“Me? Never.” Although her words were said in the same teasing tone Brandi had used, something that looked like pain crossed Valerie’s face.
“Thanks for being so much help tonight. If you want to go on to bed, I can finish up here.”
The teen shook her head. “It’ll go faster if we both do it.” She picked up a doll and dropped it into the toy basket.
Brandi stared at her sister’s back. Valerie had been a little sullen when she first came down, but for the past ten hours she’d been back to her old self. Brandi couldn’t fathom what had brought about the change, but she wasn’t complaining.
She checked the reservation book to be sure she didn’t need to leave any special diet instructions for Nellie.
Valerie ran the cordless sweeper back and forth on the rug then looked up as if struck by a sudden thought. “Oh, Angie and Brit are going to Batesville to the movie in a little while. They’re going to pick me up in about fifteen minutes.”
Brandi looked at her watch. “At ten o’clock?”
“Yeah, the theater’s trying something new this summer. A late, late show.”
“How can you do that and still be home by midnight?”
Valerie’s face reddened. “Well, I was hoping since we’d worked so late, you’d cut me some slack on the curfew. I should be home by two. Two thirty at the latest.”
“Valerie! Tomorrow’s church. And besides that, you know I can’t just ditch your curfew. Mom and Dad set that back when I was in high school.”
“That proves how out of date it is.”
Brandi cringed.
Valerie narrowed her eyes. “You’re in charge now, remember? You can change it if you want to.”
“I’m sorry.” She reached over to touch her sister’s shoulder, but she shrugged away. “Not tonight. If this late, late movie is going to be a regular thing at the cinema, we’ll ask Mom and Dad about it next time they call.”
Valerie’s eyes filled with tears. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe you’re my sister. You don’t understand anything at all.” She stomped from the room.
Brandi slid into the chair and closed her eyes. She probably should have handled that differently. Maybe she should have offered to go, too, and drive the girls. She hated to be a drag. Being a parent figure wasn’t as easy as it looked.
She stood to her feet and went from room to room turning out the main lights. Some guests couldn’t resist tiptoeing down to the kitchen for a midnight snack. In anticipation of their nocturnal wanderings, automatic nightlights bathed the downstairs in a soft golden glow.
Suddenly an oatmeal raisin cookie and a mug of milk seemed like just what Brandi needed to smooth away the sharp edges of hurt that Valerie’s tirade had left on her heart. Comfort food, take me away.
She tiptoed to the kitchen and pushed open the door.
Jake McFadden sat at the counter, a big glass of milk in front of him, a cookie in his hand. He smiled. “You caught me.”
She pushed her hair away from her face and sank down onto a stool. “Actually I was about to do the same thing. That’s not the last cookie, is it?”
He slid the cookie jar across to her and smoothly slipped a cup off the mug tree. In seconds she had a plate with three cookies and a cup full of milk in front of her.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. How’d it go today? You seemed to do a great job of handling the guests.”
“It went well. I was pretty nervous, but Valerie helped so much. So did Michael and Melissa, but they disappeared right after supper.”
“I think Michael is working on a new invention. And of course he couldn’t do much without his able assistant.”
“Of course not. Oh, well, I gave them permission to be excused, so I wasn’t complaining.” She dunked her cookie into her milk in what she hoped was a discreet move. “But Valerie stuck it out to the end.”
“She really seemed like her old self tonight.”
She swallowed her bite of cookie and frowned. “Yeah, until a few minutes ago.”
“Everything okay?”
“She wanted to go out, and I said no.”
“At ten o’clock at night?” Jake’s incredulous tone made Brandi feel better. She’d wondered if she was completely out of touch.
“Yeah, to a late, late show, but she said she’d be in by two thirty at the latest.” Brandi rolled her eyes.
Jake chuckled. “She must have thought you were an easy mark to try to get away with that.”
Brandi looked at his smile, and her heart lifted a little. He had a way of putting things into perspective. “I guess. But now I’m the ‘wicked witch of the West.’ ” She sipped her milk. “Just like Tammy and her friends used to call me.”
