Page 2 of Ayden (House of Frazier #3)
Summer didn’t know a thing about looking into purchasing a house. How to make an offer on one, or even to know what questions to ask when it was time to put in one. As it was right now, all she knew about any house was that it was necessary and that it needed bathrooms. The house that she and her daughters had lived in was given to them by the government, and there had been no picking out carpet or bedroom furniture, nor did she get to decide what size refrigerator they needed. It was there to use, and that was what she’d used.
“There are five bedrooms on the second floor, including the master bedroom.” The woman with her, Shelly something, had been with her throughout the entire house-hunting experience. When she saw Ayden coming through the front door, she turned to go to him to figure out what the hell he’d been thinking in asking her to look at the house.
“I don’t know anything about this place.” He took a step back, and she thought about how she must have looked running up to him the way that she had. “The girls love this one because of the pool and the fenced-in back yard. I might have told them that we’d get a dog one of these days if we had a house and a yard.”
“A dog would be good for the two of them as it would know to keep them safe. As for buying a house? I know less than you do. At least you know what should be in one that doesn’t have a half dozen men living in it and messing things up.” She’d forgotten that he’d lived with his brothers his entire life. “What do you think about this house? Anywhere you want, you can have a pool and fenced-in back yard. Also, there are things that can be fixed. I only know that because of my brother’s home. Things that are outdated can be taken care of as well.”
“I told the girls that. They don’t want to give me any chance to change my mind about the place.” He asked her if she’d done that before. “ Change my mind? Sure, what parent hasn’t? But I think they were thinking that if the pool is here now, I can’t tell them that we can’t afford it when summer rolls around. Same with the dog. I want to get them one…what does that have to do with your brother and him being the alpha? A great deal, I’m betting.”
“Yes, they’re all loyal to him. Not as much to us, but they’ll die to protect anyone that he tells them to. As for the pool? I guess I can see that.” She knew that she was his mate. What did that entail? She didn’t know. There had been enough information about mates around that she had an idea that they were supposed to be together forever. However, she’d been with a man before and didn’t much trust the forever bullshit. “I’m sorry I’m late, but there was trouble at the house we’re using to store things for people in need.”
Last night, Ayden told her that he couldn’t work around meat, eat it, or do anything else that had to do with beef or the like. Mostly, it was red meat, and he told her why. It sort of made her ill to think about it as well, and she’d not even been around when it had happened.
Ayden had been helping out Brandy by trying to see why the restaurant that she was supposed to invest in was losing money. He’d been an undercover dishwasher for a week when he found out that they were serving him dead body meat rather than the meat that had come from the slaughterhouse like his brother had been working on. He’d been sick since. Every time he thought of having a nice steak, even his wolf would have a belly ache and then nightmares on top of that.
It made her sick to think how people treated other people who would just kill them and serve them up on the menu like they were nothing. She’d yet to tell her daughters, but then she didn’t know that she would either. It was just too much to put on a couple of eight year old kids.
“What do you think of this place?” Ayden told her that he liked the yard and the fenced-in part of it. But he didn’t know anything about the kitchen. He could cook, he told her, but he’d never had his own place where he might want to cook for several people. “I guess I can see that too. My daughters aren’t all that picky, but they do have choices in mind when it comes to feeding them.”
“I’ve never fed a little girl, so you’re up on that for me, too.” She nodded, and they headed to the kitchen. There was something about the big room that she did not care for. It wasn’t until Ayden joined her in the room that it occurred to her. “What do you mean? It’s not very large. It seems large enough to me.”
“Think of this room with the four of us in it trying to get ready for school. I’m assuming since your brother has staff, we might have a cook, too. I’m not saying that I’m there with you yet, I don’t even know if I like you all that much, but it would be hard to get around with food and getting them out the door while in here in time for school or whatever else they might have going on. No, I don’t care for the kitchen. And that reminds me, your brother told me that he filed it with the city that the two of us are married and that you adopted the girls. I’ve not told them yet, but he said you’d understand. I don’t know that I like that anymore than I do this kitchen.”
