Finding Peace (Finding Series Book 1) (30 page)

Smiling, I shake my head yes. “I’m nervous. Really nervous but excited too.”

“Don’t be nervous. I’m sure he’s as anxious to see you as you are to see him.”

We walk out to Tessa’s car, it was her turn to drive today. I’m thankful because the way I feel right now I’m not sure I could even drive. Plus, she will get us there faster.

Asher tells Tessa he will be there at six o’clock to pick her up. We head home so that we can both get ready for our dates. Of course, mine will be staying the night. I’m not sure how much sleep I will get knowing that Blake is under the same roof as me and sleeping in the guest room.

We make it home and I practically run through the open garage door toward the door to the house. I can hear Tessa laughing behind me as she shouts.

“Please, please by all means, you use the shower first.”

I look back at her over my shoulder as I make my way around the cars in the garage. “Thank you! Love you!”

She throws her hands up in a surrender motion. “Yeah. Yeah. Just hurry.”

Still shouting as I walk through the door. I reply, “I will!”

I dash up the stairs to my room and throw all of my stuff on my bed. Grabbing my robe and a cute bra and underwear that match, I run straight for the bathroom.

I open the linen closet and get out a towel and wash cloth. Turning on the shower, so that the water can heat up I turn to the mirror looking at my reflection. I like this girl I see. She’s hopeful again with vibrant eyes that are alive.
Blake please hurry and get here, but be careful.

I get into the shower and lather up my blonde hair that is in need of a trim, rinse it, then add conditioner and let that set while I tend to other things. Paying close attention to shaving my legs and other needed areas.
Why do we even need hair under our arms?
I want to look and feel my best for Blake when he gets here.

I finish my shower and go back to my room. Sitting in the chair at my dressing table, I untwist the towel from my hair. Then begin brushing the wet locks. It’s after five o’clock, Blake should be here by seven. He got off work at five and he said he would be leaving to come here as soon as he got off. Less than two hours. I feel like I might be sick.

Tessa walks into my room. “Asher got held up doing something for his dad. So, it looks like we won’t be leaving before Blake gets here.”

I stop what I’m doing to look at her. “I’m sorry. You know he’ll be here though. He’d never stand you up.”

She looks puzzled that I would even say that. “Oh, I know. I just wanted to tell you so you didn’t think we were doing it on purpose.”

I laugh at her. “I don’t. I know that Asher wants to meet him anyway. So, it’s fine.”

She claps her hands like she’s excited. “Goody then. I promise we won’t hang around for long. I’m going to go shower and get ready. I hope you didn’t use all the hot water.”

“I made sure to use every last drop. You could use a cold shower before your date anyway.”

I duck as she throws her dirty sock at me. “Eww. That’s just gross, Tessa. Get that nasty thing out of my room.” She is laughing hysterically as she walks into the bathroom without getting her sock. Now I have to touch her sweaty, dirty sock. Yuck.

I get the sock and chuck it through her open bedroom door and sit back down in front of my mirror. Grabbing the hair dryer and my hair brush I begin drying my hair. Once my hair is dry, I pull it up to keep it out of my face. Plugging in my curling iron to let it heat up while I fix my face.

Carefully applying moisturizer first and then a little make-up. My face has gotten a little sun, so my pale skin is glowing or maybe it’s something or someone else that has me glowing. After sectioning my hair and curling it with the curling iron, I run my fingers through it to create a lot of loose curls to give it a tousled look. I slip off my robe and pull on my turquoise sundress. It makes my green eyes pop. Adding my gold hoop earrings and simple gold chain for just the right touch. I’m ready in plenty of time. It’s just a little after six o’clock.

I need to make sure our picnic basket is ready. I’m sure he will be hungry after his day at work and the long drive here. Turning to walk out my bedroom door, I hear a knock on it before I can open it. My stomach drops thinking it might already be Blake. Opening the door, I see Troy standing there. He steps back to let me walk out. Smiling at me, he shakes his head. I look down at myself trying to figure out what he is looking at. Just then Tessa opens her door. She is wearing a sundress much like mine, however, her’s is peach and it looks amazing against her olive skin. Troy looks at her in much the same way he just looked at me.

“You girls are growing up too fast. I hope these boys appreciate how lucky there are that you have agreed to spend time with them. You both look stunning tonight.”

I blush, but Tessa doesn’t. She’s used to Troy saying such things to her. She leans up and kisses him on the cheek.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“Yes, thank you, Troy.”

“Lisa and I are leaving. Tessa, you and Asher be careful tonight. Kayla I’m glad you’ve decided to stay here tonight, but be mindful of our rules. Okay?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Troy and Lisa leave not long after that. I’ve checked and double checked everything. I’m ready for Blake to get here. Tessa and I wait in the great room. The two side walls are made of glass. The ones on the lakeside are sliding glass doors that lead out to the second story balcony. The other side is large windows that overlook the driveway and the street that runs in front of the house. It’s beautiful to be able to look out at the lake. It’s very relaxing here.

