slinky body.
My eyes dropped from the mirror to the neat display of
framed photos covering the mantle top. One in particular stood out and I picked
it up. It was a shot of my mother taken shortly before her death. She looked
lovely, captured candidly on the beach, her fawn-brown hair loose and drifting
in delicate fingers about her face. She had turned, laughing, toward the camera
and her eyes sparkled in wild abandon. I smiled back sadly.
I’d rarely seen her so carefree. She’d always seemed timid
and skittish, like a doe caught in an alien environment. I guessed the gossip
surrounding Carmen’s death and Leo’s remarriage too soon after, caused a lot of
pressure. It was probably responsible for the nervous disquiet that forever
surrounded her.
I set the photo back and glanced fleetingly at the others.
There was myself astride Dimmy, my pony. Another of me in my graduation cap and
gown and one of the whole family posed in front of Beacon. The rest were of
Colin and Grant and one studio print of Leo taken for the cover of Business
Week . I turned away brusquely.
“A bit of useless nostalgia, eh?” Colin gave a wan smile as
he came in through the patio doors. I made a cynical assessment of him. In his
frayed and patched cut-off blue jeans, faded yellow T-shirt and bare feet he
looked every bit a beach bum, except for his pasty complexion, which was odd,
considering the time and effort he’d once put into suntanning.
“I thought you’d be at the marina,” I said. “What’re you
doing home?”
“David’s minding the store,” he replied absently, fingering
the photo of Anna. He rubbed his thumb along the face of the glass, a frown
creasing his brow. “I suppose Grant has told you the wonderful news?”
I nodded. There was no point in trying to avoid a
confrontation. Colin had every right to feel slighted. Still, I wasn’t ready to
deal with his feelings yet. I hadn’t yet dealt with my own.
“What do you plan to do?” His voice was guarded.
Once I might have felt sorry for him—even tried to offer
sympathy—but over the years, he’d made it quite clear he didn’t want my concern
or any other emotional bond between us. I suppose that to him I was Leo’s
favorite. That alone was enough to create a rift. The ten-year difference in
our ages served to broaden it.
“I don’t intend to marry Grant, if that’s what you mean.” I
chose to be as blunt as he, hoping he would drop the subject and leave me
alone. Instead, he gazed at me with eyes full of sadness and resignation. He
sat down and ran his fingers through his disheveled curls. My defensiveness
ebbed and I sat down nearby, assessing him less harshly.
“Do you think I’m wrong?” I asked.
He sighed and shrugged. “No. I suppose if I were in your
shoes, I’d be insulted. But I hoped…” He smiled sheepishly. “I have my own neck
to look out for, you know.”
I cocked a brow. “I hate to be trite, Colin but money isn’t
everything. Surely, the marina is doing well enough?”
A shadow passed over his face and I frowned. This wasn’t
like Colin. I expected sarcasm, accusations, demands. I could cope with those
but this quiet defeatism was so out of character that I was bewildered. Dare I
hope the rebellious Colin of old had mellowed? Had he lost some of his dark
broodiness?
“You know I’d like to save this place,” I said. “But…well…maybe
it’s time we all quit living in Dad’s shadow and made lives for ourselves.”
“I think the problem goes a little beyond that.” He picked
up a small figurine from the table and turned it around in his hands. “I know
you’ve never thought much of me. I guess I deserve it. I’ve never gone out of
my way to be fair.”
I opened my mouth to speak but he waved an impatient hand. “I
never meant to take things out on you. There were times, though I never told
you, when I wished we could’ve been closer—like brothers and sisters are
supposed to be—but my damn pride always got
My eyes dropped from the mirror to the neat display of
framed photos covering the mantle top. One in particular stood out and I picked
it up. It was a shot of my mother taken shortly before her death. She looked
lovely, captured candidly on the beach, her fawn-brown hair loose and drifting
in delicate fingers about her face. She had turned, laughing, toward the camera
and her eyes sparkled in wild abandon. I smiled back sadly.
I’d rarely seen her so carefree. She’d always seemed timid
and skittish, like a doe caught in an alien environment. I guessed the gossip
surrounding Carmen’s death and Leo’s remarriage too soon after, caused a lot of
pressure. It was probably responsible for the nervous disquiet that forever
surrounded her.
I set the photo back and glanced fleetingly at the others.
There was myself astride Dimmy, my pony. Another of me in my graduation cap and
gown and one of the whole family posed in front of Beacon. The rest were of
Colin and Grant and one studio print of Leo taken for the cover of Business
Week . I turned away brusquely.
“A bit of useless nostalgia, eh?” Colin gave a wan smile as
he came in through the patio doors. I made a cynical assessment of him. In his
frayed and patched cut-off blue jeans, faded yellow T-shirt and bare feet he
looked every bit a beach bum, except for his pasty complexion, which was odd,
considering the time and effort he’d once put into suntanning.
“I thought you’d be at the marina,” I said. “What’re you
doing home?”
“David’s minding the store,” he replied absently, fingering
the photo of Anna. He rubbed his thumb along the face of the glass, a frown
creasing his brow. “I suppose Grant has told you the wonderful news?”
I nodded. There was no point in trying to avoid a
confrontation. Colin had every right to feel slighted. Still, I wasn’t ready to
deal with his feelings yet. I hadn’t yet dealt with my own.
“What do you plan to do?” His voice was guarded.
Once I might have felt sorry for him—even tried to offer
sympathy—but over the years, he’d made it quite clear he didn’t want my concern
or any other emotional bond between us. I suppose that to him I was Leo’s
favorite. That alone was enough to create a rift. The ten-year difference in
our ages served to broaden it.
“I don’t intend to marry Grant, if that’s what you mean.” I
chose to be as blunt as he, hoping he would drop the subject and leave me
alone. Instead, he gazed at me with eyes full of sadness and resignation. He
sat down and ran his fingers through his disheveled curls. My defensiveness
ebbed and I sat down nearby, assessing him less harshly.
“Do you think I’m wrong?” I asked.
He sighed and shrugged. “No. I suppose if I were in your
shoes, I’d be insulted. But I hoped…” He smiled sheepishly. “I have my own neck
to look out for, you know.”
I cocked a brow. “I hate to be trite, Colin but money isn’t
everything. Surely, the marina is doing well enough?”
A shadow passed over his face and I frowned. This wasn’t
like Colin. I expected sarcasm, accusations, demands. I could cope with those
but this quiet defeatism was so out of character that I was bewildered. Dare I
hope the rebellious Colin of old had mellowed? Had he lost some of his dark
broodiness?
“You know I’d like to save this place,” I said. “But…well…maybe
it’s time we all quit living in Dad’s shadow and made lives for ourselves.”
“I think the problem goes a little beyond that.” He picked
up a small figurine from the table and turned it around in his hands. “I know
you’ve never thought much of me. I guess I deserve it. I’ve never gone out of
my way to be fair.”
I opened my mouth to speak but he waved an impatient hand. “I
never meant to take things out on you. There were times, though I never told
you, when I wished we could’ve been closer—like brothers and sisters are
supposed to be—but my damn pride always got
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