Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Franky
I left the Empty Net storeroom, feeling like I’d been up to something naughty, but without the benefits that usually accompanied a quickie under the radar.
What if someone had seen us? They would probably assume I’d taken advantage, hooked my love dart, and trapped him.
The cougar egghead with her dried-up ovaries, desperate to drape herself in the sheen of vitality a hot stud like Jason presented.
“Francesca.”
I kept walking.
“Francesca.”
Still walking.
“Doc!”
I turned. Jason stood behind me, his expression one of concern. “So your mom’s here. It’s no big deal.”
I barked out a laugh, though it emerged a touch hysterical. “This might be a lot of things, but ‘no big deal’ is not one of them. I don’t know how she heard. Vi and Dad wouldn’t have said anything.” Maybe Cat? I doubted it. “She’s going to have … an opinion.”
He scoffed. “Everyone has an opinion, just like everyone’s got an ass—”
“Yes, I know the phrase. I just don’t want anything to overshadow Theo’s big night. And I already came in here and stole his glory. What was I thinking?”
He pulled me close and curled his hands around my thickening waist. “You haven’t stolen anything. Everyone loves hearing baby news, and your mom is going to have to get with the program, like the rest of ’em. Come on, Doc, let’s deal.”
I’ll say it again: some lucky woman …
I let him hold my hand. I figured no one would assume we were a couple, just proud parents to be.
I got plenty of curious looks from the Chicago Rebels WAGs I didn’t know very well.
For them, I was ready with my scales up, but my mother?
She still had the capacity to find my soft underbelly and bury the spear of criticism.
On spotting us, Rosie rushed forward to intercept. “This is kind of weird, but I think your mom is looking for … a husband?”
Oh, that made more sense. Cat had told me that things had rapidly deteriorated between my mother and Xavier over the last few months. A retirement party for a veteran hockey star would bring out all sorts of athletes and legends, providing a fertile hunting ground for a woman on the make.
Rosie’s gaze dropped to my hand, currently grasped by Jason’s, then up again to my face with a superior grin.
“I see.”
“See what?”
Rosie hummed. “Doesn’t matter. I already saw it.”
I peered up at Jason. “Not sure this is helping.”
“I think it is.”
Secretly, I thought so, too, especially as I spied my mother beelining toward me. At almost sixty, Kendra St. James Cassidy Delahunt was still trying her best to defeat the ravages of time, but they were clearly nipping at her heels.
“Franky! You’re not going to believe what I just heard.
” She grasped my arms and pulled me into a hug.
“Someone said you were pregnant! I said, my Franky, the girl who would rather watch slimy creatures do it than carry a child—oh, hello.” My mom blinked up at Jason, her mouth agape. “You’re Jason Isner.”
“Sure am. You must be the lovely Kendra. I’ve heard so much about you.”
The lovely Kendra giggled and touched her chest above the leather bustier that struggled to maintain her over-tanned flesh.
“You have? Who from?” She turned wide eyes on me. “My daughter?”
Jason chose that moment to circle my waist and pull me in close.
“Who else? So I’m guessing this is a surprise to you, but I figure you’re a veteran now. Grandma all over again!”
“But Franky, is this true?” She leaned in. “I thought you looked a little heavier than usual. But then I haven’t seen you since, what, last Christmas?”
“Thanksgiving, two years ago, Mom. We met at Cat’s place in New York after she announced her pregnancy.”
Mom did not like to be reminded of further evidence of her mortality.
“Right. And now they cry so much, but so did Caitriona. So sensitive. Not like you, my tough-as-nails girl. And now, a mom!” Flabbergasted, she raised her gaze to Jason. “How did this even happen?”
She would hear about my baby caper soon enough, so there was little point in keeping it to myself. I opened my mouth, but he got there first.
“How do you think, Kendra?” He inclined his dark head and whispered. “Great sex.”
“Oh, I know that’s how babies are made, you devil.
I’m just fascinated with—this.” She waved between us, every word and gesture a pin-prick critique.
