A Woman Scorned
Chapter 3
John slowed the Navigator to park in front of the conjoined cottages. He popped the door locks to allow Bree to get out.
“Sweetheart, your Daddy’s home, painting. Please let him know that Patrick and I are going to the store to pick up a few things for dinner. It’s our turn to cook,” John gently said, trying to smooth the still ruffled feathers. Bree had calmed during the drive home from school but she still wasn’t up to talking.
Bree nodded, jumped out of the SUV with her things then walked to the front door of her home. John waited until she was safely inside, half expecting Bree to slam the door shut. Then he turned the big car around to drive back out of the lane.
“Daddy, I’m home!” Bree called out as she entered the cottage. It was damp outside but cozy indoors. Justin had a small fire going in the fireplace. Bree walked over to stand next to it, trying to warm up her insides.
“Hey, Baby Girl,” Justin greeted her with a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s getting cold,” he said stating the obvious. Justin helped Bree with her coat, hat and scarf. “Would you like some hot cocoa? I made a pot of it for when I was painting. I’m done for the day.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Bree said as she stared into the flames. Justin knelt down then turned Bree to speak with her.
“Baby Girl, what’s wrong? You haven’t been happy since your, um, since you met Celeste and Sam.” Justin really hoped that Bree’s sadness wasn’t because she missed her birth mother.
“Nothing, Daddy,” Bree said in a small voice. She really hoped that her Daddy wasn’t going to push for more of an answer. Bree wasn’t sure how to describe what she was feeling. So she changed the subject, manipulating the conversation like she had seen her Dada do when it suited him. “Uncle John and Patrick went to the store. He said he needed to get stuff for dinner tonight.”
“Oh yeah, it’s their turn to cook,” Justin said as he stood. He was happy to let his brother-in-laws cook. Justin was feeling tired. He had spent the whole day painting, from early in the morning when inspiration took hold of him. But the sun porch had gotten cold and damp and now he was feeling it.
“Let’s have that cocoa and sit by the fire for a while to warm up,” Justin suggested.
“I have homework to do,” Bree said.
“I know, Baby. You’ll have plenty of time to work on it after our cocoa,” Justin said, feeling the need to have a quiet moment alone with his daughter. He sat her in one of the overstuffed chairs they had situated just to the side of the fireplace then quickly went to prepare two mugs of cocoa.
“Be careful, it’s hot,” he warned as he handed Bree her favorite mug. It was a thick mug, insulating her hands from the heat and it had a happy frog on it. Bree loved the way her Dada purposely glared at the thing every time she used it in front of him. It was an old joke that the family never tired of.
“Baby Girl,” you’d tell me if there was something really bothering you, wouldn’t you?” Justin asked as he hugged Bree close.
“Yes, Daddy, I promise,” Bree said.
‘And you don’t lie,’ Justin thought to himself as he carefully sipped from his own mug.
*****
Melanie sat in one of the stuffed chairs in the suite she was currently occupying, crossing another realtor off her rapidly shortening list. She had been hiding in Brian’s suite for four days without even a nibble at an apartment that was suitable. She also hadn’t call JR or any other family although Debbie knew Mel was in town. Melanie wasn’t ready to face the family, yet.
“When did I turn into such a coward?” Mel asked herself as she crossed another name off her list. “And if I don’t find a job soon, I’ll never get out of this hotel,” Mel sneered. She hated being in debt to one Brian Kinney.
Mel abruptly stood up then stalked to the bedroom. She stopped as she passed a large mirror then gazed at her reflection noting the dark circles under her eyes and the lines in her forehead.
“When did I get so old?” she asked herself then poked at her once firm abdomen. She was by no means overweight but she felt herself growing flabby from neglect. She had no one to look good for and was angry at herself for even thinking that way.
“Fuck!” Mel cursed at herself.
*****
“Bree! Phone!”
Bree heard her father call out from the living room. Bree was in her room sitting on her bed finishing her homework. She was surrounded by a pile of books and papers. “Coming!” she shouted back as she pushed her books off her lap then flew out of her room, her bare feet slapping against the floor as she ran into the kitchen for the portable phone.
“Whoa!” Brian yipped as he jumped out of Bree’s way as she sprinted toward the phone. Brian was on his way toward his brother’s side of the cottages and was nearly bowled over by his daughter.
“Hi, Ashley!” Brian heard as he managed to get out of the way just as Bree ran back to her room with the phone attached to her ear.
“Didn’t she just see Ashley four hours ago?” he mumbled to himself as he walked through the sun porch. He stopped halfway to look around and then out the door into the bleak night. The wind was blowing leaves through the garden and it was beginning to rain.
“Brian?” a voice from above him called out. Brian walked up the spiral stairway and into John’s office. “Didn’t I just see you a little while ago,” John teased. Brian plopped down on the sofa across from John’s desk. “What’s wrong?” John asked when Brian sighed loudly. Brian shrugged. “Now I know where Bree gets her stubbornness from. And I don’t know who takes the award for the biggest drama queen around here?”
