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Sighing in relief, she sat in the chair next to him, and with Dad on the other end of the couch, they surrounded him with an eerie interest that made me tilt my head curiously. But, uh, why were my parents crowding around Vaughn and watching him eat with such fixed interest?
“So, Vaughn,” my mom started politely, “did you have any luck with the list of grants I gave you? Or that revised résumé?”
Aah, okay. Now things were making more sense.
“You guys know each other already,” I surmised around a mouthful as I pointed my fork between them.
“Yes; it’s the craziest thing.” Mom turned to me, her eyes lighting with excitement as they usually did when she had juicy gossip to divulge. “He was one of my students.” Then, toggling her hand, she added, “Kind of. He took one of my classes at the library back when I taught those free courses. I recognized him immediately when I opened the door. But I had his name wrong. All this time, I thought he was John Miller.”
“John Miller? Oh yeah.” I brightened. “I remember you talking about that guy.” I’d been in high school, about to graduate back then.
“Right?” Mom agreed, motioning to me gratefully. “But John Miller was actually Vaughn Merrill.” And she swept her hand toward Duke’s brother.
My mouth dropped open in shock. “What? Really?” My mother had been absolutely affected by that student. He’d had a really sad story, I guess, and—
“Wait a second.” I shook my head. “Didn’t that guy just lose his parents? And then he found out his brother had…”
Oh…
He’d been forced to drop out of college to take care of his little brother after his parents’ tragic car accident, only for them to discover the brother had cancer a few years later.
My lips parted when I suddenly remembered that Duke’s obituary had mentioned how both his parents had preceded him in death. Oh wow. Everything about Vaughn fit the John Miller story Mom had told us back then.
Realizing it had been Vaughn who’d gone through those awful circumstances made me start to look at him in the same concerned yet amazed way my parents were. He’d survived the loss of his entire family, and yet he sat there so placidly as if he’d never suffered at all.
Oblivious to our ogling, he took his first bite of eggs, then lifted his eyebrows in surprise before quickly following it with another. By about his fourth forkful, he finally seemed to realize we were all just watching him eat, and he slowed the path of his fork to his mouth.
Embarrassed about being caught, I jerked my attention away and focused on my food as Vaughn cleared his throat. “I, uh…” he started, trying to clear away the awkwardness he must be feeling. “Your help with grant writing was a godsend, you know. Duke received four of the six grants we applied for over the years, and they’ve covered a good portion of the out-of-pocket hospital bills we’ve had.”
“Oh, Vaughn, that’s great.” Mom pressed both of her hands to her chest and sighed happily.
I glanced up in time to see Vaughn swallow and nod. “Yeah,” he agreed quietly. “And the new résumé I made after your classes helped me get a good job with insurance that covered Duke’s illness too.”
“Perfect,” Mom murmured, nodding with pride. “I’m so glad that worked out for you, at least.”
The moment she added at least, however, Mom cringed and seemed to realize how lame her encouragement was.
“It really did,” Vaughn politely agreed. “I can’t thank you enough for how much you assisted me that year. I don’t know where things would’ve gone without learning what you taught me.”
“Well, that’s Aspen for you,” Dad said, glancing lovingly at Mom. He repositioned Ava in his arms and turned back to Vaughn. “So where did you end up working?”
“Dawe Tech,” Vaughn answered, only for me to brighten and make a sound in my throat as I pointed my fork at him.
Vaughn glanced my way as I swallowed the food in my mouth. “Dawe Tech,” I repeated. “We run ads for them at Beriss.”
“I...know,” he answered slowly, then cleared his throat before adding, “that’s how I got Duke a job there.”
“Really?” I blinked at him, then shook my head. “So it’s your fault I even met him in the first place, huh?” I teased.
But Vaughn didn’t seem to catch the humor in my voice. His face went sheet white before he mumbled, “I guess.”
I opened my mouth with the instinctive need to apologize because it felt as if I’d said the wrong thing. But I wasn’t sure what I was actually apologizing for.
After a quick glance to my mother for assistance, she jumped in with, “What exactly do you do at Dawe Tech?”
God bless her.
The distraction seemed to work, and Vaughn cleared his throat again before he went on to describe the job he had as a telecom engineer. “I mostly plan cable routes and make sure reception reaches the optimal amount of people.”
