30-year-old Gertrude Hardy frowned as she looked at the time – her brother should have been home hours ago.  She alternated between being worried about him and being angry at his inconsideration…. He could have phoned!  Sighing, she picked up a book and tried to read it, but she couldn’t concentrate.

Unmarried, the courthouse stenographer lived with her younger brother in a two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of a high-rise building.  It was an arrangement that worked well for them both. They split the rent, she didn’t have to live by herself in New York City and he got a built-in housekeeper. 

Fenton had originally been hesitant, as he was worried about his older sister trying to dictate his life; but after their mother had told him how much better it would make her feel, to know that Gertie wasn’t living alone in that ‘horrible city,’ he had relented, and found a nice place.

And in the end, it worked out pretty well. Especially as Fenton was only home in the night….And Gertrude went home to visit their parents almost every weekend.

Gertrude let out a relived sigh when she heard the sound of keys in the door, and knew her brother was home. But she hid her relief behind a scowl of disapproval – Fenton should have called!

“And how is the most beautiful sister in the whole world this wonderful night?” Fenton gushed as he hurried into the apartment, his face all aglow; making Gertrude immediately suspicious that he had been drinking.

“Fenton Hardy – you’re drunk! And you didn’t even have any consideration for your poor older sister who might be sitting at home worrying about you!” she chastised, putting in just the right amount of hurt and indignation in her voice.

The younger man winced and then apologized, “Oh I’m sorry Gert – I guess I just lost track of the time.”

After he and Gerry had finished their shift, he had met Laura Scott for a coffee in the hospital cafeteria. Of course, due to the lateness of the night, it was closed, but the vending machines were still working. And they had been so absorbed in each other, Fenton hadn’t realized just how late it was.

“But,” he grinned, “I’m not drunk, that’s for sure!”

Gertrude stared at him in mounting horror, “Oh Fenton Oscar Hardy don’t tell me you’re high! You know better—”

Fenton cut her off with a laugh.  “High? Yes, but only on a drug called love.”

This made his sister frown even more, although until that very moment, Fenton would have thought that was impossible.

“What rubbish are you talking about now?” she demanded, her shrewd eyes sizing up her younger brother.

“Rubbish? Oh, not rubbish, Gertrude, love. Tonight, I met the woman I’m going to marry,” he finished with a happy sigh, and then went into the kitchen to see what his sister had made for dinner. She always left him something in the microwave.

“Oh, macaroni and cheese, very nice. Thanks, sis,” he said, grabbing a fork and sitting down to eat the cold dinner. He didn’t care that it was cold at all, as his mind kept reeling with thoughts of Laura.

Over the last couple of hours he found out what a truly amazing person she was. And his heart had anguished for the pain on her face when she told him about her riding accident. And Fenton resolved that he might need to take a little bit more interest in horses than he currently had, as, even after what had happened, he could see that her enthusiasm for the sport had not diminished.

“Does this future sister-in-law of mine have a name?” Gertrude asked, a few minutes later, when the shock of what he had said wore off. She wasn’t used to seeing her normally reserved brother acting like this…with that stupid giddy school-boy grin still plastered on his flushed face. 

Flushed, she now knew, not from alcohol, but from a girl….

Although a very handsome man, by anyone’s standards, Fenton was a workaholic and seldom cast more than a cursory glance at the opposite sex. Yes, he had dates, but his girlfriends seldom lasted very long once they realized they couldn’t compete with his love for his job. 

So she was unnerved to see such a quick and blatant change in Fenton.

“Laura,” Fenton said, pausing between bites of his dinner and getting a far away look on his face.  “Laura Scott.”

Gertrude stared at him incredulously for a moment before she repeated, “Did you say Laura Scott? As in that girl who almost got herself killed in some horse show two or three months ago?”

“Well as a matter of fact, she is.  You know her?” Fenton turned his dark eyes on his sister curious to know how Gertrude might know Laura.

“Only her name,” his sister said, “I remember reading about the accident in the paper. Her father is the famous surgeon, Dr. Daniel Scott. I’ve seen him on TV before.”

Fenton scoffed, “Yeah, well, I’ve met him in person and let’s just say he’s a real piece of work.”

“You met him?” Gertrude asked, her curiosity piqued. Dr. Scott had always struck her as a very passionate man as he spoke rather animatedly about his work.

“Oh yeah – real pompous ass material,” Fenton said as he started to get up to get a coffee, but Gertrude, anticipating what he was going to do, beat him to it and had a cup of black coffee poured and in front him within moments.

“Thanks, Gert,” he said, taking a sip and then sitting back, “but Laura is really nice.  I can’t believe it. This is too good to be true.”

“What’s too good to be true?” Gertrude asked, sitting down across from her brother.

“Laura, of course,” Fenton said.  “Girls like that never take a second look at guys like me.”

“What are you talking about?” Gertrude scoffed, not liking the hidden undertone that Fenton thought he wasn’t good enough for this horsewoman.

“She’s beautiful…funny…witty…her Dad’s a surgeon….What the hell would she see in a cop like me? I’m street, she’s something else,” he said, his face taking on a dreamy look again, and Gertrude snorted. 

“I haven’t met her yet, but I already don’t like her.”

“What?” Fenton focused his gaze on his sister, disturbed that she had taken such an immediate dislike to his future bride.

Gertrude continued, “Fenton Hardy, you are the most decent man in this whole city – and certainly the most handsome. This Laura girl would be lucky if you even cast a glance in her direction, let alone anything more!  Don’t you ever think you’re not good enough for her…or for anyone, you hear me?”

“You sound like Mom,” Fenton said affectionately, a bit surprised by the protective tone in his sister’s voice. While they got along, Fenton would never consider himself and Gertrude as close, and he didn’t very often see this side of her – not towards him, anyway.

As he watched her get up and take his now empty plate to the sink, he thought about Laura and Paul.  Their relationship was a lot more exuberant than his and Gertrude’s, as he thought about their merciless teasing.  But behind each jest, he could plainly see the unabashed affection they felt towards each other – an affection he had first mistaken for something else, before he found out Paul was Laura’s brother.

He wished it was more like that between him and his sister, instead of so reserved and formal…but then brushing the thoughts off, Fenton wasn’t sure how he would respond to having such a relationship anyway.

Sometimes siblings could be too close – that was his thinking….But then again, he really had nothing to compare it with – until now.