Page 7 of Axel

Plucking the bottle from its cold bed, Axel scooped up the two glasses and preceded his sister out the double glass doors that led directly to the wide patio. Selecting the wicker chairs placed around a white lawn table, he lowered himself into it and watched as Cathy did the same. “Wine?”

“When have I ever said no?” Picking up her glass, she handed it to him. When he had replenished her glass, she sat back and closed her eyes in appreciation. “I love the view from here.”

He agreed with her. The patio faced a gently flowing brook and his mother’s brilliant garden that was blooming in profusion. Agently breeze was blowing on the palm trees and wafting the scent of nature in full bloom towards them. He had bought two adjoining properties and combined them.

He had also hired a landscaper from out of town to tend to the grounds, the result one of stunning beauty. There was a pool that could be seen from where they were sitting as well as a tennis and basketball court. He and Cathy were very athletic and whenever he was in town, he would make use of the amenities.

“How is the guy?”

His sister sent him a why look that spoke volumes. “He has a name.”

“Gary, is it?”

“Gregory.”

“When am I going to meet him?”

“When I decide that you will not frighten him off. He is intimidated by your success and who wouldn’t be? He is a simple schoolteacher, earning a public servant’s salary.”

“I admire civil servants. You happen to be one.” He pointed out with a smile.

“But I am a teacher whose brother happens to be a multi-billionaire. I don’t have to work for a living. My bank account is loaded, I never touch my salary. I travel whenever I am on vacation, and I have adopted several children in the community – ones I am responsible for.”

She waved the hand holding the glass in the general vicinity. I really like him, he appears to be the right guy, but he is afraid he does not measure up.”

Axel studied his sister for a few seconds. They both looked like their mother and had inherited her thick coffee brown hair and golden eyes. Which to his mind was a blessing.

The bastard who had sired them had hightailed it out of town right after Cathy was born, leaving their mother to fend for herself. They owed everything to her and as far as he was concerned, she was a bloody hero. He was afraid that he was looking for a woman with her wonderful qualities and so far, had not discovered any.

“Are you sure you are not using that as an excuse not to be with the guy?”

“His name is Gregory,” she said irritably, “and that’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” Stretching his legs out, he took a sip of his wine. “We are both screwed up where relationships are concerned.”

“You more than me,” Cathy remarked quietly, her eyes wandering over his profile. To the world, he was this megaphenomenon – a man who had turned the business world inside out and achieved so much.

But to her, he was just her brother, one who had fought for them, who had protected her when she was being bullied at school, because of the hand me downs they had been forced to wear to school. He was her hero. He gave them everything and Gregory had remarked on that.

“What would I be contributing to the relationship?” He had asked that very valid question. “I cannot afford to give you fine jewelries and fancy cars. Your brother has already seen to that.”

Her car was not fancy, but it was brand new and had been bought with cash, leaving her free of debt. She could do anything she wanted, buy anything. Her brother’s private jet was available to her, and her mother and they had taken trips around the world.

“You were more forgiving.”

“That’s because he left when I was just a baby.”

“I was five and even then, I saw the signs that he was heading out the door. He would come home drunk most of the time and sullen as if the entire world was against him. Mom used to try her best to make things comfortable, but it was never appreciated.”

“You still put him in a nursing home to live out his days.”

“He was family, and it would have been recorded by the damn press that I was a monster.” He shot the rest of his wine and put down the glass.

“He wanted to make amends.”

“He wanted a piece of the action,” Axel said bitterly. “He was a lousy father and an even worse husband. We were well rid of him.” He poured some more wine. “This guy …”

She didn’t remind him of the name.