Brenda's Dreams
Chapter Three

“What in the world is going on here!”

At the sound, Sonny dropped his arms from Brenda and she turned to see Julia
standing in the hallway.

“No wonder you didn't want to come with me, “ Julia cried, as she stared at her
sister. “I felt so sorry for you being here by yourself that I came back to...” She
clenched her teeth as she turned her stare to her husband. “You planned this
didn't you? You knew that Brenda was here, so you decided to come home early
from you business trip so that the two of you could...” She stopped again. “You
both planned this!” Her voice rising the angrier she got.

“Julia, listen to me.” Brenda said, knowing deep down that nothing she said would
convince Julia she was innocent.

“No!”

Sonny took a step towards his wife, and she backed away holding her hands up
in front of her. “Don't you dare touch me.”

“Calm down, Julia. Nobody planned anything. Your making a federal case out of
nothing.

Julia ran over to her husband and started striking him on the chest with her fists.
“Your lying to me. I hate you. I hate you so much.” Then she burst into tears.

Sonny held her away from him, his face twisted with anger. Stop it! Your
creating a scene.

“Julia, please listen to me.” Brenda begged her sister.

“Go away! Get out of my house! I never want to see your face again! I hate
you!” Julia shrieked.

Brenda made her way past her sister and Sonny and hurried into her bedroom.
She knew she wouldn't be able to talk to Julia because once Julia worked herself
into a rage there was no reasoning with her. Brenda grabbed the first thing she
saw and pulled on a black sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. As she dressed her
head spun as she decided what to do next.

Brenda knew she couldn't stay here. Should she pack and leave? Yes, Go to
Kennedy and catch the first flight she could get to California even though she still
had at least five days left on her vacation? Brenda shook her head. She wasn't
ready to go back to San Francisco so quickly. What she really needed to do was
find someone warm and comforting and wouldn’t tell her she was to blame for this
mess she was in with her sister.

Brenda smiled to herself as she thought about her parents. Harlan and Veronica
Barrett, who was currently out of the county on a cruise for their second
honeymoon. They were too far away to console her, even though she would
never involve them in something like this. If only she hadn’t worn that revealing
blue robe. Why hadn’t she gone back into the bathroom and put a towel around
herself when she had seen Sonny standing in the master bedroom?

Brenda bit her lip as she threw her clothes into her suitcase. Stop feeling as
though you are to blame! It was Sonny’s fault. He had no business grabbing her
and kiss her even though she had came out of the bathroom dressed in the blue
robe. She had thought that she was alone in the house. Could he really be so
dumb to think that she would welcome his touch when he was married to her
sister? Brenda grimaced. Even if she still loved Sonny, which she didn't, she
would never have allowed him to touch her once he was Julia's husband.

Sonny was so selfish and immature. She had realized that two years ago and
she was glad she had found out before she married him. Too bad Julia was now
stuck with him. Brenda let out a sigh. She couldn’t really blame Julia for jumping
to conclusions. What a way for a pregnant wife to come home to. Her husband
of two years kissing her twin sister.

Brenda was glad she had kept her rental car, she thought to herself as she
grabbed her bags and opened her bedroom door. When she passed by the
master bedroom, she heard raised voices coming from inside.

“I’m beginning to think I married the wrong twin!” Sonny shouted.

Brenda winced and fled down the hallway and through the living room to the front
door. What a terrible thing for Sonny to say to his wife. Julia would never forgive
him.

She would never forgive her either.

******
By midnight, Brenda felt like she had been driving forever. Maybe it was because
she hadn’t had any sleep that the familiar route to Cape Cod seemed all wrong. It
was like she was traveling in a foreign country to an unknown destination.

What in the world had made her decide to come to her grandmother's house?
Her grandmother had passed away eight years ago. The house was unoccupied.
It was hers and Julia's, but they only used it in the summer months and with good
reason. Summer was the right time to be there. Not in the winter which was
really cold and stormy.

Since it was winter in the Cape, there wouldn’t be any tourists. The only people
there would be the ones that lived there the whole year. That suited her just fine
as she didn't want to see or speak with anyone. The beach would be deserted
and she could walk along the sand and be alone with the cold and the sea gulls.

She was going to the house because it was isolated, because no one would
bother her, and because she needed some time to be by herself before she
returned to California and her modeling job. She had often wondered what it
would be like when she came face to face with Sonny again, but never in her
wildest thoughts had she anticipated what had actually happened. Sonny was
such a fool.

It was after three in the morning when Brenda reached the door of Fred Johnson,
the caretaker of the Quartermaine’s house. She apologized repeatably for waking
him up at such an early hour. Brenda listened with half an ear as he told her how
to adjust the heat, finally taking the key from him and driving the rest of the way
to the house.

The house was a white Early American house. It had two stories and was
shingled with gray cedar. A covered porch ran around the front of the house.
Brenda pulled into the back of the house and got out of the car, the wind whipping
her hair across her face. She didn't notice though as she breathed in the ocean
air.

Inside the house, Brenda frowned as she smelled the musty odor of a un-lived in
house and told herself she would air it out later. Right now though she was going
to find a bed and sleep all day and when she woke up she would feel much
better.

Brenda searched the house for sheets and blankets, then she made up the
king-sized bed she had shared with Julia when she was younger. Brenda
climbed into the bed and tried to close her eyes and sleep, but she was unable.
And after tossing and turning for an hour, she got out of bed and went over to the
window.

She lifted the shade, she stood in the darkness of the bedroom. Her arms
crossed across her shoulders, hugging herself against the cold while she stared
down the deserted beach. In the predawn light she watched as the waves
crashed to the shore and onto the white sandy beach.

Cold, just like she had predicted. She didn't care though she had found refuge
from a different kind of coldness.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something or someone moving down the
beach, walking as though it was a summer day.

Dang it. She had expected to be alone on this stretch of beach because the last
she knew the houses on either side of her were summer rentals.

The figure stopped directly in front of her house to look out over the water, close
enough now to see that it was a man. She wondered if he was a local who only
walked along the beach once in a while. She didn't think so though because the
year-round residents never strolled the beach before dawn on a cold winter's day.

He would have to be a tourist. Some health nut who would be so cheerful he
would make her sick with his nutritional standards. Or a lonesome soul who
would try and meet her. Or even worse, He could be like Sonny, who thought he
was irresistible to women, no matter how mean he was to them.

She decided she didn't have to speak to him if they happened to cross paths in
the next few days. Whoever he was, she would ignore him completely. No man
was going to ruin her vacation.

About to move away from the window, Brenda stopped when she saw him turn
towards the house. He looked up. At her window?

A shock ran through her body, though there wasn't enough light to make out his
features, much less tell if he had seen her looking at him. Yet something told her
he knew she was there. For a long moment she couldn’t move away from the
window as she sensed that she and the dark figure on the beach were connected
in some way. She also sensed that some vital yet untouchable message had
passed between them both.