The Fragrance of Her Name (18 page)

Brant paused a moment, then a mischievous smile spread across his face.

“
Tell me about Mr. Perfectly Imperfect,” he chuckled.

Instantly, Lauryn was irritated. “I hate Sean,” she mumbled.

“
Oh, you do not. He’s a good brother to you,” Brant reminded her.

“
He makes my life miserable!” Lauryn argued.

“
That’s what good brothers are for.” He smiled and then repeated, “Now, come on. Tell me about this dream lover of yours.”

“
Dream lover?” Lauryn fairly shrieked. “Sean is simply lucky that he ended up with someone as wonderful as Mindy, because he certainly didn’t have his ideal in mind beforehand. He can tease me all he wants! But I won’t settle for anythin’ less than the perfect man for me.” As Brant sat still grinning, Lauryn was temporarily mortified that she had confided so much in him.

“
So…what’s he like?” he asked.

“
Quit teasin’,” she pouted.

“
No. I mean it. Tell me about him.”

Lauryn looked at Brant, staring at him for a moment and trying not to think that Brant Masterson was closer to being the epitome of her ideal lover than any man she’d ever known existed.

“
It’s quite a personal thing, Brant,” she told him softly.

“
For Pete’s sake, Lauryn!” Brant was irritated. She knew it by his tone. “You had to lead me to the bathtub the other day. Are you gonna try and tell me that isn’t personal?”

For a moment Lauryn wasn’t sure whether Brant was sincere, or whether he’d simply learned to play the
“I’m blind”
card in his hand. But she knew him well enough, she hoped, to know that he wasn’t a weak fool who would use his blindness to manipulate.

“
Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll tell you about him.”

Brant sat back in his chair and folded his large arms across his massive chest, waiting for her to speak.

“
He’s capable of lovin’ me,” she began. She paused, waiting for some sarcastic remark the like that Sean would spout off. None came, so she continued. “He’s strong, determined, compassionate, affectionate, witty, hard-workin’. He’ll be a good father, adore children…play with them and reprimand them with love.”

“
He sounds like a saint,” Brant commented, but not cruelly.

“
No. Because he’ll have just enough of the devil in him to make life interestin’,” Lauryn confessed. “And he’ll have faults, too. Like…”

“
Like leaving his socks on the floor in the parlor?” Brant chuckled.

Lauryn smiled. “Maybe. But I mean…maybe he’ll be a little temperamental. Or too anti-social.”

“
Or completely bald already,” Brant offered.

Lauryn giggled. “Maybe.”

“
Tall, dark and handsome?” he asked.

“
Definitely!” Lauryn confirmed.

“
So, that’s Mr. Perfect.”

“
No. That’s Mr. Perfectly Imperfect.”

“
I think you’re a wise young woman, Lauryn.” His compliment seemed very sincere. “People these days don’t put enough thought into who and what they want before they jump into an association. That’s how you end up unhappy.”

“
That’s my opinion.” Lauryn looked at him, suddenly overwhelmed with melancholy. How desperately she was going to miss him! Having known Brant but a week, she’d already formed a fast and furious attachment, a deep attraction to him. It was more than that. Lauryn admitted to herself that she could love him. That, in all honesty, she already did!



“
He’s leavin’ today, you know,” Lauryn whispered to the Captain as she sat up in her bed that morning.

“
He’ll be back.” The Captain made the statement all too confidently, which made Lauryn suspicious.

“
You’re just tryin’ to make me feel better, Captain.” She smiled at him, touched by his concern. “Why would he come back?”

“
For you,” the Captain said.

She realized then that the Captain was playing his old game. The one he always played when she was blue. He was forever trying to create hope in dreams coming true for her. And even though Lauryn knew it was a game he played, she brightened, delighted at his compassion.

“
He’s told me so much about Laura,” she began. “I’m sure there’s somethin’ in what’s he’s said that’s vital! But I can’t put my finger on it.”

“
Let him leave, Lauryn. Say good bye to the boy,” the Captain counseled. “You and I will have plenty of time to sift through what he’s told you. Don’t try to ease your disappointment about his leaving by jumping over it in your mind. Linger on him.”

