Episode Twenty Seven

Virginia's Diner

Laurence stood behind the counter, watching Jamie talk with Summer, Matt, and Aaron. He wanted to go over, but he didn't want to make Jamie any madder at him.

"He's not going to come over here, Dad," Laura said as she walked over.

"Go take their orders, and ask him if he'll talk to me," Laurence told his daughter.

Laura rolled her eyes, but did as told. When she got to the table she bent over to rest her elbows on the table. "Listen, Cuz, my dad wants to talk to you, but he's too chicken to come over here. I'm not gonna tell you what to do, but please, either tell him it's okay or tell him to go to hell so we can move things along," she said.

"Always so tactful, Laura," Jamie joked.

"That's me, Queen of Tact."

"In some distant alternate universe, maybe."

"Funny, now what's your order and what's your response to him?"

"BLT and Cherry Cola. And tell him to go to hell."

"Wow, bitter much?" Laura asked with a smirk before she took the other orders.

"Very," Jamie replied.

The group watched Laura walk back to the table and give Laurence the message. To his credit, Laurence managed to keep from blowing his top. The teens started laughing at the look on the adult's face though.

"I'll be right back," Jamie said as he got up. "Gotta wash my hands." He headed back to the bathroom and bent over the sink to wash his face. When he straightened, he jumped in surprise and turned. "Can I help you?" he asked the young man standing behind him.

"Are you the guy dating my Summer?" Pete asked.

"You must be Pete," Jamie replied. "And she's not your property. She isn't even your girlfriend anymore."

"She is mine, always will be," Pete replied. "It's not like she'll stay with someone as pathetic as you."

"Excuse me? What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"It means you either like sleeping with guys or you're such a wuss you couldn't fight back," Pete said. He smiled at the pale and horrified look on Jamie's face. "I know all about it. Summer told me. She and I have been talking a lot lately."

"Summer wouldn't tell a slimeball like you anything," Jamie said, starting to push past Pete.

But Pete grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. "Listen good, little boy. Stay away from Summer. She's mine."

"No," Jamie said, trying to pull out of Pete's grasp. "You stay away from her. And if you come near me or her again? I'm calling the police."

"Summer's mine," Pete repeated. "And if you know what good for you, you'll stay away from her. You wouldn't want to have an accident, now would you?" he asked before slamming Jamie against the wall one more time and leaving.

Jamie's eyes widened at the implication of Pete's words. "An accident," he echoed. Then he left the bathroom himself, wanting to check on Summer. When he got back out to the diner he saw the panicked look on Summer's face and that Matt was half standing and knew they'd seen Pete. He quickly walked over and slid back into his seat.

"Are you okay?" Summer asked.

Jamie nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, Sum. Okay? I'm fine."

"Did he do anything? Pete, I mean," Matt asked with narrowed eyes.

"He just laid out a few threats," Jamie said. "No big deal."

"With Pete threats are a big deal," Summer said, holding onto Jamie's arm.

"It's okay," Jamie assured Summer, putting an arm around her shoulders. "I'm not scared of him."

"You should be," Matt said. "He all ready broke into our house at least once."

"Why didn't you call the police?" Aaron asked.

"All we cared about right then was getting him out of the house," Summer said.

"That could explain it," Jamie said.

"Explain what?" Summer asked.

"Some stuff he knew about me," Jamie replied. "If you had it written in your diary or something and he read it..."

Summer bit her lip. "I know he read it. Last time he called to harass me he mentioned the big thing," she explained. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Jamie said, kissing the side of her head.

"If this guy is so dangerous, you need to move into the mansion Jamie," Aaron said. "Once the house is locked for the night, no one can get in or out without setting off the alarm. Well, unless they have the security code."

"Wait, what is Aaron talking about?" Summer asked.

"My new found grandfather wants me to move into the mansion instead of out to the cabin," Jamie explained.

"You should," Summer said.

"Sum..." Jamie started.

"No, Jamie," Summer interrupted. "Pete... he's dangerous. And I don't want to be worried about you. I mean, do you even have a phoneline out to the cabin?"

"Well, no, but..."

"But nothing. Please, jamie? So I don't have to worry?" Summer pleaded.

Finally Jamie nodded. "All right," he agreed. "I'll move into the mansion, for now."

"Good, once we finish eating we can run by the apartment so you can get enough stuff for a few days," Aaron said.

"I only need enough for the night, I can go back tomorrow and finish packing," Jamie replied.

"No, tomorrow's the annual bash at the Lodge. You don't wanna get all worn out packing and not have the energy to party," Aaron said with a grin. "Come on, this year I'm putting aside my stuck-up attitude and inviting everyone, no matter how much I dislike them."

Jamie couldn't help smirking. "Is that why you never invited me?" he asked.

"Is there any response that will keep you from getting mad?"

"No."

"Then no comment," Aaron said.

KTVN

"This has been your Midday news break, we'll see you again at 6:00," Rhonda said, smiling.

"And we're clear," Hannah called out.

"God anyone who watches this is stupid," was Rhonda's response.

"You really need to leave the camera on sometime," Richard said as he walked up.

"I've been sorely tempted," Hannah replied.

"I know," Richard said. "If you ever 'accidently' did it, I wouldn't hold it against you."

Hannah laughed. "So, what's up?" she asked as she started walking with Richard.

"Well, you remember when we were kids? My older sister Elly?"

"Yeah, she was nice. It was a bummer when she went away to school."

