First Love (8 page)

Silence on the other end of the line. Only Jordan’s breathing indicated she was still on the line. Drew wondered what she was thinking. There was a small voice in Drew’s head that didn’t believe the Jordan she thought she knew was throwing the towel in.

“I’m sorry. You’re right.” Jordan had regained some composure. Her voice was calm, in control. “I was just excited at how well I was doing, and I didn’t realize how distracting it might be to someone else. I’m sorry. I have a physics exam on Monday and would like to study.” There was a pause on the line. “If you are still willing to help me.”

Jordan wasn’t begging but she sounded contrite.

Drew didn’t want to buy the apology, but she didn’t want to believe that Jordan was that thoughtless. “I’ll be there at seven on Friday. If things change, please let me know as soon as possible. If you have other plans or are not prepared to study, I’ll leave and that will be the last time you’ll see me. Good-bye.” No acknowledgment of the apology. No pleasantries.

Most of the women Drew met on the rodeo circuit worked hard. Once in a while, a rich young woman would be part of the circuit, especially in college. These women expected others to acknowledge their name and their money. Drew, and most of the cowgirls, did neither. They respected skill. In the rodeo arena, everyone was equal, except for skill. And luck. “What a pain,” Drew muttered as she hung up. Still, there was a part of Drew that hoped Jordan wasn’t that type of person.

*

“How rude,” Jordan said as she slammed the phone down. “What would I expect of a…a…” she searched for the word, “…cowgirl!” She stood there and stared at her cell phone. “Drew’s right. I was rude. Oh, Drew, I’m so sorry. What’s wrong with me?” Jordan wanted to cry. This was such unusual behavior for her. Her life was in turmoil.

She walked into the kitchen and sat down. She opened her calculus book and stared at the page. Jordan knew how important good grades were for her to be admitted to the engineering program next year. Yet she had nearly lost her tutor.
No, she had nearly lost Drew.
Jordan put her head down on the books and let the tears escape.

*

“Well, that went well,” Mark said.

“That…that person,” Drew said as she paced the kitchen, “is a piece of work. She had the audacity to call and tell me she is paying for my time and expects me to put up with her rude behavior. As if she owns me or I’m just one of her paid servants.”

Mark sat, watching Drew pace. “What’s bothering you most? The fact that she’s rich or that she’s paying for your time?”

Drew turned on Mark. “She’s not paying for my time. She’s paying for my knowledge and teaching.” She stepped back and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t take it out on you. Being rich doesn’t bother me, but Jordan thinking she can buy me does.” Drew hesitated. “I’ve worked hard all my life, and I resent it when people think they can buy whatever they want. Not me. I’m not for sale.”

“Whew, girlfriend, that’s the most I’ve heard out of you in one breath.” Drew smiled, picked up the loaf of bread next to her, and threw it at him.

“Careful, I may stop talking completely to make up for that rant.”

*

On Friday, Jordan was sitting at the dining room table when Drew arrived. “I’m sorry about Tuesday.”

“Look. I don’t want excuses. Do you want to study or not?”

Jordan sighed. She didn’t want to lose Drew. She sat quietly, taking several deep breaths.
Why did Drew engender such strong feelings?
She was struggling with how to respond to her. She might as well be in a foreign land where she couldn’t speak the language. “It won’t happen again.” She hadn’t wanted a flatterer.
Well, Drew certainly wasn’t
.

Tension dominated their tutoring sessions the remainder of the semester. Drew was distant but thorough. Any attempts Jordan made to talk about anything other than school work were immediately rebuffed. Drew was back to calling her “ma’am” again. Jordan counted down the remaining sessions until finals were over. She needed some time and space to figure out how to get them back on firmer ground. Jordan, happy to have finished the semester with decent grades, was thrilled to get away from Gainesville.

The canopied turrets of Denver’s airport greeted Drew. Her sister and brother-in-law were there to meet her. She was so happy to be back in her beloved Rockies. She didn’t care what her family had planned. It was just good to spend the holidays with her family. This was sanity.

