Chapter 105

Nell was so upset that her voice was shaking when she asked, “Where are you?”

“I’m on the way back from Cantil. What’s wrong?”

“Brandy is in the hospital. She’s in bad shape and I’m still in New York, Pete. I can’t reach Megan, so I need you to get there as soon as possible.”

“Uhh, okay, where is she, what happened?”

“She’s at Cedars hospital. I don’t know what happened; all I know is that it’s serious. They won’t tell me what’s wrong because she’s in intensive care and they only talk to family, so I told them you were her half-brother. Her full name is Brandy Taylor. Get there as soon as you can and call me immediately when you know her condition. Please don’t leave her side, Pete, I don’t want her to wake up alone. Megan’s going to tell them she’s her sister if she shows up, so go along with it. Tell them to try to contact Dr. Felmann if anyone gives you any static. He’s the head of the hospital, but he’s in a conference and I can’t reach him right now, but my people will keep trying.

“Why did they contact you? Doesn’t she have family?”

“She has no family, and I’m listed as her contact person. We’ve been like sisters since, well since we were kids. I’ll tell you about it when I see you. I can’t get a flight out of here until tomorrow morning, so I’m depending on you. Don’t leave her alone, Pete. Not even for a second. I’m sure that Megan will contact me and she’ll be there to spell you when she does, but don’t leave if she doesn’t. Sleep there if you have to. How soon can you be there?”

“I have to drop someone off, but I can be at the hospital in about an hour, but who is Megan?”

“She’s the person who lives at the beach house. You’ll recognize her when you see her.”

“I know her?”

“Yes, you go to school with her. So are you alone?”

“No, I’m with Kristen Baker.”

“Is she important to you?”

I didn’t know if it was going to hurt my career or affect my relationship with Nell, but I didn’t think twice before I answered, “Yes she is, she’s very important.”

“Let me talk to her.”

I stared at the phone for a second, but I finally shrugged and handed the phone to Kristen and said, “It’s Nell Burger.”

Kristen said, “Hi, Nell, it’s Kristen.”

It took me a second to realize what she said, then it dawned on me that they knew each other and that Kristen also knew Brandy.

I could only hear Kristen’s end of the conversation, so I had to guess at the rest.

Kristen said, “It sounds like a friend of yours is in trouble.”

There was a moment of silence, then Kristen gasped, “Brandy! Oh my God, is she going to be okay?”

Nell said something, and Kristen replied, “You’re right, she shouldn’t be alone. I won’t delay Pete. I’m sure that he’ll get there as soon as he can.”

There was a pause, then, “Yes, we’re together now and we’re going to stay that way.”

There was another, longer pause, then, “It’s okay, I have things to do this afternoon, and I’m leaving for New York first thing in the morning.”

There was another pause, then Kristen reached for her purse, took a small book out, said, “Go ahead,” and she wrote something in the book. Then she said, “Okay, I’ll call you,” and she handed the phone back to me.

I asked Nell, “What’s going on?”

“She’ll tell you, I have to go. Call me the minute that you know anything about Brandy,” and she hung up.

I said to Kristen, “I forgot that you knew Brandy,” when I put the phone away.

“I know her, but we were never close, she was a little too wild for me. Have you been with her a lot?”

“No, I met her that time in Vegas, and she showed up at Nell’s house a couple of times.”

“Do you spend a lot of time with Nell?”

I could tell where this was going by her tone, and I answered, “Not really. I’ve been to her place at the beach a few times.”

Kristen raised an eyebrow and said, “She’s quite a woman. I assume that you’re familiar with some of her escapades?”

“I’ve heard about some of them.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?”

“Why should it, I’m not in love with her. Uhh, what’s with the phone number?”

“She wants me to call her when I get to New York.”

“What about?”

“About you, of course. I think that she wants to talk about ground rules.”

“Humph! She and Mom met too. It seems that a lot of things are going on around me without any input from me lately.”

“Like what?”

“Like Nell and Mom coming to some kind of an agreement about me, and like everyone planning to have you show up and surprise me. Now Nell wants to meet with you about something. I guess that I feel a little left out.”

“Well, don’t feel that way. Everyone has your best interests at heart.”

“Be that as it may, I would still like to be included in discussions about me.”

She was smiling when she said, “Well, my love, you’re a prize and we want to make sure that you don’t do something foolish.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that you are loved. Five women are crazy about you, and we want to keep our eye on you.”

“Who? What are you talking about?”

“Well, there’s Erin, your mom, and of course, me, and now it looks like Nell has her eye on you.”

“Nell might like me, but she’s married and she has no intention of leaving her husband.”

“I know, but she might spirit you away somewhere so that she can continue to have her way with you. It doesn’t sound like puppy love from the way she talked about you, my dear.”

“Does that bother you?”

“Sure it bothers me, but we can’t be together full time right now, and I don’t expect you to become a monk. Nell is perfect. She’ll take care of your needs and keep you from wandering off, but she won’t be able to marry you.”

I chuckled, “So she’s actually saving me for you, eh?”

“Yup.”

“You said there are five of you. Who’s left?”

“It’s my best friend and my worst enemy.”

