“I have not been talking about food. I’ve been listening to you give me a rundown of what every restaurant in Sedona serves. The Mexican Food restaurant downtown was at the top of his list. I’m hungry, how could I not be with him talking about food?”
“Mexican Food it is. That’s perfect. The grocery store is across the street from there. See you in a few.”
“Perfect. See Harp, we’re going to feed you. I told you we’d eat soon.”
They heard Harper’s laugh before the call disconnected.
Erin laughed. “Those two crack me up, they argue like brother and sister.”
Liam looked to Erin and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess they do.” He was beginning to think it was a different kind of arguing altogether, on Brody’s part anyway. He knew when Brody was casually flirting and when he was truly interested in a woman. If he was right, Brody was interested in Harper. His younger brother would be the last to tell anyone though. As much of a busybody as he was, he kept his own feelings very private.
There was an undercurrent of excitement as they left the restaurant. If the scenic views of the incredible, red rock vistas currently surrounding them were not enough to raise their spirits, there was still that feel of adventure, of being on vacation. Then of course, there was that magical energy that Sedona was famous for, the same energy that drew many metaphysical and spiritual people to the area. Everyone was looking forward to spending a week in red rock country.
At the local market, Liam stayed in the air-conditioned SUV with Erin, Jade, and the dog and cat. Brody, Decker, and Harper did the shopping. They returned to fill the space remaining in the back of the SUV with groceries and packed the meat and cold foods in ice in the two large coolers waiting in the back of Brody’s truck.
Decker headed north on 89A, with Brody following close behind. They turned off after several miles and headed toward more of the brilliantly colored mountains and hills to the west where gorgeous homes dotted the vivid desert landscape.
After several miles, they veered onto a smaller street and headed north where the homes were not as close together. The number of houses grew fewer as they continued the drive for about five miles.
“See that adobe-colored house up there on the top of the hill?” He pointed to a house up ahead on the right. “That’s our house.”
Jade looked at the sprawling Santa Fe style home in amazement. The house was several levels, and looked as if it had been built right into the hillside. One wing looked newer, and larger, than the other two. The house sat on higher ground than the tall, thick, river stone wall that encompassed the expanse of natural desert grounds surrounding it. Decker stopped before a pair of arched, thick, wooden gates with ornate wrought-iron bars set in small, square window openings.
“Babe, flip down the visor and press the button on the right, would you? It’s the remote for the gate.”
“Sure.” Jade pressed it. The gorgeous gates opened and Jade was in awe of what she saw as they drove in. At Decker’s request, she hit the button on the visor again and turned to watch the gates close after Brody’s truck pulled through. She turned back to survey her surroundings.
A large courtyard led onto a long, wide, covered, and tiled breezeway that swept across the front of the main house. The courtyard contained a garden of flowering desert shrubs on either side of a wide, flagstone path. On one side of the courtyard was a massive, ornate fountain, and on the other side of the pathway was a vine-clad arbor that sheltered a mission-style bench. Decker drove around the left side of the house, alongside a long wing and stopped before a four-car garage.
“Can you hit the button on the left on the other remote, please?” He grinned at Jade.
Jade pushed the button and the first two garage doors opened.
Decker pulled in and parked. Brody pulled in next to them. Decker reached over and pushed the button, closing the doors behind them.
Brody was already out of his truck, punching numbers into what looked like an alarm pad next to the door leading into the interior of the house.
There was a beep, a click, and the door swung open. Max barked excitedly and pranced in behind him, his tail wagging.
Harper and Erin followed Brody in with some of the grocery bags from the back of the SUV. Brody, whose arms were also full of groceries, had stopped in the utility room with cabinets, a counter, and a large sink on one side. He watched several computer screens sitting on thick shelves along the wall on the other side of the room. The low hum of computers greeted their ears.
“Um, Brody where can we put these?”
