Something New (32 page)

The smooth black asphalt cushioned the pounding of Abby’s feet as she went from walking with speed to outright running, as if putting distance between her and Lorene could protect her from the cutting rejection. These dreams and nightmares had done more than open fissures in her memories of the day her parents died; they’d created enormous cracks in the shell she’d unknowingly put around her life.

Abby reached the car and folded herself against one of the front tires as an onslaught of emotions attacked her. The foster-care system had taught her how to be a survivor. She’d had to let it. The only other option was to constantly get eaten up and spit out by it until there was nothing left worth picking up and trying again. But in surviving, Abby had nailed shut any doors that allowed her a glimpse of the peace and joy in her past. She’d had to do it. If she’d kept herself open and only been given glimpses of what her life used to be, the solitude she’d had to learn to live with would have crushed her.

These dreams are opening all that up again, and I don’t know how to close the door without shutting out Mom and Dad again. Without pushing out Rodrigo and Braden too.

Both men skidded to a halt on either side of Abby and dropped to their knees next to her. Braden took her hand and kissed the side of her head, and Rodrigo tucked one arm around her back and the other across her bent knees.

Rodrigo rubbed his thumb in a soothing circle over Abby’s knee. “You look like you’ve gone through the wringer, Bit.” His dark eyes pinned her to the side of the car. “Are you all right?”

Abby swiped the tear tracks off her cheeks. “I’m fine.” She fanned her face with her hands. “God, I feel like such an emotional idiot.” She blinked any residual wetness away and shifted her line of sight to Braden. “Plus, I shot my mouth off and definitely ruined any chance of Father Jim speaking to us again.”

Braden glanced in the direction of the church, and his eyes grew as hard as the jade stone they sometimes looked like. “He isn’t going to give us the answers anyway. We’ll just have to find them by going around him.”

“That was my thought too,” Abby responded. “Still, I didn’t have to let him get under my skin like I did. He didn’t even have to push my buttons.” She jammed her fist into her thigh hard enough to make it hurt. “I uncovered them and set every one of them off all by myself.”

“Hey.” Braden wrapped his hand around her braid and tugged her face out of hiding. “This is very personal for you, honey. Accepting that it is so, and that you will experience difficult moments that you might not handle in an ice-cold manner, isn’t a sign of weakness.”

As soon as the man paused, Rodrigo picked up where Braden left off. “For the first time since you were a little girl, you’re seeing people who knew your parents and you, and in some way or another, they all let you go. That has to hurt. It doesn’t matter that Mrs. Jones had a good reason; rejection still cuts and bleeds you out the same. You’re dealing with it almost twenty years later, so you feel dumb that you want to cry, but that doesn’t mean you are. You’re definitely not. But you have to let yourself feel it so that you can move through it, rather than trying to build a thick skin so you can better deflect it. You have the softest, most incredible skin, Bit.” Rodrigo moved his fingers under the hem of Abby’s shirt, rubbed the bare skin at the base of her spine, and pushed away some of the weight pressing her into the asphalt. “I don’t want it to get hard because you don’t dare let yourself cry in front of Mrs. Jones.” He moved his hand from Abby’s knee and put it on Braden’s thigh. “Or in front of Braden and me.”

Abby cupped Rodrigo’s cheek, loving the smooth, warm skin that housed a solid jaw. “Were you always this amazing?”

“I hid it under a nice armor of ‘asshole’ most of the time.” Rodrigo flashed one of his know-it-all smiles, but his eyes quickly deepened to onyx. “I don’t want anyone to think I’m weak either. But maybe I’m starting to see that it’s okay to be a little bit exposed with the two of you.”

His elbow braced on his knee, Braden spoke through the hand partially covering his mouth. “I’ve been aching for this relationship since the night I met you two, but I have no experience navigating a successful partnership with one person, let alone two. I just want to be with you guys and take care of you.” Now it appeared as if his eyes glittered in a way he tried to blink away. “If I can’t, if I let either of you down, if I hurt you, then I won’t be able to look at myself in the mirror or think of myself as any kind of a man worth knowing.” That gaze held on Abby’s and tore through her heart. “You need this case solved,” he said, his voice gruff, “for your own sense of peace, and I’m scared as hell I’m not going to be able to do it for you.”

