My Lucky Stars Read Free Page B

charges that could be racked up in that amount of time?”
    Ben tried to look away but was too entertained by the exasperated redhead clenching her teeth and rolling her eyes. Beside him, Cadie stared openly too. Only Ellen had made it to the elevator and stood waiting for them.
    “I told you I don’t have the protection plan. So twenty-four hours is a problem for me.” The woman stood and began pacing back and forth in front of the table.
    Ben turned back to Cadie. “Sing me your oceans song.”
    “It’s continents and oceans,” she said brightly. “Did you know there are seven—”
    “Fine. Wait the twenty-four hours,” the woman behind them shouted. “But I need another card within the hour. I’m starving and tired. My luggage is lost, and I’m in an unfamiliar airport in a strange city.”
    Not my problem , Ben thought. She looks old enough that she ought to be able to keep track of her purse. He forced his attention to Cadie, singing her way through the oceans of the world.
    “What other option would that be? That rotten kid on the plane stole my wallet, so you tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
    Wouldn’t ask that question quite that way if I were you.
    Cadie finished her song.
    “Ben?” Ellen called. Behind her the empty elevator closed. “On the way over I stopped at the Garden and put our name on the list, so we should probably get going.”
    “I want to speak to someone else—someone in this country,” the woman raged on.
    Ben stood just as she stopped pacing. “Hello. Hello?” Her voice escalated to a frantic pitch. “How dare you—” Holding her cell phone out in front of her, she began punching numbers then stopped, holding the phone to her ear. A second passed. Her voice plummeted to a whisper. “Dead.” Looking utterly defeated, she walked to the table and sank into the chair again. Leaning forward, she rested her head in both hands.
    Ben started to walk past but hesitated as he saw her back tremble. Cadie slipped her hand into his.
    “We should help her,” his niece whispered. “Mom says we should help everyone—even if they aren’t nice.”
    Ben’s lip curved up at this bit of information. “Ellen always was a goody two-shoes.”
    Cadie’s brow wrinkled as she looked up at him. “Doesn’t everyone have two shoes?”
    “Yep. They sure do.” Nearly too late Ben remembered he had to watch what he said for the next few days. “What I meant was, your mom’s always been a good girl. When we were kids, she was always nice to everyone, while most of the time, I was in trouble.”
    “Mom told me,” Cadie said, sounding much older than her six years.
    “Really?” Ben’s eyebrows rose. He wondered if he was the bad example used every time Ellen’s kids did something wrong. Don’t do that, Sam. You’ll end up like Uncle Benji. He tried but couldn’t imagine Ellen saying that. She was too nice.
    Raising his hand, Ben looked over at his sister and motioned for her to wait another minute. “Your mom’s right,” he reluctantly admitted to Cadie. “We should probably follow her example.” But he wanted nothing more than to walk away and pretend he’d never seen this woman, never overheard her plight.
    That’s whatcha get for eavesdropping Benji , he could hear his mother saying.
    This one’s for you, Mom. He remembered one of the many oft-told tales his mother had shared during his growing-up years. It was about President Spencer W. Kimball helping a woman and her young child at an airport when others looked on and were annoyed instead of compassionate. Years later, President Kimball had received a letter from the woman’s son—the son she’d been pregnant with during that difficult day—explaining how his mother had investigated and eventually joined the Church because of President Kimball’s kindness.
    Not likely that’ll happen today. Ben looked at the mop of red hair slumped over the table. He glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed she seemed