North Dakota Weddings (5 page)

And she hated starting every day with the yelling, but she couldn’t get a response any other way. “Eli—”

“Okay, okay.” Elisa rounded the corner from the hall. “You don’t have to yell.”

“Don’t I?”

Elisa downed her orange juice, then tugged on her backpack before heading out the door without another word.

“Guess you don’t want your bacon.” Andi grabbed the crispy piece and stuck it in her mouth, then rushed through the door, spraying the air freshener behind her. She set it on the counter just before closing the door.

Juggling everything, she locked up. She climbed into the driver’s side of the truck and slid in next to Elisa, who had already tuned her out with an MP3 player and ear buds. She nudged her sister, who responded with the look. “Turn it down. I shouldn’t be able to hear it.”

“What?” Utter disrespect dripped from her lips.

Andi fought to stifle her anger. Oh, how she hated starting her day like this.
Lord, if You’re there, please help me
. But then, she knew He wasn’t. She sighed long and hard. “Look, those things can damage your ears. I shouldn’t be able to hear the music.”

“Whatever.” Elisa tucked them back into her ears and stared out the passenger side window.

Andi deserved Elisa. Especially after all the trouble she’d given their father when she was a teen and then their grandmother who raised them. She’d died a year ago. It made Andi wonder what her grandmother or father had done to deserve
her?
Where did the cycle begin? Regardless, she was sorry for every time she’d given people a hard time when she was growing up.

She started the truck and backed from the drive, taking solace in the fact that Elisa had turned the music down. Even so, Andi didn’t think God had answered the silent prayer she’d sent up. He stopped caring a long time ago. Out of nowhere, tears formed.

Gut it up, this is life
. One long sniff through her nose and she was good to go. She wouldn’t give up. Not now. Not ever. Never mind that Mom left Dad when Andi was a girl and Elisa a baby. That Dad had died four years ago. That Grandma had left them with scarce funds when she’d died last year. That Andi had had to leave college to take care of Elisa.

The house Dad had left them still had a mortgage on it. She’d had to think fast to keep it, so she ended up following in his footsteps, starting her own business. She’d obtained her license to become a contractor. It was all she knew to do. College could have changed that, but it was out of the question now. Still, she’d had a tough time winning any bids.

Then Vance Erickson had come to the rescue, hiring her to remodel the missile site. She couldn’t have asked for a better job. Now he was gone, she had no new jobs, and what little money was left wouldn’t hold up long against the mounting bills.

His namesake had shown up two days ago—a little strange like his uncle and cute in a nerdy sort of way. A whisper inside her said God had sent him. That He was listening after all. But she shoveled and buried the thought. Life had been too hard on her, and Vance Young didn’t deserve to inherit a property like that—he hadn’t even known his uncle. She had.

Mr. E had loved her grandmother, wanted to marry her when they were younger, before Grandpa. Andi liked to think if they had both lived, they would have married.

Waiting at a red light, she glanced at her cell phone resting on the seat. Still no call from Vance Young. She shook her head. Why hadn’t the guy called? Surely he could see that work on the missile site had to be finished.

Plain and simple, she was desperate.

She pulled up to the curb at the school.

Elisa went frantic. “No! Park
away
from the school. I can’t be seen in this.” She slunk down into the seat.

Andi drove past the school and stopped. “Okay. I’m going to sit here and watch. If I don’t see you walk into that building, I’ll park in front and walk you in myself next time. You hear me?”

Elisa stepped from the truck, then stuck her head back in, smiling. “Thanks, sis. Oh, I forgot. That missile base guy called.” She slammed the door, then took off toward the school.

“What? Wait. When?” Andi stuck her head out the window. “What did he say? Elisa?” But she’d been talking to the street. Elisa hadn’t heard.

Andi ground her teeth.
That girl
. She watched until she saw her sister meet up with friends and walk into the building. What more could Andi do than that? The truancy had to stop. She shifted the truck into gear. Maybe she needed to get her sister counseling or therapy. Or maybe Elisa needed to get a grip like Andi had.