"Well, when she grew up, Elly Grant became Elizabeth Bowen," Richard said.

Hannah stopped. "Wait... what?"

Richard couldn't help laughing. "Jamie Bowen's my nephew. And my father is determined to get Jamie into the mansion now. And let's not forget that I'm only in for a few minutes to pick up some paperwork, then I'm under orders to go pick up a truck for Jamie."

"You're kidding?"

"About which part?"

"All of it?"

"Nope, all true. Father's trying to bribe Jamie into liking him."

"I remember Daniel Grant Sr, the only way to make anyone like him is to bribe them," Hannah said.

"I like him."

"He's your father, you're required to like him."

"Daniel Jr's my brother and I hate him."

"No one likes Daniel Jr," Hannah replied.

Richard laughed. "Hey, I got talked into acting as chaperone for Aaron's annual party at the lodge. You wanna come keep me company?"

"The two of us and how many teenagers?"

"Anywhere from 5 to 300?" Richard replied. "Sometimes there's only a few, sometimes the entire high school comes."

"Two adults and all those kids?"

"I could ask Toria to come, too."

"Now that sounds like an idea."

The Grant Mansion

Jamie sat at the dining room table, trying to avoid Miranda and Daniel Jr's glares as he ate dinner.

"I'm glad you decided to take me up on my offer," Daniel Sr said.

"It's just for now," Jamie said. "So that Uncle Gee won't go running to gramma Isa with word I'm living all alone in the cabin. once Uncle Gee's gone back to Chicago, I'm going to the cabin," he insisted, shooting a look at Aaron to warn the other teen to keep his mouth shut about the real reason.

"I see," Daniel Sr said, still sure he could change his grandson's mind. "Aaron, don't you usually throw an 'End of The Year' party right around this time?"

"Yeah," Aaron replied. "I had it planned for tomorrow night."

"Good. I'll make sure the Lodge is prepared," Daniel Sr said. "Are you going to go to the party, Jamie?"

"Of course he is," Aaron said before jamie could reply. "I mean, first off I would have invited him last year but I hated his guts at the time, so..." he joked. "But also now he knows he's a Grant. he has as much right to be at the lodge as I do."

"Why don't you let Jamie decide before you force him to go, Aaron?" Richard sugested with a grin.

Jamie laughed. "Yeah, I'm gonna go. Summer's only seen the lake in the middle of winter, so I gotta show her how great it is in the summer."

"Good, you can take your truck."

Jamie narrowed his eyes. "What truck?"

"The one I bought you today."

"Excuse me?" Jamie asked.

"After dinner go look in the garage, it's against the far wall."

"Wait, back up," Jamie said. "You bought me a truck? Today? Why?"

"You need a vehicle. Richard suggested you might prefer a truck to a Sedan or some such," Daniel Sr explained.

Richard shrugged. "Get used to it," he advised simply.

Jamie shook hsi head. "Why did you buy me a truck?"

"I told you," Daniel Sr replied in amusement. "You need a vehicle. So, I called around to a few dealerships and found one that seemed appropriate, then sent Richard to get it."

Jamie shook his head. "First, you should have asked me. Second, you don't buy a vehicle of any kind over the phone. You go to the lot and check it out, make sure it works properly."

"It's brand new, I'm sure it works just fine."

"That's not the point!" Jamie said, trying not to laugh. "It's... nevermind. You didn't have to buy me the truck."

"I will not have my grandson having to beg rides from anyone."

"Don't argue with him, he'll just buy you something else to fix it," Aaron said out of the corner of his mouth.

Jamie stiffled a laugh as he continued eating.

The Brady house - Summer's Room

Summer held a shirt and a pair of shorts up in front of her, trying to chose an outfit for the party. "Why am I going fanatical? I'll be in my suit most of the time!" she finally told herself, tossing the clothes over her desk chair. Her phone rang and she hesitated for a moment before grabbing it. "Hello?" she asked warily.

"Everything okay?" came Jamie's voice.

"Yeah, everything's good."

"Summer, don't lie."

"I was worried it was Pete," Summer admitted.

"Has he called you again?"

"Not since this morning," Summer said. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. Except I've got a truck now."

"A truck?"

"And a cell phone to go with it."

"What?"

"Yeah, appearently Mr. Grant decided he could bribe me into liking him."

"Oh man."

"So, since I've got the truck, how about I pick you up early tomorow and we head to the lake? Have a little private dinner before everyone else starts arriving," Jamie suggested.

"Sounds good," Summer said. "I can't wait to show you my new suit..."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmhmm. It's all purple, and ties behind my neck, my back, and on both hips. And I look really good in it."

"I'll bet," Jamie said. "So, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yup."

"In the new suit?" he asked hopefully.

Summer laughed. "With something on over it."

"Aww..."

"Can we have the dinner at the cabin? Where we went on Valentine's day?"

"Why?"

"I want a really good memory there," Summer replied as she reached and grabbed a photo frame from her nightstand. "We can pretend it's our romantic Valentine's moment," she added, looking down at the picture of her and Jamie taken when Jamie had picked her up for the dance. "If you wear a white t-shirt, and I wear a pink tank, we can pretend it's the night of the dance."

"I don't care when it is, as long as I'm with you," Jamie replied. "So, what are you doing right now? Besides talking to me."

"I was trying to decide what to wear tomorrow to the lake. Other than the bikini."

"I still say the bikini alone is a good choice."

"You would!" Summer replied, laughing.

End Of Episode Twenty Seven