Around noon on Christmas Day, friends arrived to fill the house for their traditional Christmas dinner. Soon food and wine covered the large, hand-carved table. Drew and her brothers set up another table in the large dining room and brought in extra chairs.

At two, twenty-two people sat down for Christmas dinner, the warmth of the large fireplace enriching the atmosphere.

“To family and friends,” her father toasted.

“And to a Democrat in the White House,” Jason Williams, the Hamilton’s nearest neighbor, offered.

“Can we postpone politics until dessert?” her mother pleaded.

Drew grinned. With this group, there was no way politics would be put aside. She would finish dinner and go riding. The last thing she wanted to talk about was politics.
Boring!

“The Republican in there now is trying to take our dessert,” her father answered, causing laughter around the table. “He thinks water rights have something to do with permission to tie up his boat at any yacht club. Maybe we can persuade him to invest in the Cheyenne Marina and Yacht Basin.” More laughter.

This kind of conversation was common around her house. Harold Thompson had actually come to Wyoming to campaign against her father when her dad ran for the House of Representatives. It was downhill after that. If she ate a little faster, she could excuse herself and escape the familiar harangue.

”Maybe we can sell him some oceanfront property in Wyoming.”

“I wouldn’t sell him water, if he was dying of thirst,” Williams added.

“I second that,” Drew’s father said. “Drew, did you know that Hatchet’s daughter goes to Florida? Your mom and I were having dinner in town and ran into one of our legislators. Asked if you knew Jordan Thompson. Republican from Park County. Probably wanting to know if we had some connection. I told him there were forty-five thousand students there.”

Drew nearly choked on her turkey. She now wished she had paid more attention to politics. There had to be more than one Jordan Thompson at school. There is no way she could be tutoring Hatchet’s daughter. She pushed the food around on her plate. The more she thought about it, the more pieces fell into place. The security, the house in a locked community.
Shit!
She had three days before she would be heading back. Drew would find a way to stay busy and avoid the conversation.

*

Jordan enjoyed any quiet time she could find, knowing that the demands of her family’s life would intrude all too soon. The day after Christmas, the First Family headed back to the White House and holiday receptions.

Most of her life was spent in the public glare so she learned to treasure the moments the family had alone. Her enrollment at the University of Florida had brought attention initially, but once the semester was underway, she had been left alone. Only her appearances at political functions forced her back into the limelight. She hated these times but made the most of these situations for her parents. Coming back to the White House meant her vacation was over.

Brandan Carter and his family seemed to be everywhere. Brandan’s father met every morning with her father and Brandan tagged along, purportedly to see her. The Carters were at every social event at the White House. Brandan insisted they be seated together. Jordan found she wanted to spend more and more time in the family quarters. Unfortunately, her family expected her to be visible as much as possible. She needed to be pleasant, but it was a challenge. The only way Jordan was able to maintain her sanity was the time she spent with her brother and his fiancé. “Sandra, it’s so good to see you. Are your parents here?” Jordan asked.

“They’re at the hotel,” Sandra Lu answered tentatively. “This is overwhelming for them.” It would be the first meeting of the prospective in-laws. “My parents are first generation Americans and not actively involved in politics. They lead a quiet life.”

“We’ll try to make them welcome, then,” Jordan said. She grabbed Sandra’s arm and walked into the ballroom, avoiding the glares from Brandan Carter. Jordan knew all too well how daunting the First Family could be. Almost as much as being a part of it.

*

The remainder of Jordan’s holiday was busy, and Brandan Carter seemed to be constantly under foot. “My father has a National Republican Committee fundraiser tonight. He told me we should be there.”

Jordan sighed. Another day of getting dressed. “My father didn’t say anything last night.”

“There was a strategy meeting this morning, and it was decided this was a good time to start fundraising. There’s an election in a couple of years. Come on, we’ll have fun.”

She wanted to scream but instead smiled. “Let me see what my family has planned.” The last thing she wanted was another formal public dinner.

