by Reina Torres
And while Stella and her father watched, she withered before their eyes, pain wracking her graceful body until she could only cry and sleep. The two people who loved her most in the world were left to watch her suffer through the treatments until Constanza made the decision to stop the treatment.
She knew it was a death sentence to stop the treatment, but she’d known that from the beginning. Known that from the first long look from her doctor that she was going to lose the battle, but she fought it for as long as she could.
But once she’d made the decision to leave and spend her last days at home, it was like her body had given up. And the cancer that had been multiplying in her body ravaged her even faster than before. The next morning when Nico and Stella arrived to bring her home, Constanza took her last breath and passed away.
And now, Nico lived in abject fear that the hospital was what killed you, not the disease.
“Now, Mr. Vincenzo-“
Nico threw back his blankets and started to move his legs toward the end of the bed, stopping short when a spasm shot through his back.
Stella was on her feet in a moment, Velia moving in from the other side. “Papa, stop, please.”
Kyle didn’t have to see Stella’s face to know how she felt. He could read the tension in her shoulders and the pinch between her shoulder blades. She was suffering emotionally along with her father, but he knew it didn’t hurt her any less. For Stella loved with everything inside of her and she loved her father beyond everyone else. Another thought worked its way inside of his head, but he pushed it aside and moved over to Dr. Sattler. “Hey, Gregg, can I talk to you?”
The other man, a good half a foot shorter, threw up his hands in frustration. “Why not? Maybe you’ll listen to me, since my patient isn’t.”
They didn’t leave the room, moving off to a far corner for a minute while Velia and Stella settled Nico back against his cushions and gave him something cool to drink while the nurse brought a fresh pitcher of cold water for the room.
When Dr. Sattler was finished with his conference he returned to Nico’s bedside with Kyle standing beside him. Folding his arms across his chest, Dr. Sattler held the chart against his middle. “All right, Mr. Vincenzo. I may have an answer to all of our problems.”
Nico turned a dark eye to the doctor and Kyle felt the man beside him tense up. “And what… would that be?”
Kyle smiled at the ornery old man. “Me.”
Stella nearly fell off the bed as she swung around to look at him. Kyle easily grabbed her upper arm to help her find a solid seat beside her father.
Nico cast a suspicious look in his direction. “What does that mean, exactly?”
Dr. Sattler tilted his head to the right. “Kyle,” he cleared his throat, “Dr. O’Malley, is the best Orthopedic Specialist in this half of the country. We’re lucky to have him here in St. Helena and even more so at St. Helena Memorial.” Unfolding his arms, he grabbed the chart and lifted it before him to consult his notes. “After conferring with him, we agree that the rest of your recovery can…” he paused, giving Nico a pointed look, “be accomplished at home.”
Nico’s smile was instantaneous. “Great, I’m gone-” Again, he struggled to move, but it was Velia that stopped him.
“Listen to the doctor, Nico.”
“Thank you.” Dr. Sattler gave her a broad grin. “As I was saying, you can complete your rehabilitation at home, under the direct supervision of Dr. O’Malley.”
“That’s like exchanging one jailer for another.”
Kyle lifted a hand to his chest. “You wound me, sir.”
“Don’t ‘sir’ him,” Velia told the younger man, “if you give him an opening like that he’ll try to boss you around.”
“Oh, he could try,” Kyle chuckled, “but I’m used to dealing with my grandfather, and if I can get him to listen, I can do the same with Mr. Vincenzo.”
“Fat chance.” Nico spat the words almost under breath.
“I’ll get you set up at home.” Kyle had a smile on his face, but his tone wasn’t allowing for any argument. “And I will come to work with you and get you back on your feet.”
“And,” Velia added with a pointed look at Nico, “fall prevention and balance.”
“I don't need any of that!” Nico’s tone was cold, his expression dark. “I fell, that's all.”
Everyone in the room expected Velia to snap back at him. The two knew just how to poke and prod each other in so many ways. But no one expected Velia Santini to break into tears.
