Chapter 7
Wednesday morning dawned, and Spencer was still angry and frustrated.
“Candace... This is Spencer calling. Again! Please call me back!” Spencer ended the call and resisted the urge to throw his phone across the room. He’d called and texted five times on Tuesday and called three times already on Wednesday. Candace hadn’t returned a single phone call or text. He was more convinced than ever she was responsible for the Gherring’s picture being given to the NYC Word. She was obviously avoiding him. He didn’t even know what he was going to say when he finally talked to her, but he needed to give her a piece of his mind.
His cell rang, the caller ID showing Becca’s name. She’d been calling him nonstop since the hike on Saturday, seemingly undiscouraged by his accusations on Monday. He let the call go to voice mail, but his phone slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor, bouncing under his desk. He rolled his chair back and leaned under the desk to reach the phone.
“Hey, Spencer. What’re you doing?”
He jumped at the sound of Emily’s voice, banging his head on the desk.
“Ow!” He sat up slowly, rubbing his head.
“Sorry. Are you okay?”
“No. I mean, yes. I guess I bumped my head. I was trying to pick up my phone.” He held up the retrieved object.
“Sorry I startled you. Uhmm, I needed to talk to you.”
“Sure, what’s up?” He tried not to sound too eager. This was the first time she’d come by his desk—maybe it was a good sign. “How was art class with Grace? I’d love to see what you worked on.”
“Uhmm, great. It was great.” Her cheeks reddened.
“That is, if you want to show me. You don’t have to.”
“No, I don’t mind. But, uhmm... about Thursday… I’m going to have to cancel pizza. I’m having dinner with Mom and Steven, so uhmm... I mean, I’m not going to jazzercise either.”
He felt a knot in his stomach. She was ditching him, and she wasn’t making eye contact. “It’s okay. Your mom’s more important. How’s she feeling? Must be better if they’re planning dinner.”
“Yeah. Well, Steven and I will probably eat a real dinner, and she’ll probably eat toast or something like that.” She twisted her braid with one hand. “We could do it another time. Maybe this weekend?”
“Sure. Well, I’m supposed to go on an overnight hike this weekend.”
“Oh. With Becca?”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s mostly guys from the hiking group, maybe one or two girls.” He cocked his head to the side as an idea had popped into his head. “You could come if you want to.”
Emily’s face paled, and her eyes widened. “Oh, uhmm, I don’t have the camping stuff.”
“You could borrow some if you want to go. But, no pressure.”
“Well, thanks for asking. And… and thanks for being so sweet about my mom and taking me to the hospital and getting your mother to be her nurse and all that.”
“You don’t need to thank me. I really like your mom and Mr. Gherring. And my mom’s glad to have a good job.”
“Okay. I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, later.” Watching her walk away, he felt like his chances of being more than friends were dwindling with every step.
His phone rang—Becca again. He declined the call and turned his phone off, running frustrated fingers through his hair until it looked as crazy as he felt. He must have done something to make God mad at him.
* * *
Emily feltrelieved she’d finished that detestable chore. She hated lying to Spencer, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Now she needed to cancel with Becca.
Becca answered the phone call quickly. “Hi, Emily. I’m glad you called. I was about to call you. I’ve been trying to reach Spencer. Don’t you work in the same office? Is he there today?”
“Uhmm. . . Yes, I think he’s here. But he probably doesn’t answer his phone during work hours. You know how it is.” She felt a surge of guilt at how easily the lie came to her lips. “I called you because I have to cancel for jazzercise tomorrow night.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry. I really want to go. Maybe next week?”
“Sure, that’s fine,” she said with a heavy sigh into the phone. “It’s just that, uhmm... Well, I really wanted to talk to you. I mean, you’re probably too busy to talk now, but...”
“No, I’ve got a few minutes to talk. What is it?”
“Well, it’s about Spencer. You see, I thought we had a good thing between us, but lately he’s been distant. And so I wondered if you two were... You know. Do you like Spencer? Is there something going on between you?” Emily could hear her sniffling. “Is that what you’re doing Thursday night? Are you going out with Spencer? Because he isn’t returning my phone calls.”