Jake looked startled, and Brandi immediately regretted her words. She shouldn’t have brought up the past. She’d grown up enough to know that often kids are cruel to other kids. Just because he’d gone along with it then didn’t make him a bad person now. After all, he’d saved her life. That should cover a lot of instances of poor judgment on his part.
“Tammy called you that?”
She made a face. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember.”
He shook his head.
“You know how they were. They were never so obvious as to flat out call me names, but they would write WWOTW on my notebooks and papers when I wasn’t looking or whisper the initials in their conversations when I walked by.”
“How did you know that’s what it stood for?”
She met his gaze and was surprised to see true puzzlement in the depth of his dark blue eyes. “The first time or two they wrote it, I had no idea; so when she knew I was listening, Tammy glanced at my notebook then turned to one of her friends and made some comment about the most vile movie character being the ‘wicked witch of the West.’ ” Brandi looked down at the counter and concentrated on a tiny nick in its surface. “She said the words very slowly with emphasis on each one. I guess she thought I was stupid.”
Jake set his cup down. “It’s hard for me to believe Tammy would do that.”
Brandi jerked her head up. Did he think she was making it up? All this time she’d assumed he’d known Tammy’s true nature and overlooked it because she was beautiful.
“Well, she did. And her friends did, too.” She sounded like a petulant child. She smiled to take the sting out of her affirmation. “I don’t blame them anymore. My anger about being in Arkansas made me an easy target.”
He didn’t speak.
She pushed to her feet. “I’m sorry I brought this up. I hope you don’t think I was attacking Tammy. I know you two stayed close after school.”
She had actually seen a picture of him and the gorgeous brunette in a magazine last year during baseball season. The caption had called her Tami, which Brandi assumed was her professional name. Brandi and Krista had joked about how typical it was of her to try to steal Brandi’s “i” instead of being happy with the “y” she was born with. Since Jake never mentioned her name now—either spelling—Brandi assumed they were history.
He stood, brow furrowed. “I’m just wondering how I could have missed something like that. I’m sorry for not seeing it and standing up for you.”
She smiled. “That’s okay.” She remembered Tammy’s glittering eyes the night of Dana’s party. “I think it would have been worse for me if you had.” She rinsed out her cup and put it in the dishwasher then turned around to face him again. “Good night, Jake. Sweet dreams.”
“You, too.”
She left him sitting at the counter staring into his coffee mug as if the secrets of the universe were unfolding in his milk.
❧
Jake pulled his pillow over his head and slapped his hand toward the alarm clock. Where was that snooze button? The persistent noise invaded his sleep. He caught the clock square on and hit it hard. The noise kept on. He knocked the pillow off and sat up. The lighted dial of his cell phone made it easy to find. He picked it up and pushed the button. “Hello?”
&
nbsp; “Jake. It’s Valerie!” The frantic whisper chased away the last of the sleep fog. He blinked and focused on the red numbers of his alarm clock. 3:00 a.m.?
“Valerie?”
“You know how you said if I ever wanted to talk. . . .” Her voice sounded thick with tears.
“Yes.” Only a teenager would call him from twenty feet down the hall in the middle of the night.
“Well, I need to talk now. But first I need you to come get me.”
Uh oh. “Where are you?”
“I’m at the edge of the Rainey woods. Do you know where that is?”
“Sure. What are you doing there?” Jake jumped up and grabbed his jeans off the chair. He shrugged into them as she spoke.
“There was a party in the clearing.” Sniff. “I climbed out my window, and Angie and Brit picked me up.” Sniff. “But now they’ve gone off with their boyfriends and left me, and I thought I liked this guy, but now I don’t. . .and I just want to come home.” The sniffs dissolved into full-blown sobs.
He pulled a T-shirt over his head. “Okay, calm down. Is anyone else with you?”
“I’m hiding.”
“Hiding?” He slipped on his tennis shoes without socks. “Tell me exactly where you are.”
