by Alyssa Kress
CHAPTER SIX
"I can't find my phone. Where did I put my phone?"
Liam heard his sister's panicked voice from his position sitting on the sofa in the living room. He glanced away from the TV and over his shoulder.
Erica was rushing down the stairs. She wore a clinging red flowered dress and high heels. She was also wearing makeup and a frantic expression.
She was totally dressed up, which made his heart commence a happy beat. But he turned back to his TV program as if that was what he cared about. In fact, he'd turned the set to a random channel just so he'd have the excuse to be down here where he could monitor the situation.
"Did you try calling it?"
"Of course. But I must've turned off the ringer."
"How about your purse?" Liam didn't look away from the TV during this discussion. He didn't want to appear at all interested in this date she was going on although, in fact, he was deeply enthusiastic.
Brennan and Erica getting together. If this worked out, it would be awesome. They could be like a real family—like it had felt last night during the lasagna dinner at Brennan's house. If they got together, Liam wouldn't have to leave Brennan or Clint or Palmwood to go live with Erica in Los Angeles. Because, of course, Erica would stay here where Brennan had his stores.
If the two of them got together, it would dull a little bit how sad he still was and missing his dad.
"Of course my phone is not in my purse." Erica stood at the bottom of the stairs and gazed about with a crease between her brows. "If it were in my purse, then it wouldn't be lost."
"Desk. Bed. Under the bed." Liam ticked off the places his own phone would end up hiding. He tore his gaze away from the set long enough to look at her and deadpan, "Toilet seat."
She laughed and wrinkled her nose at him. "I already looked in all those places. Including behind the toilet." She strode over to the little table along the wall next to the stairs. It was obvious her phone wasn't there, but she picked up and set down a glass bowl sitting on the table. "Where could it be?"
Scratching his chin, Liam decided against pointing out that Brennan would have a phone. Not only that, but Brennan's cell number was on Liam's speed dial, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if Erica went out on a date without her cell phone. Over the past few days, Liam had gathered she wasn't used to relying on other people. Perhaps this habit was due to the way she'd been raised, by that father who didn't seem like the same one he'd had.
Liam squirmed in his seat on the sofa. That was a bug in the ointment all right, Erica's attitude toward Dad. If she was so set against Dad, how was she going to view Brennan and Brennan's own history? "I'll help you look." Liam hopped up from the sofa. Finding Erica's cell phone would be easier than sitting here wondering how Brennan was going to skate past that problem. "Have you tried the kitchen?"
"No. You look there; I'll check the downstairs powder room."
The kitchen was a big place that had got a bit messier since Erica had moved in. Liam was relieved when he heard her call from the living room.
"Found it!"
Liam returned to find Erica happily tapping at her phone.
Smiling, she held it up. "It was in the powder room. I have no idea how it ended up there." Lowering the phone again, she shook her head. "Guess I'm a little nervous."
Try a lot nervous, Liam thought.
"This is the thing, see." Erica stuffed the phone into the purse she had over one shoulder. "I don't remember being on a date where I felt like it mattered." With a sigh, she walked toward the mirror over the little table by the wall. Frowning into it, she ran a finger over her eyebrow and wiped away some invisible speck.
Liam bit his lower lip. Okay, now he was starting to feel downright scared. Erica was thinking of Brennan as 'someone who mattered.' What was she going to do when she found out he didn't exactly rise to her high standards?
If she wasn't able believe her own father could have changed, how was she going to believe it of Brennan?
Watching Erica turn away from the mirror and check something in her purse, Liam wished there were something he could say, some magical words to pave things for Brennan.
But of course, there was nothing.
The doorbell rang.
Smiling as she let out a breath, Erica turned to Liam. "All right, last chance. Do I look okay?"
Somehow, Liam smiled back at her. "You look great."