“I’ll take care of it,” Vanity assured her.
Stack wanted to groan. “This is nuts.”
Hugging him, likely placating him, too, Vanity said, “You and I can discuss it in more detail later, after Tabitha has gotten your mother home.”
Tabby dug out the key and thrust it toward him. “Here you go.”
When Vanity took it, Tabby hugged her so tightly that Vanity looked to be strangling. “Thank you so, so, so much. Seriously. You’re a lifesaver! A complete lifesaver. I don’t know what I would have done—”
To shut her up and get her going, Stack pulled her away and steered her to the car. Vanity followed. “Drive carefully, and let me know if you need anything.” He thought to add, “For Mom.” Because Tabitha always, endlessly, needed something.
Leaving the women to say goodbye, he crouched down at the passenger’s side of the car to talk privately to his mother.
Through the signs of discomfort, she smiled. “Thank you for doing this, Stack. I swear, I’m more attached to those dogs now than Tabby is.”
He hadn’t known that, but now that he did, he was glad Vanity had offered. “We’ll take good care of them, I promise.” He held her hands in his. “I’ll call you mid-afternoon to see how you’re doing.”
“I’ll keep my cell on me.”
“If you need anything, anything at all, I want you to call me. I mean it.”
“I will.”
He knew she wouldn’t. Damn. As needy and clinging as Tabby proved to be, his mother was the exact opposite. Independent to the point of being a martyr. He hated leaving her in his sister’s ditzy hands. Tabby could barely take care of herself, much less deal with Phil, two dogs and their mother. But she hadn’t lied; he was rarely home. At least at Tabby’s, their mom wouldn’t be alone.
He glanced at Tabby, but she stood just outside the driver’s door, gushing to Vanity while alternately giving her directions on caring for the dogs.
“It’s all right, son. Stop worrying. I’ll be as good as new in no time.”
Since she was one of the strongest women he knew, he believed her. “You need to rest to get well. Don’t let Tabby work you.”
“She won’t. She loves me, too, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. But she’s...” Irresponsible. Sometimes blind. Occasionally self-centered. “Disorganized.”
“She does her best.”
Done beating around the bush, Stack said, “I don’t trust Phil.”
“Fucking Phil,” his mother teased. “I know.” She put a hand to his bristly jaw. “Your sister loves him, Stack. You have reason to distrust him, and more reason to dislike him, but I hope for Tabby’s sake you’ll continue being kind.”
The car started, and he realized Tabby had finally gotten behind the wheel. With a last kiss to his mother’s feverish cheek and a few more instructions to his lunatic sister, Stack closed the door, stood back and watched them drive away.
Vanity’s hand slipped into his. “I hate to admit a weakness, but I’m close to suffering frostbite here.”
Drawn from a dozen different worries, he forced his gaze to her face. The chill wind had painted her nose and cheeks bright pink. Her hand in his felt like ice. Their breaths frosted between them.
And all he could think about was kissing her, losing himself in the taste of her, the soft texture of her mouth, her incredible body.
“Come on.” He led her to the car and opened her door, then left her to seat herself so he could get around to the driver’s side and get the car started. The sooner the heater got going, the sooner she’d be warm.
While chafing her hands together, she said, “Your family is interesting.”
Interesting. Was that her attempt at diplomacy?
“In case that sounded less than complimentary, I should add that I like them.”
“Great.” Looking over his shoulder, Stack backed out of his parking space, then drove from the lot. Antagonism had a stranglehold on his usually calm demeanor. “Seems they fell hard for you.” And, yeah, even he heard the sarcasm.
Vanity always had something to say, so as he got onto the main roads again, the sudden silence bothered him.
A quick glance showed her watching him, her bottom lip caught in her teeth. “What?”
“You’re annoyed with me.”
True enough. But, hell, he was annoyed with everything at the moment. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t rein it in. “You butted in where you shouldn’t have.”