Vow of Devotion (Vow Series Book 4) Read online

  Tomorrow we’ll start leveling the lots in preparation for the foundation. The dirt underneath my hands will be turned, the grass will be gone, and, before the end of the week, the foundation for the model home will be setting. And everything from the first shovelful of dirt to the last lick of paint is in my hands. This is my first time managing a project alone for the company. Everything from concept to execution. It’s a huge task, but one I’m more than ready for. I’ve been dreaming of my own neighborhood since I understood what my father built.

  Homes.

  My imagination takes off. Kids whizzing down the street on their bikes. Families hosting barbecues in the park. Block parties on the Fourth, watching fireworks light up the sky. The fictitious happy families in my mind morph into Ava and her daughter. Ava watching her daughter play on a jungle gym I’ve commissioned with her in mind.

  Ava hasn’t strayed far from my thoughts, cementing the fact that this is different. I’ve had one conversation with her, but she’s popped into my mind every hour since and I wish I had a way of contacting her.

  A car door slamming ruins my daydreams of a blond beauty. My head jerks up, turning toward the intruder. I’ve dreamed of having this moment to myself for a long time. Unease winds its way through me and my teeth grind together when my intruder, Camden, steps out of his sensible four-door gray Audi sedan.

  His fists prop on his hips as he surveys the land in front of him, his lip curling. Immediately my hackles rise.

  I push up from the dirt and stand, crossing my arms over my chest. Camden’s perusal of the area ends and his gaze lands on me. “Hudson.”

  “What are you doing here, Cam?”

  “Seeing what you’re willing to gamble your family’s life’s work on.”

  I spent the better part of a year searching for the right piece of land to build my first neighborhood. Our company does a little of everything—commercial buildings, apartments, affordable homes, and luxury living. Luxury is the most fascinating to me and the sector I want to master.

  There were many parcels of land for sale, but none of them were right until this one. I won it in a bidding war. Things go wrong on job sites. It’s part of the nature of this industry, but I need most things to go right to ensure my investment is profitable. There’s padding in my projected schedule, but I want to come in ahead of time.

  I didn’t choose this land without thinking about it, and I didn’t pick it with the intention of failing. Failure is not an option. My first project is bigger than any of my brothers dared after they bought in, but that doesn’t mean I’ll fail.

  I sneer. “Fuck you, brother.”

  The purr of an engine grabs our attention. Dad’s freshly washed truck pulls to a stop before he climbs out of the cab.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

  Standing on a build site the night before ground breaks is one of Dad’s traditions. It’s something he usually does alone, but he’s taken each of his sons with him a time or two. He takes in the land, touches the dirt, and prays.

  He knew I would be here, but I never thought he would come interrupt me. When I approached him about a luxury project, he didn’t balk. He just asked if I was ready. I assured him I was.

  I kneel down again, trying to find calm in the land beneath my palms. I’ve never really been one for prayer, but as my hands slide through the dirt and the grass tickles my arms, I think about each person who will come to this land. My crews of men and women working dangerous jobs, the families that are depending on me to give them a safe and secure home, and my family . . . who doesn’t have faith in me not to fuck up this job.

  “Dad,” I greet when his boots come into my peripheral vision.

  “Son.” He puts a hand on my shoulder. “Just wanted to see how you’re feeling about tomorrow.”

  “Confident.” I stand, facing my brother. “Why are you here?”

  “Checking in with Kevin.” Cam looks down at his shoes, kicking the dirt before raising his gaze to meet mine again. “There’s a buyer interested in this land. We can still get out of this. There’s still one signature needed to close. If you don’t sign, we can get out of this.”

  “Why would I want to get out of this? I’m putting every goddamn thing into this.”

  “If you fail—”

  “I’m not going to fail,” I roar, taking a step toward him.

  “Boys.” Dad steps between us. He doesn’t need to do this often. I’m not usually one to lose my temper, but dammit. My shoulders are starting to buckle under the disappointment of a family that apparently doesn’t believe in me. “Stop this.”

