Betrayed (15 page)

“I won’t stay if you don’t want me to,” he said from behind me. “I’ll leave right now. Just say the word.”

I let out a soft breath, but shook my head once. “No. Don’t go. It would be nice if you stayed for dinner.”

I turned around and our eyes met. A smile spread across his face, and he looked like he wanted to scoop me into his arms.

The morning was filled with a constant Q&A session, led by my mother. She wanted to know everything about Ethan, and I was mortified. It wasn’t like he had been presented as my boyfriend, or anything, but it didn’t seem to take much for her to make the connection.

“So you two are close?” she asked. She chopped away at celery on a cutting board.

“Kayla is actually helping me on a research project this winter,” he said. “I don’t think I would meet my deadline if it weren’t for her.”

“Oh?” she said, turning to me. “I thought you were working on your business school application?”

I smiled sheepishly, “I am, Mom. But I’m also helping Ethan.”

“Well, you never mentioned anything about that.”

“It was kind of last minute,” Ethan jumped in, saving me from her. “A couple days ago my deadline got upended. I don’t know what I would have done if she wasn’t around.”

“I see,” she said, but she didn’t bring the issue up again.

The rest of the morning went on in much the same way. My father was content to sit in front of the television while the rest of us talked and prepared dinner. He and I had a special bond that only came through when we were alone together. We were able to talk and be ourselves in a way that was almost startling. I didn’t have to say anything, and he knew whatever was troubling me. It was impossible to hide anything from him because, when it came to me, he was the most observant man I knew. I could tell by the sideways glances he kept shooting our way that, while he may not be actively participating in the grilling session my mother was leading, he was paying attention to every word said.

Dinner was ready around noon, and smelled decadent. It was simple food, consisting mostly of ingredients that could survive a four hour car drive from Flagstaff to Tucson in the hospitable surroundings of an ice cooler. But still, the baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and fresh veggies were a far sight better than anything I had been preparing for myself all winter. I loved to be in the kitchen baking, but preparing a full blown meal was not my strong suit.

My mother felt it was a necessity for every woman to be able to cook for her husband, and I suspected that she felt slighted that I never took up her cause. Impressing a man had never been one of my interests while growing up.

Sitting down around the table, my father finally took it upon himself to speak up.

“So, Ethan, how long have you been a professor?” he asked in between bites.

“I’m finishing up my third year at the University,” Ethan said, cooly.

“And where did you do your graduate work?”

Ethan grinned. “I completed my MBA at Columbia while I was working on Wall Street.”

My father chewed on that for a moment. I had to suppress a laugh as I saw the wheels turning in his head. He was far from an idiot, but I knew that he was getting in over his head. They didn’t know what I knew about the accomplished man sitting at the table with us.

“And what about your parents? What do they do?”

I cringed. Ethan had never told me the whole story about his parents, but what he’d been willing to talk about hadn’t been pretty.

“Daddy, he’s been grilled all morning, give him a break,” I said.

“No, Kayla, it’s fine,” Ethan jumped in. His tone was serious. “I’m not sure whatever came of my father. He ran out on my brother and I after my mother passed away when we were teenagers.”

He didn’t like talking about his father - he resented a man that could abandon his family and his obligations.

“What were you doing on Wall Street?” my father asked.

“I was a co-managing partner of a venture capital fund,” Ethan said without missing a beat. “We worked within the technology sector and did everything from Angel funding all the way through second and third offerings. It was phenomenal work, paid well, and I learned a ton.”

My father stopped chewing his food. He looked at Ethan with new respect, and I could tell he was impressed.

“Can we get past the interview and enjoy dinner?” I asked, unable to suppress a smile from spreading across my face.

My father grunted and continued eating. Ethan returned to his food, too, but not before shooting me a wink. I couldn’t help but grin like a little school girl that had just been given a gold star to put on the fridge.

