A Season in Purgatory

Chapter 19

Dan shifted the various bags into his left hand and pushed the door to the Café open. It was late afternoon and the Café was still recovering from the lunch rush. Dan had to give Karen credit. She'd managed to take a small budget and her tremendous culinary skills and turn a risky venture into a success. Nodding at a random busboy, Dan proceeded to the now deserted counter and watched as Karen approached him.

Sighing, Karen dropped her apron onto the counter and smiled at Dan. "Did all your shopping work up an appetite?" she jokingly asked, gesturing toward all the bags at Dan's feet. He returned her warm smile, grateful that she was still being kind to him. Dan had spent the past week worrying that Lucas would turn Karen against him, and somehow convince his mother that Dan had tortured him during the time at his dealership.

"Actually, the bags are full of basketball stuff for the upcoming season," he explained, knowing that Karen was still new to the world of high school basketball. Or at least to the new face of high school sports. "4 pairs of shoes, practice jerseys, warm ups, equipment bags, and just about anything else you can think to put a Ravens logo on."

Karen visibly gulped at the loot on the floor of her café. After Lucas had been asked to join the team, Whitey had sent her an official form letter noting the parental costs associated with having a varsity player on the state's premier basketball team. Apparently, the school no longer covered the expansive expenses now required for a state ranked team. Karen remembered feeling relieved that Lucas had missed the exclusive summer camp the players attended in June to "warm up" for the season. At 2000.00 per week, Lucas could take on the entire Rivercourt and save his college fund instead.

But the costs were still staggering. Besides all the equipment that Dan had picked up, there were hotel fees for away tournaments and travel expenses that the team requested be paid up front, at a cost of 3000.00. She looked up at Dan and smiled. "I guess things have changed from when you nearly won state with a single pair of Nikes, huh?" Back when times were simple.

He considered her words a moment. "It really has gotten insane. I'm surprised Nathan doesn't have an agent yet," he revealed. Dan was still fighting off scouts though. And his son wasn't even close to college yet. "But high school sports feed college sports, and there's a lot of money to be made."

"And a lot of money to pay for a stupid sport," she snorted, automatically pouring him a cup of black coffee. The truth was that Karen was stalling on the money issue. She'd started saving when she'd read the letter, but that was a serious amount of money to collect in a short amount of time. As much as she hated to, Karen knew that she was going to have to resort to asking the boosters for help in covering part of Luke's expenses. The boosters run by her long time rival Shari. If there was one thing Karen couldn't handle it was asking for help from people she hated. Dan had proved that point when Lucas was born.

Setting his cup down, Dan finally met her gaze. "Uh, I kind of figured the upfront costs would be hard for you to cover," he muttered, knowing that he was going to get yelled at. Karen was fiercely independent and hated that the town knew she struggled in providing the basics for her son.

Predictability, Karen bristled at his words and stepped away from the counter in anger. "I've managed to support my son his entire life. We don't need your pity now," she retorted, glad that the café's dinner crowd was still hours away. All she needed was gossip of her inability to pay for her son's basketball expenses circulating at the country club.

Dan stared at his shiny black shoes for a moment, knowing that Karen was the only person on the planet who could make him feel like dirt for doing the right thing. "Too late," he admitted, glancing at the bags that surrounded him. Karen's brow creased as she realized what he'd done. "You paid for Luke's stuff?" It was not really a question she had to ask. She knew Dan well enough to know when he was plotting.

"I went to pay for Nate's equipment and fees and noticed that Luke's name was still on the list of unpaid kids. I had my check book out, so I just wrote one check for both boys," he explained, his own anger growing at her irrational response. "What's the big deal, Karen? I know the cost would put a strain on you and I can easily afford to pay for Luke's fees and equipment." Dan avoided the issue that Karen wouldn't have had a money crunch if he'd supported his own child in the past.

She stalked around the counter and got right up in Dan's face. "The big deal is that I was working on getting the money together, and you've taken that option away from me. Lucas is not your responsibility; he's mine. And he'll be furious if he finds out that you paid for his expenses. I'd go so far as to say that he'd quit the team." She turned to walk off when Dan suddenly reached out and grabbed Karen's hand, pulling her back to where he stood.

