by Kira Blakely
Her nose was scrunched as if preparing for a bomb to explode. I switched into my ultimate efficiency mode and took it off her shoulders. Gail acted as more of a concierge than in guest booking. “Okay, see where you can find the nearest spa offering mineral baths and have the limo shuttle take our Swiss guests there for a visit on us. Please call maintenance on the pool and tell them I said I want it fixed yesterday, but in the meantime, post a small, but conspicuous sign out there that says we’re letting the natural elements maintain the pool temperatures for the short-term due to the seasonal heat. Call accounting and tell them I’m on my way in thirty minutes, to sit tight. Then call security and ask them to escort my brother to my office.”
She nodded and stepped back into the office to carry out my orders. I stopped by the tearoom to pick up two cups of strong coffee and went back to my office to wait on Collin. I didn’t have to wait long.
I made a mental note to get a secretary, or maybe move Gail to a desk area outside my office door as Collin unceremoniously barged in. The security escorts looked uncomfortable, but I nodded my thanks and they seemed grateful to leave.
Collin wasn’t alone. Harper’s sister, Stephanie, was hanging on his arm.
“So, brother, you finally decided to show up for work, have you?” Collin blustered, and Stephanie affixed a non-committal face. I wondered what she was after. I didn’t have to wait long.
“Collin, Stephanie, have a seat. Here, I’ve gotten you a cup of coffee,” I said, holding one out to Collin and then proffering the second to Stephanie, who shook her head.
“Don’t want coffee.” Collin’s headshake was slow and cockeyed, demonstrating just how badly he needed it. “Want money.”
He’d come straight to the point, and I cussed inwardly at myself for hoping it would be uncharacteristically something else.
“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” I asked.
Collin looked at Stephanie and the two burst into laughter. I could feel myself flush as I realized their little double entendre. This was out of hand. I could argue with two drunks or hand over some cash and get rid of both of them. Pulling out my personal checkbook, I looked Collin straight in the eyes. “I hope you’re sober enough to understand what I’m about to say, brother dear, because I won’t repeat myself. I’m going to give you a check right now, and once a month for the next eleven months you’ll get one just like it. On that twelfth month, one year from today, you’re on your own. No more money from me, no more staying at Utopia except as a paying guest and starting today, this minute, do your drinking somewhere else. Leave my guests alone. You continue to harass my guests and the checks end immediately. I’m serious, Collin. This is it.”
“I’m serious, Collin,” he mimicked me in a feminine voice. “And just what are you planning to do to enforce that, little brother?” He was trying to bully me. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed that I’d grown up in the meantime.
I drew back the check I’d been holding out to him. “Okay, then we can stop it now.” I put my checkbook back into my inner pocket.
“I wouldn’t do that, bro,” he snarled, suddenly dead sober. Collin had always been able to snap out of a drunken state, valid or not, within an eyeblink.
“I gave you the rules.”
“Give me the damned check. Don’t want to hang out at this pansy-assed joint any more than I have to.” He snapped it from my fingers and looked toward Stephanie, pulling out the top of her tube top and looking down at her pancake tits. “Hmmm… Looks like Steph here and I might spend a little time in the room,” he commented, knowing fully well it would make my skin crawl. Housekeeping had already been placing subtle comments with Gail that they’d cleaned up non-stop parties and residual vomit from Collin’s room.
He rolled to his feet, pulling her with him and headed to the office door. Opening it, he turned back toward me. “By the way, bro… you’re laying them a little young these days, aren’t you?”
I was puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, just that I saw you gave Harper a pretty little convertible and she brought a young chickee with her to ride in it. The way I see it, you’ve got your dick in Harper and the young one is lickin’ your ass so you can get off.”
I froze. As I realized he was talking about Meghan, a cold, white sheet of absolute hatred descended over me. I couldn’t even think straight but luckily, I’d developed a poker face over the years at school and fell into that now. “Whatever,” I said casually and pulled out some paperwork from my drawer to divert the intense rage I was trying to submerge. There was no way Collin could learn about Meghan, or the fact that the two most important people in my life were living on a nearby island. I knew he didn’t know about that—he’d have added it to the stinger he served me.
Collin saw he’d missed the target so he pulled Stephanie’s top down to her waist, bent and sucked one of her meager tits. Smacking his lips loudly, he said, “C’mon, Stephie. Thank God I’ve got the better of the sisters.”
They stumbled out and I prayed Stephanie had the good sense to pull up her shirt before they got into the lobby. That didn’t measure up, however, to the seething anger and fear I was feeling. Collin was spying on me and now Harper, it appeared. If he’d been close enough, he would have seen how much Meghan resembled Cory and the worst thing imaginable would have become my daily nightmare. I immediately made arrangements to have Harper’s car garaged at a nearby facility that also had boat dock access. I had to protect Meghan.
I dealt with the details on my list, including the balance in the liquor order. Something was very wrong. Our supplier had cut us off due to lack of payment, which was completely unbelievable. The supplier was showing as having delivered more than twice the liquor we acknowledged receiving. Where had the rest gone? I authorized immediate payment to the supplier and assigned one of my bookkeepers to track down the missing shipments. I dreaded discovering the culprit. My employees were valued and loyal.
