“What? No way.” Axl shook his head emphatically.
Jayden groaned. “Christ, leave me out of it.”
Half an hour later, Jayden didn’t understand the Axl-Maddox conflict any better. If anything, Jayden was more confused about life the longer he listened to them. So the doorbell peel was a welcomed distraction. Halfway there, he realized his mistake.
Brandi was coming over expecting his family to not be there.
Except, two of his brothers were very much there.
Shit.
He opened the front door—and blinked at Nicole standing on the front porch.
She wiggled her fingers at him. “Hi. I told Brandi to give me a minute before coming in.”
“Nicole. Hi. Uh...” He opened the screen door and stepped outside.
She smiled up at him with more life than she’d shown at the restaurant. The afternoon sunlight turned her hair into spun gold. There was no denying that she was a beautiful woman. But she didn’t stir him. Not like Brandi, who seemed to do things to his very bones and soul.
“So you want to date my best friend now, hm?” She narrowed her gaze, but it did absolutely nothing to her intimidation factor. Nicole was as scary as a marshmallow.
“We’re going straight to that? Okay. Okay.” He gestured to the porch swing. “I think I owe you an apology first.”
Nicole sat and turned her head, aiming that bright smile of hers at him. “I don’t think so.”
“Brandi has really opened my eyes about what I could do better.”
Nicole laughed. “She’s good for that, isn’t she?”
“That she is.” He grinned back at her, grateful things already felt easy. “I agree with a lot of what she said though. I was coming into the situation with ideas about what it would be. I wasn’t really seeing you.”
“We were both doing it.” She drew a leg up under her and turned to face him. “I know we didn’t talk a lot about our pasts, but before moving out with Brandi my life was very different.”
He inclined his head. “From what Brandi told me about her family, what she didn’t say about you was... I’ve got questions.”
Nicole tilted her head to the side. “What did Brandi tell you about her family?”
“Just how her grandparents raised her, how her bio parents ruined it and kicked her out.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow. She really told you all of that?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow.” Nicole turned her head and stared at the street where a silver sedan idled in the shade of a neighbor’s tree.
“I take it she doesn’t typically share that much.”
“Nope. I mean, even our friends, they mostly know Brandi doesn’t talk to her family. That some bad stuff happened. But she doesn’t share the why.” Nicole studied him.
Her thoughts had to echo his own.
Why him? What had clicked so early on that Brandi told him things she didn’t share with friends?
“Maybe you could help me with something,” Nicole said slowly.
“What?”
“I’ve been trying to get Brandi to reach out to her family. Her grandparent’s at least. Just say hello. Have some communication. I don’t think she’ll make amends, but she could at least have them in her life.”
Jayden considered Nicole’s words and everything Brandi had told him up until now. “Does she want to?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Nothing she’s said to me indicated that. Though I guess it would be reasonable to assume she would still have a relationship with her grandparents given the opportunity.”
“Exactly. So you’ll help me?”
“I’m not sure.” He turned his head as the door to the silver car shut.
Brandi stood on the sidewalk looking at him.
The facts were, his loyalty was to her now. Not Nicole. Brandi was the one who’d wormed her way into his heart. The one he cared about. At the end of the day, he wanted to do what was best for her. And if that went against Nicole’s wishes, so be it. Because so long as Brandi was leaving this door open for him, he planned on stepping right through.
“Wow,” Nicole muttered. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t get it until right now. But I get it.”
“Hm?” Jayden tilted his head, but didn’t look away from Brandi as she strolled toward them.
“Nothing.” Nicole chuckled. “Why don’t you go say hi? She could really use a hug right now, I think.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
Jayden rose to his feet and jogged down the front walk to meet her on the sidewalk.
Up close, he could see tension and worry lining her face. He opened his arms and she walked into them, burying her face against her chest. He hugged her tight, and all his pieces clinked together. He was whole.
BRANDI KNEW SHE SHOULD wait. They’d worked out a whole signal,, so she’d know when Nicole had said as much as she wanted to. But Brandi couldn’t just sit there anymore watching them.
Jayden and Nicole looked like something out of a magazine sitting there on the picture perfect porch. He had on jeans and a knit pullover with the hem of his white T-shirt sticking out under the navy fabric. Nicole looked like the perfect fit in her oversized gray cardigan layered over paper thin T-shirts in pink and peach tones paired with artfully ripped jeans.
On occasion, Brandi felt every bit of her height and bulk compared to her dainty friend. Today was one of those days.
Why was she here? Why was she doing this to herself? Why would Jayden be interested in her when Nicole was right there looking like an angel?
Jayden got up from his spot on the swing and jogged toward her. Her heart did this painful, flip-flopping thing. He opened his arms and she walked into them. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him tight, burying her face against his chest.
There was something singularly comforting about being held by Jayden. It felt as though he would shelter her from all the dangers in the world. He was the strength she needed at her side. The steadying hand she needed to take the next step.
What the heck was wrong with her?
She’d known the man for a week. How could he be this important to her?
Brandi sighed and knew there wouldn’t be an answer. She had a sinking suspicion that whatever made her fall this hard was what got her mother knocked up.
