I laughed. “No, I didn’t even have eggnog. It was just a really busy day and I was physically drained. So what’s up?”
“Oh, I was just seeing how it went. For you, I mean. I listened online, so I know what it consisted of. I just wanted to see how you survived.”
“Oh, I did all right. I was at the studio by five in the morning to make sure everything was ready, and I don’t think I started my downfall until about three or so. You really listened online?”
“Yeah, it was pretty cool. It started at noon, so I listened when my last class was done. Then I had it on down at the shop.”
“How’s school going for you?”
“Pretty good. Got my grades yesterday and I pulled off a 3.6.”
“Really? That’s awesome. I should take you out to celebrate.”
“Okay, meet me tonight at seven and we’ll go get some dinner.”
“Aw,” I frowned. “I wish.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“But eight more days, right?”
“Yeah, eight more days.”
“I’m so excited you’re coming, Tyse. I can’t wait to see you.”
I didn’t realize my sister was standing in the doorway and she nearly scared the daylights out of me. “Yeah, I can’t wait to see you, too,” Tyse replied at the same time.
“Uh, hang on just a second, okay?”
“Sure.”
I covered the phone and looked at Dawn’s unhappy face. “What’s up?”
She kind of shrugged, but I could tell she was really annoyed. “Uh, David’s birthday?”
I cussed out loud and jumped off the bed.
“At least put some pants on,” she added dryly before she left the room.
“You don’t have any pants on?” Tyse said over the phone.
“Oh, gosh,” I groaned. He was laughing but I said, “I gotta go. I totally forgot about my brother’s party today.”
“Sure, no problem. Tell him happy birthday for me.”
“Uh…okay,” I replied uncomfortably as I pulled on a pair of jeans.
“Bye Ells.”
I tossed the phone on the bed so I could use two hands, and quickly finished getting ready. My sister was sitting on the couch with her arms across her chest, impatiently tapping her foot on the floor.
Great, it was going to be one of those days with her.
“We’re not gonna be late,” I told her. “It starts at noon.”
“Uh, David will be there at noon. We, the guests, are supposed to be there at eleven-thirty.”
It was twenty-five after and I knew we had a fifteen minute drive. “Oh crap.”
“Yeah, so let’s go.”
I said a quick goodbye to Kailey in the kitchen and rushed out the door behind my sister.
“Oh, and don’t be surprised if Harlan is there,” Dawn said as she squealed out of the driveway. “I invited him and he was already going to be in the area.”
“Oh. I thought he worked today.”
“At three. You should have at least invited him.”
“Uh, okay…”
I didn’t understand why she was so perturbed with me. I’d had two casual dates with Harlan. Now I was supposed to invite him to family gatherings?
“So where’s Wyatt?” I asked.
“Working.”
I wondered if it was something he really had to do or if it was just an excuse to get out of a family function. The guy worked for his dad so it wasn’t like he couldn’t take the time off.
We really were the last ones to arrive at my parents’ house, but thankfully David wasn’t there, and Mallory was very nice and understanding about it. My sister wanted to crucify me, but no one else seemed to care. I spotted Harlan speaking with my dad and he smiled at me. Just as I was walking across the room to greet him I heard my mom ask Dawn what the hold up was, and Dawn replied, “Someone was talking to her ex-convict friend.”
My blood almost went cold because I could just feel half of the room staring at me. My mom pretty much shushed Dawn for the time being, but Harlan looked at me with question.
“You have an ex-con for a friend?” he quietly asked with a smile. He did lean forward to kiss me on the cheek, but after he handed me a glass of punch, he waited for my reply.
“Yes, I do. But he’s a good guy, so don’t listen to anything my sister says.”
He bobbed his head. “Okay.”
I took a deep, silent breath to un-rattle myself, and remained on high alert for any more of Dawn’s outbursts.
David was surprised with the party that Mallory had planned, and it seemed pretty successful. I just tried to enjoy my time with Harlan and avoid Dawn at the same time. It worked for the most part, and I was even glad when Harlan offered to take me home.
“You seem really on edge today,” he said in the car. “Is everything okay? You having a disagreement with your sister?”
I sighed. “She and I disagree about ninety percent of our lives, you know.”
“Yes, I’ve discovered that,” he smiled. “But you can’t live without each other.”
“No, unfortunately not.”
“So what’s got you upset?”
I took a few moments to think, and I decided the only thing I could really do was be honest with him. “I was talking to Tyse on the phone before the party,” I told him.
“Sure, your…sort of boyfriend,” he said with a smile. Harlan knew quite a lot about Tyse since he had asked and wanted me to be upfront. But there was one major piece of information that I’d left out. I could tell he put Dawn’s comment together with that, and he slightly nodded his head. “Oh, I see.”
“He is a good guy, Harlan. What happened to him was just…really crappy.”
“So tell me about it.”
We were just pulling into my driveway and I looked at the clock. “But work…”
“I have time.”
