by Vonnie Davis
“Do you have any plants? Aunt Jinny says plants last longer than flowers.”
The lady pointed out a few and Matt chose two. She asked him if he wanted some flowers stuck in vials of water to brighten it up and he asked for pink daisies. Boyd paid the bill and watched with pride as his son carefully carried his purchase to the car. Graci-Ella would love it.
Boyd offered to carry the planter into the hospital for Matt and his son gave him such a scowl, he quickly backed off. When they opened the door, Graci-Ella was setting up in her bed, her feet dangling over the sides.
“Up for some company?” Boyd placed his hand on Matt’s head. “I brought my son with me tonight. He was eager to meet you.”
She opened her arms and Matt gravitated toward her as if he were skateboarding downhill. “I am so glad you came. Your daddy talks about you all the time.”
Matt held out the planter. “I picked this out for you because Dad said you were a really good basketball player.” He spoke rather softly and shyly.
“You picked it out?” She gave Matt one of her heart-stopping smiles and put her arm around him.
He leaned into her, all signs of shyness gone. “I asked the florist if she had any basketball planters and she did. Then…then I picked the plants. The real flowers were her idea, but I got to pick the colors. Girls like pink.”
How does my six-year old know this?
Graci-Ella waved her hand around the room. “Do you see all the flowers I’ve gotten?” She held the basketball planter up and slowly examined it. “I do believe I like yours the best.”
Matt’s face split into a grin. “Dad told me we were getting a new girlfriend.”
Hey, where did this we stuff come from?
“Dad said you had brain surgery.” He looked over her head. “Where?”
She pulled her long hair back and showed him her shaved spot and stitches.
“Did any of your brains fall out ‘cause that would be cool for me to take to school for Show and Tell.”
Boyd slapped his hand over his eyes and slowly peeked through his fingers. You just never knew what the kid was going to say. Graci-Ella was laughing and hugging Matt. “Sorry, no extra brain cells. I need them all.”
“So, when do you get out of the hospital, Graci-fella? We need to make room for you so we can look after you until you’re all better.”
She scowled at Boyd. He held up both hands in a surrender gesture. “I never mentioned that to him. That was his idea.”
She planted a kiss on Matt’s hair. “Honey, I have my own condo. My mother’s going to stay with me for a week after I go home. My dad’s flying back to Maryland tomorrow. So, I’ll have my mom to help me when I first get home.”
The door opened and her parents walked in. Both were smiling, so Graci-Ella must have straightened out the argument. Both went to her for kisses and long hugs.
“Mom, Dad, this is Boyd’s son, Matt. Look at the beautiful planter he bought me. Isn’t he adorable? Matt, could you set it on the window sill between the two flower arrangements? Please?”
He quickly did as she asked, shoving the other two flowers toward the glass, so his stood out. When he returned, he looped his arm around Graci-Ella’s. “I think Graci-fella is the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Well, I see flattery runs in the family.” Graci-Ella winked at Boyd who stared at his shoes. Damn, he hadn’t expected his son to put on such a show. He glanced over at her father whose shoulders shook with laughter.
After several tries, “Graci-fella” tumbled from Ellis’s lips. “Son, come here. You are a tonic after these last ten days.”
On Matt’s way by, he saw Graci-Ella’s feet feel around on the floor for her slippers. Matt dropped to his knees and wiped each soul of her foot off and reached for her slippers to put them on—the wrong feet. “There,” Matt brushed his hands together to indicate a job well done. “Now you can walk without stepping in someone’s chewing gum or doggie poo.” Boyd had a feeling Ellis had had a few drinks this afternoon, because he got another fit of giggles over that.
Graci-Ella glanced down at her slippers, pointing in the wrong way and shrugged. She walked toward Boyd. “If the mountain won’t come to his woman for a kiss, then his woman will have to chase him down for one.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you for bringing Matt. He is adorable, simply the sweetest kid.” Then she kissed Boyd.
Matt leaned against Ellis. “See that? He didn’t bring her a stinkin’ thing and he gets the big kiss. Life is strange, ain’t it? Sometimes you catch the elevator and sometimes you get the shaft.”
