by Kailin Gow
“It’s absolutely delicious,” I said.
Chef Walt beamed at me, and I instantly felt a kinship with the old man.
“You like the ribs, Miss?” he asked.
“I sure do!” I said. “Best ribs I’ve ever had.”
Chef Walt turned to Dan and pointed at me, “She’s a keeper. Good taste in men and good taste in food.”
Dan’s eyes met mine, and he held my gaze. “She’s smart too. She’s starting a band with these ladies here, and she has some great ideas in how to make a splash in the music world.”
“You don’t say,” Chef Walt said. “You’re in the band, too, Dan? I recalled you playing a wicked piano when you were a boy. Always posing in front of the mirror too, playing air guitar.” Chef Walt chuckled. “I was the family chef…practically help Mr. Donovan raise the boys. Wished he had married one of those many female admirers he always had.”
“He finally did, Walt,” Dan said smiling. “And Nadine,” he glanced over at Nadine, “is now my stepsister.”
Chef’s Walt’s mouth fell open in shock for a second time.
“Nadine’s mother has a beach house in Malibu we are all staying at this week,” Dan said. “I’m sure she would love some of your homestyle cooking for me to bring back.”
“Absolutely,” Chef Walt said. “I’ll make a special order just for her and Mr. Donovan.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, standing to shake his hand. “I’m Sookie.”
Meecham stood up, too. “I’m Meecham, Sookie’s sister. Your cooking is fabulous. I can’t stop eating, and I’m so full.”
Chef Walt laughed. “These two lovely ladies are your new stepsisters, too?”
“No,” Nadine stood up and shook Chef Walt’s hand. “I’m the unfortunate one,” she joked. “These two are like my sisters though, so they kinda inherited the boys, too.”
Chef Walt laughed, “This one has a wicked sense of humor.”
“You bet,” Nadine said.
“I’m just finding that out,” Dan said, looking Nadine over.
“I’ll need it to keep up with you two,” Nadine said. “And the Sisters here, too.”
“You bunch sound like a group,” Chef Walt said. “How’s your little brother John? He’s alright with your parents’ marriage?”
“John is just John,” Dan said. “He doesn’t seem to care either way.”
“That’s because you two are now young men, no longer the little mischievous boys who enjoyed pranks and games,” Chef Walt said.
Chef Walt stepped over and said, “Remember what I used to tell you boys?”
“You used to tell us a lot of things,” Dan said, shrugging.
Chef Walt looked slightly exasperated. “Same old Danny Boy, aren’t you?”
“Boy, Danny Boy, you’ve grown up
Looks like a man, but inside, you’re still a boy.
Boy, Danny Boy, you’ve grown up
Talks like a man, but inside, you’re a kid, Oy!
“No I’m not,” Dan protested.
“Then why are you still playing the field,
A man of your background,
A man of your looks and build
Shouldn’t have a problem
Finding a girl who is the one…
Whose voice is the only sound
To make that hard heart of yours yield.
“I haven’t found her yet,” Dan said.
“Move the blinders from your sight,
Boy, Danny Boy, just look tonight.
Boy, Danny Boy, you’ve grown up
Looks like a man, but inside, you’re still a boy.
Boy, Danny Boy, you’ve grown up
Talks like a man, but inside, you’re a kid, Oy!
She might be just in front of you…tonight…Oy!”
Chef Walt stopped and said, “But the good thing is, you’re a lot more of a mature man than John. Now John…watch out for him.”
Dan laughed. “Chef Walt, always worrying about us like a second dad. But I agree…sometimes John does things that remind me he’s still like a kid, but that’s just me, as the older bro talking. Now I have to watch out for these ladies too.”
Meecham spoke up, “Sookie and I have been on our own for years. No need to look out for us.”
“Yes,” I said. “Meecham has been a grown up since she was 8 years old since our parents vanished. She practically raised me all on her own because our Grandmother was nearly blind and feeble when she took us in.”
Dan looked concerned, “That must’ve been tough. I’m sorry to hear that.” He reached over to pat my hand, but pulled back, as if he realized what he was about to do.
“Well, if you excuse me, I have to go prepare your to go bag,” Chef Walt said.
“Good to see you,” Dan said, giving Chef Walt a hug.
“Looks like you’re doing fine, son,” Chef Walt said. “Doing just fine,” he looked at all of us, and we smiled back.
Bonding. It felt as though we met another person who felt like an instant family member. Chef Walt.
Chapter 5
Dan
I woke up early the next morning after dinner with a smile on my face. For the first time since Dad had remarried, I actually felt optimistic.
Almost a sense of relief.
“This isn’t going to be so bad,” I said to myself.