Brian glared.
“Knock it off. You don’t scare me, Brian Kinney. Now what the fuck’s wrong with you and your daughter? You’ve been walking around like you’ve lost your best friend and Bree’s been snapping at everyone. Now spill,” John demanded.
Brian remained stoically silent.
“Okay. Shall I guess? You’re still worried about Bree and Celeste. And you’re not going to stop worrying until you’re convinced otherwise or something drastic takes your mind away from these feelings you’re having. Am I close?” John asked with an arch of that famous Kinney eyebrow.
Brian said nothing but gave a small nod.
“Brian, let it go before it eats you up alive. There are other things more important for you to be concerned about. If Bree wants to pursue her relationship with Celeste, she’ll tell you about it. Bree trusted you to support her that day and she’ll trust you again if she wants to contact Celeste. Until then we have Thanksgiving to plan for and the dance. The school is calling for as many parents as they can get for chaperones. This dance is big and it’s growing bigger.”
“What do you mean?” Brian finally spoke as he sat up straight to pay attention.
“The next district over caught wind of the school plans and thought it was a great idea. But they don’t have a gym big enough,” John explained. Brian quickly put two and two together.
“The new sports arena, they want to borrow it,” Brian surmised. “That’ll be hundreds of kids.”
“Plus the parents,” John added.
“Is the arena big enough for that?”
“Yes, but we’ll have to create a floor to cover the turf. If not it’ll be ruined.”
“That’s a little more than your company bargained for,” Brian stated.
“True but we have the time and my company is going into winter hiatus, so I have the man power. Plus most of my men have children going to both schools.”
“Motivation,” Brian said. John nodded. “Let me check with Ted, I think Part Deux hasn't met their donation quota for the year yet.”
“Speaking about Ted,” John began. Brian looked up. “You keep running him ragged. He’s going to want to take an early retirement.”
“He loves his job.”
“Yes he does, but he could do with some help. And Bobby’s not the one to give it to him,” John said quickly before Brian could protest. “Bobby is happy in Harrisburg. You need someone who’s willing to travel and bone up on corporate law.”
“And how do you know all this?” Brian growled.
“Now don’t get your knickers all in a bunch, Ted doesn’t go around complaining. He called me to check out the vacant apartment in your building and to go over the maintenance contract. The Tremont building is getting old, and it may need work to keep it up to code.”
“Do whatever you have to to keep that building up to and beyond code. I’d like the loft to go to Gus when he’s ready. And who moved out? Not Lacy and Katerina?”
“No not them. It was the older gentleman in the small one bedroom on the second floor.”
“I didn’t know him that well. He was one of the original tenants when they converted the warehouse into apartments. He kept to himself,” Brian explained. “He didn’t trash the apartment, did he?” Brian snarked.
John saw a glimmer of the old Brian and smiled. “No, he didn’t trash the apartment but it’s been a while since it had a good paint job. I’m going to have Gordon use some of Hunter’s kids to do the work. Gordon needs an excuse to stay out of Betsie’s way. The flower shop is going into holiday overdrive and she’s drafting everyone and anyone.” John and Brian laughed. Betsie ruled with an iron fist and Gordon was totally in love with her.
“So I guess I’ll be needing a new tenant.”
“I’ll let you know when the apartment is ready.” Brian got up to walk back downstairs. “Brian, you came up here for a reason, what was it?”
“It’s getting cold, the sun porch feels a little damp.”
“I’ll check it out,” John assured Brian.
“Thanks. And I’ll talk to Ted. He’s too valuable a friend,” Brian said softly making John smile. John stood to give his brother a hug which was returned and appreciated. Brian descended the spiral staircase feeling a whole lot better than when he walked up.
John watched as Brian went back down the stairs then disappeared into his side of the cottage. "Well that was easy enough," John murmured to himself. "Now if only Bree was just as easy," John said with a shake of his head.
*****
"What's up, Ashley?" Bree asked as she shoved her homework to the end of the bed and settled back against the pillows with the portable phone.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Why?"
"You were going to walk home, Bree. That's just crazy. I was worried."
"I could have walked that far," Bree declared. "You know I could."
"I know you could, but that doesn't mean that you should. It's dangerous along that road."
"Yeah, I know. I was kind of glad that Uncle John stopped me."
"Why did you do it anyway?" Ashley asked still bewildered by Bree's behavior.
"I didn't want to talk to Patrick. He can have that ... girl. I don't care anymore."
"Yes you do. I know you care, but you can't do anything about it."
Bree sighed. "I know you're right. Brittany thought she could make me jealous by telling me that Patrick was taking her to the dance," Bree told her friend.
"When did that happen?"
"After you left to go to class. She came over and acted all sweet and friendly. When I told her that I already knew that Patrick had asked her, you should have seen her face. She couldn't get away fast enough."