Ellis covered his mouth as he nearly fell out of his chair in hysterics. Even Grace, her face red and her eyes twinkling, oozed, “Oh, isn’t he just too precious?”
Five days later and Graci-Ella was getting ready to go back to the hospital, her mother fussing and fretting behind her. “It’s too soon, darling. Let me go, while you stay home and rest.” Graci-Ella just wanted to go out on her patio and scream. She was almost glad her mother was packed for her return trip to Maryland tomorrow. She loved her mom like crazy, but the woman had her ways that drove her up the freaking wall.
If Graci-Ella rested any more per her mother’s orders, she’d turn into a boneless blob. She needed exercise. She needed fresh air. She needed to spend time with someone who didn’t sprinkle wheat germ on all food items and sanitize every surface in her condo, including the outside of her patio doors. Her mother didn’t just hover; she nestled like a momma hen over her eggs.
“Mother, please stop. Matt came to see me twice while I was in the hospital and brought me a beautiful basketball planter he’d picked out himself. Now, he’s in with another attack of pneumonia and no one or nothing is going to keep me from spending some time with him.
“I’m cleared to drive, after all I got my stitches out yesterday and I have to go back to work in a couple days. On our way, I’ll stop at this children’s book store I know of and pick out some books for him.”
“Someone is over-doing,” her mother replied in a sing-song voice.
“Stop trying to run my life!” Graci-Ella cupped her mother’s cheek. “I don’t mean to be sharp with you, but he’s a little boy whose mother never comes to visit him when he’s in the hospital. He doesn’t have a fantastic mom like I do. He needs us, he really does.”
Her mother gasped. “She never comes? But why? How far away does she live?”
“I’ll tell you on the way to the bookstore. Grab your purse. Let’s go.” Graci-Ella had a rental compact, supplied by her auto insurance, that she could barely fit her long legs into. First chance she got, she was buying another car that sat higher with more leg room. As she drove, Graci-Ella explained Matt’s world to her mother.
“How much effort would it be for her and her live-in to walk outside and smoke? It’s not like you get a foot of snow down here. Certainly, the boy’s health is more important.” She sniffed as she got out of the car at the bookstore.
Graci-Ella asked for books for first and second grade reading levels and the shop keeper directed them to the correct section. She found one on space ships and another on forest animals, since Matt had shown such an interest in her raccoon book. Her mother was looking elsewhere. Both brought their purchases to the register about the same time. Graci-Ella spied a round container of gummy bears and grabbed those too.
While the saleslady wrapped their purchases, Graci-Ella elbowed her mom. “You don’t fool me, young lady.”
“What?” Her mother plastered on her patented innocent look.
“I saw the books you got him. One of Maryland and another of famous women basketball players, that just happens to have my picture in it. I’m surprised they still have that book out.”
“Well, when you and Boyd bring him to see us, I want him to know something of the state.”
She planted her hand on the hip of her capris. “When Boyd and I bring Matt to see you? What makes you think we’re getting that serious?”
/> “Young lady,” her mother quipped, “don’t you use that patented innocent expression on me! I see how you two look at each other and kiss. There’s more than humidity in the air around here.” She picked off an imaginary piece of lint on Graci-Ella’s plaid cotton blouse. “Your father is looking forward to having Matt for a grandson and he thinks Boyd can do no wrong. Boyd took him on a tour of the fire station. He said everyone calls Boyd Tiny, which he found quite funny. He got to sit behind the wheel of one of those big fire trucks like a kid. So, you certainly have our blessing.”
“Well, we need more time.” Good God, the woman would be choosing wedding patterns next and wedding gowns. Graci-Ella glared at her mother. “Don’t you dare go shopping for a wedding gown for me! I know how you work.”
Her mother blinked in that innocent way she pretended. “Who, me? Why, I would never conceive of doing such a thing. Although I do think white would look better on you than ivory. Something plain to emphasize your height since Boyd is so tall. A long sheath, perhaps with pearls and lace at the neckline.”
“Mother!”
