Vince's Place

by Sandra R Neeley

  She went back into the kitchen and Vince smiled as he heard her telling her husband about the rude young ladies out there, that were so forward they were making that nice young man uncomfortable.

  Vince took his time enjoying his pizza, hoping the longer he stayed, the better chance Natalie may wander in. But by he time he’d finished all but three slices, it was pretty clear that she wasn’t.

  Angie came over to his table with his bill and with a slice of tiramisu. “Here’s your bill, Mr…” She paused not knowing his name.

  “Nobles,” he filled in for her. “I’m Vince Nobles.”

  “Mr. Nobles,” Angie repeated, smiling at him. “And here’s dessert, on the house, as an apology for the two women who were here earlier.”

  “Vince, please,” he said, “And you don’t have to do that. Wasn’t your fault and I just ignored them.”

  “I saw that you did. You were a perfect gentleman. I’m just sorry you had to endure that.”

  Vince chuckled. “It’s okay.”

  “If my daughter ever behaved like that, I’d tan her hide!” Angie said, still offended at their behavior. “I’m sure they’d probably have not even cared if your wife was with you. They have continued on with their comments.”

  “I don’t have a wife. But if I did, I’d have had to be a little more forceful. No one would be allowed to disrespect my wife.”

  “Good on you!” Angie said. She looked at Vince and it was obvious her wheels were turning. “Enjoy your dessert, Vince. I’ll be back to get your check whenever you’re ready.” She hurried back into the kitchen.

  Vince ate his tiramisu, and it was some of the best he’d ever had. He stood, taking his wallet out of his jeans, his mind racing, trying to figure out how to ask Natalie’s parents about her. He didn’t want to just come out and say, ‘Hey, I just met your daughter, and I want to marry her, but she thinks I’m involved with somebody else. Do you think you can tell me where I can find her so I can explain?’ Surely, they’d think him insane and make every effort to keep him away from her. His bill was just under thirty dollars, so he took two twenties out of his wallet and dropped them on the table.

  Just as he was tucking his wallet back in preparing to leave, he heard Angie’s voice from the kitchen. “I don’t care. I think I’m right. I’m going to invite him.” Then the doors swung open again and Angie was walking toward him, a bounce in her step, a glimmer in her eye, and a big smile on her face.

  “The tiramisu was wonderful! Thank you very much.”

  “You’re welcome. Tell me, Vince, do you have a girlfriend?” Angie asked, cocking her head to the side a bit.

  He was surprised. “Um, no. I don’t. Why?”

  “Angie, leave the man alone!” a man’s voice called from the kitchen.

  Angie scowled toward the kitchen, then turned to face him again, her smile brilliant. “I have a daughter. She’s very smart, very pretty, and very sweet. She’s a nurse,” Angie said proudly.

  “Really?” he asked.

  “Yes. And she doesn’t date much anymore. Spends all her time working. She’s got several jobs, works odd shifts at two different hospitals, and she’s filling in at another when they’re short handed! Here in town she works in maternity, but in New Orleans she works trauma in the ER, and floats to just about any department they need her in over there, too.”

  “She sounds very dedicated,” he said.

  “She is. But she takes no time for herself. She’s always been too trusting, and she’s ended up hurt several times. But this last time, one of her so called friends ended up stealing her boyfriend — not that she lost much.”

  “Get to the point, Angie!” a man’s voice called out from the kitchen.

  “So anyway, I was wondering. Would you be interested in meeting her?”

  Vince was speechless. Natalie's mother wanted to set him up with her. This was perfect, exactly the in he needed.

  Angie took his lack of response the wrong way. “I know it sounds strange, but I kinda have a feeling about these things. And I think the two of you would hit it off just right. So, if you’d like to meet her, I’d really like to introduce you.”

  Vince smiled. “I’d love to meet her. What’s her name?”

  “Wonderful!” Angie said excitedly. “Her name’s Natalie.”

  “I’d be honored to meet Natalie. In fact, I met a Natalie this morning — I wonder if she’s the same Natalie?” he said.

