More than a Maid (3 page)

"Is he 'Bictow'? Can I caw him 'Daddy'?" Isaac lifted his hands dramatically. "'Daddy Bictow'?"

Ramon laughed and ruffled Isaac's hair, making him giggle for a moment. "You and Victor need to have a talk about that. I'm sure he'll let you pick whatever you wanna call him."

Isaac took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. As he stared off in the distance, he softly said, "I nevuh had a daddy befow."

The innocent sentiment resonated through Ramon, producing a shiver that made the hair on his arms stand up. He gazed at Isaac's sullen face and said, "I never had a daddy either."

Isaac gasped and met Ramon's eyes. "You didn't?"

"Nope." Ramon shook his head. He tried to push away his lingering fear—the fear that Henry had known all along he was his biological father. It was too painful to think about, made worse by the panic in Isaac's eyes. A tiny part of Ramon wanted to let his emotions run wild. Wanted to burst out crying and screaming, heartbroken by the lies. Hoping Isaac would never undergo this kind of torment as he got older and started asking questions. He knew Cara claimed that Isaac's biological father was a guy she met once at a bar and never saw again. But Ramon hoped like hell if Cara knew who Isaac's father was, she would never withhold that information the way Mama had. And he resolved right then to have a talk with Cara, soon.

Isaac's lips puckered as he thought of a response. "Why don't you have a daddy?"

Ramon swallowed, hard. He knew Isaac was a smart boy, but the conversation had already gotten too heavy and he didn't want to overstep his boundaries… which he probably already had. "I think maybe you need to talk to Mommy and Victor about some of this stuff."

Isaac frowned.

Ramon continued. "It's okay. Don't be scared. They love you." He patted Isaac's hand. "I know a lotta things don't make sense right now, but you have a lotta stuff to be happy about. You got all these new friends. You're gonna have a big party for your birthday. And then there's gonna be another party when your Mommy and Victor get married. And—"

"I don't wanna move back home!" Isaac's eyes were big and scared. He looked like he might cry.

Ramon took a deep breath, nodding. "I know." He and Isaac had discussed it many times already. Ramon knew Isaac had already begged Cara and Victor to stay in Texas, but if they had made any definite plans, they sure hadn't told him.

Ramon looked at his watch and said, "We better go inside and get ready for dinner. Come on." He hopped to his feet and extended a hand to Isaac. When Isaac took it, Ramon hoisted him up in his arms. As he walked to the door, he patted Isaac's back and said, "No matter what happens, we'll always be friends. You can call me on the phone anytime. Maybe come visit me all by yourself when you get a little older."

Isaac hugged Ramon's neck. "Okay."

"Oh, and guess what? When your mommy and Victor get married, I'll be your uncle. Did you know that?"

Isaac's face scrunched up. "Uncuh?"

"Yep."

"Hmm." Isaac let his face sink against Ramon's collarbone. "I thought you was my best fwend."

Ramon said, "Yeah," then chuckled to keep his eyes from welling up.

In the kitchen, Patty informed Ramon and Isaac it was almost time for dinner. Tom had just arrived from the grocery store, and Cara and Victor would be home in a few minutes.

Ramon and Isaac headed to the downstairs bathroom to wash their hands. As usual, they laughed as Ramon held Isaac up to reach the sink, threatening in jest to drop him.

A minute later, as Ramon was washing up, they heard the front door open. Isaac peeked down the hallway at the front door, then gasped and ran off. Ramon assumed it was because he saw Cara and Victor. But after he turned off the water in the sink, he heard Patty's voice, louder and more excited than usual. Then he heard an unfamiliar female voice with a slight New Jersey accent, similar to Patty's. He dried his hands and left the bathroom.

In the hallway, Ramon saw two suitcases outside the kitchen. Attached to the biggest one was an airport baggage claim ticket. Next to them was a red leather purse that was way too big… and way too shiny. To Ramon, it screamed, "high maintenance."

"Shit," he muttered to himself, silently cursing the lot of them. He instantly realized Victor and Cara's errand was a secret trip to the airport to retrieve the woman whose voice emanated from the kitchen. A woman Patty obviously knew was on the way—that's why Patty kept her a secret.

Ever since Ramon met Patty, she made offhand remarks about finding him a girlfriend. Ramon respected Patty too much to tell her exactly how he felt about that. But he doubted his opinion would've mattered in this situation.

As much as he'd miss Tom and Patty, at least he knew they weren't considering a move to Turnbrook. They would go back up north soon and hopefully he wouldn't have to worry about any more strange city girls showing up at his house with luggage.

Ramon hid just outside the kitchen, mulling over various ways to make himself scarce for the night, when Isaac popped out to the hallway.

"Wuh-moan!" Isaac smiled like he was about to burst. He grabbed Ramon's hand and started tugging, exclaiming, "Mah-cy's in the kitchen!" with familiarity, as if Ramon was already acquainted with her.

