“They really believe that,” she assured him. “You can see now why I want nothing to do with that religion—or any other religion, for that matter.”
“You don’t have to explain it to me,” Jake assured her. “I’ve always felt that way. Are you going to call him?”
She sighed. “Yeah, I guess I need to just so I can find out what this is about. It has to be bad news of some kind. I cannot think of a single good reason why Joey would want to talk to me now, after all these years.”
“Did he disown you as well?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I haven’t talked to him at all since we moved to LA. Mom would give me updates on him from time to time, but they were always negative updates, I think as a warning of what happened when you went against the teachings of the church. And it’s sad, really, because Joey was the sibling I was closest to when I was little.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “He was my big brother,” she said whimsically. “I mean, Aaron was my big brother too, but he was only eighteen months older than me, and he and I never really got along all that well. Joey was eight years older. He used to babysit me and Aaron when Mom and Dad had to go to some church function or to work. He used to walk me and Aaron to school. He used to ride me on his handlebars around the neighborhood. He really liked having a baby sister, I think.” She giggled a little. “I helped him meet girls. They would flock to him when they saw that I was with him.”
Jake nodded reverently. Laura’s brother had employed a tried-and-true method of using a known chick-magnet to further his cause. And Laura must have been adorable as a youngster, with her red hair and her freckles and her cute face. They surely would have gathered in force around the big brother that showed such a nurturing instinct. Perhaps that was a factor in his attraction of the Bishop’s daughter. Hmm, Jake thought respectfully. A Bishop’s daughter. I ain’t never had me no Bishop’s daughter. This dude has done something in the sack that I haven’t managed to accomplish.
“It sounds like you had a good relationship with him,” Jake offered, deciding—wisely, no doubt—to keep his speculations and observations to himself.
“I really did,” she said, her expression melancholy. “Well ... I guess I’d better see what this is all about.”
“Here’s the number,” Jake said, picking it up and offering it to her.
“In a minute,” she said, turning back toward the bedroom.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I need to put something on,” she said.
“Why?”
“I can’t talk to my brother while I’m naked,” she said simply. “Eww.”
“Okay then,” Jake said slowly.
She disappeared and then came back a few minutes later wearing a long, loose-fitting white t-shirt that came down to just above her knees. It was apparent to Jake that she had not put on a bra or even panties beneath it. Apparently, it was okay to talk to one’s brother with no panties or bra on as long as there was outer-wear involved.
“I think I’ll go get out of these clothes and take a quick shower,” he told her.
“Okay,” she said absently. She now had the piece of paper with Joseph II’s number on it. She was staring at it but making no move to pick up the phone.
He went into the bedroom and quickly stripped off his clothes, putting the ski wear in one place while putting his undergarments in the laundry bag. By the time he was done with this and walked back to the bathroom, Laura was on the phone and talking to someone. She had no expression on her face and he could not hear what she was saying. He left her alone and went to take his shower and take account of his own bumps, bruises, aches, and pains.
Once he was toweled off, he threw on a pair of sweatpants and walked back out into the sitting room. Laura was still at the writing desk, her expression one of deep thought. She did not look particularly upset.
“Well?” he asked her carefully. “Was it bad news?”
“No,” she said softly. “It was actually good news—kind of, anyway.”
“Do tell,” he said.
“He just had his first grandchild,” she said.
Jake raised his eyebrows a bit. “Grandchild?” he asked. “How old is he?”
“Just a little over two months old,” she said. “Everett Ryan Best. He was born on September 27, the first day of the TSF. Isn’t that wild?”
“Uh ... yeah ... very wild,” Jake said. “But ... uh ... I meant how old is your brother? Isn’t he a little young to be having grandchildren?”
“He’s thirty-nine,” she said. “And yes, he is a little young for grandkids, but he has one anyway. Brian, the baby he and Sarah had back when I was twelve years old, is now nineteen himself. He got his high school sweetheart pregnant back in January. They got married in April—on my birthday, if you can believe that—and she had the baby while we were at the TSF.”
“Wow,” Jake said for the third time that night. “Talk about family traditions.”
“I know, right,” Laura said. “He wanted me to know about Everett and he figured that Mom and Dad would not reach out to let me know about him, so he wanted to tell me himself.”
“He told your parents about it?” Jake asked.
“On several occasions,” she said. “He told them when he was told about the pregnancy back in March, back when Brian and his girlfriend got married in April, and again when Everett was actually born. He says that they are far from supportive and far from happy to be great grandparents. In fact, they told him not to call or contact them ever again.”
“You’re not giving me any warm fuzzies about your parents here, hon,” he told her. “I hope that wasn’t your intention.”
She smiled a little. “It was not,” she assured him. “In truth, I’ve lost what little respect I still had for them over the past ten minutes. Joey said it wasn’t even the out-of-wedlock pregnancy that upset them the most, it was the fact that Brian’s girlfriend is not a member of the church and has no plans of converting. Anyway, Joey apologized for not responding to the wedding announcement I sent him back when you and I got married. He says he was still trying to maintain a relationship with Mom and Dad back then and they told all the brothers and sisters not to acknowledge my existence or they would be dead to them too.”
“But he’s changed his mind about that?”
“Joey has, yes,” Laura said. “And I believe him. He says that the way Mom and Dad treated him and talked to him after Brian’s girlfriend got pregnant was beyond atrocious. Especially that last conversation after the baby was born and they were finally told that she wasn’t Mormon. Everyone else in the family has broken ties with him now. He said it made him realize what I had been going through all these years and made him want to reach out to me. He tried to call me and write to me at the address and number I had put on the wedding announcement—he kept it—but that was for the Nottingham Drive house and we don’t live there anymore. And then, just a few days ago, he read in the Pocatello newspaper that you and I were visiting up here at Schweitzer for a ski vacation. He tried to contact me directly at the hotel, but, of course, we’re not checked in under our real names. So, he dug a little deeper using the internet and found out that Pauline is my manager. He dug up her number and gave her a call. And that’s how he finally managed to get in touch.”
Jake nodded. “Nerdly would be proud of their use of the internet in that manner,” he said.
“I’m sure he would,” she said.
“Well then,” Jake said, “this has all been very interesting. I’m glad you were able to talk to your brother after all these years and learn about your new ... what is it ... grandnephew?”