Cross Council Page 9
Chapter 3
“I thought you said that Jordan was well-off, dear.” Audrey looked over the neighborhood of rundown trailers. She was wondering how Jordan could afford the plane ticket he’d sent. Maybe they’d been upset about her unused plane ticket and the waste of money. If Tiara and Jordan lived in this neighborhood, it certainly explained why they’d had such a simple wedding. Audrey could have helped if they’d only told her.
“Jordan’s place doesn’t look like much from the outside, Ms. Marshal, but the inside makes up for it,” Greg said, turning the SUV into a driveway that did little to reassure her.
“Call me Audrey, please,” she told him. Tiara was so tense that Audrey almost wished she’d just stayed home, but Audrey could also sense the oddness that had alerted her before.
Audrey was about to say more when Greg reached up and hit a remote control for the garage opener. She heard the whirring and gasped. The door did not open on a garage, but rather a sloped tunnel. An awning over the opening kept it from being seen from the street. Audrey automatically ducked as they descended into the tunnel, her eyes wide. The underground garage held four other cars, though there was room for six. Audrey glanced behind her in time to see the garage door close behind them.
“Jordan’s going to be sorry he missed that expression,” Greg laughed in such a nice way that Audrey didn’t find offense in his teasing.
“I think it might be stuck this way for a while,” Audrey admitted, “so I doubt he’ll miss a thing.”
As they pulled into the spot, Jordan emerged from a door at the end the garage. He was grinning like a fool, so he had not missed her face. He was a bit of a trickster, and it warmed Audrey to know that her daughter had secured her love with a light-hearted soul. Tiara’s smile for her husband was both fond and nervous.
As soon as she emerged from the SUV, Jordan slipped her bag onto his shoulder and Tiara’s hand into his. “Welcome to our home.”
“They have a word for tricksters like you,” Audrey shook a teasing finger at him, but was glad to see that her teasing tone relaxed Tiara a little.
“Eccentric? Handsome? Charming?” Jordan leaned forward and gave Audrey a small hug, careful not to impose too much familiarity into the gesture. They were all so unsure of her. Audrey needed to change that.
“Why yes,” she laughed and hugged him back with enthusiasm. “I believe those are all the words I was looking for.”
“Greg, pop the trunk and I’ll help you with the rest of her luggage,” Jordan called out to Greg who stood at the door to the house.
“That’s all she brought,” Greg shrugged and pointed to the bag Jordan already carried.
“I’m a simple woman with simple needs,” Audrey smiled with a small wink.
“Simple,” Tiara remarked with a nervous little laugh. “That’s one thing we don’t have a lot of around here, Mom.”
“That’s quite all right, dear,” Audrey took Tiara’s other hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “I’m also adaptable.”
“That’s a really good thing here,” Jordan chirped brightly.
“So show me this house,” Audrey waved at the door that Greg was holding open for them. “If the garage is this wonderful, the rest must be amazing.”
They showed her everything from the gym to the guest wing rooms, most of which were occupied at the moment. There was one open that they tucked her bag into, but then they dragged her out to the main room. Audrey met Zack, who seemed to be a delightful young man.
“And you live here too?” Audrey asked him.
“Yes,” Zack shot a look to Jordan that Audrey didn’t miss. “I renovate houses as a hobby, and they sell quicker if you move out. I was going to shack up at an apartment, but Jordan offered me a room here until I get my next house. Besides, this way I got to keep a puppy. Apartments frown on them.”
The puppies were a pleasant surprise, and Audrey enjoyed playing with them. Pete was another roommate, and he seemed to take care of the dogs and puppies in general. That was a good thing since there were a lot of the rambunctious little things. Pete was a quiet kind with haunted eyes that reminded Audrey of her dead husband. He was remodeling a nearby trailer.
“Where’s Marcus?” Audrey asked as she settled down on a stool at the kitchen breakfast bar. “I met him at the wedding, and he mentioned that he lives here too.”
“Marcus has his own wing,” Tiara pointed down the same hallway that had the gym. “Jordan and I live down that hallway.” She pointed to the other long hallways in turn. “The guest rooms are there, and the garage and storage rooms are down that way.”
“He’s just gotten engaged, so Rianna has moved in too,” Jordan nodded.
“Rianna,” Audrey mused over the girl she’d met at the wedding. “Rianna and Marcus? Rianna’s the spitfire who spiked the punchbowl at the wedding, right?”
Audrey had trouble imagining the massive Marcus and the tiny Rianna together. Not only were they opposites in size, but in temperament as well. Marcus was so calm, and Rianna was so very outspoken.
“Yes, they had a whirlwind romance this last month, and he proposed just this last week,” Tiara smiled easily, relaxing with her mother’s easy acceptance.
“Marcus, Rianna and Damian have gone off to the store,” Jordan explained. “Marcus insists on a huge spread for Thanksgiving and has probably cleaned out half the grocery store by now. They should be back soon.”
“Damian?” Audrey asked. “That’s someone else I haven’t met yet, right?”
Everyone avoided her eyes for a tense moment, setting off Audrey’s internal alerts, but the moment passed and Audrey tried to visibly ignore the buzz that she could almost hear going on in their minds. She might visibly ignore it, but Audrey was keeping tabs. There was some serious silent communication going on, and the whole place sizzled with an energy that Audrey couldn’t ignore.
“Damian is complicated,” Tiara temporized, shooting Jordan a stern look.
“He’s living here too,” Jordan admitted. “He’s even more eccentric than I am.”
“But he’s charming and wonderful to have around,” Tiara stepped in eagerly.
Greg and Zack exchanged looks too. Pete just fingered his cigarette pack. He’d just come in from taking the canines outside, and he’d left them topside to reduce the confusion. Audrey looked from one person to another in the room. There was the buzzing again; and when she realized what the buzzing was, her face lost a bit of color.