After dinner, my mom took it on herself to give me a complete update on what everyone in the family was up to. She told me about all the crazy trouble my cousins were getting in, and I gave them updates on my friend Katie from back home. They thought of her as another daughter, though they hadn’t spent any time with her since I had gone off to college.

“OK, Kayla,” my father announced after a silence. “We’ve driven down here, brought you presents, cooked you food.” He looked at me, long and hard. “I think you know what we’re expecting in return.”

Ethan looked between us, confused, and I smiled as I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. I nodded once, and gathered some of the dishes to take to the kitchen. Ethan jumped up to help me.

“Did you bring stuff for me?” I called out as I set the dishes in the sink.

“Eggs and milk are in the fridge, everything else is in the pantry,” my mother called from the dining room.

“Something going on?” he asked, his voice low.

I grinned at him, and heard my dad turn on the television again.

“Go watch TV,” I said. “You’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“My place is here next to you,” he said. “Your parents are nice, but they’re a bit exhausting.”

I laughed at his honesty. “Sorry about all that. They’re really quite nice once you get to know them,” I said. He smiled at me. He had a thoughtful expression on his face; one that I wasn’t used to seeing. “What is it?” I asked.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you laugh,” he said simply. “I’d almost forgotten the way your face lights up.” He looked down at the sink for a second, then back at me. “It’s very disarming.”

My heart pounded hard as every single one of my remaining defenses crashed to the ground. I wasn’t sure if it was the look in his eye, or the way he’d been able to quickly impress the two people I adored most, but I didn’t want to fight my feelings anymore. I was tired of fighting them, and I wanted nothing more than to give in to him.

I looked up at him again, and our eyes stuck together. I felt myself sinking into his pull, unable to look away. I could feel our bodies closing in together. I was helpless to stop it. His warm breath washed over my lips as he began sinking into me. Our lips were only a breath apart.

“How long until dessert?” my mother asked, barging into the kitchen.

We jumped apart so obviously that it would have been impossible to deny what was about to happen. My heart raced. I breathed a deep sigh of relief as my mother pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, apparently not noticing what was going on.

“We only just began, Mother,” I said. “Go keep Dad company. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

“Your father is already snoozing,” she chirped. “Soon he’ll be at a full blown snore, and none of us will be able to escape him.”

I smiled nervously at her and shot Ethan a worried glance. He was furiously washing some dishes in the sink, and didn’t look up at either of us. I was suddenly worried that he was already having second thoughts about what had almost happened. We were still walking a fine line - a line that needed to be identified and defined.

I returned to baking dessert while I allowed the doubt to run rampant through me. My mother finally sensed that something was off and narrowed her eyes at me. I was grateful when she didn’t voice her concerns.

An hour later we gathered in the living room and sat in front of the television. The cookies I had baked were simple. In fact, I hadn’t baked them fully, rather leaving them slightly undercooked. Afterward, I had heaped scoops of vanilla ice cream onto them. It was one of my most favorite, and simple, desserts. It wasn’t an especially Christmas dessert, but nobody seemed to mind.

“I should get going,” Ethan said after we finished. “I’m sure Trevor is going to be around at some point, and he’ll be wondering where I am.”

“Who’s Trevor?” my mother asked.

“He’s my wayward brother. He came in town from New York a couple weeks ago and seems to come and go as he pleases.”

“Ah, to be young again,” my father spoke up, suddenly. He had a jolly smile on his face while he rubbed his swollen belly.

“I’ll walk you out,” I said.

Ethan said his goodbyes to my parents, and they told him not to be a stranger. He promised he wouldn’t, and we headed out and down the stairs away from the apartment.

“I’m sorry if they embarrassed you,” I said. “I know they can be overbearing at times; especially Mom.”

He shook his head and shrugged. “They love you, is all. They’re just making sure that you’re being looked after.”

I groaned. “I’m an adult, I can look after myself.”

He laughed. “Everyone needs to be looked after every now and then.”

We stopped at his car and I turned to face him.

“About what almost happened in there…,” I began.