Abby scrubbed at her face and knew her cheeks were dry now because of Rodrigo and Braden. “The two of you are all I need to get through this, even if we never figure out who did it.” She rose to her knees, lowered Braden’s hand from his lips, and pressed a kiss to his palm. “I meant what I said to Lorene.” Shifting, she leaned into Rodrigo and bussed his cheek. “I don’t go anyplace where you’re not welcome too.”

Another fast smile lifted Rodrigo’s lips at the edges. “Are we having a profound moment here?”

Braden cleared his throat. “We’re all sufficiently serious and teary. I think so.”

Dark eyes burned hot between Abby and Braden. “Is it sinful that I’m also feeling an incredible desire to strip you both naked and fuck you right here?” Rodrigo asked.

“Not for me, it isn’t,” Braden muttered as he adjusted the front of his jeans.

Abby refused to let her attention stray to the church. It didn’t deserve a second more of her time. “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind flipping Father Jim the finger in exactly that way, even if it is petty of me.” She looked into Rodrigo’s eyes and let some of that vulnerability they’d just talked about show. “But even more than wanting to thumb my nose at him, I really want to see your house.”

Eyebrows arched with definite intent, Rodrigo said, “Some great places to fuck there too.”

Braden growled. “Let’s go.”

He took one of Abby’s hands, Rodrigo took the other, and together they hoisted her into their embrace.

Chapter Sixteen

Braden pulled into Rodrigo’s drive, and nerves suddenly attacked Rodrigo as he viewed his house with new eyes. The front stucco facade, painted in a warm Tuscan amber hue, was virtually flat, with no steps or porch leading up to the thick oak front door. On either side of the door, beams reached out from the roof of the one-story home all the way to the perimeters, and on parallel below, Rodrigo had rustic planking running underfoot, serving as an abbreviated version of a front porch.

Rodrigo scrambled out of the backseat as soon as Braden killed the engine. Moving backward up the sun-bleached paver walkway, Rodrigo watched Abby and Braden as they took their first look at his home.

“I know it’s not much to look at from the front,” he said quickly, “but it’s the inside that is unique.”

“Are you kidding me?” Abby rushed up the walkway to Rodrigo’s side, her gaze still running the length of the house, and then also glancing left and right at the simple drought-resistant landscaping. “It’s completely inviting. I feel like I’m at a vacation villa in Spain or Italy or Puerto Rico or, I don’t know, somewhere I can feel a cool breeze on my skin as I bask in the morning sun.”

Braden crowded in behind Abby and met Rodrigo’s gaze over her head. “I was just going to say
it’s nice
and
I like it
, but all the subtext would have been what she just said.”

In a wave, the tension stiffening Rodrigo’s back and shoulders fell away, and the jackhammer nailing his gut lost its power. “Right.” He palmed his key out of his pocket and unlocked the front door. “Let me show you the inside.”

With one inward swing of the large door, Rodrigo stepped over the threshold of his home and bade Abby and Braden welcome. As soon as they entered, he shut the door behind them, leaned back against it, and beamed inside with silent pride.

The front room ran the length of the house and served as a living-room-and-office combo. The wall at Rodrigo’s back was a cool white, the flooring beneath his feet was dark wood, and the furniture was clean and functional in warm, natural color palettes. It was simple yet inviting. He had deliberately kept everything minimal for one reason and one reason only.

Abby dropped her purse and rushed to that very reason right now. “Rodrigo.” She put her nose to the glass. “It’s breathtaking.”

A picture window made up the entire inner wall of the room, and a courtyard lay beyond. Enclosed on all four sides by the house itself, the centerpiece of the courtyard was a pool tiled in varying shades of blue laid out in such a way as to create an ombré effect, making the pool look so bottomless one might think it was a lagoon. The secluded yard also had ample comfortable outdoor seating as well as solid teak table and chairs, a bar, and a fully functioning kitchen area.

Abby slowly turned around to face Rodrigo, her mouth agape. “I don’t see how this place didn’t sell in a snap.”

Rodrigo stuck out his hand in offering. “Let me show you why.”

As Abby closed her fingers around Rodrigo’s, Rodrigo reached out and snagged a silent Braden with his other hand and tugged the man along with them. He walked them around the west corner of the front room, came upon his open bedroom door, and pulled them both inside. Just like the living area, the inner wall of Rodrigo’s bedroom looked out onto the courtyard, which in his opinion, made one hell of a view at night. His king-size bed faced the glass, and again, simple furniture designs took a backseat to allow the full window wall to be the star. The bed butted the back wall, and open wood-framed arches cut into that wall at the ends.

