Chapter 10

My deep sleep was interrupted by the sound of the front door chimes. I vaguely heard Taylor, saying something like, "I'll get it."

I barely noticed as she left my side.

Suddenly I was jolted awake when Taylor yelled,

"Oh my God ... Bren!"

I opened my eyes and the first thing I noticed was Jack on his feet. He looked toward the doors to the front hall where the shout had come from, then looked at me and Amelia, and then back toward the front hall. He was torn between what he perceived as sounds of distress from Taylor, and his duty to be in this room with Amelia. When he looked back at me I nodded. With that, he bounded from the room. Jack was very fast for a large dog. Maybe there was some Wolfhound in the mix.

I eased Amelia from my lap, but I needn't have worried, she was still asleep. It always amazed me how she could sleep through almost anything.

As I stood, Jack reappeared wagging his tail, leading a beaming Taylor who was hanging onto the arm of a very tall and handsome young man, maybe about my age, dressed in the dark olive green uniform of a Marine officer. He had close cropped auburn hair and a trim build. He looked like someone you would pick for a Marine recruiting poster. But even his tanned face couldn't hide the flush he shared with Taylor.

Without letting go, Taylor announced,

"Bret, this is Brendan Wilson ... Bren ... my brother Bret."

Brendan gave me an odd look and stuck out his hand to meet mine. He had a bit of trouble since Taylor was still hanging tightly to his arm.

We stood there for what seemed a long time as Taylor stared up at him. He had at least an inch on me, and even Taylor, at better than five eight looked petite beside him. I figured this was the guy who caused her comment this morning about "being in love." She was in love with him, that was for sure, and it was obvious he felt the same way. So why had she looked so sad this morning? Anyway I was glad I didn't have to "beat him up."

At that point mom walked in. She had changed into jeans and sweater while involved in what she described as her "Christmas cooking frenzy". She would certainly change to something nicer for dinner. Mom looked refreshed from her nap and walked into the room quickly sizing up the situation. Without waiting for an introduction from a starry-eyed Taylor, she said,

"I'm Caroline Dawson..."

In a soft drawl he said, "I'm pleased to meet you, ma'am, I'm Brendan Wilson."

She looked at Taylor for some explanation, but Taylor seemed unable to speak.

"Welcome Brendan ... what brings you here this Christmas afternoon?"

I thought it was pretty obvious, but it was also obvious that mom had no idea that Taylor was involved in any kind of relationship. The way Taylor and Brendan ... I noticed she called him "Bren", looked at each other, it was far beyond platonic.

At that moment, Taylor seemed to regain her senses.

"Oh ... I guess I didn't mention ... well Bren and I are friends from school ... well he was at school ... I mean a different school ... he was at Georgia Tech ... he graduated in May ... but he's in the Marines now." She said, stating the obvious.

I smiled. It was fun to see my self possessed sister become a blathering idiot in the presence of someone she cared about. It was a family trait we shared.

"Brendan, please have a seat ... can I get you something?" my mother asked.

"Thank you no, ma'am, I'm fine, I had lunch on my way down from Atlanta."

He looked around for a chair. I moved Amelia from her spot on the sofa so they could sit together, and I sat in the big chair my dad had occupied earlier while playing Santa.

Mom took one of the arm chairs nearby. Jack settled himself near the hearth after another quick look around to make sure there was no threat from this tall stranger.

Taylor, sat so close they appeared glued together. She smiled at him, delighted at this surprise, and said,

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you ... I am happy to see you."

That much was obvious.

"I thought you'd be overseas by now ... why didn't you let me know?"

She stopped and looked flustered.

"Oh ... I was sleeping ... I must look a fright."

She pushed back her hair as she started to get up, but Brendan put a hand on her arm.

"You look beautiful just as you are."

Taylor blushed and relaxed against him.

Mom quietly cleared her throat, trying to bring their attention back to the question of his sudden appearance on Christmas day. I knew mom was as curious as I was.

He looked at mom.

"I'm sorry ma'am to come by unannounced, but ... my orders got changed..."

"And you didn't tell me?" Taylor said quietly but accusingly.

He looked at her a little uncertainly.

