“I can not believe this! How can this town not have a single room available anywhere?” the redhead asked angrily.
“Maybe we should start callin’ around Knoxville. It’d be a drive for him to make, but if there’s nothing here,” the familiar woman seated in front of Maggie murmured.
Stepping toward the desk, Patience lifted a hand in greeting. “Hey y’all. What’s goin’ on?”
“Patience!” Maggie yelled, bolting to her feet. “Does the café still have that empty apartment across from yours?”
Feeling both Maggie and the other woman staring at her, Patience slowly nodded. “Yeah. Why?”
“Is it still furnished?” Maggie asked hopefully, crossing her fingers as she ignored Patience’s question.
“Uhmmmm…. Yeah,” Patience answered a little uncertainly. “Cousin Slade bought all new stuff when he moved into his cabin. He left the old crap there,” she added.
“I’m gonna owe Slade Cansler a big ole kiss the next time I see him then,” the redhead stated decisively, her shoulders sagging in relief. Maggie looked at the slender brunette sitting in front of her. “I think we’re saved,” she informed the other woman happily.
“Uh, Mags? What’s going on?” Patience questioned nervously, shifting her gaze between the two women.
Looking up at Patience, she grinned again. “Patience McKinnon, formally meet Vivian Miller; she’s the co-counsel for Diego Fuentes. And both she and I are in desperate need of a McKinnon favor.”
Shaking the hand Vivian held toward her, Patience smiled. “I’m assuming you need a place to stay?”
“Oh, no. I’ve had my room booked over at the Fairmont just outside Knoxville for the past week and a half. No, this is for my client,” Vivian explained quietly, shooting Maggie a look Patience couldn’t quite decipher out of the corner of her eye.
“Your client?” Patience echoed. “That’s Diego, right? Diego Fuentes?”
“Now, my little chickadee,” Maggie soothed, “Diego’s only going to need your spare apartment until something else opens up. Evidently, there’s some kinda summer orientation going on up at Rutledge College and it’s making findin’ a room a smidge hard.”
“You want me to host the drug dealer in my place of business?” Patience asked uneasily, staring at her best friend like she’d lost her mind. Which, obviously she had. She didn’t care if Honor and Harmony saw something good in Diego or not. He’d kidnapped her sisters and held them against their will. She didn’t care if he had a good reason for it or not. Those actions made him a freakin’ grade A bad guy.
“Alleged drug dealer,” Vivian corrected softly, lifting one finger in the air.
“Fair enough,” Patience grunted. “Wanna know what’s not alleged? The fact that he kidnapped and held my sisters against their will just a few months ago. That’s not alleged at all. That’s a fact. It happened.”
“It did,” Vivian agreed quickly with a nod. “It happened so that something far worse couldn’t transpire,” she added pointedly. Seeing Patience’s scowl, Viv cringed. “Sorry, it’s the attorney in me. I can’t help but to clarify things as clearly as I can,” she apologized.
Sighing, Patience tilted her head to look at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling for a long moment. “Fine. You’re right. Diego probably saved both their lives,” she muttered unhappily. “I know Honor would say that the Christian thing to do is to help all our neighbors, no matter who they are. So, I guess….if it’s only temporary….”
“Let me see if I can help you make up your mind, Kemo Sabe,” Margaret chuckled, both hands braced against the desk as she leaned toward Patience. “Abel will absolutely, without a doubt, hate the very idea of another man in what he considers his space. So will Zeke.”
Blinking, Patience slowly smiled. “I’m soooo totally takin’ in a new boarder. Send him over when he gets ready. Either Honor or I will take care of him,” she offered, her fingers already moving over her phone as she texted her baby sister this new information. Hopefully, Honor would see it. Her sister hated all technology, so there was probably less than a fifty percent chance the message would reach her.
“That’s what I thought,” Maggie said with a satisfied nod and a wink at her bestie.
“I’m sensing that this might be the McKinnon sister that you were talking about earlier,” Vivian noted, her own lips turning up in a slow smile.
Patience’s eyebrows furrowed as she stared at Maggie. “What?”
