A Hope and a Chance(91)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Have I told you how awesome you are?” I asked.

She put her head against my side. “Not in the last ten minutes.”

“I love you.” I never hesitated when I said it, because it was the one thing I never doubted.

“I know you do, Chance. This really is a beautiful day.”

After a long ride, we made it home in one piece. I almost choked when we pulled up behind a Jeep with Pennsylvania tags. “Oh, shit!”

“What? Who is it?” Hope asked.

I should have known that our perfect Christmas would have come to an end sooner than later. I shook my head and placed it on the steering wheel once we came to a stop. “It’s Susan’s.”

Hope grabbed my arm. It was snowing too hard for anyone to see us in the truck. “Who cares. She can’t hurt us right?”

I shook my head again. “Here’s the problem. She likes to drink and run her mouth. Knowing Buffy, she won’t tell her about us in fear that she will blab after a bottle of wine. If she doesn’t know we’re together, she’s going to try to hook up. I swear to you that I have no interest in being with her, but not being able to give a reason could become a big problem.”

“I appreciate your honesty. It’ll be fine. It’s just a few days anyway. After that we can tell everyone.”

I looked into her eyes. “You’re right.”

“Then let’s go in and say hello to this Susan.”

I was reluctant, but we couldn’t sit outside and contemplate our plan. It was going to be a long couple of days, even if Hope thought it wasn’t going to be a big deal.

53

I wanted to picture Susan as some older woman who was overweight and maybe missing a few teeth. She was the opposite of that. In fact, she was the opposite of me. She had very long straight hair that was obviously professionally styled. Her face was beautiful and the makeup she was wearing made her look like she was a movie star. Unlike Buffy, she was dressed classy in some kind of tunic sweater and her long legs were exposed with only a pair of leggings that accented her narrow hips. She had a glass of wine already in her hand, and as we strolled in the door, I watched as her eyes lit up. It was like she immediately had locked Chance in as a target. It was that moment when I knew she was exactly the threat Chance had warned me about.

The beautiful woman walked right past me and took Chance into a long embrace. “Oh my God, Chance, it’s been so long. I’ve really missed you. I hope you don’t mind me coming in a couple days early. I just wanted to be able to catch up with you. You look amazing.” Before he could get a word in edge wise, she leaned in and kissed him straight on the lips.

I swallowed hard and tried to keep from screaming. Buffy came up behind me and sensed my anxiety. She grabbed me gently by the arm. “Susan, don’t be rude. This is Hope, Mark’s daughter I was telling you about.”

She slowly let go of my boyfriend and turned to face me. I watched as she looked from my hair to my feet, and then finally extended her hand. “Nice to meet you. I guess I didn’t realize he had a kid in high school.”

“Actually, Hope’s in college.” Chance corrected her and gave me a wink before anyone could notice.

“Well you’re very cute. I bet she has lots of hot young men coming over to swim in that pool with her.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” my father interrupted.

I watched him walk into the room. They were all holding drinks, and when Susan, the now bitch-I-wanted-to-choke noticed Chance was empty handed, she took it upon herself to drag him into the kitchen by his hand and attend to his thirst, or whatever else she had in mind.

When I couldn’t see them any longer it made me feel jealous, vulnerable, and mostly angry. Chance was mine, and beyond the fact that we were together in secret, I wasn’t going to let ANYONE, especially this chick ruin my life.

“How was your visit with your mom today?” My dad asked.

“It was nice. She was impressed with Chance for some reason,” I tried to say nonchalantly.

“Well he’s an impressive kid. It looks like he may be preoccupied for the next few days though. The way Susan talked, they go way back,” he replied. I couldn’t help but notice how my dad seemed excited for Chance. More than anything I wanted to run to my room and cry.

He may as well have kicked me in the gut, or stuck his hand into my chest and ripped out my heart.

“So, where is she sleeping? Do I need to get the guest room ready?” I asked.

Please don’t say the pool house. Please don’t say it…

“Actually, she put her things out in the pool house already. She said Chance wouldn’t mind. Besides, he needs to be around a good woman this time of year. I don’t want him being alone and depressed.” My dad explained.

I caught Buffy looking at me. The worry in her eyes was obvious. She knew I was about to lose it.

I could hear a woman laughing in the kitchen, and felt the tears accruing. Before it was obvious to my dad, I excused myself.

“I am just going to go upstairs for a bit. It isn’t like I can drink wine with you all,” I said sarcastically.

“I think Hope should be allowed to have a glass of wine with us, Mark. It isn’t like she’ll be driving,” Buffy stated.

“She can have a glass at dinner,” he said.

I rolled my eyes and marched upstairs to my room, hearing Susan laughing even when I’d gotten to my room made me want to get in my car and drive away.

I flopped down on my bed and began crying my eyes out. I don’t know why I couldn’t handle things. I knew he wasn’t doing anything with her, but it hurt so much anyway. She put her things in the pool house. God only knows what she packed to wear to bed. I was so beside myself with jealousy that I refused to go back downstairs. I couldn’t see her hanging all over him. I couldn’t watch her seducing him. It was agony, like I was being tortured from the inside out.

In all honesty it was bullshit. Chance was mine.

I had to keep telling myself that.

I hadn’t realized that I had fallen asleep until a knock at my door woke me up. Chance came sauntering toward me. “Hope, baby, are you okay?”

“No! I can’t stand it. I hate her for touching you. This isn’t fair. I feel like a kid being punished. How can I be in the same room with little miss hands? How can I smile when I want to stick my fingernails in her eyes?”

He laughed at my response. “I like it when you’re protective.”