Righteous Obsession (60 page)

Alethea gently disengaged herself from his embrace. 
“I think we’d better clear up this mess first.”

Colin looked at the remains of their supper and
laughed.  “Yeah, we might be more comfortable.”

Together, they gathered up the leftovers, dishes and
garbage and took it downstairs into the kitchen.  Colin put his arms around her
and kissed her neck.  He slid his hands under her T-shirt and began caressing
her breasts, feeling her nipples harden through the thin silk of her bra.

Alethea leaned against him, enjoying the feeling of
his hands caressing her and growing wet in anticipation of what was coming.
Within a short time they were in such a state of arousal that they left a trail
of clothing from the kitchen to the door of their bedroom.  Colin grinned at
Alethea mischievously.  “We’re home again so we can make as much noise as we want!”

“That’s exactly what I had in mind!”  Alethea replied,
reaching up and pulling him down on top of her.

Caitlin immediately launched into her campaign to
convince her father to change his mind about Colin’s Christmas invitation when
they finished talking to Colin.

“Cait, they were just being nice.  After all, it’s
their first Christmas together and I’m sure they aren’t planning to have
houseguests.”

“We wouldn’t have to stay with Colin and Alethea,”
Caitlin argued.  “We could stay with grandpa and grandma.”

“Cait, we don’t know what’s going to happen with your
mother or Dave so there’s no point in making any plans when we might have to
cancel them very suddenly.”

“Why?  Do you think mom’s going to change her mind
about us?  Let’s get real here, Daddy!  Every time she’s gone to court, we’ve
been there for her and she just looks right through us!  We visit her every
Sunday and it’s always the same scenario – the matron trudges out with that
look of pity on her face and says mom doesn’t want to see us.  Dave doesn’t
give a rat’s ass about anybody except himself!  Do you really think he’ll have
a sudden attack of conscience and turn himself in?  I wonder now if he even has
a conscience!”

“Cait, we’ve got to try and keep our family together.”

“What family, Daddy?  Right now, the only family we
have is grandpa, grandma, Colin and Alethea.  Why should we continue to put our
lives on hold because of the choices mom and Dave willingly made?”

Jeff was silent for a moment while he considered what
Caitlin had said.  Even though he hated to face the facts, he knew she was
right.  Kathleen and Dave weren’t going to change so why should they continue
to suffer from the consequences of their actions and put their lives on hold? 
He nodded.  “Okay.  If your mother’s attitude towards us hasn’t changed by the
time she’s released; I’ll call Colin and accept his invitation, but I’ll tell
him we’ll stay with grandpa and grandma.”

“What about Dave?”

“There’s nothing more we can do for Dave except pray he
realizes the terrible things he’s done and turns himself in before he or
somebody else gets hurt.”

Seeing he father was feeling sad again; Caitlin gave
him a big hug and said, “Christmas this year will be great!”

Jeff smiled.  He could hardly stay glum when his
daughter was so happy.  “You’re right, Cait, it will be great!”

“I’m having second thoughts about this, Colin,”
Alethea admitted as he was helping her put on her roller blades the next
morning.   She was wearing shorts that showcased her long, slender legs and a
tank top.

“Don’t tell me you’re turning chicken!”  Colin teased
her.  He stood up, pulled his hair back and put on a baseball cap backwards to
keep it out of his face.  He looked over at McGregor, sitting in the Jeep. 
He’d refused to even consider learning how to skate and was going to follow
them in the Jeep.

“Of course not!”  She exclaimed as he helped her get
to her feet.  She lurched forward on her skates.  “Colin!”  He caught her
before she could fall and she giggled helplessly.

Colin helped her straighten.  “Don’t think about it –
just let your body do the driving.”  They started off slowly with Alethea
holding tightly to Colin’s arm.  Soon her confidence grew and she was skating
along as if she’d been on rollerblades all her life.

“Okay.  I’m going to solo.”  She let go of his arm,
but he continued to skate close to her in case she got wobbly.

“You’re doing great so I think I’ll skate on ahead,”
Colin said.

