Susan Mallory - Sizzling

Lori didn't know what to say. This was a true definition of damned if you do and damned if you don't. "It wasn't true," she said at last. "Not any of it."

"I see."

Evie and Madeline exchanged a look. Lori didn't want to know what either of them were thinking.

"He's great," Madeline said. "He adores Lori."

"I'm glad." Evie smiled. "It's time you found someone."

Lori supposed life was never all one way and neither were people. Evie was trying. Failing, but trying.

LORI SCOOPED some orange chicken onto her plate. "This is really good," she said. "Where's the takeout place?"

"A couple of streets down. I'll show you. It doesn't look like much on the outside, but the food is great."

She and Reid sat on the floor, backs against the sofa in his living room in Gloria's house. The coffee table was covered with open takeout containers. Reid had provided dinner and a chilled bottle of Chardonnay. While Lori was confident they would move into the bedroom later, it felt good just to hang out. More normal, maybe.

"It was strange last night with my mother," she said, returning to their previous topic of conversation. "I know she's trying to reach out and I'm beginning to believe she feels badly for what happened all those years she was drinking. I know forgiving her is the right thing to do."

Reid looked at her. "You will when you're ready."

"Maybe."

Sometimes she wanted to forgive all and get close to her mother and sometimes she was so angry, she wanted the other woman punished forever.

She still remembered being ten years old and breaking her mother's favorite glass. It had been tall and slender, perfect for mixing drinks without too much ice getting in the way of the alcohol.

Lori had been washing the dishes and the glass had slipped, breaking into dozens of sharp shards. Her mother had been drunk and angry. When Lori had confessed, Evie had started screaming.

"You're useless," she'd yelled. "I'm sorry you were born. You're nothing but an accident. An accident I didn't want. I have one perfect daughter- why would I want a horrible girl like you?"

The pain still cut as easily as those pieces of the broken glass.

"I know when Madeline's gone, she'll be the only family I have left. That should mean something. I keep thinking if I tried harder, I could get over everything."

"No one is saying you have to," he told her.

"I know, but I feel guilty for not accepting her changes and moving on. It's weird. We were talking about the past. I realized we all remember different situations or the same incident, but in a different way. I guess that's about perspective. I saw what mattered to me, Madeline saw what mattered to her."

"Maybe everyone has a piece of the truth," he said. "You can remember the parts you want to remember and let the rest go."

"I wish I could."

He put down his fork. "I want to go public with Madeline's illness. I want to get the story out there so people think about donating. You said she was a rare blood type. I've been doing the research and the odds of finding a donor for her aren't great. I think we can change that."

Lori didn't understand. "Go public as in…"

"Talk to the press. Hold interviews. Talk about the importance of donating. Do you know that here, in the States, you have to opt in to a donation program. That the assumption is you're not interested in donating unless you say otherwise. But in Europe, it's the opposite. The assumption is people want to donate. If you aren't interested, you have to opt out. That makes a whole lot more sense to me. I've been talking to some donation centers. They're willing to help coordinate the process with me. With us." He paused and glanced at her. "Did I get too ahead of myself? Are you pissed?"

Pissed? She leaned over and kissed him. Her eyes burned and she figured the tears weren't all that far behind.

"You'd do that for my sister? You did the research and now you're willing to go out there and face the world?"

She wanted to say he couldn't. That he would be slaughtered in the press. But Madeline's life was too important. Still, she had to make sure he understood what he was getting into.

"There's still that article," she said. "You know any interviewer is going to bring it up."

Reid shrugged. "The people who matter know the truth about me."

"Meaning me and four hundred other women," she teased.

He didn't smile back. "Meaning you. I'd want to talk to my family. This is going to mean they could be in the spotlight, too."

He touched her face. "It's going to be embarrassing and uncomfortable the first couple of times, but then we'll talk about Madeline and how organ donations save lives. The message will get out. What do I care if a few people make cracks at my expense?"

He was making sense in the best way possible. "I can't believe you've already done research."

"I'm an impressive kind of guy."

"Yes, you are." She leaned in and kissed him again. "More than impressive. You're spectacular. If you ever need a letter of recommendation, let me know."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. "I just might take you up on that," he said, before he kissed her back.

* * *

REID PARKED in his usual spot, then walked in through the front of the Downtown Sports Bar. A couple of the guys called out to him, he heard a few cracks and kept on moving. Cal, Walker and Dani were already there, in their usual table in the corner. He greeted them.

"I know I'm not late," he said as he made a fist and banged knuckles with both Cal and Walker, then hugged his baby sister.

"We got here early so we could talk about you," Dani said with a grin.

"Great. What did you decide?"

"That you might just turn out okay." She sat back down and pushed his beer toward him. "Actually, we all beat you by about two minutes."

He tugged on a lock of his sister's short hair. "I haven't seen you in a while. What's going on?"

"Still working for Penny while I look for something else. She's hoping I'll change my mind about leaving, but I can't. I need to get going on something of my own."

"Where have you been looking?"

"All over the city. There are some interesting places out there."

"Like where?" Cal asked.

"Valerie's Garden. Fabulous restaurant, great staff, incredibly strange vegan food. Not for me."

Reid had never much been into tofu, either.

