Page 41 of Sunrise

"There has to be another way, Lin. The mayor isn't the end all be all for the town. Not when the people who live there don't want it," Kade whispers.

"I don't know. Him trying to use my parents like that. I never wanted to rip a person's throat out before, but the thought did cross my mind then."

"I could tell. I don't think I'd have stopped you either," he whispers.

"I take it things didn't go well?" Brynn asks softly as she sits beside us and takes my hand.

"The mayor tried to say her parents would want this. The meeting ended with Lin yelling at him and being asked to leave," Kade tells her, then fills her in on the details.

"Fuck him, Lin. Do you hear me? Kade is right. There is another way. We just need to regroup and come up with another game plan. Those buildings are privately owned. We need to make sure the families can do the repairs and help those who need it." Brynn squeezes my hand, and I turn my head to look at her and rest it back on Kade's chest again.

I don't want to leave this warm cocoon where my problems can't touch me.

"How were the houses?" Brynn asks, changing the subject.

"Good, your side tree needs some work, but that's all. We ran into Mrs. Keller too," I say, and Kade and I go on to tell her about our talk with Mrs. Keller.

"Well, I have some wine. Let's forget the rest of the day and go in and drink, watch some TV, and have dinner brought to us," Brynn says.

"Sounds perfect." I sigh.

"Maybe we even let Kade join us." Brynn winks.

I pull back and look at Kade. "Up to you, Goldie," he says.

"Fine, but I'm sleeping in my own bed tonight, alone." I level my glare at Brynn, who bursts out laughing.

"Okay, okay. Come on."

We head to her room, and she's very careful to avoid the kitchen, even going the long way to get some wine. I make a note to ask her about that later when Kade isn't around.

Once we are settled in Brynn's room, we debate what to watch. Kade keeps trying to tell us facts about someone in each movie.

"Okay, so we need to watch some crap movie so he can't ruin the good ones," Brynn says.

"I agree," I say as I raid her freezer for some ice cream.

"So, what was your last movie, Kade?" Brynn looks at him with a straight face.

"Hey, that movie is nominated for three awards!" Kade defends.

"The ones nominated for awards are done so by people in the business, and the movies are normally crap. The good ones never get the recognition they deserve," Brynn says.

Kade looks at me like I'm going to help him.

"Don't look at me. She's right," I say and sit down with my ice cream and dig in.

Kade thoroughly spoils the movie for us by telling us how certain scenes are done, facts about certain actors, and other tidbits we never wanted to know. I'm pretty sure he does it on purpose to keep my mind from wandering to earlier today.

"Okay, Lin, you call the kitchen and order dinner," Brynn says.

"What? It's your kitchen," I say.

"Ah, better yet. Kade, you call," Brynn says.

"Whatever, just tell me what we are ordering." We give him the list, and he calls, placing it to be delivered to Brynn's room. We talk and debate what to watch next when there is a knock on the door.

I check the peephole and see an angry Jasper with our food cart. What the hell? Then it clicks. This is why Brynn didn't want to call down there. Well, fine, two can play this game.

---