“Yeah. And they’re all a pain in the butt!” Lucas grinned.
“You don’t mean that.”
“How do you know?”
“Because of the way you just spoke about them. I’ve heard you’d do anything for your siblings or other family members.”
“Oh, really? So you’ve been checking up on me, have you?”
“No!” Maxine cast her eyes away to look at the blueness of the lake that was now fully lit up under the early morning sun. Heat rose to her cheeks.
“So, what is it then? How did you know?”
“Aha! See. You admit it. You said how did you know, not how could you be so sure?” she said, raising a brow, a knowing grin on her lips.
Lucas grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I’ll do anything for my family and those close to me.”
His words caused a wave of hot emotions to stir through Maxine. He would do anything for his family or those close to him.
“You know, we really should be going, Lucas. I’ve really enjoyed—" Maxine stopped midsentence. Her cell phone rang and startled her. She reached into her bag and fished her out her phone. When she read the display, her heart stopped.
It was the nursing home calling her.
“What is it?” Lucas was overtly concerned.
“Um…it’s the nursing home.” Her heart plummeted in her chest. They would not be calling her unless it was something urgent. Not at this hour of the morning.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Has Lucas returned yet?” Zack asked as he walked into the breakfast room. His grandfather, Toni, and Toni’s wife, Shelly, alongside side his cousin, Antonio, with his wife, Lucy, were seated at the long, oval breakfast table. The morning sun shone in the area through the ceiling-to-floor windows.
What were they talking about? Zack was no fool. The family hardly used the breakfast room unless they were having an intense discussion about something.
Was this about his brother, Lucas, and getting Lucas hitched so that he could avoid another public relations disaster with an upcoming launch? He knew his grandfather wanted so badly to repair the carefree, wild images of his grandsons in the media but Zack just hoped to God he wasn’t playing matchmaker with Lucas.
It was as if his grandfather saw single as being some sort of disorder that needed to be treated…a la wedding band of gold.
Well, Zack could certainly speak for his brother when he thought: "Thanks but no thanks!”
A grin of amusement touched Toni’s lips. “I think he’s been out all night. He was going to help that young woman, Maxine.” Toni went back to eating his crepes.
Zack sighed a deep breath. “I can’t seem to reach him on his cell. I’m going in to the office now.”
“Very well. And oh, Zack,” Toni called out, not looking up from his plate. “Don’t do anything silly.”
Now what did his dear old grandfather mean by that?
***
“I’m sorry, Maxine,” the doctor said as he sat in the chair of his office at the nursing home.
Maxine could not sit down. She had to stand up. She stood beside Lucas with her arms wrapped tightly across her chest. Lucas was right beside her in the doctor’s office.
She was glad he was there. She needed him more than anything. She just realized she had very few close people to turn to. She did have Lucy but Lucy was married and expecting a child during a difficult pregnancy. Thank God for Lucas!
“So what you’re saying is that my mother has to be transferred to…another type of facility?” Maxine's voice trembled. They were going to have her mother committed. The thought brought a crushing boulder to her stomach.
“Well,” the doctor continued. “She does require more supervision for one thing. As I mentioned earlier, she had a pretty difficult episode last night. She was very…” he hesitated, glancing at Lucas momentarily as if unsure if he should divulge such personal information in front of non-family members.
“It’s okay,” Maxine prompted him. “He’s a close friend. You can say whatever you have to say in front of Lucas.”
“Very well. Your mother has been more confused and agitated lately and we’re quite concerned for her safety. We can try some sedative medication as I explained to you before.”
Lucas shifted uncomfortably on the spot before speaking. “Is there any reason she can’t have twenty-four hour supervision?” he asked in a voice of authority, yet calm.
“Well, that would be quite costly. Maxine would have to foot the bill out of her own pocket since we don’t provide that sort of care at this facility.”
“It’s not a problem. I’ll take care of all costs. Do you have a nursing agency that you use who could send an RN right away?” Lucas probed.
“Lucas!” Maxine was gob smacked. “I…We…I can’t ask you to do that. It would cost a fortune.”
“Please leave that to me, Maxine.” Lucas held up his hand to silence her.
Maxine was taken aback at first. Who did he think he was? Just because he had…money?
While Lucas spoke to the doctor regarding making arrangements and instructing him about his billing information, Maxine re-folded her arms tightly across her chest before shifting her composure. She considered her options. What else could she do? The only other choice was to have her mother committed to a mental ward with more staffing or a psychiatric hospital, when all her mother probably needed right now was more close continuous care around the clock, something only a private duty nurse could provide.
“Thank you,” Maxine said softly to Lucas while she turned the key to her apartment for the first time since her break-in. It had been two hours later after they’d left the facility. Lucas and Maxine had visited her mother in the special room prior to the private duty nurse arriving from the agency. But he told her he wanted to take her up to her apartment to get things sorted out. He said it wasn’t wise to go alone. And he was right.
“I told you, I look after my friends, Maxine.”
“Only friends, huh?” She grinned playfully. “Why are you so nice to me? I mean, I really appreciate it, Lucas.”
