Summerfield (12 page)

"What do you mean?"
I swallowed, finding the gesture a bit difficult. I pushed away any
doubt or fears and forced myself to stop crying, and smiled softy. The
smile wasn't fake, it never could be with Ben because he truly made me
happy. "I don't really know." I admitted sheepishly. "But I do love
you. You have no idea how much."
"I think I might." He smiled, capturing my lips in another kiss, this
time it was a bit more passionate and loving than some former kisses.
He kissed my forehead once again as we separated. "Night."
"Night." I mimicked, getting in just one last kiss before opening the
door and climbing out. I gave him one last wave before turning to go
inside, most likely to find Dad in a nervous rampage.
"Belle." Ben called. I turned instantly to see his smirking. "So, uh,
you kind of like me, huh?"
I rolled my eyes. "You're such a dork." I muttered, turning back
around and going inside, noticing that Ben waited until I was safely
in the house before driving away. I smiled and sighed in pure
happiness as I closed the front door behind me.
I smiled when I saw Dad lying on the couch, the television still on.
He had obviously fallen asleep waiting on me. I grabbed a blanket from
behind the couch and covered him with it, not seeing a point in waking
him just so he can go back to sleep when he looked perfectly fine
here.
I practically sprinted up to my room, eager for some rest. I collapsed
on my bed, not bothering to change from what I was wearing.
I don't think I had ever felt this utterly amazing.
 

Chapter Nine
"Belle, time to wakey wakey."
I only slightly registered the voice as Dad's, but I couldn't be quite
sure. He never woke me up in the mornings.
I opened one eyes and peeked at my clock. It was 9:00am, way too early
for a day to start. Especially when I hadn't gotten to sleep until
almost 2:00.
I groaned, kicking my feet in displeasure, mumbling something
incoherent to even myself.
"Come on Belle. It's father/daughter bonding day. Time to rise and
shine." He said, shaking me lightly before turning to my blinds and
opening, letting all the light shine right into my eyes. I groaned
even louder, I hated it when people did that.
"Dad. Me. Tired." I grumbled, lifting the sheets over my head and
sinking back comfortably into my pillow.
He obviously felt the need to ignore me as he took the covers away from my face.
I opened my eyes and sighed when I saw Dad there smiling. "Fine, I'm up."
He grinned, a gloating glint in his eyes. "Great, we'll leave as soon
as breakfast is over."
"Don't you work today?" I asked as he began to make his way from the
room. Gosh, he was chipper. I had almost forgotten how annoying
morning people can be.
"Nope. Ben's taking over for me today. His friend Chad's helping too."
"Ben and Chad?" I was so missing out. "That should be interesting."
Dad shrugged. "He's a good kid. Anyways, you better get ready. A person
will only wait so long."
I grinned as he left the room. I hadn't seen him in this good of mood
in so long and it reminded me of old times. The better days.
I dressed in a pair of jeans and a grey top, decorated with a pink and
black guitar on the front. It was one of my favorites.
I ate breakfast quickly, eager to go out real quick before leaving to see Ben.
"So, what all are we doing today?" I asked as I put my dish next to
the sink, for it to be washed later.
Dad shrugged his back to me as he continued to finish off his toast
and eggs. "Not real sure. Whatever we feel like doing, I guess. Ella
and Lance have a lot of last minute wedding preparations, so it's
probably best we stay out of their way. Especially Ella's."
"Okay, well, I'm going to go say bye to Ben and Chad real quick. I'll
wait in the truck."
He nodded, focusing more on his food than me. I simply just smiled and
left the house to go find the guys.
"Belle!" I heard Chad's semi-familiar voice yell across the front
yard, a grin on his face and his arms opened out wide as he became
closer. "Best friend." He wrapped his arms around me in a grizzly hug,
much like the ones Ella would give me after not seeing me for
very long.
"Chad." I breathed.
"Yes, best friend?" He asked his grip just as tight and his face
innocent with a big smile.
"You're killing me."