“I’m behind the big oak closest to the gravel road. It has some sort of deer stand in it.”
“I know it. I’ll get Brandi, and we’ll be right there.”
“No! Please don’t tell her.”
Jake froze. “Valerie, I have to. She’s your guardian right now, and she loves you. You can’t keep this a secret from her.”
“I’ll tell her in the morning. I promise. Just please come get me.”
Jake grabbed a windbreaker jacket. By the time he woke Brandi, it could cost crucial seconds. They could sort this out in the morning. In the meantime Valerie needed him. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Hurry.”
“Do you want me to stay on the phone with you while I’m driving over there?”
“No, my battery’s about to go dead. I’ll call you back if I need to.”
“Okay. Stay hidden, Valerie. I’ll see you soon.”
“Hurry, Jake. Please?”
He disconnected the phone and slipped out of his room into the hall. He tiptoed across the hardwood floor, wincing as the fourth stair from the bottom creaked. He wished he had time to wake up Brandi, regardless of what the teen wanted. But right now Valerie’s safety had to be his top priority. Surely Brandi would understand that.
When he was in his truck, he prayed for God to keep Valerie safe and to give Brandi an understanding heart. After he finished, he thought again of the accusations Brandi had made against Tammy and her crowd. He wanted to deny it, even to himself, but in the pit of his stomach he knew she was telling the truth.
Tammy had occasionally shown a streak of cruelty over the years. She’d honed in on his weaknesses and fears, throwing them up to him during arguments. Jake had tried to excuse her by blaming it on her father’s leaving when she was little. Insecurity, low self-esteem. But those excuses didn’t make her actions acceptable.
He wondered if subconsciously that facet of her personality had kept him from trying to take their relationship to the next level. Because, even though his family thought Tammy’s career had stood in the way of a permanent arrangement between the two, the truth was Jake had never asked her to marry him. And he’d never been able to put his finger on why.
Whatever the reason, he was well rid of his ties to her. And to his surprise, since he’d recovered some from the blow to his pride, his heart appeared to be barely scathed by her betrayal.
He could bump himself for not seeing her true nature sooner, though. No wonder Brandi had been so defensive in school. Heat suffused his face in the dark vehicle. He had called her Miss That’s-not-how-we-do-it-in-California because he’d thought she was infuriatingly superior-acting. Tammy wasn’t the only one who’d been unfair to her.
Lost in the past he almost didn’t recognize the big oak. At the last minute he pulled onto the dirt turnoff that led back into the woods that surrounded the legendary clearing. Kids had been getting into mischief here for as long as he could remember.
A lone figure darted from behind the tree and yanked his truck door open. When she was safely inside, she pulled the door shut, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
“Did anyone hurt you?”
“No.” Valerie grimaced. “Just my feelings.”
“Those are important.” He couldn’t stop the relief that flowed through him, though.
He tossed her the same hunting coat Brandi had used the day of the flood. She took it and wrapped it around her.
The silence on the trip home was punctuated only by Valerie’s sniffles. But Jake knew from his work with teens that he couldn’t stay quiet. As much as he hated to bombard Valerie with questions, he needed to be sure of some things before he let her wait until morning to tell Brandi.
He eased the truck into the B&B parking lot and turned to face her. “Valerie, if you’ve had drugs or alcohol tonight, we need to wake Brandi right now and let her know.”
She gave a half-choked laugh. “No, my life is complicated enough right now without any help. I’m totally sober. I promise.”
He studied her tear-streaked face by the glow of the guard light. His gut said she was telling the truth. In lieu of a lie detector test he was going with his gut.
He looked up at Brandi’s dark window then back at Valerie. “Okay, let’s go in quietly. You need to get to bed.” He doubted seriously if he’d be able to go back to sleep. This secret rescue mission stood to undo all the progress he and Brandi had made in the kitchen tonight, and for some reason that thought bothered him more than he cared to admit.
They walked in silence up the sidewalk. He pulled out the key Tom Delaney had given him when he first checked in. Before he could get it into the lock, the door swung open.
