A Hope and a Chance(89)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I looked over to Hope and smiled. “Hope picked it out. She wanted you to have something for your new shop. You’re going to need something like that with all the cakes you’re going to be making.” Part of Mark’s big deal was that he got to lease one of the properties for his and Buffy’s new bakery. She was more than thrilled about it. I think it helped Hope see that even when her dad was being selfish, he had more than money riding on the deal. He was doing it as a surprise for his wife-to-be.

“You’re right, little brother. Here.” She handed me a package. “This is from Mark and me.”

The small box looked like it could only fit jewelry, but when I opened it I found a set of keys. “What’s this?” I asked.

“We got you an old clunker. Don’t get too excited it barely passed inspection, and could use some TLC, but Mark knew this old man who died, and his son just wanted to get rid of it. You need something that has four wheel drive and a roof on it,” Buffy announced.

“Thanks, guys. This is awesome.”

After walking out to check out the old red Chevy truck, we went back inside and continued to exchange gifts. Hope and I had gotten Mark some new towels that attached to his golf clubs with his initials sewn on them. We also gave him two packs of his favorite golf balls and matching covers for each of his clubs. He seemed thrilled.

Hope gave my sister her last package from us, which turned out to be her favorite gift. She had taken a picture of Buffy and I with our mother, and had it enlarged and put on a canvas. We both had tears in our eyes when she saw us standing there with Mom. “This is amazing you guys. Thank you so much.”

Mark got right up and started hanging it at the top of the stairs for her. She just kept looking at it. She and Mark had given Hope something to hold her IPod to her arm while she ran, and some new running shoes. They gave Hope a gas card that contained two hundred dollars. She was elated with that gift. Gas was expensive after all.

“Here, Hope. I got you a little something,” I said as I handed her the package. She opened it up and saw that it was two concert tickets to one of her favorite bands.

“Wow. Are you going to go with me?” She asked.

“If you want me to. I bought the second for whoever you wanted to take,” I said, knowing darn well I’d be her date.

Hope handed me a large box. “This is for you, Chance.”

I looked up at her, wondering what could be in this box. When I opened it, I gasped. Inside were three separate canvases, kind of like Buffy’s. All three were of me playing baseball and she had them done in black and white. They were all three about ten inches square and I traced my own image, as I looked at them. “These are awesome. Where did you get these pictures?” I asked.

“Actually, I gave them to her when she told me she wanted to get them done. Your living room needs some help brother,” Buffy admitted.

“Thank you so much. I reached out and hugged her with one arm, and it took everything I had not to pull her in for more.

Finally, when all of the other small gifts had been exchanged, Hope and I handed Mark and Buffy one last gift each. They both looked to one another and reached into the matching gift bags. When they pulled out a sweatshirt from each bag, they seemed confused, until they unfolded them and saw what they said.

Large letters saying VT were written across the front. They looked to each other and then to us.

“Hope? Does this mean you’ll transfer and go to Virginia Tech too?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, it does,” she replied.

He took her into his arms. “Thank you, sweetie. I’m so proud of your decision.”

Hope hugged him back. “You should probably thank Chance. He practically begged me,” she fibbed.

Mark extended his hand out anyway. “You’re a good guy, Chance. I’m happy to have you as part of this family.”

I shook his hand back and wondered how long he would think that.

For the rest of the afternoon Buffy fed us until we couldn’t move any longer. The snow continued to fall, but Hope still needed to visit with her mother. I didn’t want to worry about her out on the roads, so I asked Mark if I could just drive her over in the new truck. I’d never met her mother, but now was as good time as ever to do so.

Mark didn’t hesitate to say yes, considering it was for his daughter’s safety. I think he and my sister wanted some alone time anyway.

I helped Hope get her gifts together and we climbed into the truck. I hoped that meeting her mother wouldn’t ruin the perfect day we were having, but prepared for whatever might come.

52

I managed to wear the ring backwards on my right hand so that no one would notice, but I refused to take it off. Chance kept looking at me admiring it as we drove to my mother’s house.

“I’m going to tell her about us.”

“You don’t want to wait?” I could sense he was nervous. We’d waited too long already though. I was sick of keeping it a secret. Chance was my future and there would soon be nothing standing in our way.

I shook my head. “No, she’ll be able to tell. It’s best that I just tell her.”

Visibility was becoming difficult, but he still took one hand off the wheel and grabbed mine. “Whatever you want to do, Hope. Your parents knowing won’t change the way I feel about you.”

“I know.”

We pulled up at my mother’s house and she opened the door to greet us. When she took one look at Chance, I could already see the curiosity in her eyes.

“Merry Christmas, honey. Come on inside and get warm. This weather is beautiful, but so cold and dreadful as well.”

“It’s great to see you. You look well.”

“I am. I’m doing so much better. My new medication is keeping me going, that’s for sure.”

It was good to hear. I worried with my decision to go off to college if she’d have another flare up. That would be difficult to handle being a couple hours away. Still, it wasn’t far enough to where I couldn’t drive to reach her.

Once we were in the house and had removed our coats we sat down in front of my mom. “Mom, this is Chance,” I announced.

My mother leaned over and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. So you’re the guy who lives out back?” She asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m Buffy’s younger brother,” he explained.

My mother looked from me to Chance. “May I ask how much younger?”

“I am twenty-one.” I watched his Adam’s apple move as he swallowed. I could tell from the way he was carrying himself that he was nervous.