Alethea nodded then sighed as she watched him skate
away with his long hair flying.  Actually, she didn’t need exercise to speed up
her heart – watching her husband did it just fine!  He was wearing a pair of
abbreviated; form fitting knit shorts that led her to think about things other
than skating.  She abruptly came out of her fantasy when she suddenly realized
she couldn’t stop herself.  “Colin!  I think there’s something you forgot to
show me!”

Colin, who’d been skating in front of her, turned just
as she slammed into him, fortunately on his left rather than his right side. 
He grabbed hold of her and held her until she stopped rolling.  Alethea
giggled.  “I think you forgot to show me how to stop or maybe you forgot
accidentally on purpose?”

“You mean so I’d have an excuse to put my arms around
you?”  He teased.

“The thought had occurred to me – among others!”

“Oh?”

“When we get home, I’ll show you!”

“Let’s go!”  They skated to where McGregor was waiting
and wasted little time in getting home.

On Tuesday, Colin had his second appointment with
Doctor Hughes.  He found it much easier this time to discuss his concerns with
her.  When he returned home, he found Alethea at work on the third floor.  She
looked up in surprise then glanced at her watch.  “I was just answering my
e-mail.  I didn’t realize I’d been at it so long.  How did your session go
today?”

 “It was a lot easier talking to her this time than
last time,” Colin replied, sitting down on the couch.  “I told her about what’s
happened with Jeff so far.  I told her I was worried about dad and Jeff not
getting along and how I didn’t want to have to choose sides.”  He was silent
for a moment as he reflected on what else they’d discussed.  He’d confided to
her his suspicion Jeff might still have feelings for his mother.  He felt he
was betraying his dad by keeping it secret even though it would cause
irreparable harm if he revealed it.

“What did she say?”  Alethea asked, sitting down
beside him.

She said I couldn’t make myself responsible for what
Jeff or dad might do.  She said the only person I could be responsible for was
me.”

“That sounds like good advice.”

Colin sighed.  “It’s easier said than done!”  He
looked at Alethea.  “You never told me what you and Doctor Hughes talked
about.”

“We talked mostly about you.”

“It seems to be a popular subject!”

“I told her how much I dreaded the thought of you
going back on tour – so much so I wanted to handcuff you to the post of our
bed!”

Colin smiled.  “What did she say to that?”

“She said she understood my fear, but she didn’t think
keeping you handcuffed to me was the solution to my fears.  I agreed with her. 
I said if we tried smothering each other out of fear of losing one another we’d
probably kill our marriage.”

“Sounds like you given this a lot of thought.”

“I have, but it doesn’t ease my fear of loosing you.”

“Are you going to continue seeing her?”

“Yes.  It’s the only way to get past this.”

“I think you’re making the right decision.”  They sat
silently, Colin arm around Alethea.

He suddenly shook his head, as if to clear it, then
asked, “Anything interesting on your email?”

 “Yes.  I have a new assignment.  Jazz wants me to
interview Centaur about their new CD next Friday in Los Angeles.  He also wants
you to call him.”

Colin got through on Jazz’s private number and spoke
to him for several minutes before hanging up.  He turned back to Alethea. 
“Jazz wants to interview me while you’re interviewing Centaur.  We can get you
moved, too.”

“Yes!”  Alethea sighed.  “It will be so nice to have
my entire wardrobe and my own wheels again.”

“I’m starving so I’m going to fix lunch,” he announced.

“I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

Colin paused in the doorway and grinned at Alethea. 
“You know, you can handcuff me to the bedpost any time you want!”

Alethea tossed one of the couch pillows at him and
giggled.  “Get out of here!”

Colin got a call from the architect on Thursday,
saying he’d finished the plans for their pool house sooner than he’d thought he
would and he could look them over at any time.  He and Alethea immediately went
to the firm, viewed the plans and approved them.  In addition, Colin had
already done some research and gotten the name of a builder and contractor,
specializing in restoring and repairing Victorian houses.  He was going to come
over Monday, look at the house and the plans then give him an estimate on the
cost of the job.  By Thursday evening, Colin was visibly nervous about the
broadcast of his interview with CNN.

