BREAKTHROUGH (Love's Not Easy Series Book 2) (9 page)

Chapter Nine

Aimee was so ready for the weekend after spending only one day at Roseednay Fruits.  The IT department problems only began with Richard yelling and breaking the code of conduct.  He had not kept good records in his office.  Aimee spent the rest of the day cyphering through all of his papers.  Then, she had to clean all the trash out of the office.

She meet with the employees of the department one on one.  She went through their files to make sure the information was correct, before she took the files to HR to ensure they were corrected and safe.

At twenty till five, Lexi sent a text to Aimee that they were going to have a cookout at the flat and she needed Aimee to go to the grocer for some things they needed for the cookout. Aimee sent a text to Mr. Myers telling him she would be back on Monday.  Then, she stopped by the market and butchers for the items on her list.

She took the bags to the kitchen before she headed to her room to freshen up.  She grabbed a pair of jean shorts and a football style tee shirt.  She was about to enter the kitchen when she overheard Jaxson telling Lexie about work. He was talking good about Aimee.  She decided it was time for her to let Lexi introduce them.

Jaxson’s mouth dropped open when Aimee entered the kitchen and propped her arms on the bar asking what she needed to do.  Lexi came over and kissed his cheek.  “Jaxson, this is my roommate and one of my best friends, Aimee.”

“Miss Pittman, I am…”

Aimee laughed. “Jaxson, please call me Aimee.  I am sorry we could not meet before I showed up at work.”

“Aimee.  I knew you were studying business here.  I just had no clue that you were Lexi’s friend, Aimee, she talks so much about.”

“Yeah.  I didn’t want things to be weird when I showed up unannounced and then when all the stuff with your supervisor happened, I didn’t want people thinking you had somehow caused all the mayhem.”

“Thanks for that.  For the record, the guys in our department are so glad you came when you did.”

“Thanks.”

Lexi took Jaxson’s arm.  “Enough talk about work.  It is Friday night and we are going to have some fun.”

They all agreed and joined James and Piper on the patio. Aimee was surprised to see Sophia at the grill.  She was their roommate last year, but now she was living her dream in culinary school.

Sophia had driven down for the evening to meet with the girls.  She wanted to tell them that, over the summer, she got married.  They eloped, that was why no one knew.  She added she was not pregnant she wanted to finish her Culinary degree before anything like that.

They both joined church shortly after they married.  Aimee was so happy.  A year ago she came to Neahovia with one friend, Piper; she and Piper were the only two out of the seven roommates that were Christians.  Lexi got saved in March.  Josiah had a rough life and was a nineteen year old alcoholic, until he gave his life to the Lord in May.  Now, with Sophia announcing her new found salvation, the only two people lost to Christ were Colin and Aiden.

The food was great.  Sophia has always had a way with food; but, she was learning a lot more in school.  After dinner, the group walked down to the beach and played a game of volleyball.  When they came back to the flat, Sophia left and everyone else watched movies.  Aimee started feeling like a fifth wheel, so she went to her room after the first movie.

Sunday morning, Aimee had the hard task of making sure her hair, make-up, and dress was right for church and her elegant casual dinner with LJ’s parents.  She chose a neon blush color chiffon dress with a pleated front bib, and cross-over tulip layer at the skirt portion. She loved the keyhole back and banded waist. The black attached ribbon sash was tied in the front.

Aimee curled her hair in loose curls and went to downstairs to meet up with Lexi and Piper.  Today, Piper was driving the girls to church, since LJ was picking Aimee up after worship service and Jaxson was taking Lexi out for dinner.

Aimee thought church went by so fast.  After service, she talked to Tessa.  Tessa had really been there for Aimee since her mom died.  In fact, Tessa, James, and the entire Anderson family has become her family.

LJ showed up at one-thirty on the dot. He complemented Aimee on how good he thought she looked.  Aimee thanked him and complemented him as well.  The drive to LJE did not take long.  He took her to a private dining area.  She thought she was just having dinner with his parents and his sister, Sheridan.  So she was very shocked to see his entire family at the table.

“I thought we was just meeting your parents.”  Aimee whispered in his ear.

“I am sorry, I thought I told you that Sunday was family dinner.”  He kissed her cheek.

“You did, but you said it was at your parents’ home, so when you said we were having dinner here with your parents, I assumed it did not include your whole family.”

“I am sorry.  I should have been more specific about dinner.  We can’t leave though.”

“No.  Just don’t leave my side.”

“I promise.”