“Oh, I was just tellin’ our newest addition to Paradise, here,” Maggie began, jerking her head toward Vivian, “….that you were the McKinnon sister who possessed that rare ability to turn our Abel Turner inside out,” Maggie explained with a shrug. “Oh, and that you also were Angela Hastings worst enemy.”
Snorting, Patience rolled her eyes. “Angela is her own worst enemy if you ask me. And trust me, Mags, I haven’t even begun to wreak havoc on Abel’s equilibrium. Not yet. Speaking of which, is he free? I need to talk to him,” she shared, looking over Maggie’s shoulder at the attorney’s closed office door.
“Voluntarily?” Maggie quipped in surprise, shuffling papers around on her desk.
“Not exactly,” Patience returned truthfully. “I have to talk to him, though. Is he with somebody?”
“Unfortunately,” Maggie grumbled. “The she-beast is in there with him. Abel said he was gonna set her straight on a few things, but….”
“Oh, I’ll bet he’s settin’ her straight. Straight onto his dick,” Patience sneered, her nose curling in obvious distaste. “After the last show they forced me and half of Paradise County to watch, I think I’ve had my fill of the soft porn genre.”
Both women laughed at her comment, but it was Vivian who spoke. “Listen, Miss McKinnon….”
“Call me Patience, please,” Patience invited with a grin. “That ‘miss’ business makes me feel old.”
“Okay, Patience, then,” Vivian returned with a grin. “My co-counsel is no threat to you. I’ve watched Mr. Turner’s actions these last few months as we’ve worked together and can tell you that the only time he’s displayed any interest whatsoever in Angela is when it’s had the benefit of being seen by you.”
“What?” Patience questioned blankly, looking from Vivian to Maggie.
“You’re being played, Patience,” Maggie clarified tersely. “He’s tryin’ to make you jealous. And by the look of things to me, it’s workin’,” she noted with a smirk.
“Is not!” Patience denied sharply, as heat filled her cheeks. “I don’t give two farts in a windstorm about Abel or what he’s doin’!”
“You sure about that?” Maggie goaded, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked her friend over. “You sure did take a lot of care with your appearance today to see a man you care nothing about,” she taunted. “Killer outfit, fantastic shoes, hip jewelry, full-on makeup, and fuck-me hair? Seems like you care quite a bit what Abel thinks to me.” Narrowing her gaze on the woman she’d called her best friend for the majority of her life, she lifted her chin. “What gives Patience Orla?”
Jaw dropping, Patience balked. “Did you just middle name me, you witch?”
“Bet your ass.” Maggie nodded. “Something is up around here and for once, it’s not my boss’s dick,” she declared crassly. “Spill it, darlin’!”
Chewing her lower lip, Patience’s eyes drifted from where Vivian sat, studying her nails as she pretended not to listen, to where Maggie stood, waiting for her to bare her soul. “Sometimes I could really hate you if I didn’t already love you so much,” she informed the redheaded vixen bitterly.
“Uh huh, out with it, Patience,” Maggie ordered sternly. “Whatcha come in here lookin’ like that for? You tryin’ to tempt the beast in Abel or show him what he’s missin’?”
“Neither,” Patience mumbled, dropping her head to stare at the carpeted floor. “I dressed like this because I needed a confidence boost this morning.”
“Confidence boost?” both women repeated.
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“Girl, you are the most confident woman I know,” Maggie continued, frowning. “Don’t tell me you’re letting that brittle blonde bitch actually get to you?” Looking at Vivian, Maggie shook her head. “Hate to tell you this, Viv, but I’m ‘bout to go beat that bimbo co-worker of yours for this foolishness! Nobody gets away with upsettin’ my friends like this.”
“Can I help?” Vivian asked boldly, her lips pursed as Patience continued to blink back tears.
“No, listen. Y’all, this actually doesn’t have a whole lot to do with Angie for a change. I mean, it does, but it doesn’t. You know what I’m saying?”
Staring at Patience blankly, Vivian shook her head. “Not in the slightest. Was that even English?” she asked with a look at Maggie.
“Not sure,” Maggie replied though her eyes didn’t move from Patience. “Honey, what in the world are you talking about?”
There was only one clear cut way for them both to understand. Drawing one of the condemning white sticks from her purse, she held it out towards the other two women. “See for yourself,” she muttered, shaking it at them impatiently.
