Reckless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #2)(45)
Damn it, Dr. Hillman should have been able to fix Francine’s hands, do surgery, prescribe a treatment—at least give her some damn pain medication that worked without getting her hooked or having terrible side effects.
“Charlie, Sebastian.” Francine held out her gnarled fingers, her smile so big and sweet, despite the lines of age and pain on her face.
“Sebastian brought you a present, but even though I’ve been pestering him, he won’t tell me what it is.” Charlie slid into the chair next to her mother and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“You’re such a little girl when it comes to presents.” Francine’s wrinkled face glowed with fondness. “I am too.” She grinned up at Sebastian. “What did you bring?”
Sitting next to her, he also kissed the soft, paper-thin skin of her cheek. “You’re as bad as your daughter,” he said, keeping his tone light. He wouldn’t take his frustrations out on either of them. Instead, he’d do more research. He’d find another doctor.
He’d do something.
For now, he simply pulled a penknife from his pocket and slit the tape along the top, then pulled out a second box.
As soon as Francine saw the picture on the outside, she put her hands over her mouth. “Oh my.”
“What is it?” Charlie moved the bigger box out of the way so that she could see the picture too.
“A paraffin bath,” her mother said, tears glistening in her eyes. “This is the sweetest gift a man has ever brought me. Thank you. You’re such a darling man.”
Her glow did his heart good after Hillman’s disappointment. “I did some research, and the heat of the paraffin wax sounds like it might help ease some of the pain. It comes with gloves you put on after you dunk. Then you start to feel the heat transfer from the wax into your hands. There’s a temperature control, and paraffin has a lower melting point than candle wax, so it doesn’t burn your skin.”
Francine put a hand on his arm, her touch as delicate as a hummingbird’s. “Sebastian, you are sweet as the dickens.”
Charlie didn’t say anything at all, but the look in her eyes said she thought he’d just moved mountains for her mother. He wished he could do more than this one small thing. What the hell use was his money if he couldn’t make Francine feel better?
“It takes the wax four hours to melt the first time. And you should toss the used wax from your hands after it cools instead of reusing it. I’ll make sure more wax is delivered on a regular basis.” He’d read all the instructions. “Would you like to set it up in your room?”
“Oh yes, please. I’ll get one of the aides to help me this afternoon.”
After filling the paraffin wax, he and Charlie took Francine to lunch, then a drive, along with a stop for coffee and a bit of cake. By the time they returned, the wax had melted. They helped her dip, put on the plastic gloves, then add the mittens that would help retain the heat.
The bliss on Francine’s face was worth every moment he’d spent scouring the internet, and the kiss Charlie gave him melted his bones like the paraffin. He would do anything to make things better for them. He hadn’t been able to save his parents, but he would for damn sure make life easier for Charlie and her mother.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
With Sebastian, Charlie had quickly learned, everything moved fast. The following Monday, though he’d already been out of town for the past several days, he told her, “I’ve got a gig down in Los Angeles and I’d like you to come with me.” He’d held her hand and looked at her with his dark, hot eyes. “I knows it’s time away from your work on the chariot and horses, but I miss you and don’t want to leave you again so soon.”
If a heart could have turned over, that’s what hers did, just as it had every time he surprised her with yet another of his sweet thoughts or actions. His consideration was innate, bred into him with years of caring for his parents even when they hadn’t wanted it.
Now that she knew exactly what selling more pieces could do for her mother’s way of life, Charlie had been toiling maniacally since Sebastian had sold the rams. She couldn’t work on the chariot twenty-four seven without the risk of making both creative and technical mistakes that would be difficult to correct. So, during what she called her creative breaks, she’d started a couple of new projects, mostly animals for the menagerie she now believed someone might actually want. Sebastian had also arranged for the T-Rex to be brought over to the new studio and she was working on finishing that too.
The truth was that by the time he’d asked her to come to L.A. with him, she’d been feeling tired and a little burned out—a rare thing for her, when she’d always worked at a steady but reasonable pace. A day watching Sebastian do his thing would be pure pleasure.
So now here she was, occupying a special reserved seat in the front row of a sold-out fifty-thousand-seat auditorium. They were all here for Sebastian. People chattered and programs fluttered as the audience began taking their seats for his grand entrance. She’d left him backstage with a kiss—a really hot one that she could still feel tingling on her lips. As an usher escorted her to her seat, her heart was pounding and her palms were sweaty, as though she were the one about to stand up in front of all these people. Whereas Sebastian had been as calm as if they were having a quiet dinner on his terrace.