They took their seats between Sheridan and one of LJ’s brothers.  Aimee sat beside Sheridan, who was so sweet.  She talked to Aimee about how business was doing and that they finally found the perfect chef.  LJ’s parents were running late, but when they entered the room, Aimee’s eyes popped.

His mom was as beautiful as a model. Aimee was pretty sure she had enough jewelry on to feed a low income family for five years.  She was still wearing her hair like the late eighties, early nineties and her clothing was tight and way too young of a style for her.

It was hard to believe this is the same woman who decorated the business in such classy decor. Sheridan was the most conservative dressed out of all the woman in LJ’s family and she was not dressed conservative.  The way they all were dressed was making Aimee feel like an old lady in her chiffon dress.

The guys, on the other hand, were dressed as if they were ready to walk into a board meeting.  Aimee was feeling more and more out of place with every passing moment.  When she declined the alcoholic beverage offered to her, the looks she got made her feel like she had passed on a million dollars.  Aimee smiled and requested cola or sweet tea.

“Aimee, dear, LJ mentioned he was picking you up from church.  What church do you attend?”  Mrs. Edward sipped her drink.

“Wise Chapel.”

“That is some form of a Baptist church, correct?”  Mr. Edward ask.

“Yes, sir, we are Freewill Baptist.”

One of LJ’s sisters turned to Aimee. She had a very disgusted look on her face.  “That’s the church the Americans restored.”

“Yes.  The pastor is a family friend.  They have done a great job with the church.”

“I guess that depends on who you are.”  His sister answered using a sharp tone.

Aimee was puzzled.  “I don’t recall anyone protesting the church being placed there.”

“Not the public.”

LJ turned to his sister.  “Enough, Yvonne.  Aimee, Yvonne’s husband is the head of the company that was going to demolish the building.  They wanted to add a shopping square in that area.”

Aimee started to say something, but instead LJ gave her look saying she needs to let it drop.  She wanted to holler for a subject change, like she always does when a conversation becomes uncomfortable to her.  She said a prayer for God to help her.

“Aimee, please excuse my daughter.  She can be a tad rude from time to time.  The church is a lovely building and you are correct about no one protesting the church.  The only thing I ever hear are good things.” LJ’s mom forced a grin.

Sheridan smiled.  “You know, mom, I have heard that some of the members donated their last season clothing to the church.  The church is going to hold a shopping day for the less fortunate children in the neighborhood right before the school year begins.  They are giving the kids the clothes for free.”

Aimee felt a bit of pride. LJ took her hand.  “Aimee actually was the one who organized the Classy Closet.  It is something she does with her church in America.”

“Aimee, that sounds wonderful.”  One of LJ’s sister-in-laws commented.

Yvonne shook her head.  “Couldn’t you do more if you sold the clothing and took the money to help them?”

Aimee was getting irritated, she was not going to tolerate Yvonne any longer.  “Yvonne, the entire idea of Classy Closet is to allow the kids who can’t afford this type of clothing a chance to own some, if we held them in a sale. The families we are helping could not afford the clothing we have.”

“Aimee, I think what you are doing is very admirable.” Mrs. Edward commented as the food was brought out.

“Thank you, Mrs. Edward.”

Aimee was the only one who bowed her head to pray to God before she ate.  The rest of the dinner consisted of the entire family discussing their business adventures of the previous weeks and plans for business the week ahead.  Unlike church service dinner with the Edward family, this seemed to last forever.

After dinner, LJ asked Aimee if she would like to go for a ride to the beach.  LJ had been really nice to her and had stuck up for her on several occasions during dinner.  Halfway through dinner, the two of them tuned out the rest of his family and talked amongst one another.  So, she agreed to the ride.

They turned onto the road that lead to Somers Pointe, the spot she and LJ shared their first kiss on Valentine’s Day.  “Hum, LJ, what are you doing?”

He laughed.  “Relax, Aimee.  I promise I am not going to try to kiss you.  I can tell we are still not there yet.”

“Ok.  Then why are we going to Somers Pointe?”

“Can you please trust me and let me surprise you?”

Aimee was reluctant, but they were already there.  He took her hand as they walked over to the exact spot they shared that unforeseen kiss. He just grinned at her.  “Aimee, I have enjoyed our day together.  In fact, I have enjoyed all of our talks and time we have spent together.”

“So have I.”

He turned to face her.  “I want to date you exclusively.”

Aimee smiled.  “You do?”

“Yes, Aimee, will you be my girlfriend?”

“If I say yes, I want you to understand that my version of dating and yours are probably not the same.”

“Aimee, you have changed my views on dating.  I promise, I understand.”

