Chapter 4
All right, well while writing this I realized I had years, all turned around and Katie is entirely too old. But since I am just an idiot can you just go along with the fact that she's 5, oh and also before I hear complaints that a five-year-old wouldn't know so much about piano...I don't want to hear it, I get Katie's piano playing from my cousin who when he was Katie's age had been playing as long as she has been. Anyway enjoy! It's actually a longish chapter and I have the next one planned out, whenever I get the chance to sit down and write it!
"So I think I figured out why you are so afraid of Everwood." Misty yawns when Ephram's alarm goes off the next morning.
Actually interested in what Misty has come up with Ephram responds with, "Oh?"
"It had to have been your sister. I mean she is just a holy terror I don't know how you tolerated her for 9 years even." Misty jokes.
"Seriously Misty..." Ephram urges.
"Seriously?" Misty asks yawning again. "I have no idea. I love your sister, Delia, and the other kids are great too. And the town is so quaint, nothing like New York...And the people are so nice. Plus there's Amy. How come you've never mentioned her. You seem to have gotten pretty close her while you were here. You obviously made a lasting impression on her at least, I mean it's been 9 years and she still remembers who you are."
"You really want to know everything about Everwood?" Ephram snaps pushing himself up on his elbows and staring down at Misty his expression harder than she expected. "I showed up in Everwood having lost my mother only months before, with a bad relationship with my father. The instant I set foot in this town I knew I didn't belong, but there was a girl who despite it all reached out to be my friend."
"Amy." Misty whispers.
Ephram nods curtly, "Amy. I fell hard for Amy love at first sight you may go as far to say. But see there was a problem..not unrequited love but worse. You see Amy had a boyfriend, not just any boyfriend, Everwood's very own "Golden Boy" who had been put in a coma the July before school started. Do you know how much I went through when I was 15? I lost my mother, fell in love with a girl who loved someone else...And then I convinced my father to do a life saving surgery on the boy. And now you know why I ran screaming form this damn town the instant I saw the opportunity." With his words Ephram shoves himself off the bed and grabbing his clothes he leaves the room leaving a stunned Misty in his wake.
"Hey Misty." Nina greets as Misty appears in the kitchen 25 minutes after Ephram's statement.
"Morning Nina. Is Ephram around?" Misty questions.
Nina shakes her head, "no I'm sorry, he took off about 15 minutes ago, he didn't seem to be in the best of moods."
"He's not." Misty sighs. "It's partly my fault."
"I doubt that." Nina responds pushing toast into the toaster.
"Oh believe me." Misty responds. "I kind of pissed him off."
"You want to talk about it?" Nina asks.
Misty sits down at the counter and Nina pours both herself and Misty a mug of coffee. "Ever since I've known Ephram, and I've known him since he moved back to New York, I knew I was missing something. So my curious side always got the better of me and for a while now, especially since we got the invitation to come out here, I've been bugging him about way he would leave his sister and father and come back to New York." Nina bites her lip, nodding, realizing exactly where Misty had gone wrong. "I knew I shouldn't have pushed but I did. And he kinda blew up this morning."
"I'm guessing he told you all about his 3 months here." Nina sighs.
Misty nods, "everything about Amy, and her boyfriend."
Nina nods, "I have to give it to the guy, his 3 months here were kind of crappy. Amy meant the world to him back then and all that mattered to Amy was Colin at that point. It really was a mess."
"So being back here just dredges up all the bad memories for him then." Misty sighs.
"Exactly. I can't imagine any of this trip has been easy on him, but if there is one thing I know for sure about Ephram, it's that he loves Delia more than anything or anyone I know."
Misty nods, "I know, Ephram has always felt so guilty about just picking up and leaving her here. And I know he looks forward to their weekly talks, but I know that guilt still sometimes eats at him."
Nina nods, "that's a Brown men thing, Andy does the same thing, he feels guilty for a lot of things too. But I don't think anything more than his semi-failed relationship with Ephram."
"I shouldn't have said anything." Misty sighs.