* * *
Captain Bob was waiting at the dock for me when I got down to the marina. He seemed in a cheerful mood, whistling as he untied lines and adjusted his cap in the brisk winds.
“Did they go into town?” I asked.
He nodded. “Brought them here this morning and took them back about an hour ago.”
“What do you think? Did they look like they were getting along?”
“Not really my place to say, but they looked chummy to me,” was his friendly, if guarded, response.
I wondered if she had liked her car. I wasn’t sure how she could have been disappointed, but with women, you never knew. I’d never bought one a car before, but this one was different. This one was a keeper. This one, I wanted to get home to.
We motored out over rising waves. “Could be in for a blow,” Captain Bob warned me. “Barometer’s dropping and the water’s getting choppy. I’d like to put her into the boathouse until it blows over.”
“No problem. We’ve got everything we need, but you might check with Mrs. Sims before you do it. She’s not as fond of storms as we are,” I added and he knew exactly what I was talking about. If it hadn’t been for the simplicity of the responsibilities, paired with a lucrative salary, I don’t think I could have gotten her out there. She preferred her feet to be planted on ground that wasn’t susceptible to the whims of the Atlantic.
We docked and I leapt off the boat and quickened my step to get up to the house. I was anxious to hear how the day had gone.
“Uncle Brayden!” Meghan was running toward me, a contagious smile across her face. She suddenly looked like a young woman as she came closer, and I realized she was favoring her mother more as she matured. The resemblance washed over me in a fresh rush of emotion over the loss of my brother. Somewhere in the back of my head, my conscience fought the awful wish that Collin had been the brother to lose, if I’d had to lose one over the other. Cory had been so filled with the good things in life. People loved him and his daughter stood there next to me, looking so like her
lovely mother. I loved Meghan as if she were my own. I considered that perhaps someday I might have a child of my own. Nevertheless, Meghan would always be my oldest daughter. I’d never let her get set aside.
I kissed the top of her head. “Well, somebody is looking pretty cheerful. Did you get some goodies today?”
“Of course. Harper was great, Uncle Brayden. We had a blast. Got our nails done and our toes—everything. But I can’t tell you anymore.” She stopped suddenly, covering her mouth with her hand. “I know Harper will want to tell you about it herself.”
“Does Mrs. Sims have dinner ready?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s been cooking all morning and afternoon. She says there’s a big blow coming and she wants to go to Largo, or maybe the mainland if she can get that far. She’s been waiting for Captain Bob to bring you over so he can take her back.”
I frowned. “I don’t know about that. Captain Bob is already waiting to put the boat under the roof. He seemed to agree with Mrs. Sims.”
“Oh, boy, she’s not going to like that at all.”
“That convinced, is she?”
“Seemed like it to me. There’s more.”
“What?”
“She wants me to go with her.”
“What? Why?”
“She says it’s too dangerous to stay.”
“What?”
“Uncle Brayden, Mrs. Sims has, well, you know, visions of things that are going to happen in the future. Did you know that?”
We were walking toward the house. “Yes, I’ve heard rumors to that effect. But she’s just being silly.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve seen things come true that she predicted.”
“You have?”
She nodded, lacing her hand under my arm. “We don’t like to tell you about it. You’re such a skeptic.”
“I am, am I? That’s a pretty big word for you.”
“I know what it means,” she assured me.
“I’m sure you do. So, what is it that she sees this time?”
“She said it’s not safe for me to be here and that I’m to go home with her where I’ll be fine.”
“I see. How about me? Or Harper?”
“I don’t think she sees anything bad for you. Just me. You can stay here. Unless you’re afraid, then I guess you should go to Utopia.”
“I see. Well, why don’t you run up to your room for a bit? I’ll come get you for dinner.”
“Don’t holler at her, Uncle Brayden. She means well,” she said as she turned to head toward her room.
“Where is Harper, Meghan?”
“She’s out on the pool patio with an iced tea. I think she has some things to tell you, and maybe even show you.”
“Thank you.” I headed directly for the patio. Mrs. Sims could wait.
Harper’s head was all I could see as I approached from the doors. She swiveled around to see who was coming. “Hello!”
“I missed you today,” I said, kissing the top of her shiny head.
“Brayden! I’m so glad you’re home!”
Those were words I’d waited a lifetime to hear. “Miss me, too?”
She hesitated, as if admitting that would somehow commit her to more than she was willing to agree to. “Meghan and I had a ball today. You know, you’d never guess she was just a kid. She’s terribly smart and mature. We talked for the most part like equals!”
I took the seat opposite her as Mrs. Sims entered the patio and brought me a cold beer. “I have to speak with you immediately, Mr. Brayden,” she told me in an urgent tone. I’d been hoping to put off this conversation until it was too late for her to act upon it, but I could tell she wasn’t about to be put off.
“Excuse me a second, Harper,” I said and turned my full attention to Mrs. Sims. “I hear you think we’re in for a blow.”
