Rock and a Hard Place (14 page)

Two girls in slinky sequined dresses walked
out of the bathroom and meandered down the hall. They eyed
Libby.

“
Why’s she sitting there
alone?” one said.

“
Supposedly her date’s
meeting her here. She’d never want him to see where she lives,”
replied the other.

“
Looks like he stood her
up.”

“
Can you blame him?” They
giggled cruelly at her misfortune.

Libby slouched against the wall. Her once
beautiful curls drooped against her shoulders. Their words hit
hard, but they were right. He wasn’t coming. She knew it in her
gut. Their perfect night ruined. Peter would not show. Tonight she
planned to prove she was just like everyone else, even better.
Instead, they would all witness her lonely wait for a boy who never
arrived. Miss Orman’s pity would be the worst. She’d probably call
in a shrink on Monday to find out why Libby invented Peter.

More kids walked down the hall toward the
restrooms. Libby rose. She couldn’t take any more ridicule. She
walked to the double doors and stepped into the brisk night. Even
though she felt certain Peter wouldn’t show, she continued her
vigil and prayed he was okay.

What could possibly keep him away when he
was so close? A traffic jam? Not likely. Weather? He’d already
landed and the weather was fine, cold and windy, but nothing to
stop traffic. A car accident? She shivered at the thought. Please
let him be okay.

She checked her phone again. It didn’t
magically power on. She returned it to her handbag, next to her lip
gloss and two tickets for the dance. She pulled out the beautifully
printed tickets with the school emblem pressed into the shiny
paper.

“
Oh Peter,” she breathed,
the wind cold on her skin. Something was wrong. Very very
wrong.

Chapter 13

“
Excuse me, are you Peter
Jamieson?”

“
Yeah, I’m Peter Jamieson.
What’s up?” A bad feeling struck him.

“
I’m sorry to tell you
this, but there’s been a medical emergency back in Los Angeles.
Your mother called and asked us to locate you. You need to return
to L.A. as quickly as possible.”

“
What happened? Who is it?”
Panic hit him full on. He searched Roger’s face for information
neither of them had.

“
Is it my mom? Is she okay?
Please tell me.” Peter stood oblivious to the dozens of curious
passengers in the terminal. The only reason his mom would make him
come home was if something terrible happened.

“
I’m sorry to tell you that
your father suffered a heart attack. I believe he’s in Emergency at
Cedars-Sinai.”

Peter’s world fell away. His dad. The pillar
of their family. The man who pushed him to be his best. He couldn’t
be sick. He couldn’t die. Peter looked to Roger for support,
terrified for his father’s life.

“
How soon can we get out of
here?” Roger took control, allowing Peter to be scared.

“
We’re holding a plane,
it’s headed to Denver. Then you’ll transfer to L.A. You can board
now.”

“
Let’s go,” Peter
responded. “I’m calling Garrett.”

Stiff jawed, he pressed the buttons on his
phone as he followed the officials through the terminal to the
waiting plane.

Garrett answered on the first ring. “Where
the hell are you?”

“
I’m on my way now. We just
landed in Madison, but they’re holding a plane. How is he? What
happened?” Peter didn’t recognize the flat tone of his own voice.
He fought tears as they rushed down the concourse. His invincible
dad had always been healthy. This was all wrong.

“
He was walking across the
yard and collapsed. Mom gave him an aspirin right away. The
paramedics said it probably saved his life.”

Peter held the phone with one hand and
pushed his hair out of his face with the other. He struggled to
believe Garrett’s words, yet knew they were true. “Is he okay?
Where is he now?” They arrived at a gate where airline agents
waited. One agent handed him a boarding pass and cleared him
through without delay. Peter nodded his gratitude as he listened to
Garrett.

“
They’re doing a lot of
tests. He’s hooked up to a bunch of machines. Mom’s with
him.”

“
Is he going to be okay? Is
he going to pull through?” Peter couldn’t believe he needed to ask
this.