Once dinner was over, Jordan was glad to be returning home and to her bedroom. In the morning, she spoke with her parents and arranged to return to campus early, allowing Brandan to leave with his parents.

“Honey, are you and Brandan fighting?” her mother asked.

“No, Mom. There’s nothing to fight about. He’s just a friend.”

“He seems to be more serious. You aren’t leading him on?”

Jordan was stunned. “Mom, on campus I hardly see him. The only people I see consistently outside the classroom are my Secret Service agents and my tutor.”

“That reminds me. Your grades came today.” Her mother searched for the envelope and then handed it to her. “Well, how did you do?”

“Mom, I made a 3.83! I’ll make a 4.0 next time.” She hugged her mother and danced around the room. “If it wasn’t for Drew, I wouldn’t have done this well.”

“She must be a good teacher.”

“She’s a fantastic and a forgiving one.” Jordan told her mother the stories about the two injuries she had inflicted on Drew. “And after telling her how much difficulty I have studying in noise, I had a bunch of friends over one evening. Drew came over for us to study, and I’m afraid I was rude. She left.”

“Well, what did you do?”

“I didn’t have a chance to do anything. She left while I was out of the room. Anyway, she was right. I was rude.”

“Did she say that or did you?”

Jordan hugged her mother. “Don’t act so surprised. She told me I was rude, and when I thought about it, she was right.”

“Oh, my!” her mother said. “We must meet this wonder. Not that you are ever a difficult child, but, at times, I think your father and I have spoiled both you and Jack. I think it is more a way to get attention.”

“Mom! You make me sound evil.”

“No, dear, it’s just that we know that we haven’t been paying you enough attention.”

Jordan smiled, realizing she was going to miss her parents when she returned to school next week. Maybe her parents did believe in her.

January

Drew was relaxed. The break was short, but being in Wyoming had recharged her. The last couple of days at home, however, had been tense until she realized that no more questions about Jordan were going to be asked. She couldn’t believe how glad she was to be back in Gainesville. She was actually looking forward to classes beginning. Her only concern was dealing with Jordan.

She felt like such an idiot. How did she not know?
Why should I know? I don’t give a rat’s ass about politics. So, what do I do now?
She liked Jordan but knew what her family would say if they found out.
Fuck! Why didn’t she tell me? Would you have taken the job if you knew? Hell, no! Maybe she assumed you knew. How the hell would I know she was even at school at Florida? Fuck, fuck, fuck.
This was just giving her a headache.

Drew spent the next two days staying busy. It was the only way to avoid dealing with the panoply of emotions that bubbled up every time she thought about Jordan. She knew Jordan was expected back at any time.

When not at the medical school or library, she practiced roping. She even tried to teach Mark. “That’s not as easy as it looks,” Mark said.

Drew laughed as he ended up wrapped in the rope and tripping himself. “Come on, let me help you.” She reached down to pull him up when her cell phone went off. Without looking at it, she answered.

“Hi! How was your Christmas? Oh, this is Jordan.”

“I recognized your voice.” She knew she was being curt. She just wasn’t prepared for dealing with Jordan at the moment.

“Oh. Okay.” There was pause. Drew wondered what she was thinking. “I was wondering when we could start tutoring again.”

“Jordan, we need to talk first.” There was no way she was going over to Jordan’s. She preferred meeting some place where she was more comfortable. “Can you meet me at my place in an hour?”

“Of course. I don’t know where you live.”

Drew heard the hesitation. She had to settle this quickly. Her strong family ties demanded she end the tutoring. Her personal feelings wanted to continue. She gave Jordan directions.

*

Mark opened the door. “Oh, my. You’re….”

“Hi. I’m Jordan Thompson. I’m looking for Drew Hamilton.”

“Come in,” Drew said. She was standing across the room. She was determined to remain objective.
Yeah, I can ignore my family or ignore Jordan. If my family finds out I’m taking her money, there will be hell to pay. If I stop tutoring Jordan, then I go back on my word and I let her down.
She waited for Mark to close the door. “Are you the president’s daughter?”