Simply Being Belle (23 page)

When she arrived
home early evening, to her surprise, she found Dare, Lacey, and Steven waiting
for her on her porch.  Dare was the first to speak.  “We need to talk.”

She straightened
her shoulders, bracing herself for what was to come.  Was he about to apologize
to her for making fun of her? 

“Actually, I need
to talk first,” Steven said.  He met Belle’s steady gaze.  “When I was teasing
you at work earlier, Belle, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.  I want you to
know, Dare hadn’t spoken about you in a joking or condescending way.  He had
mentioned how impressed he was with your stamina in climbing the dune…”  He
raked a hand through his hair.  “It was me who made a joke out of it.”

“I would never
laugh at you, Belle,” Dare said sincerely, leveling his gaze at her.  “I love
you.”  He seemed to remember they had an audience, and reddened slightly. 

“We should go,”
Lacey said.  “So you two can talk.”  She smiled suddenly.  “I still can’t
believe you gave your notice at Legal Aid today, Belle.”

“We’re really
going miss you,” Steven said.

She sighed
heavily.  “It was time.”

She turned and put
her key in the door.  She stepped inside, and Lacey and Steven turned to go. 
Belle was surprised when Dare asked them to stay. 

She watched him
curiously.  Why did he want Lacey and Steven to stay?  Presumably, she and Dare
had things to discuss.  They couldn’t very well talk with their friends in the
room.

Dare asked the
couple to sit down, and then turned to Belle.  “You and I need to talk
privately, but first, there’s something we need to do.”

She shook her head
slightly, watching him uneasily.  He was acting strangely, and she couldn’t
fathom why.  He turned to Lacey and Steven.  “Okay, I have something to say. 
First and foremost, I love Belle and plan to ask her to marry me.  Not tonight,
though I’ve given her fair warning.”  He turned to her then, smiling.  She
watched him in stunned surprise. 

He turned his
attention back to Lacey and Steven.  “As her friends, you’ve spent an
inordinate amount of time trying to change her.  I’ve done some of that myself,
though my reasons have been selfish.  Time with her is at a premium considering
her work schedule, and the truth is, I want more of her time.”  He turned to
Belle.  “We’ll talk about that part later, too.”

He continued
speaking, “As we all know, Belle watches the tape of her Sweet Sixteen party on
her birthday each year.  Like you both, I’ve urged her to destroy that tape.”

Both Lacey and
Steven nodded in agreement.

“I want her to
destroy it for a variety of reasons—one … I think may surprise all of you.”  He
turned to Belle then, searching her eyes.  “My fear, Belle, is that if you
can’t forgive yourself for the person you once were, you may be unable to
forgive others for their mistakes…”  He grimaced.  “More precisely, I fear that
you won’t be able to forgive me.”         

She furrowed her
brow.  What was he talking about?  “But I would never…”  She shook her head in
confusion.  “Forgive you for what?” 

She wondered, was
he referring to her hurt feelings over Steven’s joke earlier.  She nearly
asked, but he raised a hand to silence hear, seeming to forge ahead with a
purpose. 

“Where’s that
tape?  Please.”

“I won’t watch it
now, Dare,” she said.  “Not today.”

“Please, Belle. 
Where is it?  We need to put it to rest for so many reasons?”

She couldn’t
refuse him when she saw the earnest, pleading look in his eyes.  She rose
slowly and walked to the armoire where it was stored.  She pulled it out and
passed it to him.  All the while, Lacey and Steven watched him curiously.

When he slipped
the tape into the VCR, Belle took a seat on the couch, wincing as the tape
began.  Once again, she saw her sixteen-year-old self, and could hardly bear
watching.  To her relief, Dare fast forwarded the tape until…

Finally, he
apparently found what he was searching for, since he paused the tape.  “Please
watch carefully,” he directed to Belle and their friends.

He started the
tape again, and they watched the scene where the teenaged boy had declared
Belle’s new purple BMW “awesome” and the party “tight.”  He stopped the tape
again, then replayed the scene a second time.

“Dare, I don’t…” she
began, and he turned to meet her gaze.

