Inherited Light

by Katie Mettner

  She nodded once. “I would appreciate it, Ren. I’ll be here most of the day. How about after lunch?”

  “I’ll pencil you in for tomorrow, after lunch. You know my number if something comes up.”

  I didn’t want to stand. As soon as I did, I couldn’t kiss her. It was awkward, and she moved first, swinging herself back into her chair and unlocking the brakes. I took it as a signal and stood, following her to the door.

  “Is there anything I can do for Cinn?” she asked, stopping at the front door. “I feel terrible she’s having such a hard time.”

  I knelt next to her chair again and shook my head a little bit. “I think all we can do is leave this to Cinn and Foster to work out between them. Heartbreaking as it is, it will strengthen their marriage. Cinn’s first husband left her because of her illness, so I think there’s fear of Foster doing the same wrapped up in how she’s feeling, too. The difference is, this time, her husband would lay down his life for her, so I’m not worried.”

  “Okay, but don’t hesitate if you think she needs a friend of the female persuasion, I would be there in a heartbeat.”

  I tucked a curl off her forehead. “I know you would, and that’s enough for me. Thanks for the wonderful evening, Cat. I’m finding it hard to leave, but I must.”

  She took my hand and held my gaze. “You never asked the whole night.”

  I blew out a breath and shook my head. “I never will ask, Cat. If we continue to see each other, and you want me to know, then I’ll listen, but it’s not a breaking point for me. Not even close. Okay?”

  She whispered ‘okay’ and I leaned forward, holding her face with my hands and giving her a slow, gentle, and languid closed mouth goodnight kiss. “Goodnight, sweet Cat. Sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I opened the door and she held her hand up in a wave. As I strode down the ramp, a wave hit me in the form of a beautiful, brown eyed woman and it would carry me to a place I never dreamed I could go. All I had to do was stay on top of it and not buckle to the power of outside forces.

  Chapter Seven

  I swung my legs out of the truck and closed the door. The driveway was short and after a few steps, I was opening the gate to the yard. There was a low, thunderous woof and I planted myself, prepared for Brutus to barrel into me, as he always does.

  “Hey, Brute,” I said, rubbing his ears when he set his paws on my chest. “How’s your Cinn doing today, huh boy?” I asked, shoving him down. I jogged up the two steps and knocked a few times, hoping I didn’t disturb her from a nap. The door opened and Foster stood in the doorway, his face telling me it had been another long night.

  “Hi, Lorenzo,” he said, holding the door. Brutus snuck in first and I followed him, closing the door behind me.

  Cinn padded into the living room from the bedroom and stopped when she saw me. “Hey, brother,” she said, coming over and giving me a hug. “I’m sorry if I worried you.”

  I hugged her and glanced up at Foster. He gave me the so-so hand to tell me she was feeling better, but not completely.

  “I never worry about you, Cinn,” I said and she snorted.

  “Nice try, Lorenzo,” she scolded. “I can read you like a book.”

  I let her go and put my hand on my hip. “Oh, really? What am I thinking about?” I asked, trying to goad her a little bit.

  “Cat. Now, come and tell me how the date went,” she said excitedly, tugging me to the couch.

  Foster held up his finger. “I’m going to go grab a shower. You two will be fine without me?”

  I nodded and Cinn took his hand for just a moment as though it were a silent communication between them. He dropped it and called Brutus to go with him, but the dog defiantly stayed where he was, next to Cinn’s feet. I snickered at the glare he gave the guy, as if to say, ‘Sorry pal, you’re on your own’.

  “So, spill it,” she said as soon as I sat down.

  “How did you find out we had a date? I didn’t tell you on purpose.”

  She shrugged. “We share a father, remember.”

  I groaned. “I was afraid one of them would say something.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her. “You didn’t want me to know you were taking Cat out?”

  I sighed. “I didn’t, but only for now. I didn’t want you to worry I would ruin your newly rediscovered friendship while you were recovering. I took her to dinner at Coronado’s Cantina; we shared a beautiful plate of tamales and a few palomas and then I took her home. We had a nice time,” I answered, hoping it would be enough, but no way would Cinn let it go with such a minor recounting.

  “And?” she asked, rolling her hands to get me to talk more.

  In turn, I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. “And I’m headed over there now because I left my toolbox on her deck last night.”

  She moved her hand around in a circle between us. “Is that a euphemism…or?”

  I laughed. “No, I left my literal toolbox, Cinn. I took it out of the BMW to repair a loose board on her ramp and left it there.”

  Her eyes sparked somewhere in the depth of the fatigue filling them. “Oh, now you have a reason to return. The plot thickens,” she said, lowering her brows as if this was all some mysterious act of the universe.

  “No, I already had plans to see her because she asked me to go over the outside of her house to decide what needs immediate repair and what can wait. I’ll grab the toolbox while I’m there.”

  Her expression changed from fun loving to leery. “It sounds to me like you’re jumping in with both feet, Lorenzo. Have you taken time to think this out?”

  “Have you been talking to Dad?” I asked in kind and she put her hands up.

