Kevin is tired. After a day of cleaning the pool with his brothers in the morning and dealing their dilemma over letting Audrey go with Philippe alone, he decided to call it a night. As he watched Nick drove off – probably going for a night out, he dialed the numbers back home. There were only two rings before somebody picked it up. “Hi, darling.”
“Kevin! I missed you, baby. How are you?” His wife, Kristin, asked on the other line.
Kevin sighed. He missed his wife. He wished that this five-month deal would be over so that he can go home and resume to his normal life. “I’m fine, baby. My brothers are annoying sometimes but I think they’re okay. And luckily, my sister is an angel. I wish you could meet her someday. I missed you too.”
“Oh, baby. Hush. Just think that we need the money to pay all the land taxes here. I’m glad that before you leave, we settled with the bank manager to give us the time to pay everything. I know it’s hard for you to swallow all your pride and get something from a father you really never knew, but we don’t have any choice.”
“You’re right, Kris.” Kevin replied. He closed his eyes as he lies on the bed. “How’s the little guy?” He asked, referring to their five-month old son.
“Koko is sleeping. He’s been a nice little bunch.” Kristin answered and Kevin can hint a smile on his wife’s face. He loves his wife and he really misses her so much. “I was staring at him earlier and noticed that he’s beginning to get that trademark from you – the large eyebrows.” Kristin chuckled. “And you should see his smile and his fingers hooking around mine. It’s just so wonderful, Kev. And his laugh whenever I blew him raspberries on the cheeks the way you did. I want to keep reminding him of you so when you get back, he will recognize you.”
Kevin groaned. “Oh, this is torture, Kristin. If only we have more money, I’m going to send you here to be with me.”
“But I insist to stay even though Atty. Kiefer suggested it. No one’s going to look after the land and Koko is so young that I don’t want to tire him out on a long journey to Paris.”
“I know. I missed you, baby.”
“I missed you too.” Kristin said. “Oh, I just remembered. Mr. Burns was murdered. I was shocked when I heard the news. We just talked to him about giving you an extension for the land before you left for Paris and the next thing I knew, he’s dead.”
“Huh?” Mr. Burns, the bank manager, is dead? What if the bank disregards his extension plea to pay the land tax? “What happened? He seemed to be a nice man.”
“I don’t know, Kev. They found him dead in his house. The investigators were thinking that someone had a grudge over him. I don’t know. You know, I began to worry now. He’s dead. What if the bank disregards our plea to extend on paying them?” Kristin’s voice grew worried.
Kevin closed his eyes. He wanted to punch the wall in frustration. “I’ll think of something, Kris.”
“You won’t borrow money from your brothers. I know you. You’re too proud for that. But Kev, this is your grandfather’s land…”
“Listen, Kris. I’m going to think of something, okay? For the meantime, just observe what’s happening there. If someone came from the bank, tell him or her that I’m with my brothers here in France but I’ll answer my debts to them.” He sighed. “I miss you, honey. Really. And I wish everything will be solved.”
“I hope so too, Kev. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
~~~
Audrey heard footsteps down the hall as she went out of her room. Her date with Philippe turned out wonderfully fine. He wanted to ask her out again but he needs to get ready for a school project. She didn’t mind. Although she likes him, she thinks that she has to wait and be patient if things will go right between them. She and her brothers just got through another tiring day of bonding when Brian and AJ decided to make pies. AJ bought a new mixer, to everyone’s amusement. They spent half of the day in the kitchen. Just like the day when Kevin arrived, they got into another session with the flour and swam to the pool then. Audrey spent probably more than an hour cleaning her self up afterwards. It’s been a tiring day and all she wanted is to rest. But that would be later as she intends to do some exploration in the house first before retiring for the evening. They’ve been there for more than two months and she wanted to know every detail of the magnificent house.
The footsteps get louder and she hurriedly went inside the first door she saw to hide from whoever that is. She knew that if it’s any of her brothers, they tell her to go to sleep. They sometimes think that she’s still a kid and she hates it. She looked around the room she’s into and realized that she’s in a closet. A big closet.
“Who is it?”
Audrey gasped out aloud in surprise when she heard that voice. It was AJ. She walked further inside. “What are you doing here?” She found him squatting on a corner cabinet and looking for something.
“Just looking,” AJ replied. He smiled to her. “I just discovered this space yesterday and found some antique stuff in this cabinet, as well as some old books and magazines. In case you didn’t know, I have penchant for this old stuff. Tada!” He pulled out an almost worn-out book from the bottom of the cabinet and showed it to Audrey.
“What’s that?” Audrey sat beside him. “A geography book?”
“It’s fascinating. I was just reading about this yesterday and I saw pictures on the different theories on what the world used to look like before and how did it become divided into bigger and smaller islands.” AJ winked. Audrey patted him on the shoulders as she stood up and began looking around as well. She opened a cabinet on the other corner.
“Wow, this is amazing.”
“What did you find there?”
“It’s some camping stuff. I didn’t realize that Dad had these. Do you think it will be cool if we go camping?” Audrey excitedly takes out what she found inside the closet.
AJ rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Audrey.” He resumed to reading the book. “Why are you here anyway?”
“Nothing. I heard footsteps down the hall and I don’t want to deal with anyone right now. Nick went out again, to God-knows-where. The other guys were playing chess in the study. But assuming that if any one of the oldies saw me, they’ll tell me to go to bed.” She rolled her eyes.
“Boring,” AJ chuckled. “So, why are you here?” he asked again with a chuckled.
Audrey stopped from what she’s doing and looked at her brother. “You just annoy me sometimes, AJ.”
~~~
Brian watched as his siblings set up the camping gears that Audrey found in a closet some nights ago. It’s going to be three months since the first time he set foot here and he found that these people are not bad at all. And he realized that his father cared so much for him as his son. He remembered the words that Geoffrey said in his letter for him.
‘I love you so much and I will never forget you. I’m proud of what you’ve become, to the way you stand for what you believe in. In case you needed me for anything, I’m only a call away. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you when you grow up. But still, I wanted to be a father to you. Let me give you the chance to do what I can do for you as your father. I saw you from afar when you graduate from college and I’m a proud dad. My son chose a noble vocation to serve the children. You’re a gift to me and to your mother. I’m glad that you’ll be able to share your own blessings to others as well.’
Brian drew a deep breath as he stared at his hands. He knew his father but he only saw him probably five times since he’s young. He wanted to feel angry at that but his mother taught him not to. There are times that he wanted to blame Geoffrey for the trials he and his mother had faced. He wanted to be mad at him for making them struggle with their own life while his other son spent his money and doesn’t even care. Realizing that his father loved him, cared about him and even went to his college graduation meant a lot for him. This five-month experience with his siblings is something he’ll cherish. He may have hated their father, but Geoffrey gave him lessons in life he never thought he’d learn here in Chateau Cordell. His siblings taught him to appreciate life more and to stop finding fault in every thing. That’s probably why his students hated him and spoke a lot about him behind his back. He should be living up more of God’s teachings than just showing others that he’s a religious person. He should be more true to himself. His father would have wanted that. His father would have been prouder.
“Hey, PE teacher! Help us set up the camp.” AJ yelled.
“Get your ass over here,” Howie winked at him. Brian smiled and stood up. When he found peace after reading his father’s letter, he also found himself caring for these people. He walked over to help them.