“God, I remember Franky was wild for hockey players when she was fourteen or so. Kind of a late bloomer because I was sneaking into locker rooms when I was thirteen, but oh well! Maybe she’s more like her mom than she cares to admit.
” She pointed at me. “Oh, look at her face. She hates hearing that! Okay, what does a girl have to do to get a drink around here? I think I spy Mike Jenner over at the bar, and I haven’t seen him since he won the Cup with the Quake over ten years back.
I’ll catch you later, darling, for a little heart to heart. ”
When I would hear what I needed to do to keep my claws in a catch like Jason.
Jason continued to hold my hand.
I could have told him it was unnecessary now that my mother had moved into Husband Hunt mode. But I didn’t. I wanted him to stay by my side, our hands clasped in unity as everyone congratulated us on a job well done.
Of course, most people in our inner circle understood what was going on—or thought they did.
This was transactional, I was the desperate one, and Jason was doing me this huge favor.
They didn’t know about Jason’s needs and desires, his heartfelt wish to be a dad.
I didn’t mind looking like the succubus.
What I did mind was how my heart wanted the reality to match the fantasy.
I wanted Jason to want me as much as he wanted our baby.
A foolish wish. But I still let him rub my back as we chatted with Dex O’Malley and his lovely wife, Ashley, and I let him squeeze my waist as we accepted congratulations from my aunt Isobel and Vadim.
I expected he would be hands-off as soon as my dad approached, but Jason Isner had titanium in his spine.
“Sprite,” Dad murmured as he kissed my cheek. “Your mother behaving herself?”
“Oh, you know Mom.”
“Aye, I do.” He turned to Jason. Although I had told him the news a week ago, he and Jason had yet to connect. “Isner.”
“Dad, be nice.”
My dad raised an expressive eyebrow. That was as nice as it got.
“See you on the ice.” And then he left.
Jason shivered. “Chills. Should I be worried?”
“If you don’t show for a session with the Three Wise Men, he’ll assume you’re chicken.” I stepped away from his heat. “You don’t have to—you know.”
“I don’t have to what?”
“Be so demonstrative. People might mistake us for a real couple. I know you were doing it because my mother made her little digs. I appreciate it, but it’s really unnecessary.”
His expression flickered, like a flame catching an unwelcome breeze.
“Sure, Doc.”
The energy changed. I had allowed my mother to get into my head, but deep down I knew she was right: Jason and I were an odd pair, and everyone here could see it. Even my father, though he was far too kind to say it aloud.
I ran into my mother while she was on her way to the restroom. She waylaid me as I was coming out and trapped me in the corridor.
“Darling!”
“Hi, Mom. Having fun?”
“Of course. But I have to say I feel a little foolish that you didn’t tell me about the baby before everyone else. Always the last to know!”
“Jason told his family today, so you’re not behind the eight ball.”
That he had left the news until I forced his hand still niggled at me.
She gave me a sad smile. “This is a little strange, even for you.”
I shouldn’t have expected any support. This was Kendra we were talking about, the woman who saw motherhood as the heaviest of burdens.
Still, I would defend my decision. “It’s been on my mind for a while now. I’m getting to the age where the science might take it out of my hands. I could adopt—”
“Oh, God, no. A stranger you’re not even related to?”
“I wouldn’t mind that. There are so many children that need a home. But I think my single status might make adoption difficult, so trying for one of my own seemed like the best option.”
She made a tutting noise. “So that business with the father …”
“Jason and I are going to co-parent.” My mother wouldn’t be fooled by a little handholding.
“Meaning he’ll provide financial support. But basically, you’ll be alone.” Being alone was my mother’s greatest fear.
“Not entirely. I have friends and family to help out.” I was anxious to get off the topic. She would never understand an unconventional approach to parenthood. She could barely wrap her head around a conventional one.
“But darling, he’s going to find someone. A wife. A girlfriend. Someone younger. Just like your father did.”
Never mind that Mom and Dad were long divorced before he fell in love with Violet. But the point was taken. My mother didn’t hold out much hope that I would find a partner for myself, never mind have a shot with a guy like Jason Isner.
“And I’ll be happy for him.”