Cindy laughed and hugged her again. “Love you so much.”
“Love you more.”
“No way.”
“When can I meet your Jace?”
“He’s not my Jace.”
Adele raised a brow. “But he could be?”
“I suppose. Maybe.”
“Great, so when can I meet him?”
“Soon.”
“I’ll hold you to that. And remember what I said—take him for a ride, love. You won’t know if you don’t try.” With that, she kissed Cindy’s cheek and gave a jaunty wave as she headed out the door.
Cindy wondered how she would think of anything other than taking Jace for a ride now that her grandmother had put that thought in her head. Not that she hadn’t already had it on her own, but Adele’s “permission,” for lack of a better word, made it even more enticing than it already was.
The shotto the balls had been every bit the nightmare that Mac had feared. As he sat in his truck on the ferry ride home, ice pack on his wounded junk, he wondered how long it would take before he didn’t break into a cold sweat when he recalled that needle coming for him. His father had offered to come with him and drive him home, but Mac had assured him that wouldn’t be necessary.
He should’ve let him come. He’d had to wait hours for the light sedation to wear off before they’d let him leave. Driving had been much more complicated than expected with every part of him feeling like Jell-O after the procedure.
And yes, he understood he was being a big, fat baby who had nothing to complain about when chalked up against Maddie delivering babies, including giving birth to twins on a helicopter with no pain meds. This was a breeze compared to that, except it hurt like a mother-effer.
He needed to get his shit together before he got home. Maddie wouldn’t stand for him being a whiner over what was a minor procedure compared to what she’d been through to have their children. This was a fine time to realize he probably should’ve stayed at Joe’s place on the mainland for the night so he could whine to his heart’s content without an audience to mock him.
Speaking of Joe, he put through a call to his brother-in-law and lifelong best friend. He and Mac’s sister Janey were living in Ohio with their kids and pets while Janey finished veterinary school.
“Is this the eunuch?” Joe asked when he answered.
“It didn’t go quite that far, thank you, Jesus.”
Joe’s laughter rang through the phone. “Hurts like fuck, doesn’t it?”
“Yes! Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because you would’ve chickened out if I had, and Maddie would’ve divorced you.”
“Ugh, I hate you for not telling me how bad this was gonna suck.”
“It’s only for a day or two, and then you’re fine. Where are you?”
“On the ferry back to the island.”
“You drove yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“That wasn’t the best idea you ever had.”
“I know. I found that out the hard way.”
“Don’t say ‘hard.’”
Mac laughed even as he winced. “I’m never going to be hard again after this.”