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I left Los Angeles as a hard, bitter cynical young woman with a huge chip on her shoulder. On Summer Island, I became complete. And it was all so easy. I see that now.
I went in search of my mothers life, and found my own.
"Do you think theyll be coming home soon?
Dean didnt need to ask who Eric was talking about. In the three days since Nora and Ruby had left, he and Eric had speculated endlessly about their return. Dean knew that Eric often forgot their conversations on the subject. Sometimes, they would end one discussion and moments later Eric would ask the familiar question again. Do you think theyll be coming home soon?
“Theyll be here any day,” Dean answered. Although he always answered similarly, he wasnt so sure, and the uncertainty was killing him. It was Nora who called every night to talk to Eric; Ruby was always off somewhere, doing publicity or “taking a meeting. ” Shed talked to them only once, and although shed said all the right words to Dean, hed felt a distance coming between them.
She was famous now. It was what shed always wanted, even as a little girl; shed dreamed of being loved by strangers. He couldnt blame her for enjoying every minute of her newfound celebrity, and he couldnt help wondering if there would still be a place in her life for him.
Eric coughed.
Dean turned away from the window. For a split second, the sight of his brother shocked him. The past few days had been like that. Erics decline had come so suddenly that sometimes, from moment to moment, Dean was caught off guard. Eric was so hollow, so shrunken; smiles were becoming rare. He seemed exhausted by the simple act of breathing, and the medications didnt stave off the pain for long.
“Can we go outside?” Eric asked. “I can see what a beautiful day it is. ”
“Sure. ” Dean ran outside and prepared everything. He set up a wooden lounge chair in the shade of an old Madrona tree, placed it so that his brother could see all the way to the beach. Then he went back upstairs and bundled Eric in heavy blankets and carried him outside.
It was like carrying a small child; he weighed nothing at all.
Dean gently placed his brother on the chair. Eric settled back, sinking into the mound of pillows. He closed his eyes. “Man, that sun feels good on my face. ”
Dean looked at his brother; whose face was tilted up to catch the sunlight. What he saw wasnt a thin, balding young man huddled in a multicolored blanket . . . what he saw was courage, distilled to its purest essence.
“Ill be right back. ” He ran into the house and got his camera, loaded it with black-and-white film, and hurried back out into the yard. He started snapping pictures.
Erics eyes fluttered open. It took him a minute to focus, a few more to comprehend the silvery box Dean was using. Finally, he gasped and held up a weak, spotted hand. “Oh, God, Dino . . . no . I look like shit on a lounge chair. ” He turned his head away.
Dean eased the camera from his eye and went to his brother, kneeling down. “Come on, you put Tom Cruise to shame. ”
Eric turned to him. “I used to be a fine specimen of a man,” he said, smiling crookedly. “And you wait until I look like something out of Alien to take my picture. ”
Dean stroked his brothers damp forehead. He could tell that Eric was tiring already. “I missed those years, pal. I dont want to miss these. Ill need pictures of you. ”
Eric groaned. “Shit. ” He brought a hand up, rubbed his eyes.
“You know what I see when I look through this lens? I see a hero. ”
Slowly Eric opened his eyes and smiled. “Im ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille. ”
Dean finished the roll of film, then tossed the camera onto the picnic table, and lay down in the grass beside his brother.
“Do you think theyll be home soon?”
“Any day now. ” Dean rolled onto his side and looked up at his brother. “Rubys famous now. Remember we saw her on Entertainment Tonight yesterday? Its what she always wanted. ”
"Yeah, well, I used to want to be an astronaut.
Then I took a ride on some vomit comet at the state fair. "
“I think Ruby needed to be famous. ”
Eric scooted onto his side, groaning a little at the movement. He stared down at Dean. “You think fame is what she wanted?”
“Ive seen the media up close. I dated a super model a few years back. It can be a pretty wild thing, everybody loving you. ”
“Thats not love. ”
