A Matter of Honesty (21 page)

what you‘ve done for me and if there ever comes a time when you need me, I promise

to return the favor. Now I need to lie down and take a nap before I get back on the

road.”

Lauryn shook her head. “No. You‘ll stay the night tonight. You‘re likely to be

more drunk when you wake then you are now. I have some clothes you can wear if

you need them. I‘ll wake you up when dinner is ready. Until then, rest.”

Sabrina looked like she wanted to refuse, but released a small sigh as if she

knew it was the best thing to do. She had consumed a good bit of liquor in a short

amount of time and wouldn‘t be in any shape to drive. As if to prove Lauryn right,

Sabrina tried to stand, but wobbled a little and giggled.

“I haven‘t had a drink in a while. Now I remember why.”

Lauryn came around the table and lent Sabrina a hand to stabilize her. “Let‘s

get you upstairs.”

Sabrina flopped down on a spare bedroom bed with one bounce then groaned.

Lauryn found a trashcan, placing it nearby in case Sabrina needed it. She went into

her closet and pulled some clothes out for Sabrina to borrow once she was able to

move again. By the time she made it back to the room Sabrina was already asleep.

Lauryn sat the clothes on the dresser along with a bath towel, drying towel, and soap.

In the kitchen, she put Sabrina‘s bottle of vodka back in the cabinet. She

walked over to the wall, picked up the cordless phone and dialed the number she had

come to know very well. Kathleen answered on the first ring.

“Hello, Kathleen, this is Lauryn.”

“Hi, Lauryn. How are you?”

“I‘m fine, and you?”

“I‘m well. Thank you for asking.”

Lauryn took a deep breath and got straight to the point now that the

pleasantries were out of the way. “I was just calling to let you know Sabrina showed

up here a short time ago. She was a little shaken, but she‘s okay.” Lauryn heard the

sigh of relief in Kathleen‘s voice.

“Thank goodness. Will called us and told us what happened. When we

couldn‘t reach Sabrina we were worried but figured she would call us when she was

ready.”

“She agreed to stay here tonight and drive back in the morning.”

Kathleen‘s breath came out in a rush. “Thank you, dear.”

Hanging up the phone after a little more small talk, Lauryn looked skyward,

wondering what other excitement was to come tonight. What was Steve going to do

when he found out? She exhaled deeply, then began getting dinner ready. Just as she

was finishing up, she heard the front door open. A moment later Steve entered the

kitchen with Hannah in his arms. Steve greeted Lauryn with a kiss, before letting the

now wriggling Hannah down. Lauryn shook her head as Hannah ran out of the

kitchen in the direction of her playroom.

“Something sure smells good.” He lifted the lid off one of the pots and inhaled

deeply. Steve turned to look at Lauryn, his gaze filled with curiosity. “Is that Sabrina‘s

car I saw out front?”

Lauryn nodded as she took the lid out of his hand and put it back on the pot.

Otherwise he would start eating out of it. A habit Hannah liked to mirror.

“She showed up earlier today and she was a little upset. It seems Will asked her

to marry him. Your sister turned him down so he broke up with her.”

The look on Steve‘s face was priceless. ” What? When did all of this happen?”

“Last night.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Nope. She sat right there at the table, opened the bottle of vodka and took a

few shots.”

Steve‘s eyes widened in astonishment. ” Oh Lord. Sabrina isn‘t much of a

drinker.”

“I didn‘t think she was. That is why I made her go upstairs to sleep it off.”

Steve frowned. “Do you know if she had anything to eat beforehand?”

“I have no idea. She was really upset, so I asked her to stay the night. If you

don‘t mind, can you go and wake her up? Dinner is ready. She might want to talk to

you for brotherly support.”

“How long has she been asleep?”

Lauryn glanced up at the clock on the wall. “About an hour and from the looks

of the circles under her eyes she needed it. This really threw her for a loop, Steve.”