“He did that because of your in-laws. Did you know that the Fortrights want to take the girls from you?” It was the first that she’d heard about it. “Brandy found the couple, and the police let them know that their son was dead. And in that, they told her about the girls. I don’t know if it was supposed to be a secret or not, but they know now and think that it’s all your fault that Gilbert is dead.”
“Are you going to be like this forever? Just saying what you want without any lead-up?” He looked at her, confused. “You might well have worked your way up to that. I don’t know, maybe they said that they wanted to meet their granddaughters and then come up with…you know what? I don’t want that either. You leading up to things. I’d rather you just tell me what’s going on so that I’m not blindsided. I’m sorry. Yes, I want to have it out in the open when you tell me something. And no, I didn’t know that they wanted the girls.” She thought of her in-laws. “They never seemed to want to have anything to do with them before. I wonder why they do now.”
“I have no idea, as I’ve never met any of them. But as for telling you straight up, I can do that for you. And just so you know, I’d like to have my information that way as well. I don’t like beating around the bush for things.” He helped get the girls out of the back yard and into the car.
The girls seemed to like Ayden more than they did her most of the time, anyway. After getting them loaded into the car and on the road, she was set to go to another house on the list of houses she was to look at.
She’d been living in federally subsidized homes before her ex-husband Gilbert had been killed last week. She found out that when he’d been watching his own kids—thinking that he needed to be paid to do so, he’d been dealing drugs from her place while having her children locked in their rooms or bathroom. One of her daughters, Selma, had been shot while the deal was going down, and without the help of Mac, one of Ayden’s sisters-in-law, and her magic, she might well have lost her.
Sometimes, it was too much to think about, others she just couldn’t believe how lucky she was that she’d found her mate in Ayden, who had come with a very caring and loving bunch of men. Their size only made her nervous, but she was never afraid of them, however.
Summer owed so much to this family that she wasn’t sure that she was ever going to pay them back. As it was now, all she wanted to do was find herself a nice dark corner and cry herself into a stupor. Now, because of Gilbert, she could no longer stay at the house that had made it so that they had a roof over her head. Summer needed to find herself someplace to stay with them, or they were going to be homeless. However that worked with having a new husband that she didn’t know all that well and two little girls that meant the world to her. Life was too complicated right now.
“I don’t like this house.” She looked up at the house and decided that she didn’t care for it either, the same as Harley said. Someone had painted it black, and it had black shutters, too. Even the windows looked like they were too dark, and she didn’t want to get out to look at it. “It looks like a monster house that Gilbert used to tell us about that he was going to sell us to.”
That was another thing. They didn’t call their dad ‘dad’ anymore. She was positive that they’d not been calling him that for a while, but she couldn’t put her finger on when it had started. Not that it mattered to her. She never liked the bastard anyway.
Ayden didn’t even try to talk them into seeing the house but told them to re-buckle, and they started toward the last house on the list they’d been given. She didn’t like house hunting, she thought, any more than she did job hunting. It was just too much work.
The last house on their list didn’t look any better than the one they’d just left. She wanted it finished with. A place where they didn’t have to pick up their sleeping bags nightly and then move them all around the next evening when they went to bed again. Living in a hotel like they were right now had its advantages, but they were few and far in between. She wanted, like a lot of things of late, finished so that she could move on with the rest of her life. One where she had a job, money in the bank, and her little girls were safe and sound. Summer wondered if that was going to happen.
“Here’s one.” She was brought out of her musing when Ayden spoke. “It’s for sale by owner. While I know what the words mean, I have no idea why that’s different from having a realtor try to sell you one. But we can have a look at it if you’re willing.” She nodded, just wanting to get off her feet when they pulled into the big circular driveway. “It looks big enough for you guys, don’t you think?”
“There’s a pool too. See it?” Getting out of the car, she looked at the big place. It more than likely had too many bedrooms, and she wasn’t going to be able to do anything but clean house all day. The girls could have their own bedrooms, but it would be a lot of work to keep them up. Even if it had a pool, someone had to take care of that as well. “Mommy, look, there’s a big barn out back too. We can have a tractor.”