Nico’s cold stare melted into concern, his pain clear in his eyes. “Lia, hey-”
“Don't you ‘hey’ me, Nico. When Stan called me, told me you’d fallen and hurt yourself, I imagined all kinds of horrible accidents! I saw you hurt and bleeding and-” She sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed his arm. “Don't you dare argue with Kyle. If you don't let him help you, I'm done. I won’t watch your pride get the better of you, not when you have so much ahead of you.”
Kyle turned to look at Stella and found her huddled on the edge of the bed, hands covering her mouth, her eyes brimming with her own tears.
He stepped closer and gently pulled her up against his side. She turned her face into his shoulder, dropping her hands to wind them around his waist, drawing herself flush against his body.
The sudden connection brought him back several hours before when he’d woken up in Stella’s bed. How he’d instinctively dropped a kiss on the crown of her head, turning his cheek to brush against her hair.
“Steller?”
Nico’s voice turned both of their heads in his direction and Kyle found the older man staring back at him, even though his words were for his daughter. “You okay?”
Stella nodded and blushed a little, but Kyle noticed she hadn't stepped away from him or lowered her arms from his middle.
“I'm fine, Papa, I'm just worried about you.”
Nico nodded, his shoulders hunched a bit. “I'm stubborn, Steller, you know that. But I don't want to worry you or Lia.” He looked down at his hand, holding tight to Velia’s. “I'm going to take Dr. O’Malley’s help, but he better understand,” he tilted his head back and skewered the younger man with a measuring look, “that he'd better be a gentleman with my little girl.”
“Papa!” Stella pulled away and stepped up to the side of the hospital bed to give her father a kiss on the cheek. “You let me worry about me and you get well.”
Nico leaned back to meet Kyle’s eyes. “Sure you want to get me back on my feet only to kick your ass?”
“Okay then,” Dr. Sattler’s shoulders shook with laughter as he backed up to the door, “I'm going to go and get the release paperwork taken care of. Just don't make me call security to break up a fight. Or maybe I can head this train wreck off at the pass. Why don’t you come with me, Kyle?” The two left the room together and Nico aimed his disapproving look at Kyle’s back.
Stella rolled her eyes at her father. “Leave him alone, Papa. Let's focus on you.” She took in a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face to ease her father’s worries. “We’ll have them put the bed in the living room,” she pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she thought through the layout of the house, “that will give you room to work with Kyle. And I can run the B & B without the office, that's not the important part and-”
“Stella, sweetheart.” Velia gave her a motherly smile when she looked up. “I'm going to have Nico come home with me.” Velia blushed to the silver roots of her hair. “You have your construction to finish and I can take care of him.”
Stella looked from her father to Velia and back again and saw the rush of color under the tanned skin of his face as he raised their joined hands and kissed the back of Velia’s. “Okay… as long as you know that if he misbehaves I’ll come over and scold him.”
Nico sagged against the cushions and looked up at the ceiling. “Heaven help me.”
As Velia smoothed her free hand over his shoulder, her eyes filled with love, S
tella sighed as she moved toward the door. “I think it already has.”
Chapter 12
Any idea that Kyle had of spending time with Stella alone fell by the wayside as life got in the way. It started with the production of getting Nico out of the hospital and home. Even though it was the weekend, Kyle had a good relationship with a few medical supply companies and in hours, he had an adjustable hospital bed set up and a temporary ramp installed to get him into the first floor of Velia’s home.
While Kyle was struggling to keep Nico from upsetting Velia with his grumpy attitude, Stella had been called away to the site of the Bed and Breakfast. It shouldn’t have mattered to him. They were, as Stella jokingly called them, Frenemies with Benefits. But when Stella left the Santini house, she gave her father a kiss, and a fortifying hug to Velia. As she walked past Kyle, she’d lifted a hand to give him a wave and it had taken everything he had to keep his hand from reaching out to catch her arm. Why? He knew what his instincts were, he just didn’t know why, after years of trying to avoid Stella, so much had suddenly changed.
