Shine Your Love on Me Read Free

teenager with a
boner. Smooth, Preston, real smooth. He lifted his hand in a
feeble wave before he headed for the elevator with Buddy in
tow.

    * * * *

    Brooke bit into her bagel slathered with
cream cheese and topped with salmon. Finishing her story to Nan had
raised her appetite. She’d had to edit carefully, so as not to
shock her grandmother. Still, she’d got the gist across.
    “Caught fooling around in the office by a
client? Wow, Brooke,” Nan said.
    Brooke choked on a small bite, coughing it
up, her face heated.
    “Thought you could fool me with all that
crap…that round-about explanation? Honey, I’m no stranger to sex.
How do you think your mother got here?”
    “TMI, Nan.” Brooke took a drink of
coffee.
    “Don’t give me any bullshit. Tell it
straight. I’m too old for all that nicey-nicey garbage. Nothing but
the facts.”
    “Okay. Yeah. Lloyd was getting…frisky.”
    “Why should your client care? It was after
hours. You’re both single. You two are dating…unless, she’s got a
thing for him. Though I don’t know how that could be.” Nan cut her
half bagel in half again.
    “No editorializing. I know you don’t like
Lloyd. That’s okay. But I do.”
    “Such poor taste for a Quincy,” Nan
muttered.
    “He’s so…so…”
    “So what? So not good enough for you. And you
turn your nose up at Pres Carpenter.”
    “He’s nice. He’s cute. But he’s a dog walker,
Nan. Lloyd has ambition, a future.”
    “So does Pres. He’s not a dog walker. He just
does that for me. He’s a writer. And he made a significant sale on
a movie script, too.”
    “Did he? Then when’s the movie coming
out?”
    “He didn’t say. But it was a six figure
sale.”
    “Lloyd makes six figures every year. He’s a
management supervisor and maybe, someday, president of the
agency.”
    “Well, la-di-da! President of a company that
does something with no value in this world—create advertising! What
a waste of time, Brooke. At least Pres is creative. He writes.
Lloyd is a bloodsucker, like all advertising people.”
    “Like me? I’m in advertising.”
    “Not like you. Your career in advertising is
simply a temporary lapse in judgment.”
    “Temporary? I’ve been at it for four
years.”
    “Temporary, yes. You’ll come to your
senses.”
    “Will I? I intend to make a success of it.
Not like my parents, who could barely scrape together the money for
rent and food.”
    “At least they did something worth doing.
They helped people.”
    “Yeah? They were real responsible. They
smoked pot. Smoked pot and drove. That’s real responsible.”
    “That was a long time ago. Brooke, you have
to forgive them.”
    “Forgive them? They’re not here when I need
them. They haven’t been here for eighteen years. You think it’s
been easy, having no parents?”
    “You had me.”
    “I know. I don’t mean to put you down. But
when everyone else had a mom and dad, I didn’t. I needed them. And
they were selfish and careless, so they died. I miss them every
day.” As her voice rose, tears clouded Brooke’s eyes. She pushed
away from the table. Freddy and Ginger barked. Brooke went into the
bathroom to splash cold water on her face.
    When she returned, Ruth was finishing her
coffee. Brooke took a deep breath and sat down. “I’m sorry,
Nan.”
    Ruth squeezed Brooke’s hand. “Don’t
apologize. I understand. They made a mistake. But you must forgive
them. Look at what they’re missing—all these wonderful years with
you. At least you’re still here. You can make a difference in the
world. Do the things they didn’t have time to do.”
    “I’m going to. I’m going to be responsible
and earn a bucket of money. I’m going to be a success in the
corporate world.”
    “Ack! That’s not what I meant.”
    “I’m going to take after Grandpa.”
    “Grandpa wasn’t a very nice person, Brooke.
He squeezed people, made money at the expense of his humanity.”
    “And look at this place. What he provided