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I tried my cousin Cress next. He must’ve already been warned not to talk to me, however, because he didn’t answer, and neither did my other cousin Teagan when I tried her.
After that, I was pissed. So I popped in with my own message on the group chat.
LUCY OLIVIA: Just so you all know, I have NOT approved ANYONE to be my new tenant yet. So maybe you shouldn’t be helping Vaughn move out of his house so quickly, huh?
When no one replied, and I stopped receiving updates after that, I realized I’d been blocked from the group entirely.
“Seriously?” These guys weren’t playing around, were they? They had all ganged up against me to move Vaughn into my renter’s space, whether I liked it or not.
Convinced they had gone insane, I ended up actually cleaning my bathroom while Ava Grace napped. And I only cleaned bathrooms when I was stressed or upset. But how could I be happy about this? They’d brainwashed Vaughn into doing something he didn’t want to do; I was sure of it. I mean, if he really wanted to be anywhere near me right now, he’d gotten a clear invitation to visit, and he’d had a month to accept it, but he hadn’t.
I had a bad feeling about all of this, and I could only wonder what my obnoxious, interfering brother had done to strong-arm Vaughn into going along with him.
When the first truckload of belongings pulled up to the curb in front of my house, I stalked outside to confront Fox and Julian—two non-blood family members—who’d been in the pickup carrying it.
Bracing my feet, I folded my arms over my chest and lifted a stern eyebrow as I watched them climb from the cab of the truck. “You two aren’t seriously going to attempt to move that stuff into my garage without my permission, are you?”
“Come on, Luce,” Fox begged with a pleading expression. “You’re going to get us into trouble with Beau if you don’t let us pass.”
My mouth fell open with incredulous outrage. “Since when is everyone so gung-ho to listen to Beau?” I demanded.
Fox, I could understand. He was Beau’s brother-in-law and had been a freshman in high school when Beau had been a senior. He’d always had a bit of hero worship for his sister’s husband.
But Julian…
Julian was the eldest of our generation, and usually the leader of the pack. Why was he taking orders from my pain in the neck brother?
“I wouldn’t discredit him yet,” Julian made a wincing, indecisive face. “He’s stepped up today and taken charge of this moving expedition. You’d be proud of him.”
“Doubtful,” I muttered as Julian kept talking.
“Besides, I don’t disagree with him. I’m not going to feel comfortable with just anyone moving into your garage, and I think Vaughn’s the safest choice.”
“You met him one time,” I muttered. And that had been weeks ago when he’d been visiting with his wife, Nia, and daughter, Drea, at the same time Vaughn had been visiting Ava.
“Yeah, but my dad met him too, and you know what a savvy judge of character he is.”
“Speaking of your dad,” I added, lifting an eyebrow before glancing Fox’s way to include him too. “And yours as well. Are Pick and Knox over there? Or your mothers? Are any of the parents helping with this moving notion you fools have gotten into your heads?”
Fox sniffed. “We don’t need the parents to take care of this. We got it.”
“Or you’re all too afraid to let them know because they’ll tell you what a rash, irresponsible plan it is.”
Julian lifted an eyebrow and smirked at me. “So why don’t you just call one of them and find out for yourself?”
Unable to back down from that challenge, I snarled, “Oh, I will.” And I pulled my phone from my back pocket before calling my mother.
As the phone rang, I smirked, wondering why I hadn’t done this tactic already.
“Hey, honey,” Mom answered a second later. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” I started. “But do you know what kind of fiasco your son has orchestrated today?”
“Do you mean moving Vaughn into your garage as the new tenant? Oh, yes. Isn’t that a fabulous idea?”
“Fabulous?” I echoed incredulously.
Both Fox and Julian snickered and shared a triumphant look before they gave each other a high five and started to work together, unloading the back of the truck.