Before I could say another word, Ethan leaned in and kissed me; strongly. I was caught off guard and almost yelped in surprise. But, I quickly gave in to his overpowering taste, and heavenly scent. I opened my mouth, letting his tongue dance in rhythm with mine. I sunk into his strong arms as he wrapped them around me, and pulled me tight. My heart raced as my breasts were mashed against his hard chest.

The kiss lasted an eternity, but it ended too soon. Slowly we pulled apart and Ethan stared at me with the same yearning I had seen in his eyes every day we’d been together.

“I should get going,” he said after our eyes, shared their intimate moment. I jerked my head in a nod, not trusting myself to say anything intelligible.

Ethan climbed into his car and rolled down the window. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning? Usual time, usual place?”

“Of course,” I said. Then, as he threw the car in reverse and began to back out, I remembered something. “I forgot to open your present,” I said.

He grinned at me. “Spend some time with your parents. Open it later.”

“I will,” I said.

I watched as Ethan drove off, and felt a sudden loneliness that I hadn’t expected.

* * * * *

My parents were still sitting on the couch when I returned to the apartment. My mother had a knowing grin on her face.

“He seems like a nice man,” she said.

“He’s my professor,” I stated. It sounded a bit less convincing than I would have liked.

She waived her hand. “He was your professor. It sounds like you’re colleagues now.”

I groaned as I sank into the chair next to the sofa. She made a good point, and I wasn’t in the mood to argue with her. I knew she would only keep pressing the issue until I finally admitted that she was right. We sat around in silence for a moment before my father spoke up.

“Well, are you going to open your present?” he asked, casting a curious eye at me.

A grins spread across my face. “I thought you’d never ask.”

I leapt up and retrieved the tiny box from the kitchen counter where it had been left. It was light, and reminded me of a DVD box, only a bit thicker.

“Now, before you go tearing it apart,” he said, “we’d like you to know that it isn’t much. We just thought it would be a nice gift to help remind you of who you are.”

I smiled at him. “Daddy, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on me. I’m not about the material things.”

He nodded and gestured for me to continue. I grinned and began unwrapping it. A small, unmarked cardboard box lay just underneath the wrapping paper. It wasn’t taped shut, and the end was easily opened. I upended the box, letting what was inside slide into my hand.

Tears welled in my eyes the moment I realized what it was. There was nothing grandiose or expensive about the gift. It was simple, but powerful.

“Do you remember when that picture was taken?” he asked as I stood looking at it. I nodded furiously.

“Fort Lauderdale,” I said. “Summer vacation.”

I looked at them both, and both returned my smiles.

“You were so innocent still,” my mom teased. “I don’t know where we went wrong.”

“Oh, stop it,” I said. Her smile widened.

“That was one hell of a summer,” my dad continued. “The last vacation before… Well, we just thought you’d like it.”

I nodded. “I remember. It was our last real vacation.”

My father grimaced. “We wanted to take you on so many more.”

“You did a wonderful job,” I said. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. We made our own fun.”

For a moment I thought he was going to start crying right along with me. His cheeks turned red and he looked away. “We love you, Cupcake,” he said, finally. “And we want you to know just how proud of you we are.”

It was the most absolute perfect gift they could have given me. It was just the thing I needed to help remind me of where I had come from, and the reasons for everything I was doing. Life hadn’t been a struggle, and there were plenty of people that were in much worst situations than I was; but both of my parents had sacrificed so much to give me the opportunity to get to where I was. They had done so selflessly, and never complained a single time.

The pressure in my chest weighed on me and a couple tears trickled down my cheek. I sat down next to my father and curled into his arms. He hugged me tight and pulled my mother in to join us.

We sat there for a long while, arm in arm, before anyone moved or said anything again.

Later that night, they left to make the four hour drive back to Flagstaff. I begged them to stay the night, but they refused to interrupt my work for a single hour more. It was a short visit, but I was more than happy that they’d made it. I didn’t know how I would have handled the holiday alone, and I was relieved that I never had to find out.