by Tamie Dearen
“I can’t blame Asher for my decision to tell a lie. I did that on my own.”
“I trust you, Sweetie. I’m honored you talked to me instead of Charlie. I assume you haven’t told her about this.”
“No. I don’t think she’d understand.”
“You don’t think she’d understand? Or you don’t think she’d agree?”
“Same difference.” Emily’s voice was pouty. “Mom, he’s got an English accent.”
“Ah! Now I understand. We Best girls have a weakness for men with accents, I think.” Steven’s eyebrows knit dangerously, but she waved him off with a grin. “Be careful, Sweetie. I know you’ll do the right thing. Are you coming up for dinner?”
“Do you promise we won’t talk about this?”
“Hmmm? Talk about what? I don’t even remember what we were discussing.”
Emily chuckled. “Okay, I’ll come.”
“What was that about?” Steven asked as she disconnected.
“I can’t tell you. I promised not to.”
“But I overheard your side of the conversation.”
“Yes, I didn’t promise you weren’t listening, and she didn’t ask.”
“You are getting more devious by the day.”
“I’m learning from you, I think.”
“I gather she cancelled with Spencer to go out with her art teacher who has an accent. And she lied about it to Spencer. And she believes something Becca told her about Spencer. Does that about cover it?”
“I couldn’t really say.”
“I have to admit, I don’t much care for Becca after spending several hours with her. Her chatter was pretty inane. And I agree with what you told Emily about trusting Spencer. I have a lot of respect for him.”
“Well, Emily’s coming up for dinner, and you’ve got to pretend not to know anything.”
“Got it,” Steven agreed. “Now where were we?” He bent over to snatch her hands, pinning them together again, and reaching out to tickle her side as she squealed. “And this is for that remark you made about liking men with accents.”
“Steven! You’re making me scream. The neighbors will hear and think you’re murdering me.”
A wicked grin slid onto his face. “Penthouse, remember? No neighbors up here...”
*****
“Hi, Becca.” Spencer finally surrendered and answered Becca’s call while walking toward his parent’s home.
“What’s wrong? Why haven’t you answered my calls? Are you mad at me?”
“No, Becca, I’m busy. I work—I don’t have time to chat during the day. What did you need?”
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me about the picture thing. You believe me don’t you? About not giving the picture to NYC Word?”
“Sure, I guess I believe you, but I haven’t talked to Candace yet. She won’t return my phone calls. Have you talked to her?”
She hesitated. “Uhmm, no.”
“Okay, Becca. If that’s all, I’ve got a lot to do tonight.”
“Well there’s one other thing. There’s a bunch of us going to the Green Scene Thursday night at eight thirty to listen to jazz. I thought you might want to come. Maybe Candace will be there, and you could ask her about the picture.”
Spencer considered her offer. He really didn’t want to spend any more time with Becca, especially if it might make her think they had a real relationship. On the other hand, he didn’t want to sit at home and think about getting ditched by Emily.
“A bunch of people? Who’s going?”
“I’m not sure. People from the hiking club.”
“Landon usually texts me when the group is doing something.”
“Well... it’s not official, I think... Maybe Landon isn’t going. We could go together if you want.”
“No, I’d rather just meet everyone there.”
“So, you’ll come for sure?”
“I’m not positive. But, I’ll probably come. I’d really like to talk to Candace.”
“Do you want me to meet you outside?”
“No. Look, Becca... This is not a date. Okay? I don’t want you to think I’m sending you any signals. I’m not interested in a relationship.”
“I know. I don’t expect anything from you, but I like spending time together. You know, with the whole group.”
“Right. Okay. See ya later.”
“See you tomorrow night. Eight thirty. Don’t forget.”
Spencer paused on the steps outside his family’s home. He was helping his dad with a tiling project. He actually looked forward to some hard labor to work out his frustrations. When he opened the front door, he was immediately assaulted with the familiar noises of his sisters’ gaiety. Laughter and squeals emanated from the kitchen, along with a cloud of something white. Smoke? Was the kitchen on fire? He ran into the kitchen, flinching as something hit his head.
“Oops! Sorry, Spencer! That was meant for Claire,” yelled Olivia. Flour. They were fighting with flour.
“Are you crazy?” Spencer roared out. “Momma’s going to flip when she sees this mess.”
Claire giggled. “We’ll clean it up before she comes home from hot yoga.”
“Momma’s doing hot yoga?”
“Yeah. She’s decided she’s fat, and she’s planning to melt away her excess weight,” explained Hannah as she ducked behind the table.
“She’s not fat. And stop making any more mess—this flour will be impossible to clean up.” He went to the sink to wet a towel and wipe his head.
“You’re getting crabby,” said Grace as she entered the kitchen. “I think you need a woman.”
He pressed his lips together, refusing to take Grace’s bait.
“Really, Spencer. What’s wrong with you lately? Girl troubles?”
Ignoring her, he concentrated on wiping his shirt.
“Are you having problems with Becca?”
“Becca?” He was startled out of his silence. “Who said anything about Becca? Did Emily say something last night?”
“Ah ha! I knew it! I saw Becca’s been calling you. Does Emily know something about Becca?”
