Defending Taylor (Hundred Oaks #7) (20 page)

We head into the kitchen. “I don’t know what we have,” I say, glancing in the freezer. “Green tea gelato?”

Ezra sticks out his tongue. “Never mind. Can we go downstairs? I need to talk to you about something.”

My heart skips a beat out of nervousness. “Okay.”

Once we’re settled together in a cushy armchair with me sitting in his lap, Ezra speaks up. “I went to see my dad last night.”

I suck in a deep breath. “How did that go?”

“I told him I want to go back to school. To study architecture.”

I hug my boyfriend. “What did your father say?”

“He’s so happy to hear that I want to go to school again, I think he’d be excited no matter what I wanted to study. I could’ve told him I want to be a gynecologist.”

I punch Ezra’s bicep.

“Ow.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“Seeing what you did for Ben.”

“Huh?”

“When you covered for him, you were living a lie. And even though you never meant for any of it to happen, it changed your whole life.”

I draw tiny circles on my boyfriend’s chest. “In some ways, that was good. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here with you now.”

“I agree. But when you were lying, you were living a life that just wasn’t right. Didn’t you feel like something was off?”

“Yeah.”

“I feel the same way. I mean, I’m happy working on houses, but there’s always this nagging feeling. Something’s off, and I don’t think it will go away.”

“Are you saying I’m a nagging feeling?” I joke.

He tickles my sides. “Yep. You are my little nagging feeling. But seriously, you made me realize that if I don’t change something now, I could end up in a place I don’t want to be, just because I didn’t have the guts to tell the truth and ask for help. So I looked into resources for people like me and talked with my dad.”

I touch Ezra’s cheek. “Wow. What happened?”

“He was pissed, yeah, but I think he’d rather people find out I have a learning disability than us not speaking and me living on the other side of town. I’m getting tested for dyslexia and ADHD on Monday.”

I suddenly feel like the day after Christmas, when all that anticipation finally pays off and you’re happy, but also sad. “So you’re going back to Cornell?”

“I think so…but I don’t want to leave you either.”

We hug each other tightly. “We will deal with it. You do whatever you need to do, and we’ll work it out, okay?”

He nods. “I’m also looking into the architecture program at UT Knoxville. It looks like it may be a good fit for me. I might try to transfer. I’m waiting on a call back.”

I kiss him. “You know what I’m thinking?”

His arms pull me close. “What?”

“Maybe your dad and mom wouldn’t have a problem with your Ragswood Road apartment if you got some throw pillows.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” he mutters, pecking my lips. “My little nagger.”

• • •

Today is my eighteenth birthday.

Unlike my sixteenth, I don’t have any big party plans for tonight. Ezra takes me to Jiffy Burger, so we can listen to all the trucker dudes talk smack. One bellows, “Well, that just dills my pickle!”

We eat burgers and fries and drink cherry cokes.

When we’re finished, I feel like I will never be hungry again, but I look at the dessert menu anyway. “Want to split some pecan pie?”

He plucks the menu from my hand. “No dessert. I’ve got something for you back at your house.”

I give him a pouty face. “I figured we could go to your place.”

“Not tonight.”

I raise my eyebrows. He won’t have the apartment much longer, and I want to take advantage of the privacy while we still can. He’s moving back home in December so he can spend the month working with an education specialist, who is going to help him get set up for college. He’s transferring to UT Knoxville in January, and the school will pair him with tutors and the support he needs to succeed. He’s excited to start and not scared, and that means everything to me.

His mom and dad are already telling people that the reason Ezra left Cornell is because he wanted to study architecture and his father was upset he wouldn’t inherit the family business. I only hope that his parents will begin to accept that he has dyslexia and give him the emotional support he needs to succeed.

When Ezra drives me home, there are tons of cars parked along the street.
Wait—is that Chloe’s Sentra? Hey, there’s Steph’s red Mercedes! What is she doing here?

I hop out of Ezra’s Range Rover and hustle up the front steps. Inside, rap music is pounding. The walls are shaking. Pulling my boyfriend along behind me, I jog through the house to the kitchen.

“Surprise!”