  “Was she a nurse?” Angie asked.

  “She was,” Vince answered.

  “She may have been!” Angie said. “But we’ll know for sure next week. My Natalie left this morning to go to her other job. It’s in New Orleans, so she stays over at a friend’s house while she’s on duty there. She won’t be back until next week. So, how about dinner, next Thursday night, our house?”

  His heart sank. He didn’t want to have to wait that long to see Natalie again. He forced a smile. “That sounds wonderful. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

  “She’s going to really like you, I think! Here’s our address. And here is my phone number. Call if anything comes up and you need to reschedule.”

  “Thank you, Mrs.” He waited for her to fill in her name.

  “Angie,” she said. “Angie Salvaggio.”

  “Mrs. Salvaggio.”

  “You’re very welcome.”

  Angie smiled and waved as Vince headed toward the door. “Oh! Do you have any food allergies?” she called as he pushed the door opened to leave.

  He turned back to her and saw that her husband had joined her. He looked like a very nice man, but he looked like he carried quite a load on his shoulders. “No, ma’am, no food allergies. I’ll bring dessert, if that’s alright.”

  “That’ll be perfect!” she singsonged.

  Vince met her husband’s eyes and smiled, inclining his head.

  The man repeated the gesture, lifting his hand in a wave. He waited until Vince left the restaurant. As he wiped his hands on his apron, he shook his head. “You know Natalie doesn’t like it when you meddle.”

  “I’m not meddling, I’m match-making,” Angie answered.

  “Same thing” Nick said.

  Angie turned to face her husband, taking his face in her hands. “I want her to be happy, Nick. She was so sad this morning. I don’t know what happened, but something did. And that man right there… he’s a gentleman, he’s polite, he’s got manners, he’s single, and he’s very, very handsome. Besides, I have a feeling. This could be the one for her.”

  “You and your feelings,” Nick said, a hint of smile on his lips.

  “You know my feelings are usually right,” she said, moving to clean the table Vince had used.

  “And you know your daughter doesn’t like you match-making for her,” Nick said, watching the man in question get in his truck and drive away.

  “I think she’ll forgive me this time,” Angie said, smiling, coming to stand beside Nick to watch Vince as he drove off, offering them a final wave.

  “Yes, I think she’ll like this one,” Angie said.

  Chapter 9

  Vince drove back home and parked around back. He went up to Valerie’s apartment and opened the door. Brandi was relaxing on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table, switching channels on the television. “Hey!” she said, when he opened the door.

  He was obviously surprised. “Aw, hell. I forgot you were moving your things in here. I didn’t mean to just walk in on you like that.”

  “It’s okay. You find your woman?” she asked.

  “No, I didn’t. But I managed to get invited to her parents’ house for dinner next week.

  Brandi looked at Vince, surprise painted on her face. She laughed. “You did what?”

  “I went to her parents’ pizza place, thinking maybe she’d be there since she wasn’t at the hospital. Needless to say she wasn’t, but her mother took a liking to me and invited me to her house for dinner next week to meet her daughter.”

  “O
hhh, that is not good, Vince. You better find Natalie before then and explain things or that is going to be a very uncomfortable dinner. And it could be worse than that if her mom starts thinking you played her in order to get to her daughter.”

  “Well, I did tell her that I’d met a woman named Natalie earlier this morning, and I wondered if they were the same Natalie,” he explained.

  “That’s a little better. But Natalie knows you know her parents own that place. You’re going to have some explaining to do either way.”

  Vince shrugged. “It’s the best I got at the moment. She’s out of town until next week. She works at two different hospitals, one of them is in New Orleans, and she’ll be there until then.”

  “No chance of finding her before the dinner?” Brandi asked.

  Vince shook his head. “Do you have any idea how many hospitals are in New Orleans?”

  “A lot, I’m sure.”

  “Exactly,” he said, running his hand through his hair. “I’m exhausted, and I have to work the bar tonight. I’m gonna get a few hours of sleep. You okay? You need anything?”

