A Promise Of Home (A Lake Howling Novel Book 1)

by Wendy Vella

  She’d been working a while when she felt someone watching her; looking over her shoulder, she saw a young boy. Skinny, lots of brown curls, and wide brown eyes.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Penny said I needed to come and say sorry for knocking you over with my bike.”

  Branna got to her feet and arched backward; she was stiff from bending for so long.

  “Well, say it then.”

  “What?”

  “Sorry I knocked you over and hurt your arm and made you bang your head,” Branna said.

  “Yeah, that,” the boy mumbled.

  “It’s not an apology if you don’t actually apologize.”

  His brown eyes studied her for a few seconds.

  “Georgie said you were the difficult type when you wanted to be.”

  “Yeah, well from where I’m standing, you don’t appear very accommodating either,” Branna, added.

  He got off his bike and rested it carefully on the ground, which told Branna he treasured that thing, as most kids just dropped theirs when they climbed off.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Michael Tucker. What’re you doing?” he added, coming forward to look down at the small patch she’d weeded.

  “Baking double chocolate muffins.” He snuffled a little laugh that made Branna smile.

  “I could help, seeing as I hurt you and all.”

  “Now, that’s an apology.” Branna pointed to the shovel she’d found leaning on the house. “You get that and start digging a hole over there so I can plant something in it.”

  He did as she asked, and soon they were both working.

  “What are you putting in?” Michael asked.

  “I’m thinking a small row of trees around the back to shelter the garden first; it was something Georgie always wrote to me that she wanted done, but just never got ‘round to it.”

  “She sure loved her garden.”

  “Why aren’t you in school?” Branna looked at him as she asked the question, and was glad she did, because he looked guilty as hell.

  “We don’t got to go in today.”

  “I don’t have to go to school today,” Branna, corrected him. “So, the school just decided to give you all a break?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t think so,” Branna added. “You’re playing hooky?”

  “I hate school; it’s boring.” He dug the spade into the dirt with force.

  “You’re breaking my heart, Mikey. You want to try working for a living. Then you’ll have something to moan about.”

  “You’re not working.”

  “Why is it boring at school?” Branna asked, ignoring his statement, as she did need to get back to work, but hadn’t found the enthusiasm to do so yet.

  “They don’t teach us anything new, so I just sit there all day bored.”

  “How old are you?” He was tall and thin, all knobby elbows and knees.

  “Ten and a half.”

  “You smart or something?”

  “Maybe.” He muttered the word, and Branna wondered if he was like her. “You read, Mikey?” If he was like her and Georgie had found out, chances were she’d had him reading all the books she loved, like she’d made Branna do.

  “Molly Browning says reading’s for people who ain’t got any friends.”

  “Have not got any friends sounds better,” Branna corrected him.

  He stopped digging and looked at her again, with those big brown eyes that could melt a person in seconds.

  “Georgie used to say things like that.”

  Branna swallowed the lump in her throat at the mention of her dear friend. “Yes, well, she was right.”

  They carried on in silence for a few more minutes.

  “So, I’m guessing this Molly Browning’s real perky? Pretty face, popular with the boys, plenty of giggling friends hanging around?”

  “Kind of, she’s not that pretty, though. She has real pointy ears that she tries to hide under her hair. She can be pretty mean when she wants to be, but Georgie said there will be something nice inside her somewhere.”

  Branna had also received that particular speech from her friend.

  “So, what does your mom think about you playing hooky?” Branna sat down on the dirt, because she was tired all of a sudden and her arm was beginning to ache, even though she’d been using the other one.

  “She’s in L.A. for work.”

  “Someone has to be looking after you. What will they say?” Branna questioned him.

  “Gran won’t find out, she doesn’t leave the house much, and Connor doesn’t care about that kind of thing.”

  “Connor being?” Branna slowly dragged the information out of Mikey, until she found out his gran cared for him, while his mom traveled about with her job, and Connor was his uncle and sounded like a size ten asshole, but she kept that to herself. The man didn’t seem to work, just lounged about, living off his sister and grandmother. There was another uncle who was a lawyer and lived in Boston, and an aunt who lived in Portland. Reading between the lines, it sounded like Mikey pretty much did as he wanted with no one watching over him. Not an ideal situation, but Branna was pretty sure he wouldn’t get into too much trouble here in Howling.

  “You looked in there yet?’

  Dragged from her thoughts, Branna looked to where the boy was pointing and felt her heart sink as she saw it was towards the large shed behind them.

  “Not yet.”

  “You want me to go in with you?”

  He knew, Branna could see it in those intelligent brown eyes; the boy knew she didn’t want to go into that shed and see the car that had meant so much to her dear friend. Seeing that would bring it all back again. It had all started with that car.

  “I don’t know if I’m ready, Mikey,” Branna said, surprised she’d told him the truth.

  “She said you were strong.”

  Branna closed her eyes at his words. He may be ten and a half, but he had the insight of a far older person. She rose to her feet and swiped at her butt to remove any lingering dirt. If Jake McBride saw her now, it would just reinforce his belief in her ‘70’s look, especially with Georgie’s large straw hat on her head.

