Chapter 24 #2
I led her away from the window and the two curious sets of eyes that were grinning and waving at Malena. “I don’t want the kids to know what happened, so I haven’t called anyone yet.”
Vance reached me next, pulling me into his body. I breathed in his familiar scent, closing my arms around him. “What’s going on?”
“Someone broke into the apartment.”
Hands closed around my arm, pulling me out of his embrace and into Keely’s. “Holy moly, I knew this apartment was a bad idea.”
“I don’t need a lecture.”
She released me and waved to the girls. Malena climbed into the driver’s seat of my car, and Vance opened the back door to greet the girls, who were calling out to him.
“Are you coming to Betty’s with us?” Addy asked.
“I promise I’ll come next time. But today I have to do something with your mom.”
Malena turned the car on. “Who’s ready for cheese fries and nachos?”
Both girls chanted at the same time, “Me, me, me.”
I kissed them both, and then they were off, still blissfully unaware.
Vance was on the phone but hung up when we walked up to him. “The police are on their way.”
He put his arm around me, and together we waited in the parking lot. I refused to look up to where the apartment was. We didn’t have much. And none of it was valuable. Breaking in was pointless.
I should have never moved there. Living in Keely’s spare room would have at least been safe, if cramped.
When a police cruiser pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later, I sagged against Vance, his presence grounding me. And once they’d done a sweep of the apartment and declared it safe, he was right behind me when I walked inside.
My brain needed a moment to take in what had happened, because the destruction was so thorough. There wasn’t a single item that was still standing upright or on a shelf. Even all the plates had been pulled out of the cupboards and were now in pieces on the floor.
Vance took one look at the apartment and pulled me right back outside. “You’re not staying there.”
I had no desire to do so. But I still had to clean up the mess and sort through what had to be thrown out and what we could keep.
Though what I wanted to do and what I had to do were two things that didn’t align right now.
I hoped the girls’ things were okay. Luckily, their favorite toys and stuffies had come with us to Vance’s house and were still in the car since I’d taken the girls straight to school this morning and hadn’t been home yet.
Keely must have agreed with Vance, because she dragged me back down the stairs while he went inside the apartment. She deposited me on the hood of his car and stood guard in front of me. “Let Vance sort it out.”
“I don’t want him to feel responsible for cleaning up my mess.”
Keely rolled her eyes. “He definitely doesn’t mind cleaning up the mess if it means helping you.”
He appeared not long after, holding two suitcases. “There are a few pots and pans and sheets that seem to be salvageable.” After putting them in the trunk of his car, he lifted me off the hood. “How are you holding up? Do you need anything?”
Sliding my arms around him, I put my cheek on his chest. “I just need you.”
He folded his big body around mine, his strength surrounding me. “You’ve got me.”
He gently guided me into the passenger seat of his car, and I hugged my arms around my middle after buckling in. Vance kept shooting worried glances at me, but I didn’t have it in me to reassure him that I was fine. Especially since I was anything but.
What a mess.
He placed his hand on my thigh, the touch light but reassuring.
Once we made it back to his house, he led me to the couch where Orange was snoring loudly, half his body buried under a blanket.
I curled up next to my snoring dog, and Vance put another one of the blankets that magically seemed to appear whenever I needed one over me. “I’ll make some tea.”
He came back a few minutes later, steaming mug in his hand. He set it on the table and lifted me up, then placed me on his lap. I curled up against him, sinking into his smell and soaking up his gentle touch.
I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remembered was the girls’ laughter. Peeling my eyes open, I noticed I was still on Vance’s lap, and he must have fallen asleep as well, his head resting against the couch, his eyes closed.
The girls jumped onto the couch, big smiles on their faces. “We’re back. And we ate a milkshake. With lots of whipped cream.”
I didn’t even raise an eyebrow at the fact that the girls had ice cream twice in the same day. All I could think was what would have happened had we been in the apartment when someone broke in.
Vance had woken up, his hair slightly mussed and his face soft from sleep. “I’m sorry I missed it. I’ll have to come next time.”
He didn’t look like someone who ate ice cream unless it was made out of protein. But since he continued to surprise me—in a good way—it was entirely possible that his body was only partially the result of a strict workout regime and the other part was simply good genes.
All my genes have ever done for me is give me heartburn.
Malena came in at a much slower pace, her hair slightly askew. “Remind me to never volunteer myself again when it comes to giving your girls sugar.”
Vance’s housekeeper, Rita, appeared behind Malena. “Do the girls want a snack?”
Rita had only met the girls yesterday, but she already treated them like her grandkids. She’d figured out exactly what they liked and must have gone out and bought it today. Watermelon being one of those things, and the full platter she was holding up like a beacon for the girls was filled with it.
And even though they’d both consumed copious amounts of food, they jumped up and inspected the plate she set on the coffee table.
Elana pointed at the watermelon. “Are they stars?”
Rita beamed at them. “Of course they are. And I even found a little heart shape.”
If this went on for much longer, the girls would refuse to eat normal-shaped food. But if there was ever a time for them to be spoiled, it was today.
Malena dropped onto the couch, sinking into the soft cushions with a relieved sigh. “Sorry to barge in, but I got desperate and let the girls ring the bell a few times. Rita was nice enough to open the door.”
I hid my laugh behind my hand and a cough. “No need to apologize. Honestly. You are amazing for taking them, and I’m sorry you had to be the closest adult when the sugar hit.”
She lifted her eyebrows, looking at me with big eyes. “I never knew sugar could do that to a child. Felix has never reacted funny to it.”
“They’ve always reacted to it, but I usually just go with it. I’m a firm believer that if I cut it out completely, then on the odd occasion they managed to get some, they’d be even worse.”
Malena squeezed my hand. “I should go. But call if you need anything.”
Vance lifted me up, setting me down next to him. “Stay here. I’ll walk Malena out.”
After giving me a hug and a wink, and the girls a kiss on their heads, Malena followed Vance.
Once the girls had devoured their fruit plate, only leaving a few seeds behind, they disappeared into the playroom.
Vance returned, and I drank my cold tea that tasted like old socks. I still loved it because he’d made it for me. I’d never been a tea drinker, always preferring coffee, but I guessed this situation called for tea. Maybe I should have added some rum.
And after Addy fell off the monkey bars and Elana banged her head going down the slide, we had dinner together that I didn’t have to cook (always a win in my book). So even though I hadn’t had the best day, I went to bed happy. Doing it cuddled up to Vance probably helped.