First Date (24 page)

“Is there a problem?”

“Um, I-I think I’d rather just go back. If you don’t mind. Please.” Addy backed up.

“Hey, man, she’s really scared. We’d better drop the act.” The stern-looking man got out of the SUV and opened its back door, revealing Jonathon laughing hysterically.

“That was classic.” He wiped tears from his eyes but couldn’t stop laughing. “Classic. You should have seen your face. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

“What is going on? What are you talking about?”

Addy was too confused to feel any of the other emotions vying for a spot in her brain.

“Just get in, I’ll explain,” Jonathon said.

Addy hopped into the backseat of the vehicle and buckled up.

“What is going on? And why are you laughing? I don’t see anything funny at all about this.”

Jonathon sobered and looked at Addy. “I wanted to see you, but I couldn’t just show up at The Mansion. I had to get you in secret.”

“Why did it have to be in secret?” Addy asked.

“Because he’s the president’s son and everything he does has to be in secret,” the man from the front seat interjected.

“Meet Bull, my favorite Secret Service agent.” Jonathon gave Bull a fist bump and the driver grunted.

“I like you too, Jeff.” Jonathon patted the driver’s shoulder. “But Bull and I go way back. He’s guarded me since we moved into the White House. He’s really more like a mean older brother than an agent.”

“Hey, watch it, pip-squeak. I’ve been trained to kill a man with one hand.” Bull flexed his arm and Jonathon pushed it away.

“Anyway, as I was saying, I wanted to see you, but I wasn’t sure how. So I talked to Bull. He said no one could know my location, so Mike could only drive you part of the way out. So I came up with the idea . . .”

Bull coughed. “What?”

“Bull came up with the idea that we meet out here and keep it all a secret from you. Like a spy movie. Remember how you said you wished that phone I gave you was in a shoe, like in a movie? So I thought you’d enjoy this.”

“You thought I’d enjoy this?” Addy said. “I was scared to death. I have heart problems, Jonathon. I could have had an attack out here.”

“Heart problems? I had no idea. I’m so sorry.” Jonathon’s face turned white and Addy leaned back, crossing her arms in victory. Bull started laughing.

“She got you!” Bull put a fist up in Addy’s direction and she bumped him back.

“No heart problems?”

“None at all.” Addy smiled. “No kidnapping?”

“Just a little First Family fun,” Jonathon said.

“So no one can know your location . . . ?”

“Right. Top secret, you know. Plus, I’m supposed to be in DC right now, but my plans got changed for some reason. So I left Dallas and came here this morning. I heard you were out at The Mansion all by yourself. And I’m out here all by myself.”

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry, Bull. I’m not by myself. But . . .”

“But Bull isn’t a pretty little girl you want to flirt with?”

Jonathon turned red and punched Bull in the arm.

“Did you hit me, or did a little butterfly just land on my arm? I can’t quite tell the difference.”

Addy laughed and Jonathon continued. “Anyway, I was bored and I thought you might be too, so I decided we might as well hang out together than be bored apart.”

“Aw, now, Jeff, isn’t that sweet?” Bull said.

Jeff grunted.

“So sweet.”

Jonathon didn’t say much more until the SUV arrived at his “compound”—a large ranch-style house surrounded by a gate and several agents wearing black suits.

“Come on in the kitchen. We ordered in Chinese. I hope you like that.”

As the pair settled in, Bull and Jeff retreated into the living room—close enough to protect but far enough to give the couple a semblance of privacy.

Addy scooped some fried rice onto her plate. “So what have you been doing this week?”

“Like I said, I just got back from Dallas. It’s one-hour date week, and I had to go all over the Metroplex so the dates wouldn’t all be in the same location. It might have been fun if we could have actually looked around some. I think the girls got to, but I was shuffled from the West End to the stockyards to Six Flags so fast, I barely had time to even notice where I was. What about you?”

I can’t tell him what I really did
.
What do I say?

