“His heart?”

“Yeah, he forgets sometimes.”

“I’m sure it’s hard.”

“Yeah.” Sitting on the couch, she bounced a bit as she looked out the window.

The silence was killing him, and soon, he was rambling. “It’s 500 square feet. Fully equipped, cable, Wi-Fi, everything is like an apartment, with the main house a hop, skip, and jump away. Marl does night checks to make sure everyone is settled, but they’re basically on their own.”

“What if he can’t cook?”

“Then he’ll learn. But until then, he can go eat with Marl, Dawn, and the girls.”

She nodded. “What if he burns down the house?”

Vaughn smiled. “Then I’ll rebuild it. But there are smoke detectors, and they are programmed to Marl’s and Dawn’s phones. So as soon as they go off, they’ll be running out here. There’s also a panic button in case he needs medical help immediately.”

She seemed a little impressed…or she had to fart, he wasn’t sure, but then she said, “You built this place too?”

“All of the homes, yes.”

“Wow.”

Ha! He got a wow that time!

Before he could agree or even comment, Rodney was coming down the stairs again. “B! Please, I have to live here! The bed is so comfortable. And I love it. I love it so much, I could cry. Like literally cry.”

Standing up, Brie took his hands in hers. “But you haven’t even had the cake yet.”

He paused. “I haven’t.”

“So let’s go eat, and then we’ll discuss, okay?”

“But I want to live here.”

“I hear you, and we’ll see, okay?”

“But it’s great.”

“It is.”

“I want to live here,” he said once more, his voice rising an octave, and Vaughn could see that he was getting upset.

“I understand that, but I’m not sure,” Brie tried, but he shook his hands out of hers, stomping his feet.

“Why? Why can’t I have what I want? This makes me happy. I hate where I am. You never let me do anything!”

“Rodney, that’s not true and very unfair. I don’t know about this. I’m nervous.”

“I don’t care, I want to live here. Now!” When his hands came up to his head, Vaughn leaped into action, taking Rodney’s wrists in his and turning Rodney to face him.

“Hey, buddy, come on. Let’s go meet everyone and eat.” Rodney was breathing hard, his eyes full of tears as he looked everywhere but at Vaughn. “Hey, it’s okay. What did I say? I’ve got this. I’ll work it out.”

“She’s gonna say no.”

“Let me worry about that, okay? Come on, let’s go eat. Grams and Gramps and everyone else is probably waiting for us.”

Rodney’s breathing gradually started to slow down as he nodded. “Okay.”

“You okay?”

He nodded once more. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Vaughn said with a grin, smacking him gently on the chest. “Gotta keep that heart strong. No more getting upset, okay?”

“Okay.”

“All right, come on,” he said, leading Rodney out the door, but before he could fully get out, Brie’s words stopped him.

“You jumped in there quickly.”

He nodded. “I have experience.”

She held his gaze. “Why say that?

He turned back, looking at her as Rodney headed for the house. “Say what?”

“Tell him you’ve got this? I’m more than likely going to say no.”

His heart sank. Her words were like knives, and they were slowly gutting him. “Then at least it will be on me instead of you. I’d rather he be mad at me than you.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve already caused you enough grief. I don’t want to cause any more,” he said softly, his eyes meeting hers as he exhaled heavily. “But let’s worry about that later. Hopefully, Dawn’s cake will sway you differently.”

Without letting her comment, he trotted to catch up with Rodney.

Vaughn wanted to spend as much time with him as he could.

Since this might be the last time he saw Rodney, and that hurt more than he cared to admit.

Why did life have to be so hard?

As Brie sat between Amy and Phyllis MacDock, she plastered a smile on her face. Though, she didn’t have to try too hard because Dawn’s girls were a pure delight. She hadn’t met a set of twins with Down syndrome before, and they were just the cutest ever. Even though she was trying to be all hard in front of Vaughn and look like she hated everything about NateWay since she was still so pissed at him, she had to admit, the place was spectacular.

The grounds were something out of a fairy tale, so lush and picturesque; all it was missing was a big castle. But instead, the main house looked like Tara from Gone with the Wind, and the little houses mirrored it, little mini Taras. The church, the market, the workshop, everything was so perfectly done to match and be eye-catching. He had done a great job with the grounds, and it completely blew Brie away. Vaughn did this. All this. That was so hard for her to believe.

But it was awesome, and so perfect for someone like Rodney. He would thrive here; he would grow and be the best version of himself. She could see it on his face as they walked around, just as happy as a clam, excited. She had never seen him so happy as he fluttered through the grounds. Even when she had to scold him to calm down, he still grinned, not the least bit worried that she was getting on his case. All he cared about was everything around him. Yet, Brie had an awful feeling in her gut because she couldn’t commit.

Not to that lying asshole Vaughn Johansson.

But what killed her was that at NateWay, everyone loved him. She was used to seeing people flock to him, adoring him since he was the star of the Assassins, but at NateWay, they didn’t gravitate to him because of his career or his sick wrister. They wanted to be with him because of who he was and what he had done. In this setting, with all these sweet, amazing adults with Down syndrome, he was stunning, mind-blowing, even. He knew everyone’s name, their backstories, their parents, everything. He spoke with meaning and compassion to everyone he talked to. She had never seen him hug and kiss so many people in her life, but whenever Dawn was beside him, he pressed a kiss to her temple. It pulled at Brie’s heartstrings. And then she saw him with Dawn’s children, who weren’t as high functioning as Rodney…and just like that, she was goo.