"Taylor ... well ... I've left maybe a half dozen messages on your cell phone ... I don't have your phone here ... and directory assistance said the number was unlisted ... plus I sent you a bunch of emails ... I almost didn't come ... I thought ... well ... it doesn't matter ... what I thought ... I'm just glad you're happy to see me..."

His voice trailed off. I knew what he thought ... that Taylor was avoiding him or angry about something.

"Oh." She said almost to herself.

"I haven't checked my cell in a couple of days, and I haven't even had it plugged in ... I'll bet the battery's dead ... and I haven't checked my email ... Oh Bren ... I'm so sorry ... I thought you were gone ... so there was no reason."

She put her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry ... I didn't want you to think ... well ... that I didn't care ... I guess I was feeling sorry for myself ... a little bit..."

"Its okay, Taylor ... its okay." He put an arm around her and she seemed to melt against him.

I looked over at mom and she wore a strange expression. She seemed pleased to see her daughter in love, but she was perhaps a bit disappointed that Taylor hadn't shared anything about Brendan with her.

I jumped in.

"So Brendan ... you don't sound like you're from around here, so other than stopping to see my beautiful sister, I expect you're on your way to Fort Benning.

He was surprised.

"Yes, I am."

Taylor looked at him.

"But you did tell me you'd be in Afghanistan by now."

Mom and I must have looked puzzled.

"I was supposed to ship out a few days ago..." He looked at mom, "I was doing some training at Camp Pendleton California and was supposed to be on my way to Afghanistan ... its just that some other lieutenant somewhere broke a leg in training, so the Marines in their infinite wisdom decided I should fill his slot at jump school."

Taylor looked concerned.

"Jump school? But Bren ... you're an engineer..."

"I know ... What does jumping out of perfectly good airplanes have to do with building roads and bridges in Afghanistan? I don't know ... I just go where I'm told ... You know what they say ... if you take the King's coin, you do the King's bidding ... Anyway it got me here didn't it?"

Taylor smiled and hugged him.

"Never thought I'd be grateful to the Marines for anything." She teased

"Well see, they're not all bad."

"Oh ... well they took you away for the last seven months and then you were going to be gone another year ... half way around the world ... they weren't doing us any favors.

She tried to smile but her face betrayed her concern.

Very gently he took her hand as she brushed away tears.

"I'm sorry, Taylor."

She looked at him.

"Me too."

No wonder she'd been sad.

"Brendan, how long before you have to be at Fort Benning?" mom asked.

"I don't have to report until January third..."

"How about your family ... do you need to call?"

I caught just a brief hint of sadness as he shook his head.

"My parents are gone now. I've got an older sister who still lives in West Texas, and another sister who lives not far from Camp Pendleton. I've been practically living with her and her husband and three kids the last few weeks. They took me to LAX last night, wished me a Merry Christmas and dumped me off. I think they were happy to see me go!"

He had a nice laugh.

"Well then ... please consider this your home for as long as you can stay ... you can take the room over the garage."

"Thank you ma'am ... but I don't want to be a bother..."

"Ouch!" he yelped as Taylor elbowed him in the ribs.

"Well maybe for a couple of days ... if that's all right?"

"You are very welcome in this house Brendan."

"Thank you."

Amelia started to stir and I handed her to mom.

"Come on Brendan, let's get you situated ... if Taylor will let go for five minutes!"

Taylor stuck out her tongue at me.

As we left the room, mom, still holding Amelia, moved to the sofa to sit next to Taylor.

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall to hear that conversation.

We walked out to the street, and as we got Brendan's bags from his car, he said,

"So you're the long lost brother."

His tone wasn't hostile, but it wasn't polite. He was withholding judgment and his attitude spoke volumes about his feelings for Taylor. It appeared she had talked about me ... and certainly conveyed her hurt and disappointment. I couldn't dispute the fact I had hurt Taylor, and had I been in his position I wouldn't exactly be embracing me with open arms.

"That's right ... I'm the other miserable bastard who makes Taylor cry."

It took him a second to figure out what I'd said. His expression went from puzzlement to anger and then to amusement.

"Touché."

I hadn't been in a fight since some drunk had grabbed Abigail's butt in a bar in Great Falls, and I really didn't want to start off with a guy who had an inch and at least ten ponds on me, and was sober. Anyway, if it turned out he was going to be my brother-in-law I should try to keep the peace.