“No, we’re only friends, Becca. We’re not dating.”
“Are you sure? Because I wouldn’t want to come between you or anything. You’re not going out with him Thursday night?”
“No, I’m not. Actually Becca, if you can keep a secret...”
“What? I won’t tell. What is it?”
“Well, I’m sort of going out on a date with my art teacher Thursday night. Although it’s not really a date—it’s only coffee.”
“Really?” Her voice sounded hopeful. “So you don’t mind if Spencer and I date?”
Emily felt her stomach churn. She didn’t really like to think about Spencer dating Becca. But she couldn’t really be upset about it if she was going out with Asher.
“No, of course I don’t mind. Spencer and I are good friends. But he told me he wasn’t really interested in dating right now. Maybe that’s why he’s been a little standoffish.”
“Maybe so. I thought it might have been because of the picture. You know, the one in the tabloid.”
“What picture? What are you talking about?”
Now Becca began to cry again. “He called me yesterday and accused me of taking a picture of your mom and sending it to the NYC Word. It must have been Candace. But he was pretty mad. And he hasn’t answered my phone calls since then.”
“What picture are you talking about? I didn’t know about a picture.”
“It was a picture of your mom when she came off the hiking trail. I guess Candace took the picture. But Spencer accused me. Isn’t that why your mom went on TV last night?”
She tried to remember what Steven had told her. Something vague about the press having a couple of pictures.
“Candace had better steer clear of me for the rest of her life. I don’t know what I might do or say if I see her again. And I can’t believe Spencer didn’t tell me about it yesterday.”
“Oh, I hope you won’t be too mad at him. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it. I think he told me he was going to keep you from finding out. He probably didn’t want you to know.”
“He has no right to keep something like that from me.”
“That’s how Spencer is. He does stuff like that all the time. I don’t mind though—I think it’s cute.”
“Well I don’t think it’s cute at all.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start a fight between you. Please don’t tell him I told you. Then he’ll be even madder at me. Please! I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“I won’t tell him. But if you didn’t take the picture, he shouldn’t be mad at you anyway.”
“I know.” She sniffed again. “It’s so awful. I like him so much, but he gets angry for no reason. But I always forgive him... I can’t help myself.”
This was a side of Spencer she’d never seen—controlling, angry, accusing, unforgiving. She felt a little better about her date with Asher, and a little less guilty for lying to Spencer about it.
“So where are you going on your date Thursday night?” Becca asked.
“We’re supposed to meet at some place called Green Scene. It’s not really a date, though. We’re only going for coffee, and I’m paying for my own.”
“I’ve been there. It’s a cool jazz bar. What time are you going?” she asked casually.
“We’re meeting at eight thirty. So jazzercise is definitely out.”
“What are you wearing?”
“I don’t know. I figured jeans.”
“Oh, no. You need to dress up for that place. I think you should wear a dress or a skirt.”
“Really, I thought it was a casual place.”
“I’m sure you’ll feel underdressed if you wear jeans. Is your art teacher cute?”
“Actually, he’s pretty hot, but we’re just going to talk about art class.”
“Sure you are. Anyway, thanks for talking to me. I feel better.”
“No problem. Maybe we’ll do jazzercise next week.”
“Sounds great.”
Why would Spencer hide his relationship with Becca? Grace had mentioned how many times Becca had called his cell on Monday night, although he’d denied dating her. Maybe he preferred his girlfriends to be well endowed. Since he’d apparently lied to her about Becca, she wouldn’t feel guilty for her little white lie concerning Asher.
* * *
“Areyou sure you feel up to it? I think it’s a bad idea.” Steven asked for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
“Steven. I’m much better. I’ve gained back two pounds.”
“But the doctor said it’s only water weight.”
Anne put on her most sad puppy face. “Please, Steven. I haven’t seen Gram and Gus in weeks.”
