California's Calling (Hunt Family Book 3) (3 page)

She turned to face me. "I said you can have a little summer camp romance with your fellow poet. It'll be just the right thing to get you back on track."

"I'm not, I repeat,
not
having a romance, summer camp or otherwise, with my brother-in-law! It would just be awkward."

"He's not your brother-in-law," she said. "He's your sister-in-law's brother."

Chapter 3

It was late when we arrived at Rachel's parents' place, and there were a lot of us, so our arrival was quite the scene. We were staying on their compound on the outskirts of Nairobi. It was hard to see anything in the dark, but we pulled up on a dirt road and parked near a group of large buildings.

Rachel had explained that this particular location had a small farm, with a school and housing for up to fifty students. They had made room, and most of our group would be housed here. A few, including Rachel and Logan, were staying at Rachel's parents' house, but they'd moved students to other locations to make room for us on site.

Rachel said building a greenhouse was on our agenda for the week. She also mentioned new backboards for the basketball court and several other smaller projects. She said her mom's to-do list was so long, that we'd basically never run out of things to do.

I sort of assumed when Rachel said they moved students to other locations to make room for us, she meant they'd all be missing when we got there. This wasn't the case. A huge group of kids came outside to greet us along with some adults. It was dark, and we were in a foreign country, so the greeting seemed perhaps more chaotic and surreal than it actually was.

I was relatively sure most of them were girls, but they all had super-short hair. All of them were smiling brightly and waving as they waited for us to get out of the vehicles. They came right up to us, greeting us with warm hugs. One second, I was walking toward the building, and the next, I had three kids with their arms wrapped around me, causing me to stop completely. I couldn’t help but giggle. My long, blonde hair was hanging over my shoulders, and all three of the kids reached up to touch it and run their fingers through it. I scanned their faces, smiling back as they beamed at me.

"Whas ya name?" One of them asked.

"Charlotte." I said, articulating carefully as if it was a name they'd never heard before.

"Charlotte," she said.

"Charlotte," another one repeated.

I smiled and nodded, regarding them for a few seconds before I looked up to see that Rachel and Logan were standing close by talking to her parents. One of the girls saw me look at them, and she began pulling me in that direction. "This is my sister," Logan said, pointing at me as we approached. Rachel's mom turned and came over to offer me a warm hug. The girls who'd been walking with me joined in, making it a group hug that had us all laughing.

"Charlotte," she said warmly. "Rachel told me you were beautiful, and she was right! She's told me so much about you."

"I love your daughter," I said. "And I didn't know you'd have a bunch of beautiful girls here to greet us when we got here," I added. For some reason, I wasn't entirely sure if the kids here would speak English, but I could tell by how they giggled and hugged me in response to my statement that they understood perfectly what I said. I couldn't help but smile down at them.

"Amondi, Makena, and Shani," Rachel's mom said, putting a hand on each of their heads one-by-one as she gave their names. "And I'm Laura," she added with a little wave.

"I'm Ben," the man standing next to her said. Just as he was reaching out to hug me, my mom and dad came up behind us, and the salutations started all over again.

"Denise and Robert, meet Ben and Laura," Rachel said, her voice cutting through the greetings and giggling girls.

"They're excited," Laura said as she hugged my mom. "We have you guys and Diane set up with Logan and Rachel at our house," she said, looking at my mom. Then she glanced at me with a somewhat regretful expression. "We only have two extra beds and a couch at our place, but Cub's got room for a few at his house."

I looked over their shoulders at the huge building and said, "I assumed I'd be staying here." I received a squeeze from one of the children when I said that, and I patted her back without taking my eyes off of Laura. "I'm comfortable just about anywhere," I added.

Mia and our grandma Diane (who we all called Dee-dee) came to stand by those of us who were now gathered around Rachel's parents, and Laura greeted them both with a hug before standing next to her husband and nudging his ribs with her elbow.

"Honey, you should call everyone over here and make an announcement."

He turned to the side, put a fist over his mouth and cleared his throat twice before staring out into the driveway behind us.

"Hey everyone, if I can please get your attention for a second, I'd like to make some introductions."

The excited murmur died down halfway through his statement, and I glanced behind me to see that everyone was starting to make their way to the place where we were standing.

