CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Vaughn awoke and discovered Annabelle was gone, leaving him alone in his large bed and even bigger house. He couldn’t think of a day that had started worse. The words I love you rang in his ears, but he didn’t know if they were real, a figment of his imagination, or part of a foolish dream.
He stormed through the house in a foul mood. He checked her room only to find she’d packed and taken everything that belonged to her. Natasha the rabbit was gone, as was the cat who’d begun to curl up on top of Vaughn’s pillow whenever he was around. A quick phone call told him Annabelle had even stopped by Mara’s to collect Q-Tip, a sure sign she didn’t plan on coming back.
He ought to be pleased that his life was back to normal. He had a truckload of work ahead of him if he wanted to step up the construction schedule. He’d never make up the time lost caused by the fire, but at least he wasn’t waiting for the next incident of sabotage. And he no longer had Annabelle here as a tempting distraction.
Vaughn’s head pounded and he slung back two aspirin, then called Nick for a ride to the lodge where he’d left his truck. Half an hour later, the doorbell rang, and though Nick was early, Vaughn went to let him inside.
Instead he had a shock waiting for him when he opened the door. Estelle stood on his front step with a bag from Cozy Cups in her hand.
His headache increased. “Hello, Mother. What brings you by?” Because Estelle’s visits were few and far between, to come bearing food was even more unusual.
“I heard about the awful incident at the lodge. That dreadful man pulling a knife on poor Annabelle. She must be so shaken up. I came to see how she was doing. And I brought both of you breakfast.” She offered him the bag, shifting from foot to foot, clearly as uncomfortable as he was with this surprising visit.
“Annabelle’s gone.” Certain Estelle hadn’t planned to stay long, especially now that she knew he was the only one home, he didn’t ask her to come in.
“Oh, my, she went to work already? She’s certainly made of strong stuff.”
“Annabelle’s gone back to New York.” He ran a hand through his hair. He was exhausted and his mother was the last person he wanted to deal with at the moment. “Look, I don’t know what your angle is or what you want with Annabelle, but she isn’t here, so you can turn around and go home.”
Estelle drew a visibly deep breath. “But you’re here and I’d like to come in and share breakfast,” she said, her voice trembling.
Vaughn narrowed his gaze. She wanted to have breakfast with him? “What’s going on?”
She blinked. “Did Annabelle tell you we had coffee yesterday?”
He took the news like a punch in the gut. “No, she didn’t. But we didn’t have the chance to talk much.” They’d done everything but talk.
And like a fool, he’d been ridiculously relieved at the notion. Yet he didn’t miss the irony that Annabelle apparently talked in depth to his mother, a woman who’d never bothered to talk much to him at all.
Vaughn studied Estelle, really seeing her for the first time. She seemed more subdued, less uptight and arrogant than usual. What had caused the change, he didn’t know, but something made him step back and gesture for her to come inside.
Feeling awkward—he couldn’t remember having breakfast with her as a teenager—he poured two glasses of orange juice, the only drink left in the house since Annabelle had never made it to the store. Then he sat down across from his mother.
“The fire changed a lot of things,” Estelle said at last.
Vaughn raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply.
“We—and I do mean we—panicked. Your father and I couldn’t reach you by phone. He drove up to the lodge but you weren’t there, either. At that point the firemen didn’t know if you had been inside.” She spoke, her voice low and subdued.
“I wasn’t in town. Annabelle’s firm threw a party and I was in Manhattan.”
His mother nodded. “Annabelle told me. And I realized I didn’t even have your cell phone number. What kind of mother am I?” She didn’t meet his gaze.
Vaughn didn’t know how to answer her question. “We don’t understand each other, that much is a fact. And I’m not sure you ever bothered to try. Or to accept that I wasn’t the kind of son you wanted.”
The words burned the back of his throat but he forced himself to say them anyway. Not with hatred or anger this time, but as a means of baring his soul and maybe cleansing himself of the bad feelings he’d harbored for so long.
