Georgie on His Mind (20 page)

"Relationship?" Her tongue stumbled over the word. "Oh,
no. Walt and I may be attracted to one another-like you
said-but it's nothing as serious as a relationship. And no,
Brad doesn't know. He doesn't have to know. There's nothing to know. It's just ... a little harmless dalliance."

Dee stared at her, skepticism pooling in her eyes. "What I
just witnessed didn't look like a harmless dalliance. I hope
you know what you're doing."

"Dee, don't worry. I'm a big girl. I know exactly what I'm
doing."

"Do you?" she asked. "Then what exactly are you going
to do about your date?"

"What date?"

"Your date with Clay Hayes"

Georgie's face fell and her eyes widened. She'd completely forgotten all about her celebrity date. It was coming
up soon too. She had just filled out some more release
forms a few days ago. She was so preoccupied with Walt,
she hadn't even given it a second thought.

Dee shot her a smug grin. "Wonderful. I can see that
you've got everything under control by the sheer panicmode expression on your face" She took a step forward and
lightly placed her hands on Georgie's shoulders. "Honey,"
she began, her voice low and sobering, "you better decide exactly what you want to do about Walt fast. Or else somebody could get hurt."

Georgie looked away and studied the ground. There was
no use trying to convince herself-and Dee-that she only
wanted friendship with Walt. The truth was she didn't want
to go on that date with Clay Hayes. She didn't want to go out
on any date with anyone. Except Walt. How had that happened? She had convinced herself she could handle her attraction to him and the inexplicable fear of losing control
over her life if she had opened up her heart again. She
thought she could keep Walt at arm's length. But now she had
gone and completely fallen for him.

And she didn't know what she was going to do about it.

The next night Georgie sat on the floor of her bedroom,
looking through her family photo albums. It was the first
time in a long time she'd even touched them. After her parents had died pictures had only magnified her loss, so she had
avoided the reminders altogether. But she needed to see the
photos now-really see them. A kind of therapy for the soul
that was long overdue. Maybe if she finally faced her hurt,
she wouldn't be so afraid to go through it again.

She turned the page and chuckled at the first picture she
saw: her mother and father smiling down at a pimply-faced
Brad holding an infant with orange fuzz on its head. Gosh,
she was an ugly baby! But it was still a sweet picture. Brad
looked stiff, almost as if he were afraid to drop or hurt her.
Funny how his attitude toward her hadn't changed in all
these years. Her brother still tried to protect her from harm.

Georgie flipped through to the next page and saw a picture
of Walt and Brad posing in their high school football jerseys.
She let out a little sigh at the memory. Would Walt hurt her?
she wondered. Was it worth the risk of finding out? She wished her parents were here to offer her advice. She wanted
to give in to her feelings for him, but what if Walt didn't really
see her as someone more than Brad's little sister?

The sun had begun to set, but she was too emotionally
drained to get up and turn on a light. It didn't matter. She was
done looking at pictures, and the darkness fit her depressed
mood.

A knock sounded at her door, and then Brad popped his
head in. "What the-? Jeez, Georgie, what the heck's going
on? What are you doing sitting in the dark like this?" he
said, walking in and banging his toe against a box of photos.

"Praying for you to get a life, of course" With a smirk,
she reached over and turned on the lamp by her night table.

"Oh, yeah? Thanks," he said with a cheesy grin. "While
you're at it, you can pray I hit the lottery too"

"I'll see what I can do"

Brad motioned to the floor. "Hey, what's all this?" He
bent down and started sifting through her box. "You're actually looking through our family photos?"

Georgie tried not to take offense at her brother's shocked
tone. After all, she'd avoided these pictures for almost nine
years. "Yeah. It's ... I needed to"

Brad nodded as he started flipping through an album. The
way he was intently gazing at the pages, she had a feeling he
needed to see them again too. "Check this one out," he said,
chuckling as he turned the album right side up for her to see.

Georgie's eyes welled with tears even though she was
smiling. She'd forgotten her parents dressed up as Fred and
Wilma Flintstone one year for Halloween. Her mother's face
glowed with joy as her dad had struck a caveman pose for
the camera. They looked so cute together. They had shared
so much fun and love together. Something she'd taken for
granted for as long as they were alive.

"They had a good marriage," she blurted.

Brad nodded, his eyes still on their parents' picture. "They
had the best marriage."

Georgie closed the album and handed it back to him. "Do
you want to get married someday?"

Brad's lips thinned. "No"

She blinked. She supposed she shouldn't be so surprised
by his answer. What kind of man really went around hoping
to get married anyway? But Brad was the sensitive type.
Caring. Even if he hated to admit it, he would make a wonderful husband for some lucky woman. "You don't? Huh. Me
either. That's kind of funny." Maybe they really were destined to be the only brother and sister spinster team in town.

Brad tossed the album back into the box with a decided
thump, then folded his arm across his chest. "Oh, no it's not.
That's not funny at all. You are definitely getting married. I
don't want to hear you say something so crazy again."

"What? How come it's okay if you don't want to get married, but when I say it, I suddenly must be an escaped mental
patient?"

Brad let out a laugh then ran his hands over and over
through his hair until it stuck up in all directions. "You're not
an escaped mental patient-at least, I don't think so."
Georgie grabbed a pillow to throw at him, but he shot out his
hand and blocked it.

"Look, Georgie," he said, his voice taking on a more serious tone, "it's not that I don't want to get married. I do ...
did. It's just that ... I ... I can't."