Having a sassy sister like Nadine, who didn’t seem to be a gold digger like what we suspected her mother to be, wasn’t so bad. She seemed to be confused or at least wary of the situation as much as John and I.
Not the scheming type.
Like her mother.
At least that’s what John and I first thought of her. I mean, what type of woman gets married to a man whom she barely knew. Just met. Other than the fact Dad is still a handsome distinguished-looking man, he was known for his fortune.
So any woman who instantly marries a man known for his fortune would only be interested in his fortune.
On the other hand, Ms. Winters was a nice sweet lady when you got to know her a little, but what prompted her to get married to Dad after she’s been single for so long?
Dad would certainly be attracted to Ms. Winters. She was a beautiful woman, who reminded me of Elizabeth Taylor when she was in her late 30s and early 40s. Nadine had the same coloring.
She matched Dad well since Dad also had that dark hair and blue eyes. When we took that family photo at the Elvis Drive-through Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, we looked like a family. Nadine looked like she can be Dad’s daughter and our sister.
It was uncanny. As though Dad and Ms. Winters were meant to be.
But then again. I didn’t quite believe in love at first sight. Insta-love. Especially since I had my own heart broken in my freshman year at college. I had fallen for a sweet and beautiful perfect blonde named Candy. She seemed like the type of girl Dad would approve of…poised, attractive, a girl who knew how to act appropriately at any social and political event.
But she also seemed only interested in Dad’s fortune. Dropped me like deadweight when someone wealthier came along.
I was a fool. But I thought I was in love.
Never again.
I love my Dad. I love the company and legacy he built from the ground up through hard work and deep commitment. For years, it had only been Dad, John, me, and Walt in our household.
Suddenly, after all these years, he remarries at a tacky drive-through wedding chapel which just did not seemed at all like the Dad I knew.
Was he under the influence?
Enchanted? Whatever? I need to find out. I think the best way to find out would be to get closer to Nadine and her friends, who knew Ms. Winters the best.
If they knew something, I will eventually get it out of them. Or John. We’re that charming. That good in getting to know a girl.
And for some reason, I really wanted to get to know one girl in particular since I first laid my eyes on her. Her sparkly green eyes and luscious copper hair screamed how alive she was
to everything.
Sookie James. She was like no girl I have met.
And her idea about starting an indie band, playing in gigs to make money for her college tuition…she had pride and a dream. She was a far cry from a gold digger like Candy.
And that spark in her eyes when she told John to live a little…she had pure passion and zest…something I haven’t seen in anyone in a long time. Especially amongst the jaded been there, done that lifeless crowd I had ran with in Hollywood, where the spark fades over time and the only way to get it back is through an unhealthy addiction to drugs and other vices.
I stretched out with my arms in the luxurious bedroom Ms. Winters and Dad had chosen for me to stay in while at the Malibu beach house.
“Sookie, you’re a breath of fresh air,” I said out loud. “And I want to get to know you a whole lot better.”
“So, is she the one you want?” a familiar male voice said at the corner of the room.
I froze. I wasn’t alone in the bedroom?
“It’s about time you woke up,” John said from across the room where he was fully dressed and sitting in a chair casually reading a book about Quantum Physics.
“When did you get in?” I asked.
“About half an hour ago,” he said. He was dressed in a white V-neck sweater, white jeans, and white tennis shoes. He could’ve looked like either an angel or a ghost sitting there so silently while I slept.
“That was fast,” I sat up.
“Your message sounded urgent,” John said. “So I dropped everything and took the first flight out from San Francisco. So,” he put away his book. “What’s up?”
“Now that the situation’s changed,” I said. “Our plans have to change.”
“So, you’re not going to get to know Nadine as much? Get close to her to see if she will reveal anything?” John asked.
“No, that’s still on,” I said. “But instead of me getting to know her better. You’ll have to.”
“So drop everything I’m doing to get close to some girl who is like a kid to me just so you can assuage your suspicions?” John asked. “I have better things to do than babysit for our new stepmother.”
“She’s not a baby,” I said. “She’s your age and even quite interesting.”
“You know who’s interesting?” John said. “Meecham and Sookie.”
When John said Sookie’s name, I felt a rush of blood flow through me, and my heart started pounding. “I’m working on Sookie,” I heard myself said. “She’s mine.”
John hid a small smile before he walked over to sit at the edge of my bed. “Whoa, bro. You just sounded like a man who wants a woman. In that way.”
I did, but I played it down. “Maybe I do.”
John let out a deep breath. “I think you just might be telling the truth.”
“I don’t believe in insta-love. I don’t believe in love at first sight. And I don’t believe I would ever be attracted to a girl in that way after getting my heart broken by Candy; but when I think of Sookie,” I hesitated as a rush of blood quicken my heart beating, “I want her.”
