by Amanda Tru
Carter looked from Geneva to Sydney and back again. “Well, that makes sense. You two look like twins. Except for the hair.”
“I’m not the twin,” Geneva said. “Sydney’s twin, London, is a fashion designer. She’s probably off gallivanting somewhere exotic for some big fashion show.”
“She’s actually right over there,” Sydney pointed. “Her hair is about the same color as Geneva’s.”
“So is Sydney’s, but she never keeps it that way for long,” Geneva pointed out with a glare at Sydney’s mane of fire.
“Why did you say London was out of town?” Sydney asked, her innocent tone full of curiosity. “She was at the house for the barbecue with you and the rest of the family earlier.”
Geneva shrugged. “Just making conversation. Dr. Solomon, why don’t you come over and say ‘hi’ to Kara, and then we’ll let you get on your way.”
“Wait, so the rest of your family is here?” Carter asked, taking in the whole area with interest.
“Oh, they’re around here someplace,” Geneva said, waving her hand vaguely. “Come here, I’ll—”
A light dawned in Sydney’s eyes, and she put out her hand. “Hi, I know we were just talking about the fireworks, but I don’t think we’ve been officially introduced. I’m Sydney Hutchins, Geneva’s sister. How exactly do you know Geneva?”
Geneva mentally groaned. Now she was doomed. Out of all her family members for Carter to meet, Sydney was the worst. Well, maybe her mother would be worse, but still.
“I’m Carter Solomon. Geneva and I went to medical school and did a residency at the same hospital. We currently share a patient.”
“He’s Allie’s specialist,” Geneva clarified quietly.
Sydney looked from Carter to Geneva and back again. “So, you’re the one. I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time. Four years or so, I’m sure.”
Carter looked at her in confusion, and Geneva felt ill. She purposely had never mentioned anything to her family about Carter. She’d never brought him home to meet them and never alluded to the fact that she had a relationship that lasted longer than a week. But Sydney knew things. Geneva didn’t know how, but somehow Sydney always knew things she shouldn’t. Now, she had the awful feeling that Sydney knew precisely the importance Carter had played in Geneva’s life.
“She just means that I must have mentioned you way back when. You know, when we were residents,” Geneva rushed to explain.
“She didn’t,” Sydney coolly clarified.
Geneva shot her sister a glare of death that would make a teenager proud.
“So, Carter, have you met our mother?” Sydney asked casually.
Oh, no, no, no, no!
Before Geneva could go on a suicide mission and attempt to tackle Sydney to the ground, Sydney excitedly motioned their mom and her cookies to join them.
“Mom, this is Geneva’s friend, Carter Solomon. He and Geneva went to med school together. He’s also Allie’s doctor.”
Of course, Lydia gushed over Carter, her shrewd eyes bouncing from Carter to Geneva like an excited pinball. She loaded him down with several chocolate chip cookies and then proceeded to introduce him to every member of the family in a fifty-mile radius. Unfortunately, since they were all at the ball field, her job was easy, and Geneva, usually the life of the party, was completely miserable.
“I think we’ve just about lost our light!” Lydia finally conceded. “Geneva has an extra chair by her just for you, Carter.” Lydia’s hand to Geneva’s back gently pushed her toward him.
“No, I don—” but even before she finished her denial, she spotted the shadow of one of her brothers strategically placing a chair by where hers sat beside Kara.
It’s better to keep him with me, Geneva finally conceded, reluctantly leading the way to the chairs. That way, my nosey family can’t kidnap and pump him for information!
“Hello, Dr. Solomon,” Kara greeted.
“Hi,” came Allie’s soft voice.
“Allie, I’m so glad you’re awake!” Geneva greeted. “I wouldn’t want you to miss the fireworks.”
Carter chatted with Kara and Allie a few moments, even telling them a funny story about his uncle blowing off his eyebrows with fireworks when Carter was a kid.