I grabbed a leather duffle, and said,

"Come on. Let's get you situated ... then I'll buy you a beer."

"It's a deal."

Twenty minutes later we were standing in the kitchen amidst the wonderful smells of Christmas dinner; turkey roasting, sweet potatoes baking and pumpkin and mince meat pies cooling on the sideboard. This was mom's domain on Christmas afternoon, but I guessed she was still having her "conversation" with Taylor.

I pulled two Dos Equis from the fridge and handed him one.

"Sorry I don't have any Lone Star."

He laughed. He had changed into a pullover sweater and jeans, but he still looked like a Marine. What was it Dan used to say? Oh yeah.

"I may get drunk and have to crawl home ... but I'll crawl like a Marine!"

We moved to the table.

"So you've got a ranch in Montana?"

"The most beautiful spot I've ever seen." I looked at my beer.

He probably saw the sadness in my eyes.

"I'm sorry about your wife. I mean ... The thought of losing ... I'm sorry."

I looked at him. His sympathy was genuine, and I knew he was picturing losing Taylor. He'd said his parents were gone so I knew he'd experienced loss at a young age.

"I've always wanted to visit there ... big difference from west Texas where I grew up ... kinda like to see the place where all that cold air comes from." He deadpanned.

I laughed.

"Not my fault ... it's the Canucks ... they send it south so we Americans get a taste of what real cold is like!"

"Well I wish they'd keep it!"

"Me too ... Pretty hard to stop it when the border is nothing but a damn barb wire fence!"

Over the next hour or so we got acquainted, and found out we had lots in common, including football.

He called me a prima donna quarterback, and I called him a Neanderthal middle linebacker.

It sounded like his youth was spent in sort of a hardscrabble existence. His father was a wildcatter who drilled a lot of dry holes. Finally in his teens they moved to Houston where his father got a job at a refinery. For the first time in their lives they had a home and some security, and then his father was killed in an accident. He was eighteen. He had a job offer at the refinery, and a scholarship offer from Georgia Tech. His mother told him she wasn't going to lose a son too, and it was decided he was going to college. His mother died a year ago.

During this "male bonding" session he also discovered that I loved Taylor as much as he did.

Mom and Taylor found us.

"Gee ... what a couple of guys ... we leave them unsupervised for a few minutes and they break out the beer ... even on Christmas." Taylor laughed.

Mom smiled too. I guess their talk went okay.

"Okay guys, out ... some of us have work to do. Why don't you go a supervise Amelia for a bit?"

Taylor looked at us and said,

"Maybe she should be the one doing the supervising!"

"Okay ... okay ... come on Brendan ... lets let these ladies get on with their women's work!"

"Ouch!" My smart mouth got me a rap on the back of the head by mom.

She laughed and said,

"Bret Dawson ... you may be too big to take over my knee, but one of these skillets would probably do the job just fine!"

We retreated to their laughter and returned to the living room where we watched Amelia at her new desk. She was doing a pretty good job drawing a picture of Jack, which had already been promised a place on grandma's refrigerator.

Brendan sat on the sofa and I was in dad's chair. We sat watching Amelia and drinking our beers for a few minutes, finally he said,

"Bret, I have to admit I didn't know what to expect coming here. At first I was so excited about getting to see Taylor ... then when I couldn't get hold of her ... well I began to have big second thoughts. I considered just driving to Ft. Benning and trying to get hold of her from there, but I missed her so much ... and we've probably talked or emailed every day since I left ... until recently ... well I just couldn't figure it out. I hoped it was just what happened ... a communication problem.

He was surprised to see me smile. Actually I had to keep myself from laughing.

"Brendan, men dealing with women ... that's the definition of a communication problem! I was in love with Abigail from the moment I met her and I discovered that when you're in love somehow the rational mind doesn't work all that well."

He smiled. "You're right."

"Can I ask you something?'

He sat back on the sofa and sipped his beer.

"Sure."

"It's obvious Taylor loves you, and you love Taylor..."

He nodded.

"So how come you're not engaged?"

He took another sip and looked thoughtful.

"Stupidity mostly."

I smiled. I knew all about stupidity. Suddenly I thought about Becky. Yes, I knew all about stupidity.

"I thought that since I was leaving for so long I didn't want Taylor to be tied down..."

"Have you been faithful to her?"