“That’s all true,” she admitted, shocking him. “Your father had dedicated his life to academia and I’d dedicated my life to him. An athlete wasn’t…didn’t—”
“Fit into your plans,” he finished for her. “Neither did a kid with a learning disability, but that’s what I had. That’s who I was,” he continued, his voice rising as he spoke. “It’s not a goddamn choice I made to make your lives more difficult.” He slammed his hand against the tabletop and started to rise.
Then, catching sight of his mother’s glassy eyes and hearing Annabelle’s voice in his head saying, give her a chance, he forced himself to remain seated.
“I was wrong,” Estelle said. “We were wrong. We didn’t know any better. I’m not making excuses, Brandon. Your father was raised that way by his father before him, and you’ve seen where my parents came from. I was lucky to get out and not end up washing someone’s toilets for a living like my mother did.” She reached for a napkin and blotted her eyes. “But as I said, we were wrong and you paid the price. So did we, missing out on celebrating all your achievements and accomplishments because we had tunnel vision.”
He pressed a hand to his pounding temples. “I don’t suppose I made it any easier,” he admitted. He’d been a pain-in-the-ass kid from the moment he’d realized he didn’t understand school and never would.
Amazingly she laughed. “No, you didn’t. But it wasn’t your job to make our lives easier. It was ours to be more accepting. Now, I’m not saying peace can come overnight or that we can all just wave a wand and forget the past and our differences, but I was hoping maybe we could try. You know, make a start toward trying to be a family.”
Damn, but he just didn’t know. Old habits were hard to break. Old resentments even harder.
“I don’t know where to go from here,” he admitted.
“I’m just glad we made a start.” Rising, she offered him a tentative smile. “I’m glad I took Annabelle’s advice.”
Her words caught him up short. “What advice?”
Estelle shook her head. “Nothing specific. Just some words on how to bridge the gap between us. She’s a very special woman, Brandon.”
They hadn’t discussed girls when he lived at home and he felt ridiculous starting now. Especially since he’d let this particular special woman walk out of his life without a word from him to try and stop her.
He started to lead Estelle to the door when he paused by the kitchen counter and scribbled on a sheet of notepaper.
“Before you go,” he said, feeling more off-kilter than he could ever remember. “Take this.”
She accepted the paper and looked at him questioningly.
“It’s my cell phone number.”
Her look of gratitude said it all.
* * *
Three days after leaving Vaughn behind, Annabelle sat in her office sorting through a stack of messages and piles of important documents. For an hour, she tried to concentrate, but thoughts of Vaughn and their time together continued to intrude. Missing him was enough to distract her, but the thumping that had started from her uncle’s office next door was driving her insane.
The entire atmosphere here had changed because, true to her word, Lola had packed up and gone, leaving The Hot Zone in the hands of temporary help. There never would be a good time for Lola to quit, and without her presence, the office felt vacant and empty. At her desk sat the third temp in as many days. Competent or not, each woman had quit after one of Uncle Yank’s yelling tantrums.
Another loud thump sounded from her uncle’s office. Annabelle picked up the phone and buzzed for their new assistant but nobody answered. She tried Sophie next.
“What’s up, Annie?”
“That’s what I want to know. Can you come in here?”
Sophie entered the office seconds later and shut the door at the same time another loud, jolting sound came from next door.
“That!” Annabelle pointed to the wall adjoining her and Yank’s office. “What the hell is going on in there?”
Since Lola’s departure, which had coincided with Annabelle’s return, Yank had been more out of sorts than usual and Annabelle had no intention of checking things out on her own.
Sophie shook her head. “You really don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do. Just break it to me gently.”
Before Sophie could explain, Annabelle’s office door opened and Micki stormed inside. “I can’t take it anymore!” she screamed.
Since Micki’s office bordered Yank’s on the other side, Annabelle didn’t have to ask what her sister meant.
“Shut the door and join us,” Sophie said, then turned back to Annabelle. “Uncle Yank is in his office and he’s practicing.”
“Practicing what?” Annabelle asked, wincing even before she heard the answer.