"Oh." He laughed, dropping me to my feet. "Sorry about that."
I shook my head, laughing a bit. "I love your enthusiasm and all," And
he had a lot of it. "But you have a death grip."
He just grinned widely and I had to laugh.
"Where's Ben?"
Chad turned his head over his shoulder. "Ben! There's a girl looking
for you!" He yelled. "Says something about mothering your children."
"Shh!" I placed my hand over his mouth quickly, glancing to the house.
"My dad might hear you."
"Chad, do we have to relive the gym sock lesson?" Ben scolded lightly,
wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing my temple. I responded by
wrapping both arms around his waist.
Chad faked being conflicted and hung his head. "No."
Ben chuckled a bit, glancing down at me. "Your dad told me he was
stealing you away for the day."
I smiled a bit, glancing at the house to make sure Dad wasn't looking
and leaned up, kissing him quickly. "Yeah, but tomorrow you get me all
to yourself once again."
He kissed my forehead, making me a bit dizzy. "I guess I'll just have
to grin and bear my way through today."
"Hey man," Chad interrupted, wrapping an arm around Ben. "You still have me."
Ben stared at me before looking back to me, his eyes wide with mock
fear. "Baby, if I die let it be known that it was all his fault."
"Hey!" Chad called defensively.
"What?" Ben questioned innocently. "I could have said a lot worse of things."
"Oh. Well, thanks man." Chad grinned, patting Ben on the back and
unwrapping his arm from Ben's shoulder.
Ben sighed. "Today is going be extremely tiring."
I giggled, giving him a small kiss on the lips, sending surges through
my own body. I wondered if he ever felt that too when we would kiss.
"I feel your pain."
"Are you going to pull that whole "I hurt when you hurt" line?"
"Yup." I grinned, my eyes flickering to the house where Dad was now
leaving through the front door. I sighed a bit. "I better get going."
He wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "I'll see you when I get back.
I love you."
I really had to resist the urge to kiss him. "Love you too. Bye guys." I waved.
"No!" Yelled Chad in an overdramatic way as he pulled me into a hug
also. "Goodbye best friend." His voice sounded like he was about to
cry.
"Chad, really, are you on drugs?" I laughed when he had safely set me
on the ground.
"No, but I am a tad buzzed."
"On what?"
"On life, darling." He winked.
Ben sighed deeply and shook his head. "This guy is going be the death of me."
I gave Ben one last hug, sneaking in a small kiss on his neck, so that
it wasn't noticeable to Dad. "Bye."
And then I was off for my first father/daughter day in possibly three years.
***
So far this whole father/daughter bonding day hadn't been so bad.
First we stopped to get some lunch, shopped around the Summerfield
mall, and were now grabbing some ice cream at the ice cream parlor,
Jenny's.
I had actually known the owner, Jenny, since I was a kid. Whenever we
would come to town we would stop and get something. She was about in
her seventies, but the sweetest woman in the world. She was strong
though, she didn't take any garbage from anyone, and she had a good
spirited about her.
"So, how was last night with Ben and his friends? I see you hit it off
with Chad." Dad said as he took a bite of his sundae.
I was playing with the stem of the cherry they had put on top of mine.
The cherry was possibly my favorite part. "It was fun. His friends are
pretty cool." Even though Dad and I had seemed to have broken down a
couple of our walls, it was still odd to have an actual conversation
with him and there was limited information I really wanted to share
with him.
"Yeah." He glanced at me and then out the window, looking
uncomfortable. "So, I know you've been spending a lot of time with
Ben."
I knew where this was going. "He's like, my best friend, Dad. I don't
really know anyone else here."
"What about your friends from school before you left?"
I shrugged. "Lost contact. I haven't talked to any of them in almost a year."
"Well, it's just...honey, I think Ben may have...different feeling for
you than you do him."
I tried to deny my blush by raising an eyebrow challengingly. "What do
you mean?"
"I think he may like you. And you should really tell him that-"
"Tell him what?" I interrupted. "I don't know that he likes me. I
highly doubt he does. We're friends, we both know that and that's all
we are."
