Gina Wilkins - Make-Believe Mistletoe

Tim poured coffee into the mug Banner had set out for him. “Lucy still sleeping off the sparkling grape juice?”

Banner had braced himself for this, of course. “Lucy left this morning.”

Obviously startled, Tim glanced at his watch. “So early?”

“Yeah. She had things to do, I guess.”

“Since when? Last night she was talking about watching the Rose Bowl with us today.”

Belatedly remembering that conversation, Banner shrugged and set a filled plate on the table. “Dig in.”

Though Tim took his seat, his attention was obviously not on the food now. “Did you guys have a fight?”

Banner ladled eggs onto his own plate, though he wasn't at all hungry. “No. We didn't have a fight.”

Tim laid down his fork, his expression suddenly stricken. “Did she leave because of me? Damn, Rick, I didn't mean to…”

“It wasn't because of you, Tim. Lucy likes you. She told me so. I'm the one she has the problems with.”

“So you did quarrel.”

Banner sighed gustily. “We did not quarrel. It was just…well, I think she took offense at something I said. Maybe. Though to be honest, I'm not sure what it was that irritated her.”

“Surely you have a clue.”

“Not really.” Sitting on the other side of the table from his brother, Banner picked at his food without enthusiasm. “I said I wouldn't mind her dropping by occasionally when she makes trips to Springfield to visit her relatives. I made it clear, actually, that I hoped she would.”

Tim stared at him. “You said it just that way?”

“Well…yeah. Pretty much.”

“And you can't figure out why she might have taken offense.”

“No.”

Shaking his head in apparent disgust, Tim reached for his coffee cup. “And to think I came to you for advice.”

Banner deliberately set down his fork. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Even though I only met Lucy yesterday, I can't imagine she would be satisfied with being an occasional visitor in your life. It was obvious to me that she's crazy about you. She probably needs to believe you feel the same way about her. And I can't imagine that you wouldn't feel the same way-she's great. A little bossy, but even that part of her is well intentioned.”

Banner's fist tightened around his fork as he forced himself to keep his expression impassive. “Of course she's great. But really, Tim, can you see her being interested in me for very long? She's everything I'm not. I couldn't have found anyone more my opposite if I'd gone looking.”

“You thought you had a lot in common with your ex-wife, but that certainly didn't last long. Maybe what you need is someone different from you, have you ever considered that?”

“I don't need anyone,” Banner shot back. “I've gotten along just fine on my own.”

“You're scared.” Tim looked stunned by the realization. “Funny, I didn't think anything ever scared you, but you are. You're afraid to take the risk of a relationship with Lucy.”

Because Tim had unconsciously echoed part of Lucy's goodbye note, Banner scowled. “That's bull.”

“I don't think so. If there's one thing I recognize it's fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of change. I've struggled with all of them lately.”

Banner saw no correlation at all between his situation and Tim's. Tim was making sweeping changes because he had been dissatisfied with his life. Banner, on the other hand, was perfectly content with the way things had been for the past couple of years. He had his work, his home, his dog. When he wanted companionship, he had Polston or the guys down at the pool hall. If he ever felt lonely, he reminded himself that solitude was better than being the odd guy out in a crowd.

He wasn't afraid of change, he assured himself. He just saw no need to fix what hadn't been broken. His heart, for example.

And that errant thought annoyed him so much that his scowl deepened even more. “Eat your breakfast,” he muttered. “Your eggs are getting cold.”

Tim obligingly stuffed a bite of bacon into his mouth, but Banner could tell it wouldn't be long before the interrogation began again. He was rather relieved when someone knocked on the front door.

“Maybe it's Lucy,” Tim said after a hasty swallow. “Maybe she changed her mind.”

But Banner didn't think so. More likely it was Polston or one of the other guys with an invitation for him to watch the New Year's Day games or shoot some pool or something. Lucy's note had been too firm and pointed to have been written on a quickly regretted impulse.

The way things had been going lately, he shouldn't have been surprised to find another member of his family on his doorstep. At least it wasn't his father, he thought, stepping aside to let his sister enter.

“I don't have to ask if Tim's here,” Brenda said, tossing her thick brown bob away from her face to look at him. “I saw his SUV outside.”

“He's in the kitchen.”

“Dad said you refuse to help us talk Tim into going back to school.”

“As I've said to everyone who asked, it's none of my business whether Tim goes back to school. He's a grown man. It's his choice.”

“I wouldn't listen if he did try to nag me to go back,”

Tim said from the doorway. “Rick understands that I've made my decision and no one is going to talk me out of it. Not Dad, not Mom, and not you, Brenda. Would you listen if I tried to talk you into quitting medical school?”

“But you can't even tell us what it is you do want,” she argued passionately, her blue eyes glinting with a combination of frustration and concern. “What are you going to do? How are you going to support yourself?”

“I'll find a job swinging a hammer or flipping burgers, if I have to,” he retorted. “I'm not entirely incompetent, you know.”

“And you would be happier doing one of those things than going to law school?”

“I would be happier doing either of those things than going to law school,” he said, looking and sounding utterly sincere.

“And what about Mom and Dad? How are you going to make things right with them? You said some very harsh things to them when you walked out.”

“All I said was the truth. That they had no right to try to run my life. To choose my career, my friends, my future path. Maybe it works for you, but I need to control my own destiny.”

Taking offense, Brenda planted her fists on her slender hips. “I happen to like the career I've chosen. The fact that our parents approve of my choice doesn't mean they pressured me into it.”

“Fine. And they aren't pressuring me into anything, either.”

“Look, I know Dad can come across as domineering and intolerant, but surely you don't want to give up on your relationship with him.”

Tim gave a sullen shrug that was probably intended to mask any feelings of hurt or loss. “Why shouldn't I? It seems to have worked for Rick.”

“Don't pull me into this,” Banner said immediately. “I'm no role model. Whatever problems you have with your father have nothing to do with me.”

“'Your”' father,” Brenda repeated, turning on him now. “Can't you even acknowledge that he's our father?”

Banner shrugged. “He's the one who created that rift, when I made it clear that I make my own decisions.”

“And because you felt rejected by him, you've holed up here in your solitude and your surliness. Well, you know what, Rick? Tim and I never rejected you. It was the other way around. You make a big production of being the family outcast, but you're the one who pushes away everyone who tries to love you. Maybe that works for you, but I don't want Tim to end up alone and bitter. And I-”

Her voice broke, but she brought it under control long enough to finish, “I don't want to lose the only brother who ever loved me back.”