Fiesta Moon

Chapter One ; The sun rising above the Sierra Madres glared in Mark Madison's eyes, despite his costly designer sunglasses, as if to punish him for daring to emerge before it reached the high point of its day. It reminded him of the receptionist at Madison Engineering Corporation, who welcomed him for a rare early morning appointment with cheer-veiled sarcasm. "Good morning, Mr. Madison," she said but meant, That's what you get for staying out on the ;town when the rest of us working stiffs have to get up early to make ;a living. ; Mark's lips pulled into a righteous grimace as he gripped the wheel of his rental car. He did a lot more than those nine-to-fivers thought-especially Blaine-and they'd realize it now that he was temporarily on leave. ; "Three strikes and you're out," Blaine said after Mark's most recent DUI hearing. "You've got to pull your life together, Mark. I'm tired of bailing you out of trouble and making excuses for you to Mother." Mouth thinned with disapproval, he handed over Mark's license. "If you are pulled over for anything unrelated to the project, kiss this good-bye, because you won't need it where you'll wind up. As it is, your performance in Mexico will determine whether you have a job when you return." ; Blaine's condescension had fanned the fires of Mark's shame into rebellion. "I never asked you to make excuses for me. I never asked for you to bail me out of this DUI either. I'm my own man, whether you believe it or not." ; At least Mark was as much a man as he could be, with a big brother who filled their ambitious father's shoes to the brim and a baby sister who had earned a doctorate in marine archeology before her twenty-sixth birthday. With ambition and brains taken, all that was left for Mark to claim was charm. ; Blaine ran his fingers through the silver salting his dark hair at the temples. "When are you going to get it through that thick head of yours that I'm trying to help you aspire to something beyond liver failure?" ; Mark bristled. "I'm a social drinker." ; "You're becoming more than that, Mark." ; "I can quit anytime." ; Blaine drilled him with a challenging look. "Want to bet?" ; Mark knew he was being suckered in, but for some reason he bit. "Name the stakes." ; "If you keep the hacienda project on target and stay sober while you're doing it, I'll step down from our on-site management and let you take it over. There's nothing I'd rather do than stay in-house and let you do the traveling." ; Mark practically salivated. He never minded the work, but hated being confined to the office, filling in the pieces of projects that Blaine had already designed. He envied his brother's travel. What a waste for someone like Blaine to see the world, when he was just as happy to stay in the box with his wife and kids. ; Only a fool wouldn't jump at this. "You got yourself a deal, bro." ; "I can't watch you, Mark, but God will know if you value honor more than a good time." Blaine had been on a God kick since he'd met Caroline. And while it made Mark a little uncomfortable sometimes, he had to admit his older brother seemed a lot happier now. And when Blaine was happy, Mark's life was easier. ; So Mark got a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card. Blaine and his church had used their pull to get Mark's jail time shifted to community service at some remote mission in Mexico-practically elevating Blaine to godly status in their mother's eyes. Blaine had saved Mark from ruin once again. ; _____ ; As thoughWindsor, Linda is the author of 'Fiesta Moon', published 2005 under ISBN 9780785260639 and ISBN 0785260633.