Chapter 14
Cindy put a cape over her grandmother and snapped it into place. “Let’s see… I had a migraine last night, but I feel better today.”
“Thank God for the new meds, huh?”
“You said it. I’ve got a new roommate named Jace, and he’s… well… I like him a lot.”
Adele’s eyes went wide with surprise. “He must be very special. You never like them a lot.”
“I know, and he is. Special, that is.” Cindy turned the chair so she could wash Adele’s hair.
When her grandmother was seated upright again, she said, “Tell me everything about this man you like.”
“Some of it might upset you.”
Adele waved a hand dismissively. “Once upon a time, I was absolutely thrilled to see my daughter marry a dashing young military officer. Look how that turned out. I’m much less concerned with things like appearances and credentials these days.”
“Jace did time in prison.” She filled her in on the details and mentioned the two sons being raised by Seamus and Carolina O’Grady.
“You know… I remember thinking about their father when the boys’ mother died and wondering whether he’d resurface at some point.”
“He’s determined not to upset their lives any more than they’ve already been. For now, they’re explaining him as a friend of Seamus’s.”
“I give him credit for doing what’s best for the boys rather than what’s best for himself.”
“I do, too.”
“Says a lot about his character.”
“I agree.”
“Is he sexy?”
“Gram!”
“Well, is he? And don’t get all flustered and act like that doesn’t matter when we both know it does.”
“He’s very good-looking in a bad-boy kind of way, with sleeve tattoos and muscles on top of muscles.”
“He sounds yummy,” Adele said.
Cindy giggled madly at the face her grandmother made.
“Your grandfather was a bad boy back in the day.”
“He was not!”
“Oh yes, he was, too. All the girls wanted him, and he led them on a merry chase.”
“I cannot picture that if I try my very hardest.” Her grandfather was a sweet, gentle, old man with a heart of gold.
She pointed to her purse. “Grab my phone.”
Cindy got it for her.
While her grandmother found what she was looking for, Cindy gave her a trim that would rid her of any semblance of a mullet.
“Look.” Adele held up her phone to show Cindy a photo of young Russ leaning against a car, arms crossed over a bare, muscular chest, hair messed up and his jaw sprinkled with whiskers. “Total hottie, right?”
“I, uh, well… Yes, I suppose he is.”
“He was—and is—the sexiest man I’ve ever known. If you’re going to spend a lifetime with a man, make sure he does it for you that way, or you’ll have nothing but trouble.”
“You’re not advocating premarital sex, are you, Gram?”
“You wouldn’t buy a car without test-driving it, would you?”
“Gram!”
“Well, would you?”
Cindy wanted to die from laughter and embarrassment. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“Then you shouldn’t shackle yourself to a man without making sure he’s bringing his A game in every possible way, especially in the bedroom. Or the backyard. Or wherever floats your boat. Just don’t get caught by the police if you’re outside.”
“Have you had a stroke I didn’t hear about?”
Adele’s laughter echoed through the shop. “Don’t be a fuddy-duddy, Cynthia.”
“Does Mom know you had a stroke and didn’t tell us?”
“Your mother is well aware that her mother may be an old lady, but she’s still got gas in her tank.” Giving Cindy a saucy look in the mirror, she added, “Your grandfather is also aware.”
“Lalalalalala, I can’t hear you.”
“Take your sexy Jace for a ride and thank me afterward.”
“What are you hearing about the weather forecast?”
That brought more laughter from her incorrigible grandmother.
As Cindy blow-dried her hair, she thought about what Adele had said and had to admit, she had a point.
And Cindy certainly wasn’t opposed to getting busy with her new roommate.
Her biggest concern since he’d moved in had been awkwardness at home if she took a romantic chance on him and it didn’t work out.
But she had options if that happened. She could always move in with her mom and Charlie for a short time until she found a new place to rent.
The legacy of her upbringing was that she always had an exit strategy if she found herself in an uncomfortable situation.
No matter where she was or what she was doing, she kept her back to the wall with an eye on the door so she could leave if necessary.
Metaphorically speaking, that was. Walking away was almost second nature to her.
It was almost too easy, and other men she’d dated had accused her of giving up without a fight.
That was the problem. She had no fight left in her.
If there was going to be a fight, she was gone.
Once, back in Dallas, an argument had broken out in the shop between two of her coworkers that had had Cindy’s heart racing and her hands shaking in a matter of seconds as the old trauma resurfaced to remind her it was always there.
She’d walked out the back door and straight to her car to go home.
Laverne had called later to apologize and tell her the two women involved in the screaming match had been fired. It’d taken Cindy all night to recover from the altercation and start to feel like herself again.
She shut off the hair dryer and ran the brush through her grandmother’s soft white hair. Then she added the curls on top that Adele always asked for and brushed it out again, adding some spray. “What do you think?”
“You’re a magician.”
“Only when I have a beautiful subject to work with.” She kissed her grandmother’s cheek, unsnapped the cape and brushed some stray hair off Adele’s neck.
Adele got up like she was sixty rather than eighty-five and enveloped Cindy in a warm hug, the scent of Dior perfume bringing back a thousand memories of the best times of Cindy’s life. “Thank you, my love.”