“Sabrina isn‘t the lightest of sleepers. I‘ll go upstairs and see if I can wake her

up.”

She watched as Steve disappeared upstairs. She began setting the table with

Hannah‘s help. Several minutes later Steve and Sabrina returned downstairs. She was

leaning on her brother heavily and already looking like she regretted drinking. Lauryn

was glad she‘d cooked a light dinner. The last thing that she wanted to do was have to

clean up after an intoxicated Sabrina.

Dinner conversation was uneventful. Even though things seemed as though

they might be on the mend, Lauryn and Steve were careful not to mention Will‘s

name. They finished dinner and cleaned up before heading into the living room to

settle down to watch a movie. The first movie had finished and they were in the

middle of a second one when Hannah drifted off to sleep.

The doorbell rang and Lauryn got up to answer since Steve was holding a

sleeping Hannah in his arms. Looking through the peephole, she gasped in surprise

before opening the door. Will stood before her with his hands in his pockets. He

looked as forlorn as Sabrina had when she had shown up earlier.

“Come in, Will.”

She led him into the living room. Sabrina looked up and spotted him. Lauryn

knew Sabrina wouldn‘t admit it right now but she was in love with Will and cared

for him deeply. Her eyes gave her away. When Sabrina stood up, Steve looked over at

his sister to see what was going on. He spotted Will and stood up with Hannah in his

arms, carefully, trying not to disturb the sleeping little girl.

“Hi, Will. Good to see you again.”

Will nodded his head in acknowledgment but he only had eyes for Sabrina.

Lauryn and Steve said a brief goodnight before heading upstairs to give them some

privacy. She helped Steve change Hannah into her pajamas and put her in bed. They

walked across the hall to Steve‘s room, which they now shared. He closed the door

behind them then walked over to the dresser before looking at her.

“What do you think is going to happen?”

She laughed. “What always happens; they might argue a little before making

up, although I don‘t think arguing is on their mind right now. Regardless of whatever

happens tonight, all will be well in the morning.”

“And how do you know?”

“Because he broke up with her, yet he came back. They care too deeply for each

other. I promise you it isn‘t over between them.”

“I guess we‘ll find out in the morning, but until then I plan on getting some

sleep. It was a long day today. I‘m tired.”

“Steve, will you promise me something?”

“Sure.”

“If you ever screw up, promise me you‘ll do whatever it takes to get me back.”

He stiffened against her. For a moment Lauryn wondered if she had said

something wrong. A heartbeat later he relaxed again.

“I‘ll do my best not to do anything to make you want to leave me, but if I do,

you have my word. I‘ll do everything I can to make you forgive me.”

Stretching up and over her he placed a kiss on her lips. “I promise this, but only

if you assure me you will hear me out and take me back when it is all said and done.”

Lauryn found it easy to make the promise. Steve had been wonderful to her

from the day they met. She found it hard to believe Steve would ever do anything to

ever make either of them have to keep their promise.

Lauryn looked over at Steve. They were having breakfast and Sabrina and Will

had joined them. From the looks of things, they‘d made up and all was well. She was

happy for the couple. Hannah was enjoying having the attention of her aunt and Will.

She was telling them all about her adventure at the store yesterday.

Sabrina was in better shape to pay attention to Hannah this morning. It didn‘t

seem as if Sabrina was suffering from a hangover. Lauryn was happy for her because

she‘d been in bad shape yesterday. She hadn‘t known Sabrina for long, but she knew

her well enough to know Sabrina didn‘t lose her cool very often. In Lauryn‘s opinion,

Sabrina and Will would be married in the next two years. The two of them were

made for each other whether they knew it or not. The way they moved their chairs

closer together, sneaking in kisses when they thought no one was watching, was

heartwarming. It made her think about her relationship with Steve. She was happier

than she‘d ever been in her life.

“Lauryn?”

From the looks on everyone‘s faces she had missed something. “Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am. Why? What happened?”

