July (The Year of The Change Book 1) (8 page)

When we were done in the kitchen I slipped out the side door with some leftover dinner rolls and made my way down to a small pond in the front yard. Guilt washed over me for swiping the rolls, but I was still hungry. I popped the last one in my mouth and thought about going upstairs and digging into the food basket when I heard Kevin call my name. He walked out of the shadows and was beside me before I could run. I looked around for an escape. Not finding one, I had to face him head on.

Turning as casually as possible under the circumstances, I kept my voice from shaking. “Hi Kevin, done with chores?”

“Yep, dad gave me early parole for good behavior.” He smiled.

It was easy to be around him. I could’ve spent all of my time with Kevin and still thought it wasn’t enough.

He took my hand and I panicked as he pulled me towards the driveway. “Come see my new car.” He stopped before a red soft top sports car, with its white roof down, parked next to our boring blue minivan. “It’s a ’57 Thunderbird with a 312, V-8 engine. I talked my grandfather into selling it to me. It had been sitting in his barn for over twenty years. He was going to restore it, but never got around to it so he helped me restore it instead. What do you think?” His chest swelled with pride.

It was a nice looking car. “It’s great. I love the color.” I probably should’ve made a bigger fuss over his beautiful vehicle, but was too busy trying to figure out a way to escape from his hand, that still held mine. This was especially hard since I didn’t want to escape from his strong, warm grasp.

His smile broadened. “It runs even better than it looks. Come take a ride with me.” He opened the door and motioned for me to get in.

I shook my head. “It’s best that I don’t. My dad wouldn’t be very happy if I did.” I, on the other hand, would’ve been thrilled.

His eyes twinkled in the setting sun. “Oh, he won’t mind. Come on, let’s go for a short ride.”

I shook my head again, although I really did want to go. “No, not this trip.”

“By the time I see you again I probably won’t have it any more.” He scooped me up and deposited me in the white passenger seat. My heart raced. “We’ll just take a short trip to my friend’s house. You have to experience the ride to truly appreciate this car.”

"Kevin, really, I truly appreciate your car but --"

He buckled my seatbelt. "Two years is way too long." He muttered to himself.

Franticly I yanked at the seatbelt while he went around to the driver’s side. I couldn’t figure out how the antiquated contraption worked. "How do you unbuckle this?"

"Wait until you feel how smooth it is on the dirt road." He wasn't listening.

"But Kevin, my dad --"

"I told Jeff I would bring you by tonight. He's really anxious to meet you." He closed his door and started the engine.

Oh no, not another male. I yanked hard at something and the seatbelt fell loose.

He grinned at me. “You have to keep your seatbelt on. It’s a state law.” He turned his attention to the road and stepped on the gas.

"I really shouldn't --"

"You'll like Jeff, he's a nice guy." Kevin zoomed down the drive and onto the dirt road.

I looked at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t going to stop. I buckled up, hoped we weren’t going far, and wondered whether I could find my way back on foot.

Kevin looked at ease with the wind blowing through his hair. “Jeff is my best friend and he lives in the next house down.”

There was nothing to see except corn fields. “How far is that?”

He saw my expression and chuckled. “Only a mile. We used to ride our bikes or horses to each other’s house when we were kids."

I could see riding a horse on this road, but a bike would be a challenge. A mile seemed a long way with the large gravel and deep ruts.

A few minutes later, we pulled into another long drive between two cornfields, which took us to a neat, white farmhouse. An overabundance of flowers tucked into neat garden beds wrapped around the home.

Kevin honked the horn and a rusty blonde with a big grin tromped onto the porch. Kevin jumped out and opened my door. I fumbled with the seatbelt until he came to my rescue. He moved so quickly I didn't see how he’d unlatched it.

Cautiously, I stood by the car, hoping this would be quick. Licking my finger I checked the wind direction. The last thing I wanted to do was cause trouble for Kevin and his best friend.

Kevin went to meet Jeff and practically dragged him back to me. “Jeff
this
is Sylvia.” He said it with such a flourish of anticipation I felt … anticlimactic. “Sylvia, this is Jeff, my best friend."

“Hi, Sylvia.” Jeff put out his big rough hand and the thought of not taking it flit through my head. With trepidation, I stuck out my hand. He grabbed it with the force of a bear trap.

“Hi, Jeff.” With the wind blowing lightly at me, I leaned as far from him as my arm would reach. I tried not to look unfriendly, although that would’ve been better for him.

He kept shaking my hand and grinning at me. He didn’t
look
affected. “Kevin did mention you were coming … two or three times … a day … for the last couple of weeks.”

Kevin reddened more than I did. Jeff kept shaking my hand. I tried to pull away from his solid bear trap to no avail.

“So, how long are you staying?” His grin still looked more playful than affected.

“We leave tomorrow.” Which, wasn’t soon enough for me. I wanted to leave now. I wanted to be safe in my room in Oklahoma. What I wanted didn’t mean anything.

He kept shaking my hand as he frowned. “So soon?”

“Yes, we have a long way to go to get to Alaska.” I shifted my position with the wind. “My dad starts work on the eighteenth and we have a house to move into before that.”

His head shook as he still pumped my hand. “That’s too short a time. Too bad you’re not moving here.” He grinned over at Kevin. “I’m sure Kevin would
looove
to show you around and introduce you to everyone.” He moved to put his arm around me and I skittered away. He continued pumping my hand as he turned back to Kevin. “She’s quick.”

With amusement Kevin watched his friend. I was more leery than amused. All I could do was wait for him to be affected. I was careful to stay downwind, nevertheless he was much too close, not to feel something.

“Jeff, if you shake her hand much longer her arm is going to fall off.” Kevin’s voice sounded irritated, though he kept his smile.