“But you’re not supposed to over-exert.”
“I only have to walk to and from the car. I should be fine without the IV for three hours. And we can take it along just in case.”
“But Gram will be upset when you don’t eat anything.”
“She’s already upset. She’ll be less upset when she sees I’m feeling fine and I can walk around. And I’ll eat a bit. I’m doing pretty well with bread. Please, please, please! I’m going stir-crazy in this apartment all day.”
“But it’s only Wednesday night. You’ve only spent two days in the apartment, and you have Connie to keep you company.”
“Yes, Connie’s great, but I miss seeing people and doing things. You know how I am. One short evening out at Gram’s house can’t hurt anything.”
“Fine. We’ll go. But only if you have a really good day tomorrow.” He seemed irritated. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into these things. If something happens—“
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
“That’s what you said when we went on the hike. Remember?”
“That marriage book said you couldn’t bring up the past when you’re having an argument. So you can’t bring up Saturday.”
“This is not an argument. This is you getting your way again, like you always do.”
“Oh, and another rule was you’re not supposed to say things like you always and you never.”
“How about this… I seldom get my way because you constantly get your way because I’m a big pushover where you’re concerned.”
“Oh you’re definitely not a pushover. I have to work hard to win every single battle.” Steven started to tickle her, but she cried out, “Ouch, ouch!”
“What? Did I hurt you? Is it the IV needle?”
She laughed. “No, I was kidding.”
“You’re going to cry wolf one too many times.”
With one hand, he pinned both of hers, and reached to tickle her side. She squirmed and cried out, laughing. He stopped when her cell phone rang.
“Saved by the bell, but only temporarily.”
She answered the call, winking at him. “Emily, I’m glad you called. Really glad.”
“Only a temporary reprieve,” he whispered in her ear.
“Hey, Mom. I thought I’d invite myself up there for an early dinner on Thursday.”
“You’re in luck. We’re going to Gram’s on Thursday night for dinner. You can come with us. She’d love to see you, I’m sure.”
“Oh... well I have plans for later in the evening on Thursday.”
“Okay. We haven’t eaten tonight. Why don’t you come up? I really miss seeing people. Especially you.”
“I can come tonight, but it doesn’t really solve my problem.”
“What’s your problem?”
“I’ve sort of told a white lie, and I was trying to make it mostly true.”
“How on earth did you get yourself in this sort of a pickle? Who did you lie to?”
“If I tell you, Mom, you can’t tell anyone. Not even Steven.”
“I won’t tell Steven.” At her declaration, he opened his eyes wide. “What happened?”
“I’m going to meet my art teacher for coffee Thursday night, so I canceled pizza with Spencer. And I told him I was having dinner with you so I wouldn’t hurt his feelings.”
“Honey, I can’t give you any advice on telling lies. They always backfire on me. My recommendation is not to do it.”
“But it’s too late. I’ve already told it.”
“Why would you lie to have coffee with this art teacher? Why didn’t you meet at another time instead of canceling your date with Spencer?”
“It wasn’t going to be a date with Spencer. I planned to buy my own pizza.”
“Still, you made plans with him first.”
“I know, and I feel bad. But not too bad, since Becca told me today they’d had a relationship. He evidently lied to me about her.”
“I don’t think I’d trust everything Becca says if I were you. I’d trust Spencer over Becca any day. And you haven’t told me about this art teacher yet.”
“He’s... He was really impressed with my work. And he said we should have coffee and talk. He gives private lessons. And… Well, he’s really good-looking.”
“Better looking than Spencer?”
“No, just different. Older. More sophisticated. More mature. I don’t know. Maybe I need someone older who wouldn’t do immature things, like lying about a relationship with another girl.”
“Sweetie, I can tell you from experience age doesn’t equal maturity. And it seems odd you’re criticizing him for a possible lie, when you’ve told one yourself. But you’re a smart girl—I trust your judgment. On the other hand, let me give you one little guideline.”
“What is it? I really don’t want a lecture, you know.”
