A Somers Dream Read online

  CHAPTER 18

  “Go away” Shane mumbled into his pillow as someone had been banging on the door. He didn’t want to see or talk to anyone but it seemed that no one had gotten that memo. Putting the pillow over his head, he hoped it would drown out the noise to some degree. It didn’t work, whoever it was wasn’t giving up. Pulling himself out of bed, Shane made his way down the stairs and to the front door, holding onto the walls for leverage. He had lost strength and it took all his energy just to put one foot in front of the other. The pounding was getting louder and he couldn’t figure out if it was because of the door or the blood rushing from his head. When he got to his destination, he put his forehead against the door, “Who is it”. The voice he heard on the other side was one he certainly never expected. “Open the door son”, Shane unlocked the door and opened it just a crack. Seeing his father on the other side was not something he had ever imagined, but there he was. “Great, now I’m having delusions” Shane said more to himself than to anyone and began to close the door. Holten had put his hand on the door to stop it from shutting “I don’t know if you’re delusional yet but I’m really here” and pushed it open further. Shane let out a groan and moved from the door, he didn’t have the strength to battle with anyone, especially his father. Stumbling backwards as the door opened wider, Shane grabbed a hold of the wall. Holten, noticing his son’s weakness, grabbed his arm and put it around his shoulder as he helped Shane over to the couch and sat him down. Shane mumbled a word of thanks and sank down into the cushions. He was, now more than ever, happy he bought the oversized piece furniture. As he put his feet up on the couch, Holten looked down at his son. “Well, aren’t you a mess” he said. He made some room on the coffee table and sat, “When was the last time you ate and showered?” Shane closed his eyes and breathed a shallow breath, his whole body ached with each intake. Holten was genuinely concerned about his son’s welfare and decided to do what he came over to do. Making his way to the kitchen, he looked around for some soup, any kind, to heat up and a pot. After some time of finding his way around, the soup was ready. Depositing the bowl on a tray and pouring a glass of juice, he brought it over to Shane. “Here, eat something. It’s just some soup. By the looks of you, I don’t think your body will be able to handle anything solid” and he settled the tray down on the table. Shane looked over at the fare and rolled over the other way. He didn’t want to eat anything, he just wanted to be left alone. Holten gave a harrumph and sat on the couch, giving Shane no choice but to move. Shane glared at his father “What are you doing here?” he snarled “You should be at home checking to see whose life your wife decides to destroy next. I don’t want or need your help”, Shane curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be but starving yourself is not going to make anything better. What’s done is done and the only thing you can do is move on and try to make it better” Holten patted his son’s leg in a form of affection. It was awkward for him, never really doing such a thing before but he felt like it needed to be done. “Now, sit up and have some soup and afterwards we’ll run the shower” He reached over and grabbed the tray and began to spoon the soup. Shane looked over at his father, surprise and confusion were visible on his face. Holten held the spoon up to Shane’s mouth, waiting for him to open it. Shane, still in shock, did. “There, feels good going down doesn’t it” and he spooned up another and another until it was completely gone. Holten handed him the glass of juice and Shane drank that down as well. Putting the dishes back onto the tray, Holten stood up and took a hold of his son’s arm. “Ok, time for a shower” and helped Shane to stand up. Shane put his arm around his father’s shoulder for support. Not knowing where to go, Holten gave his son a look of confusion and Shane motioned him towards the stairs. And together they made their way up, through his bedroom and into the bathroom. Before getting undressed, Shane looked over at Holten “Why are you doing this?” Holten let out a long sigh “I know I haven’t been around for you much, as a kid and as an adult. When you’re mother died, I died as well. Seeing you boys just brought back the memories I didn’t want to remember. Son, there are a lot of things I want to tell you but right now isn’t the time. First, take that shower. Then, you and I will have a nice talk about everything” Holten helped his son into the shower and when he was happy Shane could stand up on his own, he went down to the living room to clean up. It was about time Shane knew the truth and Holten hoped he would understand.

  CHAPTER 19

  During the flight, Penny got to know Gabriel and realized just how much he and Shane were alike. They both had a witty sense of humour and loved to laugh. They had a passion for the same things in life, which was quite unusual. There were subtle differences though, Penny noticed. Like, for instance, Gabriel’s hair was a darker blonde than Shane’s and his eyes were a darker shade of green. They both had the same physique and height but where Shane had those boyish good looks about him, Gabriel’s was more rugged. They were both extremely good looking men, no questions about that. Penny could see the love Gabriel had for his brother for whenever he spoke of him, his eyes would light up. “You both are very close, aren’t you” she said, although she knew the answer already. Gabriel smiled at her “Yes, we are. Always have been” and he began to tell her the story of when his mother first brought him home from the hospital when he was eight years old to the scrapes they got into in their adolescent years. Penny enjoyed hearing the stories of Shane’s childhood, it made her feel closer to him. “Shane had always been the brave one of the both of us. The things he would do and get into would make our mother faint. I remember once, he was eight and believed he could fly. Don’t ask me how he got it into his head that he could, he just did. He decided to climb up onto the roof of the house and was standing just above the edge when a bird came out of nowhere and startled him. He ended up losing his balance and fell into the hedges below right outside the window where our mother would sit and read. You can imagine her shock when one minute she’s into a good book and the next she’s see her son whisk by into the hedge. Mother was in a frantic, screaming and yelling and Dad was trying to calm her down when he looked out the window and saw a foot. The household was up in a roar, mother was calling the local doctor and dad was trying to get Shane out of the hedge. Through it all, Shane came out smiling” Penny had laughed so hard she almost peed herself. She could imagine Shane as a child doing something like that. He was so easy going and laid back, he had no fear of anything. “Needless to say, the older he got, the more harrowing his escapades became” Gabriel smiled at that. The things Shane would do just to prove he could do it. “And you never got into any ‘escapades’?” Gabriel looked at her with a surprised look on his face “Never” he said “I was the good one” and he winked at her. Penny had a feeling there were more to these stories than he had let on. The captain’s voice came over the intercom to let them know they were approaching their destination and that all passengers were to prepare for descent. Penny and Gabriel fastened their seatbelts and waited for the plane to touch ground. For some reason, Penny began to feel nervous about her reunion with Shane and she began to fidget. Gabriel, sensing her unease, placed his hand over hers and gave her a smile. Whether he knew what she was uneasy about, Penny didn’t know. But the kindness was, nonetheless, appreciated.

