Chapter 14

Instead of going back to the cottage she drove to Sonny’s house.  Sonny was outside on the porch watching the stars.  Erin walked over to him and sat down silently.  They sat without talking for an hour, they just watched the stars sparkle in the sky, light that came from stars that had long ago died off.

“Brenda used to love to watch the stars.”  Sonny said breaking the silence.

“She did?  I never knew that.”  Erin said, never taking her eyes off the persistent glow of the stars.

“There were probably a lot of things that you didn’t know about her.  She loved the out doors and the county-side.  Just before I left, I surprised her with this house.  Well really it was just the blue prints but we were planning on building it.”  A small tear sipped down his cheek as he ran his hand along the wooden railing.  “I can’t believe she’s gone.  We were just getting back to our old friendship, just a few days ago she brought the twins over.  Just think, if I hadn’t screwed things up between us those could have been my kids.”  Sonny closed his eyes and dwelled in his memories of Brenda.

“Sonny, don’t go there.  No one could have known what was going to happen.”  Erin tried to comfort him.

“If she had been with me this would have never happened.  Things would be different if I hadn’t left.”

“That’s true, things would be different.  Both you and Brenda would be dead, the twins would never have been born, Jason and Robin may never have gotten back together, and I could be dead along with my father.  Don’t you see?  You did what you had to do.  Just think, if I had been driving, we wouldn’t have pulled over and we all could be at a big dinner party for some reason.  It could all my fault that she was hit.”  Erin pleadingly reached out touched his shoulder.

Sonny jumped at the contact.  “Don’t say that!  I don’t ever want to hear you say that!”  Sonny grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes.  “It’s not your fault, it’s no one’s fault but that drunk driver!  Do you hear me?”  Hid voice was low and full of emotion; he had to make her believe that this wasn’t her fault.  He couldn’t let Erin think that it was her fault.

Erin looked at him with sadness in her eyes.  “If only you would listen to your own words.  Think about what you just told me.” 

Tears gathered quickly in Sonny’s eyes.  He laughed at the irony of it all.  “That was a dirty trick you know that?  Can’t you just let someone wallow in agony for a little bit?”

“Not if I can help it, especially if it’s you.  Come on let’s get inside, it’s getting cold out here.” 

They got up and started inside.  Sonny sliped his arm around his shoulder.  “So are you going to explain to me just how you knew I needed you to say that?”

“Easy, it’s the exact same thing I had to tell myself.”

Erin couldn’t bring herself to go back to the cottage that night, so she called Jason’s voice box and told him that she was going to be at Sonny’s the whole night.

The next morning Erin awoke to the wonderful smell of Sonny’s cooking.  For the first time she looked around the room she had slept in, only to realize that Sonny had put her up in his room.  She must have fallen asleep down in the living room and Sonny had brought her up here to sleep.  She got out of bed and found her way to the enormously large bathroom.  She looked at her reflection in the mirror  ‘I’m going to kill Sonny for this.’  Erin thought with a groan.  She was now dressed in a matching pair of silk pajama pants and shirt.

Sonny was standing over the stove cooking omelets when Erin wondered her way into the kitchen.  “Morning sleepy head.  I hope your hungry I cooked a big breakfast for us.”  He turned around to come face-to-face with Erin standing in the middle of the kitchen floor with her arms crossed over her chest giving him a nasty look.  “Okay I give up, what did I do this time?”  Sonny joked.

“Please tell me you’re not the one who dressed me?  ‘Cus if you did, need I remind you that I’m 16 not 6.”  Erin scolded him.

Sonny raised his hands in surrender.  “Don’t look at me like that.  I didn’t to do.  Gemma did.”

“Who’s Gemma?”  Erin asked.

“She’s the maid.  You didn’t think I could keep this house this clean and tidy on my own did you?”  Sonny informed her.  “Am I cleared of all charges?”

“For now.”  After a moment of silence Erin spoke again.  “Okay I give up.  Where did these come from?  I know they aren’t yours.”

“They were Brenda’s.  One of the few leftovers of her clothes that I have.  I don’t know how I ended up with them, but they were in a box when I unpacked so I just put them away in a closet and tried to forget about them.  They fit you good,” Sonny said running a critical eye over her.  “You know, you’re built a lot like Brenda, the only difference is…you’re shorter then she was.”  Sonny said teasing her.

“Hey, no fair teasing me about my height.”  Erin propped her hands on her hips and tried to look mad before she burst out laughing.  “Okay, I admit it, I’m short.  So you can stop teasing me about it okay?”

“Fine truce?”  Sonny asked holding out his hand.

“Truce.”  Erin took his hand and shook it.

“Good, now let’s eat.”

Erin and Sonny walked aimlessly around the farm-like grounds of Sonny’s property.  “You know, it was almost better when Helena was around.  At least then I knew who I was going up against.  Now it’s like I have no clue.  Helena made my life a living hell, but I got my life back, and now I have someone else trying to destroy my life.  What is it about me that some one always wants to ruin my life?  What did I ever do to deserve this?”  Erin kicked a rock frustratedly.

“Now you listen to me.  None of this is your fault.  There just happen to be some really, really sick and demented people out there.  For some reason they only attack the people who can handle it.  It wouldn’t be any fun for them if they picked people that would just curl up in a corner, that way they don’t get to see you suffer.  They thrive off watching people suffer and go through hell.  The only thing you can do is go on with your life and find the person who’s tying to mess with you and stop them before they break you into a million different pieces.  Now why don’t you tell me everything you know about this character that has been harassing you and I’ll see what I can do, okay?”

Erin told him everything that had happened and promised to bring a copy of the E-mails.  They entered the kitchen from a set of double doors and sat down at the table.  Sonny picked up a set of cards.  “How about a hand of cards while we talk?”

“Don’t you remember what happened last time I played you in cards?”  Erin asked taking the cards and expertly cut and shuffled them.

“Yes I remember, I had to read you Shakespeare for three hours.  I don’t think I can think of any worse torture then that.”  Sonny joked.

“Not to mention that you were my slave for a day, that’s how you ended up reading Romeo and Juliet all by yourself.”  Erin dealt out the cards and they lapsed into a comfortable silence.