Daring the Wild Sparks (5 page)

CHAPTER 4

“There you are! Are you okay, sweetheart?” Julie throws down two potholders and promptly walks over to me. “What happened between you two?”

“We had an argument.”

She exasperatedly replies, “Well, we all knew that! What did my jackass of a son do to you?”

I glance away from her zealously concerned gaze. “It was me.”

“I greatly doubt it was you. I swear, if he does something to chase you away, I will kill him.”

Staring out the window over Julie’s shoulder, I cross my arms and wanly say, “Don’t worry about that. I love him. It was just an argument. That’s all.” I shrug as I feel her eyes burning into me while I continue to look out the window. “It happens sometimes. We don’t agree on everything, so it’s bound to happen now and then.”

“Are you sure? Did he hurt you? He wasn’t dressed, so…”

“Mom!” Simone shouts as she grabs a stack of plates. “She said they’ll be fine! Let it go!”

Julie squeezes my upper arms and I still can’t look at her directly. “Hadley, if you ever need to talk, I’m here for you. I promise I will take your side.” I laugh, but Julie doesn’t and I finally regard her facial expression. “I’m dead serious. Finn is like his dad. He knows how to ruin a good thing.”

Simone bursts out laughing. “Henry? Right, Mom.”

Julie looks over at Simone. “What?”

Rolling her eyes, Simone mumbles, “Nothing.”

I hear the front door open and I start to feel sick. Great. I’m still not ready to face him. We all look to the kitchen doorway as Chrishelle walks in. “Hey, guys,” she greets and then sees me. “Hadley, how are you?” She saunters over and I move away from Julie so we can hug. Her perfume reminds me of my mother’s, unfortunately. I step back and smile at her. Also resembling Julie, Chrissie’s hair is almost shoulder-length and lighter than her mother’s, but unlike Julie and Finn, her eyes are blue instead of brown. She does have the same golden skin tone and laugh as them, though.

“How have you been, kiddo?” Kiddo. I always thought that was cute of her. She’s only four years older than me.

Forcing a smile to stay on my face, I reply, “Fine. What about you?”

She laughs. “Can’t complain, but I probably will. Nobody will listen anyway.”

“Quit complaining, you drama queen,” Simone grumbles while folding napkins.

“You can zip it, Oscar,” she retorts. I want to laugh since it makes me think of my bridesmaid trash can.

“Children, please!” Julie trills. I check out Chrissie’s outfit— skinny jeans, a baggy white top that falls off her shoulder with a baby blue tank top underneath. I could never pull an outfit like that off. I’d look like an maladroit, want-to-be hooker.

Walking over to the refrigerator and yanking out the milk, she asks, “So how’s my brother doing? I haven’t even seen him yet.”

“Um, he’s doing okay.” I look down at the brown and black-flecked granite countertop. I can feel all eyes on me. Shit.

“What?” Chrishelle asks. “What’s going on with him? Did I miss something?”

Simone answers, “No. He’s still a loser.”

Chrissie refutes, “Says you, mega mouth.”

“Chrissie, would you please take the casserole out of the oven for me, please?” Julie asks in an attempt to deter her daughters.

“Sure.” She grabs the potholders and turns to the stove. “So, did you move in with my bro yet?”

Here we go.

“No, but I told him I will.”

“Really?” three women ask me at the same time amidst metallic clanking of Julie dropping something on the counter.

“Yes?” I falteringly answer.

Julie beams and clasps her hands together beneath her chin. “You’re moving in with Finn? When? I’ll help in any way I can. Just let me know and I will take the time off work.”

Chrissie rolls her eyes. “Jeez, Mom. Calm down. She didn’t announce she’s pregnant with your first grandchild. Damn.”

Julie’s eyes hugely widen with optimism and she gasps, “Are you?” Simone and Chrissie stop what they’re doing to also stare at me. Now this is disturbing.

My eyes nervously dart around the kitchen and I shake my head. “No,” I mumble. I glance out the window, wanting terribly to be kidnapped by space aliens.