“That’s me,
Belle,” he said.  “That shaggy-headed kid is me.”

“I don’t…” she
began again, but her words dwindled.

“Belle, I was a nearly
eighteen-year-old kid who happened to get a hold of an invitation to your
party.  I was a cocky jerk back then,” he acknowledged ruefully.

Belle, Lacey, and
Steven watched him, wide-eyed and mouths agape.  Lacey broke the silence when
she cracked up laughing.  “Oh, my gosh,” she murmured. 

“You see, Belle,”
he said, “you’re convinced you were such a horrible person at age sixteen.  I
was nearly an adult, and look at the piece of work I was.”

Steven joined in
laughing with Lacey.  “Oh, this is hysterical,” he said, shaking his head. 
“Oh, man.”

Belle was
speechless, watching Dare with a thoroughly shocked expression on her face.

“Belle, if you
can’t forgive yourself for the person you once were, how are you ever going to
forgive me?” he asked. 

To add emphasis to
the question, he again played the part of the tape featuring him.  She watched
in apparently abject horror, and then dropped her head into her hands.  At the
sight of her misery, Dare felt a wave of fear wash over him.  Had he made a
mistake in showing her?  Had he effectively ruined any chance for a future with
her?  Would she ever forgive him?

When he saw her
shoulders heave, he realized she was crying.  He felt as if someone had shoved
a knife into his heart.  He realized with a start, he had effectively done it
to himself.  He could have left it alone—Belle intended to destroy the tape
next year, when she turned thirty.  Had he kept his mouth shut, she would have
been none the wiser.  But he couldn’t lie to her.  It was no way to start a life
together.

Lacey and Steven abruptly
stopped laughing, realizing Belle was racked with grief.  They watched sadly as
Dare crossed the room and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.  “Sweetheart, can
you forgive me?  I had to tell you, since you put so much stock in that tape. 
Heck, Belle, you let it define you.  I don’t want it to define me in your
eyes.”  He gave an anguished sigh, and finally, she looked up.

 “You … were …
awful,” she cried, and it was then he realized she had been laughing, not
crying.  She wasn’t racked with grief.  She was laughing so hard she shook. 
She could hardly get the words out when she spoke again.  “We’re … perfect …
for … each … other,” she finally managed.

His face broke
into a relieved smile.  He joined her laughing.  “We are pretty perfect,” he
agreed, reaching for her hands and pulling her up to him.  He turned to their
friends.  “You two can go now,” he said with a grin.  “I can take it from
here.”

The twosome
quietly left.  Belle continued laughing, leaning against Dare for support.  He
was perfectly happy to give it.  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, tipping
her face to his.

He shrugged
helplessly and ran a hand through his hair.  “I wasn’t sure you could like me,
let alone love me, if you realized I was the kid in the tape.  I mean, clearly,
sixteen-year-old Belle and nearly eighteen-year-old Dare had a lot in common.”

She nodded in
understanding, and then her eyes widened in wonder.  “That tape suddenly
doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.” 

“Really?”

She nodded.  “I
mean, you turned out all right, all things considered.”

“And you certainly
turned out all right,” he said, smiling into her eyes.  “So, you can forgive
the goofy kid I was back then?” he asked with a sparkle of humor in his eyes.

She laughed easily. 
“What’s to forgive?  But can you really forgive me?”

“There’s nothing
to forgive,” he assured her. 

She laughed
lightly and Dare pulled her to him, kissing her soundly.   

 “By the way, I’m
cutting back my work hours,” she informed with a breathy chuckle.  “Way back.”

He kissed her
again. 

“I’ll expect you
to do the same,” she added.

“Sounds good to
me.  Let’s hope Millicent is agreeable.”

“Let’s hope,” she
said dreamily.  “It’ll be good for the dogs and kitten.”

“And for the
kids,” Dare laughed.  “It’s nine to five for us from now on,” he added fiercely. 

“I don’t know,” she
said, “ten to four sounds all right.  Maybe even eleven to three.  Who knows?”

“Who knows?” he said,
smiling contently as he wrapped her in a tender embrace and sought her lips with
his own.         

The
End