  My chest is heaving as frustration pours through me.

  “Hudson,” Dad says calmly, “I don’t think you’re going to fail, but maybe we should put this on hold. If it doesn’t turn out to your projections, we will hemorrhage money in the next quarter. There isn’t enough to pick up the slack.”

  “There won’t be slack to pick up,” I insist. When another rumbling engine catches my attention, I groan.

  It’s another black truck, an exact replica of mine. The only difference is the damn license plate.

  “This is just getting better and better,” I mumble under my breath.

  Kevin Thurber. He stumbles out of his truck, waves at us, and walks through the grass with a grin on his face. It’s the same grin that’s followed me everywhere since Cub Scouts. Kevin likes to pop up in my life like the worst game of whack-a-mole ever. Most of the time, it’s an annoyance I can swat down. Today though, he has the last contract I need to sign. Today, his presence is fucking welcome.

  When he reaches us, he steps up to me, holding out his hand. When I shake it, he tugs me forward, bringing me in for a hug. His over-the-top enthusiasm whenever he sees me is what annoys me the most.

  “I have that contract,” Kevin says. “How are you, Mr. Wells? Camden?”

  Both Dad and Camden grunt their responses. Kevin isn’t their favorite person either. I’m not sure what Kevin did to gain our account at his firm, but when he started popping into our office to say hello at least twice a week, none of us were happy.

  “Thanks.” I take the manila envelope from Kevin. I’ve read through this contract and only have to sign it again because of a damn typo in the last one. I pull the papers from the envelope. Kevin hands me a pen and I bend down, using my thigh as a table.

  “Dammit, Hudson,” Camden says. “If you screw us over . . .” He glances at Kevin, not wanting to air our dirty laundry in front of him.

  “I’m sure it’s going to be great,” Kevin says. “Everything Hudson touches turns to gold.”

  Over the fucking top, as usual. I hand back the signed contract. “Thanks.”

  Kevin puts away the papers, grinning. “Congratulations.”

  I nod my head but keep staring at him, hoping he’ll take the hint and leave.

  He falters for a moment, then looks down at his shoes, trying to hide his disappointment. “Let’s try to have lunch this week. My treat, of course.”

  “I’ll be busy with the site.” I know I’m being a dick, brushing him off, but after dealing with my family’s “support” tonight, I’m out of patience.

  Kevin finally walks away, leaving me with my family.

  “You shouldn’t have done that. You should’ve listened to reason,” Camden says.

  “That’s enough,” Dad says. “It’s done. He needs our support now. And we all need to hope this doesn’t destroy everything. Keep sharp, Hudson. I know you like to have your fun, but don’t let it distract you from what matters. You have the ability to take this on, but don’t throw it aside the minute a more appealing offer comes along.”

  My chest tightens and my hands curl into fists. Funny thing is, I thought I already had Dad’s blessing on this project. Bitterness floods me as my nostrils flare. I can’t stop myself from voicing my thoughts. “What happened to the support I had when I approached you with this project?”

  Dad stares into my eyes, taking the
cowboy hat off his head and running his hand through his hair. “With each passing week, you seem to be growing this neighborhood more and more, scaling up the home sizes, adding a park and then a community center. It hasn’t stopped. This isn’t the same neighborhood you first pitched.”

  “I can handle this,” I say through gritted teeth. No letting on that his words have shaken me.

  Dad nods, placing his hat back on his head, looking out into the horizon before turning back toward me. “Make me proud.”

  I nod and watch Camden and Dad leave. I take a few more silent moments to try and recapture the feeling I had earlier. I’ll prove to them that I’m ready.

  As the sun sinks below the hills, I turn in a slow circle, taking in the uninterrupted land one last time before heading back to my truck and climbing up inside.

  As the engine roars to life, my phone rings. Marla flashes across my screen.

  I hit the button on the Bluetooth in my ear as I make my way down the freshly paved road. “ ’Lo.”

  “Your nephew is really upset,” my cousin’s wife says in lieu of a greeting.

