All About Brian

Chapter 6

“Brian, the kids are asleep,” John said as they congregated up in Brian’s office. “What’s going on?”

“That reporter I told you about wants to meet with me,” Brian began.

“Why?” Justin asked as he sat close to his spouse, sensing the tension in Brian’s body language.

“Hunter said that Hawk implied my involvement in the clinic is for less than altruistic purposes.”

“I don’t understand,” John said, confusion in his voice.

“I think what Brian means is that Hawk may believe that Brian is using the clinic for procurement,” Bobby explained.

“Procurement?!” Justin became red in the face with anger. “How dare he! I want him sued. He has to be stopped.”

“Justin, we can’t sue on conjecture. We have to wait to see what he really wants,” Bobby counseled.

“So do I meet with this asshole?” Brian asked as he scanned the faces of his family.

“Yeah, you do,” John said. “But not alone. We’re going to be with you.”

“I don’t understand.” It was Brian’s turn to be confused.

“Brian, the original intent of the interview was to talk about the kids on the street and how the clinic was formed to help get them off the street. Well, we were all involved from day one. All of us, from John’s renovations to Justin’s help with the restoration of the theater to me and Ted setting up the funding. And when the rest of the family found out, they became involved too. Brian, Hawk isn’t just attacking you; he’s attacking all of us.”

“How do you figure that?”

“By assuming we’d turned a blind eye to your alleged procuring activities. Does Hawk really think that we wouldn’t notice if you tried to seduce boys? Brian, you’re good at playing it close to the vest but your life is practically an open book on Liberty Avenue. If anything, Debbie would have smacked the shit out of you if she remotely thought you had any nefarious or ulterior motives regarding Hunter’s kids,” Bobby continued.

“Yeah, she’d have my hide,” Brian said with a smirk. He took a deep breath. “I’ll call Hunter in the morning.”

The men of Edna’s Treasures prepared for battle.

 

*****
 

“Daddy, Dada!” Bree’s voice came through the bedroom door.

“Hmm,” Brian groaned as he forced an eye open. “What is it, Bree?”

“Ashley and me are hungry,” the little voice said.

“Get some Cheerios.”

“I can’t reach.”

“Fuck,” Brian muttered, as he swung his legs out of the bed. He forced his other eye open and grabbed his sweatpants that were lying by the bed. He struggled to get them on, one leg having gotten turned inside out when he had rushed to get them off so he could fuck the sleeping blond in the bed next to him.

“Dada!” the persistent little voice continued.

“I’m coming,” Brian said testily as he finally got his foot through the recalcitrant leg of the sweatpants.

“What’s wrong?” Justin asked, coming to.

“Nothing, go back to sleep,” Brian said as he stood up.

“’Kay,” Justin replied dozing off immediately.

Brian shook his head before heading to the door of the bedroom. He turned the lock and opened the door. Two little faces looked up at him, as well as a grey bunny.

“How come your door was locked?” Bree asked.

“Daddy and I wanted some privacy.”

“Oh,” Bree said wondering what that meant. They didn’t usually lock their door.

“So, you’re both starving. Is that right?” Brian asked.

Ashley giggled. “I’m not starving, but Bree is.”

“Bree has her father’s appetite,” Brian observed as he stepped out of the bedroom. He closed the door quietly behind him. “You sound more like me, Miss Ashley,” Brian said. “I could eat or not.”

“My mommy says I don’t eat enough,” Ashley revealed. “She thinks I’m too skinny.”

“I think you’re just right,” Bree stated.

“Me too,” Brian added.

Ashley beamed at them both.

“I pushed the button on the coffee, Dada,” Bree said proudly.

“Good girl! I can use a cup.”

“I knew you’d want coffee,” Bree said as she and Ashley planted their little bums on the kitchen chairs.

“You know me too well, Squirt,” Brian chuckled, pouring himself a mug of coffee.

“Cheerios,” Bree demanded.

“Okay, okay,” Brian replied, taking a sip of the much needed coffee. He grabbed the box of Cheerios from the cupboard and two bowls from another cupboard. “We’re having brunch later, so don’t eat too much,” Brian warned.

“Are you making bacon and eggs?” Bree wanted to know.

“Yes,” Brian replied pouring a small amount of Cheerios into each bowl. “Milk?”

“Nope,” Bree said as she took a fistful of the Cheerios from the bowl and started munching happily. Ashley followed suit.

Brian debated going back to bed, but decided to sit down with the girls and have his coffee. “Did you two sleep last night, or were you gossiping all night?”

Bree giggled. “We don’t gossip, Dada,” she stated.

“I slept,” Ashley said. “Bree helped me make a ponytail for my hair this morning.”

“And very fetching it is, little miss,” Brian said. He always felt that Ashley needed her confidence built up. Maybe it came from not having a father to tell her how beautiful and special she was.