  “You go inside for me and get the keys that are beside the front door on the rack then, Mikey.” Decision made, Branna started towards the building that had been standing silently waiting for her to open it since she’d arrived. She heard the thud of his feet approaching seconds later.

  “I’ve forgiven you for knocking me down, Mikey, so you don’t have to beat yourself up about it anymore.” Branna patted his head as they walked towards the shed.

  “You should have been watching where you were going anyway.”

  “You’re not actually trying to blame me?” Branna watched his agile little fingers slip the key into the padlock and heard the click as it opened. She felt the pressure in her chest increase, as he pushed the doors wide.

  “Come on,” Mikey urged her forward.

  “All right, gee, you’re a nag.” Branna took the hand he held out and gripped it hard as they walked inside. She felt the tension inside him too, the anticipation of the memories they both knew would be waiting for them.

  “Georgie and I used to drive into town and get ice cream up until six months ago, and she used to let me change the gears sometimes,” Mikey said, leading her to where Geraldine stood beneath the pale green cover.

  “She found me sitting on the side of the road crying,” Branna said, remembering that day as if it were yesterday. Her life had changed because of it. “I remember hearing Geraldine’s motor purr as she opened the door and asked me if I needed a ride anywhere.”

  “Why do you think she was so special when so many aren’t?” Mikey’s words were low and gruff, and she could hear the emotion in them. Branna didn’t fight the tears as she normally did, instead letting them fall.

  “She saved me too, Mikey. I don’t know what would have happened if Georgie hadn’t found me.”

>   “I was breaking into her house, had the back window open with one leg over the sill when she caught me.” His voice was choked as he battled the tears.

  “I miss her,” Branna whispered. “She made sense of everything for me.”

  “Me too, it’s like the sun’s gone down now, Branna, like there’s no light left anymore without her here.”

  Branna didn’t willingly touch people. She’d always found that touching people made you feel things or made them believe you felt things, and she didn’t want that, didn’t want people to think she cared. She hadn’t wanted that since her mother died and her father turned his back on her. But right now, she knew what Georgie wanted from her, could almost feel the pressure of a hand on her shoulder urging her to give Mikey comfort. Tugging on his hand, she pulled him into her body and held tight.

  They cried, both of them, loud and long, needing to grieve for the woman who had saved them and given them love and a reason to live. This was their time to mourn. Branna hadn’t allowed herself to do that. The sorrow and pain had laid in her stomach like a hard knot, tied really tight. She had worried that if she let go she’d never stop, but now, with the tears streaming down her face, she only felt relief.

  “Shhh now, Mikey, it’s all right.” She kissed the top of his head like Georgie used to do to her, and patted his back until his cries stopped. She felt calmer, as if the tears had begun to release the sorrow and pain from her body.

  “I miss her.”

  “Me too, Mikey. So much that it actually hurts inside, but being here with you and talking about our friend is helping, don’t you think?”

  He nodded, his arms still wrapped hard around her waist. “I-I have to tell you something, Br-Branna.”

  “What?”

  “Georgie told me before she died that out of all the children that had come through her life, me and you were hers and that we would find each other because we’re made the same way and we need each other.”

  “S-so, I’m stuck with you…is that how this is going to work, Mikey?”

  “Seems like.”

  She wasn’t sure, but thought that the boy sighed and his body lost its stiffness as he leaned on her and Branna bent down and held him close. I hear you, Georgie, and yes, he’s now part of me, just like he was you.

  “Okay, but I’m not the pushover she was. As far as big sisters go, I’m pretty hard ass.”

  His chuckle was the sweetest sound. “You speak like me, but you sound different.”

  “It’s an Irish accent, squirt, but I’ve been in America so many years it’s softened. Now, you get into that house and find the key to Geraldine; we need to start this bad boy up, and maybe get my purse, in case we do and we can get ice cream.”

  “Wow, cool!” He ran in a flash of limbs from her towards the house and Branna took the time to collect herself. She didn’t like excesses of emotion; they played hell with your ability to function.

  She began to walk around the shed, looking at the tools that Dan, Georgie’s husband, had hung carefully along one wall. It was still immaculate, each thing in its place. Memories bombarded her; she saw Dan laughing as she tried to hammer a nail into the school project he was helping her make, saw Georgie walk in through the doors, the sun at her back, all that red hair alight with light streaking through it. Dan would drop whatever he was doing and sweep her up in his arms, kissing whatever part of her face he could reach.

  “I miss you both so much,” she whispered. Her fingers touched as she moved, running down the long handle of a tool, or along the edge of the workbench. This had been her haven; this had been the sanctuary that a broken sixteen-year-old had needed.

  “I didn’t meet Dan, but she told me about him.”

  “He was special like her,” Branna said, coming back to where Mikey now stood beside the Mustang. “Had a really deep laugh that made everyone want to join in.”

  “Georgie told me about him, and showed me pictures.”

  They worked together to remove the cover, and then there it was, the beloved Geraldine.

  “Why’s it called Geraldine?”

  “Dan’s mom was called Geraldine and as they had no kids, he named his car after her.”

