Vegas Sunrise Read online

  “Then I guess you better start filling out your resume because I’m going to cut off your funding in about three minutes flat. Do you care to rethink that negative nod?”

  “Why don’t I get Dr. Samuels for you?”

  “That’s not necessary. Point me in the direction of my sister.”

  The pen in the doctor’s hand trembled as he pointed to a colorful, flower-bordered path outside the reception area.

  “Write this down, Doctor. I will come here as often as I please and when I please. I won’t interfere with any of Sunny’s schedules. Write that down, too.”

  The dog saw Birch before Sunny did. He was a whirlwind of motion, circling Birch’s feet, his tail between his legs. Birch froze in his tracks.

  “Birch! What are you doing here? Did you sneak in? Oh, I’m so glad to see you. We hardly got to say hello last night. Come here, give me a big hug? Easy, Fred, he’s okay.”

  The shepherd’s tail swished back and forth as he escorted Birch to Sunny’s chair.

  “Good boy, Fred. What brings you out here today, Birch?”

  “I wanted to see you. I didn’t want to wait till Sunday. What the hell kind of place is this that limits visits? I thought friends and family helped situations like yours. I didn’t sneak in, I bulldozed my way in with a threat.”

  “The rules are why this place works, Birch. You didn’t know that, so it’s okay this time. I have free time in the morning at eleven and again at four. A half hour each time. When you want to come out, use that time. I’m surprised they didn’t boot your ass out of here. What did you say?”

  “I said I’d cut off their funding in three minutes.”

  Sunny frowned. “Birch, I don’t trade on the Thornton name here. Sometimes I want to, but I don’t. I’m just like everyone else. That’s another reason it works. Harry wouldn’t be able to stay here otherwise. I had a real hard time with the rules at first. There were days I would have killed to see Jake and Polly. I got over that real quick because I had no other options. Now, I’m the welcoming committee for new patients. I pep-talk them, the whole nine yards. When there’s a problem they call me. Enough, already, why are you here? What’s wrong? Don’t tell me nothing because I can see it in your face.”

  “I hit Celia. Three times. She really pissed me off. It’s no excuse, and I promised I’d never do it again. She stayed downstairs till five-thirty this morning, and she was drunk when she came up. I think, Sunny, I might have made a mistake in coming back here.”

  “Oh, Birch, no, it wasn’t a mistake to come back. It was a hell of a mistake, though, to hit your wife. Listen to me. I started hitting Jake, and Dad let me have it. I was out of control. Tyler had just left, I was getting worse, Dad was sick, Mom and I weren’t speaking. I couldn’t handle it. I took it out on Jake. That little boy didn’t deserve what I did to him. No one in this family will tolerate that kind of battering. You come and talk to me. I want your promise.”

  Birch nodded. “You really got a handle on all of this?” Birch asked, waving his arms about. “Are you and Harry an item?”

  “Yes and yes. If your next question is, do we have sex the answer is yes. It isn’t easy but we manage. His family tossed him out. They didn’t want the responsibility of caring for him. He’s a dear, sweet man. We watch out for each other. We have teams here. The dogs look out for both of us. I see your eyes filling up. Don’t be sad for me. I’ve come to terms with my life. It’s what it is. Fortunately for me I have a wonderful family. We’re Harry’s family now, too. Remember how we used to talk about family where Dad was concerned? He just didn’t get it till the end, and then it was too late.”

  “I want you and Celia to be friends, Sunny.”

  “Birch, I don’t think that’s going to happen. For starters, I don’t think I like your wife. I know that hurts your feelings, and I’m sorry about that. You see, we learn here that we have to say things just the way they are. We don’t sugarcoat anything. Everything has to be out in the open. We can’t hide behind doors, words, or people. Celia looked at Harry and me with revulsion. We’re both used to that, but we shouldn’t see it from our families. Sure, I smear myself sometimes if my hand goes someplace else instead of my mouth. I spill and dribble and drop things. Sometimes I want to cry. Sometimes I do cry. Fred licks my tears or Harry wipes them away. I’d kill to be able to hold a chicken leg or pop a lid from a yogurt cup. The big word here is tolerance. They have signs posted everywhere. I’ve learned to live by that word. Please don’t say anything to Celia. It will just make things worse. Some people can’t handle other people’s handicaps.”

