16. Chapter 16
Mia shuffled into the kitchen, yawning so wide her jaw popped while dragging her dark, messy hair off her shoulders. “Good morning, Nonna,” she mumbled, making a beeline for the coffee maker. “I was going to—”
Evangeline was already there, enthroned in her wheelchair like a general commanding troops as she grabbed the coffee carafe before Mia understood what was going on.
She poured steaming coffee into a travel mug and shoved it into Mia’s hands before she could finish her sentence.
“You have ten minutes to shower and get dressed, dear.”
Mia blinked down at the mug. Her brain felt as if it had been left out in the cold overnight, slow and sticky.
She’d only fallen asleep three hours ago, after tossing and turning, punching her pillow, groaning into the dark.
Her thoughts had circled and circled—what it would feel like to slip into Raffe’s room in the middle of the night, slide into his bed, and snuggle in against him.
What would it be like to let someone else’s strength shelter her after the storm of yesterday?
Oh, how deliciously reckless it could have been.
Now Nonna was talking about ten minutes and…something?
“What?” Mia squinted, trying to summon her sluggish brain into coherence. “I’m sorry, Nonna, but why the rush?” Mia smothered another yawn, her non-coffee-holding hand going to her hair to push it out of her eyes. Again. “I think we should talk about yesterday and figure out a plan for—”
“No time,” Evangeline interrupted briskly, her voice carrying the authority of someone who had survived both motherhood and the mafia. “You’re down to nine minutes.” She wheeled herself over to the pantry, opened it with surprising force, and pulled out granola bars to stuff into her purse.
Mia stared. “Granola?”
“Emergency provisions,” her grandmother replied primly, then ruined the effect with a wicked grin. “Doctors always run late, and I don’t intend to faint from hunger while we wait.”
She wheeled back, her eyes sparkling. “Hurry up! Raffe and Freddy left for the surgeon’s office already. We need to be there, if only for support!”
“Freddy has a doctor’s appointment today?” she gasped. “Why didn’t Raffe mention it last night?”
“Because, my darling, men like that don’t share details unless they must. He didn’t want to burden us.” She shook her head in disgust. “Men suck at asking for help.”
Okay, she had a point there. But…had her sweet, seventy-five-year-old nonna just said, “suck”? “But…!” Mia began, then broke off and spun around, her voice sharp with outrage as her grandmother’s words finally registered. “Freddy isn’t a burden, damn it!”
Nonna’s approving hum followed her as she bolted down the hallway and back up the stairs.
Mia jumped into the shower, shivering as icy water hit her skin. She scrubbed fast, barely dried, yanked on her only clean pair of jeans and a warm sweater. The rest of her clothes were still packed in her tote bag—she hadn’t planned on staying long in Minnesota when she’d first arrived.
A dress was out of the question because the only one she owned was her “wedding dress” from yesterday, and seeing Raffe in the same outfit as yesterday was simply not going to happen.
She shoved her feet into her flats, scooped up the forgotten mug of coffee, her tote, and her keys, then dashed back down the stairs.
Evangeline was already installed in the passenger seat of the car, purse strapped across her body and determination burning in her eyes. Her folded wheelchair leaned awkwardly beside the car, half-collapsed.
Mia sighed, finished folding the chair, and shoved it into the backseat.
“This afternoon I’m starting weight lifting exercises,” Evangeline grumbled, adjusting her seatbelt. “That contraption is a pain in the ass.”
Mia’s lips twitched, shocked. Her sweet, proper, always-dignified Nonna, cursing? That was new.
As soon as she slid behind the wheel, Mia froze. “Wait!”
Evangeline exhaled like a woman deeply burdened by her granddaughter’s lack of faith. “What now?”
Mia turned to her, wide-eyed. “We don’t know where they went! There must be five hundred doctors downtown. We’ll never—”
Evangeline rolled her eyes and dug in her purse. “Why does everyone underestimate me?” She shoved a folded paper into Mia’s hand with a flourish. “That’s where they’re going. Surgeon’s name, address, office number.”
Mia blinked at her. “How…?”
Her grandmother smirked, looking more mischievous than saintly.
“I overheard Raffe talking to Freddy this morning before they left. And before you ask, yes, I already programmed the address into your phone’s GPS.
Directions are ready to go.” Mia opened her mouth, but Evangeline cut her off with a glare fierce enough to silence hardened criminals.
“Start the car. Everyone else has let Freddy down. We will not be part of that trend.”
