Hideaway Hill

Hideaway Hill

Elle A. Rose

Copyright
© 2011 By Angela Watkins, Elle A. Rose

All rights reserved.

The characters and events portrayed in
this book are fictitious. Any similarities to real persons, living
or dead are coincidental and not intended by the author.

This book is dedicated to my mother, Chrystal
Martin, and best friend’s mother Patty Jo Aylesworth, for your true
love in a romance story.

Thank you, Ladies!

Prologue

13 years prior

W
hile playing catch with the guys before school started, Blake
Darwood took a few steps back anticipating Ulfred Miller was going
to over throw the ball. He didn’t realize until the ball soared in
the air that he would need to move a few more steps
back.

“
Hey, Blake! Look out
behind you.”

Since Blake was not paying attention to
where he was jogging, he didn’t have time to stop before he
collided into Veronica Klark. Her smaller body was no match for his
almost six foot frame. The impact alone sent her tumbling to the
ground, resulting in Blake falling over her and onto her arm.
Veronica let out a sharp gasp and struggled to get up from under
Blake. She squirmed underneath him, and Blake rolled to his side.
Sitting up on the grass, he looked over at Veronica who was now
holding her right arm.

“
Ow, ow, ow,” She cried,
before biting down on her bottom lip.

“
Gee, I’m sorry. Are you
okay? I didn’t see you there.”

“
Well, that’s for sure.
Ow,” She whimpered. “I think my arm is broken.”

Blake gave her a skeptic look before
responding.

“
Oh, come on, you didn’t
fall on it that hard.”

“
No, idiot, you fell on it.
You really need to watch where you’re going.”

As she tried to stand, Veronica clutched her
arm close to her body to keep the pain from jolting through it.

“
Hey, I said I’m sorry. Let
me help you to the nurse.”

“
No! I don’t need your
help. I think you’ve done enough.”

With that, Veronica turned stiffly and
stomped off to the nurse’s office before classes started. While
Blake watched Veronica enter the building, Miller moved from across
the yard and picked up the ball.

“
Don’t worry about it, man.
You know how girls are. I’m sure she’ll be in class before the bell
rings. Freshmen are nothing but babies anyways. Come on, let’s
go.”

Blake’s gut twisted with the worry that he
may have broken her arm. Still, he tried to put the guilt aside and
followed Miller into school.

As the day went on, Blake didn’t see
Veronica in the halls. He wondered if it had anything to do with
the fact that he was a junior and she was a freshman. Other than
lunch, each class stayed in their designated area.

After school, all his worrying came to a
head when he walked out the front doors to see his parents waiting
for him. Mayor Richard Darwood leaned against the hood of the
family car with his arms crossed, and his mother, Carol Darwood sat
in the front seat looking straight ahead. Lowering his head, Blake
climbed in the back seat of the car without saying a single word.
When his father slid in the car and pulled away from the curb, his
mother turned and spoke to him in a gentle voice.

“
You want to tell us what
happened, son? We received a call from a pretty upset father
today.”

“
It was an accident. I told
her I was sorry.”

Looking at him in the rearview mirror, his
father shook his head.

“
I thought I taught you
better than that. I would have at least expected you to make sure
she was all right.”

Leaning his head back on the leather seat,
Blake closed his eyes as he pleaded his case. “I tried, but she was
too upset. I didn’t want to make it worse.”

“
Well, here’s what we’re
going to do. The three of us are going to go over to the Klarks’
house. Your mother and I are going to talk with the Klarks, and I
want you to apologize again to the girl and see if there is
anything you can do to make up for your rudeness.”

“
Yes, sir.”

When they arrived at the house, the Darwoods
were met by a burly African-American man. He stood at the front
door with his arms behind his back as if he was standing at-ease
and waiting for an assignment from his commander. Eugene Klark
could make anyone think twice about crossing him. As the Darwoods
walked up the front steps, Eugene opened the screen door.

“
Mayor, Mrs. Darwood.” With
a slight nod, he welcomed them into his home. Blake followed his
parents in, but avoided making eye contact with Veronica’s
father.

Blake’s mother seemed the least intimidated
by Eugene.

“
Thank you, Mr. Klark. You
have a wonderful home. How’s your daughter?”

“
Please call me Eugene and
thank you. Won’t you please have a seat?”

Eugene ushered the Darwoods into the living
room where they were met by Darlene Klark. She entered from the
kitchen with a pitcher of lemonade and cups on a tray.

“
Hello,” Darlene gave a
warm greeting and placed the refreshments on the coffee table in
front of the guests. She then joined her husband as he sat. She was
situating herself when she noticed Blake still standing in the
doorway. She smiled.

“
Sweetie, if you’d like to
go see Veronica that would be fine. She’s upstairs, the second door
on the right.

“
Yes, Mrs.
Klark.”

Turning to find the stairs,
Blake wondered what he was going to say to Veronica when he saw
her. He already told her he was sorry.
What more could I say?
Blake stopped
at the door with purple and pink block letters spelling out
Veronica’s name. He knocked once. Since she didn’t respond, he
started to open the door slowly. With the door halfway open, he
peeped in. Blake saw that she had headphones on and was reading a
book. He figured she didn’t hear him knock. Standing patiently in
the doorway, he hoped she would notice him soon.