  “Sunny, I’m so sorry. I want to do something for you. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you. For whatever consolation it is to you, I did think of you every single day I was away. I wondered what you were doing, what kind of mess you got yourself into with that mouth of yours. I used to talk about you so much Celia would tell me to shut up.”

  “You did write five whole letters, so I forgive you. Now it’s my turn. Are you okay with Jeff? He’s all right, Birch, but . . . there’s something off-key about him. I have to be honest and say no one agrees with me. It’s just a feeling. Mom’s back was to the wall. She really didn’t have a choice, Birch. She’s done her best to do things the way Dad would have wanted her to, and his first rule was that only family should be involved. When you own your own business you don’t let strangers or outsiders run it for you.”

  “My first thought was, how is Celia going to take it?” Birch said. “I was a little upset, but it was okay. A hundred grand a year and the penthouse isn’t shabby.”

  “Will Celia think it’s shabby?”

  “My gut says yes. The day before yesterday I would have said no. Sunny, I feel like a net is getting ready to drop on me. It came out of nowhere. Maybe I don’t belong in society.”

  “I wish I could help you, but it’s all I can do to help myself. I’ll try to like her for your sake. If it doesn’t work, it won’t be because I didn’t try. Remember the rules now.”

  “You want me to apologize to that doctor, don’t you?”

  “Only if you want to. What are you going to do now?”

  “Go look for a car. I’m going to need some wheels.”

  “Want mine?”

  “Your Volvo? Do you still have it? You really have the old gray ghost?”

  Sunny smiled at the excitement in her brother’s voice. “I sure do, and it’s in mint condition. It’s candy apple red now. Dad had it overhauled, repainted, new upholstery, the works. Feel free to use it. God, how I loved that car.” She fumbled in the side pocket of a canvas bag attached to her chair. “Here’s the key. Swear you won’t drive it over forty miles an hour. Sometimes when I have trouble falling asleep I think about all the good times, running to the car, running here or there. I’m always running, and then I slide into the car. Oh God, Birch, I’m never going to be able to do that again. Never, ever.” Her high-pitched keening wail sent shivers up Birch’s spine.

  His heart breaking for his sister, Birch lifted her out of the wheelchair and into his arms. He walked with her, around the old tree and then back and forth, his tears mingling with Sunny’s as he crooned to her. Until that moment he wasn’t aware of how thin and bony she was under her layered clothes.

  “Okay, I’m done bawling now. You can put me back in the chair. Jeez, I haven’t done that in a long time. Did I mess up your shirt?”

  “Nah. Are you serious about the Volvo? Sage and I were so jealous when Mom let you get that car. At night when you were sleeping we’d go out and sit in it.”

  “I know.”

  “You knew and you didn’t beat on us.”

  “You’re my brothers. Take Jake out in it sometimes, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “What’s Celia going to say when she sees you driving around in a fifteen-year-old Volvo?”

  Birch shrugged. “She wants a Cadillac.”

  “Dad always called them pimpmobiles. Thanks for coming by, Birch.”

/>   “I’ll be here every week, maybe twice. I’ll go pick up your car and drive out to Mom’s house. I can’t wait to see it.”

  “Did Mom tell you about Daisy’s pups? She had four. Sage took one, and Bess took one. Mom kept two. She calls the girl Growl Tiger and the boy is Fosdick. Mom and Marcus just love them. All three of them sleep on the bed with them. Jake baby-sits the dogs when they travel. He really keeps them spruced up. Oh, oh, here comes my therapist. Don’t go yet, I want you to meet her. Her real name is Libertine. Don’t laugh. We call her Libby.”

  Birch turned, hands jammed into his khaki trousers. She looked golden in the early-morning sun, her reddish hair a nimbus of curls around her head. Her eyes were cornflower blue and crinkled at the corners. Her smile was so warm it wrapped itself around him. Her handshake was bone-crushing.