  My brow furrows. “Which one?”

  “Gunner.”

  “Really?” Gunner is seven months old. He can’t talk.

  “No, dumbass.”

  “You’re sweet,” I reply dryly.

  Marla clucks her tongue. “Eli. Eli is really upset because you took his cousins to the park but didn’t take him.”

  “Justin and Lauren needed a babysitter. They have four kids. Four. There’s only one of me. If I’d taken your brood along, that would have been six kids. I can’t handle that.” I lift my hand from the center console and rub it along my jaw. I can’t even imagine the chaos of watching that many kids.

  “I need a babysitter. Only for Eli though. Gunner has a doctor’s appointment. I hate dragging him with us and making him wait through all that.”

  I sigh. “When?”

  “Tomorrow. School is about to start, so if you’re going to take him out, then it needs to be tomorrow.”

  “I’m working.”

  Marla doesn’t reply. Rustling noises come over the line, like I’ve been put in a pocket, followed by low murmurs too quiet for me to make out.

  “Marla?”

  “Uncle Hudson?”

  Fuck. “Hey, Eli. What’s going on, man?”

  His breath hitches and his voice breaks when he starts speaking again. “I want to hang out with you, too.”

  I have to be at the site in the morning when they break ground, but I had been planning to head to the office after that. It’s not ideal, but I can shuffle things around or bring some work home tomorrow night. I grit my teeth before plastering a smile on my face. “How ’bout tomorrow, bud? Just you and me.”

  As if those were the magic words, the quiet sounds of him tearing up vanish and he cheers into the phone. A moment later Marla is back on the line.

  “You’re playing dirty.”

  She laughs. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Lions!” Eli roars, mimicking a lion. We arrived at the sprawling Austin Zoo a couple minutes ago and he’s already requested to see three different animals first.

  Shrieking children stream from every direction. I cringe and crack my neck, wiping the sweat from my forehead. We aren’t the only ones to come to the zoo today. I haven’t been here in a long time. The packed walkways are going to be difficult to maneuver.

  “You want to see the lions first?” Any hope you’ll only want to see the lions, kid?

  I don’t have the patience for this today. The knot that started forming this morning when my family showed up just as the engines of the scraper roared to life is only getting worse, thanks to kids screaming, the stench of body odor in packed spaces, and the demands of my nephew. I just want to sit on a stool at The Cellar, slugging back a cold beer.

  “Yeah! Lions first!” His fist shoots into the air and his torso leans forward. I fist the back of his green shirt, keeping him from taking off without me.

  “Grab my hand.”

  I turn my hand over, palm side up, waiting for him to grab it. A man herding his kids almost bowls Eli over, but I tug him against me before he has the chance.

  “Watch it,” I growl at the passing man. “Come on, grab my hand, kid.”

  Frustration edges my tone. Frustration I’m trying to push aside for my nephew, so he can have a good day.

  “I’m not a baby, Uncle Hudson.”

  Fuck. He sounds like me just this morning as I argued with my brothers. Each of them criticized me for everything—the crew I’d chosen, how many lots I was leveling on day one, how I’d scheduled deliveries. When Dane stepped in, trying to hand out instructions to one of my workers, I’d had it.

  They may be my big brothers, but I’m far from the irresponsible class clown I was in high school.

  Their mutters as they returned to their cars have clogged my ears all day and kept me on the verge of snapping.

  “It’s my hand or I’ll find one of those leashes,” I say, pointing to a kid on a leash as he walks by with his parent behind him.

  Eli’s hand immediately snags mine. That’s what I thought. I look around, reading the signs. When I spot a wooden arrow with yellow writing pointing toward Big Cats, I tow Eli through a swarm of people in that direction.

  “Are lions your favorite animal?”

  “I don’t know. What’s your favorite animal, Uncle Hudson?”

  A grin tugs at one side of my mouth. The knot at the base of my neck eases a little bit. “Lions.”

  Eli smiles brightly and bounces up and down on his feet. “This is the best day ever! Much better than the park.”

