“Anyway, things were so much better after I was with Grandma. She took care of me, gave me the childhood that she thought I deserved. My grandpa had died decades ago, and I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. All the cousins were on my dad’s side, and they were just as screwed up as him. So, all I had was Grandma, and all she had was me.”
“She sounds like a wonderful woman.”
“She was. She was amazing, one of those types of people that are one-in-a-million. She passed when I was twenty-seven. But God, the way she was in those few months as the cancer took her little by little was something else. Grandma Bets never showed her fear, looked death straight in the eye and made it blink. She died with as much dignity and strength as when she lived.”
Valentino smiled. I wasn’t surprised to see it, it was the effect Bets always had on people, even after she was gone.
“I’m so happy to hear that you and Maddie had someone like her in your life.”
“Thanks. And yeah, I know how lucky we were. Grandma Bets helped take care of Maddie in that first year, and it made me so damn happy to know that Maddie got a chance to experience all that love right when she came into the world.”
I caught myself after I said the words, realizing how far afield I'd gotten.
“Anyway, you didn’t need to hear my life story. You just wanted to know if Maddie had family in her life.”
“You’re wrong.” There wasn’t a trace of hesitation in his voice. “I want to know everything about you. You’re the mother of my little girl, after all.”
A tear appeared in my eye, and I quickly wiped it away. “Thanks.” I took a deep breath to compose myself. “Right now, it’s just Mads and me. When Grandma Bets passed, she left us a, ah, surprising amount of money. She lived simply, but when she died I learned why—she scrimped and saved every penny she had to pass on to Maddie and me. It was enough to pay for most of this house, to give us money to live on while I established myself. I don’t know where I'd be without her.”
Before I could say another word, a faint call of “mommy” sounded from down the hall.
“She’s up,” I said.
I stepped out of bed, turning back to Valentino.
“Listen, don’t take it personally, but I've got a little rule…no sleepovers with men. I mean, not like that’s happened since you and I were together, but it’s a rule all the same.”
“That means I need to go,” he said with a nod. Valentino slipped out of bed, and I was relieved to see how cool he was being about it. “We’re going to need to talk about how to break this to Maddie. For the time being, the right call is not exposing her to any of it.”
“Total agreement.”
He dressed quickly. When he was ready, we approached the door to the hall.
“Here’s the plan,” I said. “I’ll go in there and see what she wants, and I'll shut the door behind me. You slip out after that.”
“Perfect.”
He gazed down at me, those dark eyes just as hard to resist as ever. Valentino planted a quick kiss on my lips, letting me know that he felt the same way.
“Good night,” he said. “I can’t wait to see you again.”
“Feeling’s more than mutual, Dr. V.”
One more kiss, and I slipped out of the door. As strange and scary as it all was, I couldn't help but smile.
Chapter 21
VALENTINO
“Doc, I gotta say, you’re looking giddy.”
Clay Johnson, running back for the Denver Broncos, a six-foot-two wall of muscle, was seated across from me on the examination table. He wore a pillow sling on his right arm, an ice pack tucked under the strap and against his shoulder.
“Giddy?” I asked with a grin over my shoulder.
“Yep. Something’s on your mind; something that’s got you walking on air. No sense in trying to hide it.”
He was right. I’d been in a state of total bliss since finding out the news about Maddie. All the same, I wasn’t quite ready to blab to the world that I was a dad. I still needed to sort out a few things with Piper before that happened.