They stood there, trapped in time, separated by little more than an inch. Dan slowly exhaled, realizing how close they were, how well her tiny body still fit next to his. Silence pervaded the room; the only sound he heard was the soft breathing of the woman next to him. Dan finally came to his senses and dropped her hand, instantly missing the soft skin of her small palm. "Karen, I didn't pay for Luke's expenses to embarrass you or to put you in my debt. It just felt…" his words trailed off and Karen found herself drawn to his unfinished thought. "What?" she gently asked, still close enough to notice that look he got whenever he was perplexed.

"It felt natural," he finally conceded, feeling somewhat freed by the thoughts that had plagued him since he'd written that check. "It felt normal just to handle him like I handled Nathan, without having to separate and compartmentalize my thoughts and actions." He looked down at her face and watched her reaction to his words.

Karen was slightly taken back. She knew that guilt was a prime motivating factor in Dan's sudden change of heart regarding his eldest son, but she could also sense the pain Dan's past decisions had caused him. "Dan…" she began, knowing that Lucas would be furious to know she'd allowed Dan to pay something.

"I just like knowing that I did something for him," he finished, even if it was something as lame as paying for his basketball expenses. He wanted to get to know the boy but Lucas was so moody and distant around him that it was nearly impossible for him to get passed the blatant hostility his son projected. If Dan could contribute, even anonymously to his son's happiness, then he'd have to settle for that.

Karen moved a few steps away, not liking how muddled her thoughts were around Dan. Or how the scent of his cologne made her want to get even closer to him. She was losing her mind, she thought, knowing that it was always best to keep a safe distance from the man. He'd always been able to affect her this way, which was part of the reason she had avoided him the past 15 years.

Walking behind the counter, she attempted to clear her thoughts and deal with the situation at hand. "Lucas can't find out," she finally said, not liking the situation at all, but knowing that she'd be hard pressed to come up with that much money. Her stomach clenched at the idea of taking money from him, but she knew how much basketball meant to Lucas. He'd started to come out of the shell he'd withdrawn to years ago and the team had been largely responsible for that. While Karen had been an overachiever in extracurricular events, her son had never gotten involved. Now Luke had something to do after school and on weekends beside work for his uncle. He had kids his age that hung out with him at the café and apparently, based on what she'd seen, he had Brooke. She couldn't help but smile at the idea of her little boy having a girlfriend.

Dan watched Karen's eyes go from upset to happy and he wondered what thoughts dwelled behind her very blue eyes. "I may not be great, but you have to admit you'd rather let me take care of it than rely on Shari and the boosters," he said, his smile growing as Karen's eyes narrowed in disgust.

"It's been 16 years. You'd think being older and a parent would make me more tolerant," Karen admitted. The idea of having to rely on a group under her high school rival's control made her sick. "You might be evil, Dan. But you are the lesser of two evils when compared with Shari." Shari who'd spent four years of high school trying to steal Dan away from her.

Dan leaned over the counter and relaxed his shoulders for the first time that day. He just knew things could work out, if he just put enough energy into making this work. "Oh you'll get your chance to work with Shari. Just because you don't have to ask the boosters for help doesn't mean you won't have to work their events. Even I can't get out that," he revealed, knowing that between all the various events the boosters ran, that he and Karen would be seeing a lot of each other.

Their heads turned in unison as the door to the café opened. Keith walked in and stopped in his tracks at the sight of his brother and Karen together, sharing a laugh. Things were definitely changing, he thought. He approached them slowly, taking notice of how Karen pulled away from the counter, increasing the distance between herself and Dan. He frowned a moment. Karen almost looked…guilty, for lack of a better word.

"Lucas is right. You two have lost it," he announced, stopping in front of the counter. Dan hesitated, never sure just how direct an impact his words would have on his older brother. Communication was always a problem for them. They had a complicated relationship that bordered on hate, yet mitigated by a brotherly bond of love.