Ramon smirked down at him. Marcy's name was mentioned quite often in passing, but no one said anything about her visiting.

Isaac's face puckered in frustration. "Come on!" He pulled Ramon's hand even harder, his socked feet slipping along the hardwood floor.

"Fine." Ramon sighed and trudged ahead, intent on showing Patty and everyone else exactly how unhappy he was about this obvious set-up.

The voices in the kitchen went silent as Ramon entered the room. He kept his head down, making sure to avoid their eyes. But mostly, he wanted to avoid a glimpse at this uninvited house guest until absolutely necessary.

When Isaac let go of Ramon's hand, Victor said, "Marcy, this is my brother, Ramon."

Ramon shot Victor a cold glance, then stared back down at the floor.

Isaac's sudden voice startled him. "That's Wuh-moan. I wike him! He's the one who…"

Shutting his eyes and mouth tight, Ramon listened to Isaac chatter away to this chick about what a great guy he was.

Ramon his grumbling inside, now feeling like a jerk in the face of all those compliments.

But damn it. Shouldn't he have the right to decide who stays under his roof?

After Isaac stopped talking, he heard Marcy say, "Hi Ramon. It's nice to meet you."

Ramon opened his eyes, expecting to see her nearby, ready to shake his hand. But instead, she stood across the kitchen beside Patty, offering him a wave.

He looked at the brunette and said, "Hi there," letting his eyes flicker down her body for a split second in a technique he believed he had perfected. She'd never know he just checked her out. In that split second, he saw her body was short and thick. He figured if she grew another three or four inches she'd probably seem skinny. Her shirt wasn't revealing, but tight enough to show him how well she filled it out. He already looked forward to seeing how she'd rate from behind.

So, upon his initial assessment, Ramon definitely found her attractive, but he still resented her presence in his house. Besides, she wasn't his type. Too much makeup. And that long, chocolate brown hair was too shiny and perfect to be natural. She struck him as the kind of girl who'd spend her last ten bucks at a beauty salon before she'd pay her own rent.

Ramon scowled at Patty and decided to make his true feelings known. "So, I guess this was
your
doin'?"

Patty widened her eyes with a stunned expression. "Excuse me?"

Ramon shook his head. "You think I'm stupid? This strange woman shows up at my house with luggage? You could've told me Victor and Cara were at the airport before dinner."

Victor cleared his throat and placed a hand on Ramon's back. "If you wanna take it up with someone, it's me. It was
my
idea to invite Marcy. She's Cara's best friend. We need her help with the wedding and the housekeeping."

"Oh really?" Ramon narrowed his eyes at Victor.

"Yes,
really
," Victor said, his eyes piercing Ramon's. "She's gonna live here for the next month to keep your house in order for the remainder of our stay. She had her own cleaning business. She's really good."

Ramon's heart sank at Victor's mention of them only staying another month. But he was determined to look impassive. He asked another question without missing a beat. "So, she's
your
maid, then." He shrugged. "That's fine. She can stay. I know you've gotten used to paying people to clean up after you." Ramon gave Victor a knowing grin.

Victor ignored his brother's snide comment.

Ramon didn't believe Victor's reason for inviting this woman. His suspicion was confirmed a few minutes later when Patty cleverly offered to switch seats with Marcy at the dinner table, putting her right beside him. When Ramon looked at Patty, she smiled at him with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Ramon turned his attention to his food and stayed quiet during dinner, giving one-word responses to questions. Ignoring the sweet, perfumey scent of the woman sitting next to him.

It wasn't hard to get through dinner without talking. The women at the table dominated most of the conversation, discussing flowers and dresses and all sorts of boring wedding crap he easily tuned out. He sneaked an occasional glance at Isaac and saw him playing with his green beans, looking every bit as bored as Ramon felt.

Toward the end of dinner, Ramon yawned repeatedly. It would be a struggle for him to stay awake for much longer. Already running on a sleep deficit, a stomach full of rich food was sure to induce a coma. Unfortunately, he remembered some paperwork he needed to finish, or else the feed orders wouldn't be placed on time.

With one more yawn, Ramon stood with his empty plate, interrupting Patty mid-sentence. "Sorry, guys. Got some work to do then I'm goin' to bed. Good night."

Disappointed, Patty said, "No, we're about to have dessert and coffee. At least have some coffee. It'll keep you awake for a little while."

Ramon shook his head as he headed out of the room. "Don't need anything keepin' me awake. Thanks."

Patty left the table and followed him into the kitchen as Victor and Tom started a new conversation. She looked over her shoulder into the dining room and tapped Ramon's arm as he lowered his dirty plate into the sink. "Do you really have to go so soon?"

"Yep." He headed away from her, toward the hall.