I faced Ben again, and watched as he waited for everyone to come closer. "I know you children are excited, but I need you to be quiet for a minute while I speak to our guests," Ben said.

Within seconds, it was completely silent. "Welcome to our home," he said with a bright smile. He was a handsome, clean-cut man with salt and pepper hair and wireframe glasses. He put a hand to his chest. "My name's Ben. I'm Rachel's father, and this is her mom, Laura." He motioned to the three adults who were standing nearby. "This is Mary, Richard, and Kito." They each waved when he said their names. "Laura and I have a house a little further down this driveway and can be here in a moment's notice if we're needed, but these guys live right here on site, and can help you if you need anything. In just a moment, we'll show you around. It'll feel a bit like camp because we'll all eat at the same time and work on projects together. We'll tell you more about those projects later, but please know how thankful we are that you're willing to pitch in. We'd also like to thank Logan for providing the supplies for our greenhouse and the new basketball goals. They arrived a few days ago, and we've got everything in place for starting construction. It's gonna be beautiful." He paused and stared out into the crowd with a smile. "I hope you all know how thankful and excited we are to have each and everyone of you here. I see some familiar faces, but most of you are new, and Laura and I are thrilled to get to know all of you. We're especially excited about the wedding, and we're so grateful that you were willing to travel here so we could all be a part of it." He paused and smiled at all the faces in the crowd. "I would introduce all of the children, but you already have enough to remember for now. We'll make nametags for everyone tomorrow so we can all keep track."

"I'll keep track of Evan!" a girl yelled out from the back. We all glanced in her direction when she said it, and could see that she was standing next to Evan, leaning on his leg, looking up at him with an adoring smile. The whole group laughed, and Evan reached down to poke her ribs, causing her to squirm and laugh.

"Okay everyone, Lulu's keeping track of Evan," Ben said lightheartedly, causing everyone to laugh again as we turned to face him. "There are two main sleeping areas. You guys will have one of them to yourselves and the students who remained here will be in the other. We're excited about your visit and did our best to make it comfortable for you. Mary will give you the grand tour in just a minute."

He paused and looked past the gathered crowd with a smile. I could hear the sound of a car engine and see headlights as they shined on us for a second as a vehicle turned into the driveway.

"That's our son and Rachel's brother," Ben said, drawing our attention again. "His name's Cub, and he'll be here all week to help us get these projects finished."

I was focused on Ben until I started seeing other people turn. I knew they were looking at Rachel's brother who was now walking up behind us. As I faced that way, I saw Rachel squeal and rush toward him with open arms.

And then my eyes fell onto him.

Cub Stephens.

He wasn't what I expected—not that I had certain expectations, really. It's just that something about him took me by surprise. The whole crowd watched as he and Rachel embraced. She ran into his arms, and he caught her by the waist, holding her tightly. He closed his eyes and smiled as he squeezed her. I thought as I looked at him that he had lighter hair than I expected. Nothing was what I expected. He was tall and lean with a broad chest, and big arms that he wrapped around his sister.

"This is my Cubbers!" Rachel said, pulling away from him so she could face the rest of us. She bowed and gestured toward him, making a cute, formal introduction. Cub bowed lavishly, feeding off of his sister and cracking us all up. He was smiling as he stood up straight and gave us a little wave.

"Welcome to Afrreeca. We ah soo happy you ah heah," Cub said. His accent was so thick that it was honestly hard to believe it was coming out of a white guy. He was speaking English, but the accent was so heavy that it made it sound like he was almost grunting. I was wondering if he was indeed raised by lions and Swahili was his first language when Rachel cracked up and pushed at him playfully.

"Seriously, welcome to Africa," Cub said in a normal voice, smiling at us. I watched as his gaze fell on all the faces staring back at him. He was handsome and confident, and I was relatively sure that his eyes were light even though I was standing far away. Several of the kids went to greet him, and he reached out to pat their backs absentmindedly as he gazed at us. He was just about to look in my direction when his dad spoke and drew his attention.

"We were just going to let Mary show our guests around," Ben said.

Cub smiled at his dad. "You guys go ahead," he said. "I'll have a chance to meet you all in the morning." He was still looking at his dad when he said, "I have room for a few at my place."

Ben nodded, and Laura, (who was standing next to her husband) glanced at me with a quizzical expression since she'd already mentioned it to me.

