Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
It was somewhat surreal how life went back to…almost normal after Lace’s disastrous brush with death. She’d been able, if not to forget the whole thing, at least to put it aside. Far better than Vince had been able to. Who knew he’d be having flashbacks about it for days afterward.
When Vince had finally asked Lace what her secret was for letting the whole thing go, there’d been no hesitation.
She told him that ever since her cancer diagnosis—with the thoughts of how that could turn out—she looked at everything that happened as an adventure; a sometimes bad, sometimes good, adventure, but both were affirmations of life.
Vince admired her more and more with every word she uttered.
A week had passed since the ocean rescue, and the chain of events accompanying it were still unfolding.
First, Lace had been given a leave of absence from her job.
With pay.
Her bosses wanted her to fully recover from her ordeal before she decided whether or not to switch from her ocean detail to sailing a desk, as was the way she was leaning.
The jury was still out on how that would end up.
Vince knew how much Lace loved being at sea.
But she was simply and rightfully concerned that she might be thrown into another contentious situation where the crew saw her as an impediment and didn’t make her feel welcome aboard.
She didn’t need a renewal of that kind of stress while trying to navigate her treatments.
So for now, she wasn’t thinking on that too much. She was a lady of leisure, and enjoying the hell out of it.
Vince came home for the next bunch of nights from one of his two jobs, to more goodies on the counter than he’d ever seen in his life.
And that was saying a lot, considering the cook and baker that Ellen Sothard was.
He teased Lace that he was going to get fat, loving the way she tackled, kissed, and tickled his abs every time he made that comment.
What always followed was extraordinary sex, and Vince wasn’t complaining about that, one bit.
Just a week later, on a Sunday, he and Lace had picked up a grill to celebrate. They’d had the entire Sothard bunch over for burgers and dogs, and in the middle of the festivities, Bobbie had gone into labor. The whole party had then shifted to the hospital.
Buck and Bobbie were now the proud parents of seven-pound, ten-ounce Justin, and everyone was happy and healthy.
On the following Tuesday, he’d joined both his females—yes, he was already considering Inez as part of the pack—for their infusions, once again without his costume.
Inez seemed unphased by that, and completely embraced their company.
By the time things wrapped up—with Lace promising to see her on Friday, and both he and Lace joining her again next Tuesday—Inez was exhibiting a spark he hadn’t witnessed in her before.
It was almost like she was intuiting that something was up; that he and Lace were going to become more to her than just random visitors.
Upbeat and arriving back at the house from the hospital where Lace had not puked this time, she and Vince had run around like headless chickens getting the house ready for the DHHS lady who had been put off a week.
They scrubbed things that didn’t need scrubbing, picked up nearly non-existent dust bunnies, and Lace had even made an apple pie to make the house smell “homey”.
At two o’clock on the dot, Midge Berlotti from DHHS had been knocking at the door.
Vince remembered sucking in a deep breath, plastering a smile on his face, and opening it up…
“Ms. Berlotti. I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Of course I made it,” she huffed. “You’re on my calendar.”
“Yes, well…”
“Hi,” Lace said from behind Vince. “I’m Lace Heiger.” She stepped to the forefront and stuck out her hand. “You must be Ms. Berlotti. I’m so pleased to meet you. Won’t you come in?
Ms. Berlotti walked through the door, glanced at Lace’s outstretched hand, then took it in a limp grasp before quickly bringing her fingers back to the strap of the over-large pocketbook that was slung across her chest.
Lace wasn’t deterred.
“We’re very excited,” Lace admitted. “And I’ll admit I used a little of my enthusiasm to bake an apple pie. I also have coffee brewed if you’re interested in either or both.” Lace beamed.
Vince glimpsed the first spark of any kind coming from the taciturn woman. It actually did wonders for her jaded face.
“Do you bake?” Midge asked.
Lace laughed, a lovely tinkling sound. “Do I bake?” she repeated. “Too much, if Vince is to be believed. But I love to have something sweet on the counter, with ingredients I’ve curated myself to make sure they’re not full of additives or preservatives.”
It was like a switch went on in Midge’s head.
Suddenly she was all…engaging.