“What? I didn’t say a thing!”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Boyd finished cleaning his gear from a garage fire. He couldn’t explain how good it felt to be back at work on a full-duty status. A man had to be next to crazy to find happiness in charging into a burning building, but there you had it. He was a fireman and damn he loved his job. Being able to fight one of the elements was a heady feeling, to say nothing of saving people’s lives and their possessions.
He stowed away his items and headed for the shower, peeling off his sweat-soaked t-shirt on the way, tossing it into the squad’s large washer. After his shower, he flopped onto his cot and called Matt. It was almost past his son’s normal bedtime, but the hospital always had him off schedule.
“Dad! Guess who was here to see me! Just guess.” Well, someone certainly had the kid wound up.
With the trial date getting closer, now would be the time for Chantel to start playing the devoted mother. He always made it a point of calling her when Matt was admitted to the hospital. In response, she made it a point of not coming to see him. He had yet to figure out why she was fighting for custody, unless it was pure spite.
“Your mom?”
“No! Better! Graci-fella and her mom. They bought me presents!”
On one hand, he was surprised and, on the other, he wasn’t. Not really. Graci-Ella really cared about people. She had a special friendliness, a warmth about her. “They did? Did you thank them?”
“I hugged and kissed them both, was that thanks enough?”
Boyd laughed. Oh, this kid of his; was there even a way to measure his love for him? “Yes, I suppose so. What did they get you?”
“Grace, and she said I could call her that…ooor grandma. Graci-fella elbowed her on that remark. Anyhow, Grace gave me a book about ‘Maryland,’ that’s the state they live in, like we live in Florida, and she gave me a book about famous women basketball players and guess what! You’ll never guess in a million years!”
Boyd smiled and rubbed a hand over his heart. “What, son?”
“It has Graci-fella’s picture in it! Is that cool, or what? She’s got on a uniform and everything. Her hair’s in a ponytail and she’s jumping high to make a basket. She’s famous!”
“Hey, that is cool. You’ll have to show it to me, son.”
“I will. Graci-fella gave me a book on spaceships and one on animals in a forest. I can read most of the words in that one. She also gave me a tub of gummi bears, but I can’t eat more than four at a time. She made me promise.”
“Sounds like a good promise to me.” He’d have to thank her for her kindness to his son.
“Aaaand, she gave me a stuffed raccoon to remind me of her when her eyes were black and blue. I’m going to sleep with him while I’m here. She said that’s not being ‘babyfied,’ that’s keeping someone special in your thoughts. She is special, isn’t she, dad?”
A warmness wrapped itself around his heart, thawing it after all Chantel had done to him and Matt. But who was he kidding? The melting of his heart had begun the moment Graci-Ella aimed those vibrant blue eyes at him. Every time he saw her, heard her laugh, smelled her perfume and held her lush curves against him, the speed of the melting increased. “Yes, Graci-Ella is very special.”
Matt was curling into his sleeping position, the sounds of blankets and sheets rustled. “I’m naming my raccoon Fella after her.” He yawned.
Boyd tried his best not to laugh. He’d soon have to work with his son on the correct pronunciation of her name but, damn, it sounded so cute the way Matt said it. “Sleep well, buddy.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
“Love you more.” He ended their connection and dialed Graci-Ella’s. He wanted to tell her how nice it was of her to go see his son and brighten his lonely evening.
“Hey, handsome. How did your day go?”
“Not as good as my son’s. He got to see you. I believe he even mentioned hugging and kissing.”
“What’s wrong, big guy, feeling left out? Want me to drive to the station and tuck you into bed?” She laughed in that low, sexy way she had that aroused him in an instant, but then everything about her turned him on.
“Is your mom in bed?”
“Yes, she flies out early tomorrow and has a taxi reserved to pick her up.”
“Then we can speak freely. Baby, if you come out here to tuck me into bed, you’d be in bed with me. You need to think if you’re ready for the next step in our relationship, because it’s going to be as physical as you can think of—and that’s no lie. The only thing that will hold me back is you saying, ‘No.’ Is that clear?”
