Chapter 49

Brock had seen Meredith pass in front of the bedroom door a couple of times as he talked to Stan Balsam. He didn't think anything of it until she appeared just as he ended the call.

"What's up?" he asked. The look on Meredith's face told him something wasn't right.

"You're not going to believe it," she said as she sat beside him on the bed.

Brock expected more to follow but instead Meredith sat staring at the open doorway.

"I'll probably need more information than that," he said gently. The last thing he wanted was to make her angry. It appeared that she was already somewhat agitated.

Rather than provide more information, she simply repeated what he already knew.

"You are not going to believe it," she said.

"Yeah, I've heard that the news is somewhat unbelievable," Brock commented. "At least that's the rumor."

Meredith turned to look at him.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Brock admitted. "I only know it's unbelievable. You might give me more. I could believe it. I've been told I'm a little gullible."

Meredith seemed to parse through the preceding minutes and a smile crossed her face.

"How was your day?" she asked out of the blue.

"Uh, fine," Brock answered. "How was yours?"

"Mine was good," she related. He began to wonder if she had come mentally unhinged again.

"I'm happy to hear that," Brock said. "Now can we return to what I might find unbelievable?"

"You're still off for three days right before camp starts, right?" she asked.

"I assume so," Brock answered. "We get a long weekend before the full team starts drills on a Monday. Meredith, what's going on?"

"A couple of things," she said. "I think I want to buy this house. I just feel really comfortable here. I was thinking we could rent it out to someone in the Arizona Cardinals organization when we're not here."

"I'm willing to discuss that," Brock said. "What's the other thing?"

"Oh, we're supposed to be in Las Vegas at the end of the month," she said off-handedly. "It corresponds with your time off."

"Las Vegas?" Brock asked. "Is Randi headlining a show there or something?"

"I don't think so," Meredith replied.

"Then I guess I should ask why we need to be in Las Vegas on one of the last free days I'll have for six weeks?" he ventured.

"Dad's getting married," she said as if she had just told him that water was wet.

"You're right," Brock said. "I don't believe it. Who is he marrying?"

"You'll never guess," Meredith replied.

"Probably not," Brock agreed. A horrible thought hit his brain. "He's not re-marrying your Mom is he?"

"God no!" Meredith spat. "And if he were he would have to do it without us there. Nope, it's not my mom. But she's someone's mom."

"So are you going to be the big sister or the littler sister?" he asked.

Meredith blinked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "We're the same age but I don't know who's older. I'm sure you can fill me in."

"You've lost me," Brock admitted. "If you don't know the person, I probably don't either."

"We both know her," Meredith said. "Well, you know her and I've met her several times. She seems nice but I can say without a doubt that I didn't see this one coming."

"Will you just tell me?" Brock said.

Meredith gave him a self-satisfied look.

"How about a hint?" she said. "You'll have another sister act in your list of conquests."

"Randi's mom just got married last month," Brock pointed out.

"Not Darla," Meredith said.

"Fine," Brock remarked. "Then who?"

"I want you to guess," Meredith said with a mock pout. "Who would my dear sweet Daddy marry?"

Brock thought for a long moment before it hit him.

"Erin?" he asked incredulously.

"You win the prize," Meredith said. "You can add me and my stepsister Tara to the Miles family that you've bagged."

"I, uh," Brock stammered. "Really? You're not just jerking my chain?"

"I'm not jerking your anything just yet," Meredith said. "Apparently my dad and Tara's mom have been seeing each other on the sly for a few months."

"I knew they went out a few times," Brock said.

"You did?" Meredith asked. "How did you know that? Why didn't I know that?"

"I called him and he said he was going to a late-night film festival with her," Brock said. "They danced together a few times at your party, too. I didn't think it was this serious. She's not pregnant, is she?"

"She's too old for that," Meredith said. "God, at least I think she's too old for that. How old is she?"

"I don't know," Brock admitted. "Mid-40s, I guess. Tara is 24 so you can do the math. I think Erin was already out of college when Tara was born."

"Then no new kiddies," Meredith said. "I still can't believe I didn't know about them."

"You've been pretty self-absorbed lately," Brock said with a wicked smile. "I mean, it's not like you call your Dad twice a day to make sure he's OK or anything."

"It's only once a day," Meredith protested before she noticed Brock's smile. "Yeah, fine. I miss him. But I had no idea he was dating anyone, let alone dating Tara's mother."

"Have you spoken to your soon-to-be sister?" Brock wondered.

"She called at lunch," Meredith said. "That's why they're doing the wedding when they are. She won't have left for Chile yet and you'll be free from your obligations."

"You know I'm here voluntarily," Brock pointed out. "I don't have to show up every day. If another day fits their schedule, we'll be there."

"No, that was the day they planned to do it anyway," Meredith said. "Tara won't leave for Chile until the next weekend. I'm free; you're free. It's a weekend so everyone can come over for the big event."

"Are you OK with this?" he asked.

"Yeah," Meredith said, although she wasn't sure of that herself. "Dad said he was really noticing how empty the house is since I've come to live with you. I think Erin has been fighting loneliness for even longer."

"Being scared of being alone isn't really a good justification for a marriage," Brock pointed out.

"Oh, I know and so does Dad," she replied. "They just really hit it off, as you apparently know. He said neither of them was looking for more than friendship but they got more than they bargained for."

"Then I'm happy for them," Brock said.

"Me, too," Meredith said. "But it'll be strange to see someone else in the house we've lived in for seven years."

The wedding of Sam Van Landingham and Erin Wyatt wasn't exactly the social event of the season in Las Vegas – or it wasn't until the guest list started to make the rounds.

Once the word trickled out that not only was Erin the mother of ASN personality Tara Wyatt but that Randi Raver would be performing at the reception, the hotel ballroom started to get several requests for media credentials.

After a discussion that probably lasted less than three seconds, Sam and Erin decided to reject them all. The paparazzi would still stake out the hotel but there was nothing that could be done about that.

Sam's bachelor party was a low-key affair. Brock, Zack, Al, Josh, Chris and Ryan, who Randi had asked to accompany her to the wedding from Glendale, dragged him to a couple of strip clubs but he insisted he didn't want to be hung over the next day. Brock found himself in the unusual situation of being one of the smaller persons in the group. More than one patron asked him if they were a group of NFL players in town for some reason. J.C. was the only one missing because the Indians opened camp three days earlier than the Dodgers.