Page 28 of The Complication
PARKER CAIN
Oh,my fucking God.
What has he done?
When we arrived at the massive house, there was a large delivery truck parked in front, and several men were rushing in and out, carrying bags and boxes. In fact, it appeared as if heavy boxes would go in and then another group would carry out collapsed empty boxes.
“What the hell? Are you moving in? Or out? What’s going on?” I demanded as Declan drove past the house to park in the long, multi-car garage.
“Patricia worked faster than I expected,” Declan mumbled as he pulled the vehicle into the open spot. The place looked like no garage I had ever seen. It was a car showroom. Declan owned a mix of sedans, sports cars, and SUVS. All of them gleamed and shone in the overhead lighting. The tile floors were spotless, and there wasn’t a single gardening tool or speck of dirt to be seen.
“Who? What? Who’s Patricia?” I stammered, jerking my gaze from the pretty Jaguar that I so wanted to take for a test drive.
“She’s my personal shopper. The one I asked to pick up a few things.”
As I climbed out of the car, I stared at the delivery truck. “You keep using that phrase: ‘a few things.’ It doesn’t mean what you think it does. This is a lot more than a few things.”
“Good afternoon, sirs. How can I assist you?” Franks inquired as I pulled Joy out of the car in her carrier. The man had just popped up from out of nowhere as if he were a secret wizard.
“The baby food, formula, and new bottles can go in the kitchen. Everything else goes in the baby’s room,” Declan directed.
The baby’s room?
I was in the fucking Twilight Zone. When the hell had Joy acquired her own room? How long were we fucking gone?
“Very good. The workers are putting the last of the furniture together now. It should take me less than an hour to finish putting away her wardrobe. Mr. Cain’s wardrobe is still arriving, but what is here is laid out for him to approve.”
I had been reaching for one of the many bags from the trunk but froze at Franks’s last sentence. “I’m sorry, what?”
Declan took my hand and tried to turn me away from the car. “Leave it for Franks to get.”
“But we have to help. And what’s he talking about my wardrobe? And Joy’s wardrobe? Babies don’t have wardrobes. What did you do?”
“First, we don’t have to help. This is his job, and he is very well paid to do his job.” Declan gave me another nudge toward the house, but I refused to budge. Declan leaned in and added in a whisper. “You will hurt his feelings if you don’t let him do his job.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Franks, who gave me a wide smile and a reassuring nod that this was exactly what he wanted to do, and he was happy about it.
Okay, lesson learned.Don’t do Franks’s job for him.
“Okay, but you still need to answer my other question. What the hell did you do?”
Declan sighed and shot me a look like this was my fault. “It made little sense for Patricia to only get supplies for Joy when you lost everything as well. I asked her to get you some clothes so you can be more comfortable as well and focus on healing from what has happened.”
Every time he spoke, he made everything sound so very logical and reasonable, while I was the one who was panicking about silly things. Of course, I didn’t have the kind of money where I could wave a bank card like a freaking wand and get people to jump to fulfill my wishes.
Empty-handed, I followed Declan into the house and up the stairs to a guest room that was across the hall from the one Joy and I had stayed in last night. I hadn’t seen the contents of the room prior to today, but I could see that it had been transformed into a soft and cuddly jungle that stole my breath away.
A brand-new white crib was against one wall, while a matching white dresser that could double as a changing table stood across the room. Soft pale-green cushions covered a rocking chair and matching footstool. There was a swing and a bouncy chair identical to the one she’d received that day in the office.
And then there were the toys. Mountains of soft plush animals. Bears, giraffes, elephants, and more.
In one corner, there was a pile of bags where I could glimpse more toys and what had to be a complete wardrobe.
My knees turned to water at the overwhelming sight, and I stumbled over to the rocking chair before I hit the ground. It was all so much, and it was perfect. If I’d had unlimited funds, it was what I would have given her. The safe, warm environment gilded in the afternoon sunlight that poured into the room through the three large windows was what Joy needed.
I watched with my heart in my throat as Declan lifted Joyout of her carrier and placed her in the bouncy seat. The little girl didn’t hesitate. She started bouncing and smacking at the activity toys, making them spin, flash, and play music. A happy gurgle rose from her, and some of my anxiety eased.
“Do you like it?”