“
I don’t know Pete, I just
don’t know.” The worry in his voice scared Peter even
more.

“
Where’s Adam? Is he
there?” Peter stepped onto the crowded plane. Impatient passengers
watched. He and Roger were guided to seats near the
front.

“
Yeah, he’s right here. How
long ‘til you land? Dammit, Peter. You should be here.”

“
I know. I’m on my way. A
couple hours to Denver and a couple more to L.A. Hopefully by
midnight.” He checked his watch and dreaded the idea of being stuck
on a plane for the rest of the night helpless to do anything. He
needed to be there. Now.

“
Just get your ass home.
You never should have left. She isn’t worth it.”

Peter ignored the barb. Garrett was scared
and angry. So was he. “I’ll be there soon. I’ll call when we land
in Denver.” The door closed and the plane taxied the short distance
to the runway. “Garrett, don’t let him die. Keep him alive.” He
spoke softly, not wanting to hang up. There was no reply for the
longest time as the two brothers shared a frightened silence.

“
Just hurry.” The tone of
Garrett’s voice told Peter all he needed to know.

Peter closed the phone, and sniffed back his
emotions. His throat tightened and eyes burned from fighting back
tears. Helplessness tore at him. Roger squeezed his arm in support.
In private, Peter might have hugged the big man and cried like a
baby. Instead he put on a brave face as the flight attendants
finished the safety talk and did their final check for takeoff.

“
Libby!”

Dammit, he’d forgotten all about her. He
opened the phone again, about to press dial, when the flight
attendant stopped him.

“
I’m sorry, you need to
turn that off. We’re about to take off and it interferes with
in-flight communications.”

“
But it’ll only take a
second, it’s important.” He had to get a call to Libby. He couldn’t
leave her standing at the dance alone wondering where he was.
They’d worked so hard to make this happen. She suffered so much the
past year, he wanted to bring her happiness. Instead she’d be
devastated.

“
I’m sorry, it’s airline
policy. No exceptions.” She said.

“
Put it away, Pete. She’ll
understand.” Roger’s voice, a calm in the storm, helped ground him,
but Peter didn’t like the advice.

He turned the phone off and slid it into his
pocket. He slammed his head against the cushioned first class
seat.

Chapter 14

Libby stared blankly out her bedroom window
toward Parfrey’s Glen and listened again to her messages. Peter’s
voice sounded strained and worried. He was so sorry. It tore at her
heart. The emotion in his voice brought back the old memories and
pain. During the hours after her family’s car crash she felt the
same way as piercing dread overwhelmed her. She experienced a
general numbness and the taste of fear.

She crawled onto her bed, not bothering to
take off the homecoming dress. She curled on her side and clasped
the phone against her heart. She cried for Peter, his family and
all the fear she understood too clearly. She cried for his father’s
suffering as he fought for his life. And she cried for herself.

She let the floodgates open and mourned the
loss of her mom and her sister. She cried because she would never
get ready for a party with them. Her mom would never meet Peter and
never see her graduate high school. She cried because of what her
life had once been and would never be again. She released tears of
frustration at being dumped at her aunt’s, lonely, loveless house.
She missed her dad so much, but felt angry that he abandoned her.
She cried for her lack of friends and freedom. She put on a brave
front for so long, but now the façade crumbled. Finally, she cried
for her and Peter, both robbed of a normal childhood, for very
different reasons. Tonight was to be their time, their turn, just a
simple evening together.

Never in her life had she felt so alone.

# # #

The days following Peter’s dad’s heart
attack flew by. In an attempt to force his dad to rest, his Mom
rented a house on Venice Beach. The heart specialists took great
care of his father in the hospital and assured the family that his
dad was out of danger. Life fell back into a normal pattern of
concerts, interviews and regular calls to Libby. Peter still felt
awful about standing her up at Homecoming, but she told him to stop
apologizing, family should always come first.

If there was an upside to the heart attack,
it was Peter’s sudden freedom from his parents. His mom spent all
her time hovering while his dad became more ornery over his new
diet and restricted activity.