“If you find yourself changing or doing things you wouldn’t normally do to please a guy, take a step back and analyze the situation. Ask yourself this… Is he helping you grow and be a better person, or are you changing in a bad way?”
“I can’t blame Asher for my decision to tell a lie. I did that on my own.”
“I trust you, Sweetie. I’m honored you talked to me instead of Charlie. I assume you haven’t told her about this.”
“No. I don’t think she’d understand.”
“You don’t think she’d understand? Or you don’t think she’d agree?”
“Same difference.” Emily’s voice was pouty. “Mom, he’s got an English accent.”
“Ah! Now I understand. We Best girls have a weakness for men with accents, I think.” Steven’s eyebrows knit dangerously, but she waved him off with a grin. “Be careful, Sweetie. I know you’ll do the right thing. Are you coming up for dinner?”
“Do you promise we won’t talk about this?”
“Hmmm? Talk about what? I don’t even remember what we were discussing.”
Emily chuckled. “Okay, I’ll come.”
“What was that about?” Steven asked as she disconnected.
“I can’t tell you. I promised not to.”
“But I overheard your side of the conversation.”
“Yes, I didn’t promise you weren’t listening, and she didn’t ask.”
“You are getting more devious by the day.”
“I’m learning from you, I think.”
“I gather she cancelled with Spencer to go out with her art teacher who has an accent. And she lied about it to Spencer. And she believes something Becca told her about Spencer. Does that about cover it?”
“I couldn’t really say.”
“I have to admit, I don’t much care for Becca after spending several hours with her. Her chatter was pretty inane. And I agree with what you told Emily about trusting Spencer. I have a lot of respect for him.”
“Well, Emily’s coming up for dinner, and you’ve got to pretend not to know anything.”
“Got it,” Steven agreed. “Now where were we?” He bent over to snatch her hands, pinning them together again, and reaching out to tickle her side as she squealed. “And this is for that remark you made about liking men with accents.”
“Steven! You’re making me scream. The neighbors will hear and think you’re murdering me.”
A wicked grin slid onto his face. “Penthouse, remember? No neighbors up here...”
* * *
“Hi, Becca.”Spencer finally surrendered and answered Becca’s call while walking toward his parent’s home.
“What’s wrong? Why haven’t you answered my calls? Are you mad at me?”
“No, Becca, I’m busy. I work—I don’t have time to chat during the day. What did you need?”
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me about the picture thing. You believe me don’t you? About not giving the picture to NYC Word?”
“Sure, I guess I believe you, but I haven’t talked to Candace yet. She won’t return my phone calls. Have you talked to her?”
She hesitated. “Uhmm, no.”
“Okay, Becca. If that’s all, I’ve got a lot to do tonight.”
“Well there’s one other thing. There’s a bunch of us going to the Green Scene Thursday night at eight thirty to listen to jazz. I thought you might want to come. Maybe Candace will be there, and you could ask her about the picture.”
Spencer considered her offer. He really didn’t want to spend any more time with Becca, especially if it might make her think they had a real relationship. On the other hand, he didn’t want to sit at home and think about getting ditched by Emily.
“A bunch of people? Who’s going?”
“I’m not sure. People from the hiking club.”
“Landon usually texts me when the group is doing something.”
“Well... it’s not official, I think... Maybe Landon isn’t going. We could go together if you want.”
“No, I’d rather just meet everyone there.”
“So, you’ll come for sure?”
“I’m not positive. But, I’ll probably come. I’d really like to talk to Candace.”
“Do you want me to meet you outside?”
“No. Look, Becca... This is not a date. Okay? I don’t want you to think I’m sending you any signals. I’m not interested in a relationship.”
“I know. I don’t expect anything from you, but I like spending time together. You know, with the whole group.”
“Right. Okay. See ya later.”
“See you tomorrow night. Eight thirty. Don’t forget.”