“Oh, sorry, Harp. Erin. In here.” He left the computers and opened a door that led into a short, wide hall. Brody led them into a long, spacious kitchen that opened up to an immense great room
“Oh my God, travertine! This house is gorgeous,” Harper said in awe as she looked around, taking it all in.
“It’s huge,” Erin commented, noting that their voices echoed in the cavernous, high ceilinged interior.
Liam insisted on carrying Sam’s carrier inside. He pulled Jade’s roller bag behind him.
“Mikey, which room are you taking?”
“The one I always use, the big one at the end of the hall.”
“I’ll follow you, I have Sam’s supplies,” Jade said. She held a bag in one arm and a box of cat litter by the handle with her other hand.
“Give me the cat litter,” Decker set a bag of groceries on the counter then swooped in and took the box of litter from her.
“I do it all the time,” she said when she noticed he carried his bag too.
“Not while I’m around, you don’t.” He gave her that heart-stopping smile and a wink as he passed by her.
Jade shook her head. “All right. Thanks, Decker.”
Once Jade entered the bedroom, she noticed the carrier door was open. Liam was holding Sam, who was purring loudly and rubbing her head against his chin.
“I love this cat,” Liam said. “She’s a sweetie!”
Max wandered in and came to sit next to Liam.
Sam looked down at him.
“Does she like dogs?”
“She likes my parent’s dog, but he’s a little poodle,” Jade offered. She shrugged. “I’m not sure what she’ll think of Max.”
Liam set Sam on the bed. The sleek feline sauntered over to the edge of the king bed and peered down at Max. They touched noses. Sam bent her head and began to groom the top of Max’s ears. His tail wagged. He looked up at Liam.
“Hey, it’s up to you. If you want cat slobber all over you, go for it, buddy.”
Max lifted his snout so he could lick at Sam. She jumped down on the floor and rubbed against the dog, purring loudly as she did.
Decker returned to get the bag of cat supplies from Jade’s arms. He saw that the dog and cat were on friendly terms and asked her, “What do you think? Do you want to leave the bedroom door open since it appears that Sam and Max get along?”
“My friends don’t mind cats; obviously, they live with Sam and me, but what about you guys? She won’t scratch anything up because she’s declawed. She is black though, she might shed. Are any of you allergic? Some people are.”
“Max is black. Well, he’s white too, and he definitely sheds. But don’t worry, Decker has four vacuums here.” Liam laughed. “None of us are allergic to animals. We always had pets growing up, even a cat when we were little. Decker even kept Mom and Dad’s lab, Daisy, until he had to put her to sleep two years after they passed. She was fourteen, so.”
“Four vacuums?” she asked Decker, an amused smile curving her lips upward.
“You’re jealous, I know.” Grinning, he leaned in and kissed her temple. “It’s a big place and split into several levels. Mom and Dad had two here, I brought two new ones. They work better.” He shrugged.
Jade grinned knowingly at him. Her clean freak guy. She loved that about him.
“I’m going to set Sam up real quick.” Jade followed Decker to the bathroom. Warily she notice
d the huge bathroom window. The house was full of big, oversized windows, floor to ceiling in some places. Since that night at her apartment and the one at Decker’s house, she was definitely uncomfortable around windows.
“I’ll keep an eye on the animals,” Liam told them.
When they came out of the bathroom and left the bedroom, Max followed them. Sam sauntered behind him, her tail swishing.
Harper, Brody and Erin watched as Max came into the kitchen with Sam following him.
Harper laughed as the cat rubbed against the dog. Sam’s loud purr filled the kitchen. Max bent his head and licked the cat. Sam shook her head, pulled back then began to rub against the dog’s leg again.
“Are you sure about this, Sam? He’s a dog, you know.” Harper bent to pet Sam.
“Hey!” Brody grinned at her. “He has manners. He’s a gentleman. A neutered gentleman.”
“Yeah, Max is a great dog. He has good taste in cat women.” Harper grinned at Brody.
