My Sunshine (13 page)

There was a comfortableness and intimacy between them that
was only found in families.

“I don’t want to go back to Canton,” Chloe whined as she threw a handful of underclothes into her suitcase. It was Sunday. They had come back to Orlando from the World Series the day before. Her plane back home to North Carolina was scheduled to leave just a couple of hours later..

John
picked up the bag and turned it upside down, emptying it onto the bed. “Then stay.”

“I can’t stay,
John. I’ve got to be at work in the morning.”

He shook his head. “No, you don’t. Stay here.”

She smiled and scooped up her clothes. “I’d love to stay here.”

“I’m serious,
Chloe. Stay, move in. I’m sure Christine would love to have some female company here.”

Chloe
dropped the clothes. “I don’t know, John. It’s

pretty soon. Live together?”

He nodded, understanding her apprehension. They had only known each other for a few weeks
.
It is sudden. Why am I s
o
drawn to this girl
?
He shook the thought out of his head. It didn’t matter why he wanted her to stay; he just did and that’s all that mattered to him. “You don't have to stay in here with me if you're not ready. There’s an extra room. Please.”

“You’re making it hard to say no.”

“Then don’t say no. Say yes.”

She chewed her bottom lip and stared at him
.
What do I have to lose? And I would have my own room. It would be a chance to leave Cantonand all those memories behind
.
“Really?”

He nodded and once again dumped out her suitcase.

“Really. Stay. Please.”

“What about
Tyler ? Don’t you have to ask him?”

“I already have,” he lied.

“No, you haven’t.”

“He won’t care,
Chloe. He likes you. Christine will love for you to be here when she comes to town.”

“It  j
ust seems so soon.”

“Whose side are you on?”
John argued. “Do you want to or not?”

“I want to. I want to a lot. I’d like to live here with the three
of you.”

“Then it’s settled.” He kicked her suitcase off the bed.

She frowned. “It’s not that simple. I have to go home and quit my jobs and tell Daniel and all that. I can’t just not go back.

Besides, you should still clear it with
Tyler.”

“Hold on.” He left the room.

Christine flung open the door and rushed into John’s room.

She threw her arms around
Chloe. “Of course we don’t mind!

Oh please move in! It’s going to great having another girl here.”

Tyler and John followed her in the room. “I told you,” John said.

Chloe
smiled. “Okay, okay. I’ll move in.”

“How soon?”
John asked.

“Well, I have to give my job two weeks notice, and I have
to teach Daniel how to do his own books, so…”

“A couple of weeks then,”
John finished. He was amazed at how loyal she was to her job.

She shook her head. “I don’t know if I can do it that soon.”

“How about when she comes down for the wedding?”

Tyler
suggested. “When she comes down then, she’ll just stay.”

“That’s almost a month away,”
John complained.

Chloe
went to him and laid her head against her chest.

“You’ll just have to come and see me.” She looked at
Tyler. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, he has one every now and again,”
John joked, playfully knocking Tyler in the head.

“Did you enjoy your trip, Chloe?” Rebecca asked as she sat the platter of fried chicken on the table.

Chloe
smiled. “Oh, I did.”

“Did you stay in California the whole weekend?”
Daniel asked.

Chloe
shook her head. “No. You know I flew down to Orlando Friday afternoon and then we flew to Anaheim Saturday afternoon - on a private jet, no less - and flew back to Orlando yesterday morning. Oh, you guys should have seen this jet we flew on. It was incredible. I didn’t even know they made that kind of plane.”

“Wow,”
Rebecca said, “four flights in four days. That’s pretty impressive for someone who’s never flown before.”

“Were the flights okay?”
Daniel asked. “Did you handle it okay?”

Chloe
rolled her eyes. “You mean, did I freak out and cause a big scene? No.” She took a bite of her potatoes. “So, did you see the game?”

Daniel
and Rebecca both nodded. “Yeah,” Rebecca said.

“They sounded really good. It must have been so exciting.”

Chloe nodded. “It was.

“Was it just you and the five of them?”
Daniel asked.

Chloe
shook her head. “No, no. There were ten of us. It was me and John and the other four guys and their wives and girlfriends, so ten of us.”

“So what are they like?”
Rebecca asked. “I can’t believe that you’re jetting around with Parrison.”