She looked at her cell phone but found no messages there. Why hadn’t he called her on her cell? Likely Elisa told him she’d pass on the message.

Andi growled. “Teenagers!”

Without his number she couldn’t call him back. She’d have to remember that little trick in the future—ask for a cell phone number!

If his answer wasn’t positive, she sure didn’t want to drive all the way out. She wasn’t in the state of mind to persuade him otherwise. If she found a number on caller ID, it might be Vance Junior’s. Except if he’d called her on his cell and now he was down under, he’d never get her return call. How could such a simple thing be so complicated? What was the matter with her?

Elisa is the matter
. While Andi was trying to keep both their heads above water, Elisa was determined to drown them both.

Andi placed her palm against her forehead.
Get a grip
. Was the phone that rang directly into the base still working? She dialed Vance Erickson’s old number to the missile base and allowed it to ring twenty-five times without an answer. Her spirits sagging, she hung up.

A visit to Freya would do her good at the moment, then she’d try Vance Young again. After she swung by the local grocery store to grab the cookies—white chocolate and macadamia nuts—Andi headed to Freya’s, wishing she had baked them fresh. Didn’t Freya deserve that much? Andi turned off a street onto a bumpy dirt road. The older woman lived a few miles outside of town near the railroad tracks in the same house where she grew up. Freya’s Oldsmobile of twenty years was parked in the driveway. Good. Andi hadn’t made the drive out for nothing.

Before Andi climbed from her truck, Freya stood on the porch, holding the screen door open for her. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” she called out to Andi.

Andi smiled, grabbed the cookies, and shut the truck door. Once on the porch, she said, “I brought you something.”

Freya patted her back as she entered the house. “Thank you. You rest on the davenport over there, I’ll get us some tea. Chamomile?”

“Sounds good.” Andi breathed in the smell of the old home. Memories flooded in on her. Because Freya and Andi’s grandmother had been close friends, Andi and Elisa had spent time here, eating pot roast on Sundays, playing cards in the evenings, and running around in the fenced-in backyard.

Freya approached, offering a teacup on a saucer. “What’s bothering you?”

Gently taking the cup and saucer, Andi sighed. She didn’t want a trip down memory lane right now. A big smile would throw the woman off. “Nothing at all. So how’ve you been?”

Freya proceeded to share long-drawn-out tales of her two dogs—they had taken to barking incessantly. There must be a wild animal nearby. Then on to the local gossip.

“I hear there’s a new tenant at the old missile site.” Sipping her tea, Freya lifted a questioning brow.

Andi almost spewed her tea. “What? How did you hear that?”

“Someone talked to a fellow at the grocery store. Said he was staying there.”

“Mr. Erickson’s great-nephew. His name is Vance Young.”

Freya winked. “Thought you might know of him. Have you met him yet? Is he anything of a looker like his uncle?”

“I guess you could say that.” She glanced at her watch.

“More tea?”

As much as she adored Freya, Andi felt sure the woman wanted her to stay so she could pry more news from her. But Andi really had nothing to share. At least not yet. “No thank you. That reminds me. I’m working on a bid, so I have to go now.”

“That’s my Andi. Your business is going to take off. Just you wait and see.”

After a quick peck on Freya’s cheek, Andi wished her well and left. Back in her truck, she tried to call Vance again.

“Hello?”

Sweet potatoes
. He’d answered. Relief was quickly replaced with panic. What if he turned her down? “Mr. Young…uh, Vance, this is—”

“Hi, Andi.”

Andi liked the sound of his voice. “My sister informed me this morning that you called.”

“I told you I’d get back to you.”

“Yeah, you did. Have you made a decision, then?”

“I have.”

Andi’s breath hitched. “And?”

“Let’s do this.”

Trembling, she almost dropped the phone. Maybe, just maybe, God was listening after all.

There was only one problem—by now the subs she had used were probably working on other jobs.

T
he next day, Andi drove on the stretch of highway that passed through the North Dakota prairie and farmland to her revived worksite—the old missile launch control center. A coyote darted across the highway, causing Andi to slow up. Clear blue skies promised a beautiful day, though that wouldn’t matter since the bulk of their work was done underground. Still, some of the messier jobs—like cutting tile or granite with a wet saw—were best done outside.

