His Priority (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty Two

22 - The Brother

      Kaitlyn had tried not to spend too much time working on her makeup. It wasn't like she needed any, but then again she wanted to look her absolute best when she met Sara's family. She didn't want them to think she was a slob or anything, although Sara assured her that she had nothing to worry about.

As she pulled on the sleeves on her knee length cream dress, she heard her door open. "Don't you ever knock?" Kaitlyn said as Sara came barreling through the door. Her long auburn hair pulled back into a low ponytail. She tugged at the ends of her pink, cotton candy colored dress and grinned.

       "You should know better by now." She wagged a finger. "Are you ready to go? My dad called and said that everyone's already there and now they're just waiting on us."

"Why is it that every time I have to do something with you I always end up late?" She asked sarcastically, picking up her clutch and slipping on some gold flats.

      Sara shrugged. "I'm just really bad at time management." She admitted, "Now come along now, we still need to stop by the store to get a gift."

Kaityln followed after her. "But I thought you just said that we were already late."

Sara's eyes twinkled as she locked the front door. "I mean, if we're already late why not be fashionable late, yes?" She laughed before skipping down the stairs of the apartment building.

After spending over thirty minutes looking for a gift, they had finally decided on a small watch for Sara's brother. They were now pulling up the dark driveway of her parent's house. As they got closer, Kaitlyn's heart began to beat erratically. 

She shot her eyes over in Sara's direction. "You never told me that your parents were rich." She said in disbelief.

      "They're not. Now calm down, would ya?" Sara dismissed as she pulled into the driveway. She turned to Kaitlyn. "You know you're like my best friend, right?" She questioned as they both stepped out of the car and headed up the marble sidewalk leading to the front door of the house.

Kaitlyn nodded. "Yeah, I know."

    "And you know that I would never do anything to deliberately hurt you, right?"

She frowned. "Yes, Sara. Now I have to ask what's wrong with you?"

Sara shook her head. "Nothing. I guess i'm just a little nervous as well." She shrugged and then lifted her finger to ring the door bell. A few seconds after the bell rung, the door swung open to revel a graying, old man. He looked to be about in his late seventies, but still in good shape. His dark blue eyes focused on them.

     "Hey, baby girl." He greeted warmly, pulling Sara into a hug. Sara pulled back, smiling. "Hey, dad. I'd like you to meet my best friend, Kaitlyn. I hope it's okay that invited her."

The older man turned to Kaitlyn and held out his hand. "Hello, Kaitlyn. I'm Daniel." He welcomed her, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, sir." She replied as she shook his hand.

He turned back to his daughter. "You didn't tell your bother you invited her, did you?" He asked.

       She rolled her eyes before laughing. "No, it's a secret."

Her dad grinned. "You're up to something as always." He commented slyly before glancing back over to Kaitlyn. "Well, come on in. My wife will be pleased to know our little Sara actually has friends. It's actually hard to believe considering how difficult she can be."

Kaitlyn found herself chuckling. Sara shot her dad a mock glare and followed them inside.

When they had reached the foyer, sounds of chattering could be heard from in the living room. Daniel went to find his wife. He brought her back a little while later. Kaitlyn shot a look over to her friend as her mother came into view. She hadn't expected for Sara's parents to be so..old. Sara's mother looked to be in her seventies as well, with dark brown hair that had hints of grey here and there. Her warm brown eyes scanned over her and she smiled widely.

    "Oh my goodness. Your dad wasn't pulling my leg!" She shouted happily as she wrapped Kaitlyn into a big hug. "Welcome dear, my name is Laura. We're so happy that you decided to come tonight."

Kaitlyn nodded shyly. "Me too."

Laura gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek. "Now that you two are here I guess we can go ahead and get started with dinner." She turned to Sara. "Our family got held up and weren't able to make it, but your brother and his friends are already here. I asked them to wait in the living room until everyone was present." Laura nodded towards the living room. "Come along then." She motioned for the girls to follow her.

As they walked closer into the house the voice of guys talking began to grow louder and louder. Kaitlyn felt a certain twinge in her stomach as they got closer to the brightly lit room. As she pushed the strange feeling down, a familiar laugh erupted from the living room. Her legs began to wobble slightly as the room finally came into view. Kaitlyn couldn't see the other people who were sitting off to the side because of the way Daniel was standing in front of her, but as soon as she shifted her eyes in the opposite direction, her heart dropped.

Sara was the first one to speak as she leapt forward to hug the taller man who was standing in front of them with his back turned. "Big brother!" She yelled happily, clinging to his back like a child. The man groaned, trying to push his sister off.

         "Seriously, Sara, don't you think we're too old for this?" That familiar voice asked. She huffed, but jumped down, waiting for him to turn around. He waited a minute, trying to straighten his rumpled clothes before he turned slowly in their direction.

"You act like you didn't just see me a month ago." He said in annoyance just as his eyes met Kaityln's and they both froze.

Charles was Sara's older brother?