Louise Ch. 03

Now that things with Patrick's family seemed to have calmed down with the rescue of Veronica and Kevyn and Patrick seemed to have resolved their issues, Louise had time to process everything starting with the death of her mother. Had she been remiss in her care as some of the others had implied? She didn't think so but maybe if she had quit her job and stayed home... that didn't seem right either. The stroke would have happened anyway with the only difference being that she would have been there. But then again, if she had been there, would her mother have survived? There was no way of answering that question so she forced herself to let it go and clung to the fact that her mother was at peace. In the end that was all that mattered.

She allowed her thoughts to wander toward Clay. Who was the shooter and where was he? She found herself hoping that wherever he was, that he was safe. "Thank you" she murmured and then decided that she was going to ask Kevyn to tell her what had happened between her and Clay. There was no reason to keep it a secret any longer, he was dead and couldn't hurt her.

From there her mind went to Patrick and Kevyn. Kevyn really hadn't told her much about him other than he was an anatomy and physiology instructor and that she was taking his class when they met. The next question was why was he working? He obviously didn't have to unless he just enjoyed it, which was probably the case. Louise was impressed by the fact that someone like Patrick still worked and was willing to share his knowledge. She realized something else, as sweet and as kind as Patrick was, he would kill for them. She knew that beneath that calm exterior, something dangerous lurked, but the danger was only to those who threatened his family.

Once she got started, the questions wouldn't stop. How could Patrick's mother look no older than he did? How could any of them look so young? Why did the man kidnap Veronica? It wasn't money, she was sure of that and why did the adults of the family have so much pain?

The questions continued to form until she finally got to Nathan Sinclaire. He was every bit as gorgeous as all of the Sinclaire men were but there was a gentleness about him that in many ways reminded her of Patrick. On the same token, she sensed strength in him and knew that he would kill for anyone that he loved. Why did he feel as though he had to be her protector? It wasn't that she didn't like it, she did, but why her? Then there were the frequent phone calls.

Louise jumped when her cell phone rang. Without thinking about it, she answered it.

"Lou?"

Louise froze; it was Barb her sister.

"Barb? Hi."

"Hi, I was just wondering how you like sunny California."

"I like it fine." She replied warily. Barb wanted something; it was the only time that anyone ever heard from her. Louise could feel Barb's greed even over the phone even though she tried to hide it.

"It's great that Kevyn took you back with her... How did you convince her to do that?"

Louise heard the envy and anger that was beneath the forced cheer. She knew that Barb had mentioned something to Kevyn about coming back with them and Kevyn shot her down without giving her a real explanation.

"I... I just asked and they were going to ask me to come with them anyway." Louise replied just a tad nervously.

"Is that man of hers as rich as Gene says he is?"

"I can't answer that." Louise replied and then waited.

"I've got three weeks vacation, why don't I fly out there and see you guys? You know paint the town red and have a good time doing it."

Louise knew exactly what would happen. Barb would buy a one-way ticket and then expect them to put her up. She would make promises about finding a job and it wouldn't happen. If she got a look a Patrick's house, she would never leave.

"I was thinking about flying out on Saturday, what do you think?" Barb was asking.

"No, I don't think so." Louise said softly.

"Why not?"

"Because this isn't my house to let just anyone come to." Louise replied.

"I'm not just anyone! I'm your sister!" Barb retorted.

"I know that but I think that you need to talk to Kevyn before you come." Louise said her voice a little stronger.

"I thought that you were helping to pay the rent, and if that's the case you should be able to invite whomever you want to stay there." Barb said clearly not happy with Louise's reaction.

"Barb, why do you really want to come?" Louise asked. "In all the time I lived in Pittsburgh with mom, you never called to see how we were doing or if we needed anything and when you did call, it was because you needed something and you never came to see us, so what do you really want?"

Barb was as shocked as Louise was by the directness of her questions.

"I can't just want to visit my sisters?" Barb asked.

"I'm not saying that but let me ask you something, have you called Kevyn before now and asked to come see her? If not, why now?" Louise asked surprised that she was pushing the subject instead of letting it go as she normally would have done.