  “Nope, I’m good. I stopped at the grocery and picked up a few things. I’m just enjoying being here,” she said, waving her hand around the apartment. “I hope Valerie won’t mind.”

  “Not at all. She’ll be glad somebody’s in it. If you need anything, just holler — I can hear you in my place, or call me. And, Brandi, keep this door locked, please. Most people know better than to come up here, but still, better safe than sorry.”

  “I will. That’s a heavy door!” she said, getting up from the couch to lock the door behind him.

  “Yeah, I put up an industrial one after Maverik kicked it in.”

  “Maverik kicked it in?” she asked, surprise in her voice.

  “Yeah, Valerie was up here with her ex-boyfriend, and he was not happy about it,” Vince said, chuckling. He started to walk out of the door and stopped, looking back at her. “Thank you again for understanding, Brandi.”

  “Stop with the thank you’s. I was never convinced things were right between us. You were trying hard to convince us both, but I wasn’t sold on it from the get go. It’s all good.”

  Vince walked back inside and hugged her to him. He smiled when he realized the pull he’d felt toward her was gone. Finding Natalie had ruined him for all other females. He smiled even bigger, he loved that. His Natalie. Soon she’d be by his side, and he’d be at hers, like it was supposed to be.

  “You coming down tonight?” he asked.

  “Oh, yeah. I gotta make some money. Besides, I kinda like it here,” she answered, grinning.

  “Good. I kinda like having you here,” Vince said. He let her go and headed out the door, pulling it closed behind himself. He paused and waited for her to lock all three locks on the door, before heading into his own apartment. He took a deep breath. Damn — the whole place smelled like Brandi. He didn’t want any female’s scent in his home, except for Natalie’s. He went into his kitchen and grabbed his cleaning supplies — so much for sleeping.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Natalie rolled her windows down and let the wind blow through her car as she drove across the Causeway on her way to Touro Infirmary in New Orleans. She worked there every other week in the emergency department as a trauma nurse. Her mind had not left Vince since she’d last seen him this morning. But it was clear he was already involved with someone else. She’d been over and over their interactions in her head. He’d really not done anything inappropriate on any level, whether he was in a relationship with someone else or not. He’d just been nice to her. And because she’d been so drawn to him, she’d read more into it than she would have otherwise. “Great, so this lousy feeling is all your own fault,” she said aloud.

  She thought of Delilah. She really liked the woman. She was a bit unusual, but that made her interesting. She really hoped that Delilah would call her for lunch when she was recovered from having her baby. She had a lot of family to spend her time with, and they all appeared to be very close. But Delilah had seemed very excited about their budding friendship. Natalie smiled when she thought of all the people camped out in Delilah’s hospital room eager to be a part of welcoming the new baby to the family. And that brought her back to Vince. Natalie’s smile faded as she remembered the look on his face when his girlfriend had arrived. He’d not been happy to see his girlfriend. That was the only thing that made Natalie question if his attentions to her were simply her imagination, or if maybe he was actually drawn to her as well. He’d seemed really disappointed that his girlfriend had shown up. But even if he’d not cared about the fact that he’d had a girlfriend, Natalie did. And she’d not have agreed to see him once she’d found that out. It had been done to her too many times. And the last one had actually married her best friend. Of course they’d had to come clean about their affair once her best friend had gotten pregnant. Ex-best friend that was, but still. She refused to be the other woman in any relationship. If a man had a woman, he wasn’t going to have her too — period. And that’s just the way it was.

  A little voice in the back of her mind wondered if maybe she wasn’t really a girlfriend, maybe she was just someone he dated. Natalie thought about it. Nope. The look on his face was enough to convince her that she was more to Vince than just someone he dated. She sighed deeply. “Don’t need him!” she said aloud.