“What’s going on?” He rubbed her back, finding each and every knot in her muscles. “You find something out about your dad?”
“He messaged me.
“What?” Jayden’s head snapped down and he looked at her with wide eyes.
“Hey,” Nicole called out. “Come sit.
Brandi let go of Jayden and hooked her thumbs in the pockets of her jeans. They turned toward the house and headed to where Nicole was sitting on the gently swaying swing. “This morning Nicole and I went and did our normal flea market stroll. I told her about you and the results. Then we signed into my online profile and there was a message.”
Jayden stopped on the stairs and looked at her. “That’s great, right?”
“I... I don’t know.” Brandi looked from Jayden to Nicole.
Nicole glared at Brandi. “She won’t read the message.”
“Why not?” Jayden asked.
“Because.” She blew out a breath and grabbed the railing.
“Don’t sit up there,” Jayden said before she could even make her move.
“Oh, sorry.”
He winked at her, then gestured at the swing. “Generations of boys doing the same thing you were thinking has done a number on it. Sit, please.”
Jayden grabbed a wicker chair from near the door and sat facing them while Brandi sat opposite Nicole on the swing.
She turned and smiled at Brandi with so much warmth and love. “Because you’ve imagined your father for so long, actually meeting him is kind of scary.”
“Yeah.” Brandi wished she could sit on Jayden’s lap right about now.
“Want one of us to read the message first?�
�� he asked.
She grimaced. Handing off the first read seemed like shirking her responsibility. And yet, she couldn’t make herself tap the screen. No matter what she did, she froze up. Part of coming to meet Jayden was buying herself a little more time.
This was ridiculous.
Brandi thrust her phone at Nicole and held her other hand out to Jayden. He pulled his chair closer and then took her hand in both of his. Nicole snatched the phone from Brandi so fast she had to wonder if she’d had it to begin with.
A certain measure of relief swept over her at not having to physically open the message.
Part of her head said this still couldn’t be real. It was going to be a mistake. This man was writing her to let her know he was a monk and had never seen a woman before.
Jayden squeezed her hand.
Brandi held on tight, all the while watching Nicole’s face. She had no mask. No ability to hide what she was thinking. Whatever the message said, Brandi could prepare herself by gauging Nicole’s expression. Only, she was still wearing the same smile as before, though her eyes were sliding back and forth.
“What does it say?” Brandi asked.
Nicole began to read slowly, as though she knew Brandi needed to tip-toe her way past each word. “Hello, my name is Vinaypaul. Most of my American friends and family call me Paul. I can only imagine the questions you must have. I’m here to answer them as best I can.”
“Vinaypaul,” Brandi muttered.
“There’s more. He shares a little about himself,” Nicole said.
“You want to keep going?” Jayden asked.
Brandi nodded. “Yeah.”
“Thirty years ago I went to America for university. I made a lot of mistakes as a young man. I now live in Amritsar in the Punjab region of India with my children, wife and step-children. I have connected with two other of my American-born children in recent years. I’m overjoyed to have connected with you and hope to hear from you in the future when you are ready. Love and peace, Paul.” Nicole glanced up. “Wow. What do you think about all of that?”
“I... I don’t know.” Brandi blinked a few times.
“He sounds nice. Like,” Nicole wiggled her hands in the air, “I’m here and enthusiastic about you, but I also want to respect your boundaries.”
Brandi looked at Jayden. “What did you think?”
Jayden spoke slowly. “I think there’s a lot to unpack from that message and a lot you don’t yet know. But, first you have to decide how much you want to know. Did you have a goal beyond finding your father?”
“What’s to unpack?” Nicole asked.
“I’m assuming he’s Sikh based on what Brandi showed me. There was a Sikh gentleman who worked at the bank before transferring to another one. We discussed...I don’t want to call them rules, but that’s what they sounded like to me.”
“You’re talking about the bit where he mentioned his step-children,” Brandi said. She’d done her own bit of reading to better understand, well, everything she’d learned about her heritage.
Jayden nodded.
“Uh, why?” Nicole asked.
Brandi pushed the swing gently, needing to do something besides just sitting there. “From what I read, and I’m no expert, but Sikhs in general are not big on remarrying or divorce. I could be totally off, but it sounded like something he was saying intentionally.”
Jayden sat back, holding onto her with only one hand. “Does it matter though? Do you just want to know who he is? Or do you want to talk to him? Have a relationship?”
“Honestly I never thought we’d get to this point. I didn’t think I’d find him. I don’t know what I want.” Of course she’d imagined happy reunions, but those were silly make-believe dreams. Reality was never so simple. “I’m just overwhelmed.”
Nicole reached over and touched her thigh. “And that’s okay. You don’t have to make a decision right now.”
Brandi nodded. Though she felt a little silly for needing people to help her read a message, she was glad they were there with her. If for no other reason than she wasn’t alone.
“Shit,” Jayden muttered. “They weren’t here when I told you to come over.”
The front door banged open and two men stepped outside. One was as tall as Jayden with shaggy hair and a beard. His shoulders were much wider though. The other man was a bit shorter and less bulky. He was also better groomed, had softly curling hair and had a slightly darker complexion.