“Well, I—”

“How about some horseback riding, kiddos?” Bull rounded the corner, phone to his ear. “We just got the all clear. There’s a great trail not far from here and it’s secure. This place has some beautiful horses just sitting out in the stables doing nothing. What do you think?”

“That sounds great.” Addy finished the last of her orange chicken and stood. “But my spider bite. Give me a minute to add an extra layer of bandages to it.”

“I forgot about that.” Jonathon stood. “Forget it. We can do something else.”

“No, no. I’ve never gone horseback riding before. I don’t want a little bite to stop me. I’ll just be a minute.”

Addy took out all the gauze in her purse, went to the bathroom, and plastered it to her bite. When she was sure she was well protected, Addy returned to the kitchen. “I’m ready,” she announced.

“Well, let’s go.” Bull walked toward the door.

“Wait.” Jonathon stopped. “Let me check my fortune cookie. Hmm, it says, ‘Bull who ride horse can sometimes be a little chicken.’”

“Hey, now,” Bull said. “I can kill a man with—”

“With one hand, I know.” Jonathon smirked.

“Good thing you’re not a man,” Addy chimed in, earning her yet another fist bump from Bull.

Thirty minutes later, Jonathon, Addy, Bull, and Jeff were mounted on horses and trotting through the woods. Jonathon, of course, was completely comfortable and confident on his horse. Even the Secret Service agents seemed at home. Addy, on the other hand, was trying desperately to stay on. Her horse’s saddle kept tipping to the side, and she twisted in her seat every five minutes, trying to right herself. But when she did that, she pulled the reins in the direction she was going, and the horse walked that way. Once, she almost ran into a tree. Another time, her horse walked right into the side of Jeff’s, who only grunted and moved his horse farther away.

“Ready to gallop?” Jonathon nudged his horse and took off into a meadow. Bull followed him and Jeff stayed behind, trotting along beside Addy.

“I’ll just catch up,” Addy called out, absolutely sure that the only time she wanted extra horsepower was when she was behind the wheel of a car, not on the back of an actual horse.

After an hour and a half of riding, a very sore Addy dismounted. “I can’t straighten my legs.” Her entire lower half was in rebellion against her. Her bandages had shifted as much as her saddle, leaving her spider-bitten bottom quite sore and making walking that much more difficult.

“Give it a few minutes.” Jonathon gave his horse to the lady waiting at the stable, then reached for Addy’s.

“I like golf better. And golf carts. I really like golf carts.”

After a light dinner, Bull announced that Mike was on his way to the meeting spot.

“I guess you have to go,” Jonathon said.

“I guess so.”

Neither moved. Finally Bull walked over to Jonathon’s chair and shook him out.

“Boy, stop acting like she’s going off to the moon. We’re just taking her back to The Mansion. You’ll see her again.”

Jonathon’s face turned red. “Thanks, Bull.”

Addy said her good-byes with more hope than she’d had before.

The president’s son might actually like me. Me!

Chapter 44

I
missed you.” Kara hugged Addy. “Don’t leave me all alone with those girls again, all right?”

“I’ll do my best,” Addy said.

“And no more going into the woods.” Kara pointed her finger in Addy’s face. “Mom said people have died from brown recluse bites.”

Here’s the opening I’ve been praying for, God
.

“Do you want to know the reason why I’m all right?” ”Sure, Addy, I’d love to.” “It’s because God was protecting me. You see, I’m a Christian, Kara.” “Wow, really, Addy? Could I be one too?”

Right. That’s exactly how it’ll happen. Oh, Lord, why is this so hard?

“Addy? Did that bite mess with your brain?” Kara waved her hand in front of Addy’s face. “Hello. I’m still here.”

Addy laughed. “No. I just need to tell you something, and I’m nervous. So I was planning how I was going to say it.”

“Wow, you really do think too much.” Kara shook her head. “You can tell me anything.”