  “You must be Birch. Sunny described you perfectly. I think I’d know you anywhere. I’m Libby Maxwell. I lost ten dollars two weeks ago at Babylon.”

  “Oh. Well . . . ah, are you going to try and win it back?”

  “Probably not. I work too hard for my money. It was nice meeting you. Sunny has to go to therapy now.”

  “C’mere and give me a big smooch,” Sunny said, holding out her arms to Birch.

  Birch leaned over. Sunny whispered in his ear, “I had it all planned. Libby was supposed to be your destiny. She already knows you’re hers. I’ve been showing her pictures. You blew my big plan by getting married. Now Harry and I are going to have to find someone else for her.”

  Birch’s body felt red-hot when he turned to say good-bye. On the way home he had the urge to turn back and tell Sunny to hold off on finding a replacement for her therapist. Libby Maxwell’s crinkly smile stayed with him all the way back to town.

  His destiny?

  3

  Birch let himself into Room 2711. He stood still for a moment listening to the silence before he tiptoed into the bedroom. Celia was still sleeping. He stared down at her for a long time, his heart racing. What in the goddamn hell was he doing here?

  He kicked off his shoes and shucked his clothes. He pulled on worn, faded jeans, a sweatshirt and sneakers. He searched for his baseball cap, the last thing his father had given him. His index finger traced the raised threads that spelled out Thornton Chickens. He settled it firmly onto his head.

  The key to Sunny’s Volvo in hand, Birch made his way to the underground garage. His eyes filled as he stared at Sunny’s pride and joy. He unlocked the door, settled himself, marveling at the new-car smell of the vehicle. His smile stretched from ear to ear when he turned the key in the ignition. The car purred like a contented lioness. His hand caressed the mahogany knob on the gearshift as he slid it into reverse. Sunny had always boasted she could shift on the fly. Both he and Sage had been eaten alive with jealousy when Sunny made it look so easy. Neither he nor Sage had been able to work the clutch until they got older.

  It was all so long ago.

  Fifteen minutes later, Birch was on his way up the mountain; his destination, Sunrise.

  Iris Thornton’s jaw dropped when she saw Sunny’s red Volvo screech to a stop in the cobbled courtyard. Her jaw dropped farther when she saw her brother-in-law climb from the car. She watched as he turned to get his bearings before he took off running like the demons from hell were on his heels. The phone was in her hand before she even realized she’d picked it up.

  “Sage, Birch is here. He drove up in Sunny’s Volvo and then he . . . he started to run. He ran down the mountain. At least I think he did. Maybe you should come home, Sage.” She listened for a long time as her husband spoke. “You give me too much credit, honey. Okay, I’ll call you when he leaves. Everything’s fine. I probably shouldn’t have called you, but Birch was the last person I expected to see today. Bye.”

  Iris checked the huge pot of stew simmering on the stove. She took a quick peek at the two loaves of bread and the peach cobbler browning in the oven before she put a fresh pot of coffee on to perk. Birch, like Fanny, drank coffee all day long. She eyed the two rockers next to the fireplace. She threw on two logs. Sparks spiraled every which way. She likened the shooting sparks to Birch’s emotions and wondered how she knew her brother-in-law’s emotions were spiraling in all directions. She listened to the sounds of the percolator. Rosie, Daisy’s pup and the runt of the litter, raised her head from her nest on the red-checkered cushion on the rocker. When the last plop-plop sound ricocheted around the kitchen she jumped down.

  Iris waited, her eye on the kitchen clock. When the timer went off, she removed the bread and cobbler from the oven, sniffing appreciatively. She slid a cookie sheet full of cloves and orange peels onto the top oven shelf and turned off the oven. The whole house would smell wonderful in ten minutes. A trick Fanny had taught her.

  Her housework done, Iris busied herself by cutting vegetables for a dinner salad. She set butter on the counter to soften because Sage hated hard butter on fresh bread. Soon Chue would be bringing the kids home from school with his own grandchildren. Usually they stopped to play for a half hour or so, then walked the rest of the way home. What is Birch doing here? What’s wrong? Whatever it was, it was going to affect her and Sage.