  “No, we talked about you taking Catalina out, but nothing else. What’s wrong with Dad?” she asked, her tone hurt. I could feel how at a loss she was, but I didn’t know a way to make her feel better.

  “Nothing, but he thinks she’s too old for me. Regardless, I need to help her with the ramp. I tripped on a board going up it last night and had to repair the board before I could get her out of the house. I promise not to get in too deep.” I did the Scout’s honor thing, but she rolled her eyes at me.

  “I get the feeling it’s already too late.”

  “I’m helping a friend,” I said, and that was all I said. “Why didn’t you tell me she had her own gallery here in town?”

  She cocked her head to the left. “You’ve lived here your whole life. I never dreamed you didn’t know. She’s very successful.”

  I shook my head. “She told me she sells her paintings, but I pictured it more in a hobby type setting. I mean, it’s cool she does it for a living, but I was surprised. She invited me to the gallery showing tomorrow night.”

  “Oh, and the plot thickens,” she said in her mysterious tone again.

  I shoved her gently in the shoulder and sighed heavily. “Sisters.”

  She leaned back against the couch. “I would go if I were you. Foster and I will be there if I’m feeling up to it. She’s terrifyingly brilliant as an artist. You’ll feel like a complete loser when you view what she does with a pencil.”

  “Says the musical genius,” I laughed and she chuckled.

  “I guess we all have our own talents. Like you, for instance, with wood.”

  I gazed down at my hands to avoid eye contact. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course, Lorenzo,” she said leaning forward and putting her hand on mine. “Is something wrong?”

  “Not wrong as much as I’m trying to sort some things out and I need to know if I’m being selfish or immature.”

  “I doubt that’s the case, but ask away,” she answered and I smiled a little. She always had my back.

  “It’s about what I’ll do after I finish the shelter job,” I explained. “Dad is pressuring me to get a job with a big company.”

  “But you aren’t interested in working for a big company?” she asked and my silence alone was enough of an answer. “Lorenzo, it’s your life,
if you don’t want to work for a company then don’t.”

  “I added business classes to my degree for a reason, you know. I didn’t do it on a whim the way Dad has always believed I did. My train of thought was if I decided to run my own business, I’d have the skills to do it.”

  “Sounds to me like you’ve already decided,” she said. “You’ve been training for a long time, but do you have the experience to go it alone and stay afloat?”

  I shook my head in frustration. “I’m leaning toward working for myself, but I don’t have to go it alone. I would be the owner of the business, but I would be able to hire anyone I want. There are a lot of guys who have been in the trades a long time and are at the age they want to go from full-time to part-time work. If I hire some of them, they’ll continue to teach me the skills I need to improve. There’s no law saying the young kid can’t back the business and still learn from his fellow tradesmen, is there?”

  She patted my shoulder. “No law that I know of. It makes sense to me, especially if you know you’ll have people willing to work for you. What’s making you hesitate? Dad?”

  “Yeah,” I said on an exhale. “He’s hellbent on me getting a job with benefits. I already have health insurance and if I own a business, I won’t have a choice but to offer some form of insurance and emergency care anyway. We do dangerous work all day long, and there has to be coverage there for the laborers. I have a whole business plan produced and ready to go if I decide to move forward with it.”

  “Won’t you need some start-up cash?” she asked.

  “I will, but not as much as you’d think simply because other than our tools, which we all have our own, I don’t need the overhead of an office or warehouse. I’ll need a locking trailer to take the bigger saws, ladders and scaffolding to jobs, but not much more. I don’t need an actual office space right now. Eventually I may need a construction trailer, but it would be down the road.”

  “How are you going to come up with the money? Have you been saving? You have school loans too, right?”

  I gave her the so-so hand. “I have been saving, but no, I don’t have school loans. I’ve worked hard the last two years to pay the rest of them off by working with low income groups to provide homes to those in need. Every forty hours of time I donate, they knock another chunk off the loans. I’m down to one small loan from the government, and what Dad paid in. I think it was about three grand for the one semester. I can always pay him back if he gets hung up on it.”

  “It sounds to me like you’re serious about this if you’ve already written a business plan.”

  I aimed to give her a nonchalant shrug, but I didn’t pull it off. She could tell how much I wanted this. “It’s all I think about. I know I’m young, but I like to think I have my life together. I know what I want to do, and can be successful, if people will give me a chance.”

  “You mean if Dad will give you a chance. I have no problem with you being in business for yourself, and I think if you explained this all to Mamá and Dad they wouldn’t have a problem with it either. Communication is key, little brother.”

  “Says the girl who refused to tell anyone she was sick,” I said. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”

  She leaned back on the couch again. “I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve needlessly worried my husband and my family all because I was scared he would run the same way Josh did.”

  I nodded. “Your fear was easy to see and feel, at least for me. I can’t blame you after what you went through, but you can trust Foster, Sis. He loves you and only wants the best for you.”

  She ignored my comment and jumped ahead. “You have to do what makes Lorenzo happy, not what makes Dad happy. Dad will catch up. Have you spoken to a banker about getting some start-up cash?”

  “I haven’t, because I already have it.” Her expression told me she was surprised to hear this and waited for me to explain. “When the time comes and the shelter job is finished, I’m going to sell the BMW. What I get for the car will be more than enough to get me started.”