“Those entrances lead into a narrow walk-in closet that runs the length of the room behind the wall. If you look across the way,” Rodrigo explained, leaning his shoulder against the window, “that’s the kitchen on the other side of the courtyard. It has a full pantry that mirrors the way I laid out the closet in here. It’s the same size as this space and doubles as sort of a half casual dining area as well as having the kitchen basics.

“And that door over there”—Rodrigo pointed to the front end of the far wall—“is the bathroom.” Abby stood the closest. With his hands shoved in his pockets, Rodrigo nudged his shoulder in her direction. “Go ahead.”

Abby pushed open the door, and from across the room, Rodrigo heard her gasp. “Oh wow.” She moved farther in and disappeared from Rodrigo’s sight, but her voice echoed back, “It’s beautiful.”

Braden followed Abby into the bathroom, and although Rodrigo had built it and had every detail memorized, he brought up the rear. Created to work with the corner of the house, the steam shower and soaking tub were separate pieces that butted up against each other at the corner. The tub had a step-up ledge, and the clear glass-encased shower had a stone tile bench, floor, and walls with twin showerheads that hit at different levels. A toilet and two individually set sinks rounded out the bathroom.

“Jesus Christ, man.” Braden let out a low whistle as he opened the shower door and stepped inside. “You could fit a whole basketball team in here.”

Rodrigo worked hard to keep the smile full of pride and ridiculous giddiness off his face. “All of a sudden Abby and I aren’t enough for you, Crenshaw?” He openly checked Braden out through the glass. “You need a whole team sharing your bed and bathroom now?”

Braden flipped Rodrigo the bird from inside the shower. “Jackass.”

On the outside, Rodrigo chuckled. On the inside, as he watched Braden and Abby ooh and ahh at all the little touches, he wanted to share everything about his decision to move walls and the risk he’d taken in completely reimagining this house from top to bottom. In response, he wanted Abby and Braden to tell him that everything he’d done was spot-on and great and that he’d chosen the right career and was great at what he did for a living. Instead, Rodrigo kept his explanations to a minimum and tried not to sound like a needy braggart.

“Rodrigo”—Abby rushed up to him and linked her arm through his—“the more I see, the better it gets.” She practically bounced at his side. “Show us the rest.”

Now comes the flaw that kept it from selling.

Rodrigo wanted to bask in Abby’s compliments, but radical design choices had cost him six figures and shaken his confidence. He guided her around the bend in the bathroom, past a small vanity area, and then pointed ahead. “Go through that door.”

Abby did, and it led them straight into a room that mirrored the first. A matching picture window ran the length of the inner wall. On the back wall, French doors opened up into Rodrigo’s backyard. The doors led to an open grassy area with seasonal flowers and foliage, as well as another group of outdoor seating that looked onto an open field as far as the eye could see. This was Rodrigo’s media room; it had plush leather seating on the far end around a big-screen TV mounted to the wall, and it also had a vintage pool table.

“My goodness, Rodrigo.” Abby spun from the French doors and crossed to the picture window. “Everywhere you look is breathtaking.”

Before Rodrigo could respond, Braden joined him at the pool table. “But your master bathroom links two rooms,” he said as he leaned his hip against the carved wood.

“You got it in one.” Rodrigo grimaced. “It’s a somewhat common thing in houses in other countries, but American buyers don’t tend to like double entrances for bathrooms, particularly for a master bathroom. I could have shrunk the width of the bedroom to provide a hallway along the west wall of the house. I could have done that and created a bridge from the front room to here, but the space it would have taken would have encroached on the bedroom’s width by a third, which basically would have put the foot of almost any bed to bumping up against the picture window.”

Abby crinkled her nose. “It would have killed the wonderful airy vibe in that room.”

“Absolutely.” Rodrigo wanted to hug her for so immediately picking up on that truth. “And unless I wanted the hallway to be dark, I would have had to put windows on that side wall, and even then, it still would have felt like an old dungeon hallway at night. I made a choice.” He shrugged. “When I took this house on, I knew it would be a risk. It didn’t have any of the practical elements of the homes I usually choose to refurbish. This is basically four big rooms, only one of which is a bedroom, although I suppose someone could choose to make this a bedroom if they wanted to. There is another bathroom on the front end of the house, before you get to the kitchen, but it’s just a half bath.”