Page 75 of The Ruckup
“I guess. She said something about some chick named Elaine too though, so I’m pretty sure she was talking out her ass.”
Sylvia’s lips curved in a smile. “Elaine Servantes is what your generation would call a girl boss. She felt really bad about that whole car being set on fire here at the apartments, so to make up for it she made an arrangement that will help put your ex-husband away permanently.”
I try to process her words, but they don’t really make sense. “How could she make sure he goes to jail permanently?”
A new police officer comes into my apartment, dragging everyone’s attention his way. “He had a weapon on him.” He holds up an evidence bag containing a pistol of some sort. “Same caliber as the one used on the guy we found in the car.”
“Imagine that.” Sylvia clicks her tongue, shaking her head. “You never really know what people are capable of, do you?” She gives my knee another pat then stands up. “It’s good to know you finally found the person responsible. I’ve been scared to death knowing a killer was on the loose.”
“That hasn’t been confirmed, ma’am.” One of the officers tries to burst Sylvia’s bubble, but she’s undeterred.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see them, won’t we?” She turns my way, giving me a wink over one shoulder.
Leo pulls me closer. “What was that about?”
I lean into him, tired and ready for all this to be over.
And if Sylvia’s right, maybe it is.
“I think the universe just evened things out.”
The universe and Elaine Servantes, whoever in the hell that is.
26
Purse Margaritas>Home Renovations
Leo
“I DON’T KNOW what possessed us to attempt this.” Maddie looks around our mess of a home, one hand bracing her back and the other resting on the swell of her belly.
“We’re doing this so we don’t have to do it after the baby is already here.” I spread my own hand across her stomach, hoping I get to feel my daughter kick. “We decided we didn’t want to have her around all the dust, remember?”
I get why Maddie’s tired of renovations. They do feel like they’ve been going on forever. But we’re on the home stretch now. Everything is done except for one room. The room I saved for last, because I knew she was going to be miserable without it.
In hindsight that was the wrong choice because right now my wife is about as miserable as she can get without factoring in our demoed kitchen.
“I just want to scramble some freaking eggs.” Maddie slumps against me, looking exhausted and defeated and overwhelmed.
“Then you will be thrilled to find out your genius of a husband ordered a hotplate before they ripped out the cooktop.”Dropping a kiss to her crown, I leave my wife standing in the living room to retrieve one of the many boxes lining our cluttered dining room. It takes me a few seconds to find the one I want, but I tear into it as I carry it back in. “All we have to do is plug it in and we will be semi in business.”
Maddie smiles. “I think I love you more than I have ever loved you before.”
“I don’t know.” I wiggle my brows at her. “You loved me and awful lot last night, Mrs. Castellini.”
I love the way that name sounds. Even better than I liked Miss Miller. It tells the world that she’s claimed me. That she trusts me to take care of her. To support her. To be her partner.
Her teammate.
And Maddie and I are turning out to be one heck of the team. A fact that’s obvious even during mundane tasks like scrambling eggs—the most normal of her pregnancy cravings.
Once I find a spot on the dining room table that will give us enough room to work, I dig out an extension cord, and plug in the hotplate, settling my wife into a chair right next to it. I collect everything while she assembles what I bring.
Usually, Maddie takes the lead in the kitchen. Not because I’m incapable—between her and Abuela, I now know my way around plenty of seasonings—but because I think food has always been happiness for her.
And all I want is for Maddie to be happy.
As the eggs come together, I find our toaster hiding in one corner next to the bin holding our canned goods, and pop a few slices in. Maddie’s morning sickness has mostly abated, but her stomachis still a little touchy, and toast and eggs is a meal that always sits well, so we’ve been eating a hell of a lot of it.