  Rosie’s head jerked upward. A second later she ran to the door, barking and growling, the hair on the back of her neck on end. Iris’s sigh could be heard in the next room. She set out cream and sugar and two large mugs.

  “Just in time for coffee, Birch. It’s fresh.”

  “I feel like I just came in from school. It’s almost time for the kids to come home, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, but today is Chue’s day. We take turns alternating the after-school snacks. They love the mountain, Birch.”

  “Sage and I loved it, too. Celia won’t like it up here. It’s too quiet and peaceful. I don’t know if I could live here either.”

  “Sage loves it.”

  “He always loved it here. We used to lie in bed at night and talk about what we’d do when we were old and married. He always said he was going to build a house next to Mom’s. We assumed back then that she’d live here forever. I’ve found out that nothing is forever, Iris. I thought coming back here was the wise thing to do. Now, I think I made a mistake. I think I ran twenty miles up and down and around the mountain trying to get a fix on things.”

  “Did it work?”

  “Hell, I don’t know. I think I’ve lived in the bush too long, and I don’t think I thought this through. I’m sure Sage told you about what I did. I didn’t think I was capable of violence, but I am, and it bothers me. Who knows what I’ll do the next time someone ticks me off?”

  “By someone, do you mean Celia?”

  “Celia, Jeff Lassiter. That’s sitting, but not well. I’m pretty sure I can handle working with him. The burning question is, is working with Jeff really what I want to do? A hundred grand a year isn’t all that much.”

  “Many people work for far less and raise families. You’ll have no rent or mortgage, your food is free, no utilities, your car maintenance and gas are charged to the business. The only cost to you is clothing you get at a thirty percent discount and your taxes. You also have the option of taking a check every month from the trust fund. If you and Celia can’t manage to live on that, then something is seriously wrong. You have no children, Birch. Am I missing something here?”

  “Christ, Iris, I don’t know. I have this ominous feeling that something is going to happen. On top of that I have this fear that I’m going to turn out like Dad. I’m tied in knots. When I was in Costa Rica, I never had a moment’s worry. I know this is going to sound corny as hell, but my soul was at peace over there.”

  “Go back, Birch. If that’s how you felt, then get that feeling back before it’s lost to you. Take your trust fund and do some good with it. Talk to Celia, explain how you feel. I’m sure she’ll understand. I’d follow Sage to the ends of the earth, so would the kids. I think you need a new baseball cap. I’m pretty handy with a needle. I could redo the lettering on your cap i
f you want.”

  Birch shook his head. “This is the last thing Dad gave me. Actually, he threw it at me. Celia hates it. She says it’s dirty and cruddy. As much as I regret what happened, it made me stop and think. God, this kitchen smells good.”

  “I’m making stew. It’s your mother’s recipe, the one with the horseradish in it. The bread is fresh, the butter soft. The cobbler is still warm, and I finished cutting the salad greens right before you came in. Want some?”

  “All of Sage’s favorites. I hope he knows how lucky he is.”

  “I remind him every day. Are you saying you don’t want any of my home cooking?”

  “I’ll take a rain check. I need to get back. Sunny gave me her car. Actually, she lent it to me. I felt like king of the hill when I drove up this mountain.”

  Iris smiled. “Sage has had his eye on that car for years. He’s the one who polishes it. He doesn’t have a key, so he couldn’t even sit in the seat. Sunny wouldn’t give him the key. You should feel honored. I understand. You and Sunny were very close, more so than Sage and Sunny.”

  “I don’t know why that was. Sage is closer to Billie than me. I guess it’s just the way it worked out.”

  “I think it’s because you and Sunny are so much alike. The only difference is she’s a girl and you’re a guy. Sage is serious and so is Billie. They work very well together.”

  “Sunny’s wasting away. If anything goes wrong, it’s gonna kill me.”

  “Nothing is going to go wrong. Sunny isn’t wasting away. The truth is they put some meat on her bones. You should have seen her before she became a permanent resident at the center. Being thin has nothing to do with things. Harry is thin, too; so are most of the other patients. Some of them are elderly, which proves my point. Sunny is contented, Birch. That’s the most important thing. More coffee?”