The Wrong Perfect Match (Fullilove in the House Book 1)

by Sidney Bristol

  Brandi braced herself while Mr. Rice stared wistfully off at the corner. She’d never heard even a rumor of a fourth brother.

  Her stomach clenched.

  The bad part was coming...

  “He died when I was fourteen or so. We’d gotten into it a week before he died, and there’s a list of things I wish I could go back in time to say to him. I guess... I don’t want that to happen to anyone else.” Mr. Rice lifted his head and looked at her. His eyes looked shiny, as though he might very well cry. “I would hate for you to find your dad and then lose him without ever getting the chance to really meet him. I’m an old, sentimental man. What do I know?”

  Brandi swallowed the lump in her throat. Or tried to.

  He could be sentimental, and he could be right. She didn’t think he was wrong.

  This was what she wanted. To find her father.

  Why not talk to him?

  “Okay,” she whispered. “I’m going to do it. I’ll just give him a little heads up.”

  There wasn’t much else to the email. At the bottom there was a smaller picture of Vinaypaul with a smiling woman and six children. They were an Indian Brady Bunch.

  Three of those kids were Brandi’s half-siblings.

  “Don’t do anything because of me,” Mr. Rice said quickly.

  “You were right.” She started tapping out her message. “Why wait? What’s the point? I’m just scared, and that’s silly. We both want answers.”

  “Then I’m going to go eat my lunch on the deck. Why don’t you do the call from my computer?”

  Brandi hesitated only a moment before nodding. If she didn’t want to read the email out in the main part of the office, she sure as hell didn’t want to meet her father virtually like that.

  In moments Mr. Rice had her set up and vacated the office.

  She checked her phone and was surprised to see not one but two replies.

  The first email was blank.

  Odd.

  The second started with a string of LOLOLOL.

  Brandi read the rest of the email to herself, her smile widening as she read it out loud to herself. “Sorry about that, I jumped up out of my chair and somehow sent a blank email. At my desk now.”

  She shook her head and laughed.

  How many times had she butt dialed people doing pretty much the same thing?

  She logged into one of the messaging services they both had and blew out a breath as all of the normal work contacts loaded.

  “Here goes,” she muttered and typed in her father’s handle.

  She sent the contact request out into the net and waited.

  Not even a minute later, Vinaypaul appeared as one of her contacts.

  He was letting her lead.

  She’d noticed that in the first message, but at every turn it was the same. He met her with enthusiasm, but didn’t push, only offered.

  What kind of a man was he? Were there other similarities? Did her face really do a lopsided thing when she smiled?

  Brandi clicked the video call option.

  At least she looked nice today.

  The screen grew wider as the chime sounded while the call connected. That took a few moments longer.

  Her heart stopped as the screen flashed black.

  This was it.

  The next moment the screen displayed a smiling man in a rumpled blue button-down shirt. He grinned back at her with so much excitement his mustache practically quivered. His eyes were a light brown and danced with joy.

  She still couldn’t get over the mustache.

  Even half a world away she knew he was a happy person.

  Infectious, if her smile was any indication.

  “Sat Shri Akaal.” Vinaypaul waved both hands at her. “Brandi, hello.”

  “Hi.” She chuckled nervously.

  He laid his hands over his chest. “It is so good to see your face. It makes my heart happy.”

  Oh dear.

  She knew exactly where her tendency to talk with her hands came from now...

  “It’s good to see you, too. I, um, I didn’t think I’d be doing this. I mean, I’m just overwhelmed by how fast all of this works.” She bit her cheek to stop her rambling.

  He nodded sagely. “They have it down to a science.”

  Brandi blew out a breath.

  This was him.

  Her father.

  Half of the reason she existed on this planet.

  “Wow,” she whispered as the importance of this moment finally began to dawn on her.

  Her entire life she’d wondered where she came from, why she’d been born. She’d known her mother wouldn’t answer anything. And here was someone who could.

  “It’s humbling to meet you like this,” he said.

  “I don’t know where to begin.”

  “We can start right here and now. Unless you have questions about the past?”

  “I don’t even know what questions I should ask. Um... My mother never told me anything about you, so everything is new.”

  Vinaypaul ducked his head before meeting her gaze again. “Might I ask who your mother is?”

  Brandi blinked a few times. There were so many mysteries to uncover. “My mom would have been Mary Cooke back then.”

  “Mary, Mary, Mary,” he muttered to himself.

  “I’d show you a picture if I could. I haven’t spoken to her in almost ten years.”

  He nodded, as though her comment was all he needed. “Mary.”

  “You remember her?”

  “She was hard to forget,” he said slowly.

  “Can I ask how that happened? You meeting, I mean.”

  “To tell that story is to start earlier.” He seemed to stare through the internet and directly into her soul. “When I was a young man, I went to America for university. I was... I was a very angry young man, and I acted like a glutton, denying myself nothing for two years. During that time is when I met your mother at a party. Our relationship was short. Two days, maybe? And that was it.”

  Brandi wished she could read between the lines to see the actual history. Her mother must have made an impact on him for her to be so easily remembered after almost thirty years. And Brandi seriously doubted those were good memories.