Lauryn dropped her gaze for a moment and nodded. It was true. She was trying to get him out of her mind already. Trying to force herself to think of Laura again. And the Captain was right. She’d abandoned him for almost a year while she’d been in New Orleans with Nana. What difference would one more day make?

“
I don’t want to say goodbye.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “I think…I think I like him, Captain,” she confessed in a whisper. “A great deal!”

The Captain chuckled. “Really? I hadn’t noticed,” he teased. He began to fade then, his smile gone and a serious expression on his face. “You tell that boy good-bye properly,” he ordered. Lauryn nodded, even though she really had no idea what he meant by “properly.” All she did know was that Brant Masterson was going home.

Chapter Six

Parker Masterson, Brant’s older brother, was not as tall as Brant. And, even though his features were similar—dark hair, strong jaw line, he wasn’t the uniquely attractive man Brant was. Still he was pleasant, good-natured and very polite.

“
Looking around,” Parker began as he sat in the parlor talking with Lauryn’s mother and Nana,“I’d say Brant must’ve been one happy boy being here with all of you lovely ladies to himself.”

“
I see that charm runs in the family,” Georgia giggled.

“
We’ve simply adored havin’ Brant here,” Nana sighed. “I can’t believe you’ve come to take him away. Life will seem so mundane now.”

“
Well,” Parker said, lowering his voice. “I hope we can keep his spirits up. I know the doctors in New Orleans were pretty concerned about his being so….”

“
Hopeless?” Lauryn offered.

“
Yep. That’s what worries me.” Parker smiled at Lauryn and seemed to study her quickly from head to toe. “I feel sorry for my little brother. Leaving you behind.” Lauryn blushed.

“
Charmers! The lot of you Mastersons,” she told him.

Sean appeared in the doorway, holding Brant’s traveling bag in one hand. Brant stood just behind him, his hand on Sean’s shoulder.

“
Well,” Sean announced. “If y’all are ready…. I’ll be drivin’ you on back to the station.”

Instantly, Lauryn’s eyes filled with tears. Glancing to her mother, the tears almost escaped her eyes when she saw that her mother’s eyes were moist as well.

Georgia rose and went to Brant, embracing him firmly. “Now, you don’t be a stranger, you hear me?” she told him. “You can’t just waltz into our lives and just leave us all behind, forgettin’ about us.”

“
How could I ever forget you, Mrs. Kensington? You’ve been an angel who came to my rescue,” Brant charmed.

“
I’m leavin’ before all the sap from this room full of female maples starts runnin’ me out,” Sean grumbled. But Lauryn smiled. She knew Sean was a big, old softy who was probably having his own anxieties about Brant’s leaving. After all, he’d found a friend in Brant, too.

Nana was next, tears trickling down her aged cheeks. “My dear, dear boy,” she sniffled. “You take care. Keep those spirits high. And you let us hear from you now and then.”

“
I will,” Brant promised. “Thank you for everything, Mrs. Kensington.”

“
Thank you, my angel,” Nana sniffled, embracing him tightly.

“
Miss Kensington,” Parker addressed Lauryn.

“
Yes?” Lauryn’s voice cracked as she attempted to hang on to her own composure.

“
When you ladies are finished saying your goodbyes to my charming brother…he’s obviously much more charming than I remember,” he added with a wink, “Would you please bring him outside?”

“
Of course,” Lauryn said smiling. Parker left the house, with Georgia right behind reminding him to have a safe trip home. Lauryn was amazed at her ability to withhold her tears.

As her Nana followed Georgia out the door, leaving Lauryn and Brant in the house, she feared her resolve to stay strong would be destroyed. Brant said, “Well, Lauryn…shall we say goodbye then?”

He held his hand out to her and she moved toward him as though in a dream. He sensed when she was close and reached for her hand. Raising it to his lips, he lingeringly kissed the back of it. As it was every time he touched her, Lauryn’s flesh tingled with goose bumps.