“Oh, sweet baby Jesus in Heaven,” Maggie breathed as she peered down at the stick she now held. “It’s a sign of the End Times,” she whispered, lifting her head to stare at Vivian.
“What is?” Vivian asked, trying to look over Maggie’s desk at what she held in her hand.
Turning the stick around, Maggie showed it to the other woman. “Patience is pregnant.”
Chapter Eight
“Oh, wow,” Vivian murmured, her eyes huge as they stared at the white stick.
“Didn’t you have some kind of arrangement with God about this?” Maggie asked at the same time, dropping the pregnancy test as though it burned her fingers.
“Apparently, the Lord believes I reneged on my end of our deal when I slept with the son of Satan. I’m now carrying Abel’s kid. Or as I like to call it, Antichrist, Jr,” Patience retorted grimly.
“Don’t call my niece or nephew an ‘it’,” Maggie chastised, steadying herself against her desk as this news rocked the world around them. “Even if he or she is a sign of impending Armageddon,” she continued shakily, eyeing Patience’s flat belly warily. “Exactly how pregnant are we talkin’ here, sugar?”
“Three months,” Patience answered, rubbing her suddenly chilled arms. “Twelve tiny weeks, Mags. We had one night together and this is what I get from it? A freaking baby that I’m not gonna have the first clue how to raise! Abel and his damn dick did this to me!”
“Okay,” Vivian said quickly, rising from her chair as Patience began breathing quickly. Too quickly. “I’m sure it’s not that bad, honey.”
“Yes, it is!” Maggie and Patience yelled in unison.
Noting that both women now appeared to be hyperventilating, she pulled Patience toward her own abandoned seat and shoved the younger woman into it while ordering, “Both of you, sit down and put your head between your knees. We’re going to take some slow, deep breaths. In through your nose,” she continued to coach, rubbing Patience back, “Out through your mouth. Good girls,” she cheered both her pseudo-patients as the front door to the office opened again.
“Hola!” a deep accented voice greeted as Diego Fuentes walked into the room. “Lo siento,” he apologized with a quick look around the room. “It appears I’m interrupting something here.”
“Only my nervous breakdown,” Patience muttered from between her knees.
“Hush,” Vivian ordered gently, “Just concentrate on your breathing. You, too, Margaret. In and out, slowly,” she told the woman on the other side of the desk before turning her attention back to her client. “Mr. Fuentes, we’ll be right with you,” she said, offering him a brave smile.
Diego’s dark eyes were amused as he took in the trio of women surrounding him. “Please, take your time, Ms. Miller. This looks…. Importante,” the Mexican man noted with twitching lips.
Maggie lifted her head first, straightening behind her desk and smiling at Diego. “Oh, we’re all right as rain, Mr. Fuentes. Just a morning of surprises, that’s all. You remember Patience McKinnon, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. We met at the hospital after Honor and Harmony’s ordeal,” he replied, nodding.
“Ordeal?” Patience yelped, jerking upright as she heard Diego’s answer. “You’re kiddin’, right?” she asked the man with the dark complexion. “You’re gonna call it an ordeal? You kidnapped them, killed a man in front of them, and held them hostage for the length of an afternoon. My sister had to kill somebody to get out of there alive, Senor Fuentes! I’d say it was a far cry more than an ordeal.”
“And I see that you haven’t forgiven me yet, little Senorita,” he chuckled. “How is Honor doing?” he asked softly.
“Hell, no, you aren’t forgiven. Honor still hardly sleeps and when she does manage to close her eyes, she wakes up screaming from the nightmares. So, you do the math on that, Fuentes,” she informed the older man crossly.
“I am very sorry for that, Ms. McKinnon,” Diego apologized again. “I hope it was not my forthcoming presence that induced the panic attacks I just witnessed.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, compadre,” Patience groused, blowing an indigo hank of hair out of her face. “You had nothin’ to do with it. And call me Patience. Since we’re going to basically be neighbors until Maggie and Viv, here, find you a room somewhere else.”
“I don’t understand.” Diego frowned as he focused on Vivian. “I informed your Ms. Hastings of my arrival date weeks ago.”