Spencer paused on the steps outside his family’s home. He was helping his dad with a tiling project. He actually looked forward to some hard labor to work out his frustrations. When he opened the front door, he was immediately assaulted with the familiar noises of his sisters’ gaiety. Laughter and squeals emanated from the kitchen, along with a cloud of something white. Smoke? Was the kitchen on fire? He ran into the kitchen, flinching as something hit his head.
“Oops! Sorry, Spencer! That was meant for Claire,” yelled Olivia. Flour. They were fighting with flour.
“Are you crazy?” Spencer roared out. “Momma’s going to flip when she sees this mess.”
Claire giggled. “We’ll clean it up before she comes home from hot yoga.”
“Momma’s doing hot yoga?”
“Yeah. She’s decided she’s fat, and she’s planning to melt away her excess weight,” explained Hannah as she ducked behind the table.
“She’s not fat. And stop making any more mess—this flour will be impossible to clean up.” He went to the sink to wet a towel and wipe his head.
“You’re getting crabby,” said Grace as she entered the kitchen. “I think you need a woman.”
He pressed his lips together, refusing to take Grace’s bait.
“Really, Spencer. What’s wrong with you lately? Girl troubles?”
Ignoring her, he concentrated on wiping his shirt.
“Are you having problems with Becca?”
“Becca?” He was startled out of his silence. “Who said anything about Becca? Did Emily say something last night?”
“Ah ha! I knew it! I saw Becca’s been calling you. Does Emily know something about Becca?”
He frowned. “No. She doesn’t know... I mean, there isn’t anything to know about Becca except she’s a pain in the butt. But I don’t want you talking to Emily about me.”
“Hmmm… Maybe we could work out some sort of deal.” Grace crossed her arms, drumming her fingers on her elbow.
“No way. I’m not working a deal with you. It couldn’t possibly be fair.”
“Fine. That’s fine. If you don’t want to know what Emily and I talked about...”
“Why did God give me sisters? If I had brothers, I could just beat you up until you gave in. Four chances to get a brother, and what did I get? Four sisters. Four sneaky, conniving, manipulative sisters.”
“Come on, Spencer. You know you love me. I’m just asking for a little something in return for my knowledge.”
“Fine. What type of a deal?”
Grace’s face split in a triumphant grin.
“I don’t even think I need to make a deal now. Knowing you’re willing to consider this deal tells me what I need to know.”
“No, it doesn’t tell you anything.” He stepped forward to glower down at his petite sister, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him. “Whatever you think you know, you’re wrong.”
“I know you care what I talk about to Emily.”
“What did you say to her? Are you the reason she— Never mind. Forget it.” He spun his back to her, using a rag to make angry swipes at the messy kitchen. It was suddenly quiet behind him. When he turned around, he found himself alone with a contrite-looking Grace sitting at the table.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” he asked, still frowning.
“I didn’t know Emily was different. I didn’t know you really liked her.”
“I don’t—”
“Good grief! Don’t try to deny it. I’m your sister—I can tell. But maybe you’re lying to yourself.”
“I... I’m not... She doesn’t like me. Not like that.” He slumped in a chair across from Grace.
“Spencer, I didn’t know.” She put her hand on his. “I... I may have said something I shouldn’t have.”
“What? What did you say?”
“I told her about you getting all those phone calls from Becca.”
He groaned. “Becca! I’m beginning to wish I’d never met her. Why would you tell Emily about that? How did you even know?”
“She called about eleven hundred times when you left your phone here Monday night. She’s got a serious crush on you, for sure. Did you break up with her or something?”
“No! We’ve never even been on a date.” He let his face fall into his hands. “I can’t believe you told Emily about her calling. She probably thinks I’ve been lying to her.”
“Well... I think she thinks you’re a player.”
“Why do you think that?”
“It’s kind of what she said.”
“So did you tell her it isn’t true? Did you tell her I’m not a player?”