Geneva felt immense relief when the first explosion sounded, lighting the sky up with bright fire. Now that the show had started, that meant that the end was near, which meant that she could soon make her escape.
After about the first five minutes of oohing and aahing, Geneva realized that, with her entire family distracted by the fireworks, this was the only time she could actually have a private conversation with Carter.
“What exactly are you doing here?” she whispered to his dark form in the chair beside her.
“Watching fireworks,” he replied in a stage whisper clearly audible to anyone in a twenty-foot vicinity.
The smart-aleck jerk!
Geneva wanted to keep needling him until he gave her actual answers, but she knew if she did, he would only delight in embarrassing her while not granting her one single tidbit of information.
Best just to keep my mouth shut and pretend he isn’t here.
The first part of that plan was a lot easier than the second. Though she didn’t speak another word through the rest of the twenty-minute fireworks show, she couldn’t curb the awareness of him.
The fireworks show eventually ended in cheers, and everyone began gathering their things in the dark. Without being asked, Carter helped fold the jean blanket and then asked Allie if he could help her to the car.
Allie shyly granted him permission, and he swung her up in his arms, claiming that he would fly her to the car just like Superman. With great, exciting sound effects keeping rhythm with Allie’s soft giggles, she came in for a perfect landing in her booster seat in the car. Kara quickly took off, eager to beat some of the traffic and get Allie home to bed.
Geneva turned to her car, intending to completely ignore Carter and leave.
“I was here as a representative of the hospital,” Carter said, his voice stopping her retreat. “Even though the hospital is in Brighton Falls, they still like to maintain a presence in the surrounding communities. They were sponsors for the Crossroads fireworks, and I helped out in one of the booths they had set up earlier.”
“Thank you for that,” Geneva said graciously. “I know a community the size of Crossroads really appreciates sponsors, and it’s great of you to donate your time to volunteer.”
Silence stretched between them with only the sound of their footsteps crunching through the gravel parking lot.
“Geneva, why didn’t you ever introduce me to your family?” Carter suddenly asked. “They seem great! I introduced you to mine when we went to the coast, but you never brought me to your family. And they only lived an hour away from the hospital where we worked in Brighton Falls.”
Geneva winced. She didn’t want the conversation to get personal. That’s what she’d been avoiding, and she really didn’t want to explain herself!
“Hey, it was nice to meet you, Carter!” Geneva’s brother Dallas suddenly appeared, giving Carter a friendly slap to the back. “It’s been a while since Gen has brought someone to meet us!”
“I didn’t bring him,” Geneva grumbled.
“Yeah, who was that last guy?” Dallas mused. “What was his name? Steve? Or was it Shawn?”
“No, Steve was the guy from last summer who came to the picnic,” said Geneva’s sister, Brooke, appearing at Dallas’s elbow. “Shawn was the guy a few months ago.”
“Shawn was a few months ago?” Dallas asked, confused. “Wasn’t there another Shawn at some point, or was that Shane?”
“I’m leaving now,” Geneva announced, walking briskly away from where her brother and sister continued to discuss the encyclopedia of Geneva’s boyfriends.
Carter hurried to catch up to her. “That answers my question about if you ever brought other guys to meet your parents or if it was just me you excl
uded.”
Geneva turned on him, her frustration overflowing. “Why do you even care? You met them tonight, and we aren’t even together. Why get upset about something that did or didn’t happen four years ago?”
“You have a nice family,” Carter replied simply and sincerely. “I would have liked to know them.”
Geneva chose not to respond. She didn’t know how. The truth was that she did have a lovely family. She was close to all six of her brothers and sisters and had dutifully tortured each one of them when they’d brought a special someone to meet the family. Fortunately, they had all grown accustomed to Geneva bringing a wide assortment of un-special someones around. While they teased her about her dating habits, she took the ribbing in stride. After all, none of it was ever serious. However, Geneva was very aware that she had a huge pile of payback coming if she ever did bring around someone special.