Louise took the phone from her ear and looked at it. Barb had hung up on her. Louise's heart pounded, she had never really stood up to one of her family before and it felt good. Underneath that feeling was the need to protect her new family although at the time she didn't see it for what it was. She saw it as wanting a break from her family and wanting to enjoy her the first drama free time she had had in years.

She glanced at the clock and realized that Nathan would be arriving in less than an hour for their coffee date. "Date?" she muttered under her breath as she headed for the bathroom to take a shower. By the time she was done, she had forgotten about Barb and was nervous. She had never been out alone with a man and wasn't sure of how to act. If she hurried, she would be able to talk to Kevyn.

Twenty minutes later, she was in the kitchen talking with Kevyn. Patrick was talking to Kevyn when she got there but excused himself after telling her how nice she looked and kissing Kevyn.

"You guys are alright now?" Louise asked.

"Yeah we're good but look at you!" Kevyn said. "Patrick's right, you look great so where are you off to?"

"Nathan is taking me out for coffee and cell phone shopping." Louise said nervously.

"You're nervous aren't you?" Kevyn said taking her hand.

"Kev, I've never been anywhere with a man before... what do I do?"

"First of all, relax." Kevyn advised. "Nathan seems very nice and I think that he really likes you so don't try to be something that you're not and remember, it's just coffee."

Louise took a deep breath and let it out. Kevyn was right, it was only coffee and she couldn't change who or what she was even if she wanted to. She took a moment to tell her about the call from Barb.

"She wanted to fly out this Saturday but I told her no but Kev, I think that she's going to come anyway. She hung up on me when I asked her why she really wanted to come."

"I'll take care of it," Kevyn said, "you have a good time with the handsome Nathan Sinclaire."

**********

Nathan showered and got ready for his date with Louise. He was sure that she wouldn't see it as such but he did. He pulled his shoulder length blond hair into a ponytail and then undid it after he put on blue polo shirt over his blue jeans. He was aiming for casual so that Louise would be as comfortable as possible and he didn't want her to think that he was flaunting his money. He headed out a few early to give himself time to stop at the florist to pick up the flowers that he had preordered and to verify that they had the instructions for the standing order.

On his way out of his room, he grabbed his sunglasses. While it was dark enough for him to be out, it wasn't dark enough for him to go without his sunglasses. He ran to the garage and looked at the line of cars trying to decide which one to take. Again, with Louise in mind, he chose the Prius instead of his usual Jag and headed to the florist to pick up the flowers.

They were waiting for him when he arrived. The woman on staff at the time flirted with him as she usually did whenever he came in and usually, he flirted back but not this time.

"She must be something special." Alicia said as she wrapped the flowers after she realized that Nathan wasn't flirting with her.

"She is." Nathan replied and then asked, "Do you have the instructions for the deliveries?"

"Yes," Alicia replied, "you want a bouquet to be delivered every day to the same address until you tell us otherwise and we are to vary the types of flower." Did I get it right? She asked. "Perfect." Nathan said and gave her a friendly smile that was in no way flirtatious. Alicia sighed, she and every woman who worked at the flower shop had designs on Nathan Sinclaire but she was the one that he openly flirted with and had even hinted about taking her out sometime for dinner. She handed him the bouquet with a small smile knowing that her chances of joining the Sinclaire family had just gone to zero.

Nathan put the flowers in the car and drove over to Patrick's house, parked and then waited for a few minutes. He was early and didn't want to cause Louise undue stress if she wasn't ready. At six on the dot, Nathan was ringing the doorbell.

Patrick opened the door and invited him in.

"Since when do you need to be invited in?" he asked.

Nathan smiled, "since my mate currently lives here." he replied.

"Congratulations!" Patrick said slapping him on the back.

"Thank you and before you ask, she doesn't know and I want to take my time in telling her."

"Understandable." Patrick said and then paused. "Nathan, be careful with her, she's very special and she's very sensitive."

"I know." Nathan replied. "That's why I'm not rushing this but thanks for the heads up."

"Hi Nathan!" Kevyn said by way of alerting them that she and Louise were coming.

"Hello Kevyn and Louise." Nathan replied with a smile. "I got these for you." he said handing the bouquet of flowers to Louise. "I didn't know what kind of flower you liked so I got a little of everything."

