As always, Mused, thank you for all you've done. You're the best.
To the readers, my apologies for the length of time between the last chapter and this one. Life issues got in the way. ~Chargergirl
*~*~*
"Mom and Dad are here, Em," Brandon whispered into his sister's ear.
Emma's head snapped up; she looked at her brother with wide eyes, as her heart pounded a wild beat. What would they see? Would it be obvious to them what their son and daughter had done? Would they know immediately the sin that had been committed? "Bran, what if they--"
"Hush, babe. It'll be okay." Brandon cupped her face with his hands and kissed her for a long moment. He could feel her trembling beneath his touch. "That's going to have to last for a couple days. Come on, it'll look strange if we don't go out and greet them." He took her by the hand and led her to the front screen door of the family's summer cottage. With one last glance at each other, they let go and went outside.
They emerged from the cottage to see their mother getting out of the back seat. Emma's heart leaped. That could only mean one thing.
"Nana!" Emma yelled, and raced around to the passenger side of her father's car. She opened the door to see her grandmother smiling up at her. Emma took her hand and helped her out. "Nana, I didn't know you were coming up here."
"Well, hello to you, too," their mother laughed.
"Hey Mom," Brandon and Emma spoke in unison. Brandon kissed her cheek and said hi to Dad, but Emma only had eyes for their grandma.
"It's all your mother's fault, child." Ruth laughed and glanced over at her beloved daughter-in-law. Margaret returned the glance with a laugh of her own. The two women had always shared a close relationship. Ruth had only born one child, Brandon and Emma's father, Bruce. When Bruce decided to get married, instead of resenting her new daughter-in-law, Ruth embraced Margaret as the daughter she'd never had. "She forced me to come."
Brandon smiled to himself when his grandma called Emma
child
. His eighteen-year-old little sister was no child; she'd thoroughly proven that to him last night, then again less than an hour ago. He was pleased to see how happy Nana's presence made Emma. Out of the entire family, Emma was closest to Nana. She was the one Emma turned to when she needed help. And it was Nana that knew all of Emma's secrets. Brandon hoped their grandmother's presence would make Emma forget her angst, at least for a little while.
Brandon watched as, arm in arm, his grandmother and his sister set off for the front of the cottage set up high on the bluff overlooking the lake. Nana hadn't been up since last summer, and she, like everyone, was eager to see Lake Michigan. Ever changing, yet always the same, the lake held an incomparable natural beauty. The cottage, beautiful in its own right, had been in the family for three generations.
"Tell me, Emma, how have you been?" Ruth asked her granddaughter as they made their way over to the crooked split-rail fence that guarded the edge of the bluff.
"I've been fine, Nana," Emma spoke quietly and turned to smile at the aged woman.
"It looks beautiful today, doesn't it?" Ruth looked out across the vast expanse of water. The sun was at its zenith, and the water sparkled like diamonds below.
"The water is still low, Nana. Brandon and I went down earlier, and the beach is still there."
"I can remember, oh thirty years ago or better, water lower than this," Ruth smiled, as her mind carried her back in time.
Enraptured, Emma listened on as her grandmother spoke. She always loved her grandma's stories.
"The beach down below was probably forty feet wide, and the bluff jutted out much further. We could wade all the way out to the third sandbar and the water only reached our waist. The water level rises and falls in cycles, Emma, just like everything else. It's reaching its thirty-year low, I think. You will see it drop further before it begins to rise again. But it will." She patted her granddaughter's hand and changed the subject. "And how is that handsome brother of yours? Staying out of trouble? Or is he driving all the girls up here crazy?"
Emma nearly groaned at her grandma's question, but managed to hold back. "He's fine Nana, and staying out of trouble, for the most part, I guess."
"Well, good. He's always been so responsible."
Emma winked at her grandma. "Unlike me, Nana?"
"Now child, I didn't say that."
It was true that Emma had always been flighty, with her feet never quite firmly planted on the ground, and her head always among the clouds. To Ruth, Emma's free-spiritedness was an endearing quality. Brandon had always been the level headed one, and it was no surprise to anyone that he had graduated with top honors from University of Michigan and had been accepted to the University of Chicago Law for the fall semester.
"It's okay," Emma laughed.
Brandon came around the corner of the cottage just then, making Emma's heart jump a little. That particular reaction to her brother was a new one for her, but she knew what it meant. He was holding what looked like a letter in his hand. He waved it at her and their grandmother.
"Got my acceptance letter for the student housing in Chicago."
Emma's heart sank at the reminder of what would happen at summer's end. Brandon would leave, and that would be that. She pasted on a smile for him. "That's great, Bran. Did you get the one you wanted?"
"Yup. Hyde Park, Ingleside." he grinned.
"That's wonderful, Brandon, dear. I'm so pleased for you."
"Thanks, Nana." Brandon bent and kissed his grandmother's cheek. In a spontaneous moment, he also kissed Emma.
"When will you move in?" Emma quietly asked, looking up with sad eyes.
"Mid-August, probably. No later." Brandon's voice turned just as quiet, his eyes sad. Brother and sister had momentarily forgotten their grandmother's presence.
Emma didn't say anything, only nodded, her light mood decidedly dampened by thoughts of Brandon leaving.