Both men looked at Nicole and Brandi with obvious interest.
Part of the family, no doubt.
She darted a glare at Jayden who wasn’t looking at her.
“Hey, bro. Didn’t know you had friends over.” The shorter one with the darker complexion stepped forward and offered his hand. “I’m Maddox.”
The Fullilove’s oldest biological son. Which meant the shaggy one had to be...
“I’m Axl. Hi.” Axl waved and hung back.
“Hi, I’m Nicole.”
“Brandi.”
“Nicole. Brandi. Hi.” Maddox looked at them each in turn, then at his brother.
Jayden merely shook his head.
“He never brings friends over.” Axl leaned against the railing.
“Unfortunately we can’t stay.” Brandi stood. “It was nice to meet you.”
Nicole hopped up. “Oh, yeah, we’ve got to go.”
Jayden didn’t hesitate either. “It was nice to see you.”
“Yeah, you, too.”
Brandi stood and gave Jayden an awkward, brief hug then waved at the brothers.
She knew she was running. She wasn’t proud of it, but she also wasn’t going to hang around. Dealing with the shock of her own family was enough for one day.
“Well, now that whole find dad road block is out of the way.” Nicole hooked her arm in Brandi’s as they strolled toward the car.
“What are you getting at?”
Nicole beamed at her. “I mean, there’s nothing between you and Jayden now. You were holding off dating until you found or learned more about your father. Well, you know who he is now. It’s not an obstacle anymore. You stuck to your guns and did it.”
JAYDEN WATCHED THE car disappear around the bend at the end of the street.
He’d never seen this coming.
“Bro, did two girls you’ve dated just come by the house to hang out?” Maddox’s voice vibrated with childish glee. No doubt he was already thinking about how he’d regale the rest of the family with some twisted version of this morning.
Jayden assumed his frostiest tone. “Drop it.”
“I do believe they were both here for him,” Axl drawled as he joined them on the lawn.
“Will you two knock it off?” Jayden still needed to process what had just happened.
The fact that Brandi had wanted him to be part of connecting with her father mattered, didn’t it?
She’d come across town to where he was, all so he could hold her hand.
That had to mean something. Or was he simply wishing too hard?
Maddox bumped Jayden’s shoulder. “You have got to share your secrets, man.”
“There’s no secret.” He had to give them something. “I still needed to apologize to Nicole, and some stuff came up that Brandi wanted to talk about with me.”
Maddox studied Jayden’s profile. “Like what? What are you such an expert on that she’d need your opinion?”
“Drop it.” He turned and headed back toward the house.
Homework was all checked and the last tidying up items taken care of so Mom wouldn’t have to do more than cook. That left Jayden with nothing to do except think and no good reason to avoid his brothers, who took some sort of perverse joy following him from room to room as he hunted for dust or crumbs. By the time Mom and Dad returned, Jayden was one wrong word away from using the duster as a weapon. At least the house was cleaner and tidier than when he’d arrived.
“Mom,” Maddox called out in that drawn out bellow of his.
“Wha
t? What is it? What could it possibly be?” Mom only glanced at them in the living room as she walked through to the kitchen.
Maddox grinned. “Jayden had two girls over earlier.”
Jayden sighed and rubbed at his temples.
Mom stepped back into sight, her eyes a little wide.
“What?” She drew the word out for several seconds.
Axl nodded. The traitor.
Jayden held up his hands. “Yes, Nicole and Brandi came by earlier. We all talked for a few minutes. They left.”
“And I missed it?” Mom’s face crumpled and her fat lower lip stuck out. “When are you boys going to give me grand babies?”
“Oh, come on.” He groaned.
“Look.” Maddox draped an arm around Mom’s shoulders. “Look, you made her sad, Jayden. Look at what you did.”
Jayden leveled a glare at his brother. “Don’t start this. Come on. Let’s be adults.”
Mom looked up at Maddox, her eyes so very sad. “He never brings girls home.”
“I know, Ma. I know. He’s selfish like that.”
“Alright.” Jayden rolled his eyes and stalked toward the front door.
“I’m kidding!” Maddox laughed and lunged for Jayden.
Axl stood, cutting off Jayden’s path to the door. That allowed Maddox to grab Jayden around the middle and tackle him back onto the living room sofa. They tumbled back, furniture screeching as it scooted across the floor.
As if that were the cue, the rest of the boys decided now was the perfect time to come downstairs and wade into the fray. They leapt on the chance to roughhouse with the guys. And that was when Mom threw them all outside to horse around until dinner was ready, which meant they divided up into a small football game. That worked for Jayden. He didn’t have to talk. No one expected him to make calls. He could just react and be in his head.
By the time Dad stuck his head out the door and told them dinner was ready, they were all starving.
“J-man, hold up a second?” Axl said in a low voice as the younger boys all rushed the door.
“What’s up?” Jayden grabbed his pull-over and slung it over his shoulder.
“What do you think about Asher?”
“I think its past time for him to say something. This is too long for him to be off doing his own thing.” He shook his head. “Making Mom and Dad worry like this isn’t okay.”
The Wrong Perfect Match (Fullilove in the House Book 1) Page 18