Peter pulled on a baseball hat, grabbed his
blue tooth and slid on a pair of sunglasses. “Going for a run,” he
yelled as he stepped onto the deck. After a few warm up stretches,
he stepped through the dry sand and punched in Libby’s number. When
he hit the packed sand near the low morning tide, he broke into a
jog. The salty scent of ocean air filled his senses. He loved
spending time on the coast.

“
You’re right on time.”
Libby answered.

Peter smiled. The sound of her voice always
made his day, like when a great song popped into his head. “Yeah,
well I’m still sucking up so you won’t dump me.”

“
Stop it. I’ve told you a
million times, it’s okay. How’s your dad today?”

“
Better than ever. My
mother’s been driving him nuts with all her attention. Every time
he starts to work, she threatens to call 911. He sees the doctor
for a follow-up tomorrow. I think Mom is loving every minute of
control until the doctor gives him the okay to work
again.”

“
That’s great he’s doing so
well.”

“
Yeah, but he’s always
blasting the TV. To annoy my mom, he’s been watching Charlie’s
Angels movies over and over. It’s driving her nuts.” Peter loved
his dad’s tactics.

“
My mom loved Charlie’s
Angels. She used to watch it when she was a little girl. In fact
she wanted to name me Jill after one of the characters, but my Dad
wouldn’t let her.”

He pictured Libby as a tiny baby cradled in
her mother’s arms, her parents negotiating the name that would stay
with her for life. “You, a Jill? I don’t think so. Libby is much
spunkier. Fits you better.”

“
Plus I don’t have the
Farrah Fawcett sex appeal.”

“
Now there I’ll disagree.”
Libby was more beautiful than any movie star. She just didn’t know
it, which he loved about her.

“
You’re sucking up
again.”

“
Never!” He
laughed.

“
You’re breathing heavy.
Where are you running today?”

“
The beach.” He dodged a
woman walking a fluffy little dog. “Where are you?”

“
Just arriving at Parfrey’s
Glen.”

Peter loved Parfrey’s Glen. It held special
memories of their times together. “I wish I was there.”

“
Well, I wish I was in
Southern California on a warm beach, not freezing blustery
Wisconsin. All the leaves are off the trees and everything looks
dead and cold. It could snow any minute.”

He imagined her bundled up against the cold,
holding the collar of her coat closed so the sharp wind wouldn’t
bite so hard. He pictured her rosy cheeks and windblown hair. “I
know, but hang tough. It won’t be long now and you won’t have to
live there anymore. Did you fill out the passport forms yet?” He’d
been hatching a plan to get her out. If things went his way, she’d
join him on tour and finish high school via home schooling like he
did.

“
They’re filled out, but I
don’t know how we’ll get them signed without a parent.”

“
Don’t worry I’m working on
it. Once my mom isn’t so freaked out about my Dad, I’ll tell her
everything. There is no way she won’t step forward and help. When
she sees an injustice, she’ll move heaven and earth to fix it.
She’ll deal with your aunt and take over guardianship.”

“
Are you sure? She’s never
even met me. Why would she do that?”

“
Because she cares about me
and she always supports everything I do. You’re part of my life and
living with your aunt can’t continue.” His mom had the biggest
heart and he knew she’d be moved by Libby’s sad situation. He
hadn’t mentioned it before because he wanted to respect Libby’s
privacy. But the more he learned about her home life, the more he
worried.

“
I can’t believe you’re
going to get me out of here. It’s like a fairytale and your going
to rescue me from the evil queen.”

“
Yeah, I’ll have to get my
white horse out of the stable to make it complete.” He dodged a
rogue wave that washed ashore and threatened to soak
him.

“
Shut up. You are so full
of yourself.”

He grinned at the sarcasm in her voice. “So
what are you up to today?” The beach became more crowded by the
minute. He didn’t expect to be recognized, but sunglasses and a hat
never hurt.