A Hope and a Chance(64)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“I missed you too, sis.” I said as I watched Mark approaching us.

“Hey, Chance. I didn’t even know you were visiting this weekend. How’ve you been doing?” Mark asked.

I tried to remain calm, but I was still pissed about what he had done to his daughter. There was no way I would ever treat her that way. “I wanted to surprise everyone, and I pretty much hate the job. The money is good, but when it’s over, I plan on coming home and going back to school. This isn’t what I see doing forever.”

Mark raised an eyebrow. “Sorry to hear it isn’t going that great. Well, come on inside and get comfortable. I think the pool house is the way you left it. Sometimes Hope goes out there to study, but I doubt if she made a mess.”

Hope had indeed spent time in the pool house. She’d called me many times from inside. Although Mark was still talking, I was picturing her rolling around in my sheets taking in my manly scent. When I started to smile, I realized they were all standing around me.

“It is really good to be home,” I announced.

Buffy talked Mark into going out to dinner, and with Hope still not speaking to him much, he said yes immediately. He hadn’t even made a big deal out of her picking me up from the airport. Maybe me being away had given him time to realize I would risk my life for her safety, not cause her harm. Maybe he felt bad for sending me away, or perhaps he felt sorry for everything Hope went through. It was obvious she was in a good mood, which was probably rare. Aside from him being there at first with her mother’s illness, he’d gone back to business as if nothing happened. It irked me.

After being home for only about half an hour, Mark got a phone call and had to run to the strip mall to meet with a potential new lease. Buffy had hugged me a million times and finally allowed me to breathe. As soon as Mark’s car pulled out of sight Hope was back in my arms. We strolled hand in hand to the pool house and closed the door behind us. Buffy said she would text us when he was back so Hope could just walk outside and act casual.

The funny thing was that Hope didn’t seem fazed by her father. I think she would have been okay with him seeing us together. Her animosity towards him was a little disturbing, and I realized that she had just reached her breaking point. There may have been no way for them to fix their relationship. The man had let his daughter get sexually assaulted while he sat back and did nothing to the kids involved. That was a crime in itself.

When we got inside the pool house, I noticed how clean it was.

“I came in here a lot more than both of them know about. In fact, I snuck out at night and slept in your bed a few nights. It might sound creepy, but I just wanted to be near you, well as close to you as I could be,” she admitted.

“Hope, I carry around a damn ribbon in my wallet. I have no room to talk,” I said confidently.

“The house is clean except for the sheets. I refused to change them. They still smell like you.” She smiled and marched toward the bedroom.

I followed her, while still picturing her rolling around in the sheets. “You know we don’t have much time right?” I said, as I watched her shirt come flying off and land on my head.

“We have enough time.”

I smiled and met her on my mattress, minus my clothes.

36

I’d wanted to spend the afternoon alone with Chance, but my father arrived home only an hour after he’d left. He and Buffy decided that we should all go to the Country Club to have an early dinner. Chance headed to the pool house to get cleaned up, while I stayed inside the main house to do the same.

My plan was that at the last minute I was going to tell my father I preferred to drive myself, in case they wanted to stay later. I knew Chance would volunteer to ride with me, which would give us some more alone time.

The fall weather was causing it to be cool outside, especially in the afternoons, so I made it a point to wear something that I could put a sweater over. I chose a strapless black dress with blue and white designs in it. It came up above my knees, but looked cute with a cardigan on top.

My hair had really grown since the summer, which now covered my entire back. I curled each of the ends and pulled the sides up so it looked fuller. After putting on a bit of makeup, I stood back and looked at my appearance. My most favorite part of the whole outfit was my necklace from Chance. It hung perfectly in the center of my chest.

Satisfied that Chance would be impressed, I headed downstairs. Buffy decided to wear something other than pink. She wore a navy blue suit that made her look older than she normally dressed; a strand of pearls were wrapped around her neck, while her hair was curled to perfection.

“You look beautiful,” I said as she came downstairs.

“So do you. Wow!” She replied.

My father followed behind and put his arms around Buffy’s waist. “You will be the two best looking women in the club tonight.”

“We better be,” Buffy said as she gave him a once over. “Hope, why don’t you go see if Chance is ready yet.”

“Okay.” I said calmly, but really I wanted to simultaneously scream and jump up and down.

I was wearing heels, which made it impossible to run toward the pool house. I adjusted my dress at least three times before making it to the entrance. When I opened the door, I could smell Chance’s cologne. I followed the scent toward the bathroom and lost my breath at how handsome he looked.

Chance was wearing a pair of black pants. His blue polo shirt displayed every muscle on his arms and chest. While he had been away, I washed all of the clothes he still had in boxes and then hung them up. He obviously appreciated my hard work by wearing one of the outfits.

“Well, don’t you clean up nice.”

Chance took one look at me and flew out of the bathroom. “Hope. Damn, you look fantastic.” He kissed me gently on the lips. “And thanks for the work you did in my closet.”

“You’re welcome.” I said, as I wiped my lip-gloss off his lips. “They’re waiting for us.”

“Let me just get my wallet and I’ll be there.”

I decided not to push my luck with my father and headed out to the driveway. As I approached the car, I heard Chance running to catch up behind me. “Sorry you guys had to wait,” he said.

“It’s fine, Chance. Are we ready to go?” My dad asked.

I interrupted. “Um dad, I was thinking I should drive my own car. If you guys want to stay late, I can head home early. I just want to have the option, you know?”

My dad creased his brow and looked over to Buffy. She gave him a nod and his face calmed. “Probably a good idea, sweetie. You know how I get when I run into my golf buddies.”