Sighing, she trailed along after him. "Well, fine then. Is there anything Marcy can help with? Filing, typing, anything you need—"

"Okay." Ramon turned around, glaring at Patty. "I know you did this."

"Did what?"

Ramon waved his hand in a vague gesture, too weary to put much effort into his words. "This.
Marcy
." He groaned. "You know what I'm talkin' about."

Patty smirked. "I'm not so sure about that." Then her eyes lit up. "But what do you think of her so far?"

Ramon let out a cynical chuckle. "No one asked my permission to let her stay at my house. So apparently, whatever I think doesn't mean shit."

Rolling her eyes, Patty said, "Don't be so grumpy. I just wanted your general first impression of your new house guest. It's a simple question."

Ramon said the first thing that came to mind. "Okay. She's short and stocky." He shrugged. "There you go."

Patty's nostrils flared, her head slowly shaking.

Ramon laughed. "What? My business thrives on makin' cows gain weight. I didn't say it was a bad thing."

Patty smacked his arm with the back of her hand.

And then a throat cleared.

Patty and Ramon both turned their heads to see Marcy standing there, holding her plate as she gave Ramon a hard stare.

"Shit," he muttered, hoping she hadn't heard his flippant comment.

Marcy quickly put her plate down in the sink, then she took a pie from the counter. In a haughty tone, she said, "I'll make sure to eat most of this now so you can sell me for a good price later. You know, like a cow."

Ramon sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, embarrassed. But impressed by her quick retort.

And pleased by the view as he watched her walk away.

Clearly angry, Patty pointed at him. "You know, everyone talks about how rude you are but I always take up for you. Always. Don't make me regret it."

"I'm sorry, Patty." He put a hand on each of her shoulders, looking her in the eye. "I said a dumb thing. I'm too tired to think right now. I'll apologize to Marcy tomorrow, after I've had some sleep."

Patty nodded. "Good." Then she shrugged away from him and rushed back to the dining room.

Ramon left the kitchen immediately and headed upstairs to take a shower. Hopefully it would clear his mind and wake him up enough to get some work done.

* * *

A few hours after dinner, Marcy was unpacking in her bedroom upstairs. Enjoying her first moment alone since she arrived.

She couldn't stop thinking about what an ass Ramon was. And not just his silly insult about her weight. The way he groaned and sighed all the way through dinner. No wonder Isaac liked him so much. He probably didn't notice Ramon was a grouch.

And Cara was absolutely right—Ramon was a jerk, and his attitude was a massive disappointment.

But he was also, unfortunately, way hotter than Cara originally described him months earlier.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and a loud whisper. "
Hey
."
Knock, knock, knock
.

"Who's there?" she asked.

A throat cleared. "
Ramon
."

Flustered, Marcy said, "Come in, I guess. It's unlocked."

The door creaked open. Ramon walked in wearing flannel pajama pants and a white T-shirt. "Hey."

She imitated his abrupt tone. "Hey."

He looked around the room as if he was uncomfortable. "Uh… I told Patty I was gonna wait till tomorrow to apologize but I heard you through the wall and figured I'd get it over with now."

"Thanks," she said, sarcastically.

"Damn it. I didn't mean it like that. Now I remember why I was gonna wait." He ran his fingers through his tousled hair.

She waited patiently and put a blouse on a hanger, trying not to be obvious that she was giving his hard, lean body a thorough once-over. His chiseled chest and abs were on full display through that thin material.

He sat at the foot of the bed, hunched forward. "Please forgive me. We got off on the wrong foot. I've barely slept in days. I'm bound to say anything when I'm like this. I didn't mean what you heard me say in the kitchen. I was just talkin' outta my ass. I'm really sorry."

She shrugged. "It's fine. I knew what to expect from you."

"Hmm. Cara hates me, doesn't she?"

Marcy ignored the question.

Ramon said, "It's okay. I can tell. I'm used to it. Women usually hate me."

"And why is that, you think?" She lifted her eyebrows, as if she didn't know the answer.

"I'm blunt. Can't help it. Just how I am."

"Blunt." She chuckled. "You mean, straightforward? Outspoken?"

"Yeah."

"Honest."

He gave her a little smirk, ignoring her question.

Marcy said, "So, you
honestly
think I'm a cow?"

"Aw, fuck." He rolled his eyes, then focused them on her. "Cows are money to me. Cows paid for this house, this land. But you women… I swear." He scoffed. "You know, if I wanted to call you 'fat' I would've called you a pig."

With wide eyes, Marcy said, "Wow."

Ramon scoffed. "What? That's not an insult. It's just a description." He leaned forward. "I don't know what you think you heard, but I didn't call you a cow. I called you 'short and stocky.' Which you are."

She took a deep breath to stay calm. "Wow, again," she muttered. "Tell me something I
don't
know."