Summer didn’t know what the attraction was about a tractor, but the girls had been talking about it all morning. She did wonder if Ayden had said something about mowing the lawn, and that was where it had come from, but she just didn’t care. The sooner they could get back to the hotel, and she could put her feet up, the better. She was beginning to hate herself with all her whining, she realized. Putting a smile on her face, even if she didn’t mean it, made her feel just a little better.
She wasn’t even sure why she was so exhausted today. It had been wonderful sleeping on a good mattress, one that didn’t have lumps in it that were older than her. The girls were perfectly fine with sleeping on the floor, the room only had one bed in it, and for now, that was all they had. She’d had a long hot shower and a good breakfast, but she was so exhausted that she was sure that she could fall asleep at any second. Getting out of the car with the others, she leaned against it to have a look around.
It would require a tractor to mow the lawn. But she could almost see herself doing it. She’d never once mowed anything and didn’t know why the thought of it appealed to her, but it was suddenly all she could think about. Mowing and caring for the lawn. She could almost see a tree for Christmas in the front window with those blow-up things all around the yard. Shaking her head, she went to meet the people who seemed to be in charge of showing the house.
Not only did the house have a nice sized pool, but there was a pool house as well. In addition to that, there was the barn that held not just a tractor but snowmobiles as well. She’d not even seen the inside of the house, the kitchen mostly, and she had herself living here and getting old with Ayden. Her mind was mush right now, and she didn’t know where any of these weird thoughts were coming from.
The living room was large. Larger than her old place by half, she’d bet. The fireplace had been running when they went into the house, but instead of it having to have logs to keep it going, there was gas coming into the house that would keep the room toasty all winter long. Summer hated that she was going to have to be going into the kitchen now. She just knew that it was going to be the worst kitchen that she’d ever seen. But that didn’t happen as it turned out. As soon as she walked in, Summer wanted to tell the people who lived in the house to go away. She’d found her dream home.
The Bradshaws, the owners of the house, were very nice people. Allowing the girls to wander around in the back yard that was indeed fenced in. But they also made them some hot cocoa and cookies so that they could sit in the living room with them while they talked about the house. She had to admit, she was impressed with the questions that her girls had asked, thinking that knowing what sort of heat the house had—gas, was a good one. Also, how new the roof was from Ayden. Apparently, they’d been watching renovation shows on television and knew the kind of questions that had been taken care of on the shows.
Before she knew it, they were headed out the door with an offer in on the house and headed to the bank to see if they could get a loan. It was done and finished, a saying her grannie used to say before the ink was dried on the paperwork. She had a house to move into now.
“How about some dinner before I drop you off at the hotel?” Ayden had been coming by to see them at least twice a day since they moved into the hotel. The government was picking up the tab, he’d told her for their help in getting a man like Gilbert and his cohorts off the streets. There was going to be a bonus of sorts, too, that she’d get for helping get the criminals caught who had been selling drugs to the high school for some time now. “We can do pizza, or we can celebrate that you have a house now and are having something fun, too.”
“Fun.” Of course, the girls wanted fun. She honestly didn’t care so long as she didn’t have to cook or clean up. Something was the matter with her, and she was going to have to see someone about it soon. This was just crazy that she wanted to do nothing but sleep.
“I’ve spoken to my brothers about why you’re feeling off the way that you are.” She asked him why he’d do that. “You asked me why you were so exhausted, and I went to them. They’re the only people I know who might have an answer. But it was Mac that I think figured it out. She said that you were now in a place where you feel safe and sound, and the girls aren’t going to be hurt, and your body is just wanting to take advantage of the help. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it sounds like something that seems right. What do you think?”
“I don’t know.” But she did think about it. “You know, you could be right. I have been sleeping better, but I’m still tired. I bet you’re right.”
The four of them ended up eating at a restaurant that did have a kids’ menu, too. It was a burger place, of course, but it had pizzas and subs that the other joint didn’t. She just wanted a nice big salad and was pleasantly surprised that they had taco salad, something that she’d not had in ages. Her daughters both had subs, too, but each of them was different. While they loved to have hot subs, they didn’t care for spicy. Ayden had a taco salad with her but without meat. She almost felt sorry for him in his aversions.
