A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy (The Romero Brothers, Book 2) (8 page)

Maxine was hungry for Lucas. And with each day that drifted
by, she’d eagerly waited for him to call her, to drop by her office. Nada.
She’d been left feeling empty again. Was he avoiding her? Perhaps she shouldn’t
have been so unresponsive to his flirtatious attempts.

Whenever the tech guy from the foundation dropped by
during the last few weeks to help her company set up the e-program online she’d
casually question him. How many times had she snuck in questions about Lucas
while asking
D’Andre
about the software program? Was
he out of town?
In a meeting?
Would he be coming back
to her office for more
follow-up
to see how the
program was going? Her inquiring mind wanted to know. Lucas seemed to be pretty
much out of the media spotlight—for now, at least. She was glad for him
that the scandalous story was dying down a bit. Maxine really wished she could
have spoken with him.

Heck, she was scared out of her wits to call Lucas’s
number and ask him anything. She didn’t want to seem as if she was into him.
What did she fear? Rejection? Embarrassment?

Or perhaps, she was truly out of his league and didn’t
want to risk being a convenient one-night stand. Maxine tried hard not to
believe what she’d read about him in the newspapers. You couldn’t believe the
tabloids or sensationalism, could you? And that woman seemed as if she was an
opportunist, appearing on every show she could to tell her story and talk about
how much money she should have for her unborn child. Something just didn’t ring
true about that duplicity. Poor Lucas. How awful to be in his shoes.

***

Maxine turned off the engine and the car shuddered
before shutting down. Okay, she really needed to take her car in to be fixed.
Trouble was, she was not auto savvy and oftentimes would be ripped off by mechanics.
She could not even afford to replace anything in her old vehicle. She prayed it
wouldn’t conk out on her in the middle of traffic.

Lucy had offered to buy her a new car but she really
felt funny about accepting any of her friend’s husband’s money like that. It
just didn’t feel right. Lucy and she had only just briefly met before Lucy
married into the Romero family anyway.

Lucy had taken over the agency from her dead estranged
auntie who left it to her in her will. So this was new to a lot of people when
Chris, the late owner of the Dream Weddings, Inc. died suddenly a couple years
ago. It wasn’t as if Maxine and Lucy were lifelong friends. They’d met on the
job two years earlier. Maxine didn’t have too much in her life right now. But
her pride was one of the things she held dear.

She glanced down at her list of things to do this week,
most of them to be done today.

Ask Dr.
Branson about Mom’s new medication

Look
over incident report from Mom’s fall and speak to in-charge nurse at the time
of incident

Read
over research study that will help Mom then give consent if agree with terms

Pay the
overdue invoice from the nursing home

Settle
collection notice for Mom’s old cell phone service; have disconnected since not
in use

Buy Mom
a pay-as-you-go phone at the grocery store for emergencies

Buy
something edible to put in empty fridge

Go to
the department store and pick out Lucy’s baby shower gift…

The eighth item on her scribbled note brought a giddy
feeling inside Maxine’s whole being. She was so happy for Lucy and Antonio
having a baby but an added benefit was attached to that. The invitation she’d
received said the July baby shower would be a barbecue at the Romero Estate along
with a Jack and Jill shower. Which meant Yay! Guys and gals would be there. She
was sure Lucas would attend, too.

What was with her? Was she that desperate to catch a
glimpse of him again? Yes.

He’d pretty much avoided seeing her during the past
few weeks, which completely irked Maxine. She’d hoped he would have at least
stopped by to say "hi" again or see how she’s doing since the
detective showed up.

But then again, she guessed, he was probably handling
things from the background. After all, the tech guy from his company was super
sweet and respectful to her, as if she was Lucas’s number one preferred
customer or something.

Maxine was going to go crazy if she didn’t see Lucas
again. She needed to feel his lips on hers.
Even if he only
brushed his lips on her hand.
The feeling he left her with still made
her tingle inside. What a soft kiss that was.
 

As she walked across the parking lot towards the
entrance of the nursing home, a smile touched her lips. She was about to visit
her mother but she wished her mother knew her and she prayed things could be
normal, like bringing home a hot guy like Lucas to introduce to her mother as her
future son-in-law. Yeah, she wished. If only!

Maxine knocked on the door of her mother’s room before
entering. “Hey, beautiful princess, how are you feeling today?” Maxine asked as
she entered with a smile and a Tim Horton’s bag of fresh pastries. Her mother
loved pastries from Tim’s for as long as Maxine could remember.
Especially the Maple Pecan Danish.
Mmm
.
Delicious. She even had it warmed up for her in the pantry before heading to
the room.

“Hey, welcome to my castle,” Dora beamed as she
welcomed her adopted daughter. She opened her arms and made gestures to show
off her surroundings. “I have a table set for you over there. Would you like my
servants to get you something to eat, my dear?”

Maxine’s heart hiccupped but a warm feeling settled in
her soul because she was hopeful for her mother. She was used to her mother’s behavior.

“No, thank you, Mom. I’m fine right here beside you.” Maxine
smiled warmly as she sat beside her mother at the bedside. When she’d first noticed
her mother’s symptoms, Maxine didn’t know what to do. She played along at first
but was told by the doctor that it was best to gently redirect to reality if at
all possible. Her mother was always fixated on being a princess and having all
the love in the world. Who could blame her?
She’d been
through so much heartache in her life
,
she deserved
some fantasy
. Maxine wished she could give her mother everything right
now.

