Page 22 of Vanishing Point
Chapter Seven
After Mags woke up from her nap, they packed up a few things and Thomas drove Vi and Magnolia back to his house.
Zach’s truck was still out front when they got there. “Do you mind meeting some friends of mine?”
Vi grimaced, but she nodded. “Oh. Well. Okay.”
They got out of the car, just as Zach was coming out of the front door. He was grappling with his very energetic three-year-old, Cooper.
“Hart. Ma’am.”
“Zach, this is Vi Reynolds. Vi, this is Zach Simmons. A friend of mine, and he has a security business with Cam Delaney, Laurel’s brother.”
“Hi,” Vi offered.
“Nice to meet you, Vi. I’d shake your hand, but if I let him go, he’s going to bolt.”
“I’m a dinosaur!” Cooper shouted. Then gave an impressive roar. Magnolia stared down at him dubiously and clutched onto Vi tighter.
“I checked out the security system,” Zach said, while Cooper grumbled and tried to escape the hold Zach had on him. “Should be able to get everything upgraded by tomorrow. Mostly done through my computer, but Cam or I might need to stop by tomorrow to do some on-site stuff.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Any time.” He wrangled his wriggly toddler. “Lucy’s inside. She wanted to make everything look nice.” Zach rolled his eyes. But as if on cue, Lucy came out the front door and walked up to them.
Vi’s eyes got real wide. It was kind of funny, Lucy had been a fixture around Bent for enough years now that Thomas forgot to a lot of people, she was someone else. Before anyone could make introductions, Vi spoke.
“You’re…Daisy Delaney,” Vi said, clear awe in her tone.
Lucy clearly wasn’t surprised by it. She no doubt got that just about everywhere she went outside of Bent. “I just go by Lucy around here.”
“You… I listen to your…music. All the time.”
“Good to hear,” Lucy said. She stood next to Zach, gave the wriggling toddler one quelling look and Cooper stopped trying to escape his dad’s hold. “And who’s this?” she asked, reaching out and giving Magnolia’s hand a little shake.
Vi looked down at the daughter on her hip. “Magnolia. I… I named her after your song.”
Lucy’s smile widened. “Isn’t that something?” She studied Magnolia in Vi’s arms. “I miss this age. If you can’t tell, our three-year-old is like a human wrecking ball.”
“And just moved to a toddler bed. So they’re letting us borrow some things while you’re staying here,” Thomas said. “Crib. High chair. We should be all set.”
“Oh, well, thank you. I… That’s so nice.”
“No worries.” Lucy patted her tiny baby bump. “We’ll need them back in a few months, but for now, they’re all yours. We’ve had them in storage anyway while we’re redoing our house.”
“We’ll leave you to it, but if you need anything else, let us know,” Zach said. He started moving for his truck, but Lucy didn’t. She pointed at Thomas.
“You’re coming to Cam and Hilly’s baby shower, right?”
Thomas tried not to sigh. “Yeah, if I can swing it.”
“Bring the whole gang,” she said, smiling at Vi and Mags. “The more the merrier. Hope to see you there, Vi.” She had to speak louder with every sentence over Cooper’s roaring.
Magnolia reached out for Thomas, so he took her. She snuggled in. “Not sure Mags was a fan of Cooper,” he said, holding her close. “Come on, sweets,” he walked up to his front door, ushered Vi in.
“I don’t need to go,” Vi said. “To the baby shower,” she added, when it was clear he’d lost the thread.
“Oh, if I’m going, you’re going,” Thomas said. He’d forgotten about the co-ed baby shower. His least favorite kind of forced party. Weddings and adult bridal showers at least usually had some alcoholic social lubricant, and kids’ birthday parties were easy to hide in, what with all the screeching and sugar.
