Summer Love by Mel Gilden

Author:Mel Gilden [Gilden, Mel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Closer

BRANDON WAS REALLY STOKED BECAUSE things had been going so well between him and Brooke. Not only was she a babe in the most babe-a-licious sense of the word, but she was also smart and funny. They could talk for hours. He even went so far as telling his parents about her. When they heard that Brooke was from Minnesota, they both insisted she come for dinner.

Nervously Brandon extended the invitation. As far as he was concerned, the whole idea of introducing significant others to parents was unnatural unless one was actually going to get married. He might end up marrying Brooke, but it was a little early yet to be renting a hall.

To his surprise, she was delighted to accept. "What do I wear?" she asked. "Dressy? Casual? Whips and chains?"

Brandon tried to talk her out of coming, but she wouldn't hear of it. "Don't worry," she assured him. "Parents always love me."

And sure enough, when he picked her up after work, she looked terrific, pretty but not threatening. She looked like the girl next door, if you happened to live next door to Sharon Stone.

During the drive to Beverly Hills, Brandon mentioned what he'd done for Jack Canner.

Brooke shook her head disapprovingly. "All those guys are hustlers. They're just looking for enough spare change to buy their next bottle of Thunderbird."

"Canner's not like that," Brandon said.

"Maybe he's not. But you can't save the whole world single-handedly."

Brandon didn't like the way this conversation was going—much too heavy for the evening he envisioned. He didn't want the two of them to arrive at Casa Walsh all sweaty from an argument. He smiled. "Haven't you heard? I'm the nicest guy in America."

"That's right. I forgot." Brooke kissed him lightly on the ear, and Brandon tried not to lose control of the car. "Just do me a favor," she said. "Watch your wallet."

Brooke's attitude disturbed Brandon a little. More and more it seemed that when he'd called her a young elitist, he'd been closer to the truth than he'd known. Still, if Andrea could date a Republican, he could date someone with a slightly different view of life from his own. He let the whole thing slide.

As Brooke had predicted, his parents loved her. Mostly they loved the fact that she was from the old country.

Mr. Walsh swallowed his last piece of pie. "I'm actually getting nostalgic for windchill factors and the mosquitoes at Lake Minnetonka."

"You went to Lake Minnetonka?" Brooke cried. "So did we."

"Everybody did," Mrs. Walsh said.

"Everybody who was anybody," Brooke confided.

Still thinking about their conversation in the car, Brandon wondered if Brooke's comment was more than just a clever remark. Then she asked where Brandon got his idealism, and he felt better again. He was proud of what he'd done for Jack Canner, and when he told his parents about it, they were, too.

"If you think I'm bad, you should see my sister, Brenda. She's famous for bringing home every stray in the neighborhood. Last Christmas it was a guy in a Santa Claus suit.

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