Gavin pulled me to the side when we got back.
“Truth. How’d it go?”
“We’re not in sync yet. I blame you.”
A little sheepishly, he added, “I’ll work with the kid this week.”
The kid being Shawn, our freshman add-in. He wasn’t a rower, but was decent. When I’d posted about needing a backup, he’d been the only one that had ever actually rowed any type of boat, having grown up near a lake in one of the Carolinas.
Gavin and I were supposed to go to Miami for the week, but when he broke his arm and later I found out that Shawn was staying in town, I’d opted to hang around to get some extra practice in.
By the time we arrived in the weight room, it was packed. After a grueling day on the bay, everyone looked tired except Shawn, who glanced all around before heading toward me.
“Say, I saw you with a blonde on Friday.”
I stopped my arm curl. His comment came out of left field. I thought maybe he was going to say something about practice.
“Is she your girl?” he asked. When I only glared at him, his hands flew up in the air. “She’s hot, but I get that she’s off limits. Could you put a word in for me with her friend?”
“Megan?” Okay, maybe I said that too loud. A few guys close by, including Gavin, caught that.
Shawn’s eyes cast about like he was about to give me a top-secret cheat code for Madden. Then he nodded.
I ran a hand through my hair, not sure what to do. Gavin and Megan together were toxic. Plus, he acted like he wasn’t into her. “Sure.”
Shawn gave me a freakishly wide smile before his face went blank again. He strolled away like our conversation hadn’t happened. It was weird. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of him.
I reset my clock and began arm curls as I waited for the rowing machine to be free.
“What was that about?” Gavin eyed me warily as he stood there.
Evading, I asked, “What are you doing in here anyway?”
“There are things I can do one handed.”
“Do that in your room, not in here.” When he glared at me, I chuckled as he flipped me the bird after getting the joke a second too late.
“Who was he asking you about?”
As much as I wanted Gavin to admit his feelings for Megan so he could stop giving me shit, the last thing I needed was for him to start a fight where weights could be used as a weapon.
“I’ll tell you later.”
38
REAGAN
Mom hadn’t been too happy about me bringing a friend home. Gratefully, Dad had sided with me. He put on music while Megan and I put our ear buds in for the drive, which didn’t give Mom a chance to embarrass me on the ride home.
When we drove up to the house, I could see Megan’s awe.
“It’s so pretty here.”
The house sat in a little clearing.
“Dad built it for my mother.”
Megan’s jaw dropped. “How romantic.”
“It’s a small house. But I think I did okay,” Dad said, wrapping an arm around Mom.
“It’s so peaceful.” Megan glanced around taking it all in.
Dad filled her in on the specifics. “We have a couple of acres all to ourselves.”
As beautiful as it was, it meant I hadn’t had any nearby friends that could just pop over when I was growing up.
“Let me show you around,” I offered.
“Don’t go too far, Rae,” Mom said.
“They’ll be fine,” Dad said, coming to the rescue.
Once again, I was grateful for him. He steered Mom toward the house.
“Oh look, you have a tree swing.”
Megan took off and planted herself in the seat.
“Dad built it for me.”
“Wow, he’s pretty handy.”
I grinned, proud of my dad. “He’s a carpenter. He runs his own business, building things for people.”
“It’s so cool he built the house.”
“Yeah. As the story goes, when he found out Mom was pregnant, he built the house on land he’d gotten from his parents. It took him nine months and help from some other people like a plumber and electrician, but for the most part he did all the work himself.”
The small two-story house had four main rooms, excluding bathrooms and laundry. The downstairs was completely open and had a half bathroom under the stairs. Upstairs had three bedrooms, one on one side and two on the other. There was only one full bathroom up there.
“The wrap-around porch with rocking chairs is fantastic,” Megan said.
“Dad built the chairs too. He has a shed out back he creates stuff in.”
“Next you’ll tell me he built all the furniture inside.”
When I shrugged, her jaw dropped.
“Not everything, but the cabinets and dining room table and chairs. Come on, there’s more to see.”
Tall, old trees dotted our lot, leaving it shady. Although it was warming up, spring on its way, it was chilly enough we didn’t stay outside too long.
Before we got inside, Megan stopped me.
“Maybe you should ask to borrow the car so we can go to the store for the thing.”
“Oh.” Quickly, my mind worked through all the problems. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know how to drive.”
You would have thought I told her the alien invasion was happening.
“Seriously?” Megan’s eyes had turned to saucers.
How could I explain? Luckily, she came to her own conclusion.
“Your mother?” she asked.
I nodded. Though at first it had been my own fear, then it was her rules that had thwarted the possibility.
She pulled out her phone and tapped at the screen. “It says you can take it up to three days after. Maybe you should call Tade and ask him to get it for you.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can. He’s a part of it too. And you said he had a fancy car, which means he probably has the cash to buy it.”
