Page 38 of Damaged Billionaire Daddy
I shook my head no.
“I hate to admit it, but it was Kayla who talked me into my first. Now, I try to get one whenever I’m in town. It’s cheaper than a chiropractor and a lot more fun than physical therapy.”
By now we were being seated luxurious chairs — that vibrated! Every inch of me was grateful to sit down and have the tension massaged out of me.
I nearly fell asleep in the chair while Isobel worked on my feet. I thought I would dissolve into a puddle and just melt into the soaking water.
When we finished there, we went to dinner at a comfortable mom-and-pop restaurant that served the best home-style sit down dinner I’d ever had.
It had been a long day. By the time we got out to the jeep, I was yawning, and the outside air was chilly. I nearly crawled into the seat.
“You can lay that back,” Richard said. “There’s blankets in that bag just behind you, and I can turn on the heater if you’re cold.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled. I tipped the seat back and didn’t even hear him close the other door.
Chapter sixteen
Richie
I was glad to discover that the aches and pains with which I had greeted the day had calmed down to their normal dull ache. The foot and hand massage that went with the mani-pedi had done wonders.
Whatever had made me think football was better than going into business? At least I invested part of my earnings each year and didn’t fritter it all away. I was comfortable, but today’s jaunt was going to put a hole in my budget for a while.
I had paid out several thousand renting the dress, and another thou or so on the tux rental. Serve me right for not packing my own.
Since I invested most of my income each quarter, I didn’t keep more than a few thousand in my liquid accounts. I could always use credit cards if I ran short, but if I slipped up on a payment, the darned things charged interest. I wanted to earn interest, not pay it out.
The rain was back, but the four-wheel drive hugged the road and the jeep handled like a dream. I glanced over at Kandis. I’d spread a blanket over her when I stopped for gas.
She looked so sweet, with her eyelashes brushing her cheeks, and her curls escaping from her messy bun and tumbling around her face. It almost made me want to pull over at one of the rest stops and try a repeat of our first time.
My trousers were getting tight just at the thought. But if I was going to do that, I should have pulled off at the motel back at the gas station.
We had just passed Angelus Oaks, where I stopped to refuel, to fill the spare tank, and to pick up a mini tank of propane.
When the rain turned into snow, I pulled into a turnout and put chains on the wheels. I let Kandy sleep. The weather was getting nasty, and I needed to keep my attention on the road.
As the jeep labored its way up the switchbacks to the turn-off to my great-grandparents cabin, I was glad I had. Although the road was not icy, big, fat flakes were falling, quickly covering everything.
I had just pulled into the drive, and turned off the jeep’s engine when a phone rang. Automatically, I fumbled for my phone, but realized that the ringtone was “Trouble in River City.”
Kandis turned over and sleepily answered the call. “Hi, Mom.”
She paused and listened a minute then said, “I’m fine. Just visiting a friend, and I’m not home.”
Another pause…a long one this time. “I’m sorry, Mom. I can’t come pick you up, I’m in California. I went to Mimi and Pops’ house, remember? Did you call Uncle George?”
More listening. “I’m sorry you don’t like the motel. But is it warm? Do you have something to eat?”
A short amount of listening. “No, Mom. You can’t have my credit card information. You wouldn’t be able to use it anyway.” Really brief pause. “No. Absolutely not. Tell youwhat, Mom, I’ll call Uncle George. He’s fifteen minutes from you.”
Kandis tapped buttons on her phone. “Uncle George? Yeah, this is about Mom. I just got off the phone with her. She says she needs grocery money. . . uh-huh, uh-huh.” Short pause. “No, I’m not mad at you. Thank you for finding her a place to stay. How’s the weather there?”
Kandis listened again, a longer time now. “Thanks, Uncle George. Yeah, it would probably be a good idea to see about her. Can you check her into the hospital?” Brief pause, then, “Yeah, I know it’s a big step. Thank you. I’m too far away to drive over.”
Kandis laughed. “Yeah, California is just a tiny little step away from Boston. Nope, not warm here…we just arrived where we are staying tonight and it’s snowing. Thanks again.”
“Trouble?” I asked, when she had hung up.