“Being blind. He’s got a bandanna tied around his eyes and he’s trying to see if he can navigate his office.”
“Oh, my God.” Annabelle laid her head down on her desk and groaned. She raised her gaze and looked at her sisters. “Wait a minute. I’ve done Internet research on macular degeneration. There are some very promising treatments and it could be years before he has a serious vision problem. Am I right?”
“Completely correct,” Sophie said. “In fact, he may retain much of his peripheral vision. Right now, he’s operating on pure fear.”
Micki nodded. “Lola’s leaving didn’t help, not that I blame her. The man’s impossible! I think we should keep him blindfolded until he admits he needs and loves Lola. Then he’ll be reasonable again and we can deal with his eyesight and the future of the agency.”
Annabelle rolled her eyes. “If only it were that simple,” she murmured. “Sometimes a woman’s love isn’t enough. Sometimes a man hasn’t been given the foundation to enable him to express his feelings in return.”
Sophie cocked an eyebrow, then strode over to Annabelle’s desk. Leaning down, she got right into Annabelle’s face. “Are you talking about Uncle Yank or Brandon Vaughn?” she asked bluntly.
Annabelle dropped her head against her desk once more. “Argh!”
“She’s talking about Vaughn,” she heard Micki say.
Annabelle peeked up from above her folded arms. “I really blew it this time. Me, Miss I Can Handle Him Without Getting Attached,” she said wryly. “Not a chance.”
“I’m sorry, sis.” Sophie shot her a sympathetic glance. “Can I take that to mean you’re over Randy, though?” she asked, her expression showing she cared just a little too much about Annabelle’s response.
Annabelle glanced from Micki to Sophie. “I knew it. Even Vaughn sensed it at the party. You are involved with him, aren’t you? Sophie, are you insane? I couldn’t care less about Randy, but I’m worried about you.” She cocked her head. “Besides I thought you didn’t like athletes.”
“I don’t.” Her sister glanced at her long fingernails. “That’s what makes him safe.”
“Sophie,” Micki groaned.
“What? Did you think I could be around all these guys and never, well, you know.”
Annabelle glanced at her sisters, grateful for their closeness, even grateful for their disagreements. As long as they had each other, they could weather outside storms.
And Vaughn was Annabelle’s most turbulent.
Another loud crash followed. They forgot the girl talk and ran for Yank’s office. Annabelle got there first and opened the door to find he’d knocked his private black phone off its special stand with a cane he held in his hand.
“Dammit!” He ripped a ridiculous-looking pink bandanna off his eyes and tossed it to the ground. Blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light again, he looked at the girls. “To hell with the cane. Annie, call and get me one of those Seeing Eye dogs,” he yelled at her.
“This is ridiculous. You don’t need any of these things,” Micki yelled as if he were losing his hearing, not his eyesight. “You need Lola!”
“I don’t need anyone. Annie, you gonna get me a dog or what?”
She rubbed her hands against her pounding temples. “You hate dogs that shed,” she reminded him, buying time.
“I just read about a new breed,” Sophie said, spouting from memory at a really bad time. “It was bred for blind people who have allergy issues but still need a canine companion.”
“Uncle Yank isn’t blind,” Annabelle reminded her. “And we’re going to set up appointments with specialists to understand his condition before we do anything drastic.” Like get the man who couldn’t make a commitment a dog that he’d have to take care of for a good ten years or more.
“What’s the breed called so I can look into one myself?” Uncle Yank asked.
“It’s a Labradoodle,” Sophie supplied with a smile. She often got so caught up in her explanations that she forgot the important things going on around her. Like the fact that they didn’t want to encourage their uncle’s behavior.
This time Annabelle leaned backward, so she could hit her head against the wall in complete frustration. Because despite the utter family chaos surrounding her, one important question floated in her brain.
If Vaughn were here, what would he do in order to get through to Uncle Yank? It seemed no matter how hard she tried, all roads led back to Vaughn. Too bad those roads seemed to be full of potholes, including the fact that he hadn’t called her. And she didn’t know if he ever would.
