“Hey girls. Um, Lana, sweetheart, let’s go talk a little bit, okay.”
Lana’s hand squeezed mine this time before letting go and standing up. If my aunt would let me I’d go with her and hold her hand through the whole conversation. Lana had ended up being the friend I so desperately needed this past week. My door closed behind them and I laid back on my bed and whispered a little prayer for Lana. God knows she needs it with a mama like hers.
Beau: I’m sorry about tonight. I should have protected you.
He was taking the blame for something that was my fault. I had to find a way to stop this.
Me: You did nothing wrong. This was my decision. This summer I let this happen. I can’t change the way I feel but I can control how I handle things. I’m doing it all wrong.
Beau: What do you mean? What are you going to do?
I wasn’t sure yet. I had to think about that some more. Telling Beau I was breaking up with Sawyer wasn’t the kind of thing I needed to text him.
Me: I don’t know. I’m thinking about things.
I waited, but after a few minutes and no response, I lay the phone down beside me. If I could go back and change it all, would I?
Beau: I love you.
The warmth that flooded me answered my question for me. No. I’d never take back one moment of this summer I’d had with Beau. Closing my eyes, I drifted off to sleep.
I’m growing weary of goodbyes. Lana and her mother stood at our front door with their suitcases in hand. My aunt was headed back home to take my uncle to the cleaner’s in what would be an ugly divorce. Lana had a lot of drama and pain ahead of her. I’d begged her to just stay here with us. She could let her parents battle it out without her around but she said her mother needed her right now. In a way I understood but then I wondered if I had been in Lana’s shoes, would I be so kind? She was really the better person. I was the selfish brat.
“I’m going to miss you,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t sound so forlorn. Strange how you can think someone is ruining your life and they end up being your friend. I’d been so upset over having to share my space and listen to my aunt I hadn’t realized I had a friend right under my nose when I needed one the most. I still needed her.
“I’m going to miss you too. Keep me updated on your . . . life,” she said with a small lift to her eyebrows.
I nodded then leaned in to hug her. “Thank you,” I whispered in her ear.
“You’re welcome,” she whispered back.
“I’m so glad you girls have bonded again after all these years. We’ll have to come back and visit again soon. After I get through the divorce and all. Maybe I can use my extra money to take the two of you on a cruise. Wouldn’t that be fun?” my aunt said. It took all my will power not to recoil at her suggestion. There was no way I was going on a trip with that crazy woman, much less a ship where it was impossible to run away from her. The smirk on Lana’s face had me forcing back a giggle. She knew good and well there was no way I was going on a trip with her mama.
“Alright y’all, we’ll be in touch,” my aunt said brightly and turned to head out to her Lincoln Town Car. I stood watching as my dad helped them load their luggage into the trunk and my mother hugged and talked to her sister. Lana waved at me from the passenger seat. My room would be quiet and all mine again . . . but that no longer sounded appealing.
There are some things you don’t expect to see and Beau Vincent sauntering into the church on a Sunday morning is one of them. Finishing my solo hadn’t been easy. My eyes wanted to eat him up sitting alone on the back pew with his jeans on and a snug-fitting navy-blue polo stretched across his broad chest.
Sawyer hadn’t noticed his cousin, since he was on the second row to the front. I’d been sitting on that row since I was a little girl. My parents expected me either on the first or second pew. I couldn’t go back any further. Sawyer never complained. Every Sunday he was right there waiting on me to finish singing in the choir.
My gaze drifted back to meet Beau’s even though I knew it was a bad idea. He was liable to make me forget the words. A slow, titillating grin touched his lips. The sanctuary suddenly felt a hundred degrees. My face flushed and I tore my eyes off him and his delectable mouth. Somehow I managed to finish the words to How Great Thou Art without messing up. The choir began to exit through the side doors of the stage and I normally just made my way down to my pew. Today, however, I needed a breather. I fell in behind Mary Hill and let out a sigh of relief as I stepped into the warm sunshine.
“You leaving?” Jason Tibbs asked, sticking his pimply face out the door and frowning at me. His dad was the associate pastor so he felt our meager relationship gave him the right to question my actions. Instead of insulting him I took a deep breath then forced a smile and glanced back at him.
“No, my head is hurting. I needed to take a quiet break.”
He grinned, showing way too much gum and flashing his crooked overbite. His dad really needed to send the boy to an orthodontist and a dermatologist.
“Okay, I’ll leave the door unlocked then so you don’t have to walk all the way around the building to get back inside.”
I nodded and said an obligatory ‘thanks’.
The door closed quietly behind him and I knew I had limited time before people started noticing me missing from the second row.
“You hiding out here because of me?”
Beau’s voice startled a gasp out of me. His long legs ate up the grass as he closed the distance between us. I couldn’t keep from ogling him. It was just unfair for someone to look that good in a pair of Levi’s.
“No response means yes,” he said with a smirk on his face as he came to a stop mere inches from me. He knew I was lusting and he liked it. Determined to regain some of my dignity I straightened my posture and flipped my hair back over my shoulders while peering up at him.