"Maybe you're just having a flashback," Dan suggested, before correcting himself. "No wait, that's LSD, you just drink." It was a none too subtle reference to the night of the accident. Dan knew his brother wasn't legally drunk, but his actions had still put Luke's life in danger. Even with his callous disinterest in Lucas, Dan had never blatantly risked the boy's life.

"Or maybe I'm just too busy playing father to all your illegitimate kids," Keith snapped, fed up with Dan's attitude. Karen quickly moved between, once again taking on the role of buffer just as she'd played all those years ago. Dan quickly stood up and squared his broad shoulders off toward his brother. "What's your compliant now, Keith?"

Keith stood his ground, never intimidated by Dan's bravado. "Do you have any idea what you are doing to Lucas?"

Haley sighed as the last bell of the day rang out, causing her fellow students to scatter in all directions. She slowly made her way to her locker, knowing that Lucas wouldn't be waiting for her and there would be no walk to the café for an after school snack. In fact, since their last argument about that night at the café, the two friends had barely said a word to one another. Lucas had made it abundantly clear that he didn't want to talk things out with her and she'd already been replaced as his lunch partner by the ever perky and scantily clad Brooke.

She grabbed the last book she needed for homework and bent over to shove it in her backpack. Straightening up, she jumped back feeling someone overly close to her. She looked up at Nathan who had silently walked up behind her, taking in her overly curvy features as he leered at her from behind.

"Hey," he quietly said, smiling at how flustered she still got around him. Nathan felt like he'd given her a tiny part of his soul, revealing things about his feelings and his family that he'd never shared with anyone. And it amazed him that Haley was still shy in his presence. "I thought maybe I could give you a ride home, since we don't have practice today."

She blushed, feeling an unexpected heat move up her spine. Something about Nathan brought out feelings in her that she'd only read about in the trashy romance novels her older sisters left laying around the house. "That would be nice, but I have to get to work."

Disappointed, Nate nonetheless picked up her backpack for her and grabbed her hand. "I can at least drive you to work," he offered, liking the feel of her small hand in his. They walked along making small talk; drawing the curious stares of everyone they passed in the hallway. Nate responded to their stares by moving closer to her, making it obvious that he was more than friends with Haley. More than friends in a friends kind of way, he decided. For some reason, Nathan Scott, ladies man, couldn't close the deal with Haley James.

Despite spending all week eating lunch together, Nathan was too intimidated to ask her out on a real date. He'd never experienced such indecision before with a girl. Smiling, he gently squeezed her hand. Haley James wasn't just a girl, she was a special girl.

Haley smiled at his tender actions toward her. She was a sucker for any guy that held a door open or displayed any other 'gentlemanly' quality. He'd made her day simply by caring her backpack for her. She smiled at a girl in hallway that she shared gym class with. If people were shocked that she'd been eating lunch with Nathan, they were down right stunned to see them holding hands. Something in her heart fluttered, as every daydream she'd ever had felt like it was coming true. Smiling at Nate, she forced herself to calm down, to not act so inexperienced and awed by his presence in her life.

As they made their way toward his Navigator, they spied Lucas and Brooke speeding out of the parking lot in her convertible. Lucas made brief eye contact with Haley, disappointment clearly shining his eyes. Haley's shoulders slumped, and she leaned back against the side of his SUV in anger. Nate considered hugging her, but opted against it.

"He's really upset you," he commented, not wanting to risk saying anything more about his half brother.

Haley nodded, knowing it was more of a statement than a question. "I'm so angry at him for the comments he said that night. But I miss my best friend," she confessed, honestly thinking their friendship was strong enough to with stand most obstacles. "I just can't bring myself to talk to him. He's not even apologized for humiliating me."

Nate considered her words as he opened the door to the Navigator and tossed their backpacks inside. "If you really want this to be over, then you need to make the first move," he suggested, trying to be helpful yet distant. He didn't want Haley to think he was picking on Lucas.

Haley's eyes narrowed at his words. "Maybe I don't want to apologize. I'm sick of always being the rational peacemaker. And I'm really upset with how inconsiderate he's been since he started seeing Brooke," she said. It's like a pod person had moved into Luke's body since that girl had usurped her place as his constant companion.