Nina shrugs, "maybe not, but you can't take it back now. When he gets back you can talk to him about it."
When Ephram left the house he really had no idea where he was headed but when he found himself in front of Mama Joy's he wasn't exactly surprised, nor did it really surprise him that Amy and Katie were standing in front. It didn't surprise him because it seem as if the entire week he was in Everwood he was destined to see Amy anywhere, but he was trying not to read to much into it.
"Good morning Ephram." Amy greets with a smile, holding on tightly to Katie's hand.
"Morning Mr. Brown." Katie chimes in smiling brightly.
Ephram smiles at both of them, actually happy for the first time to run into Amy. Things were out in the open between them, or for the most part, they were friends, "good morning. How are you two this morning?"
"Good." Katie response cheerfully. "We are getting breakfast you want to come with us?"
Ephram shrugs, "well I haven't had any yet, so if you don't mind..."
"We don't mind!" Katie exclaims grabbing hold of Ephram's hand and leading him to a booth. "This is my booth, I always sit here, every time we come."
"It is?" Ephram asks smiling at the enthusiastic girl.
Katie nods, "mmhmm. Delia said it could be my booth, and her mama owns Mama Joy's so she's right!"
"Well I guess so." Ephram nods.
"You should get chocolate chip smiley pancakes." Katie insists to Ephram.
"What exactly is a chocolate chip smiley pancake?" Ephram asks.
"Chocolate chip pancakes, with a whipped cream smiley face," Katie touches her mouth and then her eyes cherry eyes," and finally her nose, "and a butter nose."
"Sounds good." Ephram nods.
"It is, so are you going to get it?" Katie asks.
"Katie you need to settle down and let Mr. Brown make his own decisions." Amy scolds gently.
"It's all right." Ephram responds, "that sounds good to me." And when the waitress comes he states, "I'll have what she's having."
"Katie, guess what?" Amy asks while they wait for their food to come.
"What?" Katie asks.
"Ephram plays the piano, like you." Amy states.
Katie's eyes light up, "really?"
Ephram nods, "yes I do. I went to school to learn to play the piano as well as I can."
"Did you go to Julliard?" Katie asks.
Ephram stares at the little girl in front of him and Amy explains, "Katie has wanted to go to Julliard since she learned to play the piano when she was 3."
"You started early." Ephram comments.
Katie nods, "do you have a piano?"
Ephram nods and tells Katie about his grand piano sitting in his living room as Katie listens intently. Ephram can't believe he is so caught up in a conversation with a 5-year-old that when he finally looks at his watch he realizes he has been there for nearly 2 hours.
"I can't believe it's noon." Ephram exclaims.
Ephram's comment causes Amy to look at her own watch, "we all better get going the graduation ceremony starts at 2:15."
Ephram insists on paying the bill and when they turn to leave Katie grabs on tightly around Ephram's legs and bursts into tears, "I don't want you to go!"
Amy looks mortified, "Katie stop."
Katie shakes her head, "please don't go, Mr. Brown."
"Katie Breanne Abbot, stop this right now." Amy leans down and quickly pulls Katie off of Ephram's legs. "I'm really sorry about this Ephram, she tends to get overly attached to people."
Ephram smiles at Amy, "it's no problem. I will see both of you at in a couple of hours anyway. Bye Katie."
When Ephram finally gets home he finds that the house is far from quiet, but Nina seems to have the girls in her bedroom with her while she and Andy get ready to leave. So Ephram goes straight to his bedroom where Misty is sitting in front of the vanity doing her make-up. Misty quietly sets her make-up down but she doesn't turn to face Ephram for what seems to be a long time, but is really only about 2 minutes.
"I'm sorry for blowing up at you." Ephram finally states with a sigh.
"And I'm sorry for prying into something you obviously didn't want to talk about." Misty responds.
"So we are OK then?" Ephram asks.
Misty kisses Ephram, "we're great. Now let's get ready to go to your sisters graduation and in four days we can leave Amy and Everwood behind you for good. Where were you today anyway?"