* * *
Everything was frigging perfect, Vaughn thought. So perfect that the construction and reconstruction crews didn’t need him to oversee every small step anymore. In the one short week since Roy’s arrest, everything that had been failing before fell into place now.
He’d informed Laura he wouldn’t help her financially. She’d have to turn to the banks for that. But he would offer advice on getting the bars back on track. You’re smarter than I gave you credit for, Brandon, she’d told him. Unbelievable.
Then there was Todd. The kid was devastated about his father’s involvement in the lodge’s problems and even more messed up now that the man was being evaluated by a psychiatrist and would probably do time either in a hospital or jail. Vaughn had made it his mission to see that Todd remained on track both for football and his last year of high school. After all, that’s what had motivated Roy, no matter how misguided he’d been.
But with everything running smoothly now, Vaughn could actually afford to take time for himself. And what did he normally do when he had free time? He picked up the phone and dialed Nick’s cell.
The phone rang and rang and just as he was about to hang up, Nick’s voice came on the line. “What the hell do you want, Vaughn? And it better be important.”
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“Uh, you could say that.”
Vaughn heard giggling in the background and Mara’s distinctive whisper to Nick.
“I don’t suppose you want to go get a beer?” Vaughn asked, feeling like an ass and an unwanted third party at the same time.
“Give me the phone,” Mara said in the background.
What sounded like a wrestling session followed as Nick and Mara struggled for control of the receiver.
“Vaughn?”
“Hey, Mara. I guess we know who’s gonna wear the pants in the family.”
“Ha, ha, ha. Now shut up and listen. How are you?” she asked.
He scowled. “I’m fine.”
“Oh, really? Is that why you’re calling Nick to go for a beer at seven o’clock on a work night?”
“What the hell’s wrong with that? We always go for a beer after work.”
“That was before Nick had me in his life. What, or should I ask who, exactly do you have in your life, Vaughn?”
For the love of—“Put Nick back on the phone.”
“I can’t. He’s busy.” She giggled and whispered something that sounded like “Cut that out.”
“I get the point, Mara. Nick’s whipped now. No more boys’ nights out.” Vaughn paced his small kitchen.
“I’ll ignore that. I’m serious. You’ve got your lodge and your volunteer work and the kids you help practice on the side, but what’s your personal life consist of?”
Before he could answer, Mara kept right on going. “In other words, have you spoken with Annabelle?” she asked, getting to the crux of things.
“Way to tread lightly,” Nick called out in the background.
“Well, have you?” Mara asked Vaughn.
“No,” he grumbled, more irritable now that she’d pointed out his life’s shortcomings.
Mara groaned. “You’re an idiot, Vaughn. And if you aren’t careful and you don’t do something soon, you’re going to end up alone.”
Vaughn let out a hard exhale. “Jeez, thanks for being a friend.”
“I am your friend and you know it. I love you and I don’t want to see you screw up the best thing to happen to you. She’s special, Vaughn.”
He raised his gaze to the ceiling. “Now you sound like my mother,” he muttered.
“You’ve been talking to your mother?” Mara asked sounding stunned. “Nick, Vaughn’s been talking to his mother!”
“Don’t go hiring a skywriter to announce it or anything.”
“That’s a fantastic idea!” Mara’s voice rose in excitement.
“Hey. Don’t get carried away.”
“Both of you listen. We should hire one of those airplanes with a banner to advertise the lodge! I’ll put it on my list of things to do.”
He nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Since you two are busy, I’m gonna let you go.”
“Promise to think about one thing for me. If you’re talking with your mother, you’ve made strides you don’t even realize. And remember, you’re just as special as Annabelle is,” Mara said.
An awkward silence followed.
“So don’t let her get away,” Mara said before Vaughn heard the click ending their connection.
And leaving him alone.
So, alone, he climbed into his truck and took a ride to the football field where it had all started. His career. His life. It was the place he’d first found something he excelled at and where he felt worthwhile.