He spoke to his brother Lica more than anyone, but when they were just getting their food, he and his wife showed up. She didn’t know the other woman all that well and was slightly intimidated by her. While she knew that she was something higher on the food chain about being an alpha bitch, that was the extent of her knowledge about what the couple did.
“The house is going to need a bit of work, as you were told.” The girls decided that they wanted to know all the details, and she didn’t turn them down when they asked when they could move in. “It’ll be after Thanksgiving, that’s for sure, but they think they can be out by Christmas. Since you don’t have much in the way of furniture, I’m thinking that you guys can be in there with a tree up in time for Santa Claus.”
The furnace had to be replaced and was going to be started on in the morning. Also, the air conditioning on the second floor needed to be updated. She was fine with that, and so were the girls. What she didn’t know was what they were going to do for the next month while they waited for the house to be ready.
“I have a couple of rentals that you can stay in. They’re sort of furnished but not with much. If you fall in love with the things there, you’re more than welcome to them. Also, I know that there are several houses that I own that you can pick and choose from them as well in the way of things you might need.”
“Bedroom sets for the girls most of all. Other than that, I can’t think of much else. I just want them to be able to sleep well.” Brandy said that she could handle that for them as she wanted to give them a welcome gift from the family. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure they can use the sleeping bags until they’re ready.”
“Nonsense. They’re welcome here, and we’re happy to have them as part of the family. I believe that Ayden’s grandmother is going to get them computers so that they can keep up with their homework, too.” It was all too much, and she said as much to her. “We have money, which means that you have it as well. I won’t spoil them, for as much as I’d like to but there are things that we can do for them in light of how they have been treated. Besides, they’re my first nieces, and I want to have a bit of fun with them.”
“I don’t want them to be able to come to you when they want something, and I’ve told them no.” Brandy told her that she’d never do that. Not ever. That her word was what they would always go by. “Thank you for that.”
~*~
Ayden hadn’t ever wanted a woman like he did Summer. It was as if she was the only woman in the world for him, and he didn’t know how to react. As soon as they were settled at the hotel, he found himself a room to stay in, too, and was just settling down when Harley called him on the cell phone he’d gotten for them both. He never wanted them to feel unsafe or that they couldn’t get in touch with him. He also wanted them to be able to talk to him anytime they had questions about being in a family of wolves.
“Mr. Ayden, I have a question for you. Well, Selma and I have a question for you. What is it we’re supposed to call you? I know we’ve been calling you Mr. Ayden, but that’s not very much fun. Can we call you Ayden?” He told her that it was all right with him, but she had to ask her mom. “She said that we had to ask you. We already call your brothers uncle and their wives aunt so it’s good that we call you by your first name. We’ve not called our dad, Gilbert, Dad in a very long time. He never liked us all that much anyway.”
“I already love you.” She said that they loved him too but were waiting on their mom. “Yes, I can understand that. Waiting on your mom is a good thing since she seems to be so stressed out.”
“I don’t think she’s stressed so much as she’s wigged out.” Ayden laughed and then asked her what that meant. “She told us that she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. I kinda know what that means, but I think with the grandparents wanting us, she’s freaking out a little bit on that too.”
“If they try anything, I want you to know that my family and I will protect you with our lives. They’ll never harm you so long as I have blood in my body.” She told him that was sweet, but nobody ever meant that. “I do. With all my heart. I will not allow them to touch you, and if they do, then I’m going to make them regret ever being born.”
She didn’t say anything for several minutes, and he let her think about it. They’d never had much of a father figure, and their mother had been working all the time to keep them in food and clothing. He was going to make sure that they had everything they needed for as long as he lived. When she finally spoke again, he smiled.
“Can we see your wolf?” He said that it would be his pleasure to show her and, in fact, thought that they should get to know all the wolves in his family. “That would be good. I know that you’re bigger than a regular wolf, but since neither of us has seen one, then we have nothing to compare it to.”
