#HotAndHandy (Keeney Builds #1)

Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

S he’d hidden in the hallway waiting for him to go away, walking to the door only after hearing his truck leave. Opening it, she looked down and retrieved the package. It was a cellphone charger wrapped in notepaper. She smiled, pocketed the charger, and smoothed out the paper to read the words written on it. In Vincent’s precise handwriting, it read:

I was proud to walk in with you. You looked so strong, and confident, and beautiful. You turned heads the whole evening, and my pride in you turned to possessiveness.

You are too good for me. I was afraid you realized that and decided to move on. Then to see Eddie beside you…

You did nothing wrong, which isn’t telling you something you don’t know.

I didn’t give you a chance to speak.

I didn’t ask if you were okay.

I didn’t think about you.

I was wrong.

I am sorry.

Please forgive me .

W ith shaking hands, Hilary placed the note on the dining room table, then smoothed it down. A tear fell, quickly followed by another. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffed, her heart in her throat. Leaving the note on the table, she headed to the bedroom.

V incent mounted the stairs and placed the bag of groceries next to the door. He knocked loudly. Halfway down the stairs, he realized the first package was no longer there and smiled. Progress.

T he knock at the door sounded the next installment in Vincent’s campaign of overwhelming generosity. So far, besides the charging cord, he’d brought her soup, ibuprofen, Gatorade, protein drinks, a paperback novel, and slippers in the second delivery. The third delivery contained bath bombs, a rubber duck, and another paperback.

She couldn't see the door from her position in the club chair and waited, expecting him to go away and leave the bag by the door. The knock sounded again, this time, a key was inserted, and the door opened. “Hilary, it’s Iris. I know I said I’d never enter without your permission, but I want to know that you’re alright.”

Deflated, Hilary called out, “I’m here. Come on in.”

She didn’t bother to get up, just put her book down and sat up straight. Iris rounded the corner with a plate of cookies in hand. To her credit, her eyes didn’t widen, her mouth didn’t drop open, and she didn’t collapse in a faint at Hilary’s appearance .

“How are you feeling?” She placed the cookies on the coffee table and stepped back.

“Better than I look. How are you feeling?”

Iris wrapped her arms around herself. “Better than I thought I would. Fiona and I had a long conversation on our way to the police station. It seems Eddie led us both astray.”

That’s an understatement. Aloud, Hilary asked, “Do you want to talk about it?” She gestured toward the couch.

Iris sat and pulled a tissue out of her pocket. “I posted bail for my son today, and Fiona will file for divorce soon. She won’t allow him back into the house and convinced me not to let him stay with me. I don’t know what he’s going to do.” Her chin wobbled as she looked at Hilary.

Lips as flat as the tone of her voice, Hilary spoke, “You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t have much sympathy for him.”

Iris bobbed her head and sniffed. “I can’t figure out where we went wrong. I had two miscarriages before Eddie, and we were so thankful when he was born that perhaps we overindulged him.”

Hilary had nothing to add, so remained silent.

“I can understand the drifting away from us, but I can’t understand the lying. And not just if we questioned him about something. He’d lie about the oddest things. He told me the school cafeteria served only fish sticks on Friday because the principal was Catholic. He told Darryl that Fiona’s father said KBS would go out of business soon. He also said that Fiona thought our house smelled.” Iris stared into space, pieces of shredded tissue falling to the floor at her feet.

“He sounds like a pathological liar.”

“Um-hum,” Iris said with a sniff.

“Was there a scene at the police station?”

“Um-hum.” Pulling out another tissue, Iris wiped her nose .

While she could muster up some sympathy for Iris, she had none for Eddie. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Nuh-uh.”

Don’t blame you. One of the romance novels Vincent had given her sat on the coffee table, the couple on the cover gazing soulfully into each other’s eyes backlit by a glorious sunset. Why couldn’t every story end with a happily ever after?

“Eddie never introduced us to any of the girls he dated, so we were surprised when he wanted us to meet Fiona. He told us he wanted to bring her to the house, but she was uncomfortable with white people.”

