Page 110 of Home Town Advantage
I don’t know how long we sit there. I just know that the hand of his arm around me moves up and down my hip and thigh, and his other hand continues to caress my head and face while his lips pepper them with kisses. It’s not friendly. It’s intimate, and he doesn’t seem to care that we have an audience in the room.
I eventually turn my head, realizing I need to check on my mother, but she and Jane are sitting there watching my interaction with Vance with huge, hopeful smiles on their faces.
After about thirty more minutes, my father reemerges with a bandage on his arm and hands full of crackers and a bottle of orange juice.
He, too, takes in my proximity to Vance and his hands moving uninhibited all over my body. Vance is completely unaware that we’re garnering attention, lost in another universe right now. It outwardly appears as though he’s providing me comfort when, in reality, I think he needs to hold me for his own benefit, so I let it happen. I’ll answer the inevitable bevy of questions I’ll be getting later.
The doctor walks back through the doors a little while later to say that Francesca’s body is accepting the blood, and it’s looking good. How ironic that Francesca now has O’Shea blood flowing through her body.
The doctor offers for Maddie and Curtis to see Francesca in the recovery room.
Maddie takes a deep breath before walking over toward our group. She first looks at my father. “Thank you, Frank. I’ll never be able to repay the kindness you’ve shown my daughter.”
My father nods. “She’s an innocent little girl. Any decent person would have done the same.”
Maddie turns her attention to Vance. “Do you want to come back with us?”
“I do,” he answers.
Maddie looks like she’s been through the ringer. I’m sure she has. Her pretty face is marred by hours of crying. Her eyes are red, and there are bags under them. She’s suffering. I can see it. I’m sure Vance can too.
When he stands, he looks like he wants to say more but fortunately thinks better of it. At the end of the day, she’s a mother scared shitless for her daughter.
Recognizing his demeanor, she holds up her hands. “I know. You don’t need to say it. You were right. She never should have been on that thing. It certainly won’t happen again.”
I’m not sure why it surprises me that they would talk about everyday things like that, but it does. I often have a hard time imagining Vance and Maddie interacting, mostly because he never cared for her when she was with Finn. I’m not sure I ever once saw him have a conversation with her.
When he disappears with Curtis and Maddie, I’m immediately accosted by Jane and my mother. Neither can contain her grin.
I roll my eyes. “Will you two gossips cut it out. You both practically have hearts in your eyes.”
They giggle before my mother happily announces to both of our parents that she woke me up this morning with her call and Vance was with me. The insinuation is more than clear. My poor father is covering his ears while Michael McCaffrey chuckles.
I sigh. “Yes, we’ve been spending time together. It’s casual. Stop making it more than it is.”
My mother grins. “For how long?”
I bite my lip. It really has been a long time.
“Since the snowstorm,” Michael announces.
I cross my arms and scowl at him. “Thanks, Michael.”
He smirks. “You’re welcome, sweetie.”
Jane grabs my mother’s hand. “We’re going to share grandbabies, and they’re going to be gorgeous.”
Mymother shrieks in glee.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. For fuck’s sake. Now they’ve got us having babies.
TWENTY-SIX
VANCE
Ilook at Francesca’s peacefully sleeping face. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her in person. Maddie has completely blocked my access and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. If I took her to court, all Maddie had to do was ask for a paternity test, which she’s threatened to do hundreds of times when I tried to push for visitation or offer any input into her life decisions. Daylen thinks I should leverage my child support payments to get what I want, but I would never do that to Francesca.
Tears fill my eyes as I take in her soft features. I hate that she’s suffered, and I’m thankful she’s asleep and not currently feeling pain. I’m sure she’s got a long road to recovery ahead of her.