He laughed. He didn’t know why he thought that was so funny, but it felt good to be able to laugh. Selma said she thought he was goofy. Ayden told her that he could be when it suited him, but it had been a long time since he’d laughed like that.
“I’m sorry that you don’t get to laugh all that much.” She then asked about his family. “You don’t have parents around, do you? Uncle Lica said that they were terrible people and that we were lucky that we didn’t get to see them. Is that true?”
“Yes, my mom is in prison for killing my dad. They had a plan to make it so that we all died, and they could be without us. They beat the six of us and blamed us for everything that went wrong in their lives. I hate them both. The two of them would beat us daily, nearly killing us simply because they could. And they never liked your uncle Lica for some reason.” Both girls told him that they were sorry. “I am as well. That’s why I’m not terribly good at being around other people. I don’t know what they want from me. I don’t trust all that much like your mother doesn’t. I’m hoping that I can get over that soon. But for some reason, not only do I trust the two of you, but I trust your mother as well. With all my being.”
“We’ll never make you not trust us, Ayden, I promise you.” He had to fight the tears that started to fall down his cheeks. “Good night, Ayden. Thank you for being there for us. I don’t know what we would have done had your family not helped us when we needed it most. See you in the morning.”
The sun was just coming up in the sky when he got out of his bed. It was nice having a room so close to his new family, and he wanted to wake up daily and have a meal with the three of them. It was something new for him to have a family of his own, and he was going to make sure that he treated them right every moment of every day.
By the end of the day, he was exhausted again. Spending time with the girls as their mother had found herself a job and was glad to be working, he took them to the mall, as pitiful as it was to find them some clothing. They still couldn’t get into the house they’d been renting as it was still a crime scene, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t need things from the place. After shopping all day, glad for his grannie’s help, he was ready to take a long nap and not wake up until morning again.
“You’ll have to have things that most people don’t think about when buying their first home with children—especially girls in the house.” She told him that he’d need things like dressers and furniture for the little girls but also things like hangers to hang their things up with. “Towels for them as well as little girl things that they’ll need to have a bath with, too. I never thought of that until I had a look around in their hotel. My goodness, they’re very neat little girls, aren’t they?”
“I don’t know.” He didn’t know anything much about them. Honest with his grannie, she told him that he needed to get with the other women in the household and have them take Summer shopping for them all. “Like, what kind of things are you talking about? Soap and shampoo I get, but what little girl things will they need?” It hit him like a brick when he got it. “Oh. Oh.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’re getting it now. With a houseful of women, you’re going to have to be less embarrassed about things than you are right now. If you think of it as embarrassing, they’re not going to be able to go to you because they won’t want you to dislike them.” He said that he’d get some books on things for teenage little girls. “You do that, but I’d ask their mother too. You don’t have to run right out now and figure it out, but you will need to be prepared if they need you.”
Ayden didn’t know what to think when he went to the library to check out some books on raising little girls. He felt like a pervert when he opened the first book and had to slam it shut when he saw what it was talking about. Women were a mystery to him, and he was hoping that someday, he’d be able to give his brothers advice on how to get through this part of their lives. Periods and development were things that he’d never thought about in all his life, having to talk to someone, his own daughters, about with their mother. Thank goodness for her in their lives, he thought.
They were still living out of bags from the store when they found a rental that they could live in for a while. It was only a month, but it seemed like forever to them all. After talking with Summer and her telling him that she’d had the sex talk with the girls, he could have laid down at her feet and begged for the same information. Ayden was going to be a good dad to the two girls even if he had to read every book there was on adolescents. He only hoped that someday they’d be able to talk to him like their mother did to him. Christ, he wasn’t going to survive this if he kept feeling his face heat up whenever he was around them.
Moving them into the house they were going to rent was an eye-opener too. While Harley was tomboyish, Selma was all girl. The house that they were renting had two little girl beds, but one was a canopy bed, which Selma wanted, and Harley took the one done up in horses and farm animals. He was excited to watch them grow up into personalities.