Secrets & Surrender: Part One (14 page)

Mom was even offered a job there too, but with taking care of Selina and Miguelito, she wanted to find something more flexible. And of course Dad, being Dad, had welcomed Mrs. Marcelli to our home anytime she wished. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Mrs. Marcelli and Bianca had been waiting in her Mercedes, with the car doors locked, when we pulled into the driveway of our new rental.

“Sure thing, Mrs. Marcelli.” I plastered a smile on my face and dropped the box to the floor with a crash.

Oops.

“Don’t worry about it, Mother. The suite is large enough.” Nic wrapped his arms around me protectively when his mother’s green eyes blazed in my direction. “I already told you. I have everything I could ever want, especially now that you see how important Mandi is to me.”

Her lips thinned into a line for a moment before she continued. “Are you sure? We could get you a condo. I saw quite a few lovely ones across the street. Of course, we could help Mandi find a condo near you, if you like.”

Yeah, I didn’t buy the lame apology she’d given earlier—under Nic’s watchful eye. And I didn’t buy the line that they’d help me be near Nic either. She knew I couldn’t afford a condo. And I wouldn’t dare take any money from her or Nic. It was hard enough that I owed her one for helping out my dad with a job.

“Very sure.”

“Well, perhaps we could have this place remodeled then? Yes, that’s it. I’ll call Philippe to see if he’s available to fly in for a consult. He did an amazing job with Bianca’s room. But first, this place needs a good scrubbing.” She ran a finger over the countertop. “I’ll have Maria come tomorrow to clean. Bianca!”

“What?” Bianca called from Nic’s bedroom.

“Would you bring me my purse?”

“Where is it?”

“Mother, I appreciate your help, but I’m fine with the place as it is,” Nic said.

“Consider it a homecoming present.” She waved him off as she headed to the bedroom. “And I’ll have Philippe take a look at the Ruiz’s home too, considering that you’ll be spending some time there. I’m sure he can manage to figure out something for that place.”

Aww, hell no! That woman can insult me all she wanted, but no one insults my family like that.

Nic’s eyes widened when he saw me taking off my earrings.

“Mandi, she didn’t mean it like that,” he said, latching onto my arm.

He lucked out that there was a knock at the door and that I didn’t want any witness to the ass whooping I was gonna give that woman.

“That’s probably Steve from the room next door. I invited him over. Will you let him in? I’ll have a talk with my mother.”

I looked into his worried eyes. I knew he was having a hard time, wanting to defend me and at the same time, give his mother a chance. It couldn’t be easy. Even though he’d sacrificed his family to be with me, deep inside, I knew it was eating him up. And while I didn’t buy his mother’s apology, I couldn’t dismiss the hope in his eyes that, somehow, we could all work this out. I guess everyone wanted to be close to their mother, even if she did or said stupid things sometimes. The problem with Nic’s mother was that she was on stupid mode a lot.

I let out a breath. “Fine. Just don’t let her near my parents’ house.”

“Promise.” He pecked my cheek, grinning. “Things are going to work out. You’ll see.”

It was worth it to see him happy. There was something about moving to San Marcos and helping him settle into his dorm on campus that made it all so real. We’d been so busy, I hadn’t had time to step back and think that we’d done it. We’d actually done it. I was finally a college freshman! My family was with me. Nic was with me. This was as good as it got. Yeah, so I had to put up with Mrs. Marcelli’s snobby comments. But seeing Nic happy was worth it.

When I opened the door, a voluptuous redhead stood in the hallway. She sure didn’t look like a Steve.

I blinked, not believing what my eyes were seeing. I thought the girls at Koppe High dressed strangely. This girl was on a totally different level. She had on a green sleeveless summer dress with huge white polka dots. The massive head of curls on her head was teased so high, I doubted that her head would’ve been able to fit through the doorway. The only thing keeping her tiny heart-shaped face from getting lost in the mass of curls was the headband with a huge bow.

Baby blue eyes gazed back at me with surprise. Then there was a flash of dimples when she smiled. “Oh, you must be the cleaning lady, Maria. Buenos días! Cómo estás?”

“Excuse me?” I gawked as this chick continued to butcher the Spanish language.

“Hablas, uh, hablar, oh darn what’s the verb? Uh, habla inglés?”

“Of course I do. Do you?” I snapped.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She giggled. “I thought you didn’t understand me. I didn’t know if you spoke English.”

“Are you kidding me? Of course I know English. And I’m not Maria.”

She blinked, gazing at me blankly. Backing up, she peered at the number printed on the door. “This is suite 403, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Whew, okay. I’ve got the right place.” She giggled again. “Sometimes I get the numbers mixed up. You know, 430 instead of 403. Or maybe she told me 430 and I wrote down 403?”

Bowhead Girl’s high-pitched squawking was giving me a migraine.

“Well, maybe if you tell me who you’re looking for I can help.”

Help get you out of here.
I silently prayed that she wasn’t Steve’s girlfriend.

“Oh, sorry. I tend to ramble when I’m nervous or excited. Or both. It gets worse when it’s both. My shrink says I should practice deep breathing. He says it helps. I don’t know if it does or not. Every time I try, I end up getting really dizzy. Have you ever done that? Breathe really fast and then get these black dots and the room starts to float around in waves. The last time I did that I—”

“Who are you looking for?” Oh my God! Does this girl ever stop talking?

“Nic Marcelli. Is he here?”

“Yes.” The word came out slowly as my heart raced. “And you are?”

“Kristie Stanton. I’m his fiancée.”

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