash-talking Melissa. Why would somebody who supposedly loved her make a comment like that to the woman’s ex-husband, unless the guy was a complete idiot? Stone might be arrogant, but he didn’t lack intelligence. Actually, he was very clever and highly skilled, as evidenced in the string of court cases he’d won over the last several years. The guys on the force had dubbed him “Cagey Ken” for the way he used evidence and testimony to build a case…

  The truth exploded in Ben’s brain seconds before he jumped off the couch and towered over Melissa. “He set me up. Damn it, your boyfriend set me up.”

  “What are you talking about? Kenneth would never—”

  “He wanted me to punch him and he knew exactly what to say to get me to do it.”

  Melissa shook her head and sighed, as though his assumption were impossible. “He’s an honorable man and has been more than patient with you and your unhealthy obsession with me.”

  That pissed him off. “Unhealthy obsession? Because I care about what happens to you?”

  Those dark eyes glittered with something close to disgust. “And why do you care so much, Ben? Why now when it’s too late, or does the fact that I’m not yours anymore make me more appealing?” Her lips curled. “Kenneth didn’t even want me talking with you. He said you’d be unreasonable, but I promised him you’d listen.”

  So they’d talked about him and how he should be handled? Now, he was really pissed. “And what was the message he wanted you to deliver? Apologize? Apologize and beg forgiveness? Or apologize—”

  “Resign and leave town or he’ll press charges.” She didn’t give him time to absorb the blow before she delivered a second, more deadly than the first. “You have seven days to leave Philly or he’ll make it his personal mission to see you never carry a badge again.”

  ***

  “So Ben Reed just woke up one day and said, ‘Screw city life, screw my job, I’m outta here? My heart belongs in Magdalena?’”

  Cash looked up from the tabletop he’d been sanding and shrugged. “He put a little more polish on it than you just did, but yeah, pret
ty much.”

  Nate ran a hand along the smoothness of the walnut tabletop. In the time they’d been working together, Cash had brought a luster and richness to Nate’s work that, along with Tess’s marketing abilities, had escalated the demand and the price of the furniture he made. Cash’s return to Magdalena was a good idea and one the town had secretly hoped to see one day. But Ben Reed, a city boy hotshot who didn’t know the difference between hardwood and particle board and definitely didn’t appear enamored with small-town ways and attitudes, coming to Magdalena? It didn’t add up. Yet. “Don’t you think that’s a bit odd?”

  Cash lifted four unfinished table legs from the cart behind him and set them on the workstation. “It’s strange, but Ben’s like that. I didn’t even know he was getting married until three weeks before the wedding, and I was his partner.” Cash eyed Nate and said, “He’s not big on sharing, kind of like somebody else I know.”

  Nate scowled and tossed him a rag. “I share.” Pause. “With my wife.”

  “Well, Ben didn’t share with anybody and that cost him his marriage. He had a screwed-up childhood. I only know bits and pieces of it from Paige.”

  Ah, Paige, the ex-girlfriend who wasn’t a girlfriend. “Don’t mention that around your wife. I don’t think she’ll want to hear that.”

  A dull red spread from Cash’s neck to his cheeks. “Yeah, she won’t hear it from me.” He rubbed the rag over a table leg and said, “Anyway, I hadn’t heard from him in over two months, then last week he called to tell me he’d turned in his badge, sublet his condo, and was thinking about heading to Magdalena. Even asked if we had something for him to do, or maybe if I thought he could join the crew doing the finishing work on Harry Blacksworth’s house.”

  Nate shook his head and thought of the wood and stone structure spreading over three lots on the far side of town. “Does everybody on the East Coast know about the ‘Mansion in Magdalena’?”