“Then I say yes.”  She gave him a long hug and took his hand as they walked to the car.  LJ drove down to the beach below and they walked along the beach hand in hand.

Chapter Ten

After dinner with his family on Sunday, Aimee was more nervous about the theater date tonight.  The dress code for this show was semi-formal, so Aimee spent all evening Monday searching for the perfect dress.  She found her dress at the last store.  It was a dusty pink dress, accented with sparkling beads on the black waistband, a vertically pleated ruffled skirt, and an asymmetrical neckline on the one shoulder bodice.

The dinner with LJ’s parents was a lot nicer than the one with his family; and, his mom was dressed more her age, but still with her eighties hairstyle.  They all apologized for Yvonne’s behavior.  Aimee had told LJ that she learned, when her dad remarried, we don’t get to choose our immediate family.

Mrs. Edward seemed to be tickled when LJ told her that he and Aimee were dating exclusively. The show was good; Aimee loved the production.  The theater here in Neahovia was totally different than the American theater.

When LJ dropped off Aimee, he walked her to the door.  They stood awkwardly, neither making eye contact.  “Thanks for tonight, LJ.  I was much more relaxed with just us and your parents.”

“Me too. The next date we have, I promise, no family, just you me, and whatever you choose to do.”

“Really?  Not that I don’t adore your mom and dad, but just us will be nice.”

He laughed at her.  “Look at you, trying to be all nice.”

“I can’t help it, God made me that way.”

Aimee informed him that Friday, she was leaving for the Spa trip with the ladies in the church.  They would return the following Thursday.  They planned a date for Thursday afternoon, so Aimee still had time to get ready for her trip.  LJ told Aimee to choose what to do, but when she mentioned bowling, zip lining, and the amusement park on Toliver Pier, he declined them all.  She decided to text him tonight with her other suggestions.

Thursday came around and Aimee decided the perfect afternoon date.  She had LJ take her mini golfing. She found a course that was unique and challenging.  The internet reported it took an hour to play the entire course.

The course theme was a large pirate ship.  The ship was rocking, making the course more difficult.  LJ became easily frustrated with the course.  When they reach the eighteenth hole, he nearly threw his golf club at the attendant.  Aimee decided she was not picking out date activities again for a while.

When the course was completed, he took her to a small cafe on the pier for dinner.  He was quiet and, if Aimee tried to talk to him, he would just glare at her.

“You know, LJ, if you didn’t want to go out, all you had to do was say something.”

“I am not the athletic type, Aimee.”

“I am sorry, I just figured, since you like to ski and snowboard, you enjoyed outdoor sports.”

“The only reason I do either of those is because my grandparents own the resort.”

Aimee pushed her plate away.  “I’m done.  I don’t want to pick out our dates for a while, but I do have an FYI for the future. I don’t like to dress in semi-formal wear every time we go out.”

“Whatever, let’s go. I have to drive to my dad’s.”

LJ dropped Aimee off.  She didn’t say anything except bye as she got out of the car.  She was beginning to regret telling LJ she would date him.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~  

The spa trip was awesome.  LJ text Aimee on Friday and apologized for his behavior on their date.  He stated he was stressed because of a family disagreement.  Aimee didn’t buy his excuse for one minute.

When they returned from the spa, Aimee concentrated on Roseednay Fruits. She went through all the quarter reports with Mr. Myers.  The business had approved the last quarter.  She gave him a few of her ideas to present to the VPs.  She was adapting well to life as a business woman.

The lady's aide had a meeting for the Wise Fall Ball the church was sponsoring for Starting Over, the center Josiah was staying for alcohol rehab.  The group decided that this fall formal needed to be the talk of the town.  It would be the area’s first nonalcoholic event.

Though it was not normal policy, Starting Over was allowing Josiah and a few others, who wanted to participate, come to the ball and discuss their battle with alcoholism.  A few of the counselors had agreed to come and discuss the effect alcoholism has on everyone around the alcoholic.

Lucky for Aimee, the church had made an agreement with a hotel closer to the church to allow them to use the ballroom and cater the event free of charge.  Even though they agreed to not serve alcohol in the ball room, they were still selling it in the sports bar.

One of the ladies had a family member who agreed to decorate free, as long as they could use some discrete advertising and the church purchase half the supplies.  Aimee set up a meeting with the VPs to discuss the prospect of Roseednay Fruits co-sponsoring the event with Wise Chapel, as well as donate some of the fruits from the orchard to the event.  They needed to pay for the entertainment to make sure the event become a hit.