“You look very fetching too, Mr. Kinney,” Ashley replied.

Brian nearly choked on his coffee. “Thank you, Ashley, but call me Brian.”

“But shouldn’t you have a shirt on, Mr. Brian?” she asked.

“My Dada doesn’t wear much when he’s at home,” Bree proclaimed.

“But when I go out, I look magnificent.”

“You and me,” Bree said confidently.

Brian squeezed Bree’s hand affectionately.

“You both are very … pretty,” Ashley said, searching for the right word.

“So are you, young lady.”

Ashley shook her head, but Brian could see the blush that colored her cheeks. “Why are you so nice to me, Mr. Brian?”

“Because I like you, Ashley.”

“I like you too,” Ashley replied.

Brian smiled. “How would you two like to help me make freshly squeezed orange juice for our brunch?”

“Yay!” both girls crowed. Brian got up to get the oranges out of the fridge.

That was how Justin found them some time later, sitting at the kitchen table with empty halves of oranges all over the place and a huge pitcher of juice that they were filling. The girls were holding the orange halves on the juicer while Brian collected the juice as it ran out. They were laughing and giggling. Justin thought he’d never seen a nicer picture, as he grabbed his camera and snapped a couple of shots before they realized he was there.

 

*****
 

“Come in, Susanna,” Justin said as he opened the front door of Edna’s Treasures to Ashley’s mother. “Brian’s just about to start breakfast.”

Susanna handed her coat to Justin as Bree and Ashley ran out of the kitchen. Ashley threw her arms around her mother.

“Hi, Mrs. St. John,” Bree said.

“Morning, Briana,” Susanna replied. “Did you girls have fun yesterday?”

“Oh yes, mommy. And me and Bree made you fresh squeezed orange juice,” Ashley excitedly told her mother. “Mr. Brian let us hold the orange on the juicer, and the juice just came pouring out.”

Susanna laughed and hugged her daughter. “That sounds like fun.”

“Come into the kitchen,” Justin said.

They all traipsed in to where Brian was behind the counter whipping a large bowl of eggs to make scrambled eggs. The smell of freshly cooked bacon wafted throughout the room.

“Morning,” Brian said. He now wore jeans and a soft brown sweater.

“Good morning, Mr. Kinney,” Susanna said cautiously.

“Please call me Brian.”

“Of course,” Susanna said with a blush, remembering what Justin had told her, but remembering it too late.

“Would you like some coffee?” Justin asked.

“That would be lovely.”

“Have a seat,” Justin said as he poured a mug of coffee for Susanna. He topped up Brian’s and his own, before carrying his mug and the new one over to the table.

“Thank you,” Susanna said as she took a sip of the coffee. “This is excellent.”

“Brian’s favorite blend,” Justin said.

“Can I help with anything?” Susanna asked.

“Nope,” Justin replied. “Brian has his way of doing his breakfasts. The Anderson-Morrisons from the other side of the cottage will be joining us for breakfast, if you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all, but that must be a lot of food to prepare.”

“You ain’t seen nothin’, until you’ve see Brian make breakfast for the whole family,” Justin laughed.

“And how many people would that be?” Susanna asked as she savored the fine cup of coffee.

“Oh, thirty or forty,” Justin laughed. “Depends who can make it on any given day.”

“My goodness!”

Brian merely winked at Justin and kept on cooking.

“Mommy, want to taste some of our juice?” Ashley asked.

“I’d love to.”

“I’ll pour it, Ashley,” Justin said. “That jug is kind of heavy.” Justin took the pitcher out of the fridge and poured a small glass of the orange juice. He handed it to Ashley to take to her mother.

“This is delicious,” Susanna said, as she tasted the sweet liquid.

“We made lots,” Ashley said.

“Used every orange we could lay our hands on,” Brian chuckled from behind the counter.

“I have to say, Mr. … um, Brian, that I never thought you’d be preparing all this food when Justin asked me to brunch.”

“Just one of my many talents.”

“So I see.”

Brian smiled at Susanna. He had been a bit worried about this brunch, since Susanna hadn’t been very happy with his contributions to Ashley going to camp. He hoped that topic would not come up. That was part of the reason he had invited Bobby and John to join them for brunch. Brian knew he could take whatever Susanna might want to dish out. It was Ashley he was worried about.

All worries put to rest, the brunch went swimmingly. John was his usual charming self. Bobby regaled Susanna with stories about their trip to England. Everyone seemed to have a very good time.

As Brian was cleaning up his kitchen and loading the dishwasher, Susanna came in from the living room. “May I get another cup of your delicious coffee?”

“Of course,” Brian said pouring it for her. “I hope you enjoyed the brunch.”