Dad nodded. "If he tried anything knee him in the groan."
I almost choked on my own saliva. Had he honestly just said that?
"Dad, not only is Ben a great guy who would never do that, but I
thought you trusted him?"
"I do, but he's still a guy."
"He wouldn't do something like that." I couldn't believe this
conversation. "And if he did like me, why couldn't I date him?"
Dad shook his head. "I just don't think you're ready to date just yet."
"Dad, I'm seventeen. I'm mature, responsible, and I make good decisions.
Why can't I?"
This time Dad's eyes flickered right to mine, his gaze was serious,
his facial features soft though, his eyes holding something foreign to
me. "I just don't want you getting hurt."
"I understand, but...what if I found a guy I really liked and he was a
good guy...would I be able to date him?"
His face was conflicted, but he was thinking it through. "You find
this guy, I meet him and approve, and then we'll see."
I hung my head, sighing. "That sounds like an awful lot of ground work."
He shrugged again, his eyes back to the window. "If you really like
him, he'll be worth it and he'd be willing to do that for you."
I sighed, my eyes averting elsewhere. I guess he did have a point.
"You ready to go?" Dad asked, taking the last bite of his sundae. I
had already finished mine a while ago.
"Yup. Where to next?"
"The paint store."
I squinted a bit in his direction. "Why do we need to go to the paint store?"
"Well, I just figured you might like a new color for your new truck."
I beamed, letting out an exited squeal before dumping our tray quickly.
---
"No, no, no. You're joking, right? Like, ha ha. One big joke?"
I had to laugh at Ben's expression when he realized what color I had
gotten to paint my new truck.
I shrugged, looking pleased as my eyes flickered to the paint cans
lying next to the truck. "Not in the least. What's wrong, you don't
like pink?" I tried to pout, but my escaped giggle ruined the effect.
He sighed deeply, looking from the paint, to the truck, then back to
me. "You're trying to kill me aren't you?"
"Funny, that's what Dad said too."
"I didn't even think you liked pink that much."
I shrugged. "I don't, but I saw it and it just kind of...popped." I
even gave spirit fingers to prove my point.
"Okay, I'll help you paint it, but if you even think about getting any
Barbie seat covers then I'm done."
"Relationship wise or painting wise?" I humored.
I glanced at the truck again. "Possibly both."
I glared for good effect. "Well, that is just rude."
He chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist and pecking my forehead
lightly. "Fine, just painting wise."
"Good. And for your information, Barbie is a girl's best friend."
"You were one of those freaky Barbie loving little girls weren't you?"
I shrugged, pinching my fingers together. "Just a bit."
He nodded mockingly, muttering, "Yeah, just a bit."
I simply grinned to myself before picking up and paint brush and
getting on to the task at hand.
Painting my old, run down truck pink.
Sweet!
Chapter Ten
I hadn't bitten my nails in years since I had begun refraining from
the habit, but something about trying to keep my focus on studying for
my driving test while my mind kept wondering off to other things was
making me nervous and very antsy.
I had changed my mind about the doctor's appointment and had secretly
made one for tomorrow. I had apologized for my outburst earlier,
saying that I was just upset with the situation and Dr. Harvance was
very understanding. He had said that it would be best to have some
family come along with me while he told me the results, which only
made me feel worse. I had said that I would see what I could do, but I
never planned on telling Dad or Ella about the appointment.
The last couple of days I had been feeling better, so I was hoping
that maybe it had just been a bug, but the dream was kind of shattered
when I had woken up at 5am, dizzy and nauseous.
I almost jumped at the sound of knocking on my door. I furrowed my
eyebrows in that direction. "Come in."
They slowly crept open, Lance appearing in the doorway. He had only
ever been up to my room once to let me know that supper had been
ready, so I was of course a bit curious to why he was visiting me at
merely ten in the morning. "Hi." He greeted, looking a bit
uncomfortable and out of place.
I slid off my reading glasses that I had always secretly hated