"Uh, why don't we go come up with something for dinner, okay?" Danny put an arm around Linda's shoulders and led her to the kitchen.
She sighed, and asked, "Can we go out? Just you and me, please? I don't want to deal with Jimmy right now."
Danny hated how she sounded tired, "sure. Where do you want to go?"
"Someplace with a lot of calories."
Danny looked up from his steak to see Linda poking at her pasta. "What's wrong? You love pasta."
She cast her eyes up at him and shook her head. "Did Jimmy ever tell you the story of Marni catching me drinking?"
"Yeah, he said she caught you drinking beer, and he made up some story of it looking like apple juice."
"He lied. It was wine, and Tony let me have a sip. It was before they decided to make their trial split permanent. Tony came back home after taking me to dinner. Just me and him, because he wanted to have one more night with his 'favorite daughter'." Linda swallowed and paused before going on, "Jimmy and Marni were home, in the other room somewhere. Tony was having wine, and I asked if I could taste some. He said I could... then he left, Jimmy came in, and.. then Marni saw me drinking a glass of wine."
"And she believed it was apple juice?"
"Jimmy said it was grape juice. Said that I wanted it in a glass because I wanted to be fancy... I was Sean's age. That was the last nice thing he did for me.." She looked into Danny's eyes, then grabbed his hand atop the table. "Aside from introducing me to you."
"The only thing he's done that came out just fine."
"Let's not talk about my brother," she said decidedly. "We're on a date! In a nice restaurant, with pasta and wine. And I am gonna enjoy myself."
Danny watched her take a big sip of her wine, "but not too much."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Danny asked Linda after they had cleaned up the kitchen and sent the boys- Jimmy included- to their rooms.
"About what?"
"The elephant in the basement."
"Don't insult elephants like that, Danny. They're kind and gentle creatures, and Jimmy's the serpent in the garden."
If he wasn't so pissed at his brother in law, he would have laughed. "What are-"
"I want him out of our house, Danny."
"Jimmy?"
"I don't want him here. Get him away. I don't- I don't care where he goes. Anywhere but here." Her voice was in an even, unfeeling tone.
Danny pulled her into a hug, and just held her for a few minutes. "I'll take him to a hotel. Set him up for a few days, then he's on his own. Okay?"
She nodded, "Jimmy might be related to me, but you and the boys... you're my family."
He kissed her forehead, "it's going to stay that away, unless Jimmy decides to get his act together."
She pulled out of his embrace and headed to the en-suite, "get him out of the house, Danny."
Linda was just about to get in the shower when her phone rang. She frowned- it was the number of the hospital. Who was in the hospital? Was it Danny? "Hello?"
"Is this Linda Reagan?"
"It is. Is everything okay?"
"A Jimmy O'Shea was just brought in. He's stable, but I'm pretty bad shape-"
"I'll be there. Thank you."
"He's got four broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a concussion," Linda told Danny as he appeared in the doorway.
"Well... CAT scan came back okay, so... that's good news."
"Did you know?"
"Did I know what?"
"Don't play with me, Danny," she walked up to him, "Did you know this was gonna happen?
"Linda, I'm a cop."
"That's not an answer. You knew where he was. You dropped him off at that motel he was staying at."
"I always told you there were gonna be things that I would never be able to talk about."
"But this time I need to know." He was her brother, no matter how bad of a brother he was, he was still her brother. She needed to know.
"What you need to know is that your brother's alive, and your family is safe. And that's really all that matters right now."
"Tell me, Danny. Did you know this would happen?"
"I tried to stop it, Linda," Danny said, hoping the angry look on her face would go away. "I was ready to send him away, but he decided to talk to Lenny and Stevie. I was ready to send him to Florida with a made up name."
"So you let him get beat up instead?"
"No, I didn't let him get beat up! I wouldn't do that, and you know that."
"I'm know, I'm sorry. I'm-" she bit her lip and sniffed back tears.
Danny hugged her, "let's get out of here."
They were quiet on their way down to her car. She wanted to scream at the sky, yell at the yellow glow of lights, cry into cold night air. Instead she just tossed her keys to Danny and sat in the passenger seat.
"I don't think I could drive right now."
He turned the engine on, "that's okay."
Linda switched the radio over to the CD, and New Kids On The Block Christmas album came through the speakers. "I want to be happy. And Christmas and NKOTB makes me happy."
"It's a good album."
"What's going to happen to Jimmy?"
"He'll live."
"I mean after- after he gets out of the hospital."
"He'll either turn his life around or end up in jail."
"Or the morgue," Linda added quietly.
"There's only so much we can do for him, Linda... do you know why he refused to let me help him this time?"
She shook her head, rubbed at her eye.
"Because he didn't want his baby sister to clean up his mess again. He said he wasn't going to hurt you like that anymore. He wanted to make a clean start."
She only sniffled a bunch of times before saying, her voice breaking, "he always wanted to be a good brother."
"Oh, Linda..."
She turned the music volume higher and grabbed the tissues. Jimmy was an ass, a screw up, a druggie... but he was still her brother. "You know... despite everything, I still love him. I still want to send him Christmas and birthday presents."
"That's because you're an Angel."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are. The world needs more people like you."
If she had to look out the window to hide her blush, neither of them said anything about it.
After Danny had kissed Linda hello a week later, he walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see the centerpiece on the table. "Hey, babe, why do we have what looks like... ah.. two dozen Roses?"
She smiled, "read the card."
He picked up the hand written note, and opened it. Two fifty dollar bills fell out as well as a two pictures. One picture was of Danny and Jimmy at what looked like a family picnic or a birthday gathering. They were both making funny faces at the camera. The other picture was of Jimmy and Linda, after she had received CNA. She was in her scrubs with a stethoscope in her ears, smiling and listening to Jimmy's heart. He had two thumbs up and a dorky grin on his face.
Danny read the card,
"Dear Danny and Linda,
I am so sorry for coming in and ruining your life like that... over and over and over again. I'm sorry I've begged and almost demanded money from you two... money that could have been used to fix the central heating and cooling system. Money that could have gone to your smart boys' education. Money that could have been used to fix that junkeroo of a car you had. Hell, money that could have been used on yourselves!
So starting today, I'm going to pay back all the money you two gave me. Starting with this one hundred dollars. It's a third of my savings in the bank. I took the other two thirds and went to Jersey. I'm starting a new life- hopefully one that lets me be apart of yours. Little by little, I will pay back all the money, and then maybe Danny can take you to Italy. Huh, baby sis? You've always wanted to go.
I promise I'll start to do right by you two, and I'll turn my life around. I love you two crazy kids.
Best of luck, Jimmy."