Before I knew what I was doing, I nodded.

"We'll send a few with you if you don't mind," she said, glancing at Cub.

"Not at all! That's why I came."

We spent the next half-hour or so touring the bunkhouses, kitchen and bathrooms with Mary while Rachel and Logan caught up with her parents and Cub.

There were a lot of us. Some of our friends and Rachel's family from California came along as well as some of our family from Carolina. I was comfortable with everyone in the group, but I mostly stuck around Mia and Evan. We were just wrapping up our tour when I turned to them and said, "I think we get first dibs on Cub's house if you guys want to stay over there."

"I don't know," Mia said with a disinterested shrug. "I'm thinking we'd be just as comfortable here with everyone else."

She had a straight face, but I knew she was giving me a hard time. She wanted me to come out and say I
wanted
to go, and I wasn't about to give her the pleasure.

"I don't care either way," Evan said. "But y'all need to decide before someone else grabs that spot."

"You don't care, do you?" Mia asked, looking at me challengingly.

Our eyes met, and we shared a knowing smirk that was imperceptible to anyone else.

"We might as well take him up on it," she said, finally, after realizing I wasn't going to budge.

Rachel and Logan, along with our parents, Dee-dee, and Cub were standing around the kitchen when Mia, Evan, and I came in. It seemed as though they were already getting along beautifully. Everyone was all smiles when we walked into the room.

"Did everyone get settled?" Laura asked as we approached.

"Yes ma'am," Evan said.

Mia poked at my side, but I didn't acknowledge her since I knew that she was just telling me to look at the cute guy.

"Mary's great, she showed us all around," I added since I always felt the need to talk when I was nervous.

There weren't many people standing around, and almost half of them were my immediate family, but for some reason I still felt flustered.

Chapter 4

"Which one of you is Charlotte?" Cub asked, looking back and forth from me to Mia.

My heart started pounding the instant he said my name. There was no reason for me to get so nervous, but I couldn’t help it. The wave of jitters that washed over me made it almost impossible to keep my composure.

I smiled and waved. "Me," I said.

I was going to say something else—something charming or witty, but '
me'
was literally the only word I could come up with. Cub began walking toward me. His obvious intention was to give me a hug, and I felt like I wanted to turn and run out of fear. Mia poked at me again, and I leaned into her without letting anyone else notice.

"I can't believe I forgot to introduce you!" Rachel said, sounding ashamed of herself.

Cub pulled me into a tight hug and held me there for longer than I expected. He grunted a little as he squeezed me. "Rachel's told me all about you guys," he said, holding me at arms length with a genuine smile.

He instantly shifted his attention to Mia and gave her the same squeeze, before hugging Evan in that manly way guys do where they bump shoulders and slap each other's backs a few times.

Obviously, Cub was a hugger. He backed up a few steps, and put a hand out, leaning casually on the counter and looking us over with a confident smile. He had these grey-blue eyes that could look straight through you.

For whatever reason, I thought he was going to be homely looking. Maybe it was the word
missionary
that made me think that. It's silly for me to admit this, but I sort-of always pictured missionaries with bonnets like the Puritans.

Cub must have noticed me noticing him, because he tilted his head to the side. "Do you need another hug?" he asked.

I looked around with wide eyes once I realized he was talking to me. Before I could answer, he reached out and pulled me into his arms again. He squeezed me with brotherly familiarity—the same way Evan or Logan would do it. He let out another grunt before letting me go. He rubbed my shoulder and smiled at me. "I can't believe you guys came across the world to come see us! This is awesome!" He stepped back and looked at the three of us as a group. "Are you the ones staying with me?"

"If that's okay," Evan said.

"I'm looking forward to having you!" Cub said. "I have two single beds and a couch up for grabs."

"That'll be perfect," Mia said. "As long as Evan gets the couch."

Evan made a silly face at her like he wanted to protest, but he was obviously just kidding.

"We should probably head out," Laura said. "I'm sure you're all exhausted."

"We'll meet you guys here for breakfast," Ben said looking at Cub.

"Eight o'clock?" Cub asked.

"Eight-thirty will be fine if you can't get the ladies up and out for eight."

