Page 51 of Fourth Heartwarmers Trilogy
Chapter Twenty-eight
It took Angie two weeks to finally give the doc and nurses enough indigestion that they succumbed to her pleading and let her go home. Of course, Mia had to promise to be her caregiver and watch over her medications. They didn't trust the old lady to look after herself.
Jack had visited every evening alone, giving her an update of that day’s renos completed at the casita and news about his campaign. How Mark had saved his life.
Prying gossip from him about the happenings inside the house where Mia had now hired two ladies and the work seemed to be flowing well was like digging cement with a fork.
Closed mouthed at the best of times, he shied away from every conversation she tried to start and even refused to make eye contact as soon as Mia’s name came up.
Happiness surged every time it happened. Mischievous giggles tickled her inside and made his frowns even more ferocious. Purposely, she goaded him to get the reaction. Her one and onlylove from years ago had always called her his teasing little devil. Seems she hadn’t lost the knack.
How sweet it would be to have her favorite guy person hook up with her favorite girl person. And maybe one day have a favorite baby person.
What gave her even more hope was getting the same reaction from Mia when she dug for the scoop on Jack and his work. You’d think they never saw each other and yet they were on the same property.
Their favorite subject was the child they both adored. And that suited her just fine. She was crazy over the kid, and after Jasmine’s death and Mia’s acceptance of her offer of a home, she’d counted the days until the girls would be living in her house.
Though one stress had kept her awake nights – Maisie and the pool. Imagining scenario after scenario of horrific images forced her to get Jack to install the fence as a safety measure. Though Mia had believed it was her idea, Angie had already planned it.
Years ago, Angie had lost the love of her life to a boating accident when he’d saved a family from drowning only to succumb to the vicious undertow himself. She knew personally that water could kill.
For some reason, her concerns now appeared unnecessary. It sounded like the child stayed far away from the area and was only coaxed there with an adult, and then it took a lot of deal-making to get her in the water.
That surprised her really because before Maisie arrived, it was one of the big things on her little bucket list she’d constantly shared. To go swimming evwy day. Angie grinned at the memory of their phone calls.
Oh well, in time she’d lose her strange new fear and enjoy the fun.
Finally, Mia surprised her by bringing her parents to visit. She loved her sister, Alicia, dearly and had a lot of respect for Frank, her brother-in-law. Even if he was a pompous ass a lot of the time, his heart was in the right place. They apologized over and over about not coming sooner, but the cold Alicia had suffered for weeks made it impossible.
No way they’d put Angie in jeopardy when her immune system was compromised from the surgery. It seems Mia had brought them to the house a few times and showed them her new digs. They raved about the roominess of the workshop compared to her old apartment, and about how comfortable Mia and Mark had made it.
Angie looked at Mia’s shining face, at her expression of pride, and she put forth the offer that had been in the back of her mind all along.
Not wanting Mia to feel penned-in or manipulated, she'd refrained from the suggestion of Mia taking over the bottom floor of the house for her own use. Better to wait until after seeing if her business would settle in before discarding the plan of them fixing the shed. Not that she wouldn't have paid for it – no problem. But this arrangement made a lot more sense.
Lying around with ideas constantly vying for attention, she relaxed after Jack arrived. She’d fought off taking her evening meds until his visit ended.
“Hi, beautiful.”
“Hey, handsome, how’s your day been so far?”
He answered her the same way he did every day. “Better for seeing you.”
She grinned at his cheeky wink. “What's the scoop back at the farm.”
“Couple more days and the girls will be able to move to their own place. Mia doesn't say much, but Mark had some fabulous ideas to incorporate. Hell, Angie, it's even nicer than weplanned. He suggested a skylight in the kitchen; I should have thought of that myself. It’s brightened the room immensely. He also suggested a fancy glass bay window surrounding the tub in the ensuite bathroom that faces the mountain. With built-in glass shelves for certain types of plants that Mia fancies – it’s gorgeous even if I do say so myself.”
“Oh right, succulents. She loves having terrariums full of flowering cacti. In fact, she has a collection of all kinds of desert plants, many that bloom. She'll love you for giving them a home.” Purposely using terminology she knew would get a reaction, she held in her smile.
Yep, there he goes, hiding his face again.
Taking pity on the poor guy, she changed the subject.
“How’s the campaign coming along?”
“Promise you won't start with the ‘I-told-you-so’ comments.”
“Not making any promises, that’s a stooge’s game.”