“I want to do this, Maxine. I don’t know why but sometimes in life you meet someone and you feel this connection. It’s not really something I can explain but I feel a rapport with you. And besides, right now I’d much rather be here with you,” he said looking around the trashed unit, a bitter knife twisted in his stomach.
What crazy animal did this to Maxine? He would soon find out. Zack told him that the detective agency was on the case working with the cops.
“I’d much rather be with a kind-hearted, down-to-earth friend than dealing with the gossip-hungry media,” Lucas continued.
Maxine gushed inside. She was honored. But that feeling was soon washed away with sorrow for Lucas. What on earth must he be going through? His case was still up in the air in the media. She felt bad for him. His reputation was on the line and here he was, spending time helping Maxine sort through her rubbish.
Maxine felt a bit discouraged looking at all the stuff she would have to sift through. “Are you sure you want to help me out here, Lucas?”
He glanced around and cocked a brow. “Not really. Let’s hire a cleaning agency.”
“Oh,” Maxine said, swallowing hard.
“I’m teasing you, Maxine. Relax,” he said in jest.
She melted at the smoothness of his tone. Yes, she needed to learn to relax.
“I get rustled at times, too, Maxine. Don’t get me wrong. Things rile me up but I’ve learned a long time ago that getting worked up doesn’t do anything to solve a problem. It only makes you feel worse and makes the situation look worse. And even more so than that, sometimes we miss the blessing of a simple solution to our problems because we’re too busy being pissed off.”
“Good point.” Maxine nodded thoughtfully.
Lucas’s expression turned grim when his eyes scanned the apartment further. The walls had splashes of wine from the bottles that were hurled against them. “I want you to stay at
the condominium on Bay Street. The one owned by my family.” The words came out more like an order than a request. Maxine did not like the sound of that.
“What?” she huffed. “What are you talking about, Lucas?”
“You’re not staying here.” His tone was clipped.
“I’ll go back to the motel.”
“The hell you will. Why would you do that?”
“Because it’s what I can afford, Lucas. I appreciate what you’ve done for my mother but I’m not…I’m not going to be some…kept woman.”
“Kept woman?” he said with a stiff expression. “Who said anything about a being a kept woman?”
“Well, I sure can’t afford the rent for Romero Towers, that’s a no-brainer.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“I’ll cover it, Maxine. When are you going to learn to accept help when it's offered?”
“Because you’ve done so much for me and I feel as if…I’ll never be able to repay you.” The words caused a painful lump to swell in her throat. Maxine could not breathe or think straight. It was all too overwhelming.
Just then Lucas paused, his expression turned serious. He saw something over by the corner of her studio apartment on the ground by the overturned bookshelf and mounds of books spewed across the floor. He walked over to that area and knelt down; a grin touched his lips.
“What is it?” Maxine asked with great curiosity. She stepped over some books and overturned coffee table to get to where he was.
It was the beautiful bouquet that she had placed on top of her bookshelf. The one she caught at Lucy’s wedding around the same time Lucas had caught Antonio’s garter. Oh, my.
Lucas swallowed. He turned around to face Maxine and handed it to her with a wicked grin. “You may be needing this one day, beautiful.”
Maxine flushed. If only.
***
A few weeks blew past Maxine as she spent time in her new apartment at Romero Towers on the luxury strip of Bay Street and the lake with a beautiful view of the blue water. She had never been in a place like that. Sure enough, Lucas had convinced her to stay there. She had nowhere else to turn. In the first few days, Lucas was with her at the office to ensure things ran smoothly at the agency with the new software program. It was a dream. Speaking of dreams, every night since Lucas helped her out in her apartment she thought back to watching him pick up that magic bouquet in the rubble of her trashed apartment. That bouquet. She referred to it as magic because of all the things to find. It was as if it was some sort of positive omen or maybe even fate. What had that meant? Why had Lucas grinned? A distinct feeling of lightness floated inside her belly. Love. She thought about Lucas having caught the garter that day of Lucy’s wedding, too. Was that a coincidence or…kismet?
As Maxine shuffled through some paperwork on her desk at Dream Weddings, Inc. she tried to push the thought of having anything romantic with Lucas aside. The last thing she needed to do was to raise her hopes only to have them come crushing down.
She had to shift her focus back on work. Yes, work. She loved the new technology Lucas had set up for her business. That was a step in the right direction.
Betty, the receptionist and admin assistant, loved it, too. It was more self-serve for clients and meant less hassle for them. It was also cost-effective since things were headed more online much like travel agencies these days.
At least now her company would be able to keep up with technology and the changing times. So at least they stood some fighting chance of survival in the competitive marketplace. Of course, it also meant that revenue would take a small hit but that was inevitable in any case since most clients were not coming in with mounds of cash to have their weddings organized by a live person.
But to her chagrin, Lucas wasn’t there much of the time. At least after things got up and running. He left Maxine to her work, sure as promised.
The high-rise state-of-the-art condo was close to her office at Dream Wedding, Inc., which in and of itself was a dream! Talk about a fast commute. And all this time, Lucas was on the West Coast handling some business merger plans for Romero Corp. on behalf of his grandfather. She felt foolish now for accusing Lucas of having her as some kept woman. Sure, he wanted to help her out a bit, but it seemed as if he had other things occupying his mind, like business, of course. He was, after all, a prominent entrepreneur and executive, right?