She’d spent yesterday lining up subs, relieved that she’d have her old standbys, brothers Lars and Karl Handley. They’d both known her dad years before and had been more than happy to give her a chance when she started the business.

They’d worked at Ground Zero and knew how to do almost everything in construction. They worked well together, which was good because she didn’t want to give the new owner any reason to doubt her ability to finish the job. He’d sounded doubtful when she informed him she was a contractor. Still, he’d seemed impressed with the work.

How could he not be impressed? It was beautiful.

Only one problem tried to dampen her mood. Elisa moaned from the passenger seat as though she could read Andi’s thoughts.

Andi pounded the steering wheel. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Just leave me alone,” Elisa mumbled, leaning her head against the window.

Andi pursed her lips. She wanted nothing more than to give Elisa a good tongue-lashing, but she figured Elisa had had her fill of lectures. Andi knew from experience there came a point when a person wouldn’t listen anymore. What Andi had to figure out was how to reach her younger sister.

Teenage years were never easy, but Elisa had pushed Andi to the edge. She’d stayed out all night last night—a school night, no less—and come dragging in during the early morning hours. Andi had thought she’d been asleep in her bed all night.

Not only did Andi have to watch the girl walk into the school building—“Do I have to check up on you every five minutes now?”

Only a grunt came in response. Any response at all was a surprise.

Andi pressed her lips together again, wanting to say more, oh so much more. She pulled up to a stop sign and slumped against the seat. After the lone car passed, Andi drove across the intersection.

“What am I going to do?” she asked, for her own benefit. She didn’t expect a coherent answer from her hung-over sister. She couldn’t send her to school because she was too sick to function. Nor would Andi dare leave Elisa at home alone.

If there was one thing she hated, it was feeling like she had no control over a situation, and the situation with Elisa had definitely spiraled out of control.

“If you’re bent on skipping school, then you can just work with me.” Andi still had a job to do and a secret to discover within the walls of Ground Zero.

“Could you stop talking?” Elisa leaned forward and put her head in her lap.

Andi shook her head, giving up for the moment, and focused on the drive ahead. Dealing with Elisa had put her behind this morning. Again. Though the missile site wasn’t too far now, she’d be lucky if she made it there before Lars and Karl. She drove into the parking area where the brothers were unloading their trucks.

She stepped from the cab of hers. “Hey boys. Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

Between the three of them, they should be able to handle the bulk of the remodel. Andi and Vance had agreed that the quickest path to completion would be for him to foot the costs of materials and subs—he had a decent savings—but she’d have to wait on a good portion of her contractor’s fee, again, until Ground Zero sold. Selling a lavish underground home could take awhile. Until another job opportunity came through, it was the best prospect she had.

Remodeling would also mean she’d get to see more of the younger Vance.

Why had that thought dropped from the sky?
Get a grip
. She pressed the intercom to announce their arrival to Vance below ground and waited for his response, which, if nothing else, should prompt the elevator door to open—all designed for the older Vance. When Vance Junior didn’t respond, Andi used her key to unlock the elevator lock-down button, figuring he hadn’t heard the intercom for some reason. It occurred to her that she hadn’t shown him how to use the system. At the time, he’d seemed eager to get some rest, and she wasn’t sure he’d be staying for even one night.

The men followed her into the elevator, loaded down with ladders and tools. It was a tight fit. Today they’d trim out the portion of the launch control center that served as an extra bedroom. She’d have to get the electrician in before they could do anything on the equipment building. That, and pump any excess water out.

She didn’t bother to rouse Elisa. When it grew warm enough, she’d come inside. Andi glanced at her watch, glad they were getting started bright and early. Though she’d called to remind Vance to expect her crew today, since he’d not answered, she hoped they wouldn’t be stumbling into anything…embarrassing.

The elevator doors swooshed open and they hiked through the tunnel. Lars opened the blast door for them, then Andi cautiously stepped through into the well-lit living room.