Ben asked if he could pray, and of course we all agreed. He thanked God for our safe travels, the wedding, and family, and asked a blessing for our work efforts. We all exchanged hugs and wishes for a peaceful night's rest before going our separate ways.

Evan, Mia, and I got in Cub's truck, and everyone else got into Rachel's parents' van. Cub's truck was a single cab with a bench seat, and the four of us had to cram next to each other to get the door closed. It just happened that Mia got in first and was plastered next to Cub.

She glanced at me and mouthed, "I’m sorry," once she realized what the seating situation was.

I made a quick facial expression that said,
why would you even be worried about it
?

"Charlotte's a poet." Mia said, once we were on the road.

I pinched her leg. The road was bumpy, and Cub had big tires on his truck. There was a ton of road noise, so I prayed he hadn't heard. I literally said a prayer asking God to
please let him not have heard
as I continued pinching her leg.

"What'd you say?" he asked.

My leg pinching intensified once I realized my prayers had been answered
. I couldn’t let her repeat it.
I pinched so hard that she said, "Ouch!" as she shifted even closer to Cub. "Stop," she whispered, looking at me like I was insane.

"You stop," I said.

"What were you saying?" Cub asked.

"Charlotte's a poet," she repeated without the slightest hesitation.

"Are you?" Cub asked, glancing at me quickly before putting his eyes back on the road.

"Not really," I said. "I just like poetry."

"I like it, too."

"We heard about your dog," Evan said.

"Oh good, I'm glad you know I have a dog," Cub said. "I forgot to mention it in case any of you were allergic."

"We were all raised with dogs," Mia said.

"Her name is T.S. Eliot. I just call her Tess so she won't get embarrassed in front of her dog friends."

"What kind of dog is she?"

"She's a mix, but she's got some German Shepherd in her, I think." He peeked over Mia at me again. "Have you written anything, Charlotte?" He had a deep voice, and the slightest hint of an accent, and the sound of him saying my name made my heart stop for a second.

"She was an English major at UCLA," Mia said. "With emphasis on creative writing. She's got notebooks full."

"Yeah, what happened to that?" Evan asked. "Aren't you doing something else now?"

"Interior design," I said. "I would have been finished by now, but I had to backtrack on some of my classes."

"Why'd you switch?" Cub asked.

I hesitated for several long seconds contemplating what I wanted to say. Part of me wanted to just go ahead and tell the truth. Not that I would give details or anything, but I could at least say…

"Failed relationship," Mia said, in a matter of fact tone.

I let out a humorless laugh when I heard her say it, but honestly, I wasn't surprised. That's just how Mia was… real and honest. She knew I wouldn't be hurt from them knowing, so she answered the question for me.

"Heartache makes for good poetry," Cub said.

We drove in silence for a minute. All you could hear was the fwamp, fwamp, sound of the tires on the dirt road as we stared dazedly out of the windshield.

"He was my professor," I said finally.

"Nu-uh!" Evan said.

"Why didn't you just transfer to a different school?" Cub asked instantly.

I laughed. "Mia asked me that same thing," I said. "I guess I just didn't think about it at the time. I knew I couldn’t see him again, and changing my major seemed like the most logical thing to do at the time."

"I can't believe Aunt Denise and Uncle Rob didn't make you transfer," Evan said.

"They don't know," I said.

Evan adjusted in his seat to stare down at me with a smirk. He gestured at Cub. "You mean you told someone you just met ten minutes ago, and you haven't told your parents?"

"And I'm
still
not telling my parents," I said.

"Why not? It's not like Uncle Rob's gonna hunt him down or anything." He paused and laughed. "Logan might, actually, if he knew someone was behind you quitting the writing thing."

As you can probably guess, I did
not
tell Cub and Evan that Lance was married. That was TMI, as far as I was concerned. That part was just too shameful. I knew Mia wouldn't mention it, either.

"Don't say anything to my parents if you don't mind," I said, mostly to Evan. "I'm fine with interior design. It's an interest of mine, anyway. And it's not like I have to quit writing just because I'm not studying it."

We were pulling into Cub's driveway as I finished speaking. He put the truck in park and killed the engine.

"I'd like to read a few of your poems sometime, if you don't mind," Cub said.

"Not me," Evan said, opening the door. "They're probably all angsty and wordy. I'm sure they'd go right over my head."

