How Do I Love Thee

Book Two: Bobby's Girl

"Did I tell you my brother Steve's coming home from college this weekend?" Bobby Harrod asked.

Sitting across from him at the library table, Dana Tafoya, Bobby's girlfriend, felt her heartbeat accelerate. "No, you didn't. Why is he coming?"

"For medical tests." Bobby tapped his pencil on his open book.

Fear shot through Dana. "What's wrong with him?"

"Don't know. That's why he's coming home. Mom wants him to see a specialist she works with at the hospital." Bobby gave Dana a quizzical look. "You feel all right? You look pale."

Dana forced a smile. "Taco regret from lunch," she lied. She couldn't let on to Bobby how hard his news had hit her. She wasn't even supposed to know his stepbrother. But she did know him. Two years before, one magical summer, she'd known Steve Harrod very well. "What's his problem?"

"Bad headaches. Double vision. Dizzy spells. Steve kept quiet about for as long as he could, but his coach started noticing Steve's passing was off. He sent him to the team doc, who sent him in for tests at the hospital, but Mom wants him checked here. She says she trust the doctors here more than in the city three hundred miles away."

Steve Harrod was a football legend in their North Carolina town, where he'd played high school ball. He had been offered scholarships to colleges and universities all over the country, but he'd chosen Florida State in Tallahassee. Now, as a junior, he was a contender for the coveted Heisman Trophy.

Dana asked, "When's he arriving?"

"Mom and Dad are picking him up at the Charlotte airport Friday night about ten o'clock. I thought I'd go too. I know that messes up our plans for going to the game and dance. Do you mind?"

"Of course I don't mind." Their high school's football team wasn't that great anyway.

Bobby reached over and took her hand. "You want to come along for the ride?"

Dana's mind raced for an excuse not to go. "Um--no...I think this should be a family time."

"I don't blame you...since Steve's a minor deity around our house, I doubt I'll even be noticed in the backseat."

"You've always told me that you and Steve were tight."

"Only when Dad's not around."

Bobby sounded bitter, and Dana knew why. Although Bobby was his father's natural son, it was Steve who was the golden one of the family. Steve's natural father had died in a car accident when Steve was a baby. When his mother remarried, her new husband had adopted the boy. Even after Bobby was born, Steve was Mr. Harrod's favorite. But then, Steve was an extraordinary athlete and Bobby wasn't.

People automatically took a liking to the friendly, outgoing Steve, and Bobby told Dana he couldn't compete, so Dana never mentioned that she had once tumbled for Steve herself. She had thought she wouldn't have to deal with the issue until Christmas break, but now that he was coming home, there might be no way to avoid him.

"I hope whatever 's wrong with Steve isn't serious," she ventured.

"Me too," Booby said with a sigh. " He's my favorite only brother."

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Your mom will see that he gets the best doctors."

"Dad's pretty freaked. Says he doesn't want papers to get a hold of the story because it may hurt Steve's chances at Heisman. You'll be careful who you tell, won't you? Actually, don't tell anybody."