It no longer mattered if Vince even existed. The two women began talking recipes, and for the first time since he’d spoken to the uptight woman on the phone a few weeks prior, Vince felt his shoulders relax.
Lace had this.
His smart lady was not only greasing the squeakiest wheel imaginable by being her own, enthusiastic self, she’d even spun the whole, under-construction bathroom as a huge positive.
She let Midge know that it would be used exclusively by any foster children who entered the home; a brand-spanking-new, bright, and welcoming place where they’d feel like their presence actually mattered enough for them to have something special.
When asked for a completion date on the project, Vince was able to tell Midge—with all certainty as per Statler’s assurances—that it would be ready for use in no more than a week and a half.
Throughout the entire interview and inspection process, Midge typed copious notes on the tablet she had in her bag, but as she did so, her lips were no longer pinched, and she’d even chuckled a few times.
Vince had tried not to crack any lame jokes, only managing with help from Lace. Every time he heard a line that screamed for a humorous retort, she’d put a restraining hand on his arm or his thigh.
She’d even pinched his ass a time or two to keep him quiet.
Which was fine. He’d save his funny side for Lace.
It seemed his woman really loved laughing in bed, and Vince was completely on board with that. Every time he made Lace giggle when he was inside her, her inner walls would flutter around him tightly, nearly causing him to pass out with pleasure.
But that wasn’t something he should be thinking about at the moment.
Vince needed to keep a serene, yet alert look on his face for Midge.
He honestly felt like he was killing it.
By the time they were all at the door together, saying goodbye, Vince couldn’t help himself from popping out a question that would eat at him if he didn’t have an answer right away.
“How did we do?” he asked, swallowing the trepidation that threatened to choke him.
Old Midge actually smiled.
“Not that I make any final decisions, but your house and the two of you have passed with flying colors as far as I’m concerned.
You’re exactly the type of foster parents we’re looking for.
” Her jaw tightened a bit. “And that’s not because you have connections and have somebody pulling some strings for you.
That’s from my years of experience doing interviews. ”
“We really, really appreciate it,” Lace gushed. “I know you can see how excited we are. We can’t wait to have a child in the house with us.”
“Well, I understand that your application was fast-tracked,” she sniffed, then let something out which Vincent had thought was still under wraps.
“I’ve been apprised that your interest lies in one particular little girl.
” Her face slowly lost its detached edge as she focused on Lace.
“I understand where you’re coming from, young lady.
With both you and the child undergoing cancer treatment, I have to agree that for Inez, this would be a much better living and thriving situation than where she is right now. ”
Yes!
“We saw her just this morning,” Vince eagerly put in.
“Lace had received permission to have her infusions in the same room as Inez’s more invasive ones, and I feel like us being there is making things easier for her.
I promise…we both promise, right here and now, that Inez will never be alone for her treatments again. ”
“Commendable, Mr. Sothard.” Midge finally gifted him with a smile. “I’ll pass that bit of information along.”
This time it was Lace who couldn’t hold back.
“What do you think the timetable will be?” she asked nervously, clearly hoping she wasn’t overstepping any boundaries.
Midge’s lips turned up again, and this time she looked…smug. “Let’s just say, I hope your bathroom is finished on schedule.”
Holy crap. Maybe two weeks? Vincent couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Lace clearly couldn’t help herself. She stepped forward and threw her arms around Midge, who stiffened, looking like she’d rather be attacked by wolverines.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Lace chanted. “You can’t know how much this means to us.”
Midge pulled back gently and shook her head.
“Oh, I think I do. I’ve read the biography you submitted, Lace, and you’ve had a lot of bad things happen in your life.
Too many. You and Inez will both benefit from this arrangement.
You two deserve some happiness.” She turned to Vince, her spine snapping straight. “And you… Thank you for your service.”
It wasn’t Vince’s favorite thing to hear since it was generally lip-service, but from Midge, he’d take it. If it furthered his cred with DHHS, he’d listen to it all day long.
“You’re welcome,” he acknowledged with a nod.
Midge nodded back. “We’ll be in touch.”
She waved goodbye as they closed the door behind her.
They waited until she was out of earshot for their eruption of high-fives and loud exclamations of joy.
This was fucking awesome.
Vince almost felt like he’d gone through and completed BUD/S all over again.