Geneva shrugged. “No one’s stopping you from knowing them now.”
Though I would prefer you didn’t.
Geneva couldn’t see his face in the dark, and it bothered her not to see what he was thinking and feeling. “It’s late, and you need to drive back to Brighton Falls.” Geneva paused, struggling with how to say goodbye. It wasn’t actually good to see him. They weren’t really friends. Maybe she should mention something about Allie and work.
“Thank your family for making me feel so welcome,” Carter said, relieving her of the pressure. “I’ll see you around, Geneva.”
Geneva walked around to the driver’s side of her car. Even though the fireworks show had ended, the sky frequently lit up with people igniting their own fireworks, many of which Geneva expected were likely illegal. The air vibrated with the popping noise that she knew from previous experience would last long into the night.
She got into her car and watched Carter’s taillights head toward the highway. A large burst of light splayed its paint across the black background of the sky, and Geneva thought sadly of how that firework really symbolized her relationship with Carter. Fierce, breathtaking, and beautiful, lighting up her life like nothing before, and then it was gone. Everything receded to black as if nothing had been there to begin with.
Maybe the whole thing was a figment of my imagination.
Maybe how they felt about each other never had been real, and she should just classify him like all the rest—a fun friend she hung out with for a while before they both moved on.
Unfortunately, her family’s reaction to Carter disproved that. He was different four years ago, and he was still different today. She didn’t know how they knew, but they knew.
As quirky as her family was, Geneva knew she fit right in. Over the years, she’d teased and tortured her siblings when they dared to bring around someone special all the while she skated by with parading past a litany of guys who were nothing more than friends. Always in the back of her mind was the knowledge that she would one day have her comeuppance. Now she feared that even though she and Carter weren’t together and even though he’d wandered into her family’s presence instead of being escorted by Geneva, some of her debt was about to be very exuberantly paid back by her siblings.
Of course, Carter liked her family. They were big, fun, and welcoming. He was free to like them all he wanted as he drove off into the fireworks-studded night, hopefully never to see them again. Meanwhile, Geneva was left to deal with the consequences and a whole heap of payback.
“Hi, Gen! You’re home sooner than I thought!”
Geneva looked at her sister, Sydney, in exasperation. After all, Geneva had just opened the locked front door of her house to find her sister curled up on the couch under the light of a single lamp.
Usually, the idea that someone waited in the dark of her locked house would freak her out, but at this point, she was too tired and familiar with Sydney’s ways to even startle.
“What are you doing here, Sydney?” Geneva asked wearily. “Aren’t you staying with London?”
Sydney shrugged. “London is busy with orders or something. She’s no fun at any rate. It’s been a while since I stayed with you, so I thought I’d come over and say hi.”
Yeah, right.
While Sydney used to show up and stay a night or two with Geneva every once in a while, she hadn’t since London moved back to Crossroads. Sydney wouldn’t come without a reason, and Geneva guessed that reason had to do with what had happened tonight at the fireworks show.
After setting her phone and keys down, London flopped on the couch beside her sister. “I won’t bother asking how you managed to get in without a key. Just tell me how to beef up my security.”
“Your security is fine. If I want in, I’ll get in.”
“I can give you a key, you know,” Geneva pointed out logically. “A phone call would also work.”
“That would ruin all the fun.” Sydney frowned. “You and London are so much alike. She always says the same thing. Maybe you two should have been the identical twins.”
Knowing that Sydney pulled the same stunts on London was a little comforting but not much. I guess I can be thankful I’m a rare visit from Sydney.
“I’m really tired, and I have to work tomorrow,” Geneva said, hoping she could postpone any talk, especially anything of the more serious variety.
“Is that why you didn’t stay long with Carter?” Sydney asked casually.” I expected you to want some alone time.”
“Carter and I aren’t together,” Geneva reported matter-of-factly. “Haven’t been for a long time,” Sydney knows that already. She’s just trying to bait me into talking!