"No where."
All right, well while writing this I realized I had years, all turned around and Katie is entirely too old. But since I am just an idiot can you just go along with the fact that she's 5, oh and also before I hear complaints that a five-year-old wouldn't know so much about piano...I don't want to hear it, I get Katie's piano playing from my cousin who when he was Katie's age had been playing as long as she has been. Anyway enjoy! It's actually a longish chapter and I have the next one planned out, whenever I get the chance to sit down and write it!
"So I think I figured out why you are so afraid of Everwood." Misty yawns when Ephram's alarm goes off the next morning.
Actually interested in what Misty has come up with Ephram responds with, "Oh?"
"It had to have been your sister. I mean she is just a holy terror I don't know how you tolerated her for 9 years even." Misty jokes.
"Seriously Misty..." Ephram urges.
"Seriously?" Misty asks yawning again. "I have no idea. I love your sister, Delia, and the other kids are great too. And the town is so quaint, nothing like New York...And the people are so nice. Plus there's Amy. How come you've never mentioned her. You seem to have gotten pretty close her while you were here. You obviously made a lasting impression on her at least, I mean it's been 9 years and she still remembers who you are."
"You really want to know everything about Everwood?" Ephram snaps pushing himself up on his elbows and staring down at Misty his expression harder than she expected. "I showed up in Everwood having lost my mother only months before, with a bad relationship with my father. The instant I set foot in this town I knew I didn't belong, but there was a girl who despite it all reached out to be my friend."
"Amy." Misty whispers.
Ephram nods curtly, "Amy. I fell hard for Amy love at first sight you may go as far to say. But see there was a problem..not unrequited love but worse. You see Amy had a boyfriend, not just any boyfriend, Everwood's very own "Golden Boy" who had been put in a coma the July before school started. Do you know how much I went through when I was 15? I lost my mother, fell in love with a girl who loved someone else...And then I convinced my father to do a life saving surgery on the boy. And now you know why I ran screaming form this damn town the instant I saw the opportunity." With his words Ephram shoves himself off the bed and grabbing his clothes he leaves the room leaving a stunned Misty in his wake.
"Hey Misty." Nina greets as Misty appears in the kitchen 25 minutes after Ephram's statement.
"Morning Nina. Is Ephram around?" Misty questions.
Nina shakes her head, "no I'm sorry, he took off about 15 minutes ago, he didn't seem to be in the best of moods."
"He's not." Misty sighs. "It's partly my fault."
"I doubt that." Nina responds pushing toast into the toaster.
"Oh believe me." Misty responds. "I kind of pissed him off."
"You want to talk about it?" Nina asks.
Misty sits down at the counter and Nina pours both herself and Misty a mug of coffee. "Ever since I've known Ephram, and I've known him since he moved back to New York, I knew I was missing something. So my curious side always got the better of me and for a while now, especially since we got the invitation to come out here, I've been bugging him about way he would leave his sister and father and come back to New York." Nina bites her lip, nodding, realizing exactly where Misty had gone wrong. "I knew I shouldn't have pushed but I did. And he kinda blew up this morning."
"I'm guessing he told you all about his 3 months here." Nina sighs.
Misty nods, "everything about Amy, and her boyfriend."
Nina nods, "I have to give it to the guy, his 3 months here were kind of crappy. Amy meant the world to him back then and all that mattered to Amy was Colin at that point. It really was a mess."
"So being back here just dredges up all the bad memories for him then." Misty sighs.
"Exactly. I can't imagine any of this trip has been easy on him, but if there is one thing I know for sure about Ephram, it's that he loves Delia more than anything or anyone I know."
Misty nods, "I know, Ephram has always felt so guilty about just picking up and leaving her here. And I know he looks forward to their weekly talks, but I know that guilt still sometimes eats at him."
Nina nods, "that's a Brown men thing, Andy does the same thing, he feels guilty for a lot of things too. But I don't think anything more than his semi-failed relationship with Ephram."
"I shouldn't have said anything." Misty sighs.