“
You’ve done me a world of good, sugar,” he said with a peaceful grin. She began to tremble as the heartache in her heightened in agony. “I thank you for that. For bringing me here…for helping Laura.”

“
So far, I’ve done nothin’ to help Laura,” Lauryn reminded him. “And we practically kidnapped you from the train, Nana and I. And I don’t possibly see what good I could’ve done your world when…”

Once more his hand covered her mouth silencing her. He chuckled. “You know…you do tend to ramble when you’re unsettled. Always apologizing.”

“
I’m sorry,” Lauryn whispered, a lone tear escaping her eye and trickling down her face. He was so fabulous! “
How can life ever be the same
,” Lauryn wondered. She looked up into his face, wishing with all her heart that she could see his eyes, read in them exactly what he was feeling.

“
Don’t be sorry,” he said. “I like that about you.” He smiled and reached out caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. He caressed the tearless cheek. Lauryn was thankful for that.

Her thanks was short-lived. He reached out taking her face between his powerful hands. She knew he must have felt the tear on her cheek, though he said nothing about it.

What he did
say was, “You’ll find her for me, won’t you? Since I can’t anymore? You will find her. Won’t you?” Lauryn felt as if a yoke heavy laden with bricks had just been placed on her shoulders. She was again reminded that now, not only did she have her dear Captain dependent on her to save his eternal happiness, but Brant was, too.

“
I’ll…I’ll try,” was all she could promise as more tears escaped her eyes.

“
You’ll do it,” he whispered, as his thumbs brushed the tears from her cheeks. Unexpectedly, he pulled her into his full embrace, hugging her tightly. For a moment, Lauryn thought a dream was about to come true; that he would hold her in his arms forever, never letting her go. When she felt him kiss the top of her head, she thought she might truly die of an odd blissful heartache.

“
Don’t go,” she begged him in a whisper as her arms encircled his waist, embracing him tightly. “I…I can’t do this alone. I…I…”

“
You’re not alone, Lauryn,” he mumbled. “You’ve got your Captain and your family and….” He stopped talking when she released her embrace and pulled away from him. “You’ll be fine.”

“
You better get goin’,” she sniffled. “You’ll miss your train.” Turning from him she took his hand and placed it on her shoulder, wiping furiously at her tears. Sean would never let her hear the end of this. Crying like a sobbing widow.

“
Wait.” Brant turned her to face him. Again he took her face in his hands. “Let’s end it like we began,” he said in a low beguiling tone. His thumb caressed her lips softly as his head bent toward hers.

Lauryn’s heartbeat was so thoroughgoing she feared she might faint in his grasp. As she shared his tender kiss, fabulous exhilaration replaced her dizziness, and she stood firm. His kiss was lingering, but sweet. Not at all the brutal, hard kiss he’d forced upon her in the train car. Somehow, in the back of her mind, Lauryn thought she favored their first kiss. This one, sweet and soft, exhilarating as it was, meant good-bye.

“
Goodbye, sweet, beautiful Lauryn,” he mumbled.

“
For Pete’s sake, Brant!” Patrick whined charging up the front porch stairs and into the entryway. Rushing forward, he took Brant’s hand and began tugging. “Quit slobberin’ all over Lauryn or y’all will miss your train!”

Brant chuckled, and released Lauryn. “All right, Patrick. All right.”

“
You stay in here,” Patrick told his older sister. “You look as rotten as an ol’ cabbage!”

“
Thank you, Patrick,” Lauryn grumbled.

“
Remember, Lauryn,” Brant called over his shoulder as he left Connemara house. “Nothing too personal in those letters.”

“
Goodbye,” Lauryn whispered, too quietly to be heard. She watched them all drive away in Sean’s auto before racing upstairs and throwing herself on her bed to release her heartache through sobbing.

The Captain appeared, as she knew he would for he would never abandon her. She snuggled into his loving embrace and cried. The ache in her heart, the loneliness in her bosom were unlike anything she had ever felt. She wondered if in helping the Captain, she would be forced to experience the kind of heartache he felt being separated from Lauralynn? Had Brant come into her life simply to give her soul an insight into the pain the Captain and Laura felt?