During and after a game, the cheers of the crowd had always sustained him, but never enough to compensate for the fact that his parents weren’t in the stands. He thought he’d come to terms with that. Just as he thought he’d come to terms with misjudging Laura and how she’d belittled his abilities. But had he come to terms or was he still running away?
He couldn’t believe the way he’d come full circle. He’d made peace with everyone from Yank to Laura, and had even made strides with his parents. He’d suffered through an awkward family dinner, one where everyone had discussed what was going on in their lives and actually acted interested in each other’s answers. Both his mother and father had proclaimed to accept the lodge as Vaughn’s dream for the future.
A dream, he realized, that wouldn’t mean a damn thing to him if he had to live it alone. Without Annabelle.
Yet to bring her into his life, he had to know he believed in himself. That he had come to terms with everything. Which meant an end to the running. Running from both the boy he’d been and the man he’d become.
He parked his truck and walked to the field, which was as empty as his house felt with Annabelle and her pets gone. As he stared over the vast landscape, he couldn’t help but take Mara’s words to heart.
Was he just as special as Annabelle? Worthy of her love and spirit and generosity? He didn’t know if he’d ever completely believe in himself that way but, dammit, she did, and for Annabelle—for them—he had to try.
* * *
Annabelle walked into her uncle’s office. He greeted her with a loud catcall, followed by a frown. “Go home and change. No niece of mine is going out of the house dressed like a damn floozy.”
Annabelle grinned and twirled around. “What’s wrong with it?” she asked of her pale pink, strapless, cocktail-length dress.
He snorted. “The twins are fallin’ out, for God’s sake,” he muttered, speaking of her breasts.
If she hadn’t grown up with his frank talk, she’d blush now. “I have a very supportive bra. It’s fine. Can we change the subject, please? So tell me, have you spoken to Lola?” she asked him.
“Have you spoken to Vaughn?” Uncle Yank shot back.
“Nice comeback,” she said through clenched teeth. “I came by to look through the list of people who’ll be at the event tonight. I like to know who I can hit up for client coverage.”
Tonight was a party hosted by Nike and covered by Entertainment TV. She’d gotten a ticket to the A-list event for a new client she’d recently taken on—a young baseball player who’d been brought up from the Minors and who would benefit from meeting key sponsors. He’d asked her to join him.
At first, she’d declined. She was through with men and though she’d sung this tune once before, she meant it even more now. Because now she understood the difference between ego bruising and devastating heartache.
Thank you, Brandon Vaughn.
But she wasn’t an antisocial person and she wouldn’t be happy sulking in her apartment every night. So here she was, covering her hurt by attending a charity event with a client. The man wanted arm candy and arm candy was what she did best. In the meantime, she’d make and renew contacts to help all clients of The Hot Zone.
A win-win situation, if only she weren’t so unhappy inside.
“What are you doing here so late?” she asked her uncle.
He glanced down. “I got nothing better to do.”
Annabelle knelt beside his chair. “Call her. All Lola wants is you. That’s a simple, easy thing to give if you feel the same way in return.”
He patted her head like he used to do when she was a little girl. “When’d you get to be so smart?”
“Same time you got to be so stubborn. Just think about it, okay? Lola doesn’t want perfection. She just wants you.” Hearing her words, Annabelle laughed and jumped back before Uncle Yank could react to that comment.
“I love you, Annie,” he said gruffly.
“I love you, too.”
His smile faltered as he said, “If Vaughn hurt you I’m going to go after him with my Mickey Mantle Louisville Slugger.”
Annabelle shivered. Vaughn had swallowed too much of his pride and made too much progress with her uncle to lose ground because of her.
She shook her head. “Vaughn’s fine. The job ended and I came home. That’s that.”
“Bull. I know something was going on between the two of you.”
Not for the first time, Uncle Yank actually made her blush. “Well, I was the one that ended it, not him,” she lied. “If anyone’s hurt, it’s Vaughn not me.”
Uncle Yank nodded slowly and Annabelle hoped he accepted her answer.
He might never know it, but Annabelle considered that fib her farewell gift to Brandon Vaughn.