"I... oh ... I mean thank you!" Louise said taking the flowers. She didn't know what else to say, no one had ever given her flowers before.

"You're welcome, are you ready to go?"

"I should put these in water first....."

"I'll do it." Kevyn said taking the flowers, "and I'll put them in your room. Nathan, could I borrow Louise for just a moment?"

Kevyn took Louise by the hand and led her to the kitchen.

"Lou, relax he isn't going to bi.... Just try to have fun okay? I'll even wait up for you."

Louise nodded and gave Kevyn a nervous but grateful smile. She had never done the "boy talk" thing with any of her sisters; there had never been any reason to.

A few minutes later, she and Nathan were headed toward the mall.

**********

Barbara Nicole Simpson nee Yancy stared at the phone still not believing the conversation that she had just had with sweet, shy Louise. She had been called out which was something that she hadn't anticipated. She thought that she could just call and bully her way into getting to California.

She knew exactly who Patrick Sinclaire was. She researched him soon after she met him and was shocked, surprised and envious that Kevyn had managed to land someone like him. She also knew from her research that Patrick had several male relatives who weren't married and according to the photographs, they were all as good looking as he was. She hadn't lied when she said that she had three weeks vacation and until she met Patrick, she had no plans of going anywhere.

She pulled up 'Kayak' and began to search for flights leaving Saturday morning. She was going no matter what Louise said. What would they do? Let her sleep at the airport? Put her up at a hotel? The last option excited her. She knew where Patrick and Kevyn stayed when they were in Pittsburgh, researched it and almost fainted when she saw the rate per night and they even paid for Louise's room . Then there was the repast dinner which that hadn't been cheap, everything had been the top of the line. Even the funeral had been expensive. She knew that there was no way that her mother's insurance could have covered the cost of the funeral. This was confirmed when she cornered the funeral home director and wheedled the information out of him. Patrick had paid for the funeral because there was no insurance money and told the man not to say anything.

The only real downer besides their mother dying was Clay being shot. She was planning to make a play for him like she did every time she saw him in the hopes that this time he would take her up on it. She knew why he didn't look at her-Kevyn. She like everyone else didn't understand why he was so fixated on her and she -Barb didn't understand why Kevyn didn't want him. He was tall, good-looking and very rich. Not Sinclaire rich, but rich nonetheless. That he made his money through mostly illegal means meant nothing to Barb, money was money, but it was all a moot point, he was dead.

She even had her suspicions as to who shot him even though she couldn't prove it. If she were a betting woman, her money would have been on Puff who had been in love with Kevyn for years but had never made a move on her. Barb understood why he hadn't . Kevyn was considered Clay's property and anyone who went anywhere near her paid for it.

Not for the first time Barb wondered what it was men saw in Kevyn. There was Clay, Lonnie, Puff and now Patrick Sinclaire whom she had managed to snag with seemingly no effort. Barb had actually entertained the idea of seducing Patrick but dropped it when she saw how he and Kevyn looked at each other; he would never betray Kevyn like that any more than she would him. Her beliefs were confirmed when Clay had his arms around Kevyn and Patrick reacted leaving no question that Kevyn belonged to him and he to her.

She finally found a flight that left late Saturday afternoon and arriving in LA around eleven in the evening. She bought a non-refundable one-way ticket and began to pack. She was going through her extensive lingerie drawer when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and didn't recognize the number. She let it go to voicemail to see if whoever it was would leave a message.

"Barb, it's me Kevyn, pick up I know that you're there."

"Kev!" Barb gushed when she answered the phone. "How are you and that gorgeous man of yours?"

"We're fine." Kevyn replied. "Lou told me that you called."

"Yes, like I told her, I have three weeks vacation and I thought that I would spend them with you guys. What do you think?"

"No."

"What? Why not?" Barb asked.

"Stay home Barb." Kevyn replied. "The only reason you want to come is because you did your homework on Patrick and his family."

"That isn't true!" Barb said.

"Isn't it? Then why haven't you asked to visit before?" Kevyn asked.

"I get it." Barb snapped, "You get yourself a rich white man and you don't want anything to do with your family!"