  “After I was born, my grandparents raised me,” she said, picking up the narrative on her side. “My mother and I have never had a close relationship. She’s always refused to tell me anything about you.”

  “I am not surprised.” Vinaypaul lifted his shoulders. “Will you tell me about your life now? Are you happy?”

  Brandi was smiling before she realized it. “Yeah. Yeah, life is pretty happy right now. Crazy, chaotic, but—happy. Yeah.”

  “Good. You know, you have a whole new family here if you’re interested.”

  “I’ve got so many questions... I don’t know what to say.”

  “I’m happy to answer all of them.” His gaze drifted off screen. “I should warn you, there are others very excited about meeting you, too. I’m not sure how long I can hold them back.”

  “Okay. Who is it?”

  He gestured with one hand and suddenly there was squealing and the pounding of feet.

  Two teenage girls dove into the frame, throwing themselves onto Vinaypaul’s lap. Two boys on the cusp of manhood came to stand behind him. Lastly, a woman wrapped in gauzy turquoise and gold fabric edged in, smiling shyly at her.

  “Oh my goodness.” Brandi gaped at these people looking at her with so much—love? That couldn’t be right. They didn’t know her. She was a stranger.

  A boy and girl leaned in, then out. The two youngest, still in that perpetually shy stage.

  Brandi’s family.

  She covered her mouth, too overwhelmed to trust herself to mind her language.

  She might not be related to all of them by blood, but they were looking at her as though she belonged. Like they wanted to fold her into their hearts and keep her.

  That little girl inside of Brandi broke down. All her life, she�
��d wanted to belong. And here it was.

  The only thing missing was Jayden and Nicole.

  JAYDEN STARED UP AT the brick apartment building.

  What were the chances Asher was home? Would he even open the door?

  Whatever was going on, it was past time for it to end.

  Jayden headed into the building. It wasn’t the best in terms of security, but it wasn’t run down either. Asher had mentioned looking for some other place to stay. His roommate had bailed on him and he wasn’t keen on finding another following his last experience.

  Jayden took the stairs up to the third floor instead of waiting on the elevator. Asher had a corner apartment, which made the stairs more appealing.

  Outside in the hall, Jayden frowned at a notice taped to the door. He pulled it off and unfolded it.

  His stomach dropped.

  Management wanted Asher to empty his mailbox.

  Asher wasn’t the responsible type. It would be like him to not look at mail for a week. But something about it added another five pounds to the weight in Jayden’s stomach already. The note was five days old.

  Jayden knocked on the door, making sure to stand to the side, just out of sight from the peephole. If Asher was avoiding them, he wasn’t going to answer the door if he knew it was Jayden.

  “That boy ain’t been around for a while,” a woman drawled.

  He turned and glanced at the woman down the hall in her floral house dress and satin head wrap.

  “When’s the last you saw of him?” Jayden asked.

  She shrugged. “It’s been weeks.”

  Weeks?

  Shit.

  Jayden reached into his pocket and took out his keys. Asher’s had a bit of paper taped to the top, so it was easy to pick out. Jayden unlocked the door slowly, giving anyone inside ample time to speak up. But no one did.

  He pushed the door open. After another count to five, he peered inside.

  The air smelled stale. It was obvious the place had been shut up for a while.

  Shit.

  “Asher?” Jayden called out.

  What if something happened to him? What if he’d been here all along? What if...?

  Jayden strode through the main room, down the hall. He shoved the bathroom door open and turned on the light.

  Beard trimmings littered the vanity. But there was no sign of his brother.

  “Ash, this isn’t fucking funny,” he muttered.

  The bedroom was similarly empty.

  Not a soul was there.

  “I told ya. He ain’t been around,” the woman called after him.

  He turned and strode into the living room. Asher’s neighbor hovered in the doorway.

  “Has management been in here?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Jayden turned in a circle.

  The place was decorated in what he liked to call tornado Asher. Meaning clothes and stuff were everywhere. There was no aesthetic, just stuff. And no Asher.

  Where the hell was he? What was he into? Why wasn’t he reaching out to anyone?

  It was past time to mobilize the family. Figure out where the hell he was, and if he was still alive. There was a very real possibility that Asher was dead. All this time and Jayden hadn’t given his twin the time of day because he’d through Asher was just fooling around again.

  Jayden pulled out his phone and dialed Asher’s number.

  It went to voicemail.

  So Jayden tried his next first call for tough family stuff.

  “Sawyer speaking,” came through the phone after barely one ring.

  “Hey. It’s me.”

  Sawyer sighed, sounding weary. “Hello, me.”

  “Bad night?”

  “Someone didn’t want to sleep, and now that they are sleeping, I have to be awake for ungodly reasons.” He yawned at the end, driving home the whole new parent part of his life.

  “Sorry to hear that, man,” Jayden said.

  “Yeah, well, you didn’t call to talk about baby life. What’s up? Why do you sound so grim?”

  “I’m at Asher’s.”

  “And?” Sawyer’s tone was equally as grim.