“My pleasure, as always, and a reminder that this one is on me. I let you pay last time.”
“You can’t give away your talents for free,” she said, as she did every time Cindy refused payment from her.
“I can give away my talents to you any time I wish to, and that’s that.”
“So fresh to your old granny.”
“My granny is not old.”
“But my granddaughter is fresh.”
Cindy laughed and hugged her again. “Love you so much.”
“Love you more.”
“No way.”
“When can I meet your Jace?”
“He’s not my Jace.”
Adele raised a brow. “But he could be?”
“I suppose. Maybe.”
“Great, so when can I meet him?”
“Soon.”
“I’ll hold you to that. And remember what I said—take him for a ride, love. You won’t know if you don’t try.” With that, she kissed Cindy’s cheek and gave a jaunty wave as she headed out the door.
Cindy wondered how she would think of anything other than taking Jace for a ride now that her grandmother had put that thought in her head. Not that she hadn’t already had it on her own, but Adele’s “permission,” for lack of a better word, made it even more enticing than it already was.
The shot to the balls had been every bit the nightmare that Mac had feared.
As he sat in his truck on the ferry ride home, ice pack on his wounded junk, he wondered how long it would take before he didn’t break into a cold sweat when he recalled that needle coming for him.
His father had offered to come with him and drive him home, but Mac had assured him that wouldn’t be necessary.
He should’ve let him come. He’d had to wait hours for the light sedation to wear off before they’d let him leave. Driving had been much more complicated than expected with every part of him feeling like Jell-O after the procedure.
And yes, he understood he was being a big, fat baby who had nothing to complain about when chalked up against Maddie delivering babies, including giving birth to twins on a helicopter with no pain meds. This was a breeze compared to that, except it hurt like a mother-effer.
He needed to get his shit together before he got home.
Maddie wouldn’t stand for him being a whiner over what was a minor procedure compared to what she’d been through to have their children.
This was a fine time to realize he probably should’ve stayed at Joe’s place on the mainland for the night so he could whine to his heart’s content without an audience to mock him.
Speaking of Joe, he put through a call to his brother-in-law and lifelong best friend. He and Mac’s sister Janey were living in Ohio with their kids and pets while Janey finished veterinary school.
“Is this the eunuch?” Joe asked when he answered.
“It didn’t go quite that far, thank you, Jesus.”
Joe’s laughter rang through the phone. “Hurts like fuck, doesn’t it?”
“Yes! Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because you would’ve chickened out if I had, and Maddie would’ve divorced you.”
“Ugh, I hate you for not telling me how bad this was gonna suck.”
“It’s only for a day or two, and then you’re fine. Where are you?”
“On the ferry back to the island.”
“You drove yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“That wasn’t the best idea you ever had.”
“I know. I found that out the hard way.”
“Don’t say ‘hard.’”
Mac laughed even as he winced. “I’m never going to be hard again after this.”
“Yes, you will, and you can get busy with no worries about more babies.”
“That’s true.”
“Although you have to do the sample in six weeks to make sure it took.”
“Wait, what? It’s possible it didn’t take?”
“Didn’t you read the discharge instructions?”
“Not yet.”
Joe laughed. “You have to check in six weeks to make sure all the swimmers are gone.”
“What if they aren’t?”
“You have to go back for further treatment.”
Mac groaned. “I’m never going back there again, swimmers or not.”
“You have to make sure it took, or you run the risk of another pregnancy, and I fear your long-suffering wife will kill you if that happens.”
“I hate to agree with you, but…”
“Then you jack in a cup to make sure you’re good to go. They can probably do that right at the clinic for you.”
“I don’t want to even think about that today.”
“Yeah, hands off until the boo-boo heals.”
“The things we do for these women.”
“As your marital advisor, I’d recommend you keep that thought to yourself when you get home.”
“You don’t need to be enjoying this so much.”
“Why not? I knew you’d be a big baby over it. We all did.”
“Who all did?”
“Your entire family. There’s a Mac’s Vasectomy group chat.”
“There is not!”
“Yes, there is.”
“Who started that?”
“Um, well, I’m sort of afraid to say.”
“I bet it was Janey.”
“She did say she was sorry she didn’t think of it, but you need to look for the culprit a little closer to home.”
“Maddie?”
“You didn’t hear it from me.”
“That traitor.”
“You can’t honestly be surprised.”
Mac grunted out a laugh. “Not really.”
“I love how she’s so perfect for you.”
“Yes, she is, even when she’s busting my bruised and battered balls.”
“Especially then.”
“Shut up. You’re supposed to be my best friend, which means you’re always on my side.”
“I am on your side, but she’s funny.”
“You can’t be on my side and think she’s funny, too. That’s not how this works. I’ll remind you we’ve been friends since kindergarten.”
Joe was laughing so hard, he wheezed. “You’re such an idiot. I love that she gives you such a run for your money.”
“She’s a brat, and she’s going to pay for this.”
“I’m sure she’s very afraid.”
“The ferry is pulling into port. I need to go home and get my woman under control.”
“Let me know how that goes.”
“You’ll be the first to know.”
“I hope your pee-pee feels better soon.”
“I do, too.”
“You’ll survive. I promise.”
“Good to know.”
“I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
“See ya.”