Dirk: A Stepbrother Romance(37)

Jennifer could see that her mother was hurt, but that she would never admit it. Her mom was all about appearances. She wanted everyone to think that it was all okay, even if it didn’t feel ok for her. Once again, Jennifer was not going to upset her fantasy world.

“So what are you looking for?”

“Oh, just papers on the house. Ryan wants to have his lawyers look at them and find a buyer as soon as possible.”

“I don’t understand why you have to rush everything. It is not like you guys need the money.”

Darla looked back at her daughter and shrugged.

“You know how Ryan is. He likes to get stuff done, no procrastination. That’s why he has been so successful.”

“No, actually, I don’t really know ‘how he is’ at all. All I know is what you tell me. I have only met him twice mom.”

“I know dear and he suggested that you come by and have dinner with us soon.” She said evasively. “I see that you met new your brother Charlie. I was so happy to see you two getting along.”

“Wait, what?” Jennifer felt the blood drain from her face.

“I saw you and Charlie at the table talking. He’s your new stepbrother, well one of them. He is the oldest and his younger brother stopped by after the wedding. Maybe you met him too?”

Jennifer’s heart rate increased dramatically and she felt like her throat was closing up. While she couldn’t speak from shock, her mind screamed for her to answer. She needed to say something to fill the void. And to find out if what she said was true. Jennifer could not imagine that the man who had his hands all over her at the wedding and whom she kissed so passionately was really her new stepbrother. How could that be?

“The one I danced with at the wedding is my new stepbrother?”

“Yes. One of them. I swear dear, it is like you are not even listening sometimes.”

Jennifer leaned back against her mother’s bed. Darla turned around with some papers in her hands and waved them like they were the winning lottery ticket. Apparently she had been searching for them for a while.

“I just don’t understand why you have to sell the house. Maybe I want to buy it.”

“Oh now Jenny, don’t be dramatic. I know you will miss it, but you don’t want this house.”

“But this was the house that we all lived in. Dad lived here and if you sell it, it will be like losing one of the last pieces of Dad.”

It was finally said. Jennifer was finally able to voice what she had wanted to say for a while. Her father had been gone for 7 years and her mother didn’t even say his name anymore. Jennifer’s older sister wouldn’t talk about him either. They acted like he had never existed and Jennifer just didn’t get it. She knew that was just their way of coping, but she couldn’t be that way. She wanted to hold on to the house. She felt like it was all she had left of him.

“Baby, it’s just a house. You don’t really want this old house, not really. It’s got too much wrong with it. The porch needs to be fixed and it needs a new roof.”

“I don’t care. I do want it. How much are you trying to sell it for?”

“I don’t know. I was going to let Ryan take care of all of that.”

“Of course you were.”

Jennifer was done talking. Her mind reeled from the thought of making out with her stepbrother, but her heart sank from the idea that her mother was really going to go through with selling the house.

“Well, when you find out let me know. I might go down to the bank and see if I can get a loan.”


“You know they‘ll never approve you Jennifer.”

“They might. I will figure something out. Thanks for the show of support though. So are you staying over there tonight, or here?”

Darla looked at her youngest daughter and sat down on the bed. The older woman had not realized how much all these changes were going to affect her. It was true that there were a lot of memories of her husband in this house. That was one of the main reasons that she was okay with selling it when Ryan suggested it. She couldn’t deal with all the memories and selling the place would mean one less painful reminder to deal with. For the most part she had made a kind of peace with it, but she hadn’t thought about how it would affect Jennifer.

“Honey, I know this has all happened so quickly, but I am married to Ryan now. So yes, I will be staying with him. You are staying here until you go back to school, right?”

“Yeah. I guess I will get a storage unit and get my stuff out of here.”

Jennifer did not want to sound bitter, but she was and she didn’t know how to let it go. She was more than just a little disappointed, she was devastated. Darla stayed to grab a few more items that she threw in a suitcase. Jennifer heard a noise downstairs and she looked to see the same man that had walked in the day before. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t been concerned with who he was yesterday. She was just so distracted with everything going on. She had figured he was an assistant or something. He waved slightly and she wondered if he had heard what she had said about his father. Or had he heard what she had said about her own father?





4



Jennifer did not stay much longer at her mother’s house. She packed up most of her things and took some of her father’s things over to a storage facility. Jennifer had a feeling that the house would not be in the family the next time she was back in town and the thought saddened her. There was nothing to be done though, so she left to go back to school a couple of days early.