Thanks to Chargergirl for all her feedback and support.
This story features the main characters from my story "Light of Dawn." It is a sequel, but reading the previous story is not essential.
*
Fear, the emotion was unfamiliar. Jeff rarely experienced fear on the field. Even when hounded by three-hundred pound goliaths intent on tearing him apart, he never lost his cool. That's why he was so good.
With legs like wet noodles and a mouthful of bitter, salty saliva, Jeff slouched against the front door of his old home, a place he vowed never to return. His fingers were stiff and icy, despite the sticky weather. His left hand trembled as he clumsily reached for the doorbell. The doubts and fears he had concerning his return magnified as the chimes echoed within the familiar stucco walls.
What am I doing here
? More than a year had passed since home had been home. He had been gone an eternity, and now, without as much as a phone call, he expected to waltz back into their lives.
He hunted through the pockets of his cargo shorts for the invitation. Finding the manila card, his green eyes repeatedly traced the writing. The words embossed on the wedding invitation cruelly remained the same no matter how many times he read them. Dawn had moved on, started a real life, a life Jeff desperately wanted to be part of, even if that part was as nothing more than a brother.
He briefly relived their last conversation, before resting his forehead against the beige stucco wall. There was a time when his kid sister was more than a painful memory. There was a time when she was the sweetness in his life, the warmth, the light. A lock turned on the other side of the door.
A crease formed on Jeff's brow. The long absence had left him ill prepared for this moment. She would be angry with him. He wasn't part of her life anymore. How could he be stupid enough to think she'd be happy to see him? His lips pinched tightly as he once more considered bolting.
It was Vince Kramer who opened the door, his eyes growing wide at the sight of a son long absent. "Jeff?" Jeff's father hadn't aged a single day, if anything the fifty-two year old high school teacher looked younger and fitter. The gray had retreated from his sideburns and the sag had left his broad shoulders. At least someone had benefited from the long separation.
"I didn't think you would come." His father offered a hand. Jeff hesitated before shaking.
"I wouldn't miss my kid sister's wedding, not for anything." He worked free from his father's grasp. "Although, considering I've never really told anyone where I live, it was pretty amazing to receive an invitation." Jeff had severed all ties to his old home when he moved to Calgary. Many people were undoubtedly upset. What did he care? He never intended to return.
"You're not exactly living in anonymity up there, Mr. Football Star. I switched satellite companies four times until I found the channel that broadcasted the Canadian league."
"Which still doesn't explain---"
"I called the satellite company; they gave me the address for the network; the network gave me the address for the team; and the team gave me the address for my son."
"Positively diabolical," Jeff said, "but how did you con Dawn into the invite? I would figure to be the last person she'd want to see on her wedding day."
Vince sighed then grinned dumbly. What little warmth the reunion with his father had generated immediately fled Jeff's body. The invitation was his father's idea. She didn't even know. Dawn didn't want him. Any hopes that he and his sister could somehow share a normal relationship melted away. He wanted to leave more than ever, to spare himself the pain of seeing her again, seeing what he could never have.
"She's upstairs. You should surprise her."
Some surprise. After two years of exile, her creep of a big brother returns uninvited. Why doesn't he understand? Dawn got rid of me for a reason
.
"The last year has been difficult for her. Since you left, she's not the same girl. She was depressed for the longest time." He caused her pain. Jeff felt a brief flash of pride. The pain surely paled to his own, but it felt good to know she had not endured the separation so easily. "She pretends that it doesn't bother her, but I'm her father and I know better."
Jeff pushed the pride aside. Feeling joy because of someone else's pain, that wasn't him anymore. That was who he used to be.
"I suspect being away has been difficult for you." Vince Kramer's eyes dipped to the floor. "Whatever tore the two of you apart doesn't change the fact that she's your sister."
No, nothing will ever change that
. "She still needs you. With everything that's happening in her life, she really could use her big brother."
Jeff wasn't sure if he remembered how to be a brother; it had been so long.
Against his better judgment, he climbed the staircase, pausing in front of his old bedroom. He flipped on the overhead light and peeked inside. His former sanctuary was an office now, a cold and sterile cube jammed with computers, frayed extension cords, and reams of printer paper.
Jeff moved across the hall to the threshold of his kid sister's bedroom. Here, at least, everything remained the same. A well-worn cream carpet blanketed the floor, while the walls reflected a familiar shade of apricot. The girlish movie posters were gone, replaced by impressionist art prints. Most of her doll collection had been stored away, but a few favorites remained, proudly displayed in a mirrored curio bolted to the wall. Even with the changes, the effect remained the same: still warm, still inviting, still Dawn.
She appeared as if by magic, materializing the way she did in his dreams. A cloud of steam followed her from the connected bathroom, evidence of a recent shower. Small, wet feet padded across the cream carpet. She paused in front of the vanity to tease her long red hair with the tips of her fingernails.
Jeff's attention bounced from his sister to the equally lovely twin reflected in the vanity mirror. She wore a snug pair of denim shorts and an ivory brassiere, an outfit that allowed Jeff to reacquaint himself with healthy amounts of her body.
The bra, designed more for support than titillation, had been constructed without so much as a drop of color or an inch of lace. The shorts, however, were quite titillating. Abysmally blue denim clung to the curves of her hips and backside, hugging her body with material snug enough to encroach between the crevice of her buttocks.
The dark shorts provided a startling contrast to her naked legs. Pink from the hot shower slowly receded under the gentle breeze of the air conditioning, revealing the fairness of her complexion. The skin stretched tight across her body, giving both flesh and bone the illusion of having been wrapped in wet paper. From the doorway, twelve feet away, Jeff could trace the spider-web patterns of shadowy veins beneath the surface of Dawn's delicate skin. Halfway up her back, the paleness faded; generous freckling painted her shoulders and arms with the illusion of an unnaturally orange tan.
She looked so fragile, like a porcelain figurine. Looks were deceiving, though. Dawn was strong, far stronger than he was, in spite of her delicateness.
The scent of sweet shampoo drifted to the doorway, tickling his nostrils with the essence of strawberries. She reached for a chunky plastic brush and began taming her long red hair. Dawn hummed a cheery tune. Her voice was melodious, hypnotic. She quieted as the jade of her eyes focused on a knot of red hair. Jeff willed the inappropriate tingle in his shorts away, realizing too late that the harp strings in her throat had seduced him all over again.
Consolidating his courage, Jeff knocked on the opened door. "Just a minute, Daddy." Dawn continued to hum as she threw a short silk robe over her shoulders. Her pleasant mood would be short-lived.
She turned and for the first time noticed Jeff. A familiar pair of dimples formed on her freckled cheeks. All too quickly, they disappeared. "You," she whispered.
"Me." His words were barely more than a whisper. The ghost had returned from the grave with expected results. She turned to the mirror with dizzying speed but couldn't escape the glare of his reflection. A few tears leaked through her tightly closed eyes. Dawn covered her lips to stifle a sob. The reaction removed any lingering hope that their reunion would be a happy one.
