Chapter Ten
Ten
Tuesday morning dawned gloomy and gray, with a light drizzle coming down.
After growing up in San Francisco, Bella wasn’t bothered that much by the lack of sunshine, and especially not today because Sienna was up and happily singing a silly song along with the cartoon characters on her favorite morning show.
The ordeal with Sienna over the weekend had taken a toll on her nerves.
She’d never been more frightened in her life.
Yesterday they’d stayed in all day and Sienna had recuperated fast, the meds and the nourishment giving her the boost she’d needed to get better.
She hoped to high heaven Sienna wouldn’t get croup again, but if she ever did, now she knew how to recognize it and what to do about it.
“Are you ready to go downstairs?”
“See Tared?”
“In a little while. We’ll make him a nice lunch for when he gets back.
” Jared had a doctor’s appointment early this morning.
She hoped he’d get a clean bill of health.
Not that he’d observed his doctor’s warning about not driving.
But Bella had understood his need to take control and help her.
She’d actually appreciated his taking her to the hospital.
And though he had driven fast, he hadn’t broken any speed laws.
“Come on, let’s go.”
By the time they got downstairs, the rain was coming down hard. “Looks like we’re in for a storm, baby.”
They entered the kitchen and she spotted a note at her workstation.
I’ll be back before noon. See ya then. Love, Jared.
She smiled at his reference to love. Things were happening quickly between them and she wanted to clear the air, to talk to him from the bottom of her heart.
She hoped that he would accept her reasons for not telling him the whole truth.
To make him see that it wasn’t him she didn’t trust, but a fear of her father learning her whereabouts that had kept her lips sealed good and tight.
She glanced at the clock. It was almost noon now.
“Okay, well, let’s get started,” she said, rolling up her sleeves and putting her apron on.
She set Sienna down in front of her brand-new dollhouse, a gift from Jared, taking up space right next to the kitchen Christmas tree.
Because she’s been sick, he’d explained.
He teased Bella that he had an even better gift for her, but she had to wait until Christmas.
As she was putting the finishing touches on a vegetarian chili dish, with enough kick to knock Jared’s socks off, she glanced at the clock. It was already half past twelve and no Jared. She checked the messages on her cell. Nothing.
She was about to text him about his delay, a little knot of tension working its way into her system, when she heard his footsteps at the front door.
Thank goodness. He was home. She picked up Sienna and walked to the door. “Let’s surprise Jared,” she said. She opened the door with a big smile. And came face-to-face with her father.
Oh, no. She froze and then backed away, her mind racing. She could hardly believe her eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s a nice greeting for your old man.” He appeared every bit as stately and entitled as he’d always been, but there was sadness in his expression and maybe a few more lines around his eyes than she remembered.
“You mean the father who threatened to take my baby away? That old man? The man who cut me off and caused me to run away in fear? I don’t think you deserve any sort of greeting from me.”
“Francesca, please. Do you know what I’ve gone through looking for you? The least you could do is let me inside. It’s brutally cold and I’m getting soaked.”
She hesitated, but finally, because they needed to resolve this, she mustered her courage and stepped away, allowing him entrance.
She had no right letting a stranger into Jared’s house, but what else could she do?
Her father wouldn’t just go away. She knew him all too well.
He’d stake out the house until Jared got home and then cause a big scene.
“How did you find me?”
“I’ll tell you later, but first, let me see Sienna.” He turned his attention to her baby. “Hello, sweetheart. Grandpa’s here now. How pretty you look this morning.” He reached for her to ruffle her hair and Bella stepped back. She wouldn’t allow him to touch her baby.
He sighed heavily, looking a bit defeated. “I’ve missed you. In fact, I’ve missed both of my girls.”
A lump formed in Bella’s throat. “Marco, what do you want?”
“I want...a chance to speak with you, Francesca. That’s all.”
She squeezed her eyes closed briefly. “Ten minutes.”
She led him into the parlor and offered him a seat.
Keeping a steady hand on Sienna, she lowered herself down at the far end of the sofa facing him.
“You weren’t easy to find, Francesca.”
“That was the idea.”
“Yvonne says I’ve been overly harsh with you. She says you believed me when I said I’d cut you off.”
