Soldier’s Christmas Nanny (Trinity Falls: Home for Christmas #6)

Chapter 1

EVANGELINE

Evangeline gazed out the kitchen window as she mixed up the ingredients for a peanut butter pie to the beat of the Christmas music playing in the next room.

There was once a time when Thanksgiving night would mean every row home on the block would have glowing lights and people spilling outside for a breath of fresh air.

But tonight, so many of the windows were dark.

She could probably count on one hand how many of the neighbors she actually knew anymore.

What had once been a tight-knit city neighborhood had turned into a place people moved away from, all those once-beloved family homes turned into rentals or abandoned all together.

Someone must have made a joke in the next room, because suddenly there was the deep reassuring sound of Rory’s laughter.

Her brother was one of those people who always seemed to bring warmth and merriment with him wherever he went. No one could resist his easy charm. When she heard his friends laughing along with him she felt a little pang of gratitude.

This had always been the happy soundtrack of Evangeline’s growing up.

Their parents hadn’t been around, but Grandpa Pete raised them with so much love.

And when he passed, Rory stepped right into his shoes.

Her beloved big brother had a sort of magic that made everything around him seem about ten shades brighter.

It was how he had made this dingy little house seem like a palace to her, and their family of two feel as big and bustling as any on the block.

We don’t need much, Rory used to tell her. Just each other.

And he put his money where his mouth was by helping out Grandpa Pete in the garage below the house. It was just a one-car garage under a Philly row home, but Grandpa Pete ran his unofficial handyman and motorcycle repair business out of it.

When Grandpa Pete passed, Rory quietly quit school and took over the shop, somehow managing to keep food on the table and the lights on.

Evangeline did her part by taking on babysitting jobs after school. Rory didn’t want her to at first. But when he realized it meant he could work later hours while she was safe and happy watching the neighbor kids, he relented.

By the time she finished high school, one of her best clients had moved to a swanky new neighborhood, so she was taking the bus to work for them. It was a bit of a hike, but they paid double what anyone on her block could afford.

And just two months ago, when that family’s youngest child started school, Evangeline started working as a live-in nanny for the first time, for an even wealthier family.

It was lonely without Rory at first, but she figured she was in her twenties now, and it made sense to live as much on her own as she could afford to do. She didn’t want her brother feeling like he had to look after her anymore.

Coming back here after being away for a bit really made her see the house differently.

It was hard not to notice the threadbare carpets and peeling wallpaper.

And the place wasn’t as clean now that she was away.

Hopefully, she could get Rory distracted and give the kitchen floor a good scrub at some point this weekend.

“Is that another peanut butter pie?” Rory’s deep voice boomed happily as he stepped into the kitchen.

“We can’t have Thanksgiving leftovers tomorrow without your favorite,” she said, turning to him. “And you’ve got so many friends over that my first pie is going to disappear in a heartbeat.”

Rory had a legendary appetite, but of course he was over six feet tall and just enormous, so it made perfect sense. Nothing about the man was small—he had a big laugh, a big frame, and the biggest heart.

Predictably, he swiped out some of the mix from the bowl she was stirring, then stuck his finger in his mouth and hummed out his approval.

“Rory,” she half-scolded him.

“You have to pay the toll,” he teased her, shrugging. “I don’t make the rules.”

At least it was a no-bake dessert without any raw eggs in it.

“The turkey was amazing,” she told him, meaning it. “Where did you get it?”

“Oh, Rooster had a coupon,” he said. “And the boys chipped in for stuff. Frankie brought the potatoes, and I got the green beans and stuffing. We hold it together just fine around here, sis. No need to have Thanksgiving catered, like your Society Hill friends.”

He pranced around the kitchen in his imitation of her employers, with his nose up in the air and his pinkies out.

“Would you cay-ahhh for some tur-kaaaay, Evangeline, dahhhhhhhling?” he asked her in a completely made-up fancy accent.

This was exactly the kind of good-natured Rory nonsense she had been missing.

“They’re not my friends,” she laughed helplessly. “I work for them.”

“That’s what they all say,” he remarked lightly, stealing a little more batter. “I’ll start some coffee.”

They focused on getting coffee and dessert ready for a few more minutes, and Evangeline quickly threw the empty green beans cans and the glass gravy jar in the recycling and tidied up as best she could. The counter was tiny, so she could only do about a sink full of dishes before stopping to dry.

“Quit that,” Rory told her as soon as he noticed. “I’ll get it all later. Just enjoy the day.”

“This is part of enjoying the day,” she told him. “Remember when Mrs. Jones came for Thanksgiving and she cleaned the whole kitchen?”

“I thought Grandpa Pete was going to propose,” Rory laughed.

He’d always seemed to have a bit of a crush on the widow across the street. Now they were both gone.