  CHAPTER 20

  “This is not happening!” Lynesse walked into her apartment and threw her purse across the room. It was a small place compared to her rooms at the Somers’ Mansion but she found it suited her needs when she was entertaining her friends and some of the social elite. It also gave her the means to keep out of Holten’s prying eyes. “So I’ve made a few mistakes along the way, everyone does” she mumbled to herself as she sat on the couch and removed her shoes. She had been going over and over in her head while driving back from Shane’s where she went wrong. She just couldn’t pin it and it was beginning to become frustrating. Lynesse always got what she wanted without any difficulties but this was becomin
g more difficult than she could imagine. She couldn’t understand why Shane was being so difficult. He can’t possibly love that woman when he knew he had her, he just can’t! He loved her! She knew he did. He just needed to see it and forget the past. She needed to find a way to just make him realize it and, once again, her mind began to think of ways. She rejected several ideas except for one. It was drastic and arrangements would need to be made, but it would make him understand just what she meant to him. Lynesse grabbed the phone and began dialing. She knew the perfect person for the task and she wasn’t going to waste one more minute. Marcus was the solution who would make everything right. “It’s me. I need you here now” she said as a deep voice answered. Once she hung up, she began to feel better. “It’s extreme but it will work”, she said to herself and she got up and walked to the bathroom. A nice hot shower to wash off the day’s disaster was what she needed and to put the final touches to her plan. She wanted to be prepared for when Marcus showed up and having a clear mind while explaining what she wanted done. It had been years since she used his services but what she needed done, only he could provide. Shane will be hers again, come hell or high water.

  Lynesse felt refreshed, more composed and focused after her shower. After getting dressed and presentable, she was making her way to the living room when she heard the knock at the door. Checking herself one last time in the mirror hanging in the hallway, she opened the door to let Marcus in. As always, she was taken aback at the very large body standing in her doorway. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way but he was no Shane. “Come in before someone sees you”, she said while grabbing his arm and pulling him into her apartment while closing the door quickly. Marcus hurried inside and jerked his arm away. He didn’t like to be touched. Lynesse turned to face him and gave him her best smile, “Thanks for getting here quickly”, she said and made her way to the living room indicating for Marcus to follow her. He noticed she had redecorated since the last time he was there and stopped to look closer at a painting that wasn’t there before. It was a bunch of flowers and, as far as he was concerned, it was damn ugly. “It’s a Van Gogh, painted in 1887. It’s called Four Withered Sunflowers. Beautiful, isn’t it?” she said as she walked up and stood next to him admiring the painting. It took her awhile to find it for this kind of work is rarely up for auction but when her advisor had called to tell her it was to be sold, she jumped at it. Marcus turned to look at her, “It’s ugly” he said to her and moved on towards the couch. He didn’t care much for art and he wasn’t about to start appreciating it now. Sitting down, he looked at Lynesse and was wondering when she was gonna get down to business. He didn’t like dealing with her but she paid well and his interests have become expensive lately. “What did you call me here for?” he asked with an impatient tone. “Always straight to business. Would you like a coffee or something?” She was about to make her way to the kitchen when he declined and turned to sit across from him. “I need you to take care of someone for me”, she said and began to explain what she needed. Marcus was somewhat surprised by her demand. For as long as he knew Lynesse, this was something she had never requested and he knew she was swimming in unfamiliar waters. After receiving her instructions, he sat and thought about it. This was a monumental task she was asking and he wasn’t sure if he wanted the heat if anything went wrong. “I’ll pay you extremely well and you know it. Half now and half when I get what I want” she said as she got up to get her purse and dug into it for her check book. “For this, I’ll only accept cash. I don’t want a paper trail in case anything goes wrong.” “Nothing will go wrong if you follow my instructions to the letter” she said sounding exasperated. “But if cash is what you want then fine. Be back here in two hours”. As Marcus stood to leave, Lynesse grabbed his arm and stared straight into his eyes “This has to go off without a hitch. Do what you are told and if everything goes as plans, there will be a bonus in it for you”. Marcus stared straight back at her and grinned, “Nothing will go wrong on my end. Just keep to your part and everyone will be happy”. Lynesse smiled, released his arm and watched him make his way to the front door and walk out. She waited for a half hour after Marcus left to go to the bank and withdraw the amount they had agreed on. Lynesse couldn’t stop smiling, the thought of Shane being hers once again was an aphrodisiac she was reveling in. She was in such a good mood, she stopped to do some shopping for her soon to be guest. Whether her guest appreciated it or not, Lynesse didn’t care. She was all about comfort and even for this, Lynesse wasn’t about to let her social etiquette falter. After picking up a few items, she made her way to her cabin that she kept in a secluded area for her secret trysts and began to make preparations for when Marcus returned.