  I glance down at Eli. His smile hits me square in the chest and he’s looking at me like I’m Superman. My shoulders ease down from the tense position they’ve been locked in all day. This five-year-old may not know exactly what I do, but he believes in me, and I’m going to take it.

  So this morning didn’t go as planned. At the end of the day though, my neighborhood is starting. Soon enough, homes will be towering into the sky. I’m not trapped in an office. Instead, I’m hanging with a pretty cool kid.

  I bend over, swinging Eli up onto my shoulders. He winds his hands into my hair, trying to steer me. I let him drop back to the ground when we reach the lion enclosure.

  Eli finds an open spot among the group, pressing his face against the glass as the massive animal strolls past, heading toward a rocky landscape. The lion jumps his way to the top, leaping from rock to rock as Eli watches, entranced. “Whoa!”

  The lion pauses on the highest rock, looking down through the glass at the humans watching him below, and roars. Eli spins around, stretching to his tip toes, throwing his head back, and releases the most ferocious sound he can create from his little body.

  I dig into the pocket of my jeans, grabbing my phone. “Do it again.”

  I snap a couple pictures while he roars again. As I swipe through the new photos, picking one to send to his parents, Ava with her bulky camera pops into my head. Maybe I should print this one out. If she were here with her kid, she’d be snapping away for sure. I could distract her while she took pictures, brush her long, silky hair behind her shoulder, plant my lips at the base of her jaw—

  Eli crashes into me, ruining my daydream before it can turn into a fantasy.

  “What’s next, kid?”

  By the time we’ve made it through the tigers, bears, and elephants, my earlier frustration has morphed into contentment. Eli and I mimic each animal, taking pictures and videos of each other.

  We’re walking through the shade under a canopy of trees in the African Safari park, full of hot dogs and funnel cake, when Eli tugs on my hand.

  “Look! Those people are feeding the giraffes.”

  I follow his pointing finger and come to a complete stop.

  Chapter 6

  Ava

  “They’re so tall!” Lilly grips the smooth wooden railing, watching the giraffes amble throu
gh their enclosure. Iconic African trees are spread throughout the enclosure, providing some shade for the animals as a rocky river runs through the center. One giraffe is comically leaned over, drinking water from the river.

  My nose scrunches as I step up next to her, watching three giraffes pass us. These giraffes need a bath. Do they give zoo animals a bath?

  “Can you ride a giraffe?” Lilly asks.

  “No, sweetie, but you can ride a camel.”

  Lilly whips around, staring at me with wide eyes and arched brows. Her open mouth slowly curves up and I want to eat the words that just came out of my mouth. Her eyes glaze over and I know she’s picturing riding a camel. It’s going to be something that she sets out to do.

  “We don’t have camel rides here, but y’all can feed the giraffes.”

  I turn slowly, glaring at the guy who opened his big mouth.

  Lilly claps her hands and nods frantically, her hair bouncing all over the place as she stares up at the man in wonder. “I can feed them?”

  A zoo employee just had to approach us. He can’t possibly realize he’s killing me slowly, but come on, does he have to use children to upsell their parents? Sure, the guy looks innocent enough. Twenty something, earnest. The shocking red mop on top of his head, pimpled face, and polite smile all communicate an honest love of animals. He’s only doing his job. He can’t know my financial situation.

  But I do feel a bit conned. He asked her, not me. Does he expect a young girl to say no? Hell, I don’t want to say no, and I’m twenty-four.

  The man grins and dips down. “Of course you can feed them.” Aaaand here it comes. He turns to face me. “I can take cash or card right here. It’s thirty-eight dollars per person.”

  A choked laugh escapes me. Forty dollars to feed a giraffe? What are they feeding it, straw made of gold?

  I glare at the zoo employee. He raises his brows, oblivious. I want to lift him up by his green polo and feed him to the giraffes. Or the lions.

  “Four for the giraffe feeding,” a deep voice says from behind me. Even under the blazing sun, my skin breaks out in goose bumps.