He frowned. “No. She doesn’t know... I mean, there isn’t anything to know about Becca except she’s a pain in the butt. But I don’t want you talking to Emily about me.”
“Hmmm… Maybe we could work out some sort of deal.” Grace crossed her arms, drumming her fingers on her elbow.
“No way. I’m not working a deal with you. It couldn’t possibly be fair.”
“Fine. That’s fine. If you don’t want to know what Emily and I talked about...”
“Why did God give me sisters? If I had brothers, I could just beat you up until you gave in. Four chances to get a brother, and what did I get? Four sisters. Four sneaky, conniving, manipulative sisters.”
“Come on, Spencer. You know you love me. I’m just asking for a little something in return for my knowledge.”
“Fine. What type of a deal?”
Grace’s face split in a triumphant grin.
“I don’t even think I need to make a deal now. Knowing you’re willing to consider this deal tells me what I need to know.”
“No, it doesn’t tell you anything.” He stepped forward to glower down at his petite sister, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him. “Whatever you think you know, you’re wrong.”
“I know you care what I talk about to Emily.”
“What did you say to her? Are you the reason she— Never mind. Forget it.” He spun his back to her, using a rag to make angry swipes at the messy kitchen. It was suddenly quiet behind him. When he turned around, he found himself alone with a contrite-looking Grace sitting at the table.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” he asked, still frowning.
“I didn’t know Emily was different. I didn’t know you really liked her.”
“I don’t—”
“Good grief! Don’t try to deny it. I’m your sister—I can t
ell. But maybe you’re lying to yourself.”
“I... I’m not... She doesn’t like me. Not like that.” He slumped in a chair across from Grace.
“Spencer, I didn’t know.” She put her hand on his. “I... I may have said something I shouldn’t have.”
“What? What did you say?”
“I told her about you getting all those phone calls from Becca.”
He groaned. “Becca! I’m beginning to wish I’d never met her. Why would you tell Emily about that? How did you even know?”
“She called about eleven hundred times when you left your phone here Monday night. She’s got a serious crush on you, for sure. Did you break up with her or something?”
“No! We’ve never even been on a date.” He let his face fall into his hands. “I can’t believe you told Emily about her calling. She probably thinks I’ve been lying to her.”
“Well... I think she thinks you’re a player.”
“Why do you think that?”
“It’s kind of what she said.”
“So did you tell her it isn’t true? Did you tell her I’m not a player?”
“Well, no… I mean, I thought you were a player, too. Why are you getting mad? It’s true, isn’t it? You’ve never denied it before. You’re always with a different girl. You never seem to stay with one girl long enough for us to even meet her. It seems like you go from one girl to another or even more than one at the same time.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “Really? That’s what my own sister thinks about me? That’s what you told Emily?” His face dropped back into his hands. “Great. That’s just great.”
“So what are you saying? All these girls are okay with it? Or they’re all doing the same thing?”
His frustration reached a boiling point. “All these girls! What girls? Can you name one? Huh? Can you? No! You can’t, can you? Because I’ve never actually even dated one. Not! One! Single! Girl! There—are you happy? Now you know.”
Grace sat dumbfounded for a moment. “But... I’ve seen you with lots of girls. All the time. They were hanging all over you. They were practically drooling on you.”
“So? Did you ever see me with one girl? Did I ever tell you I had a girlfriend?”
“Are you saying you were only with all those girls physically? That none of them meant anything?”
“My god, Grace! Don’t you have any respect for me? I’d never do that. I wasn’t with any girl physically—I’ve never even kissed a girl before.”
“Oh,” she said. “Oh!” she repeated, grinning. “Now there’s something I never would have guessed. Why didn’t you deny it before now? We’ve teased you about it for years?”
“Oh yeah. That’s a great idea. I could go from being teased about having too many girlfriends to being tormented about not having any. And now I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Grace was quiet. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not mean, you know. I care about you—you’re my brother. I’m actually on your side. We... We won’t tease you.”
“I don’t care. Go ahead. It doesn’t matter any more.”
“So, uhmm... Do you like girls? I mean, it’s okay. I love you no matter what. If you—”
“No. I don’t like girls. Not girls, plural. I like Emily. Okay? Only Emily. But I guess it doesn’t matter now.” He buried his head in his arms on the table.
“It can’t be too late. I’ll tell her you’re not a player.”
“And tell her what?” He spoke into his arms. “That you were mistaken? That I’ve actually never had a girlfriend?”
“Uhmm. No. Maybe not that.” She screwed up her face. “But I’ll think of something.”
He pushed back from the table and attacked the floury mess with a vengeance.
“No, I think you’ve done enough damage. I’m telling you, it’s too late. Today, she acted really strange, and she blew me off for a date we’d planned tomorrow night. Not that she would do anything with me that qualified as an actual date, anyway.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“Sure. Whatever. Look, I need to go upstairs and help Papa with the tiling. Can you get them to clean up this kitchen before Momma sees it?”
“Don’t worry about the kitchen. We’ll take care of it.” Grace followed him as he headed to the kitchen door and caught his arm. “Wait. I’m really sorry, Spencer. I never meant to hurt you.”