“It’s coming, and tonight. It’s not safe here and I want to go to the mainland.” Her comment was a statement and not a question. She was not asking permission, except for perhaps asking Captain Bob to provide transportation and to take Meghan with her.
I didn’t want to make fun of her “visions” as she called them, but I had to ask, “What about Harper or me?”
She shook her head. “Nooooo… you okay, and Ms. Harper, too. I had a bad feeling, Mr. Brayden. Please let me take the little one with me and don’t hold me back. It can’t hurt to be on the safety side.”
Brayden looked at Harper, who was conspicuously looking at the concrete. “Okay, Mrs. Sims. Be on your safety side,” I said, using her word. “Tell Captain Bob I said to take you and Meghan in, but take your phone and have her take hers. Where will you be staying?”
“With my sister. She’s got a big house on the mainland, north of Miami.”
I nodded. “Okay, out of respect for you, Mrs. Sims. But please keep in touch and leave the address and your sister’s phone number on the kitchen counter.”
Mrs. Sims stepped quickly to pack and get started.
“I’m a little surprised,” commented Harper softly.
“Why is that?”
“You’re pretty protective over Meghan. If someone had asked me, I’d have said you’d never let her go.”
I nodded, looking out over the water. “Mrs. Sims might sound a little superstitious, but she’s not a stupid or unkind woman. Something has her spooked, even if there’s no storm coming, which according to my phone radar, there isn’t. But, she’s the closest thing Meghan has had to a mother these past few years. If she feels the need to be cautious, I’ll go along with that. You want to join them?”
She coughed a little laugh. “To sit in Mrs. Sims’ sister’s basement like rats in a sinking ship with nothing but decade-old canned peaches and the annual Christmas tree? Nope. They can have it all to themselves. Besides, I trust you.”
I snapped up at that remark. What an odd thing for her to say. “You trust me that there’s no storm, or to stay here alone with me?”
“Oh, I figure the storm might come, but not that bad. As for the second part, as a matter of fact, yes, I’m coming to.”
I had to let that double entendre pass by or risk losing her newly gained trust.
“We’re leaving now, Uncle Brayden,” Meghan called from the doorway of the opened slider. I could hear the excitement in her voice. Poor kid – even the prospect of a spider-filled basement with a stranger was exciting to her. I’d have to get her out more often. She was not much more than a prisoner here.
“Okay, sweetie, come give me a hug.” Her slim arms clamped around my head from the back.
“Bye, Harper, see you tomorrow.”
“Ask Mrs. Sims to come back a minute, would you?”
“I’m right here,” Mrs. Sims assured me.
“Meghan, go out and wait with Captain Bob, please.”
She left and I turned to face Mrs. Sims, holding out a set of keys. “I think you remember which garage is mine, don’t you? I want you to take my car to your sister’s. The tank is full. Also, here is some cash. If your sister’s house is ‘too full’ or whatever, find a nice hotel and stay put. Meghan’s not used to staying away from home, and I’d like it if you have options. Nothing against your sister, mind you, but it pays to have a backup plan. And please tell Captain Bob to find a marina on the mainland and stay there?”
She nodded and snatched the keys from my hand as she left. I could see the disapproval in her pale blue eyes, but would have to risk her being miffed in favor of Meghan feeling comfortable.
“That was thoughtful. You’re a good uncle to Meghan. She’s lucky to have you.”
I looked to see if she was mocking me, but her face was gentle and thoughtful. Harper wasn’t capable of malice, even if she thought she was.
We heard the boat motor start and then sat companionably, looking out over the water as it left the dock.
“You look peaceful. May I interrupt?” Harper asked.
I turned my attention to her. “Of course.”
“Thank you.”
; It took me a moment to realize what she meant. “You liked?”
“I loved. I don’t have words big enough to convey it. It’s not the material things, Bray, it’s that you were thoughtful enough to make sure I was taken care of. No one has ever done that for me before. No one.”
“I like taking care of you.”
“Why is that? Why now?”
I shrugged. “I suppose you could say that I didn’t have the means before. Now I do and it makes me feel good to look after you.”
“You’re not trying to bribe me?”
Sitting forward in the chair, I looked at her with curiosity. “Bribe you to do or say what?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” To my immense surprise, there was a tear on her cheek. “What do you want from me?”
“You’re getting upset for no good reason, Harper. You know how I feel about you. In my mind, we’re still those kids in high school; fresh with enthusiasm and curious about the world. I want you close to me, in whatever fashion you’re comfortable with.”
“Sorry.” Her voice was small and she slumped, as if defeated.
“About…?”
She looked up, her green eyes drilling into mine. “About not trusting you – about assuming you have another objective.”
I couldn’t let those words hang there. “I won’t say that I don’t have a fantasy about being with you, in that way. I’d be insincere and lying if I said I didn’t. You know, Harper, there aren’t many people in the world I can let get close to me. People always want something. My influence, money, contacts—they always have a reason to try and make me like them. So, I keep them at a distance, even my own brother. You don’t. You see me as the Brayden in high school who was a screw-up and tried to get your bra off under the moon.”