Sunday hadn’t been much better. Stella spent the day at the Vincenzo olive grove, organizing the work between the men who were already on salary and getting a temporary hire up to speed. And the only person more surprised than Stella to get a call from Kyle, was Kyle himself.
When she got over the initial shock, she’d settled into bed, the phone on the pillow beside her head. “I hope he didn’t make you throw in the towel?”
Kyle’s silence was telling. “Velia did most of the work,” he admitted, “I only had to keep repeating the ‘orders’ until he decided to march.”
Her laughter had been low and throaty and the sound did things to him that he knew was going to keep him up for a while.
“Don’t hold your breath, Kyle.” He loved the way she said his name. “My father isn’t going to give in easily.”
“I’m used to challenges.”
“I like the way you answer challenges.” Laughter again and this time it finished off with a sigh and a soft sound that he didn’t recognize.
“What are you doing?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Another sigh. “Sorry about the noise, I’m in bed and the phone slipped off the pillow. It’s late.”
Yeah, it was late, but he wasn’t ready to get off the phone. Not yet. “What was it like at the grove?”
Stella groaned. “Frank’s the new guy. He’s retired, but his family had olives before so he knows what to do. He’ll fit in well with the rest of the crew.”
“That’s good you don’t need to worry about the olives while you’re finishing your train car.”
“Sure,” at least she sounded like she agreed with him, “I guess.”
He heard a yawn that turned into a moan and he knew there was no way he could keep her on the phone. “Hey, babe.”
Her laughter was soft and gentle. “Babe… careful, people will think you like me.”
“I don’t like you?” He couldn’t help the edge in his tone.
“Nope,” her voice had regained some of its energy, “remember, we’re Frenemies.”
He felt a growl roll through his throat. “I hate that word.”
“It’s true though,” she explained, “you and I have been at each other’s throats. And when we’re not fighting, I’m hoping we’ll have a chance for more… fun.”
“Damn straight.”
“But right now,” he heard the rustle of her sheets again, “I need to get some sleep.”
“Whatever.” He hadn’t meant for his tone to sound so sharp.
But then again he didn’t expect her to laugh right back at him. “See? You don’t like me. Night.”
And the phone call was over, leaving Kyle alone, and awake. And missing her.
The morning jog to work was one way to keep fit, but it was also a great way to get his thoughts in order. And this morning’s run included a little pit stop to pick up a package he had mailed overnight from a medical supply company. With the little box tucked into his backpack, he’d easily crossed through the main part of town and toward the hospital and his office down the street.
A quick look at the clock through the glass front door said he had some time before Stella and her crew would show up, so he unlocked the office and stepped inside. Locking the door behind him he dashed into the shower in the bathroom and was back out in his office dressed in less than fifteen minutes. Leaning against the desk, he smiled when Mrs. Darby used her key to open the outer door.
“Good morning…” he held up a little box and gave her a grin.
Mrs. Darby narrowed her eyes at the box and her lips twisted in a concerned pout. “Are we giving those out to the patients?”
“Exactly,” Kyle set the box on the counter, “let everyone know to pick up a pair to use during their visit.”
A finely penciled brow rose up toward her silvered hairline. “A pair?” She crossed the waiting room and picked the box up, bringing it close to her bifocals. “Oh,” her laugh sounded a little breathless, “earplugs.” She lifted her gaze back up to Kyle’s, the chain attached to her eyeglasses swung against her chin. “I thought you were giving out condoms.”
Kyle had to try a few times to swallow the lump in his throat. “Why would I do that?”
She set the box on the countertop and made her way to her seat behind the desk. “A little thank you from the doctor?” She rolled her eyes. “You already give out the lollipops to your patients, and you don’t have a lot of kids in your practice, so maybe you were thinking of giving out more mature parting gifts. Why not?” Mrs. Darby started her computer with a quick click of a button and set her purse down on a shelf. “And maybe a girl could hope that Mr. Ornellas will catch a hint?”