I knew my cousin well enough to know he didn't mean it. He was just being sweet by providing some comic relief. I squinted and threw a fake punch to his stomach as he helped me out of the truck, and he tickled me.

Cub helped us get our bags out of the back of his truck and carried the heaviest ones to the house for us. Tess greeted us like the well-mannered lady she was. Her excitement was evident, but she'd sit and stay when Cub told her to even though it was obvious that she wanted to tackle us to the ground and plant kisses all over our faces. She was sitting down, but her butt wiggled all over the place because she couldn't control her excitement. It was a hilarious sight, and I just stood there and watched her do this wiggle-sit move.

Cub's house was small and simple but clean and welcoming. It was difficult for me to take it in, though, because I was fixated on Tess. Evan asked Cub a question about construction, and Cub began explaining something about building the house, and the whole time Tess just sat at his side, staring up at him with her bottom wiggling.

Cub absentmindedly put a hand on her head as he spoke to Evan. He said something about the lack of available supplies before looking at Mia and me. "I should probably show you two to your rooms. I have two bedrooms, each of them with a single bed, so you girls can decide who goes where." He gestured around to the couches that were right there in the living room. "Evan and I will sleep out here."

"Are you trying to give one of us
your
bed?" Mia asked.

Cub nodded. "It's not much. It's just a single bed, but it's comfortable."

"We can't, you shouldn't, I, one of us can sleep out here with Evan," I said.

He waved a hand at me like it was no big deal. "I put fresh sheets on there, if that's what you're worried about."

"It's not that. I just don't want you to have to sleep on the couch in your own house." Cub smiled at me and reached out to take me into his arms. "Rachel said you were sweet," he said, squeezing me from the side. Again, the hug was like a brother or some other male family member's, but it still made me take an unsteady breath. Mia's eyes widened just enough for me to understand her message. The sight of it made me smile. I was still grinning when Cub let go of me and pulled back. And then, to my own horror, he reached out and ruffled my hair, leaving no doubt that he looked at me like a little sister.

Tess, who had been barely containing her enthusiasm, jumped up at that point. Cub's contact with me must have been too much for her to watch. As if she wanted to hug me too, she sprang onto her back legs, planting her front paws gently on my shoulders.

"Tess!" Cub shouted, causing her to instantly put all four legs on the ground again.

I couldn’t help but laugh. She'd been gentle about it, but she was huge, and her timing was funny.

"She's such a good girl," I said in a cooing tone as I reached out to put a hand on her head. She tried her best to stay still, but her bottom end wiggled like crazy, making me giggle again.

"She
is
a good girl," Mia added, coming to stand beside me so she could pet her as well.

She used the opportunity to barely step on the edge of my toe. I knew her well enough that she was communicating something, and figured it was the fact that Cub hugged me. I sent a quick eye-roll in her direction, and she smiled.

"She can't sit still because she's so excited," I said, focusing my attention on Tess again. Her rear end wiggled out of control as a result of the attention.

I couldn’t help myself; she was so sweet and excited that I had to let her love on me. I sat cross-legged in front of her and patted my thighs, inviting her onto my lap. Without hesitation, she put her front paws right onto my legs, sniffing my chest and neck. I giggled as I took fistfuls of the fur around her neck and rubbed vigorously.

"You are the best welcoming committee ever!" I said to her in that same baby-talk tone I'd been using.

"You've got a friend for life," Cub said.

I glanced up at him to see that he was smiling down at us. "I'll put your bags away," he said. "You can come find your bedroom if she ever lets you up."

Evan plopped onto one of the couches, and Cub and Mia disappeared down the hallway with our bags.

"This is nice," Evan whispered when I glanced at him. His facial expression made it obvious that he was surprised—like he thought we'd be staying somewhere with dirt floors. Evan was an avid environmentalist who traveled the world fighting global travesties. I could only imagine some of the places he had slept. He was most likely comfortable on a dirt floor.

"Can you believe he built it
himself
?" he asked, looking around.

Evan had come from a family of stonemasons and builders. His dad and brother had taken over our grandpa's family business when he passed away. I wasn't sure why he was so impressed. My face must have reflected my confusion.

"He drew the plans, and then he made them come to life. He's not a contractor who hired an architect, and a plumber, and an electrician, and so forth. He did it all."