Hilary covered her mouth to avoid saying anything, unsure whether Eddie was a master manipulator or Iris was incredibly na?ve. It was probably a bit of both. She settled back into her chair to let Iris ramble on. It seemed important to her to get the story out.

“So we met them at a restaurant Fiona chose on the Kirkland waterfront. Darryl and I had been there for our anniversary once or twice. It was nice but kind of pricey. As we were parking the car, I got a text from Eddie with a list of topics not to bring up at dinner.”

“Seriously?” Hilary straightened up. “I’m sorry, but that’s just weird.”

Iris turned big eyes her way and nodded. “That’s what Darryl said. He was pretty annoyed. But like I said, this was the first girl Eddie wanted us to meet. I knew she was important to him, so I wanted the evening to go well.”

“And did it?”

Staring at the shredded tissue in her hand, Iris shook her head. “Fiona would not look at Darryl, and seemed to hesitate and look to Eddie for approval before answering any questions. She was very quiet. Eddie did most of the talking. When we were finished and waiting for the car, I tried to hug Fiona, but Eddie waved me off. ”

Hilary debated with herself before speaking. “You may want to ask Fiona what she remembers about it.” When Iris gave her a quizzical look, she continued, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Eddie told Fiona things about you and your husband that made her uncomfortable.”

“It’s possible,” Iris conceded.

The past twenty-four hours having sapped her energy, Hilary closed her eyes and left Iris to her own thoughts.

The door closing woke her. Iris was gone. The cookies were gone. The cushions on the sofa plumped, and the tissue pieces all picked up. Sniffing the air, Hilary rose to follow her nose. A box of pizza and a bottle of chardonnay sat on the table. The note beside it read, “For medicinal purposes.” Stepping to the door, she saw Vincent descend the stairs and walk toward his home, shoulders slumped and feet dragging. She moved to the counter and disconnected her phone from the charger. Twelve texts and five voicemails waited for her. All from Vincent, all filled with remorse.

Her fingers hovered over the screen as she wondered how to respond. He seemed sincere, but could she trust him? Throughout her bout with cancer, David had treated her like precious cargo, at his best when she was at her weakest. That made his deceit and the divorce that followed all the more painful. She wouldn’t allow herself to be treated that way again by someone who claimed to care for her.

Her eyes drifted over to the letter, and then she sat down and took her time crafting a reply. Two minutes after she pressed send, Vincent appeared at her door. At her nod, he entered, jaw tight, eyes solemn.

Sympathetic eyes roamed all over her. The outfit she’d put on in the morning was now wrinkled, and she hadn’t bothered to comb her hair.

“Hi,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Limp and worn out, but I’ll survive. Thank you for the gifts. That was very thoughtful. ”

“Did they help?”

“They did. But this did more than anything,” she said, tracing a fingertip across his handwriting before holding out her hand.

Heaving out a sigh, he took it and dropped to his knees before her. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked back and forth. “Does this mean you forgive me?” he whispered.

“I’m thinking about it,” she whispered back.

He picked her up, carried her to the couch, sat down, and cradled her in his lap.

“I screwed up so badly,” he said.

“No shit.”

“I saw you in his arms and thought…” Vincent cleared his throat. “I thought Eddie McLeod was not going to take something that belonged to me this time.”

Hilary pulled back to look at him. “I’m not a possession.”

“I know that. It’s just…all my life…we didn’t have much. Eddie got every shiny thing he wanted, and he’d wave it in my face. I’d ignore him. Tell myself I didn’t care, and I didn’t. But, seeing his hands on you…” His grip tightened on her arm as he breathed deeply. “You mean the world to me, and I know you can do better than me—”

Hilary pressed her finger to his lips. “Not true. Don’t even go there. I have something to say, and then we won’t talk about this again.” When he opened his mouth, she pressed her finger against it more firmly. “What you did last night was seriously uncool. Well, the punching Eddie in the nose was cool. But what you said to me, in front of a room full of strangers and not bothering to find out what was really happening, was not cool.” She saw the pain in his eyes but didn’t let up. “Walking through that bar, people thinking I’d been with Eddie…I was humiliated.”