I chewed on the idea while Mom called us in because breakfast was ready.
Everything was going pretty well until dinner.
“So Megan, do you have a boyfriend?” Mom asked out of the blue.
I had to give Megan credit—she didn’t flinch at the question and didn’t need me to answer for her.
“I had one, but we broke up. I’m single for now.”
“I think at your age, single is a good thing. Rae’s not ready for a boyfriend.”
Megan sat up. “I think Reagan can handle a boyfriend. She’s stronger than you think.”
She’d beaten me to my defense and I loved her for it.
“Sometimes strength isn’t enough. Goliath was the strongest man around, yet he was defeated by David. Sometimes being smart beats all.”
“Anna,” Dad began. “Strength comes in a lot of different forms, including wits.”
“So now you go against scripture.” Mom turned to Megan. “My husband is the associate pastor at our church.”
I closed my eyes as I felt Megan turn to stare at me, drawing her own conclusions about my life.
“He wasn’t always,” I said quickly, opening my eyes again.
Dad filled in the missing pieces. “It’s not a paid position. I’m more like someone to back our pastor up. I didn’t go to divinity school.”
“No, it was your dedication to our faith that led to Pastor seeing your worth.”
When Dad excused us from the table, I made a dash for my room, tugging Megan along.
“I’m sorry I brought you into this madness.” I leaned my back on the door. Megan crawled onto my bed, propping herself in the middle.
“Your dad is great.” She tilted her head side to side. “Your mom lives up to her crazy, but she’s not evil.”
She wasn’t. I loved her. I just felt smothered by her.
“When are you going to call Tade?”
“Later, after they’ve gon
e to bed and I can go outside so they can’t hear my conversation.”
She nodded.
“I love the window seats,” she said.
I had two, one on each exterior wall. Growing up, I’d pretend they were cabins in a spaceship and I was headed to Mars, which felt like the only escape I had from my life.
Megan got up and ran a hand over the dresser Dad handcrafted for me, and told me how I should handle the call with Tade.
Later that night, after my parents had settled into their room and Dad had the TV on, I quietly went down the stairs and out the back on the opposite side of the house from their room and made the call.
“Hey.”
He sounded tired. It wasn’t that late. I assumed he’d be out partying.
“Tade, it’s me.”
“I know it’s you, gorgeous.”
He’d never called me that. I grinned, trying to hold back the relief I felt that he didn’t sound upset with me.
“How was practice?”
“Tough—the guys think I tried to kill them.”
I laughed.
“So…” I let the pause linger while I gathered my courage. “I wondered if you could do me a favor.”
“Anything.” He’d said it so easily, like I could ask him for the moon and he wouldn’t have a problem giving it to me.
I took several deep breaths before blurting, “Can you get me the morning after pill? The pharmacy was closed on Sunday and I don’t really have the money to buy it.”
The air in my lungs stilled as I held my breath. It took him a few moments before he answered.
“Yeah, I can do that.”
“Can you ship it here and put Megan’s name on it?”
“I can buy it online and you can pick it up at the store.”
That would be quicker. “I can’t drive.”
“You don’t have access to a car?”
“No, I mean I can’t drive. I never learned.”
He paused and I felt like a total loser. He was so going to think I was a weirdo.
“We have to fix that. When you get back, I’m going to teach you.”
“Really? In what?”
“My car.” He said it like it was obvious.
“I can’t. I don’t want to break it.”
“It’s just a car. It can be fixed or replaced.”
I almost blurted, I love you, because my heart was totally heading in that direction.
“I can’t wait to see you again,” I said instead.
“Me too. Now give me your address.”
I did and told him to put Megan’s name on it.
“When you get back, it’s me and you.”
“Agreed.” Something moved. “What’s that?”
“Huh? What’s going on?”
“Something moved out there.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to see into the distance.
“Are you outside?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Go back in.”
“It’s probably a deer.”
“Go inside.”
His panicked voice created fear in me. I did as asked, but couldn’t resist peeking out the window.
“Are you in?”
“Yes,” I said as softly as I could. Noise bounced off our walls like a ball and only seemed to get louder as it went. “I have to go.”
“Get some sleep.”
“I will. You too.”
Deliriously happy, I hung up and didn’t notice I wasn’t alone until Mom spoke.
“Who was that? Was that a boy?”
Her voice got louder with each word she spoke. Her being there was so unexpected I couldn’t think of a lie, as I normally told the truth.
“Tade.”
She went off and her voice droned on until it became white noise in my head.
“He’s my boyfriend,” I whispered.
Ranting as she was, she didn’t hear me. I felt steel grow in my spine as I said louder, “He’s my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” She spoke it like it was a foreign concept. “When did I give you permission to have a boyfriend?”
I heard feet on the stairs, but it was too late.
