Chapter Seventeen
“So you’re telling me that the lovely Leighanne is the one that finally convinced you to talk to them? I’m, I’m . . . well, I’m sure as hell surprised!” Megan exclaimed. “It’s about time you talked to them, though.”
“Wait a second . . . I haven’t talked to you in a week. How do you know about all of this mess?” Kara smacked her forehead with her palm. “STUPID me! So, which one of them tried to rope you in?”
“First off, they didn’t try to rope me in . . . ” Kara choked on the sip of Coke she’d just taken, sputtering into the phone. “Okay, so they did. But I’ll have you know it was Nick who called first. He told me the whole thing from Brian’s point of view, and then Kevin called, and believe me, I gave him QUITE the lecture. I love the guy, but he needs to get over this ‘control freak’ thing. It’s beginning to scare ME, and I live on the other side of the country.”
Kara’s face twisted in confusion. “Wait a second, here. Did you just say that you gave KEVIN a lecture?”
“Yep.”
“Kevin ‘Eyebrows’ Richardson, also known as my very nosey older cousin?”
“That’s the one.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me! I’ve known the guy my entire life, and not ONCE have I seen or heard anyone else attempt to lecture the guy.” She chuckled in disbelief. “Dare I ask how you got away with such a thing?”
“Something along the lines of needing to back off if he wanted to see or hear from you anytime in, say, the next Millennium.”
“You didn’t!”
“I SO did. You can thank me later.”
“Seriously, though . . . what did you say to him?”
“That’s basically it, Kara. What can I say . . . I’m golden.”
“And modest, too!”
“Hey, now! Watch it with the insults!”
“You know you love me. Well, chica, I’ve got a couple cousins to call, but I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“You know it. If Kev gives you any trouble, tell him I’ll come out there and kick his ass.”
“Like that’s gonna scare him!”
“You might just have a point there . . . if that doesn’t work, remind him that I’ve got Kristin on my speed dial.”
“You’re evil . . . but I like it!”
“I know you do. Take care of you, Phelpers, and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye!”
“Bye!” Kara hung up, chuckling at the image of Megan lecturing her cousin. Somehow, she wasn’t surprised . . . The girl had some sort of magical ability to pacify him. She shrugged, giving up on trying to figure it out. It was time to call them, and she’d already wasted far too much time. She punched in the numbers for Kevin’s cell phone, tapping her foot anxiously until she got routed to voice mail.
“Hey, Kevy-Kev. It’s me . . . we need to talk.” She sighed as she hung up. That had been simple enough. One down, one to go. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before dialing Brian, half hoping he wouldn’t pick up. One ring, two, three. . . .
“Hello?”
“Bri?”
“Ker-Bear?” He moved farther away from the guys, waving Kevin away. “What’s up? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” She sighed, rubbing her forehead. This was harder than she thought. “I figured it was about time I talked to you . . . Kevin too, actually. He there?”
“Yeah, he’s standing about a foot away from me, trying to eavesdrop.” He chuckled. “Why?”
“Tell him to check his voice mail, would ya?” She waited until he’d finished talking to Kevin. “I’d like to go out for coffee with the two of you or something.”
“Really? That’s great!”
Kara’s guilt level rose about three levels when she heard the eagerness in his tone.
“When do you want to go?” He waved Kevin over frantically, mouthing. “She wants to talk.”
“Um . . . I don’t know. I know you guys are both really busy with rehearsals and all, but I was hoping . . . ”
“How about tonight? We’re done with rehearsal in an hour, and I’ve got to shower and stuff, but I could meet you at . . . ” He looked at Kevin, who held up eight fingers. “Eight. We can meet you at eight, if that works.”
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, that’s good.” She ran a hand through her hair, sighing.
“So I’ll pick you up at eight, and we’ll go from there?”
“Sounds good. Kev coming too?”
“He wouldn’t miss it. We’ll see you later, kiddo.”
“Later.” And with that, she hung up, left with two hours to figure out what she was going to say.