Her mother’s hair hadn’t been washed yet and that
crushed her spirit. She didn’t even know if her mother was bathed yet. Staffing
was incredibly short at the nursing home. Maxine desperately wished she could
hire a personal nurse to be with her mother
twenty-four-seven
when she was not there. Maxine took off her cardigan and placed it over the
chair back.

“Here, Mom, I brought you your favorite. Pecan
Danish.”

“Oh, joy!” Dora clasped her hands together. “I don’t
know who you are but thank you so much.”

Maxine’s eyes stung with hot tears. Even though she’d
called her “Mom” a few times since entering the room, Dora had forgotten. Her
mom had seen better days. She wasn’t always pleasantly confused. There were
some days when she was more lucid.

The trouble with her mom’s dementia diagnosis was that
it was nonspecific. Some people with dementia could get confused and be unable
to remember names or places while others were impaired in their daily living
routines. But it was the change in personality and her mom’s social behavior
that made Maxine seek help initially.

She was glad she did when she did. Her mother’s
behavior was becoming out of control at home and after neighbors found her
climbing the tree outside their apartment building in the middle of the night
things had turned for the worse. She was taken in to the local hospital.

Still, Dora had good days and Maxine was well aware
that dementia was treatable but the one shred of hope she held on to was that
it was also
reversible
.

“Maxine, good to see you today.” Dr. Branson walked
into the room with a chart in his hand.

“Oh, hi there.” Maxine spun her head around after
wiping the teardrop off her cheek.

“Are you all right?”

“Oh, I’m
good
thanks. Just
tired.”

“She’s such a sweetie, you know,” Dora chimed with her
mouth full of pastry. “She is a good servant. Look what she prepared for me in
the kitchen. I should give her a raise.”

Dr. Branson smiled at Dora. “Well, Dora, I think
you’re very lucky to have Maxine here. I don’t think she’s a servant, though.
She’s a wonderful daughter.”

“Oh?” Dora looked surprised at first. She looked at
Maxine, then back to Dr. Branson, then shrugged and finished eating her Danish
pastry, licking her fingers.

“Dora, I’m just going to speak with your daughter for
a moment. Is that okay?”

“Yes, please don’t mind me. I’m off to visit my friend
soon.”

Dr. Branson nodded and guided Maxine outside to the
hallway. “How long has she been like this? All night?” Maxine asked concerned.
“I thought she was getting better with the new medication.”

“Oh, she is, Maxine. It’s just that at times, your
mother would regress to an earlier stage but we’re monitoring the situation very
closely.”

“Oh, good.”

“Listen, I don’t mean to pry, but how are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m…okay. I just had a moment there when she
didn’t know me again.” Maxine felt a lump in her throat. Her mother had days
when she would acknowledge her as her daughter but unfortunately today wasn’t
one of them.

“I know it can be hard. I just noticed you looked deep
in thought there. For the past few weeks you’d been on cloud nine.”

“On cloud nine?”

Was it
that obvious? That I had Lucas on my mind, fantasizing about him the whole
time? Oh, how embarrassing. I must have looked like a complete idiot. And Lucas
doesn’t even know I exist! He’s probably thinking about some other woman every
waking minute.

“Well, maybe I should clarify what I mean by cloud
nine,” he said adjusting his specs. “It’s like someone in love,” he joked to
her. “Not that it’s any of my business, of course. I just want to see all my
patients and my patient’s families happy. Especially when we see you in here
almost every day without fail. As I’ve said before, it’s wonderful what you’re
doing but you need to give yourself a break. You don’t want to burn yourself
out. Then what good will
that do
for your mother?”

“You’re right, Dr. Branson. I just…”
really need to get a life, I suppose.
 

Maxine spent the next half hour discussing her
mother’s care with Dr. Branson before going back to spend the rest of the time
with her mother. The visit turned out to be more rewarding as her mother came
around at times. She then asked for some assistance in finding towels and a new
gown so that she could bathe and dress her mom. She also washed her mother’s
hair and brushed it as if she were a princess getting ready for a royal visit. Maxine
was satisfied when she’d left her mother.

When she got back to the car in the parking lot, she
wiped the sweat from her brow. The sun was getting hotter but Maxine was also
tired. She still had a few more stops to make before heading home.

To the department store.

Maxine picked out a beautiful gift set and a lovely
bedding set for Lucy and the baby. She then went to a specialty store in the
plaza adjacent to the mall where she had the gifts personalized with a message
to the baby from Maxine, the baby’s future godmother. It was difficult to pick
out a perfect gift for someone who actually had money but she thought every
mother would appreciate sentimental gifts.

Later, she pulled up in the garage of her apartment
building with a few shopping bags in her hands. When she got out of the
elevator on the eleventh floor, she fished for her keys in her bag and yanked
them out. When she reached her door, her mouth fell open. She dropped her bags
on the floor by her feet, her keys frozen between her fingers. She didn’t need a
key to get into her apartment. The door was wide open! Her home had been broken
into and trashed.

CHAPTER NINE

“What?” Lucas fumed. He felt a surge of heat fire through
his blood. If anyone laid a finger on Maxine, he would make sure they would live
to regret it.

“Lucy got the call a few minutes ago,” Antonio said as
he spoke to his cousin in the study.

Since Lucy’s difficult pregnancy, Lucy and Antonio
been spending more time at the estate than downtown, which made sense since their
family doctor and trusted obstetrician was in Mayberry Hill and Lucy would
eventually deliver at the local hospital. The
Romeros
had donated a wing to Mayberry General Hospital. It was private hospital with the
latest state-of-the-art medical equipment.

“So what happened?” Lucas demanded to know.

“Well, the cops took the report and told Maxine to
call someone close to her to spend the night. So she called Lucy.”