"Of course you can. It's not like it's against the law
for .. " Her mouth dropped open. She stared at her brother
for several long seconds then jumped to her feet. "Oh, my
gosh! You want to marry another man? Hey, that's okay. Don't worry. If that's what you want, I think you can go to
another state where it's legal and-"

"No, I don't want to marry another man," he said between
clenched teeth. "Sheesh, Georgie. But it's so nice to know I'd
have your full support if it were the case," he added dryly.

A bubble of laughter began to erupt inside of her, but she
wisely cleared her throat to bank it down. "I don't understand. Why on earth can't you get married then?"

Brad didn't respond right away. He just closed his eyes
and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking as if he'd rather
be cleaning the toilet than having this discussion with her.
"Because I can't marry someone who's already engaged to
someone else."

"Well, duh, of course you can't. I know that" She began
to mentally run down her knowledge of engaged women in
town. Then a dawning of realization hit her between the
eyes, and she covered her mouth in shock.

"Kendall," she whispered. "You're in love with Kendall,
aren't you?"

Oh, my gosh. She should have seen the signs: the way he
was so upset when Kendall announced her engagement, the
way he never wanted to date, the way he even avoided
Kendall and Jake's engagement party. What a dunce she was
for not seeing it sooner. It all made sense.

Brad opened his eyes, and for the first time, she saw the
raw pain he'd been so carefully hiding from her. "Oh, Brad,"
she said, shifting closer to him and taking his hands in hers.
"I'm so sorry. Does Kendall know how you feel?"

He jerked his hands from hers. "No. And she's not going
to find out," he said pointedly. "I should have told her how I
felt earlier, but I didn't and now it's too late. I blew it and
that's that. Now I just want to move on"

"But you're not moving on. Don't you see? You've been
sitting around the house for months. I've been so worried
about how you've been acting lately. I couldn't understand
why you were so uninterested in dating. And now I learn
it's all because of Kendall. Gosh, I even created a dating
list for you"

Brad rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I want to move on, believe me. It's just ... It's not easy. So back off for a little while
longer. I promise when I'm ready you can give me that socalled list of yours, okay?" He stood, then held out his hands
to help her up, giving her fingers a tight squeeze. "Look,
Georgie, if I've been acting a little more overprotective than
usual it's because I don't want you to waste your time like I
did. I want you to find someone worthy of you. You deserve
the best. I could have had the best with Kendall, but I was
afraid. Don't be a coward like I was. Love is worth the risk."

Georgie blinked back tears. Worth the risk. Her brother
didn't know it, but his pep talk was exactly what she needed
to hear. Despite her fears, she knew now she should take that
risk with Walt. She immediately jumped up and wrapped her
arms around Brad, almost knocking the two of them over.

"Easy does it, kiddo," Brad said with a laugh. "You're not
twelve anymore"

"Thanks for finally noticing," she said with a grin. "I was
beginning to worry you and Walt weren't seeing me as an
adult." Now she knew that wasn't true. She thought of the way
Walt had treated her as an equal at the pharmacy, had looked
at her, and had kissed her. Those were ways a man treated a
woman. Not someone whom he saw as his friend's little sister.

Georgie reached up and planted a big sloppy kiss on his
cheek. "You know what? You're the best brother in the
whole world. Thank you"

"Uh, you're welcome," he murmured, swiping his cheek with the back of his hand. "I think. Oh, by the way. Here"
He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and held out a
yellow envelope. "This just came in the mail today. I think
that it's more stuff about that date contest."

She took the letter and stared at it. The thick paper felt like
a bowling ball in her hand. She wondered if it was too late to
get out of going on that date. She couldn't go. Not now. Not
when she was in love with someone else. She wanted a relationship with Walt. Exclusively. A concept she didn't think
she'd ever be able to embrace again.

Brad gestured to the letter. "Do you think the publicity
from the contest is helping bring business in?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I think the diabetes expo
we're having is doing more good. In fact, Walt's already
talking about doing another health fair of some sort around
Christmas. We're going to work on it together."

"So I guess there's no real reason you have to do this
contest then, is there?"

"I-I suppose not"

Brad nodded solemnly. "Well, I want to keep the `best
brother in the whole world' title you've just bestowed upon
me, so I won't say anything else on the subject." He stepped
away and opened the door.

"Wait," she called.

She wanted to tell her brother about Walt, to share her
feelings with him like he had with her, and to hear what he
would think about her and Walt together. But when her
brother turned around and gave her a questioning look,
something held her back-she didn't know what-so she
pasted on a smile instead. "Hey, thanks again."

The next day Georgie's heart pounded like a jackhammer
as she slowly drove up to Walt's house. She could tell he was home. His truck was parked in the driveway, and she heard
Pearl Jam's "Better Man" blaring through the windows. She
chuckled, but as she let herself out of her car and walked up
to the front door, she couldn't have agreed more with Eddie
Vedder's lyrics. There wasn't a better man than Walt Somers.
She could admit that now. Let herself admit that now and
give in to the love she was once so afraid to face.

She juggled the gift she held in her arms and knocked on
the door. Walt appeared in a matter of seconds, looking
dusty, sweaty, and incredibly appealing in mesh navy shorts
and a torn gray T-shirt that just said COLLEGE written across
the chest in white block letters.

He opened the door and treated her to a magnificent smile
that made her heart leap. "Well, well. You and Brad have another fight already?"

"Ha-ha," she said with a smirk, stepping into the house
and gazing around at all the unopened boxes stacked around
the living room. "Not at all. In fact, I can honestly say Brad
and I have come to a complete understanding."

Walt shifted behind one of the boxes and turned down the
music. "Too bad. I was hoping I was going to get a roommate," he said, with a wink.