“Oh, they’re all really nice. They’re really close, like a

family, and they couldn’t have been nicer to me.”

“What did you do besides flying around and going to
baseball games?”

Chloe
shrugged. “We went out to eat, went to the movies; hung out mostly.”

“Did you drink?”
Daniel asked.

Chloe
frowned. “No, I know I’m not supposed to.”

“Did you remember your medication? Everyday?”

“Yes, Daniel.”

“When are you going to see him again?”
Rebecca asked.

She was obviously excited for
Chloe.

“One of the guys,
Dennis is getting married on November sixteenth and I’m going back down then. I don’t know if I’ll see him again before that.” She looked from Rebecca to Daniel.

“And when I go down there, I’m not coming back.

“What?” Daniel said, dropping his fork. “What do you mean you’re not coming back?”

“He asked me to move in with him and I’m going to.”

“No, you’re not,” Daniel argued. “You’ve only known this guy for a few weeks. You can’t go moving in with him.”

Chloe
had expected this opposition from him. “I am, Daniel,” she said calmly.

“But
Chloe,” Daniel protested.

“But
Daniel,” Chloe interrupted. “I am twenty-one years old. I have a job -- two jobs. I graduated from college. I’m old enough and responsible enough to make my own decisions.”

“I know you are,
Chloe, and I understand that you want your own place; I do, but why don’t you just move out of here.”

Chloe
shook her head. “I have to get out of Canton.

Everyone here knows about me and I’m tired of all the stares
and whispers.”

“Then move to Asheville.”
Daniel suggested. “Why do you want to move all the way to Florida with some guy you hardly know?”

“I like him,
Daniel, and he likes me. He could have his pick of women and he chose me.”

“Has he even told you that he loves you?”

“No, but…”

Daniel
cut her off. “But! He hasn’t told you that he loved you? What is his reason for having you move in then? So you’ll be more accessible?”

“When are you going to believe that it’s not like that? I’ve
told you that it’s not about sex. If I wanted sex, I could do that here.”

“Maybe you don’t understand what he’s thinking.”

Chloe gritted her teeth. “Are you calling me stupid? I’m not a stupid little girl!”

“Do you love him?”

She nodded. “I think I do. We just want to be together to see where this is going. He can’t always be here, but I can be there. I can get a job there.”

“But you’re talking about living with him, playing house. It
just seems so soon.”

“It’s not like that. I’d have my own room.
Christine

Panter
stays there too, sometimes.”

“
Christine Panter, the singer?” Rebecca interrupted to ask.

Chloe
looked at her and nodded. “Yeah. She's Tyler’s girlfriend.” She looked back at Daniel. “See, it’s not just me and him. It’s not ‘playing house’.”

“What if you go down there and he just ends up breaking
your heart?”

“Then I’ll come back home. Listen
Daniel, I know you’re worried about me, but I’ve done more than anyone ever thought I would.”

He nodded, agreeing with her. “I know, but what if you go
down there and get sick? You know the doctors have said a big change in your life could trigger an episode.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Stay in these mountains my
whole life? Stay here and be an old maid because everyone here thinks I’m crazy?”

“Have you told
John?” Daniel asked. “Have you told him that you were a schizo?”

“
Daniel!” Rebecca exclaimed.

Chloe
pushed away from the table and went to her room.

She had a good mind to pack up her things and drive down to
Orlando that night.

After a few minutes, there was a soft knock on her door and
Rebecca opened it. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

Rebecca sat down on the bed next to her. “I’m sorry Daniel said that.”

Chloe
shrugged. “Why? It’s true.”

“He still shouldn’t have said it like that.” She paused. “Did
you tell John?”

Chloe
shook her head. “No. How do you say that?”

“You’ll have to tell him, honey,”
Rebecca said. “If you go down there to live, he’ll have to know. Just in case.”

“I know, but if I tell him, he might change his mind.”

“Then you shouldn’t be moving in with him anyway. He should accept you for who you are.”

“I just wanted to give him a chance to see that I’m normal…
that I’m not sick.”

Rebecca
sighed. “I can’t tell you what to do, and neither can Daniel, but we both want what’s best for you.”

“I know.”

Rebecca stood up and pulled Chloe by the arm. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

Daniel
looked at her as she sat at the table. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” They were silent for a few moments. “So if I
move out, you two can get married.”