Kara sat on her bed, and Addy lowered herself next to her, her heart hammering in her chest.
Why am I so scared, God? Help me. This is my friend, and what I’m going to tell her is the good news
.

“I’m a Christian.” Addy held her breath and waited for Kara’s reply.

“Okay.” Kara looked at Addy, her eyebrows knit together. “I kind of thought so. I mean, you read a Bible. Who does that? And your parents, they were like missionaries, right?”

Addy nodded, her stomach still in knots.

“Why are you acting like it’s such a big deal? You look more scared than you did right before your kazoo solo.”

“I was worried it would change our friendship.”

“Only if you’re going to start treating me like a project instead of a friend,” Kara said, her perfectly tweezed eyebrows arched.

“A project?”

“Yeah, once I had this friend who was a Christian, but she didn’t really care about me, she just wanted to ‘save my soul.’ She kept coming at me with Bible verses and horror stories about hell, but when she finally saw I wasn’t interested, she was done with me.” Kara used her long arms to punctuate her story.

“I’m sorry your friend did that. That’s not how Christians should treat people.”

“I know you’re not like her, Addy.” Kara smiled. “You’re just about one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”

“Thanks, Kara.” Addy looked at her friend. “I believe God has a plan for your life, and that his plan is so much better than anything you could ever imagine. I don’t want you to miss out on that.”

“I’m just not interested, okay? I’m happy with my life the way it is.”

All right, God. What do I say? “If you’re right, no big deal, but if you’re wrong, huge, enormous, horrible deal”? No, I can’t scare her into believing. I’ve got to just keep praying for her. I don’t want to be like that friend she had
. “Okay.”

“That didn’t sound like an ‘okay’ okay. That sounded like an ‘I don’t like it, but I have to say okay’ okay.” Kara nudged Addy with her shoulder. “We’re still friends, right? You’re not going to drop me because I don’t believe the same as you, are you?”

Addy reached over and hugged her friend. “Never. But I will be praying for you.”

“I guess I can handle that,” Kara said. “Will you pray that I make it to the Top Five?”

The girls laughed, then Addy asked to know about the week she had missed. Kara told Addy about the fun she’d had in Dallas, her favorite part being the two days the girls spent at Six Flags.

“The roller coasters were amazing. But I wish you could have been there to go on them with me.”

“No, you don’t.” Addy stood and paced the length of the trailer. “I don’t even ride merry-go-rounds. No way would you get me on a roller coaster.”

“Oh, well, then it was a good week for you to miss, I guess.”

“Interesting how God worked that out, huh?” Addy smiled.

“Or just plain old good luck,” Kara retorted. “Oh, I almost forgot—there was some major drama this morning.” Kara crossed to the bed, her eyes wide.

“Lila?”

“No, none of the girls, actually. One of the guards. Yours, as a matter of fact,” Kara said.

“Mike?”

“Apparently Mike has been making Hank mad for a while. But when we all got off the bus, Hank was giving us orders and Mike turned to walk away. I don’t know why. But Hank tore into him like you’ve never seen. And we’ve seen a lot from
him
.”

“He yelled at Mike?”

“At the top of his lungs,” Kara said. “Hank told Mike the only reason he was still here this week was because his replacement couldn’t come in yet. But he swore to not only fire him but also make sure he never worked anywhere ever again.”

I’m sure Mike wasn’t too intimidated by that
.
But still, Hank has no right to treat Uncle Mike that way
.

“I think Hank would have hit the guy if he wasn’t so big. Hank probably worried that Mike would mess up his pretty face.” Kara laughed but stopped when she saw Addy’s face.

“Addy, what’s wrong? I know he was your guard and all, but . . .”

“He’s not just my guard. He’s my uncle.”

Kara stood, her hands over her mouth. “What? Why didn’t you tell me? I can’t believe . . . I mean . . . what?” She sat back down, waiting for an explanation.