Colin put his arm around Alethea as they sat down to
watch the interview.  “I’ve gone over and over what I said.  I’m sure I didn’t
say anything that might be construed as being prejudicial to Father Michaels
getting a fair trial.”

“Well, then put it out of your mind,” Alethea urged.

The interview opened with John Richards saying the
program was broadcasting from the deck of Colin’s home in Sausalito.  “You’re a
native of San Francisco?”

“Actually, I was born in Berkeley, but I’ve lived in
and around San Francisco all my life.  I could never live any place else.”

“Do you ever worry about the Big One?”

“Every time I feel a tremor I wonder, but I have to
admit since getting married, I do think about it more.”

“I’d like to offer you and Alethea our belated
congratulations on your marriage.”

“Thanks, John.”  Colin paused then asked, “If you
don’t mind, there are some things I’d like to say before we get started.”

“The floor is yours, Colin.”

Colin once again thanked his fans for their support
and told them how much he’d appreciated it.  He went on to condemn the people
claiming to be fans of his who were sending threatening letters and making
nasty phone calls to Father Michaels’ family.  “These people are not my fans. 
No fan of mine is doing this crap!”  Finally, he assured the fans in New
Orleans he didn’t blame the city in any way for what had happened to him and
Unforgiven was looking forward to performing there again.

“Before this tragedy occurred, you had no idea your
alleged assailant was your half-brother?”

“No.  I knew very little about my biological father. 
See, my parents were barely out of high school when they married and their
marriage only lasted a short time.  After they split up, my father left the Bay
area. By the time my mother found out she was pregnant, she had no idea where
he’d gone and he had no reason to stay in contact with her.”  Colin shrugged.

“So he never knew he’d had a son?”

“No, and in the intervening years, they’d both
remarried and had families by their second marriages.”

Caitlin, who was watching the interview with her
father, felt surprised to hear Colin fudging the facts.  “Daddy, he kind of
shaded the truth a bit there.”

“Not really, Cait.  He merely left out the fact Amanda
and I split up because I ran out on her.  I suspect he doesn’t want to
embarrass her.”

“I think he’s trying not to embarrass you either,
Daddy.”

Colin maternal grandparents were also watching and his
grandmother practically exploded when she heard what he said.  “I don’t know
how Colin can defend that no-good Jeff Michaels!  Why if Peter hadn’t been in
love with Amanda and looked after her while she was pregnant, God knows what
might have happened to them!”

“I’m sure he did to spare Amanda any embarrassment,
Eileen.”

“I can’t understand why he even wants anything to do
with that skunk!  None of that family ever gave a damn about him until now!”

“Luke and Nora did contact us about Amanda and Colin
that one time,” Ted Scott reminded his wife.

“We agreed to tell them nothing so they couldn’t try
to get custody of Colin!  Amanda didn’t need to loose her baby to them after
being hurt so deeply by their rotten son!”

Richards suddenly shifted the topic.  “Were you scared
when you walked into that warehouse?”

Colin ducked his head and said nothing for a moment.  
He had a faraway look in his eyes when he began speaking again.  “I was
terrified!  I’m no hero and I knew there was a good chance I wasn’t going to be
walking back out of there.  I’d just gotten married that morning and I did not
want to die!”

Amanda, who was watching the broadcast with Peter,
Liam, and Debbie suddenly got up and walked into the dining room.

“Mandy?”  Peter called, getting up too.

“I can’t watch this, Peter; it’s too hard,” she
motioned towards the television screen.  “Colin’s gripping the arm of that
chaise so hard his knuckles are white!”

Peter put his arms around her and held her.  “I’m sure
Colin wouldn’t be talking about this if he didn’t want to.  Remember they did
ask him if any topics were off limits.”

“I remember.”  She buried her face in Peter’s
shoulder.  “It’s just so hard listening to this.  We almost lost him.”

“I know, Mandy, but maybe it’s helping Colin when he
talks about it.”

Amanda wiped her face and tried to smile.  “I
suppose.”

Liam and Debbie were silent, both remembering their
own experiences with Father Michaels.

“Why didn’t you let the police handle it?”  Richards
asked.

“I couldn’t risk Liam’s life.”