“That makes six.”

“No, they’re the same person; it’s Amy.”

“What are you talking about? Amy is, uhh, well, she’s like Erin, she’s my sister.”

“Oh? Did she feel like your sister when you screwed her behind the restaurant in Cantil that time?”

“That was different. It was a one-time thing, besides she doesn’t feel that way about me.”

“Ha! That’s what you think. Let me tell you something. I love Amy. She’s the sister I never had and I’ve never been as close to anyone as I am with her, but we have one thing in common. You! That’s why she’s also my worst enemy. She’s in love with you but she’s willing to quietly sit while you do your ‘wild oats’ thing. So am I, to a degree, but I’m not as patient as she is. Your folks, my dad, and even Tomaso say that we’re too young, but we’d be in Vegas getting married right now if I had my way.”

“What’s the rush?”

“I want to marry you before you do something stupid and fall for someone else.”

I grinned, “So it would be stupid if I fell for someone else?”

“Yup, Amy and I decided that you only have two choices. It’s either me or her, but I have no intention of it being her.”

Still grinning, I asked, “How are you going to prevent that.”

“Oh, I have a plan but I’m not going to tell you what it is.”

I tried to get her to tell me what she had in mind for the next few minutes, but she wouldn’t, so I changed the subject and asked, “So what do we do now?”

“Well, like I said, I’m going to tell Tomaso that I want to work on the west coast more, and we can start planning how we can spend more time together as soon as you get your schedule worked out. How does that sound?”

“It sounds great. So, are we actually going to give you and me a try and see what happens?”

“That’s what I’d like to do. How do you feel about it?”

I glanced over at the beautiful girl sitting next to me and I made up my mind. I pulled off the road as soon as I could and I took her in my arms. I told her that I loved her and we kissed and held each other for a long time. Holding her in my arms felt wonderful and it felt like the timing was right. It was time that I settled down with one girl. It was also time I quit letting other people do all my thinking for me, and it was time I started to pay more attention to what was going on around me.

I held onto Kristen right now, thinking about how lucky I was to have someone as wonderful as her say that she was in love with me and that she wanted to marry me. I was thinking about what our life might be like together when something started to nag at me. Kristen said that Amy loved me too. I thought about Amy and my relationship with her, and I realized that I didn’t want her out of my life, not now, not ever, and I was concerned about what Kristen had planned for her.

Kristen brought me out of my reverie with, “We should really get going. You need to get to the hospital. I want to talk to Tomaso and I want to spend some time with my dad.”

We made a plan on the way to Kristen’s house. We would talk to each other whenever we could, but at least a couple of times a week, no matter what.

The big gate slid open when we got to her house and the front door opened and her dad was standing in the doorway as we drove in. It was still raining, so Kristen dashed to the house after some more kisses and hugs. Her dad nodded and waved to me as I drove away.

The place was a madhouse when I got home. Luggage and clothes were piled everywhere, but they took a break when I came in and began asking me how things went in Cantil, so I told them about how pleased Denise was and how surprised I was about Kristen showing up for the next few minutes. They all laughed at that and wanted to know how we got along. I was watching Amy when I told them that we were going together again, but she didn’t react and joined them when they said they were glad. I then told them about Brandy and Mom reminded me that they would be gone for at least a week and cautioned me about taking in the mail, watering the plants, and keeping the lawn trimmed when I said that I might not be home tonight. She then asked, “Are you going to be okay while we’re gone?”

“Yes, Mom, I’ll be fine. The party doesn’t start until tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll make sure that it’s over by the time you get back.”

That got me Mom’s version of a stern look, but she knew that I was kidding and she followed it with kiss and a big hug.

I also got a quick hug and a peck on the cheek from Erin, but she was so excited about everything that she immediately went back and began throwing things into her suitcases.

Amy had been quietly watching, but she didn’t come over for a kiss or a hug. I saw that her bedroom door was open, so I went to her and asked, “Can we go to your room, I’d like to talk to you?”

She nodded and followed me. I closed the door when we got there, then I went to her, put my hands on her shoulders, and said, “Did you see that both Erin and Mom kissed me?”

“Uhh, sure, what about it?”

“Why didn’t you kiss me?”

She looked at the floor for a minute, then she said, “Kristen called me right before you got home. She said that you and she were going together now and that you told her you loved her.”

I smiled to myself thinking that she must have called the minute I left, and that telling Amy about us must be part of the plan she wouldn’t tell me about, and I said, “So that means that you can’t kiss me anymore?”

“I, umm, I don’t know.”

“What if I want to kiss you?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Well, there are several reasons. First is because you’re a pretty girl. I love kissing pretty girls, and you are an absolute knockout! Second because you’re family, and I kiss the people in my family. I even kiss my dad, and last because I love you.”

“I-I thought that you loved Kristen.”

“Can’t I love you too?”

“Well, I... , “

I was teasing, but she was standing close to me and I pulled her to me without thinking, and I kissed her. It started as a regular kiss and she resisted for a few seconds, then she began kissing me back and she willingly came when I pulled her tightly against me. The kiss was long and sweet, and I think that we were both shaking when we finally pulled back.