Delayed Call Read online

  While Rodney was busting at the seams excited, Brie looked like she was getting dental work done the whole time. He hoped she would be impressed by the organic garden; she wasn’t. He was sure she would think the little market was cool; she didn’t say anything. The barn, boring. Apparently, so was the workshop. She looked so angry that it ruined everything and worried the shit out of Vaughn. He couldn’t even enjoy Rodney’s excitement. Though, he’d give it to her, when Rodney would get excited, she’d at least smile. That was, until Vaughn looked at her. Then she was glaring.

  It was extremely stressful.

  “Is that a church?” Rodney asked, pointing toward the little chapel, and Vaughn nodded.

  “Sure is.”

  “Can we see it? My mom loved churches. We used to go on these car rides to different churches—to bring cookies and stuff.”

  Brie’s lips curved as she patted his back. “We used to do road trips out to churches in the country and other stuff like that. Our mom was a missionary of sorts.”

  “She had all these cool pictures of churches too.”

  “She sure did.”

  They shared a small smile, and Vaughn felt this was his chance. His in. Practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, he started for the church. “Yeah, for sure. It’s beautiful. I built it.”

  “You did?” she asked, and he grinned back at her.

  “Yeah, with Jensen and our best friend, Wells. We built that and did all the homes too.”

  “Oh.”

  Oh. That was all he got? Oh?

  Fuck him.

  Not letting that derail him, he led the way to the church that held maybe fifty people. Considering there weren’t even that many on the grounds, he felt it was a decent size. Opening the door, he allowed them to enter first before walking in behind them. It was small, but it was beautiful. The stained-glass windows, the high ceilings with the awesome little pews that Wells had spent hours carving into, it was all so special to him. Along the back of the first pew was Nathan’s name. Something Wells had done especially for him.

  Smiling, he glanced up as Rodney turned back to look at him. “I love this church. Don’t you, B? It’s pretty.”

  “It is. Very much so.” She ran her hand down the back of the pews, and she smiled when she traced Nathan’s name. “You guys did a beautiful job.”

  “Thank you. There is service every Wednesday and Sunday. Marl leads those.”

  “He’s a jack-of-all-trades, I see.”

  Vaughn grinned as he crossed his arms over his chest. “They both are. I would be lost without them.”

  “They seem like good people.”

  “They are.”

  “She makes cake, I like her.”

  Vaughn laughed as Brie smiled, rubbing Rodney’s back and saying, “You worry me, kid.”

  “She’s nice!”

  “I know.”

  She looked back at Vaughn but only for a brief instant before looking away. He thought, for maybe a moment, he saw the girl who had that little gleam in her eye. The one before their blowup the day before. He had been thinking about their fight over and over again. Trying to figure out how to fix it. He had never cared before. If someone was mad at him, they’d get over it. But it was different with Brie. He didn’t want to hurt her and he had, for some reason that didn’t sit well with him. Because of that, his spirits were down. He didn’t think this was going to go the way he wanted. The way he prayed it would for Rodney. And if it didn’t, this would forever be heavy on his heart.

  Not that he would admit that to anyone.

  “All right, ready to see your house?”

  Rodney about came out of his skin, running toward Vaughn as he nodded. “Yes! Come on, B.”

  “Slow down, Rod.”

  “Sorry.”

  “And remember, we’re just checking it out. We haven’t decided.”

  Rodney laughed, looking back at her. “I was a yes the moment Mrs. Dawn said cake!”

  Vaughn saw Brie roll her eyes, but when her gaze met his, he saw the pain in her eyes. She didn’t want to hurt her brother, but it was visible that this girl didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. She needed trust to allow him to take care of her brother, and he’d probably messed that all up. Looking away, he swallowed hard as he chewed his lip. He hated being nervous, but Brie Soledad made him more than nervous. Almost jittery, like he was jacked up on something. He wasn’t sure if he liked that feeling.

  Catching up with Rodney, he wrapped his arm around his shoulders as they headed for the little group of houses in the middle of the property.

  “Where is everyone?” Rodney asked, and that was a valid question. They hadn’t seen any of the other residents during the whole tour and with good reason.

  “Everyone is really friendly here and very distracting. So when there is a tour, everyone gathers in the main house for a movie before lunch. You’ll meet everyone at lunch.”

  “Oh, cool. With cake.”

  “Yes, lots of cake. And by the way, Grams makes the best cake ever.”

  Rodney’s face lit up, and Vaughn grinned back. Dawn had been right, Rodney did favor Brie a lot, which he hadn’t noticed before. He had her eyes, the deep blue that was almost electric. “I love it here.”

  Vaughn was the one beaming then. “Do you, buddy?”

  “A lot, but I don’t think B does.”

  When he looked back at her, she was looking around, a perplexed look on her face. When her eyes met his, he smiled. But as he expected, she just looked away. “Let me worry about her,” Vaughn said with a wink as his heart dropped into the acid of his gut.

  “Good luck.”

  Vaughn laughed. “I’ll need it.”

  When they came up on the little house that would be Rodney’s, Vaughn dug in his pocket for the key as he looked it over. It mirrored the main house, classically styled with a big window that looked into the living room. It was just smaller, way smaller. Vaughn opened it with the key he had and pushed the door open, letting them in before him. The living room made up most of the house, but it was attached to the mini kitchen that had a stove, refrigerator, and sink. A bathroom was off the living room, under the equipped stairs that led up to the bedroom loft.

  “Whoa! It’s huge,” Rodney almost yelled as he looked through the fully furnished house. The décor was traditional to complement the exterior style of the house. Dark furnishings with dark browns and reds. A table for two sat in the kitchen, and Dawn had made sure to decorate it up with fresh flowers and place mats. It looked classy, and Vaughn made a note to give her a smacking kiss when he saw her. “It’s so much bigger than my room, B! Look, there are stairs.”

  Rodney then ran up the stairs as Brie rushed to them, uneasiness on her face. “Slow, Rod! Come on.”

  “Sorry,” he called down to her as she began to look around.

  “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.”