Chapter 10
With the finalized initial plans for the library under her arm and new black purse on her shoulders, Elisa straightened out her new Ann Taylor dress and stood up with a little more confidence than she woke up with. She took one last look in the mirror. Brushing back the curls from her face, she closed her eyes and sighed.
“This is it.” She said to herself and she could not help but give a short jump of excitement. “Nerve, nerve, nerve…” One last look into the mirror and she bound for the door, ready as she would ever be.
* * *

Corey was awakened early by the smell of hot pancake syrup. He looked at the clock and groaned. It was way too early. Why was Derek making breakfast? He barely touched a kitchen; usually ordered out for everything. Getting out of bed, Corey made his way downstairs. When he arrived in the kitchen, he waited patiently as his brother poked a spatula at the latest pancake on the stove.
Derek looked up and smiled. “Breakfast?”
“You never make breakfast.”
Derek shrugged and simply offered Corey a plate with a small stack of thin pancakes. Corey took it and headed to the far island in the kitchen and sat down. He suddenly realized how hungry he was and immediately devoured two of the pancakes on his plate.
“Is it good?”
Corey looked up from his plate and regarded his brother with a puzzled look. “What, exactly, are you doing this for?”
“No reason.”
“You never cook.” Corey repeated what he knew and what he was seeing contradicted that to the extreme. “Never.”
“There’s always a first time for everything.” Derek came to the table and sat down next to him. “Haven’t you ever felt like doing something different?”
“Yea.” Corey said carefully, looking at his brother’s unusually bright smile.
“That is all it is.” Derek bit down on his own pancakes.
Corey grew worried. He knew this had everything to do with their father coming home for the weekend. So far, there had been no word otherwise. What had changed was the unusually high anticipation Derek was showing this time around. Their father had come home before, although usually not for long. This case was no different so Corey could see no reason to be especially happy. And certainly no reason to be happy enough to change so dramatically like his brother had. Cooking? He never cooked! As he finished his pancakes, he looked at his brother and he could not help but ask, “Are you excited?”
“About what?”
“Dad coming home.”
Derek shrugged. “Sure. I don’t know how long he’s going to stay, but yea. Definitely.” He looked down at his pancakes. “What about you?”
“He won’t stay for long, you know.” Corey waited for a reaction that might explain what was really going on.
“I know.” Derek could not meet his eyes.
What was going on?
“I thought we would meet up with the lady who is redoing the library with dad first.” Derek began again. “Then, we might all go to lunch and take in the game this afternoon.”
What did Derek think would happen? Did he think their father would suddenly become his old self? Corey did not even know what that was really like? His world centered around Derek and, right now, Derek’s world seemed very precarious. What would happen if their father disappointed them again?
“Are you all right?” Derek asked, concern clearly written on his face.
Corey immediately smiled, took quickly, he realized as Derek’s look changed to one of bewilderment.
“Fine. I’m just fine.” Corey stood up from the table and took their empty dishes to the sink. “I’m going to go and get ready.”
Corey could feel Derek’s eyes follow him out the kitchen. Back upstairs, he looked into the mirror. He saw his own inner turmoil bubbling behind his eyes. Somehow, he needed to shut it off. He needed to show his brother that what they had was good enough. And, the first step was to believe that himself. With willpower he dared not hope to find again, he brought his smile to his eyes. He would make his brother see that the image of their father was no longer what it was; that their father had changed. But, most importantly, he would make him understand that that image of their father may never come back.