Chapter 9

The girls might as well have stayed at Brock’s house. He wasn’t sleeping. He just sat in the recliner and stared at his ceiling. His life had so much potential--maybe it still did--but things just kept getting more and more complicated.

It was barely past 7 a.m. when his phone started to ring. He figured it was someone from next door wondering if he were awake. He was partially right.

“Hey,” a cheerful Mel said into his ear. “Did I wake you? If not, go back to bed and I’ll call in a few minutes.”

Brock actually smiled at Mel’s awful joke.

“No,” he said. “I haven’t been to bed yet. I had an interesting night.”

Mel agreed wholeheartedly and she didn’t know half of it.

“That was some strange evening,” she said. “That ceremony at the school. What the hell was that about? Anyway, I wasn’t sure if you knew but Cedar Grove won last night. You’ll be playing them at home in the semifinal. I can’t wait to get home on Tuesday.

“I’ve been thinking about you a lot,” she said softly.

Brock remembered the kiss from a couple of weeks before. He had exchanged nightly e-mails with Mel since that Sunday but neither of them had discussed it.

“I’ve been thinking of you, too,” he said honestly. He had been wondering what was happening and if was really ready to pursue a relationship with a college sophomore--or if she even wanted to.

“Those girls from last night tried to corner me in the parking lot,” she told him. “I threatened to kick their asses if they bothered you. I hope that was all right.”

Brock laughed out loud.

“Oh, it’s all right,” he said. “But I don’t think it scared them too much. In fact I think one or both of them might be asleep in your bed right now.”

He filled Melanie in on his late night visitors.

“I should have called you,” he said. “But I didn’t want to take the chance of waking you. It was almost 3 am before everyone showed up.”

He could hear the tension in Mel’s voice.

“If I had a car I’d be there as soon as I could,” she said. “It’s bad enough that my sister is chasing after you again. Now your old girlfriend and a girl who by all rights should worship you are prowling around, too.

“If my Mom starts to come on to you, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

At least she chuckled at the last statement.

“You need to keep your affiliation with me as quiet as possible,” he told her. “Things are going to get pretty ugly pretty soon. The week after Thanksgiving is when the news about the financial settlement is going to be announced. With what the county and city owe me, my attorney calculated a 12 percent property tax increase to cover the debt.”

Mel let out a gasp.

“Brock, the people down here are bitching about property taxes anyway,” she said. “They’re going to throw a fit about the settlement.”

Brock hoped so. In fact he was counting on it.

Brock was still chatting with Mel when Jen knocked on his door.

“Hey, I got to go,” he said. “Jen is here and I’ve got to call my attorney to let her know what I figured out last night. Her name is Lynn Collingwood. I’ll e-mail her number to you in case you need her for anything.”

Mel wasn’t quite happy to have Brock depart when her sister arrived but she was no less happy than Jen when Jen found out Brock had spent almost three hours on the phone with Mel.

“Mom wanted to see if you want to come over for breakfast,” Jenny said curtly. “But I can see you’ve been up for awhile so you’ve probably already eaten.

“Even if you have, come on over in a little while. Mom has some things she wants to discuss with you.”

Brock nodded his head ruefully.

“Of course she does,” he said. “It’s no wonder you spent your first 16 years with a book in your hands. Your family didn’t have me living next door to keep you entertained.

“I have to make another call and I’ll be over.”