Despite the urgency, Mia couldn’t help but laugh. Her amusement bubbled up, warm and shaky, because her grandmother was wicked, wily, and wonderful—and she was absolutely correct. Freddy needed them.
Mia tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “Yes, ma’am,” she said softly, then started the car.
She shifted her old sedan into drive and eased it down the stone driveway, wincing at the way her muffler rattled. In less than ten minutes, they reached the medical center near the downtown hospital.
The transformation in her grandmother was startling.
Evangeline, who had looked so frail and timid at the courtroom yesterday, suddenly became a queen in command of her court.
She charmed the receptionist with a smile, but her tone was firm as she extracted precise directions to the orthopedic surgeon’s office.
Mia, jogging to push the wheelchair fast enough for her grandmother, had the distinct impression that no one on staff would dare cross her grandmother.
When they finally pushed through the glass doors into the waiting room of the surgeon’s office, Mia’s heart gave a little skip.
Raffe was there, looming in one of the plastic chairs, flipping through a wrinkled magazine.
His long legs were stretched out, his shoulders tense, his gaze flicking irritably to the clock every few seconds.
Freddy sat beside him in his wheelchair, gripping the armrests so tightly his knuckles were white, his lips pressed in a thin line of false bravado.
“Mia?” Freddy yelped as soon as he saw her.
Raffe’s head snapped up at the sound of her name. He stared at her, and for one terrifying second, Mia thought he might explode. The look there was sharp, almost betrayal, as if her presence had disrupted something he wasn’t ready to share.
She nearly faltered, stumbling over her own feet. But Evangeline didn’t pause. Her grandmother wheeled herself forward, right up to Freddy’s chair.
“Now you listen up, dear,” Evangeline said, reaching out and patting his trembling fingers. Her voice was calm, but the kind of calm that brooked no argument. “You’re going to be fine. I looked up this doctor’s reputation—”
Mia’s head whipped around. “You what?”
Her grandmother ignored her. “—and she’s one of the best orthopedic trauma surgeons in the state. She specializes in difficult cases like yours.”
Freddy’s eyes widened, caught between awe and disbelief.
Evangeline leaned closer, lowering her voice so only Freddy could hear. “And if this bozo—” she tipped her head toward Raffe, “—ever takes you to something this important without us again, you just kick him in the nuts. Hard. We’re family now. Family sticks together.”
The boy blinked, then gave a shocked little laugh, like he couldn’t believe she’d said something so outrageous. Thankfully, his white-knuckled grip eased a fraction.
Behind them, Raffe made a strangled noise. Mia glanced over at him. He was staring at her grandmother, and she couldn’t tell if he was about to burst into laughter or object to being threatened.
A nurse in pale scrubs opened the door to the inner hallway. “Frederick?” she called with a polite smile.
Raffe leapt to his feet, all business again. The nurse’s gaze took him in, clearly admiring his broad shoulders and tall frame, and Mia swore she saw an appreciative spark there. A slow smile tugged at the nurse’s lips before she turned her attention back to Freddy.
Mia’s stomach clenched. For no rational reason, she wanted to scratch the woman’s eyes out.
Ridiculous, she scolded herself, folding her arms. She didn’t own Raffe. Yes, they were married on paper, but their union was a contract. Nothing more.
She had far too much to handle—her grandmother’s health, Freddy’s surgery, and most of all, keeping them both safe from her father.
Escaping the country was her long-term plan, but Evangeline was too frail to travel right now.
And Mia wasn’t sure her grandmother, stubborn as she was, would even agree to leave.
“We’ll be right here, waiting for news,” Evangeline called out as the nurse guided Freddy and Raffe into the hallway.
Freddy peered around Raffe’s tall frame, still uncertain, but with a flicker of hope lighting his eyes. He gave Mia a shy, tentative smile before the door closed behind them.
Mia’s heart squeezed. That smile was fragile, hesitant, but real.
“Don’t worry about that nurse,” her nonna said softly. “She has no chance with Raffe.” Evangeline patted Mia’s hand with a wicked little smirk.
Mia groaned, heat rushing to her cheeks. “Nonna…”
Her grandmother just winked. Mischief twinkled in her eyes, the same spark that had survived decades of mafia politics and a miserable stint in a nursing home. “Don’t worry, dear. You’re the one he keeps looking at.”
Mia pressed her lips together, clutching her coffee. Her grandmother wasn’t wrong. And that was what terrified her most.