“Wow,” John said. “I thought you had a string of women whom you have been casually going out with for years, waiting for you.”
“I do,” I said, thinking I might just stop seeing them from now on.
“You’re willing to give up all the pretty women on your list just for one girl?” John asked. “Wow. You’ve got it hard.”
“Maybe,” I said. “I didn’t said for sure.”
John nodded, “A girl like her, she won’t have a problem finding work as an actress in Hollywood. She’s gorgeous. Flawless. Once she gets out there…”
A wave of jealousy flooded me. “She won’t be sitting on anyone’s casting couch and being taken advantage of…if I’m there.”
John raised an eyebrow. “How will you be there?”
“I’ll join that stupid band if I have to get close to her. I’ll do what she likes to do so I can be around…”
“And in the meantime,” John said, “I’ll get to become the bestest friend with our new stepsister. Whom I have zero interest in that way.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “At least one of us has to keep his head straight. I’m perfectly happy with my harem of women, and I don’t want to change seeing different ones every day of the week.”
“That many?” I smirked. “Player!”
“I learned it from my older brother,” John said.
I nodded, “True.”
“Who just shattered the tough non-committal bachelor image I have of him. Shame really. What a shame.”
“I’m just getting to know her, for now. And if she’s not worth knowing better, I’ll be fine cultivating that image again.”
“There goes my hero!” John said.
Chapter 6
Sookie
The following day after that great dinner at The Pit was an eye-opener for me. Nadine drove Meecham and I to the Venice apartment we were getting ready to sign off on when we noticed something was wrong.
“It should be here,” Meecham said, looking at her map.
“We’ve been driving in circles, and I still don’t see it,” Nadine said.
“How could an entire building not be where it’s supposed to?” I asked.
“Call the number?” Nadine asked Meecham.
“I did earlier,” Meecham said. “But it’s been disconnected.”
“Strange,” I said. “Let’s stop close to address. Maybe someone would know where The Beachcomber is supposed to be.”
Nadine stopped at a donut and coffee place where we sat down and had donuts and coffee. When we finished, we asked the lady at the counter if she knew where The Beachcomber was supposed to be, but she shook her head. “Never heard of it.”
“Well, that’s not right,” Meecham said. “Let’s go back to your place, Nadine. I need to make a few phone calls.”
When we walked into the beach house, we were met by Dan and John, whom Nadine acted startled to see. “Aren’t you supposed to be in San Francisco?”
“I finished what I had to get done early so came back here as soon as I could,” John said. “Nice to see you too, by the way.” He noticed all our gloomy faces. “What’s up? Why all the down frowns?”
Dan was at my side and said, “Did something happen this morning while I was asleep?”
“Yes,” I said. “It seems the apartment we were going to rent in Venice is missing.”
Dan’s eyebrows raised slightly. “Missing? Or you couldn’t find it?”
“Missing,” Meecham said.
“What’s the address?” John asked.
Meecham showed him the slip of paper she wrote the address on.
He walked over to white box-like computer, turned on the screen and typed in a few strings of numbers. After a while he said. “It seems there is no such address.”
“But the ad in the newspaper showed a photo of a building, the photo of the apartment’s interior, and…it looked wonderful. By the beach, nice and clean…”
“Could be any photo the con artist added to the ad,” he said. “Did you put down any payment?”
“About half the first month’s rent,” Meecham said.
“We’ll notify the police about this, and see if we can get the money back for you,” Dan said.
“Chances are, these guys have done this before so there might be a prior record of this to go on,” John said, typing away. “There, in the police records. Looks like there is a crime ring of con artists putting rental ads in the newspaper, getting wired rental money sent over, only to find out there isn’t a real apartment.”
Meecham turned bright red then. “I can’t believe I’ve just been had.” She got up and looked like she wanted to scream. “I feel so stupid. So violated. If I had called you or anyone I know who lived here to see if there is a real building called The Beachcomber and if there was an unit for rent there, and the agent’s name was on the sign there, I wouldn’t have been conned.”
>
I walked up to Meecham and patted her shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’ll get the money back. Besides, it was better to find out now before we paid the entire deposit and moved all our stuff from New York.”
“It could have happened to anyone,” Dan said.
“These guys are smart and obviously good at their con…so good they have been at it for almost 5 years,” John said, reading from a log onscreen.
“I hope the police can find them and finally stop them,” Meecham said. “I wondered how many people like us were conned by these jerks.”
“The only reported cases numbered about 10,” John said, “And they were the ones that were reported. So a lot more than 10.”
“In the meantime, look on the bright side,” Nadine said. “You get to stay here with me longer!”
“That is a great relief,” Meecham said. “Thank you for having us here.”