  It was pale baby blue, with red leather upholstery and it was hers. Branna smiled, a genuine one that started in her belly and traveled through her body.

  “The battery’s on the work bench…you want me to put it in?” the boy said.

  “You know how?”

  Mikey snorted and she was pleased to hear the sound, because her heart had just about broken hearing the pain of his cries and feeling the sobs that shook his body. She knew Georgie had given her the house because she had loved Branna, but she also realized now that there was more to that gift and that perhaps this boy had been part of the legacy.

  “Georgie taught me stuff.”

  “She was a pretty handy lady, that’s for sure.” Branna lifted the hood, and he placed in the battery, then connected the terminals.

  “Okay, squirt, let’s fire her up.”

  They both climbed in and Branna turned the key and she roared to life, which made them both laugh like crazy for some strange reason.

  “I may not be able to drive this time, Mikey, with my wrist still being sore, but—”

  “Is that Jake McBride?”

  Following the finger Mikey had pointed out the doors of the shed, she saw the dark green pickup truck appear, Jake pulled it to a stop beside the barn and Branna refused to acknowledge how good the man inside looked as he climbed out. The sun played with his curls and surrounded him as he walked the few paces to the entrance; the expression on his face wasn’t as mean as the one he wore this morning, which made her relax a little.

  “Jake loves this car; he asked Georgie if he could buy it once,” Mikey said.

  “Just the once?” Branna switched off the ignition as she looked at Mikey, who was looking at Jake. She sighed when she saw the hero worship in his eyes. It was just like school all over again. He collected admirers like other people did stamps, only now, he didn’t seem too keen on keeping his collection going.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “You’re trespassing, McBride,” Branna said, going on the attack.

  He bent to look into her open window and she fought the childish urge to wind it up as those dark eyes studied her. Branna could see the lines around them and the small scar under his chin, and this close he was devastating. A big hunk of male that to most women would be irresistible, but she was not most women, nor was she still a besotted teenager. Therefore, Branna absolutely refused to find him anything but irritating, especially after their last encounter.

  “I’m sorry,” he said solemnly.

  His words took the wind out of her sails, just when she was going to launch another verbal volley. They were only two simple words, yet she knew that for this new version of Jake McBride, they were two of the hardest to say, just as coming on her property to say them hadn’t been easy either.

  “Okay,” Branna said, and saw the flash of relief cross his face, that she was not going to challenge him further.

  “Hey there, Mikey, how’s it with you?” Jake lowered his head to look at the boy, the intent expression changing. His smile was genuine, as was the soft look in his eye as he looked at the child.

  “Real good, Jake, we’re going to get ice cream.”

  “Nice day for an ice cream, it has to be said.” He kept smiling, one of those slow ones that made the recipient’s, who unfortunately was Branna, insides turn to liquid by the time it reached his eyes. It was especially potent, because she knew they were rare these days. It seemed Jake McBride still had some of the boy inside him, if only for a child.

  “The apologies are done with, so you can leave now, McBride.” Branna had always found that confrontation was the best way to deal with attraction or any kind of intense emotion, and as she was feeling a little vulnerable after her crying jag with Mikey, she thought defense was what she needed right now.

  �
��You should try a simple hello, Rosebud, it’s how we do things in the US of A.”

  His drawl was deliberate, as were the eyes he ran over her face and down her neck. Heat trickled over her body and landed right between her thighs, but she ignored it. Her body may betray her when he was near, but her head would remain clear and her expression calm.

  “Hello, now go away; Mikey and I have places to go.”

  “You see, now there’s where the problem starts for me, Rosebud.”

  Branna pushed her spine back into the seat as he braced himself on the roof and leaned his head further in the window. God, she could smell him now, that sexy man scent of outdoors, sweat, and the bite of citrus, which she thought may be coming from his hair.

  “Wh-what problem?” Branna cleared her throat as his smile grew wider, and she wanted to close his head in the window to wipe it off. Turning away, she stared at the steering wheel instead.

  “This is a stick shift, and you have an injured wrist that currently is in a sling, which I’m glad to see you had the sense to wear; so, to my way of thinking, that rules you out of driving.”

  “Then we’ll take my van; its automatic,” Branna said.

  “Now, that would be a shame, seeing as you’re both ready to go, seated right here as you are.”

  “We can take it out when I get better, McBride.” Branna looked at him again and saw the spark of humor in his dark eyes, even though his face was still serious.

  “Tell you what. I’ll do you both a favor, seeing as Mikey has his heart set on taking Geraldine out. You shift your cute little butt over, Rosebud. Mikey, you climb in the back, and I’ll drive you both into town for that ice cream.” Jake opened the door as he spoke. “It’ll be a sacrifice, as my day is full, but for friends that’s what you do, make sacrifices.”

  Some may be fooled by that innocent face, but Branna was not one of them.

  “Gee, Jake, that’s real good of you,” Mikey said.

  “You’re not really falling for that line of bull are you?” She looked at the boy, who had done as Jake asked and climbed into the back seat.

  “Jake’s one of the good guys; Georgie told me he was.”