He detected a hitch in her breathing. “I’m ready, big guy. Have plenty of condoms on hand.” His erection stretched another painful inch. God, what this woman could do to him.
“I’m going to have to say goodnight and take another shower. This shower will need to be cold…hellacious cold.”
“Now, you know that’s an oxymoron. Nothing about hell is cold.”
“I hate a smartass lawyer. Love you, baby.”
An idea popped into Graci-Ella’s mind. She could make it work. Her mom was asleep, and she could sneak out once she changed clothes. She’d leave her a note in case she woke up. Graci-Ella rummaged through her skimpy wear drawer until she found a red stretchy tube top and a pair of black very brief running shorts she could adjust the ties on the side to pull the material up higher at her hips. Tonight, she was going commando. She rubbed her signature lotion on her arms, chest and neck. Then she covered it all with a short red satin robe with a tie belt and red mules she wouldn’t put on until she got outside.
Ten minutes later, she strutted to the side door of the fire station and rang the bell. Wolf answered, his eyes widened as he glanced up and down her outfit. “Honey, we don’t allow overnight guests or my wife would be here.”
“I just want to tease Tiny. I won’t stay but five minutes.”
Wolf glanced over his shoulder at the guys watching a game in the TV room. “Are you wearing anything under that robe? ‘Cause you’re going to create one hell of a scene in here.”
“Of course, what kind of person do you think I am?”
He grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. “One condition.” He held up an index finger. “You stand at the entrance to the TV area, so we can all get a look at Tiny’s reaction when he sees you. He’ll probably beat your ass—in a nice way, of course.”
A case of nerves moved into her stomach. “I thought I could do this privately.”
“Privately?” his voice rose. “Around here? Ain’t happening. Come on. You’re putting on a little show for him. Right?”
A show? She was almost too embarrassed to smile. “Y…yes.”
“Guys, hold down the noise until Tiny gets out here. Graci-Ella has a surprise for him.”
“But we can watch. Right?” The eyes nearly bugged out of a young man ca
lled The Virgin. His Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed.
“As much as Tiny will let you see. I just wanna watch his jaw drop. He’s always in such control. You know how he is.” Wolf pressed the button on the in-house intercom. “Tiny, you’re needed out in the TV room. Tiny, get yer lazy ass out here.”
A door slammed. “What in God’s name do you want, you bossy son of a…” His voice trailed off as soon as he saw her. Of course, it was kind of hard to talk with your lower jaw hanging down to your waist. He wore blue plaid sleep pants and Nike sandals.
“Tiny,” she purred, “your official tucking in service has arrived.” She loosened the tie-belt on her short robe, just a little, and shifted her shoulders so the robe slid down revealing bear skin, but not the tube top.
The guys hooted and whistled.
Tiny strode four or five steps closer to her and then crooked his finger for her to come to him.
She shook her head and laughed. Her long hair swinging back and forth.
He pointed to the floor in front of him. Crap. He didn’t seem too happy with her surprise.
“Are you going to smack my ass?”
His dark eyebrows were furrowed. “You have no idea.”
She grabbed her purse off the dining room table and waved to the squad. “Sorry to run, guys, but I’ve got an ass to save.” She made a beeline for the door.
Footsteps barreled down on her before strong hands lifted her into a fireman’s carry and a palm struck her bottom. He shoved open the side door of the building and headed for the parking area. “What the hell, Graci-Ella! You come out here half naked, show off skin that only I should see.”
“Why should only you see it?”
“I can’t believe you even need to ask that question. Not as close as we are.” He set her on the ground and walked away from her, while his lecture continued. “I’ve told you I love you over and over. You said the same thing to me. That creates a bond, dammit.” He turned and she had her robe dropped to the parking lot.
“I’m not naked. I would never do that to you or myself. We were teasing each other and I thought with the stress of worrying about Matt and the court date coming up, you could use a good laugh.” She bent to retrieve her robe and shook it out before she put it on, yanking the tie belt. “You better go back inside before the guys think we’re out here doing the deed. I hate that I made you angry.”