While he stood there, he stared at her in
astonishment. He never realized how pretty she was. Yes, he had
seen her around town and school before. In the gym locker room, the
guys liked to talk about the good looking girls in school, and her
name came up a few times. But this was the first time he had really
looked at her. His heart rate quicken, and his palms became sweaty.
Blake tried to wipe them on his jeans. He’d never reacted that way
from looking at a girl. His worries shifted from ‘how do I say
sorry again’ to ‘will I even be able to speak to her’. He felt as
if he had peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Feeling a presence in the room, Veronica
looked up from her book. The moment she saw Blake looming in the
door way, she scowled. Putting her book down and yanking her
headphones off with her good arm, she tossed them aside.

“
What do you want? Are you
here to break my other arm too?”

Her voice came out with a sharp crack. Blake
flinched from the harshness of her tone. Still, he stepped further
into the room. The closer he moved to her pretty face, the harder
Blake found it to be upset with her snippy remark. He was too
enthralled by her looks, to let her snide words send him
running.

“
No, I’m not here to break
bones. It was an accident this morning, and you know that. I told
you I was sorry. How are you feeling?”

The kindness in his voice did little to warm
Veronica’s heart.

“
My arm hurts. How do you
think I’m doing?”

Blake smiled down at her when he reached the
side of her bed.

“
If it makes you feel any
better, your parents called mine. I’m sure I’ll be grounded for the
rest of my life, and I’ll probably get some lecture about how the
mayor’s family is supposed to act in public.”

Chuckling to himself, he knew it wouldn’t be
the first or last time he and his brother would hear that speech.
Veronica didn’t seem to catch the inside joke, she sighed and
pursed her lips together. Blake tried hard to keep a straight face.
He knew she was still mad at him, but he thought the face she was
making was cute.

“
You still didn’t answer my
question. What do you want?”

“
I think I did. I said I
came to see how you were doing. I also came to see if there was
anything I could do for you.”

Veronica’s lips pulled into a sneer.

“
Nope, I think I’m all
set.”

She then carefully patted her cast before
reaching to put her headphones back on. Without thinking, Blake
lifted his hand and prevented her from placing the earpieces on all
the way.

“
Are you dismissing me?” He
gave her a cocky smile. He was enjoying their banter. “I was kind
of hoping we could talk. I’m not sure how long our parents plan on
visiting, but I would rather not go back down there until they’re
done.”

Rolling her eyes, Veronica dropped her
headphones back on her lap. Blake sensed she was trying to be nice,
and realized he didn’t want to go away. She pointed to the chair
next to her closet.

“
Fine, have a
seat.”

V
eronica was surprised by how striking Blake was. After he
turned the chair to face her, she found it hard not to stare at
him. He had piercing blue eyes and a very handsome face. Prior to
that moment, she never really looked at Blake Darwood. He was
someone she knew would never give her a second glance. Blake could
have anyone he wanted. He always had a girl hanging on his arm.
Staring at him, she felt her heart beat quicken. She feared she was
blushing, and hoped he didn’t notice. She wondered how it was
possible that just before she looked him in his eyes, she was so
upset with him over breaking her arm. However, the moment their
eyes met, all that anger went away. Veronica felt as if her mouth
was stuck together with laffy taffy.
What
is wrong with me?
Before he sat down in the
chair, she wanted nothing more than for him to leave her alone.
Now, she didn’t want him to leave at all. Her cheeks grew hotter.
Trying to breathe normally, she leaned back into her
pillows.

“
So what do you want to
talk about?” She questioned, while pulling in deep, even
breaths.

*

W
hen the parents came to check on them, they were both laughing
and getting along like they were the best of friends.

“
Are you ready to go home,
son?” Seeing his parents standing in the doorway, Blake’s face
dropped. Sighing, he stood and put the chair back against the
wall.

“
I guess so.” He then
turned to look back at Veronica. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

She smiled back at him. “Okay,
goodnight.”

As he headed for the door, his dad gave him
a puzzled look.

“
Tomorrow? You’re coming
back tomorrow?”

“
Yes, I told Veronica that
I would bring her homework over. The doctor wants her to stay out
of school for the rest of the week.”

After the Darwoods said their goodbyes to
the Klarks, they headed home.

The following day Blake couldn’t wait to
leave school, so he could drop Veronica’s homework off. He could do
nothing but think about her all day. The night before, once he was
home and getting ready for bed he thought of a plan to ask her out,
and dropping her homework off would be the best time to put his
plan into motion. Blake stopped by Mrs. Middlerow’s Flower Shop on
the way and he picked out a white rose. Once at the Klark’s house,
Mrs. Klark let him in. Veronica wasn’t in her room like the day
before. Today, she was sitting under a blanket in the living room.
Her face lit up when he walked in the room. Blake hoped it was from
seeing him and not from the rose. Seeing the gift, Mrs. Klark
brought a small vase to place the rose in. After setting the flower
aside, Darlene left the room. Blake waited until they were alone
before he spoke.

“
How are you feeling
today?”

“
I’m okay. I decided not to
take any more of those pain pills, they made me feel
weird.”

Looking over at her rose, Veronica smiled
again.

“
Thank you for the rose.
It’s beautiful.”

“
You’re welcome. I can’t
stay long; my dad told me I had to come straight home after
dropping your homework off.”