I reluctantly agreed, and shared with him what I knew. I’d never even told my family about it. But Harlan was easy to talk to, and even though I felt like he would be fair with his opinions, I had mixed feelings about sharing it with him. I didn’t know if I was betraying Tyse—although he had never said anything about keeping it a secret—but maybe I really was.
“Anyway,” I finished. “I’d rather you keep all of that to yourself. My family knows that Tyse went to prison, and they know I believe he’s a good guy, but I’ve never told them all of that. You know, about his family and what they did.”
“Why not? Why haven’t you told your family?”
“Uh, just because of all the contention it’s already caused. They’re not willing to see my side of it, and I’m just afraid that they still won’t get it even if I do explain everything to them.”
“You won’t know unless you try. Knowing only a little part of that particular story is probably a lot different than seeing the entire picture. The poor man has faced the world at it’s worst—his family turned against him. I’m sure your family can sympathize with that.”
I didn’t know what to reply so we just sat there in silence for a few moments.
Finally Harlan said, “You’re afraid of a future with Tyse because it might not include your family. Your worst fear is that you’ll have to choose one or the other, and you desperately want to have both. I understand that. But you can’t possibly make a decision about something unless you’ve done all that you can to make things happen your way.”
I slightly nodded.
“I think you need to make your parents hear it all—even how you feel about Tyse—before you subject yourself to a fate that might not even be necessary.”
I totally agreed with him. Why had I held off all this time? Tyse was coming for Christmas. What had I even done to prepare myself for that except just worry about it? Did I expect that everything was just going to magically work out somehow?
“Yes, I agree with you,” I said. “I suppose you are older and wiser than me.”
He chuckled. “Well don’t take my advice as fact. It’s on
ly my opinion. And I am definitely not an expert at romantic involvements.”
I snickered at that, and mimicked, “ ‘Romantic involvements’…”
“Hey…” he warned.
I laughed, but I really felt a little overwhelmed at the moment.
“You’re still worried,” he noticed. “What’s the matter?”
“Well, you I guess.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Me?”
“Yeah. How can you do all this? Sit there and give me advice about another guy? Isn’t it… Well, aren’t you upset with me? Doesn’t it bother you?”
He slightly shrugged. “Well no, I’m not upset with you. But it is a bit tough. I only want to be with you Ellie, but it’s not fair to either of us if your heart is indecisive. I want you to be happy, and if that means giving you every opportunity that you need to help in your decisions, then that’s what I’ll do. I don’t want you to be with me for any other reason other than you wanting to be with me.”
I realized, despite all the struggles that I had in relationships with guys, that I really was pretty lucky in my friendships with them. My respect for Harlan grew even more that day, and instead of waiting for his cute little peck on my cheek, I gave him a big smooch on his.
“Thanks, Harlan. Call me for breakfast tomorrow.”
I decided to visit my parents’ house that night, and I sat down with them to explain everything that I could about Tyse’s past. I held their complete attention from the very beginning, and even though they were entirely blown away by some of the things that I said, they were still a bit cautious if it was the “real” truth. I tried not to get upset with them. I tried my hardest to understand things from their point of view. I told them that they at least needed to give him a chance.
“Yes, everyone deserves a chance,” my dad said. “Especially if they’ve been dealt a tough hand.”
“And I think he has. No, I know he has.”
“You can’t always believe everything a person tells you, Ellie,” my mom said. “I know you’re a cautious girl, and you’re very smart, but sometimes we only see what we want to see. It happens to all of us. It’s our desire to be charitable, to give someone a chance.”
“I can see it in his eyes,” I barely whispered. “It’s there, plain as day for me to see.”
“What’s there, sweetie?”
“His soul. And it’s good. He needs me, Mom.”
In realizing that, it made my eyes water. My parents weren’t used to seeing me cry, so they just kind of sat there for a minute and didn’t say anything.
Finally my dad said, “So will you answer the question I asked you almost a month ago? Do you have a romantic interest in Tyse?”
It was silent for a few seconds and I finally chuckled sarcastically and pointed to my face. “I don’t know, what do you think? I mean I’m crying, for heaven’s sake.”
My dad smiled, but my mom’s serious expression didn’t change at all. I could tell that the news didn’t excite her too much.
“So is that a yes?” my dad asked.
“Yes, that’s a yes.” I sighed and took a moment to wipe my tears. “I miss him. And although it was so good to see him after Thanksgiving, it kind of made it even harder for me.”
“What is it about him that makes you feel that way?” he asked.
I thought for just a second, not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I didn’t know where to start.
“He’s always encouraging me to be confident with my decisions and to have a little faith in myself. He makes me feel like I’m the only one whose opinion matters to him. I feel comfortable around him, and I trust him. And he’s very sweet and thoughtful. Sometimes he’s blunt, and he says things that I don’t really want to hear, but it’s kind of nice to have someone be so honest so I can look at things objectively. And he just… He makes me feel perfect the way I am.”
Neither of my parents responded. They glanced at each other, but whereas my mom looked away from me, my dad returned his eyes to mine.
“So he is coming for Christmas, right? I mean he is welcome, Ellie, I told you that, but just so we know.”
