Hurricane Stepbrother (6 page)

I could hear Erik trying to stifle his chuckle behind me and as my mother’s eyes narrowed at him, I knew that she heard it as well. I waited for the yelling but it never came. Instead, her eyes softened as she walked over and reached to pat Erik on the shoulder.

“It’s so nice to officially meet you, Erik. Gerald told me a lot about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” he said honestly, but the hesitance in his voice was obvious.

She smiled kindly at him before she said, “I’d love to talk with you, but can I have a moment alone with my daughter first?”

He nodded and sent me an apologetic look but I shrugged him off. After he was out of the room, mom turned to me and pressed her lips into a fine line, the look in her eye not amused in the least.

“You know, when you said you two were getting along, this was
not
what I imagined.”

The loud bout of surprised laughter was enough to make Erik poke his head around the corner and look in at us questioningly. The sound was contagious and after a few seconds, my mom joined in. I could almost feel the waves of confusion coming from Erik.

But it was impossible to explain. My mother was just as much aware of irony as I was and none of it was lost on her.

The two of us laughed until our sides hurt, then she poured herself another glass of wine and sat down to hear the story about how Erik and I happened.

~*~*~

The day of the funeral came and went. Erik had stiffly stood by my side as they lowered his father’s body into the ground while I tried to simultaneously comfort my mom and comfort Erik all while holding myself together. I knew Erik was unsure of how to feel about Gerald’s death, torn between conflicting emotions from his knowledge of who the man once was and who he had become in his later years.

But like he once told me, it really didn’t matter. Not anymore. He still refused to tell me anything specific about how Gerald treated his mother and himself and I was stuck between wanting to know everything and wanting to remain in ignorance.

We truly were two of a kind, similar in our indecision about a dead man.

After the funeral, after the reading of the will, and after my mom finally seemed like she was getting back to her old self, Erik and I found ourselves at that pivotal point in our relationship, far too soon for my liking.

Everything he needed to do here was finished but now, the road was split. I could see the question that constantly plagued his thoughts; Should I stay or should I go?

I remembered the first night he stayed here and when he told me that he never stayed in one place for very long. I was smart enough to realize that it was by choice, Erik craved adventure and loved being able to ride off on his motorcycle into the sunset when he got bored of a city.

Now that he had inherited a good portion of Gerald’s estate, he definitely had the means to continue his vagabond lifestyle without ever having to work unless he chose to do so. I inherited my own portion and was pretty set, but was torn between my options.

One night, while Erik laid sleeping in my bed, I snuck out of my bedroom and went into the kitchen to think. I was plagued by the feeling that this thing between us was about to end.

Logically, I knew how I felt was insane. I had only known the man for nine days, but it felt like a lifetime to me.

But I had no idea how to explain it to him, how to show him I was willing to fight for this relationship, without scaring him off with my intense feelings for him.

The sound of footsteps alerted me to another presence in the kitchen and I turned around to see my mom padding into the room clad in her fluffy bathrobe. She took one look at me and sighed before making her way to the fridge and pulling out the half-empty bottle of wine.

When she placed the glass of red in front of me, I took it by the stem and shot her an amused look.

“Wine isn’t the answer to all life’s problems, mom.”

She snorted and took the seat across from me, placing the bottle between us before lifting up her own glass. “I never said that. But it certainly helps in solving them.”

We clinked out glasses together before we drank. After gulping down the alcohol, I set the now empty glass back on the table and continued to study the floor while my thoughts ran in circles.

“You’re not going to find any answers in the linoleum, sweetheart.”

I looked up at her sharply. “I’m not-”

“Oh, don’t try and fool me. I
know
that look. I’ve worn it a few times myself. First when I met your father, then again when I met Gerald,” she said, sighing wistfully as she refilled my glass and topped off her own. “So if you want to talk about it, I’ll be happy to listen.”

“And impart your wisdom?”

“Of course. And it’s free of charge for you, my dear.”

“Gee, thanks,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes at her. I toyed with the stem of the wine glass as I quietly admitted, “I just don’t know what to do. I know he’s going to leave tomorrow and I don’t want to lose him.”

“Well, there’s an easy solution for that.”

“Oh yeah? What is it?”

I waited for her response, looking up at her when she didn’t say anything. When our eyes met, I noticed hers had started to glass over with unshed tears.

“Go with him.”

My own eyes widened and I could feel the hot prickle as tears started to form in the corners. “No, I can’t. You-”

“Will be
fine
,” she said, holding up a hand to cut off my sentence. “I would never ask you to stay here just for my sake. I’ll miss you something fierce but this is what being a parent entails, sweetie. Letting you go to live your own life is the natural order of things.”

“Aren’t you supposed to stop me?” I asked, the tears in the corners of my eyes starting to roll down my cheeks. “Aren’t you going to tell me all the reasons why I shouldn’t be with Erik? That he’s obviously not a family man, that he is- or
was
- my stepbrother, that he’s too old for me?”

She snorted. “I’d be a damn hypocrite if I told you that. Gerald was thirteen years older than me, you know that. It sounds to me like you’re trying to convince yourself of all the reasons why
you
think it won’t work. But there’s only one way you’re going to find out for sure.”

“And you’d just let me go?”

She smiled and for some reason, the sight of it made me even sadder. “Of course I would. You love Erik, whether you’ve realized it yet or not. I’d never stand in the way of that.”