He turned around to see her eyes welling with tears. “Don’t cry, Gracie.” He reached out and pulled her into a hug. “It’ll be fine. It probably wasn’t meant to be. And you were right... I never worried about my reputation before. So, it wasn’t really your fault.”
Truthfully, he’d always rather enjoyed having a status as a player. His guy friends had treated him with a sort of awe and reverence. And the constant flirting of the girls had been enjoyable as well. His reputation had never mattered until he met Emily. He rubbed his temples—his head was hurting. This had been a terrible day, but he felt almost relieved his sister knew the truth.
He brightened a bit. “You can make it up to me.”
“How?” She narrowed her eyes.
“There are some people going to the Green Scene tomorrow night, and I think the girl who took that tabloid picture might be there. I want to go so I can confront her. But Becca’s going to be there, and I don’t want to do anything to encourage her.”
“So you want me to go with you and run interference?”
“Would you do that?”
“Absolutely, big brother. It would be my pleasure.”
“I thought that sounded like the sort of devious thing you’d like. And one more thing…”
“What?”
Spencer took three quick steps to grab the kitchen door and pull it open. Three sisters tumbled into the room on top of each other.
He speared them with a stern look until they all stopped giggling. “All of you will keep this information to yourselves. Or else!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they keep their mouths zipped. Really. I mean it. You’ll see.”
“I’m not holding my breath.” He headed up the stairs to work with his father.
Chapter Eight
“So, I went to a hot yoga class last night,” Connie confessed to Anne as she set up a fresh IV.
“I’ve heard of that. What is it, exactly? Was it fun?”
“Well, let’s see. How can I describe it? They put you in what you think is an exercise room, but actually turns out to be an oven. Then they turn the temperature up to about two hundred degrees. I know it was below boiling, because all the sweat that ran off of me soaked into my clothes and then started falling into puddles on the floor mat. Only a little hotter and it would have turned into steam.”
Anne started giggling. “So you just stood in a room and roasted?”
“Oh no. Then they make you get into strange and contorted positions, so you can lose your balance and fall into the sweat puddles and splash your neighbors.”
Anne was laughing harder. “Ow! You’re making my stomach hurt.”
“I should have suspected something when I first went in the room because it smelled so bad. But you can’t imagine the aroma of all those people sweltering and sweating together for an hour. I don’t know if my eyes were watering from the fumes or from the sweat running into my eyes.”
“Stop! Please!” Anne laughed. “I can’t believe you stayed in there for an hour.”
“I tried to get out,” Connie declared with a straight face. “The door was locked. I banged on the glass door and screamed for help, but the people on the outside of the glass simply laughed and turned up the thermostat.”
“Ohmygosh—you’re killing me!”
“I passed out and almost drowned in my personal pool of sweat. But just in time the class ended. When I stepped out into the air conditioning, my sweaty clothes froze stiff. So I had to pry them off in the locker room, and I threw them away, rather than touch them again.”
“So, I g
uess that’s the end of hot yoga for you?” Anne wiped at tears of laughter.
“Oh no. I sweated away five pounds in an hour—it was worth it.” Connie laughed. “I’ve known I needed to lose a few pounds for a while, but being around you has made me feel like an elephant.”
“Right now, I’d make a stork feel like an elephant. Please don’t use me as your measure.”
“No, I’m kidding. My nursing training has motivated me to try to be healthier. I’m trying to exercise and eat better, too. And I’m determined to fatten you up a bit as soon as we can.”
Would she ever really be able to gain weight? Every bite of food was still a challenge. Her nausea was barely in control, and strong smells still made her sick. But she couldn’t let people know, especially Steven. She had to be strong for him—he already worried too much. She plastered on a happy face.
“Thanks, Connie. I’m sure I’ll be able to eat more and more each day. You’ve been a life-saver for me.”
Connie gave her shoulder a little pat. “You hang in there, honey. We’ll get it figured out.”
“How’s Spencer?” Anne asked, trying to sound casual.
“He was over at the house last night, working with Joe. I only saw him for a bit after I came home from hot yoga. He seemed more quiet than usual, but he was probably tired.” She smiled proudly. “He always makes time to come and help his father.”
“He seems like a great guy. I can’t imagine raising five kids. Are your girls as mature as Spencer?”
Connie shook her head. “Uhmm, no. Not quite. But they’re getting there.”
“I’d love to meet them. Emily really likes your family. Maybe we could get together when Charlie comes to visit.”
“Now, Charlie is...?”
“Charlotte, actually. She goes by Charlie. She’s my younger daughter.”
“That could be really fun, although it might be a little loud, with six girls together. How old is Charlie?”
“She’s about to be twenty-three.”
“And is she a CPA like Emily?”
“Oh no. Charlie is more of a... free spirit.” Anne chuckled. “She started college, but she had no idea what she wanted to do. So—at least for now—she lives in Colorado and leads rafting trips in the summer and teaches skiing in the winter. She’s my adventurous, outdoorsy girl.” Anne cocked her eyebrow at Connie. “To tell you the truth, when they all met last fall, I thought she and Spencer might hit it off.”