  But her heart gave a little stutter. Yes, she did need him. And she knew it. “Can’t have him,” she whispered to the winds. She reached over and cranked the volume knob on the radio to blast Maroon 5 as loud as her car speakers could possibly play it. She settled back in her seat and belted out every word, determined to ignore the hurt in her chest. “Makes no sense!” she shouted above the music. “I just met the man! This makes no sense!” She hit the arrow on her CD controls and made the CD skip to the next song. She waited for the opening notes to play, then lost herself singing every word as loud as she could, while visions of Vince passed through her mind.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Kaid strapped Barron securely into his car seat, then went back to the wheelchair Delilah waited in, kept company by one of the volunteers at the hospital. “You ready, Monster?” he asked her, holding his hands out to steady her when she stood to move to the truck.

  “Yes. I am thankful to be going home,” Delilah answered.

  “I’m looking forward to it myself,” Kaid answered. He inclined his head and smiled at the girl waiting patiently with the wheelchair as he held onto Delilah while she walked toward the open passenger side door of Kaid’s truck.

  Delilah surprised him when she shoved the door closed and opened the door to the back seat.

  “What are you doin’, Delilah?” he asked.

  “I am riding with my son. He may need me. You can drive us,” she explained.

  “Okay, then,” he mumbled. He waited until she was settled in the back seat beside Barron’s car seat, then buckled her seatbelt, gently closed the door, and hurried around to get in the driver’s seat. “On our way,” he announced.

  “Where is everyone?” Delilah asked, after they’d been driving for a few blocks.

  “Oh, here and there, they all had something to do, and I decided I’d like to bring you and Barron home on my own, anyway. It’s a special feeling to bring your wife home with your new baby. For me it is, at least. Sense of pride, ya know? And humbleness at the same time.”

  “Pride and humility?” Delilah asked.

  “Yeah. Like, this is MY family. Mine! And at the same time, how did I get so damn lucky to have this woman love me enough to want to give me a son?” Kaid answered, trying to explain how he felt.

  Delilah smiled, she knew exactly how Kaid felt, she felt the same. “I love you, Kaid.”

  “Love you, too, Lilah,” Kaid answered, glancing at her in the rear view.

  The rest of the drive home was quiet as Delilah hummed to Barron and fidgeted with his car seat getting the straps just right, and the cushions that held him i
n place just the way she wanted them. Then she moved the small, colored stuffed animals clipped above his head so that he could see them better. Kaid smiled listening to her hum some made up melody to their son. He’d had no idea he could ever feel like this.

  He glanced up at her in the mirror again, knowing that at home, all their family were waiting for them. They’d put together a little welcome home celebration — nothing too much — just a little glad you’re home Barron and Delilah kinda thing.

  Kaid smiled knowing how much his Monster loved to have parties of any type, little celebrations of Lilah, he called them. She’d never had a birthday party, or Christmas or any celebration at all before Amos had brought her to Kaid and his clan, so now whenever they found a reason to have a party for her, they did it. She always reacted like a little girl would, smiling and giggling, her eyes shining. With that thought in mind and a grin on his own face, he turned off the two lane highway onto their dirt road and followed it through the woods until he emerged in the clearing with the main house on his right, Avaleigh’s a little further up ahead and Maverik’s place to the right of Avaleigh’s. There were now swing sets and bicycles in the yard. If you took the left and drove down the newly graded and improved fork in the road, it took you to Bane’s and Bam’s houses. His smile turned huge when he saw the, ‘It’s a boy’ balloons and banners tied to the railing of their porch steps and above the front door. There were light blue wreaths and storks and ducks everywhere.

  “Oh my goodness!” Kaid exclaimed. “Look, Monster!”

  Delilah raised her eyes from her son and immediately started giggling. “It’s a party!” she said excitedly, as everyone filed out onto the porch, and Maverik came down the steps to meet them.

  “I love parties!” Delilah said happily.

  As Kaid came to a stop right in front of the porch, Maverik reached for the door to the truck and helped Delilah get out. She was more healed than any human would be by this time. It had only been about thirty-six hours since she’d given birth, but she was still sore. Childbirth was a major thing to go through, even for a shifter. Delilah glanced over her shoulder and saw that Kaid was getting Barron out of his car seat. Assured that Barron was being cared for, she stood next to Maverik, thankfully holding his hand for support and smiling as her family threw confetti and blew noisemakers to celebrate her and Barron coming home.