Cord and Kevin were sitting in the living room at Asa’s, watching a Saturday afternoon college football game. Penn State was playing Boston College and the score was 31 – 6 in favor of Penn State, late in the third quarter. Kevin was feeling cocky, as he had a fairly large bet riding on Penn State winning the game.
“I told Ted and Frank at the office that the Lions would kick butt and take names,” said Kevin smugly.
“I wouldn’t get too confident,” said Cord. “There is still over a quarter to play and, as they say, it ain’t over till it’s over.”
“Cord,” said Kevin, changing the subject, “has anyone said anything to you in the last day or so about seeing Dad in town? I have had several guys at The Banner say they have seen Dad here in Llanview. One of the security guards at The Banner even said that Dad went up to Mom’s office the other night. I asked Mom about it before she left for New York yesterday, but she swears that she hasn’t seen Dad since he went to California.”
“As a matter of fact, Shelly, one of the secretaries at B.E., said she saw Clint in the restaurant at The Palace Hotel on Wednesday morning, said Cord. “I thought she was mistaken, but maybe not.”
Asa, Renee, and Bo walk into the room just in time to overhear Cord’s remark. “It couldn’t have been Clint,” interjects Bo. “I called Clint in California on Wednesday morning and talked to him, so there is no way he could have been in Llanview. Maybe we should ask these folks if they have seen Elvis. He might be hanging around Llanview too!” Bo looked at Renee, and she nodded, indicating that Bo’s remarks should take care of any comment about further Clint sightings.
“Besides, I know exactly where Clint is right now. He is at the newspaper conference in New York City. As a matter of fact, he will be dropping by Llanview for a couple of days tomorrow after the conference. He asked me if I could arrange a family get together with everyone at the lodge on Sunday night around 8 p.m.” said Bo, trying to sound casual.
“I thought I was still the head of this family. Since when did I get demoted, and you and Clint started making decisions about how, when and where we have family gatherings?” said a very irritated Asa. “What in the hell is going on with Clint that he would need to have a conference with the whole family, anyway? Bo, you’re the one who talked to him. How about some answers, or is that asking too much?”
“Now calm down, Pa,” replied Bo, trying to defuse the situation. “Clint didn’t tell me what he wanted to talk to everyone about and I didn’t ask. I figured that it was something important and he would tell me, along with everyone else, on Sunday night. Maybe he’s thinking about moving back to Llanview, or something is going on with him in California that he wants everyone to know about. It is certainly a lot easier to call everyone together for a meeting when he is going to be here in Llanview than to try to get hold of everyone from California to fill them in.”
“You didn’t ask? The what the hell is the matter with you, Bo? He’s your brother, for heaven’s sake. Weren’t you even curious?” continued, Asa, still as upset as ever. “I just don’t know what is the matter with you, or Clint, for that matter, either. I have two son and I can’t figure what either of them have in their heads for brains. If something is going on in this family, you come to me first! I am the head of this family and it’s about time that you and Clint realized that. I am not dead yet, and I plan on being around for along time, so you better stop trying to make family plans without including me! Understand?”
“Pa, for pete’s sake, calm down,” said Bo, starting to get concerned. “I am sorry that Clint didn’t consult you first, but that’s not my fault. As for asking him the reason for the family gathering, I guess I screwed up, but I was so surprised that he was coming to town that I guess I just didn’t think. Besides, this way we’ll all find out together — as a family. Is that really so bad?”
“Yes, it is, because I don’t like being kept in the dark about things that pertain to this family, things that I should know about beforehand,” remarks Asa, starting to calm down a little. “I guess there is nothing I can do about it until tomorrow when I see Clint, but he and I are going to have a long talk about who is the father and who is the son.”
“Well, Asa, darlin’, I am glad you realize that there is nothing that you can do about this, so there is no need getting yourself upset for nothing. Who knows? It might be good news — something that we can celebrate,” said Renee, trying to sound confident and reassuring as she glanced as Bo and let out a deep breath.
“Uncle Bo,” asks Kevin, “does my mom know anything about all this? She has seemed strangely distracted the last few days. I even asked her if she had heard from Todd at Statesville Prison. I thought that maybe he had contacted her and upset her again. But she said ‘no,’ and that she was fine.”
“Did she know that Dad was going to be at the conference? Maybe she was nervous about seeing him. That would explain why she was acting so anxious.”
“Yes, Kevin, Viki did know about Clint being at the conference. He asked me to tell her that he would be at the conference. He thought that it would be easier if it wasn’t a big surprise,” said Bo, hoping that would keep Kevin from asking too many more questions.
