Now and Forever 5, Love's Journey by Jean C. Joachim

guess sexy runs in the family,” she
said, putting her hand on his arm.
    Peter flashed back to Lara putting her hand
on his arm when she almost fell over. He recalled how warm her
little hand was and how her touch created heat in his body.
    “Hey, where’d you go?” Deena said.
    “I’m here,” Peter said, trying to focus on
Deena while the alcohol addled his brain.
    “You lived here long?” he asked her,
speaking slowly and forcing his tongue to cooperate.
    “Long enough. How are Mac and his bride?”
Deena said, sarcastically.
    “Good,” Peter said, too tipsy to pick up on
the sarcasm.
    “Any kids yet?”
    “Yeah. But he’s had Jason for a long time,
though Jason isn’t his kid.”
    “What do you mean?” Deena leaned closer to
him.
    “Not his bio…biology…not his natural kid.
He’s got the cutest little girl, Kitty. She’s his bio…natural
kid…looks just like him,” Peter rambled on.
    “You mean Mac isn’t Jason’s biological
father?”
    “Nope,” Peter said, putting his empty glass
down on the table.
    “Who is?” Deena sat up straighter.
    “Beats me. Mac never told me. Probably
doesn’t know,” Peter murmured, resting his chin on his hand.
    Mac wasn’t Jason’s biological father.
Whammo! That ought to be worth something. She looked over at Rex,
smiled and nodded her head.
    “His tough luck. Gotta go,” Deena said
getting up from the table.
    “Hey, what happened? Where are you going?”
Peter said, confused.
    “I gotta rest before the next show,” she
said, obviously lying, leaning over and kissing him on the
forehead.
    This was the second time he bombed out with
a woman in one week. He finished his fourth drink remembering he
didn’t care about Deena, it was Lara he couldn’t erase from his
mind, even after four drinks. He pictured her kissing him while Liebesträume played on the radio, in bed, under the summer
moon, under the orange and gold leaves of an autumn birch tree. If
he closed his eyes, he could feel her lips again.
    Then the alcohol hit him hard; feeling dizzy
he quickly opened his eyes, realizing he could barely stand up. He
fumbled in his pocket for his cell phone. It dropped on the floor
and he almost fell out of his chair retrieving it. Finally he
turned it around and pushed the first button.
    “Mac? I’m sorry…can you come get me?” He
clicked off the phone and rested his head on the table.
     
     
     
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    Early afternoon in the neat little house on
James Street
     
    Peter couldn’t stand Lara’s closed window.
He sat down at the piano and played Chopsticks seven times hoping
it would annoy her enough so she’d open the window.
    “What?” she finally threw open the
window.
    “We have to talk.”
    “Talk?”
    “Can you come over?”
    “Okay, okay. Stop the Chopsticks, all
right?”
    “Are you coming now?”
    “I said okay didn’t I?”
    Lara found her way outside and up on the
front porch of Peter’s house. He was waiting for her.
    “Do you want some iced tea?”
    “No, thank you,” she said, feeling her way
to a chair then sitting down.
    “Water?”
    “No.”
    “Okay. Okay. I want to apologize for kissing
you.”
    “Are you sorry you did it?”
    “I enjoyed it. I’m sorry I upset you or it
upset you. Whatever. You know what I mean.”
    “I thought we were friends.”
    “We are friends, aren’t we?”
    “I guess so.” She shrugged.
    “I like you, Lara. I don’t want one kiss to
screw us up.”
    “I’m not ready for…for…for you. This seems
like the millionth time I’ve put my life back together since I was
sixteen. Every time I think I’m okay something terrible happens and
I’m at square one again.”
    “I know about your parents, but…”
    “After my parents died, my father’s brother
and his wife took me in. I received a lot of money as reparation
for the loss of my parents, like money could buy me a new set!
Anyway, my other uncle, Brandon Stewart, squandered much of the
money then took off.