Mom was nowhere in sight as we walked back in, and I was a little relieved. Facing Dad was going to be weird enough, but Mom, too? That would be enough to send me back into a major meltdown. Not only had I learned the truth about my little summer, but I’d also screwed up majorly in my mom’s eyes. More than enough to give me a complex right there.
Milo left me in the living room with my suitcases. He left them by the couch and headed off to Dad’s office where Trish had no doubt disappeared to. I had a feeling he’d probably be playing the role of my chauffer to the airport if Trish succeeded in getting me a flight out.
I spun around and kicked my luggage absently as I pulled my cell out of my purse and scanned it for messages. Looked like there was one from Dad, but I scrolled past it—it was probably from when I’d taken off from the hospital. I’d turned my phone off as soon as Milo had appeared that morning. Stuffing the device into my pocket, I reached for one of the magazines on the coffee table, waiting for Trish to appear and tell me she had me on a flight out.
“Rumors are true then, huh?” Dad asked.
I was surprised to see him standing in the doorway.
“More rumors?”
What was it this time? Couldn’t I even leave town without someone talking about me?
“This one looks like it’s based in truth, though. You’re actually leaving?” He cast a glance at my stack of luggage.
“Adriana throwing a party yet? Or are the invites still being engraved?”
Dad crossed his arms over his chest, which was when I noticed the crumpled piece of paper in his hand. A very familiar piece of paper.
“Where did you get that?” I asked in a small voice. The last time I’d seen that, I’d been throwing it away.
“Your mom found it upstairs on your bed after you left with Trish.”
“Oh.”
“Chey…”
“Hmm?” I felt so incredibly awkward. Embarrassing for me to have him see that horribly crumpled piece of paper.
“Trish told me all about the e-mail before we got home, why you carried it with you. Apparently, I’ve been the biggest ass of a father there can be.” He ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stand up in spikes, and I suddenly noticed he looked more tired and older than I’d ever seen him. “I didn’t know how much this meant to you, Chey. I should have seen it, but I didn’t. I thought what you wanted was the L.A. lifestyle. I didn’t get you wanted less of that and more of me.”
I sniffled. Damn teenage hormones. I turned my gaze away from his, not wanting to see the shine there that implied unshed tears and that he meant what he was saying.
“Yeah, well…” I kicked the edge of my carryon. “That was then; this is now.”
“And you want to go home.”
Wouldn’t you, I was tempted to ask.
He walked a few steps farther into the room. “I wish you’d opened your eyes at the hospital when I was talking, to see who I was talking to.”
“Does it matter?”
He nodded. “It does. I was talking to your mom. About how having you out here has made me realize how much I’ve missed.”
“So?” I purposely put a defiant edge in my voice, trying to keep the emotion back.
“I wish you’d heard the rest of the conversation we had. Chey, I know I missed a lot of time with you. And this summer, I wanted to give you back all the things I never got to give you. The friends. The lifestyle. The car. Everything that I could. And I know I might have been a little well, shocked, when you said you wanted to spend the summer together. But I didn’t mean that I didn’t want you here, because I did. I do,” he said emphatically. “I just never expected the most important part of your summer was me. I guess I should have, when the most important part of my summer was you.”
“Me?” I couldn’t quite keep the disbelief out of my voice as I took a seat on the couch, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed.
“It might not have looked like it, but you were. I wanted to give you what I thought your mom didn’t. Freedom. You could do what you want. Fit me in whenever you wanted. I guess I should have tried more.” He gave me a weak smile. “I just hate the thought of your summer ending like this.”
“Me, too,” Mom said.
We both looked up to see her standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a can of soda in her hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I heard the last couple minutes between you guys.”
“That’s okay,” Dad said as he waved her in, and I saw a look pass between them I don’t think I’d ever seen before. Something like acceptance.
Mom came over and took a seat beside me. “I know I was a bit of a catalyst here. If I’d gone with Rico’s original plan to be the surprise this weekend, things would still be good between you two.”
I shrugged slightly. Okay, so it was a little true. My outburst never would have happened. I wouldn’t have taken off—twice. I’d be busy prepping for Rico’s opening and bugging Sorche over how nervous I was getting.
Instead, here I was, waiting for Trish to book me a flight home so I could wallow in my room for the next month before trying to figure out the rest of my life..
“For my part in this, I’m sorry. I need to deal with the fact you’re growing up, and out here, it’s more accelerated. I know from talking to Trish and Milo, and even JT, that this whole Adriana situation was going to blow up at some point. It’s not your fault someone captured it with their phone and some so-called magazine decided to run with it.”
“So what now?” I asked softly.
“That’s up to you.”
I looked up at the two of them.
“Me?”
“You’re almost eighteen, Cheyenne. It’s time for you to make some decisions on your own.”
“Do you want to go home?” Dad asked, looking at me carefully.
The funny thing was this still felt like home. Sometime over the last few weeks, this had become my home.
I leaned my head against my hands, trying to think.
I felt my mom’s hand on my back, rubbing gently.
“What do you want?” I asked, looking up at him.
He looked down at his hands. “I’d like you to stay, for the summer. Longer if you want. Rico’s opening is coming up. He’s got plans, he’d probably love to see you stay around here. Your mom and I talked…whatever you think is best for you, we’re a hundred percent behind.”
I glanced between them again, catching Mom’s nod.
“So if I wanted to stay…”
“Then you stay. And I’ll stay…” Mom said. “For the opening, at least, and maybe a couple days after. See those billboards of yours and maybe go out to dinner a few times. See a show. Trish said she could get us some concert tickets.”
I bit my bottom lip, catching Trish and Milo in the kitchen doorway, Sorche and JT standing behind them, JT holding my teddy bear in his arms.
I locked eyes with him for a moment, and the corner of his mouth lifted up into that smile that sent my heart skipping a beat.
That’s when I realized…
This was my home.
This was my family.
Sorche, Trish. Even Milo.
And JT…
How could I leave? And how could I let Adriana chase me away from a place and people that made me happy? No way was I going to just hand her everything on a silver platter.
I turned back to Dad. “Then it’s a done deal. Dad, you’ve got yourself a roommate. I’m staying.”
THE END
Dear Reader,
So Chey’s staying in Los Angeles...
Anyone else think Adriana isn’t going to be too thrilled with this news?
I can’t wait to see what else Chey & co are going to get up to next in book two - THAT GIRL.
If you enjoyed the start of Chey's adventures in
Los Angeles, I would love it if you left a review :)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Cardwell loves the sun, sand and a good read.
A good day involves at least one.
A perfect day involves all three.
Most days you can find her behind her tablet writing—and dreaming of warmer weather.
Find Lisa online at
www.lisa-cardwell.com
Cruel Summer Page 37