Julie glumly sighs and says, “Someday, I hope.” She’ll be waiting until the first of Never if her son gets his way.

I mutter absently, “No. That’s not going to happen any time soon.”

“Why not?” Julie asks with abundant disappointment. Wow. I did not expect to head down this rocky one-lane road…on a mountainside…after an ice storm…during an earthquake.

I unwillingly look at her and give her a small shrug. “We’re not ready. That’s all.”

Chrissie knowingly smirks. “You mean,
Finn
isn’t ready.”

Simone gripes, “Well, he needs to grow a pair, along with a backbone. He has to marry Hadley and give her a baby.” Where are those damn aliens? I’ll even gladly accept illegal aliens kidnapping me right now.

“I don’t know if that’ll happen,” Chrissie asserts with a frown. “I can’t really blame him. No offense, Hadley. I’m not exactly a fan of marriage either. I guess we’re two peas in a pod, my brother and I. I did get married once, but it didn’t work out. That doesn’t seem to help your case, though, since Finn uses that as another example as why getting married is futile.”

I nod, but want to run out to my car and cry. I’m such a huge baby anymore. I ask, “Does he say anything else to you? I mean, about me? Anything I should know about?”

Chrissie smiles. “He’s never been in love until he met you. We all know that. He told me you turned his life upside down, Hadley. He fell so hard for you, if that helps.”

I nod again. It does.

Temporarily.

“I’ll talk to him,” Julie decisively says and returns to her mixing bowl.

“No!” I yell. Everyone again looks at me and I glance down at the counter. Shit.

Julie sulks, “Why not? I’ll get through to him.” I tentatively look at her as she props her hands on the counter and leans onto them. “Hadley, he wants you to move in with him. You’ll be living as man and wife. He’d better not be thinking that you wouldn’t want to get pregnant eventually.”

Simone giggles. “Just go off the Pill without telling him.”

Chrissie scowls at Simone and then says to me, “Ugh. Do
not
do that. He would be so pissed and he’d feel rightfully betrayed. He would never trust you again, Hadley.”

I avow, “I wouldn’t. I couldn’t anyway.”

“Why?” Simone asks. Shit!
I’m
the mega mouth!

“Nothing.” I quickly dismiss my big mouth and walk over to the window, crossing my arms and staring out at the quiet street leading up to the driveway.

Julie asks, “Are you not on the Pill?” Fuck…

I sigh and stupidly admit, “No.”

Simone presses, “An implant? Shot?”  I shake my head at the window. She shrieks, “Well, then it’s easy for you to have an
accident
!”

I turn my head to glance at her. “Chrissie’s right. I could never do that to him. I wouldn’t forgive myself.” I walk back to the counter and grab the pile of beige napkins Simone had put into blue ceramic rings.

“How are you
not
getting pregnant?” Julie intrusively asks. I’m again speechless by what someone in this house has said to me. Wasn’t Julie against the Pill at one time? I guess she’s clueless that her son doesn’t want me taking it—well, until earlier when he said he “changed his mind.”

Simone laughs. “We
know
you’re doing it since you’ve been together for three years!” Is it normal for women to talk about something so personal this openly with their sort-of in-laws?

Chrissie says, “Eww, guys. I don’t want to know that, and I’m sure Finn doesn’t want Hadley broadcasting their sex life to us,
especially
not to his mother.” Exactly!

I shyly avoid their expectant stares, as well as answering Julie’s question, and I walk the napkins into the dining room. As I set them at each place setting, I look out the window to see the black Mustang pulling up into the driveway. Shit.

I return to the kitchen. “I’m going to go change. I’ll be back.” Everyone shrewdly smiles and nods as I make a fast retreat. I quickly grab a change of clothes, my makeup bag and search for the bathroom down the hall. Easily finding it, I dash in and lock the door. The bathroom is spacious and brightly lit without the lights on. It’s a lilac color and smells like the flower, too.

