North Dakota Weddings Read Online Free PDF Page B

“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.