“Dr. Flynn said it was fine if I had a boyfriend. She said I’m old enough to make that decision.”
“You will follow my rules as long as we are paying for your school and everything else.”
Megan came and stood by my side. Dad hadn’t made it to Mom yet.
“Like I have the opportunity to get a job. You’ve made me dependent on you.”
“Don’t talk back to me, young lady.” She pointed at Megan. “Is this your doing? Did you encourage her to get a boyfriend?” Her accusatory eyes landed back on me. “Are you having sex too? What happened to waiting for marriage like the Bible says?”
“How can I ever get married if I never date?”
“Anna, stop,” Dad said, though his words were soothing.
Mom whirled on him, jabbing a finger into his chest.
“How can we protect her if—”
“Dr. Flynn says that just because you’re afraid of the past doesn’t mean I have to be.”
“But you know this world is an ugly place,” Mom pleaded.
“Tade is good to me. It’s because of him I’m not afraid of the water. He taught me how to sail.”
“How can you truly know him well enough to trust him not to hurt you?”
“He’s never made me feel afraid, Mom. He’s kind, he’s gentle. He’s never pushed me to do anything I didn’t want to.”
“You will break up with him. And you’re not going back to that school.”
“I’m not and I will.”
“Anna. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”
Mom pointed at me as Dad forced her toward the stairs. “You will honor your parents like the good Lord says.”
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed to Megan, who appeared shell-shocked.
“Don’t be,” she whispered.
“I can’t stay here.”
She nodded. My hands shook, but I sent the text.
39
TADE
I hadn’t expected to hear back from Biscuit so soon after our call.
“Where the hell are we?” Gavin complained. “Bum-fuck-nowhere?”
“Stop complaining. You didn’t have to come.”
“And leave you to drive two and a half hours in the middle of the night to the middle of nowhere by yourself.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah, you’re welcome.”
And that was how our friendship went. It was said and done.
When we pulled up, the two girls stood on the porch.
“Help me get their bags,” I said to Gavin.
He glared at me, but got out. They didn’t have much, but I wanted a second alone with Biscuit before we all got in the car.
“Is everything okay?” I whispered in her ear.
She’d texted me and said she couldn’t call but needed me to come get her. After she’d been afraid of seeing something outside, all I could think was that she was in danger or a reporter was stalking her.
“I’m fine.”
I wanted to kiss her, but movement in an upstairs window stopped me.
“Are you ready to go?”
She nodded. When Gavin tried to get in the front seat, I hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “In the back.”
He grumbled and so did Megan, but they complied. I pulled off, sure we’d been watched the whole time.
“So what was the rush?” Gavin asked.
“She had a disagreement with her parents,” Megan answered.
“No, say what it was. Mom found out about you and practically threatened to pull me out of school if I didn’t break up with you.”
“Shit, Rae, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. She can’t run my life anymore. I’m an adult.”
She stared out the window, leaving me with nothing to say. I reached over and snagged her hand. She glanced at me fo
r a second before her gaze drifted back out the side window again.
It was the middle of the night when we arrived back. I suggested she sleep over.
“What about me?” Megan complained.
“You can stay with me.” Gavin’s response surprised everyone. “What?” He aimed his eyes at her. “You know you want to.”
She folded her arms, but begrudgingly agreed. “Fine.”
Nothing else was said. Once we were in my room, I relished the feel of Biscuit against me. I lay awake long after her breathing became long and even.
I woke feeling like I could conquer the world, and I only had one person to thank for that.
“Morning,” I said, her eyes like dewdrops. “I’m sorry I’m the cause of your fight with your parents.”
She shook her head. “I’m not. It was time for me to stand up for myself. Besides, I’m in…” Everything stopped in that moment as I wondered what she would say next. “I like you.” Then she added, “A lot.”
“I’m in like with you too. A lot.”
Her smile sent a solar flare straight through my chest. She leaned in and I went in ready for a morning taste as I realized there was more to my feelings than I bargained for. Though I decided not to name it and just live in the moment.
“I’m not keeping you from practice, am I?”
“No. It’s not mandatory and I gave the guys the day off.”
“Thank you.”
I snaked my arms around her waist. “I’d rather be with you. Maybe we can go for a sail?”
She beamed at me, which only ended with me kissing her senseless. We finally made it out of my room, only to come across a film crew set up on the lawn.
“What’s that all about?” Reagan asked.
She was trapped under my arm and pinned close to my side. As we passed behind the woman with a microphone in her hand, we briefly heard what she was saying.
“Rumor has it a celebrity is in our midst. A child now all grown up from a prominent family the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the Kennedys is said to walk this way to class every day. The family has lived a quiet life, somehow separating themselves from the prying eyes of the media. No pictures of the child who is considered royalty in some circles…”
I urged Biscuit forward with a hand at the small of her back.
Because of Him Page 14