Tears flood my eyes when I see my family and friends standing around a cake with flickering candles. Chloe and Alyson are there from Hundred Oaks, and a few other girls from the soccer team, including Sydney and Brittany. Steph and Madison came down from St. Andrew’s. Mom, Dad, and Marina. Even Oliver and Jenna are here. Wow. I guess I should’ve known, considering the loud club music.

I walk over to my brother and give him a big hug. “Any excuse for an Oliver Dance Party, huh?”

“You bet.”

“I’m surprised to see you.”

“Me too. I’m still pissed, but you’re my little sister.”

“Disappointing you has been one of the hardest parts of all this.”

He pulls away from me and winks. “You’ll have to make it up to me. There are several nightclubs I want to visit over Christmas break now that you’re eighteen. Also, I’m thinking of a road trip over spring break. Think
Nightclubs across America
. Oh, and did I mention you’re coming with me?”

I snort, leaving my brother to catch up with Chloe. “I have a new tequila you should try sometime,” he tells her.

“Oh hell no. I’m not over the last time.”

I spend most of the party gossiping with Steph and Madison. My sister won’t stop hitting on Ezra, which I find hilarious. He keeps making excuses to hide from her.

At this point, I haven’t seen my boyfriend in half an hour, and I’m starting to get worried he’ll never reappear, when he suddenly materializes by my shoulder.

“Tease, your present is in the garage.”

“The garage?” I place my hands on his chest. “Did you get me a Vespa?”

“Yes. I got you a Vespa.” He rolls his eyes. “C’mon.”

I go into the garage, where Ezra leads me to a cardboard box. There is a puppy inside.

“Eee!” I squeal. It’s a yellow lab, and he can’t be more than six or seven weeks old. I scoop him up. He fits in my hands, he’s so tiny.

“He’s so cute!”

Ezra smiles his gorgeous grin at me.

“Who’s this?” I ask, accepting the puppy’s kisses.

“He doesn’t have a name yet, so I’ve been calling him Squeaks,” Ezra replies.

I run my fingers through the dog’s yellow fur and clutch him to my heart in a hug. “I love him, but do my parents know? Mom said I can’t have a dog. The carpets!”

The dog is panting, his ears flopping all over the place. He barks a little puppy bark. Aww.

The garage door swings open, and Mom appears. “Taylor Lukens, you can’t just leave your guests to sneak off with Ezra to kiss—” She stops chiding when she sees the puppy.

“Oh, Ezra,” she says with a heavy sigh. “Not again.”

“C’mon, Mrs. Lukens. Isn’t Squeaks the best?”

Mom has always had a hard time saying no to Ezra. I mean, she caved when he gave me a rooster, for God’s sake. She comes over and gives the dog a scratch behind his ears. “He’ll chew my rugs.” The puppy licks her hand, making a smile flit across her face. “He’s awfully cute, Ezra.”

“At least it’s not a goat,” I add. “I would love a baby goat.”

Mom gives me a look.

“So Tee can keep him, right?” Ezra asks.

Mom sighs again. “As long as she takes care of him.”

I lunge for my mother, folding her and Squeaks into a big bear hug. The dog makes a yipping noise. Mom takes the dog into her arms and goes back inside the house, either to show him off to our guests or to show
him
the rugs and tell him not to chew on them.

“Thank you for Squeaks,” I tell my boyfriend. “I love him. But I bet Mom is going to steal him.”

“No bet. Your mom looks tough, but she’s going to love Squeaks like her fourth child.”

“Where did you get him?”

“From Jack Goodwin’s neighbors, the Whitfields. They breed them. You can go visit the mama dog if you want.” He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out an envelope. “Here’s the rest of your present.”

I rip into the envelope to find a handmade birthday card; he drew a picture of a doghouse for me. I open the card, and little slips of paper fall out. More homemade coupons!

Doughnut holes on me!

I will watch exactly one chick-flick with you.

One free kiss!

“I love you,” I tell him.

“I love you too.”

“I want to cash this one in right now.” I pass him the coupon for the kiss, and when his lips meet mine, this is officially the best birthday ever.

Epilogue

Spring Break

I kiss Mom and Dad good-bye and hug Leo’s neck for the thousandth time this morning. I named my dog after Leonardo da Vinci because I’ve been on a total Renaissance kick. The puppy has grown from a tiny yellow furball that fit in my hands into a fifty-pound wrecking ball that loves romping all over the house. I haven’t been away from him more than a day in the past five months, and now I’m leaving him for a week.