"I'm not sure it's Brooke, Haley. She's not the antichrist or anything," Nathan said, feeling the need to defend his lifelong friend for some reason. "If it's any consolation, Brooke's giving me the cold shoulder, too." He was upset about her distance, but he was also grateful that he was now free to spend time with Haley. He'd come to look forward to their time spent eating or tutoring together.

"It's like everything is changing and nothing makes sense anymore," she complained, sliding her seatbelt on as he slowly maneuvered his way out of the school's parking lot.

Nathan glanced over at her, loving the way her brow creased slightly when she was confused or lost in thought. He gave into temptation and slowly ran his finger across her brow, smoothing the silky skin out as his hand moved over her forehead. Haley smiled as he removed his hand, fighting the urge to nibble on the strong fingers that now gripped the steering wheel.

"Talk about bizarre. What about this dinner thing tonight at the café?" he asked, purposefully driving slow, in order to spend more time with her. "Are you going to be there?" he asked, suddenly realizing that Haley worked with Karen.

"What dinner?" Haley asked in confusion.

Nathan pulled up in front of the Café, frustrated by how fast the drive had ended. "Yeah, my dad's latest bonding effort includes the two of us eating with Karen and Lucas every Monday," he revealed, still angry from his dad agreeing to this stupid thing. Nathan was already sick of Lucas after spending practice, games and the school day with him. These dinners weren't going to fix 16 years of hatred.

"Wow," Haley said, not realizing how serious Karen was about fixing her son's family problems. "Lucas is not going to handle this well at all." She looked down at her watch, noting she had less than five minutes to start her shift. "I guess we should look at the positive aspects of this…"

Nathan frowned at words, totally incapable of finding anything positive in sharing his free time and his father with Lucas. "Okay, Pollyanna. What can we find to be "glad" about?"

She smiled at his movie reference, knowing that she was famous for her upbeat attitude at school, even if it did obscure her natural sarcastic tendencies. "You can be happy that I work Mondays," she said quickly, before jumping out the door and disappearing into the Café. Driving off, a smile soon covered Nate's face. Monday's all of a sudden didn't look so doomed after all.

Keith slowly shook his head, worn out after only 20 minutes of talking to Karen and Dan. "I can appreciate the thought you all have put into this, but it's moving too fast. Lucas is not going to respond to being forced into a relationship with Dan or Nathan," he said, pushing away from the table where they sat discussing the matter. He needed to get back to work and actually get some cars fixed this afternoon.

Shaking his head, Dan grew more and more annoyed with his big brother. "Aren't you the one that has lectured me for years about taking responsibility for Lucas and getting to know him?" he asked, throwing his brother's past recriminations in his face.

Karen watched silently as Keith shoved his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans, clearly seeing the signs of frustration written on her friend's face. "Lucas isn't 5 anymore, Dan. You can't buy him a ticket to the circus and make it all better."

"I can try to let him know that I care and try to be there for him now," Dan responded, knowing that Keith had a lot of good points. Lucas was stubborn and he wasn't going to be forced into doing anything he didn't want to do. Dan didn't know him that well, but he knew enough from the time they spent at the dealership that Lucas was just as obstinate as he was. "I just want to try to be in his life, Keith. There's no ulterior motive or plotting going on here."

Keith rolled his eyes. "You mean for once, you don't have an ulterior motive? Or are you just trying to have two varsity players to control?"

Karen finally stepped in, having listened to Keith pick on Dan long enough. "Keith, you're pushing it," she softly stated, hating it when the two brothers locked horns. She'd spent too many of her teenage years being their family referee. "You saw the game the other night, Keith. We have to take action now before Nathan and Lucas kill one another."

Sighing, Keith realized there was some truth in her words. "I can appreciate wanting peace, Karen, but maybe it's too late. You have both let the hate build between these two for years. You can't expect a few dinners and some shared time together to make them friends."

Keith started for the door but stopped and turned back to face the two of them, still sitting side by side at the small table. "I think you are making a huge mistake. Lucas has barely said a word the last week. He's not eating while we work, or joking like he normally does. This is really upsetting him and the more you two try to force him, the more he's going to rebel," Keith predicted. He knew his nephew well enough to know that he was suffering right now. He turned around and continued toward the door, knowing that Dan and Karen were firmly set on this course of action.