Ashley chuckled. "She is so phony."
"Yeah," Bree agreed.
"Bree, you're not going to do anything ... bad ... like taking off from school, are you?" Ashley asked uncertainly. She wanted her friend around for many years to come.
Bree could hear the worry in her friend's voice. "I don't know why I did that," Bree admitted.
"You were hurt and angry."
"I guess so," Bree agreed. "I seem to be angry all the time, especially at Patrick."
"He hasn't really done anything wrong," Ashley said.
"You always think he's perfect," Bree said with a giggle.
"That's cause he is."
Bree laughed. "I wish you were here so we could talk all night."
"Me too," Ashley said. "My mom's giving me the evil eye. I think I better go."
"Okay," Bree replied with another sigh. She felt like sighing all the time. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Night, Bree."
"Night, Ashley."
Bree pushed the disconnect button and leaned back into her pillows. She sighed again. Why did life have to be so hard? If only Patrick had asked her to the dance instead of that awful Brittany. Sometimes life just wasn't fair.
"Squirt, are you still on the phone?" Brian asked from the other side of the door.
"No, Dada, we hung up."
"That's good. Can I come in and get the phone?"
"Sure, Dada."
Brian pushed the door open and walked into Bree's bedroom. He looked at his daughter nestled against the big pillows on her bed. She looked small and vulnerable. He never wanted her to grow up or have to face the problems of the world. He would do his best to protect her from all that.
Brian extended his hand and Bree placed the phone in it. He raised an eyebrow as his daughter said nothing.
"What's up, Squirt?" he asked.
"Nuffin'," Bree replied pulling grey bunny to her chest.
Brian sucked in his lips and sat down on the edge of Bree's bed. "Uncle John told me what happened after school today."
Bree stared into space refusing to look at her father. Brian waited knowing he could outlast his daughter in the silent department. He and Justin had decided to wait till after dinner before discussing Bree's behavior with her. They had hoped time would have helped her calm down and be more reasonable. Bree seemed calm now, but whatever had set Bree off obviously wasn't settled yet.
"I can wait longer than you can," Brian singsonged.
That elicited a giggle from Bree. "You're silly, Dada."
"That's me, Mr. Silly," Brian quipped. Bree giggled some more. "So, Squirt, what happened this afternoon?"
Bree swallowed and looked up at her father. "I was mad," she said slowly.
"Mad at who?"
Bree thought for a minute. "At Brittany, at Patrick ... at everyone."
"What were you mad about?"
"I don't know, Dada, just mad," Bree said as tears started to well up in her eyes. She sniffled and hugged grey bunny tighter.
"Bree, you've been very testy lately. What's going on?"
"Testy?" Bree asked. She didn't really want to answer her father's question, wasn't sure she knew how to answer it, so she thought this might delay it a bit.
"I thought you had an above average vocabulary," Brian stated with a raised eyebrow.
"I do, Dada."
"Then what do you think testy might mean?"
"Um, testing people?"
"Kind of," Brian conceded. "It means touchy, impatient with people, getting angry for no good reason."
"I had a good reason," Bree declared.
"I thought you said you didn't know why you were angry."
Bree frowned and made a face. "Brittany is the reason."
"That's twice you've mentioned Brittany. Do I know her?"
Bree shook her head. "She's in Patrick's class."
"Is this the Brittany that Patrick is taking to the dance?" Bree nodded. "Why are you angry with Brittany?" Brian had a good idea what the problem was - the old green eyed monster, but he wanted Bree to voice it.
"She's mean," Bree said.
"How is she mean?"
"She ... she ... she made fun of me that I didn't have someone to take me to the dance. She's ... not nice."
"Hm," Brian responded. "That wasn't very nice of her."
"No it wasn't, Dada. She's mean."
"Do the girls in your class have boys who are taking them to the dance?" Brian asked out of the blue.
"Oh, um, I don't know," Bree stammered.
"Is some boy taking Ashley?"
"No."
"Do you know any girls in your grade who have been asked to the dance by boys?"
"No, Dada."
"Do you know any girls who have been asked by girls or boys asked by boys?" Brian threw in.
Bree smiled. "I guess Ashley and me will be together," Bree said with a grin.
"Ashley and I."
"Are you taking Ashley to the dance?" Bree asked with a giggle.
"You know what I meant, Squirt."
"Yes, Dada."
"Is this enough for tonight?"
"Yes, Dada."
"And you'll try to not be so testy?"
"Yes, Dada, I'll try."
"Then give me a hug and get ready for bed."
"Yes, Dada," Bree agreed as she stood up on her bed.
Brian pulled her against his chest and squeezed a little harder than normal. "I love you, Squirt," he whispered.
"Love you too, Dada."
Brian walked out of the bedroom feeling a little better than he had when he entered. He wasn't sure if he had accomplished anything with Bree, but at least she had smiled a few times. This must be the beginning of the terrible teens, and she wasn't even a teen yet.