“Don’t worry,” Mom says, taking Leo’s leash. “Leo will Skype with you every day while you’re gone.”

I smile, because that means I’ll get to talk to my parents every day too.

“Be safe,” Dad says. “We love you.”

“I love you too.”

“When you get back, we need to talk about what you’re doing this fall,” Dad adds.

I knew that was coming. He brings it up every single day. I need to decide which school I’m going to by May 1.

I imitate his voice. “When I get back, we need to talk about what
you’re
doing this fall, Dad.”

“Stop teasing me. I’m working on it.”

After turning over his Senate seat to Harrison Wallace in January, Dad hasn’t gone back to work. He and Mom took me to visit schools in New York, Boston, DC, and Chicago earlier this year, and then they went on a two-week cruise. They relaxed for the first time in forever. Dad even wore a Hawaiian shirt.

Still, I know he’s sad about losing the election.

He hasn’t decided if he wants to take a political appointment in DC or stay in Tennessee to work at Grandpa’s firm. Either way, he loved setting his own agenda when he was in the Senate. He wouldn’t get to do that at the Treasury, where the issues rarely change and it’s all about money. He wouldn’t get to interact with Tennesseans very much either.

Dad talks of running for governor, but I fear I damaged his legacy, and I’ll never get over that. He says he forgives me and that it’s not my responsibility, but still, I know what I did hurt his reelection. I live with that every day.

After giving Leo a final hug, I jog out to my brother’s red convertible. I toss my bag in the open trunk.

“Shotgun,” I tell Ezra.

He grumbles and climbs from the front seat into the back.

“Are you sure about that?” Oliver says. “You really want Jenna sitting in the back with him?”

“Good point.” I crawl over the middle console into the backseat, accidentally kicking Oliver in the side of the face. His sunglasses fall off.

“I swear to God, Tee. I’ll leave you home.”

“Hell no, you won’t,” Ezra replies, draping a protective arm over my shoulders. Being away from him this semester has been difficult, but we’re able to see each other most weekends. Our relationship is stronger than ever, and I know it will survive no matter where I wind up this fall.

Oliver honks the horn three times. “Jenna!”

My sister finally appears at the front door, lugging a suitcase, which she leaves on the stoop for someone else to deal with. She gives Mom and Dad kisses good-bye, then comes out to the car.

Dad helps with the suitcase, which takes up nearly all the room in Oliver’s tiny trunk. Then it’s finally time to go.

“Where to first?” Oliver asks, turning the key in the ignition.

“This is your road trip,” I say. “Where’s the nearest nightclub?”

“I’m thinking we head to Atlanta tonight, then on to Panama City tomorrow.”

“And Miami!” Jenna says.

“Fine,” Ezra says. “But I get to choose where we stop for snacks.”

“And I want to hit the beach in Miami,” I add.

Oliver carefully pulls the car out of the driveway as we all give one final wave. Once he’s a good minute away from the house where my parents can’t see him, he picks up speed.

“I bet Oll gets at least five speeding tickets on this trip,” I say.

“No bet,” Ezra and Jenna say simultaneously.

Oliver turns onto the four-lane, heading for the interstate. The road seems to stretch out forever. I look out at the rolling fields that blur by. The sun blazes down on us. Eminem blasts from the radio. I throw my head back, staring up at the wide blue sky.

Thanks to my grades and test scores (and the letter explaining why St. Andrew’s expelled me), I got into the University of Chicago. I love the idea of being in a city with all those museums. I also applied to the University of Pennsylvania and got in. Being in the same place as the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall and tons of other history is pretty enticing. Once I looked beyond Yale, I found so many options, and it’s difficult to choose.

All I know for sure is that I want to dual major in history and museum studies.

Even after admitting why I got in trouble, the schools I applied to in Boston and New York didn’t take me. And I can understand that. I know how lucky I am to have been given a second chance to make something of myself, but it’s not just good karma. I have options because I worked hard at school. I gave classes and soccer my all. I still have no idea whether I should choose Chicago or Pennsylvania. I’ve still got a little time to decide. The future’s wide open, filled with opportunity. But I’ve got a life to live in the meantime.

Today, I’m just along for the ride.