“Mr. Ornellas,” Kyle repeated, stopping a few feet from the hallway to look back at her, “he just had a hip replacement.”
She grinned back at her boss, leaning her elbow on the desktop. “How do you think he hurt himself in the first place. He’s legendary at the retirement home.”
“And you want to-”
“Take the man for a test drive? Damn straight I do.” She grinned when she saw how uncomfortable Kyle was. “I’m not going to live forever and I have a few things I can show him.”
Kyle moved back to the desk and pried open the box-top, plucking out a pair of earplugs. Ripping open the little plastic baggie he dropped the open bag into the trash and stuffed the earplugs into his ears. “I’m going to go to work now.”
He didn’t have to turn back around to see her stick her tongue out at him, he could see it in the hall mirror in technicolor.
Chapter 13
A few days later, Kyle woke with sun streaming full on his face through the window. Cracking open an eye he stared at the empty pillow beside him. Prying open the other eye he saw the electronic face of the bedside clock and groaned. He’d overslept.
The sudden absence of sound from the next room pushed him onto his back. She’d been in the shower. He knew the sound and cool sea-green colors of the tile. He’d shared it just the night before, soaping up Stella’s back before she helped him with other parts.
Tossing back the blanket, he put his feet on the floor and bent down to find his clothes. His shirt and jeans were easy enough to find, but his boxers were missing. Stepping back, he caught sight of a hint of black nearly blending into the shadows under her bed. Bracing his hand on the mattress, he bent over to grab the boxers with his fingers and felt the sharp smack of something against his backside.
“You bare it like that, what do you expect me to do?”
Kyle turned on his heel and met her laughing eyes with a sharp look of his own. “I expect you to know that I give as good as I get.”
She sighed a little, twirling the towel between her hands. “And you are so very good when you want to be.”
“I’m good all the time.” Kyle took a few steps closer but she held him off with her hands.
“That may be true,” she shoo
k her head, “but we’re not going to test out the theory today.” She looked over at the clock and winced. “Yep, not this morning at least. I have to get going. I have a few errands this morning before I get to the site.”
“Stella-”
She nearly disappeared into the closet. “Nope, so sorry, I’ve got things to do. And you,” she glanced over her shoulder, “you need to put some clothes on before you make me change my mind.”
By the look in her eyes he knew it wouldn’t take much to get her to change her mind and stay, but as much as he’d love to lose himself inside her before either one of them got their day started, if he couldn’t manage to keep his hands to himself, he’d certainly put a strain on their frenemies label.
And as she pulled a long sleeve cotton t-shirt over her head and then stepped into her worn jeans, he found himself wanting to throw that ridiculous label into the wastebasket and pull her into his arms. Instead, he pulled on his boxers and watched her grab her purse from the chest of drawers.
“Okay, I need to get going. So you can go ahead and stick around if you like, just lock the door on your way out.” She was nearly to the door before he stopped her short.
“Babe?”
She paused in the doorway, smiling at him as if she held a secret deep down inside. “Yeah?”
“How do I lock the door?”
Stella’s nose wrinkled up a little bit with her smile. “Look on the nightstand.”
Kyle turned and saw the single gold key beside his key ring on the bedside table. He looked back up at her, wondering at the odd feeling in his chest.
“I figured it’s easier this way. At least until you remember that you can’t stand me.” She gave him a wave. “See you later.”
When the door shut he was still standing there beside the bed, his slacks in his hand, his heart in his throat.
Kyle worked through lunch, waiting for the opportunity to catch a few moments with Stella. When Mrs. Darby gave him a call over the intercom system, Kyle marked the file he was working on and made his way outside. He stopped for a few moments to look at the caboose in the lot. It was surprising really. Even from that morning, there had been a lot of progress. The long line of cut wooden panels waiting for installation had nearly fenced in the lot when he’d arrived at the office, but now one entire side wall had been fixed into place. Aboard the Caboose, there were several men fitting another panel in place on the opposite side.