He tried to speak, but she shushed him. “Not finished yet. When you realized you screwed up, you apologized. Immediately and profusely. And I appreciate that. I know you understand how you hurt me, and I am positive you will never do it again.” She removed her hand and pressed her lips lightly to his. “There. Done.”

Vincent deepened the kiss, then twisted his body to plant her in the corner of the couch. “Am I allowed to speak now?”

“If you must.” She snuggled into his chest. “I was hoping you’d kiss me some more.”

He lay his big body next to her, crowding her against the cushion, and holding her close. “I intend to do so. I want a do-over. I want you to get dressed up, and I want to show you off. I want everyone to know that this beautiful woman belongs to me.”

She frowned. “Did we not establish the fact I am not a possession?”

“Yes.” His gaze held hers as he moved a hand to stroke her bottom lip. “However, you are my woman . Exclusively.”

Butterflies took flight in her stomach at the deep rumble of his voice. “And you’re mine exclusively?”

“For as long as you want me.”

Hilary drew his head down to kiss him. There was nothing left to say.

V incent ate the pizza while Hilary settled for soup and ginger ale. The wine went into the fridge for another day.

Lying in her bed with her head on his chest, he drew lazy circles on the small of her back. Fear, guilt, and exhaustion had dogged him all day, and he was thankful she’d accepted his apology so quickly. He really didn’t deserve her and would make it up to her until his dying day, if she’d let him.

“Tell me about the Australian girls you met.”

Vincent stiffened, then relaxed. “I haven’t thought about them in years. Why are you asking? Do you want details about who I’ve slept with?”

She shook her head. “No, I was just wondering about them.”

“Okay, but why now?”

“No particular reason. Just curious,” she said.

“Okay. I met and stayed with Ilsa when I went there to ski. We dated for a while, and when they came to Washington to ski, they stayed with me.”

“Did you rekindle your romance?” Hilary lifted her head to glare at him.

Vincent squeezed her and smiled. “No, by then Ilsa had a boyfriend back in Canberra, and I wasn’t interested in Nadia, she was way too much drama for me. They just stayed in my spare bedroom between partying and skiing.”

“They partied a lot?”

He chuckled. “They’re Australian. It’s a national pastime. Ma and I were at Iris and Darryl’s house for dinner one night when Ilsa called. They’d met up with some frat boys from UW, were partying in the U district, and didn’t have a way home. Eddie volunteered to pick them up, and one of them threw up in his car.”

Hilary raised a questioning eyebrow. “Why would Eddie volunteer?”

Vincent snorted. “He’d met them and probably expected to get laid. Anyway, Ilsa flew back home a couple of weeks before Nadia left. And you know the rest.”

Hilary changed position to see his eyes. “What about Nadia?”

“She was already on her way to Vancouver when I was arrested, and flew home to Australia the next day. Again, my lawyer was a moron, so Nadia was never contacted for a statement. Mom refinanced her mortgage to hire a good lawyer who managed to reduce my sentence, and I got out after three years.” Restless from reliving crappy memories, he folded his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

“You never heard from Ilsa or Nadia?”

He glanced down at Hilary. “No. I didn’t try, though.”

“Why not? You could clear your name.” She pulled back and propped her head on her hand. “Don’t you want to?”

He blew out a frustrated breath. “It’s behind me. That’s all that matters.”

She was silent for a moment. Then leaned forward to kiss his chest and asked, “Do you mind if I look for Ilsa and Nadia?”

Vincent gave her the side-eye. “How?”

“Hello?” She gave him a mocking smile. “There’s this thing called the internet. Most young women have a presence on social media. Give me their names, and I’ll see what I can find.”

After a moment’s consideration, he agreed. Nothing bad could come from her search. “Yeah, sure.”

“Good!” Hilary hovered over him to kiss his nose before settling back down on his chest, and was asleep soon after.

He wrapped her in his arms, happy to put one of the worst days in his life behind him.