Brandi stood in the foyer, her robe clutched around her. She stared at him and Valerie. Angry tears glittered in her eyes. “Good morning. Glad you two finally made it home.”
Eight
Jake took a step back. Surely Brandi didn’t believe for a second that he and Valerie had been slipping out together for a late-night rendezvous. “Brandi, let me explain.”
“Let’s see.” Brandi began to tick off statements on her fingers. “Valerie snuck out her window, got into some kind of trouble, called you, and you put on your shining armor and flew off to the rescue without a thought of telling me. And now you’re both congratulating yourself for putting one over on the mean big sister. Does that about sum it up?” Her tone was flat and low.
Valerie put her hands on hips. “No! You’re not being fair. I was going to tell you first thing in the morning. As far as that goes, I would have told you before I went if you weren’t so. . . .” Valerie words sputtered away as Brandi drew herself up to her full height and stared down at her little sister.
Jake stared at Valerie, too. Was this the same penitent girl he’d picked up in the woods?
He turned to face Brandi. “I had to hurry, but before I agreed to go get her, Valerie promised she would tell you—”
Brandi gave him a cutting glance. “You know what? I don’t even care about your part in this.” She looked back at Valerie whose tears had resurfaced after her momentary bravado. To Jake’s surprise a veil of tenderness blended with the anger on Brandi’s face. “Val. You okay?”
Valerie nodded.
“I found your window open, and I was worried sick. I can’t believe you crawled down that drainpipe.”
Valerie threw herself into her sister’s arms, fresh tears streaking down her face. Brandi smoothed Valerie’s hair with a trembling hand and pinned Jake with a glare. “Taking over my car’s restoration and taking over my sister’s safety are two different things. You need to learn to stay out of things that don’t concern you.”
“And you need to realize you can’t be in control of every situat
ion, no matter how hard you try.” Jake couldn’t keep from feeling a twinge of anger. How had he suddenly become the bad guy? “Valerie called me.”
“I’m sorry, Brandi,” Valerie whispered. “I should have called you to come get me.”
Jake narrowed his eyes. He knew Valerie was sorry for slipping out, but how much of this was a calculated act to get out of trouble?
“I understand, honey. Jake sees himself as the hero in every situation.” Even though she was speaking to the girl she held tight, Brandi’s glittering eyes bore into his. “Subconsciously you probably bought into that.”
Jake snorted. “Give a guy a break.” Irritation combined with little sleep had his temper on edge. “I’m going to bed. You know what? Forget it. I’m getting out of here.” He brushed past the sisters and hurried to his room.
This was definitely the last time he tried to help the Delaney sisters.
❧
Brandi closed her door and leaned against it. As far as she knew, until a few weeks ago her sister had been a model student and a seemingly committed Christian. Was it coincidence that the minute Brandi was in charge Valerie became a juvenile delinquent wanna-be?
Brandi had tucked the repentant teen into bed with the admonishment that she would get up in two hours for church, regardless of how tired she was. A late-night party in the woods did not constitute a good reason to miss worship. By the time Brandi left the room, Valerie was sprawled across the bed, dead to the world.
And now Brandi was hiding in her room trying to muster up the strength to face the day. Where was the fairness in that? She still had to dole out Valerie’s punishment, whatever that should be, and deal pleasantly with guests. And then, if that weren’t enough, Jake’s “I’m getting out of here” had sounded suspiciously final. Had he meant he was moving out?
She peeked out the window. His truck was gone. That empty parking place made her stomach feel as if she’d swallowed a live octopus. She was furious about his actions tonight, and she despised the unpredictable lifestyle he was fighting so hard to get back to, but it would be hard to imagine the B&B without him.
She grabbed her Bible and threw herself across her bed on her stomach. She opened it to the book of Philippians and forced herself to concentrate on the words. She’d gotten halfway through chapter four yesterday, but she only had time for two or three verses this morning. But whatever they were she needed them desperately.
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