Nina shrugs, "maybe not, but you can't take it back now. When he gets back you can talk to him about it."
When Ephram left the house he really had no idea where he was headed but when he found himself in front of Mama Joy's he wasn't exactly surprised, nor did it really surprise him that Amy and Katie were standing in front. It didn't surprise him because it seem as if the entire week he was in Everwood he was destined to see Amy anywhere, but he was trying not to read to much into it.
"Good morning Ephram." Amy greets with a smile, holding on tightly to Katie's hand.
"Morning Mr. Brown." Katie chimes in smiling brightly.
Ephram smiles at both of them, actually happy for the first time to run into Amy. Things were out in the open between them, or for the most part, they were friends, "good morning. How are you two this morning?"
"Good." Katie response cheerfully. "We are getting breakfast you want to come with us?"
Ephram shrugs, "well I haven't had any yet, so if you don't mind..."
"We don't mind!" Katie exclaims grabbing hold of Ephram's hand and leading him to a booth. "This is my booth, I always sit here, every time we come."
"It is?" Ephram asks smiling at the enthusiastic girl.
Katie nods, "mmhmm. Delia said it could be my booth, and her mama owns Mama Joy's so she's right!"
"Well I guess so." Ephram nods.
"You should get chocolate chip smiley pancakes." Katie insists to Ephram.
"What exactly is a chocolate chip smiley pancake?" Ephram asks.
"Chocolate chip pancakes, with a whipped cream smiley face," Katie touches her mouth and then her eyes cherry eyes," and finally her nose, "and a butter nose."
"Sounds good." Ephram nods.
"It is, so are you going to get it?" Katie asks.
"Katie you need to settle down and let Mr. Brown make his own decisions." Amy scolds gently.
"It's all right." Ephram responds, "that sounds good to me." And when the waitress comes he states, "I'll have what she's having."
"Katie, guess what?" Amy asks while they wait for their food to come.
"What?" Katie asks.
"Ephram plays the piano, like you." Amy states.
Katie's eyes light up, "really?"
Ephram nods, "yes I do. I went to school to learn to play the piano as well as I can."
"Did you go to Julliard?" Katie asks.
Ephram stares at the little girl in front of him and Amy explains, "Katie has wanted to go to Julliard since she learned to play the piano when she was 3."
"You started early." Ephram comments.
Katie nods, "do you have a piano?"
Ephram nods and tells Katie about his grand piano sitting in his living room as Katie listens intently. Ephram can't believe he is so caught up in a conversation with a 5-year-old that when he finally looks at his watch he realizes he has been there for nearly 2 hours.
"I can't believe it's noon." Ephram exclaims.
Ephram's comment causes Amy to look at her own watch, "we all better get going the graduation ceremony starts at 2:15."
Ephram insists on paying the bill and when they turn to leave Katie grabs on tightly around Ephram's legs and bursts into tears, "I don't want you to go!"
Amy looks mortified, "Katie stop."
Katie shakes her head, "please don't go, Mr. Brown."
"Katie Breanne Abbot, stop this right now." Amy leans down and quickly pulls Katie off of Ephram's legs. "I'm really sorry about this Ephram, she tends to get overly attached to people."
Ephram smiles at Amy, "it's no problem. I will see both of you at in a couple of hours anyway. Bye Katie."
When Ephram finally gets home he finds that the house is far from quiet, but Nina seems to have the girls in her bedroom with her while she and Andy get ready to leave. So Ephram goes straight to his bedroom where Misty is sitting in front of the vanity doing her make-up. Misty quietly sets her make-up down but she doesn't turn to face Ephram for what seems to be a long time, but is really only about 2 minutes.
"I'm sorry for blowing up at you." Ephram finally states with a sigh.
"And I'm sorry for prying into something you obviously didn't want to talk about." Misty responds.
"So we are OK then?" Ephram asks.
Misty kisses Ephram, "we're great. Now let's get ready to go to your sisters graduation and in four days we can leave Amy and Everwood behind you for good. Where were you today anyway?"
"No where."