Saving the Heart

♥ Chapter Eleven ♥

♥ Chapter Eleven ♥

    The table was silent as we picked at our roast beef and vegetables.  Sam sat beside me, eating stiffly as Reagan shot him glares.  My father paid no mind as he gobbled down his beef, but Wesley could clearly sense the tension as he shot me looks, questioning what had happened to get our usually joyous older brother so peeved.

    “So,” my dad started, setting down his silverware.  “Wesley tells  me that you work at the ice rink.”

    Sam looked up, chewing his lip and nodding slowly.  Not daring to speak for fear of saying something wrong.

    “What do you do there?  Do you work concessions?”

    “He’s a coach,” I piped in, catching Reagan’s eye.  “He helps with the younger skaters, mostly the hockey players.”

    “Hmm,” my dad nodded.  “Anything else?”
    “I maintain the ice,” Sam started, setting his own silverware aside.  “In the spring we get to melt it all down and repaint the floor, that’s always fun.  I also hold a position at Main Street Pizza.”

    “Really.  What position?”  Sam shrugged.

    “Anyone they need me to do that particular night.  I’ve done them all before.”

    “So you can cook,” my father shot me a look, one quite unreadable.

    “Nothing like this,” Sam gestured to his food.  And that was the last straw.

    Reagan grumbled something under his breath before pushing away from the table and storming out of the room.  The table grew silent once more.

    “I’ll go talk to him,” I breathed, getting up from my spot and sending Sam an apologetic smile before heading after my enraged older brother.

    “What’s your problem?” I snapped at him after cornering him at the other end of the hall.

    “My problem?” He asked, incredulous.  “My problem?  You are going to inquire that of me after you bring some...some kid in off of the streets and marry him?  You didn’t even tell me!  How do you expect me to not have a problem with this Kennedy?  This is ludicrous.”

    “No,” I argued, walking him back down the hall.  “What is ludicrous is a twenty-six year old man who can’t grow up and get his head out of the gutter and instead goes judging an innocent kid who he doesn’t even know before getting the chance to meet him!  Grow up Reagan.  Sam’s a really nice guy, besides, it’s not even that kind of marriage.” I crossed my arms over my chest.  “And in case you were wondering, he’s probably the best one I’ve brought home yet and you know it.”

    Reagan paused, thinking it over.

    “What kind of marriage is it?” He asked in a small voice.  I glared at him.

    “He has HVC Reagan.  I married him to help him out, nothing more.  There is nothing going on between us.”  Reagan sighed.  “Okay?”

    “Yeah, okay.  But if there is really nothing going on between you two, maybe you should tell him that.” And with that he brushed past my shoulder and headed up the stairs to his room.  I growled in frustration, running my hands through my hair as I slid down the wall.  And now my brother hated me, that and he thought that Sam actually liked me.

    A smile pulled at the corners of my lips as a blush heated my cheeks, the thought playing around in my mind.  Sam had better things to do with his time, such as working to pay rent.  A life maybe.  He deserved someone who actually understood what he was going through right now, and clearly that person was not me at all.  I grew up pampered and he grew up poor.  We were in entirely different places in our lives right now.  Entirely different mindsets.