Kevyn rolled her eyes as Barb talked.

"And by the way, I don't think that it's fair that Lou got to go back with you, what makes her so special?"

"First of all," Kevyn replied, "Patrick has nothing to do with this but his money does so let's be honest about that, it's the only reason that you want to come. Why I asked Louise to come back with me is none of your business, she's special. She always has been and she needed to be away from you vultures. I'll repeat what I said earlier, none of you with the exception of Leon lifted a finger to help her and don't give me that crap about where you lived and that you didn't have vacation time. You could have called and you could have sent them a little extra cash, there were any number of things that you could have done from where you were but you chose not to."

"Okay then," Barb said in a nasty tone, "why did you run off then? You talk about us, what about you?"

"What about me?" Kevyn asked. "Yes I left and believe me when I say that I wish that I could have brought Lou and mom here."

"Sure you would have." Barb replied sarcastically, "but you didn't answer the question, why did you leave so suddenly?"

Kevyn sighed; there was no reason to keep it a secret any more.

"I saw Clay kill someone."

"You're lying!" Barb said.

"Do you remember that kid that went missing soon after Clay and I graduated?" Kevyn asked.

"Yeah.... Something Thompson wasn't it?"

"Mario Thompson... Barb, Clay helped kill him. I saw him do it."

There was a stunned silence, "I don't believe you." Barb said after a minute.

"You don't have to believe me but that's why I left like I did but back to your visit, as I said, stay home."

"You can't tell me where to go on my vacation." Barb retorted.

"You're right, I can't" Kevyn agreed, "I'll give you the names of some reasonable hotels...."

"What? You're going to make me stay at a hotel?"

"You've already bought the ticket haven't you?" Kevyn asked already knowing the answer. "And it's a one way ticket." she added.

Barb's silence confirmed that she was right. "Get your money back and stay home."

"Why? What are you afraid of?" Barb asked.

"Nothing, I just want some time for Lou and me to get acclimated before we have anyone come to visit."

"I'll see you on Saturday." Barb said before hanging up.

"Great! Just great!" Kevyn muttered under her breath.

*****************

"Is there any place that you would like to go?" Nathan asked Louise.

"I don't know." Louise replied not wanting to be an imposition.

"How about the ocean? Everyone who comes from the east coast wants to see the Pacific Ocean." Nathan said glancing over at her.

"How far is it?" she asked.

"Not too far, would you like to go? There are places where we can get a cup of coffee or something to eat if we get hungry."

He could tell that she wanted to say yes but was too afraid to say it.

"Don't you have work to do?" Louise asked.

"It's nothing that can't wait, so what do you think? Shall we take a drive up the coast?"

"Okay, if you have time." Louise replied nervously.

Nathan was quiet for a moment and then spoke to Louise in a gentle tone.

"Louise, you are and always will be safe with me. I will never let anyone or anything hurt you and that includes me so try to relax."

Louise looked over at Nathan as he talked and listened to his words but not just the words, the emotions behind them. He meant every word that he had just spoken to her and she allowed herself to relax just a little.

Nathan began to make small talk just so he could hear her voice and begin to learn about her.

"Tell me about yourself." he said as he sped toward the coast.

"There isn't much to tell." Louise replied. "Kevyn, my brother and I cared for mom until he died and then Kevyn and I did it together."

"What did you do for fun? I know that Kevyn likes sports, what about you?"

"I'm not much on sports but then I've never really watched them but I like to watch the cooking and travel channels."

"So you like to cook then." Nathan commented trying to draw her out. It was becoming clear that other than Kevyn, no one had taken to the time get to know the jewel sitting next to him.

"It's fun..."

By the time they got to the ocean Louise was a little more forthcoming but still needed to be drawn out. Nathan realized that she didn't talk to many people and that she considered herself boring when she was anything but. When he parked the car, he made her wait until he opened the door for her; he was determined that when the time came, she would know exactly how he felt about her.

As Louise waited for Nathan to open the car door, she looked out and saw the broad expanse of water that seemed to have no end. When Nathan opened the door and offered her his hand, she absently took it distracted by the sound and smell of the ocean.