Chapter Eighty Eight
“I wanna get Tray something super special for his birthday in April and I’m gonna need your help to perpetrate it,” I secretly asked Willow for her assistance.
“Perpetrate makes it sound like something criminal Ember. What exactly do you need from me, and how much jail time could I get for doing it?” Willow inquired seriously and closely looked at me.
She thinks I’m asking her to do something criminal…and she’s willing to think about it??
“His birthday’s April 10th so we have some time to do this. I need you to distract him and keep him from looking too closely at our finances. That’s all – see no jail time involved.”
“Sounds more like you’re trying to gift me to your brother. Is this your sneaky way of putting a huge bow on my head and pinning a gift tag to my body? I’ve explained all this to you already Sweetie – in his time…”
“No, it’s not that – I promise. I’m going to get him something big for his birthday this year since I know we have the money. Technically, he said it was mine to use so that’s my justification. I want to make up for the birthday heart attack my best friend almost gave him – also known as Ember’s sweet sixteen surprise party.”
“You’re not planning a surprise party for him – are you?? He’d really hate that…” she replied loudly with a look of total horror on her face.
“Of course not…I still haven’t finished opening my eighteen million gifts…much less, writing the thank you notes for them. I wouldn’t wish that nonsense on my worst enemy…”
“So what’s this big surprise that is NOT a party of any kind and doesn’t involve inviting anyone over to your house that day?”
“I’m gonna buy him a new truck for his birthday. I need someone’s help picking it out though because I didn’t realize how many trucks there are to choose from,” I announced and watched her facial expression turn from relief to astonishment.
“You’re gonna buy him a new truck??”
“Yes, brand new, custom built, all the stuff that guys talk about their trucks doing – it’s gonna do all that and have everything extra added to it or into it that Walter of Nature’s Winding Path Autos can come up with…”
She sat there staring at me in shock and didn’t say a single word.
“I’m getting it with or without your help – just so you know…”
“I’ve not…I’m just…Ember how…this will…”
“Tray said the money was for me and my future. He is a gimonsterous part of my future because I plan to never leave his side. I want to invest in something that’s just his. Nothing that has memories attached to it and certainly not in a vehicle that he has to work on, almost daily, in order to keep it running. I need to do this for him, Willow…
“He allowed me to fly on my birthday. Even though I didn’t actually achieve that flight, the point is he would’ve let me. This is his freedom – a 4x4 so he can go everywhere I wander. I’m not gonna change my mind no matter what anyone says – period. Unless you distract him with your charms, he’ll notice when I take the money out. I’ll admit what I did as soon as his birthday present is revealed – I promise…” I told her.
“Sweetie – I just don’t know what to say to you…” Willow replied as she hugged me and then, agreed to help me perpetrate my brother’s birthday whammy.
I promised that I wouldn’t invite anyone over to the house on his birthday. I also told Willow that he could show his truck off to anyone he wanted to or he could just look at it and keep on driving our station wagon. It would be his choice.
Willow agreed to drive the truck to our house the night before his birthday. That way, it would be a complete surprise when he discovers it that morning.
My brother had moved our money to a secured Vaydem bank when he knew we were going to be here for a while. Rave introduced me to the manager and all the tellers. That way I didn’t need an ID in order to withdraw the money.
I pulled money out a little at a time, so my brother wouldn’t discover my diabolical scheme. Willow continued to distract him anytime he wasn’t working or practicing the dance with me. She was very skilled at keeping his attention. They always seemed to be deep in conversation about important things, so I hoped that meant they were getting closer.
Willow had started staying at our house through the week ever since she returned from her urgent family business trip. Her spending so much time with my brother and sleeping over were both promising signs for their relationship future.
Willow and I were standing in the kitchen cooking dinner together. She was effectively dodging my subtle attempts to discover if they had been kissing each other earlier that afternoon. I had walked out on the porch and they had practically jumped away from each other. They both stopped talking and looked so guilty.
“So, how’d things go with Eli today? Did he ever ‘pop the question’ so to speak…” she joked and tried to change the subject.
She looked around to make sure Tray wasn’t within earshot before she asked me – he’d find no humor in that little remark.
“He’s hinting strongly, but I’ve somehow managed to deflect it. I wish he’d keep things the way they are. But, he’s obviously not into hints. I don’t think my luck’s gonna last much longer. Krista’s reported that he’s building up his courage and is gonna ask me soon. She got so mad when I told her about Eli’s intentions because she hadn’t seen it before. Then, she called Greg a ‘terrible and frequent distraction’ and I think her remark wounded his pride a little. I wished she would’ve at least waited until we were alone to say something like that…”
My brother walked inside before I could tell Willow anything else about the Eli situation. I’d formulated what seemed like a perfect gypsy plan in regards to this impending-dating-doom situation. I intended to execute my scheme in the morning in fact. I decided to just take the bull by the horns and corner HIM tomorrow before he had a chance to corner me.
Let’s just see how Eli likes being in the hot seat for a change…
Ember Rising Light (Book One) Page 92