Dan realized that there was nothing really left to say. He was already uneasy about their plan, but he'd committed to it fully the night of the fight, and he wasn't going to let Karen down. "Congratulations," he called out, causing Keith to pause at the door.

"For what?" Keith asked, waiting for yet another of Dan's insults or biting remarks. There was nothing more dangerous than a cornered Dan Scott. Yet another trait the father shared with his older son. Lucas could be vicious and wounding when he was forced to do something against his will.

"On your engagement," Dan softly commented, upset that he'd heard the news from one of his vice presidents and not directly from his brother. Karen looked visibility shocked, figuring that she and Keith were at least still friends. That he could get engaged and not tell her was deeply upsetting. "Congratulations," Karen shakily offered, knowing that life was truly moving forward.

Keith smiled at them both. "I know that it seems sudden, but Anna and I but feel we are ready," he said, getting the sappy grin on his face that always appeared when his thoughts of his girlfriend entered his mind.

"Did my invitation get lost in the mail, or is that a subtle hint that I'm not invited?" Dan softly asked, truly hurt at the idea of missing such an important family event.

Keith hesitated, knowing that this revelation was going to force him to call his parents and inform them of his upcoming wedding. And Keith always made it a rule to avoid his father whenever possible. "It's going to be a very small, informal wedding," he began, watching as Dan sat back in his chair. "We were just going to have a small civil ceremony with Lucas and a few of our friends."

Karen and Dan exchanged looks at the sound of their son's name. Keith was involving his nephew while excluding the rest of his family. Dan looked at Keith and shrugged his shoulders. "I can't force you to invite me, but you should really reconsider not asking Mom to be there. She's waited for decades to see you get hitched."

Nodding, Keith suddenly felt uncomfortable. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd hurt Dan. Dan who'd made a career out of hurting everyone in his life. "I'll call her tonight," he offered, and slipped out the door.

Dan looked over at Karen, who seemed lost in thought. For a moment, he felt something akin to possessiveness regarding her obvious feelings toward his brother. He shook those thoughts from his mind, knowing that he had no business thinking that way. "Well, I guess we can't accuse Keith of being too cautious and deliberate anymore," he joked, trying to find some way to get Karen to talk. She was worn out from all the confrontations she'd had lately, and she was getting tired of all the surprises that lurked behind the doors of her life.

"It seems like everything is changing," she softly said, still upset that Keith had not told her about the upcoming nuptials himself. Whatever their doomed relationship had weathered, she still thought he was her friend. She dropped her head and let her hair fall into her eyes, ashamed to be so emotional about such a happy event.

Seeing her distress, Dan moved closer toward her, gently moving the hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. As his hand lingered against her dark hair, their eyes met, causing Dan to quickly jerk his hand away from her. "I'm sorry, Karen. I don't know what came over me," he said, as she abruptly pushed away from the table and moved toward the Café's counter. The familiar gesture brought back a wave of memories, of a time when Dan routinely brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"It's getting late, Dan. You need to go back to work so you can get to dinner on time," she said, immediately dismissing what had just occurred. Nothing had happened, she told herself. It was her hyperemotional response to a week full of turmoil. She turned back to look at Dan, who stared at her in confusion. If she'd been kinder and less cynical, she might have called the look on his face regret. She gave him a brief nod, before turning and going into the kitchen to get ready for the dinner rush.

Dan stared after her, wanting to chase after Karen and apologize for touching her in such an inappropriate, intimate manner. Stopping himself, he realized that it was better to let things go than make them worse. After all, he thought ruefully, walking away had always been his signature move. Sighing, he walked out the door and headed for his SUV.

Love it? Hate it? Feeling whip lashed from all the verb tense switches? All feedback is appreciated. Thanks to all the wonderful reviews for the last chapter. It really does make a difference for writers. I know there's no Brucas, but have paitence.

Coming up, the dinner that is taking entirely too long to write.

And yes, L/B get busy in the library.