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow night to see what Dad’s big secret is. I sure hope he’s decided to come back to Llanview for good. I don’t know about everyone else, but I have sure missed him the past few months,” said Kevin, trying not to let everyone know how emotional he felt. “I’ll get hold of Joey and I’ll make sure that Jessica gets up to the lodge, too.” “We might as well have a bar-b-que at the lodge that evening, as long as we are all going to be there. I’ll have Nigel get everything set up for it. I may have an announcement for the family, also,” said Asa, looking at Renee and grinning.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was 5:00 p.m. Saturday evening and Viki had just gotten back to her hotel room from the afternoon workshop titled “Should Your Newspaper Be On the Internet?” It was an interesting workshop, but Viki had not been able to focus on it. Her mind kept going back to Clint, and what had almost happened between them last night. At least Clint had taken a different workshop. If he had been at hers, she knew that she wouldn’t have been able to concentrate at all. Knowing that he still loved her thrilled her beyond belief, but that was going to make it so much harder to be around each other. “Thank goodness Brent will be here tonight. That way Clint and I will have to concentrate on him and not each other,” Viki thought to herself. Brent had called and said he would meet them at the restaurant at 6:30 p.m. Clint would be picking Viki up at 6:15 p.m. so that they could go down together to meet Brent.
~~~~~~~~~~
Brent was sitting at the bar in the Avery Hotel, having a martini and wondering what it was going to be like to meet Clint. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not imagine what it would be like to meet someone who looked just like you. He still had a half hour before he met with Viki and Clint, but he had been too nervous to stay in his hotel room.
Brent’s trip to New Orleans had been successful. He had not only straightened out the problem at Hamilton Shipping, he also had given Uncle Cliff the signed papers from Viki, which meant he could tell her that the supplement for The Banner would be up and running in three months.
~~~~~~~~~~
Clint couldn’t remember when he had felt so nervous. He and Viki had just stepped off the elevator. Viki was beautiful beyond belief, wearing a dark blue satin cocktail dress. What happened last night between them was still so fresh in his mind, it was all Clint could do not to turn around, take Viki up to his room, hold her in his arms, make love to her and never let her go again. “As much as I want Viki, I have no right to her,” Clint thought. “Like it or not, I am a married man. Lindsay has done nothing wrong, other than marry me, and she doesn’t deserve to be cheated on, anymore than Viki deserves to be put in the position of being ‘the other woman.’ Hopefully, this whole crazy business with Brent will keep me from doing anything stupid.”
As they walked into the restaurant, Viki could see Brent at a secluded back table. “There’s Brent,” said Viki, pointing to Brent’s table. Clint looked over to where Viki was pointing and, despite all the warnings, he still could not believe his eyes. “I would swear that was the same face that I was shaving a half hour ago,” thought Clint. “It is frightening to think anyone can look that much like you.”
Brent spotted Viki and Clint at the same time that Clint saw him. Brent stood up and signaled Viki and Clint to come over to the table. Brent was no more prepared to actually see Clint than Clint was to see him. As Viki made the introductions, the two men shook hands and just stared at each other as they each took a seat at the table with Viki between them. As Viki looked back and forth between Clint and Brent, the surprising thing was that the resemblance was even more startling between them when they are together than when seeing them individually.
“Well, gentlemen,” said Viki, trying to get some kind of conversation started, “I have to be the luckiest lady in New York City to be having dinner with the two handsomest men in town.”
“I”m sorry, Viki,” said Brent, “I guess both of us are in shock. I know that I am.”
“The same goes for me, Brent, replied Clint, shaking his head in disbelief. “I don’t think you can really believe something like this until you see it.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Brent, starting to relax a little. “I sure hope someone doesn’t show up and ask us to do a ‘Doublemint Gum’ commercial. I don’t know about you, Clint, but I don’t have a real great singing voice.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Clint, Brent, and Viki had just finished dinner. The initial awkwardness between Clint and Brent began to disappear as they talked and became more comfortable with each other. “I talked with Bo just before I picked Viki up at her room. He said that several people in Llanview saw you and thought you were me. But he told the family that he had talked to me on the phone in California during that same time period, so I don’t think that will be any problem,” said Clint, bringing them up to date on what was happening back in Llanview.
“Have Bo, Nora or Renee come up with any ideas on how we are going tell Asa and the rest of the family about this?” asked Brent, sounding worried. “I won’t be of much help, because I don’t know these people or how everyone might react.”
“They have put the ball into my court,” Clint informed Brent. “Bo told Pa that I wanted to have a family conference tomorrow night. I guess Pa hit the roof. He’s upset because he doesn’t know what is going on. I imagine that he is ready to hog tie me at this point, but I’m a big boy so threats of taking a paddle to me out in the woodshed don’t bother me much anymore.”