Steve shook his head. “Nothing. You just looked a little out of it.”

She did her best to pay attention to the rest of the conversation during

breakfast. When everyone was finished, Sabrina and Will said their good-byes and

headed back to Stillwater. Lauryn called Kathleen to let her know Sabrina and Will

were on their way. Steve stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“I guess you were right.”

She turned around in his embrace, looking at him with mock surprise. “Did you

think I wouldn‘t be? You must remember I‘m a woman.”

He ran his hand over her backside and grinned lecherously. “Oh, believe me, I

know it.” He backed her up against the wall. “You know what I think?”

“No and I‘m sure I don‘t want to.” Lauryn stated wearily.

Steve chuckled. “Yes you do. You‘re always curious. I say that we sneak upstairs

while Hannah is playing and—” Steve broke off as the doorbell rang. He dropped his

forehead against hers and moaned. “If they forgot something, I‘m going to hurt the

both of them.”

Lauryn ducked under his arm and headed for the door. “That may be a good

thing because I think my virtue may be in trouble otherwise.”

She went to the door and looked through the peephole. She turned and looked

at Steve. “I think we are going to be busy all day.”

“Who is it?”

Lauryn turned and opened the door instead of responding verbally. Johanna

smiled as she stepped into the house, her husband and kids in tow. Lauryn heard

Steve mutter a swear word under his breath before he pulled her into his arms. His

warm breath brushed her ear as he leaned close.

“We will definitely finish this later.”

Lauryn hugged her aunt Audrey as she walked through the door. She had been

thrilled when Audrey extended another invitation for her to come over to see if she

had any pictures Lauryn wanted, since she hadn‘t taken any last Sunday. At first she

wanted to say no, but she really wanted some of the photos. As her aunt Audrey said,

they weren‘t doing anything but sitting in a photo box.

“It‘s good to see you, Lauryn.”

“You too, aunt Audrey.”

Audrey took Lauryn‘s hand. “Let‘s go into the living room. I have the pictures

set up in there.”

“Where‘s uncle Frank?”

“Taking a nap before lunch.”

They entered the living room. Lauryn didn‘t want to seem anxious, but it was

difficult. Actually, she was more excited than anything.

“I hope he‘s up before I leave.”

“There‘s no rush, dear. I‘m making lunch. Please stay.” Audrey patted Lauryn‘s

hand. “Take your time and don‘t worry about bothering me if you have questions.”

She nodded. “Thanks, aunt Audrey.”

Audrey showed her the boxes of pictures. “These aren‘t all of the pictures I

found, but this is all we had to hand. I could have your uncle go up in the attic to get

the rest of the pictures if you think you‘ll make it through all of these.”

Lauryn surveyed the boxes that were laid out before her before shaking her

head. “No, I think this will do.”

Audrey nodded before patting her hand again. “Okay then, you enjoy yourself.

I‘m in the kitchen if you need me.”

Lauryn sat down on the floor then opened up the first box and began pulling

out pictures.

An hour later Lauryn sat up straight and stretched her back. Who knew

looking through photos could be so taxing? She had seen a lot of pictures she wanted

to take with her. Still, there were many more to go through. She reached over, picked

up another box and opened it up. Just newspaper articles. Not wanting to disturb

them she began to place them back in the box and in doing so ran across the obituary

notices of her mother and father, which confirmed how the family had found out

about her father‘s death.

She placed those articles back in the box and continued reading the other

articles, a little more curious now. The next article she picked up was one featuring

Caleb, along with other students in the area who were being recognized for their

volunteer work. Her heart skipped a beat when she came across another story on the

same page as Caleb‘s. Her hand began to shake and a cry of alarm escaped her. The

article she held in her hand had to be a joke. She reread the title again before scanning

the article. Steve was a millionaire. Five years ago he had won the Powerball lottery. Her

heart dropped to her stomach. Why hadn‘t Steve told her? How could he keep this