“I have nothing against Cat Women, nothing at all. I like those skin-tight, black leather, cat suits.”
“Of course you do, you’re a man, after all.” Harper rolled her eyes.
“After all. What does that mean, after all?” Brody demanded.
Harper just shook her head and laughed. Brody followed her into the family room where they continued to exchange their teasing barbs.
Liam sat in the recliner. A few seconds later, Sam jumped up on his lap then proceeded lie on his chest and stare at him.
“This cat is great. She’s more like a dog.” Liam grinned as he stroked Sam’s back.
“She is,” Harper agreed.
Brody and Harper had brought the large ice-chests into the kitchen.
Jade helped Decker unpack the remaining groceries. Erin pitched in. Decker cut up some steak and chicken breasts and put them in two large pans with a marinade he made up. He slid the pans in the fridge.
“We’re having steak, shrimp, and chicken kabobs tonight. I hope that’s okay with everyone,” Decker announced as he drew Jade into the family room.
“Hell, yes,” Brody was the first to answer.
“You’d be excited about any kind of food,” Liam teased.
Brody waggled his brows and grinned at his brother.
“Is food the most exciting thing in your life?” Harper asked him.
“Ah, no, it would be second behind something else.” Brody gave her a wide grin and waggled his brows at her.
“Yeah, just like a man.” Harper rolled her eyes. “I set myself up for that one.” She shook her head.
Erin laughed. “You did, Harp!”
“Are you saying all men think about is sex? That’s a myth. I happen to think about a lot of other things besides sex.” Brody laughed.
“Yeah, food.” Harper rolled her eyes.
Liam snorted.
“Don’t you think about sex and food?” Brody asked her.
“Not nearly as often as you do,” Harper answered.
“How could you know how often I think about sex?” He cocked his head and grinned at her.
“Let me rephrase that, not nearly as often as most men do,” Harper emphasized.
“Oh, Okay. If you want to know how often I think of sex, I can let you know when I do…” Brody chuckled as her mouth opened wide in surprise.
Harper blushed. “No thanks. I don’t need or want to know.” She raised her hands in surrender and laughed. “Conversation over, Brody.”
Brody shrugged and flopped down in a large chair. He was still wearing a highly amused, boyish grin.
Decker sat next to Jade on one of the oversized leather sofas. “So what’s the plan for the rest of the day? We have hours yet before we have to worry about dinner.”
“Well, we need to give the women a tour of the place and show them how everything works. We can look for Mom’s notebook after that. We can do some circle work after we eat tonight.” Brody looked around at everyone.
“Sounds good.” Liam shrugged. “Sorry Sam,” he said as he set the cat on the floor.
“Let’s do it.” Decker rose.
They followed Brody into the corridor that led to the bedrooms.
“The alarm system will go off if an outside door or window is opened, cut, broken, or even thumped. I’ll warn you in advance, a bird might fly into a window and set off the alarm on occasion. It happens. There is a keypad in each room, and one by each exterior door. I’ll give you ladies the different codes, so you have them,” Brody announced as he led them toward the side of the house where the bedrooms were.
He led them into the huge bedroom that Harper and Erin would share. There were two queen beds, a large sitting area, and a spacious bathroom. The room was light and airy. Two large windows lit the room along with a sliding glass door that led onto the deck. They had a gorgeous view of mountains in the distance.
Brody picked up a remote from the table next to the bed.
“You can lock your door at night if you want, and you can key in a code so if someone tries to open it the alarm will go off. You can also do this if you want to.” He pushed a button. Metal rolling shades began to slide down to cover all the windows including the sliding glass door. “I can close the shades every night on the entire house from the computer room if you want. In case you were wondering, if the smoke alarms go off, the shades manually unlock from the inside and can be pushed up.”
“There’s a remote in the bathrooms as well to lower those shades, in case you’re one of those people who think the neighbors a quarter mile away can see in the window when you shower.” Brody pushed a button and the shades rolled back up.
