Curse of the Peters Brothers

Chapter 18

flashback...

It was just like any other night while visiting Gramps in Atlanta. They had their dinner, got in their pajamas, and went into the living room where Gramps would turn on his old Glenn Miller vinyls. As they listened to Glenn introduce his orchestra, Gramps would lay down on the floor, hands locked under his head, feet propped up on the couch. As usual, Kit and Emma would mimic his every move. It was hard for their five and six year old bodies to mirror Gramps as they were too short, but still every evening it was the same.

"Gramps, will you tell us a story?" Emma was always the one to ask.

"After Moonlight Serenade. That was your Grandma Kat's and my song." So they would listen until after Moonlight Serenade, then Gramps would tell them all sorts of stories. Anything from Princesses to Martians from outer space. No matter what the story was, it always ended the same.

"And as John Lenon said, 'All you need is love'."

"Gramps," Kit would groan, "you always say that."

"That's because it's true Katty. My life never would have been worth anything had I not lived for your Grandma Kat. She was everything to me. When she wasn't there, I would be lonely without her, just wasting time until I had her with me again. When she was near, it was heaven."

"You loved her a lot, didn't you Gramps?" Kit asked.

"More than anything in the world, Katty. You and Emma will too some day. You will love someone so much you don't ever want to live without them. When that day comes, don't take no for an answer."

"I won't," Emma and Kit responded in unison.

~*~

present...

At exactly two o'clock, Leland drove up the Taylor's driveway, completely elated. He was going to have a wonderful time with Hell-Kat this weekend. He never knew how much power one woman could hold over a man until Kit came back home and rocked his world. And they hadn't even slept together. Remembering how she looked this morning made his slacks tighten. He didn't think he'd ever be able to sleep without her again now that he knew what it was like to have her there when he woke.

Putting his Jeep in park, he hopped out and jogged up the stairs to the back door and knocked.

No answer.

He had been thinking of Kit when he pulled up that he didn't eve notice there were no cars in the driveway. Where could they be?

Checking his phone to see if she called, he knocked once more and waited.

Still no answer. Going around to Kit's bedroom window, he knocked first and then looked inside to see if she had fallen asleep, they both had a late night after all. When he peered in, all he saw was an empty room with the lights off.

Panic coiled in the pit of his stomach and spread through him. Would she have left? It appears that way, but he would give her the benefit of the doubt. He stalked back to his car and waited some more. Checking his phone one more time he text her and waited for the response. If he didn't leave by two-thirty he'd miss his flight.

The next thirty minutes went by with excruciating slowness. Still no word from her. He couldn't miss his flight because he'd miss his meeting in the morning, but he didn't want to leave Hell-Kat either. They didn't have much time left. If he could reschedule his trip, he would. Unfortunately, he couldn't.

Would Kit have gone back to London without a word to him? She seemed like she was happy this morning. He even went to trouble of apologizing to his brother to make her happy.