It was like something broke inside of me. I buried my face in my hands and cried, sobs that shook my whole body with sadness. Mom stood up and came over to me, rubbing my back and hugging me fiercely while I got out all of the emotions I had been bottling up since the funeral.

“What’s going on?”

The sound of Erik’s voice cut through the haze, but I couldn’t respond with the hiccups. My mom got me a glass of water as Erik took her spot at my side and I chugged it back quickly, nodding my thanks to her as I caught my breath and hastily wiped the tears from my eyes.

“Goodnight, you two,” my mom said softly from the doorway before disappearing to give us some privacy.

I was trying to ignore the concerned expression Erik was giving me but when he whispered my name questioningly, I finally turned to face him.

Just like it always did, my sadness had rapidly morphed into anger. “Are you leaving tomorrow?”

I already knew the answer, having seen him earlier packing up his belongings and shoving some of his stuff in his bike, but I needed to hear the words coming from his mouth.

“Yes. I can’t stay here.”

I could hear the sorrow in his tone but it wasn’t enough to placate me. I stood up, hardening my eyes even though my voice wavered as I said, “I think you should sleep in the guest room tonight.”

“Kristen, wait!” Erik called as I ran from the room.

I closed my bedroom door behind me and locked it, ignoring the loud whisper as he stood on the other side and tried to talk to me without disturbing my mom. He begged me to let him in, to let him explain, but I didn’t want to hear it.

In a daze, I walked over to my closet and opened the door, turning on the light and sitting down on the floor, pulling my knees to my chest and closing my eyes as I tipped my head down and silently cried.

I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn’t listen to Erik attempt to explain why he had to leave me.

My heart already felt like it was ripping into a million pieces.

~*~*~

I peaked out from behind the curtain, watching as my mom and Erik spoke in the driveway. Even from a distance he appeared disheveled and I wondered if he had as hard a time sleeping last night as I did.

He ran a hair through his hair and said something to my mom, the look on his face clearly frustrated. After a few more minutes of the two speaking back and forth, she turned around and headed for the house. I nearly sobbed at the thought of him leaving without saying good-bye to me but when I saw him prop his helmet on the seat of his bike, I realized that he wasn’t leaving yet.

My mom came in the house and shut the door, looking over at me with a total lack of surprise. She knew I wouldn’t just let him leave without at least saying good-bye, no matter how angry I was.

“The choice is yours, Kristen.”

Her eyes flickered between me and the packed bag sitting on the coffee table. A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips and she tilted her head, looking at me proudly.

“I don’t know how long he’ll wait. I told him I’d try to get you out of your room.”

I nodded, peaking back out the window once more to watch Erik pace up and down the driveway, looking as lost as I felt.

“Am I making a mistake?” I asked, not looking away from the man I wanted more than anything. “To leave home and uproot my life for a man? Is it a mistake?”

“Relationships require compromise. No matter how much you try to keep the score even, one partner always has to give up a little more than the other. The question you need to ask yourself is- Is he worth it?”

“He is,” I whispered, knowing without a doubt that it was true. “I love him.”

“I know, sweetie. So go.”

I somehow managed to hold back my tears as I hugged my mom good-bye, promising to call her as soon as I could. We knew I’d be back eventually, the bag I had packed was incredibly small and I would need to come home for more of my belongings soon.

“I love you, mom.”

“I love you, too. Have fun.”

She disappeared down the hall and I had the sinking feeling that she was going to cry. Guilt twisted my gut but I replayed her words from last night in my head. This was the natural order of things. I slung my bag over my shoulder and went to the door.

The second it opened, Erik looked up, his eyes wide with surprise. The closer I stepped to him, the bigger his smile grew until I was right in front of him.

“What’s this?” he asked, gesturing to my bag.

Suddenly nervous that he wouldn’t even want me to go with him, I began twisting my hands together while I looked down at the ground and tried to gather my courage.

“Well, see… Here’s the thing. I know you have to go. You’re a roamer, I get that. But I’m not willing to just give you up that easily. I know it’s only been a few days, but this thing between us… It feels like it’s meant to be. And I… I’m pretty certain that I’ve fallen for you. So if you’ll have me…” I trailed off, looking up at his face nervously.

The thousand megawatt smile on his lips nearly blinded me. He stalked up to me and pulled the bag from my shoulder, dropping it gently on the ground before lifting me into the air and spinning me around.

After a long, heart-stopping kiss, he pulled back and stared longingly into my eyes.

“I fell for you, too,” he whispered as he sat me back on my feet.

His hand gently caressed my cheek for a moment before he smiled again and walked over to the bike, opening the seat and returning to me with a helmet.

“You’re lucky I keep a spare.”

I smiled like an idiot as he put my bag into the bike and returned the seat to its normal position. He swung a leg over the bike and straddled it, turning to me with a wink.

“Hop on, beautiful.”

“Where are we going?” I asked as I hesitantly approached. It was going to be the first time I’d ever been on a motorcycle and I was a little nervous.

Erik shrugged. “Wherever you want to go,” he said before pulling on his helmet and putting the key into the ignition.

My mother’s words about compromise ran through my head and I realized that while I was giving up a lot to be with Erik, he would find plenty of ways to make the sacrifice worth it. I pulled the helmet on my head and got on the bike behind him, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist.

His gloved hand gently squeezed mine for a moment and I smiled, squeaking with surprise as the bike roared to life and we started to move.

I glanced back at the house just in time to see my mother standing in the window, smiling and waving as we tore down the street the same way he had rode in, like an unstoppable force of nature.

Together.

~*~*~

THE END