“By the way you said that, you obviously don’t shut the shades in your bathroom.” Harper cocked her head and gave him a look.
“Uh, no. I don’t think anyone can see that far, and if they could, oh well.” He shrugged.
“Why don’t you just close the shades at bed-time every night while we’re here,” Decker said.
“It’s a good idea,” Liam agreed.
“I love that idea,” Jade nodded.
“Me too. So, Brody, you’ll have to save your nude exhibitions for another time.” A devilish grin lit Harper’s face.
“Haha.” He chuckled.
Brody led them down the wide, ceramic tiled hallway to a spot at the end of the corridor where it opened into a large sitting area. Sunlight filtered in from the rows of square windows set high on the walls. Behind the sofa and chairs covered in a colorful southwest pattern, there was a set of tall, dark wood, double doors.
He pressed a code into a keypad panel on the side of the doors. A click sounded.
“This was my parents’ room.” He opened one door wide. “We’ll come back here after the tour and look around for the notebook, but first, we have a safe room, and I want to show you how to get in.”
Jade thought the bedroom she and Decker were sharing was massive, but it was only a third of the size of this room, rather rooms.
“Wow!” She noticed the king size, heavily carved, antique testered bed in a high-ceilinged alcove to the right. On either side of the mammoth bed were two substantial, French marble top nightstands.
To the left of where they stood was a cozy sitting area complete with a large screen TV, and a plush, suede sofa positioned between two large leather recliners.
Straight ahead was an open area, with a massive, antique center table in the middle of the space. Family photos hung on one wall, and oil paintings hung on the opposite wall. There were two open doors on either side of a closed door on the long wall behind the open space. One door led to what looked like an office, and the other to a glassed in sunroom boasting an array of brown wicker furniture.
“Our parents liked antiques in case you didn’t notice. This was their office. That was Mom’s sun room, or what she called her reading room.” He pointed to the closed door. “And this is the bathroom.” He opened the door and led them in.
They filed into the light, airy space of the
wide bath area. There was a walk-in shower, toilet, garden tub, and double sinks set in a long, tiled counter top. A large jacuzzi tub looking out over the desert scenery and red mountain backdrop was situated in a corner that met the outside wall of windows.
“Here is the closet which is also the entrance to the safe room.” Brody opened the door and walked in.
It was a wide space, lined with shelves, cabinets and plenty of room to hang clothes. In the center of the closet, which truly was a dressing room, was a long, cushioned bench and a double-sided chest of drawers. At the end of the room was a wall with built in shelves, or so Jade thought.
She watched as Brody opened a drawer in the nearest cabinet. He removed the drawer, flipped a switch, and part of the wall turned and revealed a dark opening beyond.
“We’ll go down some steps.” His voice echoed in the stairwell as he flipped the light switch.
“Once inside, you flip this red switch on the wall to close the door if we really need to hide.” He pointed it out. “Right now, we’ll leave it open.”
Jade followed Decker down the steps to a landing where they turned then took more steps down, which led them to a closed metal door. Brody punched in a code. The door clicked and he swung it open.
When she entered the space, she gasped aloud.
“Oh my. This is huge,” she whispered as she looked around. “It must be almost as big as the entire area of the house above.” She noticed immediately that there were no windows.
Open doors revealed many bedrooms. She counted six. There were three bathrooms. She saw several sets of bunk beds in one of the rooms. The dining area held two long dining tables, each one big enough to seat eight. A full kitchen boasted a stove with six burners and a double oven. There was a slender island in the middle of the space. Off the kitchen was a laundry room and through that room was a large supply room. Shelves were lined with canned goods, dry goods, and one full wall of bottled water. A super-sized freezer also occupied the room. There was another door beyond. Brody didn’t open it.
Decker's Fate (The Decker Brothers Trilogy Book 1) Page 24