“Yes, I did believe you. And you did cut me off. You made my life...unbearable,” she admitted, her voice sinking. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Yvonne told me as much, too. She’s been your advocate, Francesca. I know you two never got along.”
“You married a woman only ten years older than me. Hardly a mother to me.”
He pointed his finger at her. “Nobody could ever replace your mother, you remember that. The truth is,” he said, “I never really got over losing your mother and brother. It was very hard on me and I think, in a way, I placed all my hopes and dreams in you. Maybe unfairly.”
“Extremely unfairly.”
“I felt you were throwing your life away.”
“You tried to dictate my life, Father. You told me what school to go to, what boy to date, what man to marry, where I should work, where I should live. I’m twenty-eight years old.
While you weren’t looking, I grew up, but you never saw that.
You never understood me, never supported my passion for cooking and creating.
You wanted me in corporate America. That’s not me. ”
His shoulders slumped. “I was doing it for your own good.”
“And look how well that turned out.”
He blinked, and anger sparked in his eyes. “Francesca.”
“No way, Marco. You have no right to be angry. Not after what you put me through. How do you expect me to trust anything you say?”
“I know, you’re...right.”
“What?”
“I said, you’re right. I admit it. I was overbearing.
The truth is, I recently had a health scare.
My heart was acting up. I’m going to be okay with diet and a change of lifestyle.
But you know, that trip to the hospital got me thinking about my life and what’s important to me.
Yvonne says I’ve finally gotten my priorities straight. She’s been helping me with my issues.
“Believe me when I say she cares about you. She wants us to be a family. I came to tell you I’d never take Sienna away from you. It was an idle threat, Francesca. You’re a good mother and I never meant for any of this to escalate.”
“Are you saying it was all your wild temper?”
“I’m saying I was bluffing to get my way. I’m...sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” She squeezed her eyes closed briefly. “How did you find me?”
“Apparently a Sienna Reid had been in the hospital overnight. I’ve had a team of detectives checking all the hospitals, making calls all around the country and...well, we got lucky. Not that Sienna being hospitalized is a good thing. But she looks fine now. What was wrong with her?”
“You mean your henchmen didn’t find out?”
“Francesca, please. I love my granddaughter.”
“She had a breathing problem due to a virus. Her throat swelled up, but she’s much better now.”
“Croup?” her father asked.
“How did you know?”
“You’re forgetting I was a single father for quite a few years. You had a bout or two of it yourself.”
Bella stared at him, stunned. She’d never related what she was going through with what he’d gone through when her mother died. Her father had always seemed larger than life to her.
He gazed at his granddaughter and smiled. “She’s a beauty. Just like you, Francesca. I want you both back in my life.”
“Things have changed for me, Father.”
“I heard you’re working here as a chef.”
“How did you—Never mind.” She didn’t want to know the nefarious ways her father found things out. “I am. I have a job and I’ve been happy here.”
“You can be happy in San Francisco, Francesca. Please consider coming home. Christmas won’t be the same without you and Sienna.”
Bella glanced at her watch. Jared was late, but he’d be returning soon. She didn’t want him to find Marco Forte here, not before she had a chance to explain the situation to him. It was time. And she’d promised Veronica she would. “Father, you have to leave. I have...duties.”
He frowned and inhaled a breath, giving her a long stare.
She was ready to ask him again but he beat her to it. “Okay... I’ll go.”
“You will?” She was astonished. Her father usually never backed down. Maybe Yvonne was a better influence on him than she’d ever given her credit for. And maybe, just maybe, that health scare softened up his heart a bit.
“Yes, as long as you promise to call me. We’ll talk some more.”
“Yes, we’ll talk some more. I do promise.”
Marco stood and put out his arms. And when she stood her ground, he walked over to her. Again, she’d triumphed. People always catered to him. She’d never seen this side of her father before.
They embraced, the three of them, Sienna breaking out in giggles.
Her father kissed them both on the cheek and then he was gone.
Bella stood with Sienna in the living room, dumbfounded, watching his limo pull away.
She couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Had her father really capitulated? Had she just seen a big change in him?
He was actually behaving like a caring father.
Well, almost. Or was it all part of a grand scheme to get his way?
It was hard to place her trust in him, but his tone, the sincerity in his voice and the genuine look in his eyes had swayed her.