“It was fabulous, and I’m stuffed.” Brian smiled. “Brian, could I say something to you?”

“I doubt I could stop you,” Brian replied with a frown. He wondered if he was going to get taken down a peg or two about his charitable activities as they affected Susanna’s daughter.

Susanna smiled. “I just want to say thank you.”

“Thank you?” Brian asked, genuinely surprised. Thanks was not what he had been expecting.

“Yes, I appreciate how you’ve managed to help Ashley without her realizing what you were doing. She feels like an equal to your daughter, not a poor cousin.”

“She is Bree’s equal. I hope you don’t think…”

“Please, let me finish,” Susanna interrupted. “I know you don’t think of Ashley as a poor relative. That’s evident in how you treat her, and how she feels about you. I never would have allowed what you’ve done for her, if you’d made her feel like that.”

Brian nodded. “Ashley’s a special little girl. Bree loves her … and so do we.”

“Again, thank you,” Susanna said sincerely.

“Ready for some research?” Justin asked as he entered the kitchen. “I laid out all my findings up in Brian’s office. A lot of it is on the computer.”

“I’m ready,” Susanna said with a smile. She picked up the cloth bag that contained her research. “Thanks again, Brian,” she said once more.

Brian merely smiled and said softly, “You’re very welcome.”

Justin and Susanna left the kitchen to go up to his office.

 

*****
 

“This is unbelievable,” Susanna exclaimed as she followed Justin through the hall and out onto the sun porch. She quickly looked around the big space and saw several easels with works in progress.

“Am I taking you away from your work?”

“Not at all. I’m experimenting with a new technique so I’m letting the paintings dry a little before I apply the next layer.”

“What’s the subject of your paintings?”

“A family portrait,” Justin said as he pointed to a photograph that was sitting on a small table easel.

“On three separate canvases?”

“A triptych, the parents at each end and the children in the middle. Three individual portraits that will be grouped together.”

“Oh, how ingenious! Can I ask you something?” Justin nodded. “How did you keep Briana away from your paintings when she was a toddler. Ashley got into everything.”

Justin laughed then told Susanna about the indoor gar-gar incident.

“Look up,” Justin said as he pointed up to the pulley system that John had devised.

“Clever,” Susanna said as Justin led her up the spiral staircase to Brian’s inner sanctum. “I never saw anything like this.” Susanna was impressed with the construction of the attic office.

“Its twin is across the porch,” Justin commented as he indicated John’s side of the cottage. “John literally raised the roof to make the offices.”

“Impressive.”

Justin laid out the books he compiled of the known Kinney paintings and sculptures, as well as a smaller volume on Patrick’s work.

“This is a map of the route they traveled through Central and South America. They finally wound up in Texas near San Antonio. We found their final resting place,” Justin said as he showed her the pictures of their grave markers.

“This is what I found,” Susanna began as she pulled out copies of pages from an old ledger. “Before Kinney left this country, the land was going through a drought phase. Several of his neighbors and acquaintances had failing farms. Kinney valued the land; he was afraid that his neighbors would sell up and move away.”

“What did he do?”

“He arranged for private grants and long term loans. And these are the only records of those loans,” Susanna said as she spread the photographed pages across the desk.

“Who has the original ledger?” Justin asked.

“Believe it or not it’s in the local public library in Bridgeton.”

“You have got to be kidding me. Why didn’t anybody say anything during the time of the auction? It was big news at the time.”

“I think because no one actually examined the ledger very closely. Much of the writing is faded and some of the pages will disintegrate if not handled carefully. It’s been in a small vault that the library uses for rare books.”

“How did you find it?”

“As I mentioned, I was doing some research at the time of the auction, just for my own curiosity. I had no intention of doing anything with it and then due to time and circumstances, I set the whole thing aside. Ashley had a project to do for school so I asked the librarian if I could take a peek in the book vault. We were childhood friends and she knows how much I value historical items, so under her supervision, I peeked. I took the pictures with my cell phone.”

“This is amazing. I wonder if they’d allow me and Brian to look at it.”

“I don’t see why not. Technically, Brian and John are the rightful Kinney heirs.”

“I can ask Bobby; he’s our family lawyer. Sidney Bloom of the Bloom Gallery was responsible for the restoration of the Kinney paintings. I bet he can help us to conserve the ledger.”

“Can you imagine if some of the ancestors of the original loan recipients are still alive and living locally? They owe their land to Kinney. Think of the compounded interest!” Susanna said with a straight face then she and Justin cracked up. “Seriously, the book does belong to your family. I’m sure the library would allow it to be returned to its rightful owners. But it proves my point.”

“What point?”

“That your Brian is a good man. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”

“Hmm,” Justin murmured, as he recalled a story that he once coaxed out of Brian about his grandfather Aidan and an apple tree.
 

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