A Hope and a Chance(95)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Susan turned toward me. “How do you stand living with this shit? Mark, come get a handle on your kid. I don’t have time for this.”

“Hope! Stop this now!” Mark ordered. Once he separated them, he looked at his daughter. I knew what he was seeing. The truth was written across her angry face. “What’s the meaning of this? Dammit, ever since Susan came here you’ve been acting crazy. I want the truth, Hope. What’s gotten into you?”

My stomach started to knot up, like everything was going in slow motion. Hope wouldn’t look at me and there was only one reason that would happen. She was going to tell him, and she knew I’d try to stop her. Before I could yell, scream, or grab her by the hand and run out of there, she just started talking. “I love him, Dad.”

He clearly had blinders on. “What do you mean you love him? Honey, this is all about some crush? I get that you’ve been spending a lot of time together, and you see him as someone you can trust, but -.”

“I’ve loved him since before you even introduced us. We’d already met when I came to live here.”

I caught Buffy’s stare, and knew she was scared to death that he’d learn she was in on the secret.

“I don’t understand. How is that possible?”

Here it came. With my heart beating out of my chest, I turned to look at Hope, listening as she finally came clean about us.

“I can’t keep lying about it anymore. We’ve been a couple since the summer.”

“A couple? What…Wait a minute. You’re telling me that this isn’t a crush you have for Chance? You’re saying he’s been involved with you for months?” From the tone of his voice I knew I was in deep shit. I clench my fists together, preparing for him to come at me. After all, I’d been screwing his daughter. What father wouldn’t want to kill me?

He turned and looked at me with so much animosity. Hope wouldn’t back down though. “We tried to stop, but it only made us stronger.” Tears filled her eyes. “Dad, this isn’t Chance’s fault. It was me from the beginning.”

He pointed in my direction. “I want you out of my pool house. Do you hear me?”

I nodded, knowing that there was nothing I could do. He’d warned to stay away. “Yeah. I hear you.”

“Dad, no. Please, you can’t do this. Chance didn’t do anything wrong.” Hope was pleading, while my sister remained silent.

I felt Susan tucking her arm inside of mine. I turned to look at her, shocked she’d not gotten the hint. “You can come home with me. I’ve got a spare room, not that you’ll need it.”

I tugged out of her hold, giving her a dirty look as I backed up. “I’m not interested. Don’t you get it, Susan?”

“Dad, you can’t kick him out. If he goes, then so do I.” Hope placed her hands on her hips and waited for him to reply. He looked from me then back to his daughter.

“This is going to be dealt with before the night is over. This is not happening under my roof.” That threat was geared to me, not his daughter. He thought he could control the situation. It was obvious that he didn’t have a clue about the seriousness of our relationship.

When her dad grabbed her arm to pull her back into the next room, she retracted it, stepping away from him. “No. I’m not leaving Chance in here with her. I refuse to watch this slut try to put her claws into my boyfriend anymore.”

“Who are you calling a slut, you little tramp?” Susan added.

Buffy put her body in front of Susan’s and Mark held Hope back. “This has to stop, Susan. Leave her alone. Just let them be.”

I wanted to say something, but I was in shock. My sister had tears running down her eyes. We’d ruined her ceremony, and now she was going to start her marriage in a battle with her new husband.

Mark turned to Buffy. “Did you know?” He seemed hurt, like she’d defied his trust in the worst way possible.

Before she could answer, I interrupted. “She didn’t know. We didn’t tell anyone.”

He turned to face me. “Oh, now you speak? You promised me, Chance. You promised that you wouldn’t touch her.” The pain in his eyes ripped right through me. “I told you when she first came to live with us that she was off limits.”

“You’re right. I did promise you, but I’d already fallen in love with her.” I took a deep breath, preparing myself to be hit with a fist. “I fell in love with her the first night we were together, and it was weeks before she moved in with us.”

He seemed so confused. I couldn’t even begin to look in Hope’s direction, after confessing that I’d loved her for so long.

He ran his hands through his hair, never taking his eyes off of his daughter. Had it not been for my being afraid he’d come after me, I would have laced my hand with Hope’s.

“I don’t understand. You couldn’t have met her,” he reiterated.

Hope interrupted, “I met Chance when I first came to see you here. Then we crossed paths again later on that day.” She shook her head. “It’s a long story. Then after that, he saved me when Rylee snuck us into a bar you all happened to be at. I didn’t want you to catch me, and when my friend refused to leave, Chance got me out of there.”

Mark’s eyes lit up. He knew exactly when it happened. He turned to me. “When the police came, they asked you questions you wouldn’t answer? Is that because you were with my daughter?”

I nodded my head. “I found out how old Hope was after the fact. I swear I didn’t know. She was in the bar, for Christ sakes. Anyway, I knew I couldn’t let the police know that she was a minor, so I lied to keep her safe, and me out of jail. I didn’t want you to find out about that night for several reasons; one being the fact that she was your daughter.” This guy was going to kill me for sure.

Mark was so pissed that he looked to have tears in his eyes.

“I love her, Mark. I tried so hard to stay away after she moved in. I treated her like crap, and pretended that she meant nothing to me. I fought my feelings. We both did.”

He looked over to Hope. “This is why you’ve been acting so weird? It’s not because you’re on drugs?”

She nodded. “We didn’t want to tell you until my birthday, but Susan wouldn’t leave Chance alone. I couldn’t take it anymore. She’s like a leech. Do you have any idea how it felt for me to watch her doing everything she could to be with him?”