“Yes, he’s coming for Christmas.”
“And where is he staying?” he asked a little more firmly.
“Uh, probably with me.”
Neither of them liked that idea, and I knew they wouldn’t anyway. They didn’t even like it when Gage had stayed with me, but what could I say? I was almost twenty-one, and I didn’t live at home anymore. What did they think they could do?
I didn’t say anything about it though, and I guess they decided not to either because my dad wanted to know when and for how long Tyse would be visiting. After that was established, my mom asked, “And what about Harlan, Ellie? Where does he fit into all of this?”
“Harlan and I are friends.”
“I thought you were dating?”
“Maybe. We haven’t really progressed much beyond the friends stage. He knows how I feel about Tyse. I was very clear about that before I agreed to go out with him.”
“He must really like you,” she said knowingly. “That must be tough for him.”
I explained to them the conversation I’d had with him earlier, from his advice to talk to my parents about Tyse to why Harlan was choosing to be patient with me.
“He’s a very smart, very mature young man,” my mom partially smiled.
“Tyse was the same way about Gage, Mom.”
“But I thought Tyse didn’t express any feelings for you when he was here. From what I know, you two were only friends. Do you mean to tell me that Dawn was right? Gage was worried that you and Tyse were involved with each other—”
“No, we were not. And no, Gage shouldn’t have thought that because we talked about it. I’m only saying that Tyse understood how uncomfortable our friendship was for Gage, so he really just backed off out of respect.”
“Apparently not enough if Gage felt threatened by it.”
“Donna,” my dad warned.
“Mom, Gage and I didn’t break up because of Tyse. We broke up because he wanted to date other people. Well, maybe he just didn’t want to date me, I don’t really know,” I frowned.
“Honey, we don’t need to talk about Gage,” my dad said.
“Good, because he kind of broke my heart a little, Dad,” I said with tears again.
“I know, sweetie.”
The room was quiet again until I took a deep breath. “Are we done yet? Is there anything else you guys want to know or need to hear?”
“Is Harlan coming for Christmas too?” my mom asked.
I stared at her for just a second.
“Donna.”
“Well I’m just wondering…”
“What, you want me to invite Gage, too? Would that be exciting enough? Jerry Springer style?”
My dad chuckled.
“What about Wyatt’s other woman—?”
“Ellie, that’s enough.” Apparently that one didn’t amuse him.
“Well come on, what do you think?”
“It was just a question,” my mom said. “He just has his brother here…”
“They’re going to England.”
“Oh.”
And so that was the official disclosure about Tyse. It kind of had good and bad results, because even though they didn’t jump up and down to welcome him to the family, they didn’t completely shun me either. I guess the true test would be when he actually came.
And…I still had Dawn to worry about.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I was climbing one of those jagged little mountains, and although I knew I wasn’t even halfway up it, I already needed help.
The 22nd of December was a Thursday, two days before Tyse would be arriving. I left work that day, ecstatic for my winter vacation to begin. I had a voicemail from Tyse, so I listened to it as I pulled out of my parking space. I didn’t get too far because the second he said he had to cancel his flight, I stopped right there in the middle of
the parking lot. He said he couldn’t make the trip, had some stuff going on, and he couldn't afford to take off from work. To say I was crushed was an understatement. My entire future depended on his visit; I wanted to confess how I really felt about him.
After being honked at by Belinda Martin, I moved my car into a different space and cried. I didn’t understand what was going on—why Tyse would cancel such an important trip—and when I called him back, all I got was his voicemail. I tried to be tough, but I knew I started blubbering halfway through my message. I begged him to reconsider, even offering (again) to pay his way. I even told him that I needed him, and that it was so important to me that he came.
By ten o’clock that night he still wouldn’t answer the phone or call me back. I was panicking because I thought something was seriously wrong. I was even avoiding calls on my own phone because I didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I even lied to Harlan via text and said I wasn’t feeling well. I guess it wasn’t entirely untrue, but I just didn’t know what to say to him.
I felt even guiltier when he sent me flowers the next morning.
I tried my luck calling Nate’s shop on Friday. Luckily someone answered, but both Tyse and Nate weren’t in and I had to leave a message for either of them to call me. I didn’t exactly trust that the guy took the message, so I even called back later that afternoon to leave it again.
I fished through everything that I had—papers and such—and finally found a phone number for Nate’s house. Of course I only got the answering machine, so I began leaving another message.
“…So please just call me back, Tyse,” I was begging. “I just need to talk to you. I’m about to hop on a plane—”
“Ellie, he’s not here,” a voice said.
“Nate?”
“Yeah, it’s Nate. Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on, but you’ve got my boy so tied up that I’m really pissed off right now. Quit playing games with him or—”
“What are you talking about?” I exclaimed. “I have no idea what’s going on! I’ve been so excited for him to come for Christmas, and then he just calls and leaves me a voicemail that he had to cancel his flight.”
“What?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? Where is he, Nate? I need to talk to him.”
Summer Swing Page 32