"You doing okay otherwise?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm doing fine. Moving on with my life." She touched his arm. "Don't worry."

"We all worry," Walker said. "It's part of the job description."

"Well, I do need help with one thing," Dani said, looking at Reid. "I want to find out about my father. I have nothing to go on, which means I need to talk to Gloria. What are the odds that her transformation is genuine and that she'll help me?"

Reid looked at Cal and Walker. They both shrugged.

"She's changed," Reid said. "She's trying."

"For you guys," Dani grumbled. "You're family."

"She was great to Penny and the baby," Cal offered. "It's not like she loved the idea of Penny being pregnant with another guy's kid but she was friendly. Almost charming. Honestly? It kind of freaked me out."

"She was good to Elissa and even asked her to bring Zoe on her next visit," Walker said.

"I'm tempted to talk to her," Dani said. "But not quite tempted enough."

"Want me to say something?" Reid asked.

Dani shook her head. "No. This is my dragon. I have to make peace with it or slay it myself. Metaphorically, of course. I'm not advocating killing Gloria…yet."

"No one thinks you are," Cal told her. "We're here for you. You know that, right?"

"I do." She smiled. "So that's me. What's up with you, Reid? You've been lying low these past couple of months."

"With good reason. I do have a couple of things I need to talk to you about." He glanced at Walker. "You got my letter of resignation, right?"

Dani glanced between the two of them, then glared at Reid. "You're quitting your job here? Just like that? Did you know?" she asked Cal.

Cal shifted in his seat. "He might have mentioned it."

Dani grabbed a chip from the pile of nachos and chomped down furiously. She swallowed. "Dammit, I'm always the last to know. I swear, the next time I get a great secret, I'm not telling any of you."

"It wasn't a secret," Reid said. "I've been thinking about leaving for a while. I'm not good at running this place, probably because I'm not interested. There are some good managers here."

"I know," Walker said calmly. "Don't sweat it. They'll pick up the slack until I get someone else in here." He looked at Dani. "Are you interested?"

"In working here? No, thanks."

"You'd be in charge. I'd like to keep it in the family. And don't say you're not family because you are."

Dani glanced around. "Not my thing. I want a real restaurant. Not liquor and finger food. But I appreciate the offer."

"I'll find somebody else, then," Walker said. "Let me know if you change your mind."

"I will, but don't expect anything." She turned back to Reid. "What else do you want to spring on me?"

"I have something, but this time no one else knows."

"Cool."

His brothers looked at him. "What is it?" Cal asked.

"It's a bitch not knowing everything, isn't it?" Dani asked.

Walker glanced at Reid. "Was she always this annoying?"

"Pretty much."

Dani bounced in her seat. "Come on. Enough suspense. Spill."

Reid hadn't figured out exactly how to tell them what he was going to do.

"One of Gloria's nurses is the main reason for her change of heart," he began. "Lori has been great with her. Patient but not a pushover. When Gloria gets her back up, Lori won't take any crap. She's- "

Dani punched him in the arm. "You're dating her. Cal and Walker are nodding knowingly, which means they've probably met her. You're dating this woman and you didn't tell me?"

"It just happened. We're not really dating." He hesitated. "We're involved. I like her, okay? Can I get back to the important part now?"

"You like her?" Dani sounded surprised. "As in 'hey, I really like this girl. Let's see where the relationship goes'?"

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No." She looked at Walker and Cal. "You guys should say something."

"You're doing fine messing up on your own," Walker told her.

"I'm not messing up. I'm just happy to find out Reid has a girl."

Reid ignored that. "Her sister, Madeline, is sick. She has Hepatitis C and needs a liver transplant. Because of her blood type, she'll be difficult to match. I've talked to Lori and a couple of donor places. I want to go public and talk about the need for people to donate. That means accepting some of those interview offers I've been getting over the past few weeks. That means having my name in the press, which will impact the three of you. You're family and people will talk."

"You're the one they're going to try to annihilate," Walker said. "There won't be anything they won't ask."

Reid thought about the article in the paper- the one claiming he was lousy in bed. "They're going to take it as far as the censors will let them."

"Are you prepared for that?" Dani asked. "It will be humiliating."

He knew that. He would probably become the butt of a lot of late night comedy jokes.

"This isn't about me," he said. "If something doesn't change, Madeline will die. I don't know any other way to help."

Cal nodded. "Then you do what you have to do. We're fine with it."

Reid looked at each of them. "Are you sure?"

"Of course we're sure," Dani said. "When compared with what Lori and her sister are going through, none of the rest of this matters. We'll be fine."

"We can handle it," Walker said.

Reid had known they were going to say that, but he was still gratified to hear the words. "Then I'll e-mail you and let you know when I'm on Access Hollywood."

* * *

LORI HAD NEVER BEEN inside a television studio before. Reid's Access Hollywood interview was being held at a Seattle station.

The set was used for a local morning show. Lori didn't expect it to be so small, or so isolated in a sea of backdrops, lights, cables and cameras.

She and Madeline stood several feet behind the equipment and watched as a woman dabbed Reid's face with a sponge.

"I'm nervous," Lori admitted. "Nothing about this is going to be easy. They're going to ask some awful questions. I know he says he's prepared, but I'm not so sure."