Page 9 of Let Me Be the One
“I’m sorry! If it helps, he didn’t answer, so I only left him a message.”
“Call him back,” Callie demanded. “Tell him you were oh-so-wrong, and make it convincing.”
“I will. I promise.” There was a pause and then in a smaller voice, “Your house is locked and the car is locked and there aren’t any lights on over here. I’m starting to freak out.”
Yeah, she could imagine. God, if she didn’t love her cousin so much, if she didn’t understand everything Glory had been put through, Callie might just tell her to deal with it. Instead, she said, “Hang tight. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” After disconnecting, she shoved her phone back in her pocket and realized she’d forgotten all about Tanner.
He stood there, his gaze watchful. Blu studied her once again.
Lacing her fingers together, Callie said, “Glory made it. She’s at the house but everything is still locked up, so I need to get to her.”
“You haven’t been inside yet?”
Why did he say it like that, with an expectant glint in his eyes? “No. I wanted to explore the property first.” It was possible she’d need to scrape the house and build from the basement up before she could sell it. If property in this area was even selling. Ten acres was valuable where she used to live, but here? Seemed everyone had a spot of land, at least three acres or more.
He shook his head, then said, “Come on. I’ll grab a flashlight and walk you over.”
They reached his house quickly. It was surprisingly nice—surprising only because the house she’d inherited was so run-down. This house was not. In fact, it was beautiful. Lights glowed all around it, making the white board-and-batten siding look pristine, especially with the black roof.
“Charming.”
He grunted.
What kind of reply was a grunt?
Rather than allow Tanner to continue ignoring her,she started to whistle while attempting to orient herself. Her whistle echoed.
Well, that was creepy. Heavy shadows loomed everywhere, and the night felt far too still, as if even the insects were alarmed.
All she saw around the house was woods, and her sense of direction sucked big-time, but she was fairly certain she just had to go straight ahead to the road, and then to the right. The next house she ran into had to be her own.
With that decided, she made a decision to get on with it. “Tell you what, Grumpy. I’ll just bid you good-night here and figure out the rest on my own. Thanks for getting me this far. It’s been…interesting.” Using the flashlight on her phone to guide her, she started forward—into that stygian gloom.
“Hold up.”
Losing her patience, Callie spun around. “Not another warning, please. I’m over that. The entire day has gone to hell and I really want to find a bed.”
From somewhere behind Tanner, she heard, “I’ve got a bed.”
She jumped, Tanner huffed out a breath, and out of the darkness emerged another man, also gorgeous, grinning like the devil with keys dangling from his hand.
Tanner looked at the guy, then said in a too-even voice, “Go on in, Kam. I’ve got this.”
Kam, his brother? Apparently, given how Blu darted forward, his tail waving happily.
More lights came on, almost blinding Callie. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes as a side door opened near the garage. There stood an older woman, probably somewhere in her sixties. Shoulder-length blond hairstreaked with gray was tucked behind her ears. Shrewd blue eyes assessed the scene and then snagged on Callie. With her hands in the pockets of a soft pink sweater worn over jeans and slippers, she stepped out. “I thought you boys were past the age of sneaking in girls.”
“Don’t blame me,” Kam said. “I just got home.”
“I found her in the woods,” Tanner explained. “She’s lost.”
“Doesn’t mean you can keep her.” Just as quickly, the woman dropped the attitude. Her grin lifted her rosy cheeks and softened her gaze. “Hello, pretty lady. I’m Addie. What were you doing in the woods?”
Callie took in the three of them standing there as a united front. Even the dog was on their side now.
She should have been disgruntled. Her feet hurt, the scratch on her shoulder burned, and she was starting to think her uncle’s house would be a very rude surprise once she got inside.
Luckily for her, the humor of the situation hit and she matched Addie’s grin.