Geneva stood and stretched. “I’ll see you in the morning. Maybe we can talk after work tomorrow.”
“I’ll be gone before you wake up in the morning,” Sydney replied. “I have a job they want me on. I should probably leave tonight, but I’m stretching it a few hours.”
Geneva knew better than to ask who “they” was. All she knew was that Sydney worked for some government agency in some top-secret-ish capacity. And she knew enough to realize she probably didn’t want to know anymore. Geneva suspected Sydney’s work was very dangerous. If ever asked, Sydney gave vague answers, and if pressed, she would outright lie. And Sydney was a good liar.
Much about Sydney’s life was a mystery. She showed up without notice and took off just as abruptly. She made it to some family gatherings but was the most absent of the family. Geneva wasn’t a worrier and didn’t want to be, but she feared that if she knew much about what her sister really did, it would prove impossible not to worry about her safety.
“Okay, Sydney, I give,” Geneva plopped back on the couch, resigning herself to the inevitable. “What do you want to know? Though I don’t know why you bother. You probably already know the answer to every question you’ll ask me.”
Sydney knew stuff that she shouldn’t. Personal stuff. Geneva really believed that Sydney probably knew all about Carter before she met him today, but if she needed to humor her sister’s curiosities, then she’d do it. Besides, if Sydney didn’t already know, she’d find a way to get all the details with or without Geneva’s cooperation.
“I might know facts,” Sydney admitted. “But I don’t know feelings, and that is what I’m interested in. I want to know why you parade through every other guy in a hundred-mile radius, but you never brought the one man you cared about to meet your family. We weren’t clueless, Gen. You went six months or so without showing up with a new date. We knew something was different.”
Geneva thought, taking a rare moment to try to psychoanalyze herself, which was never fun. “I think the answer to that is already in what you just said,” she finally replied. “I cared about him, but somehow I always had the nagging feeling that my feelings went deeper than his. I didn’t want to bring someone I felt something for around the family because you all would get overly attached and excited. Then my family would be involved, and it would hurt all the more when he left me.”
“Do you still love him?”
Sydney’s quiet
question drew Geneva’s sharp intake of breath. Sydney didn’t pull any punches. At least she didn’t ask why Carter broke up with me.
Geneva gave a deceptively casual shrug. “Since Carter is the only guy who has broken up with me, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel. I certainly don’t have warm, fuzzy, lovey-dovey feelings toward him. How can you love someone who intensely dislikes you and broke your heart years ago? Most of the time, he infuriates me. The only reason we see each other is because of Allie. As much as his rejection hurt me, it’s been four years. At this point, there is nothing personal between us, except maybe some unresolved animosity. We’re professional colleagues, and I’m good with that. Carter is the best pediatric oncologist there is. I can tolerate him for the few moments in which we need to consult. After Allie gets better, I can go back to ignoring his existence.”
A wary light came into Sydney’s eyes. “What if she doesn’t get better, Gen? Will that just be another reason to dislike Carter?”
Geneva made a face. “I don’t need more reasons to dislike Carter. Besides, I’m sure Allie will get better. I’ve found a new trial that I’m planning to discuss with him. It’s showing great promise. And we’re praying. Lots.”
“But Geneva, she’s terminal.”
Instant anger sprang up, coursing through Geneva’s veins. “Who told you that? That may be what the tests indicate, but we’ve come too far for God to let that happen now. Carter is losing hope, but I am not. I refuse to. God has a plan, and when I can find the right combination of treatment for Allie, she will be healed.”
Geneva could recite Allie’s test results from memory. She wasn’t in denial that everything indicated that this cancer was not curable. As a medical professional, she knew that both Kara and Allie needed to be aware of the gravity of the situation. But on a personal level, everything in her rebelled against the idea that she couldn’t protect Allie and beat this adversary. She would do what was required as a professional, but she would fight with all she had to change that black and white verdict.