“Actually, Brent,” continued Clint more seriously, “I imagine that our best bet is to just tell the whole family what has happened, starting with your visit to Viki, and then introduce you, with Bo and I at your side. We’ll just see what happens from there.”
Brent looked at his watch as he started up from the table. He asked Viki and Clint to excuse him as he needed to make a phone call to check on everything in New Orleans.
“Well, Clint, do you still have any doubts that Brent is your brother?” asked Viki, just as Clint slipped his hand over hers.
“No, honey,” said Clint, looking deeply into Viki’s blue eyes. “I just have no idea how Pa is going to react to all of this, and that has me a bit worried. As far as Brent goes, I like him. I wish we could have gotten to know each other years ago. I get the feeling that Brent needs a family. I just hope that Pa will accept him. I am sure that everyone else will.”
Viki knew that she should ask Clint to stop holding her hand, but as long as Brent was coming back shortly, she guessed it wouldn’t hurt. Brent stopped and looked at Viki and Clint just as he reentered the dining room. They were holding hands and talking as they stared deeply into each other’s eyes. It was as if there was no one else in the room with them. Clint took Viki’s hand, put her palm up to his lips and kissed it, while he wiped a tear from Viki’s cheek with his other hand. “I wonder what has happened between them,” thought Brent. “I know that Viki still loves Clint and, from the looks of things, Clint is still in love with Viki, despite his being married to someone else.”
As Clint saw Brent across the room, he put Viki’s hand down and resumed a more casual pose. As he reached the table, Brent said, “It’s almost 11 o’clock and I’m bushed from the last few days. Would you two mind if I excused myself? Tomorrow will be a big day for all of us and I think I should try to get my jet lag under control.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” said Viki. “I think I will get back to my room and get some rest, too.”
“I’ll walk you to your room Viki,” interjected Clint, “and we’ll see you tomorrow, Brent.” Clint shook Brent’s hand and gave him a kind of half hug. “Welcome to the family, Brent. I guess a guy can’t have too many brothers — especially one as good looking as you,” said Clint with a big teasing grin on his face.
“Goodnight, Brent. See you tomorrow,” added Viki.
“Goodnight, Clint,” said Brent, very moved. “Having brothers is something I think I am going to like.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
As Clint reached Viki’s hotel room door, he asked her if he could come in for a minute. “I promise I won’t do anything I shouldn’t. I just want to be alone with you for a little while. After tonight, I don’t know when we will have a chance to be alone again,” confessed Clint.
Clint and Viki sat on the sofa in Viki’s room, Clint’s arm around Viki’s shoulders and her hand in his. They sat there together, just feeling the closeness between them and savoring it. They talked quietly to each other and listened to the music playing softly on the radio. It was id-night when Viki said, as she kissed Clint on the cheek, “Clint, I think you’d better go back to your room. If we stay much longer like this, you will end up spending the night and we can’t risk that.”
“I know, I promised,” said Clint regretfully. “I just love and want you so much, Viki.” Clint took Viki in his arms and kissed her with all the love and longing in him. Viki responded to his kiss with all the passion she felt for him. All of the feelings they had for each other came together in that one kiss. They were lost in each other — giving, taking, sharing and storing up as much as possible from that one kiss to keep them going until they would finally be able to be together again.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was 2 a.m. and Clint was sleeping very restlessly in his hotel bed. He had been tossing and turning. In his dreams he saw Viki, but no matter how he tried to reach her, he could never quite touch her. Clint became aware of some noise in the room, but it didn’t wake him at first. Then he feel someone join him in bed.
At first he thought that it was Viki and he reached out for her, but she didn’t feel right. Clint opened his eyes and saw Lindsay. She said, “Surprise, honey! I was just so lonely and scared in San Francisco that I decided to come and keep you company now that the newspaper conference is over.”
Clint sat up in bed, turned on the light and rubbed his eyes, trying to get the cobwebs out of his head. “For heaven’s sake, Lindsay, you scared the hell out of me crawling into bed with me like that when I wasn’t expecting you,” said a very shaken Clint. All he could think was, “thank god, I didn’t say Viki’s name when I reached for Lindsay.”
“Next time, let me know that you are coming, okay? It’s not nice to almost give your husband a heart attack,” said Clint, trying to sound casual.
“I’m sorry, Clint,” said Lindsay, sounding very contrite. “I just wanted to surprise you. Your’re not upset with me, are you?”
“No, I’m not upset. Let’s turn out the lights. I’m awfully tired and we have to go to Llanview in the morning. I’ll fill you in when we get up. Goodnight, Lindsay” said Clint as he gave Lindsay a light kiss on the lips. He turned over, closed his eyes and wished with all his heart that she was Viki.
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