Mr. Myers and the board agreed to her proposal. They called the orchard and they said they would definitely have the fruit and fall vegetables to donate.  Aimee went to see Jaxson and tell him the great news.  The board agreed he could do all the IT and sound for the event as well.

It was the next to last Thursday in August and the committee was meeting to start putting plans into motion.  The event was the last week in September, so they had lots of work to accomplish.  Aimee reported her huge breakthroughs of the day.  They decided to call the ball The New Start Ball.

That night, the ladies’ group left confident, that everything was coming together. The biggest hurtle was to find the Christian Entertainment.  Aimee was hoping someone knew a well-known Neahovian Christian Band, but they didn’t.  That night, she did a search and found a Christian Band Festival being held over the weekend in a town twenty minutes from Ancaster.

Aimee told the other girls and each of them text some of the ladies at church.  Then, Lexi and Piper sent texts to their guys about the festival.  Jaxson and James were so for going with the girls.  In fact, James suggested that he and Piper invite the entire couple group from church to go.

Aimee text LJ, but instead of texting her back, he called.  She tried to talk in a calm voice. He was mad.

“Aimee, you know church is not my thing.  Why would you think that I would want to attend a festival full of Christians?”

“LJ, I was texting to let you know my plans for the weekend. If you want to go, I would love to have you join me. I am not saying you have to go.”

“I have already let you go with the ladies from that church for a whole week on a spa trip.  You go to church every Sunday, and I say nothing.  But, I am drawing the line now; you can’t go this weekend.”

“Excuse me?  You can’t decide that for me.”

“Aimee, what if I had plans for this weekend?  You didn’t consider that.”

“Tonight is Thursday and you have not said anything, so I assumed you didn’t.”

“Well, some of my friends are hosting a huge beach blast. I said we would go.”

“So you can decide what we are doing, but I can’t?  Well, news flash, I am not going to a beach blast full of your drunk friends.”

“Are you too good for us, Aimee?”

“That is not what I am saying and you know that.  I have seen a few of those guys; and, they have no respect for girls, sober or drunk.”

“I will agree with that, but they are my friends and you need to learn to tolerate them.”

“I can tolerate them sober.”

“So you don’t want to go to the party?”

“No, LJ, I don’t.”

“OK, so what do you want to do?”

“I am going to the festival with my friends from church.  You can join us or do your own thing, the choice is yours.”

“Whatever.”  He hung up on her.

Piper and Lexi sat quietly on the sofa. Aimee turned off her phone and walked to the kitchen.  They gave her a few minutes, then joined her on the back patio with three glasses of tea and snacks.

Aimee was staring at the ocean waves.  “I think I made a mistake by agreeing to date him.”

Piper looked at her.  “Me too.”

Aimee laughed.  “I thought this was the part where you guys say everyone fights and all that jazz.”

Piper shook her head.  “Not when he tries to come between you and God.”

Lexi handed Aimee her tea. “Why did you agree to date him anyway?”

“I don’t know. We had fun when we went out as friends.  He made me laugh.”

“Aimee, when you went shopping, we got a call to come up with a reason to make him leave.  Then, you tell us how all he was doing was questioning you about your family business.”  Piper took a carrot from the tray.

Lexi shook her head at Aimee and took a celery stick.  “You came back from the Sunday dinner talking about how rude his family was and how you felt out of place.”

Piper glanced at Aimee.  “You fought the entire time at mini golf.  He even scared you.”

Lexi looked at the ocean.  “Aimee, you are heading into a relationship just like Aiden and Ava.  Don’t get stuck in a mess like that.  You are not attracted to LJ. I think that is the real reason behind the no kissing rule you have made.”

“If the truth be known, I think I said yes so I wouldn’t always be the fifth wheel.”

“What do you mean?”  Lexi was clueless.

“You two have boyfriends.  I am happy for you guys, but I didn’t want you feeling sorry for me and asking me to join you so I wouldn’t be alone.”

Piper hugged Aimee.  “I thought that was why you went to bed early after the cookout. We invite you because we love spending time with you.”

“I am afraid it is going to be hard to break up with LJ.”

Lexi stood up.  “So we do group dates for a while.”

Aimee stood up.  “I am going to go up to my room, to read my Bible, and pray.”

Aimee prayed for God to show her what to do. She opened her Bible to
1 Corinthians:  15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
It was the same verse Claire shared with her on the plane.  LJ was a nonbeliever Aimee should have never agreed to date him.  Now, she did not know what to do. All she knew was that she had a new very strong fear of LJ.