“I’m so glad your friends are still around,” Evangeline told him. She couldn’t live with herself staying in that Society Hill attic if it meant Rory was alone.

“Well, Rooster’s pretty happy to have your room for now,” Rory said.

“I know,” she told him, smiling. “He keeps saying Rooster in the Henhouse, and winking at me.”

Rory laughed and rolled his eyes.

Grandpa used to call their row home The Henhouse because Grandma ruled the roost, and that was just how he liked it. Even after she passed, he liked to say they were just keeping the henhouse warm for her.

“He might not be around forever though,” Rory said. “He mentioned he was stopping by the recruiter’s office next week.”

“Wow,” she said. “That’s really amazing. Good for Rooster.”

The military was a great option for guys like him, who might not have a lot of good work opportunities on the table, especially with the way the neighborhood was going. But Rory was going to miss his best friend, so it was bittersweet news.

The doorbell rang before they could continue the conversation. A quick buzz and then a bunch of longer ones, like the person downstairs was in a real hurry.

“I’ve got it,” Rory said, hurrying out of the kitchen.

Evangeline went back to the window and peeked out the curtain at the front walk.

What she saw sent a shiver down her spine.

Like any place, their neighborhood had its good elements and its bad ones, and the Vagabonds were definitely the bad ones.

The group of local guys called themselves a motorcycle club but Evangeline thought of them as more of a gang of thugs and low-level criminals.

And with the legitimate jobs drying up, more and more of the young men like Rooster and her brother were joining up with them.

Once you were accepted, sporting the trademark “V” tattoo on your neck was basically a ticket to do whatever you wanted, and for Evangeline, it was a sign to steer clear.

On this holiday, she was thankful for a lot of things, but especially that the gang had never managed to get its hooks into Rory.

Right now, three of the members stood on the front sidewalk.

One member that was built like a refrigerator flicked a cigarette butt into the street as they waited.

Another, with a shaved head, held the handlebars of a motorcycle but wasn’t riding, as if he had walked it over to the garage for repair.

She said a silent prayer that Rory would just ignore them. But a moment later, her brother appeared on the street. He talked to the men for a moment before taking the bike and heading into the garage with it.

Evangeline ran out of the kitchen, through the thicket of Rory’s friends in the living room, and down the stairs to the garage.

“Eva, what the heck?” Rory said as she burst in the door from the steps.

He was bent over, securing the garage door to the street.

The bike stood at the center of the space.

“You’re not working for them, are you?” Evangeline asked quietly, hoping there was some other explanation.

Rory just gazed back at her for a moment, a sad expression in his eyes.

The garage had always been a sort of safe haven.

Evangeline loved every corner of it. Tools hung from pegboards on the walls, labeled in Grandpa Pete’s careful handwriting.

There were shelves of old glass baby food jars that held washers, bolts, screws, nails, and other odds and ends that could be used for handy projects.

If she ever caught the light scent of oil and gas anywhere else, it always brought her right back to all her memories here with Rory and Grandpa Pete, helping to fetch tools and rags, or bringing down cups of Dr. Pepper when it was a hot day or they had a big project.

But the motorcycle in the center of the floor wiped away all of those happy memories and left her feeling shaky.

“I can’t tell them no,” Rory said quietly after a moment. “Grandpa Pete always fixed their bikes in exchange for them leaving us alone. They wheeled them up around back and he took care of them quietly and sent them on their way. This is no different.”

The news came as a shock. She hadn’t known about Grandpa Pete’s deal with those men, though it occurred to her now that it had probably been pretty naive of her to think that he didn’t have one.

“This is completely different,” Evangeline protested. “They came right up to the front door and rang the bell. On a holiday.”

“Well, the Vagabonds are under new leadership these days,” Rory explained like it should have been obvious. “I told them today that they need to come around back from now on.”

She nodded, trying to hold back the tears that burned in her eyes.

Sweet as Grandpa Pete always was, there was a core of strength in the old man that probably kept the bikers in line when dealing with him. He was practical, but he wasn’t one to be pushed around. He always reminded her of a big, protective bear.

Rory, on the other hand, was more of a teddy bear. What if they didn’t respect the same deal with him?

“Hey,” Rory said, moving closer and pulling her into a hug. “I’m going to be okay. You know that, right? I’ve got this. You just worry about you, and that fancy new job.”

She hugged him back hard, nodding her head so he would know she trusted him. After all, her big brother had gotten them this far. Who was she to tell him what to do?

But when he let go and they headed back upstairs together, she couldn’t help hearing her grandfather’s words of warning in her head.

He’d repeated them so often back when Rory was a teenager and he was worried about him getting involved with the gang.

You can’t give an inch, because they always want a mile…