“Well, no… I mean, I thought you were a player, too. Why are you getting mad? It’s true, isn’t it? You’ve never denied it before. You’re always with a different girl. You never seem to stay with one girl long enough for us to even meet her. It seems like you go from one girl to another or even more than one at the same time.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “Really? That’s what my own sister thinks about me? That’s what you told Emily?” His face dropped back into his hands. “Great. That’s just great.”
“So what are you saying? All these girls are okay with it? Or they’re all doing the same thing?”
His frustration reached a boiling point. “All these girls! What girls? Can you name one? Huh? Can you? No! You can’t, can you? Because I’ve never actually even dated one. Not! One! Single! Girl! There—are you happy? Now you know.”
Grace sat dumbfounded for a moment. “But... I’ve seen you with lots of girls. All the time. They were hanging all over you. They were practically drooling on you.”
“So? Did you ever see me with one girl? Did I ever tell you I had a girlfriend?”
“Are you saying you were only with all those girls physically? That none of them meant anything?”
“Really, Grace? Don’t you have any respect for me? I’d never do that. I wasn’t with any girl physically—I’ve never even kissed a girl before.”
“Oh,” she said. “Oh!” she repeated, grinning. “Now there’s something I never would have guessed. Why didn’t you deny it before now? We’ve teased you about it for years?”
“Oh yeah. That’s a great idea. I could go from being teased about having too many girlfriends to being tormented about not having any. And now I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Grace was quiet. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not mean, you know. I care about you—you’re my brother. I’m actually on your side. We... We won’t tease you.”
“I don’t care. Go ahead. It doesn’t matter any more.”
“So, uhmm... Do you like girls? I mean, it’s okay. I love you no matter what. If you—”
“No. I don’t like girls. Not girls, plural. I like Emily. Okay? Only Emily. But I guess it doesn’t matter now.” He buried his head in his arms on the table.
“It can’t be too late. I’ll tell her you’re not a player.”
“And tell her what?” He spoke into his arms. “That you were mistaken? That I’ve actually never had a girlfriend?”
“Uhmm. No. Maybe not that.” She screwed up her face. “But I’ll think of something.”
He pushed back from the table and attacked the floury mess with a vengeance.
“No, I think you’ve done enough damage. I’m telling you, it’s too late. Today, she acted really strange, and she blew me off for a date we’d planned tomorrow night. Not that she would do anything with me that qualified as an actual date, anyway.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“Sure. Whatever. Look, I need to go upstairs and help Papa with the tiling. Can you get them to clean up this kitchen before Momma sees it?”
“Don’t worry about the kitchen. We’ll take care of it.” Grace followed him as he headed to the kitchen door and caught his arm. “Wait. I’m really sorry, Spencer. I never meant to hurt you.”
He turned around to see her eyes welling with tears. “Don’t cry, Gracie.” He reached out and pulled her into a hug. “It’ll be fine. It probably wasn’t meant to be. And you were right... I never worried about my reputation before. So, it wasn’t really your fault.”
Truthfully, he’d always rather enjoyed having a status as a player. His guy friends had treated him with a sort of awe and reverence. And the constant flirting of the girls had been enjoyable as well. His reputation had never mattered until he met Emily. He rubbed his temples—his head was hurting. This had been a terrible day, but he felt almost relieved his sister knew the truth.
He brightened a bit. “You can make it up to me.”
“How?” She narrowed her eyes.
“There are some people going to the Green Scene tomorrow night, and I think the girl who took that tabloid picture might be there. I want to go so I can confront her. But Becca’s going to be there, and I don’t want to do anything to encourage her.”
“So you want me to go with you and run interference?”
“Would you do that?”
“Absolutely, big brother. It would be my pleasure.”
“I thought that sounded like the sort of devious thing you’d like. And one more thing…”
“What?”
Spencer took three quick steps to grab the kitchen door and pull it open. Three sisters tumbled into the room on top of each other.
He speared them with a stern look until they all stopped giggling. “All of you will keep this information to yourselves. Or else!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they keep their mouths zipped. Really. I mean it. You’ll see.”
“I’m not holding my breath.” He headed up the stairs to work with his father.