All the while, Maxine longed to see him again. She longed to feel the strong surrender of his arms around her again. She longed to kiss his sweet lips. She wanted him, craved him. Absence sure made the heart fonder, and hungrier for passion, too. She didn’t think she could survive another day without seeing him in person—not online either. Maxine would toss and turn at night thinking about Lucas with her, on top of her. She would lie on her back and remove her gown, stroking her nipples, imagining Lucas’s sweet lips caressing them until she came. Oh, how she missed Lucas. The strange thing was that she’d never even gone all the way with him—yet. She wondered if she’d ever get to that point. She wanted him. She wanted him like she’d never wanted any man before.
“The nursing home is on line one,” Betty called out from the reception area of Dream Weddings, Inc.
“Thanks, Betty,” Maxine answered before picking up the flashing line. “Hi, Mom!”
“Oh, darling, you are sounding much better today,” her mother’s steady voiced called out over the phone. Her mom was still pleasantly confused but luckily she was not sedated with drugs and she was not in a mental ward. Thanks to Lucas, she had a twenty-four hour private duty nurse who was absolutely fabulous and compassionate. This gave Maxine more time for herself to take care of herself and run the business while her mother had a wonderful support staffer with her all the time.
“Mom, I thought I always sounded good.”
“Hmm. Not really, dear, but you’ll improve. So how’s the weather in England?”
Maxine grinned. “Mom, I’m here in Toronto with you. The weather is great.”
At least now her mother was referring to her as a daughter and not as a stranger or some ancient princess. At least that was a start.
Things were beginning to look hopeful for Maxine. Except where Lucas was concerned. Okay, so she had not been rushing into his arms or anything but what was with the hot and cold signals she was getting from him? He barely called since travelling to the West Coast. Was he with another woman? Did he find a fling to kill time while he was out there, since clearly Maxine did not give it up to him at the drop of a hat?
There were only two things of which she was unsure. One: Who was the person or persons behind those hate emails and trashing her place? And, two: Where did she stand with Lucas? Did she have a future with him or not?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Two weeks later, dozens of friends and family gathered in the garden at Romero Mansion for the Jack and Jill Baby shower for Lucy and Antonio’s unborn baby. Tables and garden chairs were adorned with pretty white tablecloths and chair coverings while blue and pink ribbons decorated the trees. Enormous teddy bear balloons and “Baby Shower” blue and pink balloons were hanging everywhere. There was a large table filled with gift bags and presents for Lucy’s baby, of which, Maxine’s gifts were amongst them.
The proud mom-to-be Lucy looked so glowing and jubilant with her swelled belly as she sat down on the “Queen” chair surrounded by close friends who were gushing over her. The official games and shower hadn’t begun as of yet. Maxine was sincerely thrilled for Lucy. She’d found her Mr. Right and now she was expecting her first child. Lucy deserved every happiness. Like Maxine, she’d been alone and heartbroken for some time. Years. In fact, they used to tease each other about their celibate years wondering if they’d end up alone and spinsters into their nineties. A lump climbed in Maxine’s throat. Well, at least Lucy would not end up that way. She wasn’t so sure about her own fate, though.
The sound of people laughing, talking and having fun filled the atmosphere. It was a warm summer afternoon in August
. The sun was shining bright against a blue cloudless sky. Maxine felt a bit out of her element though. She’d known Lucy for a while but Lucy was hanging with a different crowd now. The rich and the famous. A waiter dressed in a white tux with a black bow tie (one of many waiters) approached Maxine with a tray of refreshments.
“No, thank you. I’m fine for now,” she dismissed him politely. The man walked away. Everybody seemed to be having fun socializing with people they knew but Maxine didn’t really know anyone there. Except Lucas, but he was still out of town as far as she knew.
“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” Lucas said to Maxine as he stepped behind her.
Maxine was caught by surprise. A very pleasant surprise! When did he arrive? She had been admiring the beautiful flowers in the massive garden. The hedge was professionally trimmed by the family’s gardener into heart-shaped motifs. Maxine was oohing and aahing over them.
“Yes, they are…beautiful,” she murmured after she turned to face him. “I didn’t see you arrive. When did you get here?” Her heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest. Butterflies were tickling her stomach again. Being this close to Lucas did that to her, didn’t it? It never failed. There was simply something about him that lifted her spirit and elevated her mood.
“Well, you know I wouldn’t miss this for the world. My cousin’s…ahem…baby shower,” Lucas said with a charming smirk.
Maxine could just imagine the two cousins teasing each other or having a mock spat over the fact that they were both forced to attend the Romero family’s first official Jack and Jill baby shower. In fact, she noticed that Toni was extra perky today. She could literally feel his joy over having a new grandchild in the family. His very first. How exciting! And Maxine got to be a part of that.
There was the pang in the center of her chest again. A longing that she wished she had a big, close-knit family such as the Romero family. She could see how much they stuck together and supported each other whether they were busy or not. They were all in attendance.
A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy (The Romero Brothers, Book 2) Page 9