  She put her hand to her chest. “You’re going to sell Mabel’s car?”

  “It’s been almost two years. I think we can call it my car now, just like you call this your house.”

  “Of course, you’re right,” she apologized. “You’ve taken me by surprise.”

  “What’s so surprising about it? It’s a car, not a child or dog. It meant nothing to Mabel, and while it has been fun to drive, it sits most of the time. The insurance I have to keep on it is ridiculous and I don’t drive it enough to make it worth it. I’ve put some feelers out, since I know it’s not going to be easy or fast to sell. Once it goes down the road, I’ll put the money into a fund until I need it. If nothing else, it will be enough to pay for my trailer, which I can then use for collateral on a loan.”

  “How much do you think you’ll get for it?” she asked studying me.

  “I’m asking thirty-five thousand. It’s high, but it gives me room to go down to thirty grand and get it.”

  She smiled. “You’re a shrewd businessman, Lorenzo.”

  I snorted. “Right, like I have a clue what I’m doing.”

  She nodded her head, the smile still on her face. “Sure you do. You’re following your heart and doing what’s going to make you happy, which is more important than a car. It’s also more important than what Dad thinks about your choices. I know if I hadn’t gone on tour with those bands as a kid, I would always wonder what I missed. You gotta grab the opportunities as they come to you. I don’t think Mabel intended for you to keep the car. She wanted you to play with it for a little while and then use it for bigger and better things. It sounds to me like you’ve done exactly what she hoped you would do.”

  “Always the wise one you are,” I teased, taking her hand in mine. “I’m trying to show the family I’m not five anymore. Everyone still refers to me as the baby, but I’m all grown up now and know what I want out of life.”

  She grimaced a little and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just as guilty as anyone else is. The difference is I know you’ve grown up and I’m awfully proud of who you’ve become. When I call you the baby it’s more a term of endearment because I know you aren’t one, not by a long shot. The job you’ve done at the shelter is stellar, Lorenzo. You’ve managed all the other trades who had jobs to do while doing your own work at the same time. I have no doubt you’ll go far if you venture into business for yourself.”

  I grinned, relieved to hear her words. “Going into business isn’t the only thing I want to do. I want to teach, Cinn. I want to learn everything I can about the trade of building homes and offices, but more so, I want to learn about the intricacies of woodwork. Carpentry is more than just buildings. It’s a skill and with the right eye it can be a work of art.”

  She appeared surprised. “Really? You want to teach? Like high school?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m thinking tech school or college. I would start small in a few years and teach some community education classes about carving or something.” I shrugged as if I was indifferent, but she didn’t buy it.

  “Something big is going on in your head, isn’t it?” she asked, her hand on my arm again.

  I slipped my phone from my pocket and found the picture of the flower vase I made Cat then handed it over. “This is the kind of woodworking I love to do.”

  She stared at the screen. “Lorenzo, this is beautiful. When did you make it?”

  I accepted the phone back and turned it off. “Yesterday, before I took Cat out to dinner. I could have bought her real flowers, but I know she’s a wildlife artist. I put our two mediums together and made something to stand the test of time rather than wither after a few days.”

  She was nodding, but her eyes told me exactly what she was thinking. There were even a few tears in the corners when she spoke. “It sounds to me like a metaphor about life and what you’re looking for in it.”

  “When I made the flower, it was a simple gift. After I took her out
last night, I realized I made it because my soul already understood how special she was. And she is, Cinn. I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  I leaned my head back on the couch and rubbed my hands over my face, embarrassed by the whole thing. When I dropped my hands, and glanced up, she wore a pensive expression.

  “You don’t have to be embarrassed by your emotions, Lorenzo. I suspect I know exactly what you’re feeling. It wasn’t long ago I had the same strong, immediate connection to another human being. If anyone can draw Cat out of her shell I know you can, and maybe at the same time Cat will be the one to prove to us all how much you’ve become a man we should be proud of.”

  “I hope so, Cinn. I want to keep seeing her. Wait, why does Cat need to come out of her shell? Last night we had a great time and connected on so many different levels.”

  Cinn tapped her fingers on her leg for longer than she needed to and I finally put my hand over hers until she glanced up at me. “Cinn, what?”

  “I’m not going to speak for Cat here, brother. All I’m going to say is, as a woman with a chronic illness, I know how hard it is to trust someone else with your heart. When the newness of the relationship starts to fade and the circumstances of your life begin to evolve and change again,” she paused and bit her lip, trying to keep from crying. The tears in her eyes and the tremble of her chin as she stared up at the ceiling gave her away. A dark, heavy, oppressive feeling settled over me as I sat with her. “I’ve broken his heart, Lorenzo and there’s nothing I can do to fix it. You have to understand the same could be true with Cat.”

  Foster stood in the doorway as she spoke and he strode toward the couch. He knelt in front of it, holding her hands and wiping away the tears as they fell. “Cinn, you haven’t broken my heart, sweetheart, but it feels crushed right now knowing you think you have.” He tucked a loose hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. “I know you feel like I’m disappointed, but I’m actually relieved.”