“Yes, well, Angela has been somewhat distracted,” Vivian murmured, “But we’ve handled the situation, Mr. Fuentes,” she said with a beseeching look at Maggie.
“We absolutely have,” Maggie agreed with a wide smile. “Patience and her sisters actually have a fully furnished apartment just above the café ready for you to move your things into as soon as you’re ready. You’ll have great food, good company, and a toasty warm bed all at your fingertips,” she stated enthusiastically.
Diego didn’t bother masking his shock as he looked toward Patience again. “Have you and your sisters talked to your men about this?” he questioned sternly.
“First of all, I don’t have a man that calls the shots in my life,” Patience began tartly as she got to her feet and dropped her hands to her hips.
Diego scoffed. “Did anybody tell Abel that?”
Patience rolled her eyes. “And secondly, gettin’ Zeke’s goat is half the reason Honor’s agreein’ to this,” she added as she read her sister’s return text on her phone. “The other half is that, for some reason, Honor seems to like you. So does Harmony. Strangely, you don’t scare either of them at all – even after almost getting them killed. How is that possible, Mr. Fuentes?” she asked curiously. It was true, too. Despite what each of them had been through at Diego’s hands, neither Harmony nor Honor were frightened of Diego.
“Both of them know I’d never allow them to be harmed if it was in my power to stop it. That sentiment now extends to your other sister Faith and you, as well,” he replied evenly.
“That’s a non-answer, Fuentes,” Patience charged, completely unconcerned that she was questioning one of the most dangerous men in existence.
“I simply don’t like it when women are hurt, Ms. McKinnon.” Diego answered, still being purposefully vague, the long thin scar that ran the length of his sculpted cheek whitening as his jaw clenched. “Let’s leave it at that, si?”
“Yeah, I guess I’ll have to leave it alone since it’s clear you ain’t gonna share,” Patience huffed. “Anyway, Honor texted that she’s gone up and prepared the apartment for you. The sheets are changed, and you’ve got clean towels and such. I think she even stocked the refrigerator with the basics. I’m sure Maggie will be happy to trot y’all right on over there.”
“Wait! What?” Maggie protested. “I’m not goin’ anywhere. You need me. It’s in the best friend handbook to be here in situations such as these.”<
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“What situation?” Diego asked in confusion, looking from one woman’s face to the other.
“Oh, nothing,” Vivian said quickly, grabbing Diego’s arm. “Why don’t Diego and I wait for you outside? For the first of June, it’s a beautiful day. Warm and sunny but not too hot. Perfect for a little fresh air,” she enthused, dragging Diego toward the door and ushering him out.
Waiting until the door closed, Maggie looked Patience over. “Tell me the truth. Is this some elaborate joke you’re playing on Abel and the rest of us? Are we on Candid Camera or something?”
“Does that look like a joke?” Patience barked, jabbing a finger to where her pregnancy test still rested on the desk. “Trust me, my sense of humor ain’t that damn warped! I’ve got an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at three. Want me to bring you a doctor’s note?”
“Of course not. What I want is to see Abel’s face when you tell him that he’s defied the laws of God and nature by knocking you up!” Maggie declared excitedly. “C’mon, you don’t have to get me anything for my birthday OR Christmas this year if you’ll just let me watch. I promise, I’ll be quiet as a church mouse! Silent as a tomb, I swear!”
Patience snorted. “You haven’t been silent for two minutes put together since the crib, Margaret Winstead. Besides, what if I end up killin’ him, huh? You wanna be called as a witness to testify against your best friend in the world?”
“Hey, I can be struck with temporary blindness like those girls on Aunt Orla’s afternoon shows if need be. It can’t be that hard to fake,” Maggie grumbled.
“Seriously?” Patience groaned, shaking her head at her bestie’s antics.
“Fine,” Maggie growled. “Go ahead, but just know that I refuse to clean up any bloodstains on the carpet that I didn’t create myself, so have a care, would you?”
Holding up her right hand, Patience nodded. “I swear that I won’t leave a single shred of forensic evidence that you’ll need to worry over. I’ve been watching all those crime channels at night after I get off work. I think I’ve just about got my murder angle figured out.”
Ready, Willing and Abel (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnon Sisters Book 3) Page 15