I’d begun to wonder if he’d ever notice.

Jeff looked down, pretending as though seeing my hand for the first time. He let go and I flexed my fingers. “Sorry about that.” He blushed.

I clasped my hands behind me and looked around. “So, are you a farmer or are you just living among them?”

He puffed his chest out. “I’m a farmer, fourth generation on this land. I hope to raise a family of my own here.” The gusting wind swirled around us and his expression changed.

He looked confused. This could be the end of their friendship and there was nothing I could do. Jeff took a step towards me and I flinched back, ready to run.

Kevin playfully hit him on the arm. “Yeah, you and Paula will probably have a dozen or more kids.”

The big man’s eyes cleared a little and he straightened and blinked his eyes. The wind went still and I had less of an effect on him. I repositioned myself a couple of steps away, just to be safe.

He slapped Jeff on the back before moving to my side. “Well, Sylvia has a long day tomorrow, so I should get her back. See ya later.”

Jeff nodded, befuddled. It would take him a while before he straightened his head out. I could only hope he didn’t have second thoughts about Paula.

This time Kevin didn’t have to drag me to the car. I gladly jumped in, fumbling until my seatbelt clicked. Jeff waved good-bye, confusion still dominate on his suntanned face. Guilt gnawed at me for what I’d done to him. Kevin leapt in and had us down the driveway before his friend could snap out of his muddled state. Jeff faded into the darkness along with the dust that billowed up behind us.

Back on the road, Kevin cleared his throat. “Jeff wasn’t himself tonight. He doesn’t usually act like that.” It seemed to me he talked more to himself.

I knew Jeff wasn’t himself any more than Kevin was. “He seemed very nice.”

“Oh yeah, Jeff is very nice and a great friend.” He chuckled. “He does like to embarrass me, though.”

I giggled. “What are friends for?”

Kevin’s laughter relaxed. Yes, it was very easy being with him. Calmness settled over me and I really enjoyed myself. This just might work out. I leaned my head back and delighted in the feel of wind whipping my long hair around.

Just as the Beck house came into view, Kevin pulled over where a dirt road disappeared into a cornfield. Alarms went off in my head.

My voice shot up. “What are you doing?” I tensed.

“I want some time to talk without everyone around.” He put the car in park and turned off the engine.

I worked hard to keep my voice from cracking. “We can do that at your house.” Where my bodyguard is probably pacing a rut into their lawn.

He undid his seatbelt and I saw how it was done. “Nah, Mark seems to think he should be sitting between us.”

No, Mark wasn’t the one who should be between us. It should be my dad, who was going grey as we spoke, if his hair hadn’t already fallen out from the stress.

“We shouldn’t be sitting in your car like this.” This was new to me and I wasn’t sure what to do. I’d never been in a car alone with a guy before. Fathers, brothers, and best buddies don’t count. If it were next year, I would be all for the car and the alone time, lots of alone time. This trip was definitely bad timing.

He turned his body to face me. “Why not?” He leaned against his door and looked like a picture out of GQ. More amazing was he didn’t look affected.

What did I know? He could just be very good at hiding it. Could I take a chance? What if he wasn't affected? What if I was losing my one chance with him?

Sigh. They were always affected.

I said the first thing that came to my mind. “Because, it’s not appropriate.” Ack! I sounded just like Sue. It felt odd quoting my stepmother at a time like this. He was going to think I was such a dork.

He pulled his eyebrows together. “What’s not appropriate about two buddies sitting and talking?” His brow smoothed, which was a good thing since I was about to lose control and smooth it with my hand.

Now he grinned at me with the most beautiful lopsided smile. I wanted to just sit there and enjoy being with him. The more I was around him the more I liked him. This was getting hard. I didn’t want to go back to his house where Mark would want to argue, again.

Maybe he wasn't too affected and we could have a simple, innocent conversation. I can be very stupid at times.

"A couple of minutes tops."

He grinned wider. "So what do you think of Nebraska so far?"

That was simple and innocent enough.

"I like it. It's a lot like Oklahoma, only not as hot."

His smile dropped and he cleared his throat. Uh-oh, was he going to finally act affected?

He looked up at me through his lashes. "Can I ask you a question?" He ran his fingers along the steering wheel.

I wasn't sure I wanted to answer any question that was this serious. "Sure." I held my breath while he figured out how to ask. I fingered the seatbelt, quietly releasing the catch.

"Why didn't you write me back?"

The question caught me totally off guard. "What?"

"I mean, did I write something stupid? Did I offend you?"

I was confused. "What, you wrote me a letter?"

"Two, actually." He looked so hurt I wanted to hug him.

"I never got any letters."

He’d promised to write. I’d waited in vain. The worst pain came when I wrote and still didn’t hear from him.

"I wrote just as soon as I got home."

"I thought you’d forgotten all about me." I laughed self-consciously, annoyed that I admitted that out loud. "No, I never received your letters and obviously you didn’t receive mine."

“You wrote?”

“Yeah, twice. The second time because I thought maybe the first one got lost in the mail.”

He scrunched up his face. “We both wrote, but neither got a letter.” His unasked question hung in the still evening air.

I flushed. I had a pretty good idea what happened to them. Unfortunately, it wouldn't do me any good to confront her about them. I swallowed hard and looked out across the field. An iron band constricted my chest and I wanted to cry. I have never understood why Sue hated me so much.

He cleared his throat. "Wow, that's a load off my mind. I thought for sure I’d offended you." He reached over and brushed some hair from my face. I liked his touch.

"So, what did you write that could’ve offended me?"

He blushed and looked away. "Oh, I don't remember exactly. You know … Junior High boy stuff … stuff about our trip." He coughed. "Sports … nothing important."