  “He’s not here. He hasn’t been here in weeks. Where is he? Why isn’t he answering for any of us?”

  “Shit,” Sawyer muttered. “Asher, why?”

  “It’s time to get everyone together.”

  “Agreed. Tonight work for you? I bet we can get just about everyone to Mom and Dads, then make a plan.”

  “I wish we could just not tell them.”

  Sawyer barked a laugh. “How do you think that’s going to go?”

  “It’s not.” Jayden pulled the phone away from his face and blinked at the incoming call. From Brandi. “Hey, you think you can work on getting the word out to everyone while I poke around here some more?”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Thanks, bro. You’re the best.” Jayden didn’t know how he’d have made it this far if it weren’t for Sawyer. They might not be close, but Jayden knew he could always count on Sawyer to pull through when it came to the family.

  “Someone has to look out for this ragtag bunch,” Sawyer said, his voice brimming with love.

  “We don’t deserve you.”

  “Sure you do. Later, man.”

  “Later.” Jayden quickly clicked over before he lost the incoming call. “B? Brandi, you still there?”

  “Oh my God,” she said, drawing each word out for at least five seconds.

  “What happened?” He braced himself for another disaster.

  “I just talked to my bio father for the first time. And I met my three half siblings, their step-mother and their three step-siblings.”

  “Wow. Wow. Wow. Back up.” He braced a hand on the kitchen counter. “You talked to all of them?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was bubbly, happy, excited and just the fresh breath he needed right now amidst all of this uncertainty.

  “That’s great. How’d it go?”

  “Do you think I could tempt you into lunch to talk about it? And would you be okay if Nicole came?”

  “Not at all.” In fact, her question hit him right in the gut.

  Brandi had friends. People she leaned on. And yet, he was in her top two.

  He glanced around the apartment. There would be time to wade through the clues here. Lunch would be a welcomed break before coming back to figure out what the hell his brother was up to.

  For now, he wouldn’t tell Brandi. She was happy. This was a big day for her. He didn’t want to dim that with whatever Asher was doing.

  Seriously, Jayden was going to make sure Asher regretted whatever the hell this was. He couldn’t keep acting like this. Not as an adult. It was time for Asher to grow up. The rest of them had. Even Maddox.

  Day 13: Saturday

  Brandi flopped backward onto her bed and blew out a breath.

  How long had it been since she’d gotten to soak up a moment of peace? Before Nicole got home, that was for sure.

  Nicole was out picking up their weekly grocery order. Which gave Brandi the time she needed to rush through the kitchen cleaning. It went faster without Nicole underfoot and had the additional bonus of giving Brandi some quiet.

  Which meant any second now Jayden would call or text.

  She lifted a hand to her face and shook her head.

  Even thinking the man’s name had her unconsciously smiling.

  What had gotten into her?

  Brandi curled up on her side and grabbed a pillow, cradling it to her chest.

  She hadn’t been able to see Jayden since lunch... Shoot. When was that now? Wednesday?

  Things were just too busy.

  Work was stuck at balls-to-the-wall speed. And here she’d thought it couldn’t get any worse. Little had she known shifting her job in a lateral direction would come with so much drama. But soon she’d start training more help around the office.

  Then there were the earlier mornings to contend with.
>
  Since it was harder for Vinaypaul to connect with her during her evening, the solution was for her to get up earlier. Which meant Brandi had started every day a little off kilter as she got to speak with her father, siblings and step-mother. And that left little time in her schedule after working on her side hustle and being with Nicole. It was probably a good thing Jayden was so preoccupied with his brother. Most nights Brandi and Jayden talked, but it was clear they were each wiped out from the day’s efforts. Seeing each other was a nice idea, but not a reality.

  Her phone buzzed on the nightstand.

  Brandi rolled over and didn’t bother hiding her grin. She was alone. Who was going to see her? And why should she care?

  Jayden...was like a warm blanket on a chilly evening. His presence was comforting. What was it Nicole had said? Grounding?

  Brandi paused, frowning at the number.

  That was not Jayden.

  A customer?

  She begrudgingly tapped the answer button.

  “Brandi’s Hidden Gems,” she said. Sometimes telemarketers just hung up when she answered like that.

  “Brandi—what?” an aged voice asked.

  She paused.

  Something about that voice was...familiar.

  “Brandi’s Hidden Gems,” she said slower this time. “I restore old furniture. Give it new life. You probably got my business card from a garage sale or flea market. Maybe a friend gave it to you?”

  “Brandi? Brandi, this is your grandmother speaking.”

  She froze.

  Her grandmother?

  Her very own?

  She sat up, still staring into nothing.

  “Has it been so long that you’ve forgotten me?”

  “G-grandma?” Brandi stammered.

  “Yes, dear. That’s what I said.” Grandma chuckled.

  “Oh my—Grandma? It’s really you?”

  “Yes. I’ve got your card right here. It came in the mail yesterday. We were so happy to hear from you. Your grandfather is right here. He wants you to know he loves and misses you.”

  Brandi swiped at her cheeks and found them wet. Tears streamed down her face.