I sit down on the edge of the large, whirlpool bathtub and close my eyes. How do I face him? I’ll have to eventually since I’m with him the whole weekend. And, I did promise to move in with him. We’ll get past this. But, then what? Do we keep having this argument again and again, or do I just let it go, not to ever think about it again? Do I just go on the Pill now and forget about ever becoming a mother? Maybe this is God’s way of saying I shouldn’t. I’d probably be a shitty mother like my own was. She was great up until that one day she took off and never looked back. Why didn’t she love Jared and me enough to stay, or at least to stay in our lives? No phone calls. No cards. Nothing. Does she even know we’re still alive?

Sighing, I take my lounge pants off and put my jeans on. Then I pull my shirt up over my head and change into an olive green button-up, cotton, collared shirt with silver buttons. I find my hairbrush and take my ponytail out.

There’s a hard knock on the bathroom door and I drop my brush. Shit. Can I not be startled by every damned sound? I’m jumpier than a depressed cricket on a window ledge. Damn Rod and his analogies.

“Becks, can I come in?”

I huff as I brush my hair, “No.”

“Becks, come on. I need to talk to you.”

“I’m busy, Finn. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

I hear him sigh heavily before bounding down the stairs. He actually respected my wishes for once. What a revelation.

I add some brown eyeliner, some blush, and concealer underneath my eyes to hide the puffiness. It doesn’t really work, though. I sigh and gather my things.

After dumping them off in Finn’s room, I slowly make my way downstairs to the nearby chattering in the kitchen and dining room. Simone’s voice, shrill and on the defensive, Chrishelle’s mocking sneers, Julie’s sing-songing, and Ricky’s laugh mingle together in a comfortable harmony. Now I suddenly feel awkward. Like an outsider. Ricky probably feels more at home here than I do.

As soon as I hit the gray-tiled foyer floor, Finn is in front of me, blocking my path with a hand on the banister and the other ready to catch my arm if I try to walk past him, his big, brown eyes already pleading with me. How does he do that?

He indomitably declares, “We need to talk.”

I see he changed into jeans. I’ve always loved the way he looks wearing jeans. The denim showcases his perfect ass. My favorite part is the sound of the zipper as I pull it down.

Focus, Beckett
. I have to lick my lips before retorting, “We already did
talk
.”

Finn swipes his hand through his sandy brown hair before he reaches for my hand; however, I yank it away and tuck my hand into my back pocket. He drops his arm and impatiently sighs. “Becks, I don’t want to fight. I hate it. We hardly ever do.”

“I hate it, too, but you were…less than charming.” I frown at him and glance toward the dining room to see if we have an audience.

He grabs my arm, thus pulling my hand out of my pocket, tugging me closer to him. “Baby, I… I’m sorry.”

Sighing, my gaze flickers from the doorway to his face and I entreat, “Let’s talk about this later. I don’t want to argue with you anymore right now.”

“After dinner.” He quickly shakes his head. “Not to argue. I mean for us to talk. We’ll go for a walk or drive. Please?” His voice drops to a low and sexy entreaty.

Once again sucked into his alluring and inescapable orbit, I crisply nod, but focus on the olive green wall, avoiding his sharp stare. With the hand he had parked on the banister, he grips my chin, making me look up at him. He determinedly declares, “I love you.”

I try to keep from peering into his eyes, but he moves my head with his, this time forcing me to look at him. “Becks, we really do need to talk… I’ve been thinking.”
About
?

“Since our fight? Really?” I snap sarcastically.

“Actually, yes. After dinner, okay? We need to be alone.”

Swatting at his hand, I glare at him as I acidly retort, “We tried that.” I move to walk into the dining room, but he grabs my arm.

“Damn it. Just go with me, okay?” He jerks me to him and kisses me as Chrissie walks into the room.

“Aww. Look who made up. Great job, baby bro.” I automatically pull away from his mouth and run a hand nervously through my hair, giving Chrissie a stiff smile. He’d better not think we made up and everything is fine.

As I watch her leave the room, Finn leans close to my ear and whispers, “Yeah. We really do need to be alone.” He firmly takes my hand and leads me into the dining room.