The Color of a Dream Read Online Free PDF Page B

kitchen from the mud room, I halted in my tracks at the sight
of Angela opening a bottle of beer she had just pulled out of the
fridge, and handing it to Rick.
    The glimmer of flirtation I saw in her eyes
was unmistakable, as was the manner in which Rick smiled back at
her with that wolfish look I had seen many times in the past. With
so many different girls.
    Bentley trotted past me to lap up some water
from his bowl by the stove. Angela’s eyes caught mine and
everything about her demeanor changed. Her brows lifted.
    “Hey, you want a beer? Looks like your
parents stocked the fridge just for us.”
    “Sure,” I replied. “Let me get rid of this
firewood first.”
    Rick casually leaned back against the
counter and took a swig from his bottle, intently watching me carry
the wood into the living room.
    * * *
    “Rick,” I said later in the kitchen while
Angela was talking to Mom in the living room.
    “Yeah?” He pulled a bag of chips out of the
cupboard and ripped it open.
    “I need you to stay away from her.” I didn’t
see the point in mincing words, and I knew I hadn’t imagined what I
saw. “She’s not like other girls.”
    Rick stared at me as if I’d grown a second
head. “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m talking about Angela. Stay away from
her. Don’t flirt with her. Just try to imagine that she’s your
sister because she might be that someday.”
    His lips parted and he rubbed at his
forehead. “I think I know what you’re saying, and it’s really
pissing me off.”
    I sucked in a breath, but no words came.
    Rick laid the chip bag down on the counter.
“Are you suggesting…?” He paused. “Are you suggesting that I was
trying to flirt with your girl? Seriously, Jesse? You’re my brother . I’m home for a couple of weeks, that’s it, and you
want to pick a fight with me? Is that what this is? Jesus. She’s
not even my type. No offense.” He held up a hand. “She’s great.
She’s really cute and everything, but I’m not into poaching my baby
brother’s girlfriends.” He frowned at me. “Are you serious?”
    “Yeah, dead serious.” I wasn’t going to let
him convince me that I imagined it. I knew what I saw.
    He leaned back against the counter and
regarded me steadily. “Let’s just pretend this conversation never
happened, all right?”
    “No,” I replied. “I don’t want to pretend
anything. Stay away from her or I’ll knock your teeth out.”
    I had never said anything like that to Rick
before and I could tell by the way he was looking at me—by the way
the color drained from his face—that I’d shocked him.
    “I think you’re losing it,” he said with
concern.
    But what was he concerned for, exactly? His
safety? Or my sanity? Should I have been concerned as well?
    “You know I’d never do that to you,” he
added. “You’re my brother.”
    For a moment I wondered if maybe I was crazy. Maybe I was still angry about what happened that
day years ago when he struck and killed Francis out front on the
road.
    Maybe I was jealous because he was
everything to my parents and I was nothing.
    Maybe I was paranoid and believed I truly
did become invisible whenever he was around. And I didn’t want to
become invisible to Angela.
    I struggled to wrestle my anger under
control and chose not to say anything more.
    Rick moved past me and patted my shoulder
reassuringly.
    Something in me relaxed. I was at least glad
I had confronted him.
    I only wish I’d had the sense to find the
proper way to confront Angela, too.

Chapter Fourteen
     
    After a three-and-a-half-week winter
vacation at home, it was time for Rick to return to California for
his final semester at UCLA. He caught a flight out on New Year’s
Day.
    I felt guilty when I said good-bye to him at
the airport, outside the entrance to security. Since the family
dinner on Christmas Day—when I’d accused him of flirting with my
girlfriend—nothing had been the same between us. A wedge had come
down like a meat