Tessa walks over to the projection television and picks up three VHS tapes and holds them up.

“Looks like Lisa rented us some movies.”

“Good. I love movies.” Lisa is always so considerate and always thinking about us.

I glance at the clock, it’s after seven. The doorbell rings and Tessa walks over to the speaker that is connected to the intercom system. She presses the button to talk.

“Yes?”

We hear Asher laughing. “I know you can see my car through the window. So you know it’s me. Now come down here and open this door so I can kiss you.”

She giggles and runs down the stairs. I go over and look at the movies Lisa rented.
Dirty Dancing, Grease, and Grease II.
Some of my all-time favorites. I put
Grease
in the VHS player and press play. Tessa and Asher come up the stairs and we all sit together to watch it.

We are about half way through the movie when Asher whispers something into Tessa’s ear.

“You want us to wait with you on Blake? We don’t mind.”

I look at the clock and it’s after eight. “No. Y’all go ahead. I’m sure he just got held up by traffic or something. He’ll be here soon.”

Tessa stands up, getting ready to leave. “Okay. Lock the doors and set the alarm. I don’t like leaving you here alone.” Tessa looks like she is going to back out and not go on her date.

“We can stay here. It’s fine. We were mainly going out to give Kayla and Blake some alone time anyway.” Asher states.

“No! You two go and have some fun. I’ll be fine. Besides the police are still doing extra patrols through the neighborhood. I know how to call for help. Blake will be here any minute.”

I tell Asher and Tessa goodbye. Then I get a Coke from the fridge. I’m really hungry, but I don’t want to eat without Blake.

Nine o’clock rolls around and still no Blake. I wonder if he got lost. Maybe he forgot to bring my number with him and he can’t call me or he can’t find a pay phone.

I get up and walk to the windows overlooking the street. Not seeing anything but blackness. I turn back toward the television. I put in the
Grease II,
turning I make my way back to the couch. Grabbing a blanket off of the chair beside me, I curl up to watch yet another movie alone.

Another hour passes and no Blake. The realization that he isn’t coming hits me like a ton of bricks. Tears that I was trying to fight off for the last hour or so begin to pour from my eyes. I’ve been denying that truth that he isn’t coming. He probably never was.

Then fear takes over. What if he was in an accident? They wouldn’t know to call me. Even if they contacted his parents, they wouldn’t know how to get in touch with me.

Tears have now turned into sobs. Not knowing is killing me. I pray harder than I have in a long long time.
God, please let him be okay. Please let me know one way or another. My heart can’t take this.

I must have cried myself to sleep because I wake up to muffled whispers.

“Did he call her?” That’s Troy’s voice.

“Not before we left.” Tessa replies.

“How could he do that? Something must have happened. I wonder if she thought to call his house.” Lisa questions.

“Maybe he just couldn’t make it. Anything could have happened.” Asher adds his take on it.

“Unless that boy is lying in a hospital bed. There is no excuse for this behavior. He should have at least had the decency to call and let her know he wouldn’t be here.” Troy is in dad mode and he’s very angry.

I glance at the clock, seeing it’s after midnight. My heart is shattered. Maybe he’s fine and everything he said to me was a lie. Maybe he found a girl who was right there, someone he doesn’t have to drive two hours to see. Maybe he has realized that I’m just not worth it.

I sit up and walk past my family, not my real family, but the people who I have chosen to be my family. Lisa calls out to me.

“Honey, are you okay?”

I don’t stop as I respond to her. “I’ll be fine. I just want to be left alone. Please.”

Once in my room, for the first time ever, I lock my door so they can’t get in. Taking out the letter I got from Blake, I reread the words he wrote to me.

For the first night since he gave it to me, I don’t sleep in his shirt. I don’t know how but I just know that he’s okay physically nothing has happened to him. He just decided that he didn’t want to come or something. Either that or someone else was simply more important than me.

Blake

I wake up on the couch in Scott’s apartment. What a nightmare. My back is killing me. Scott really needs to invest in a new couch.

I get up and go into the kitchen to get a drink from the fridge. Now to get this mess cleaned up and by mess I mean the two people that were so drunk last night that they couldn’t take care of themselves. Which resulted in them ruining my weekend.

I walk to the edge of the hallway and bang on the wall. “Get up! Now! You’ve got five minutes to your asses in my truck.”

I gather my stuff and put it back into my bag. Grabbing my toothbrush, I step into the bathroom to take care of business. I’ll have to come back after I get rid of these two to shower. Hopefully, when I call Kayla she’ll tell me I can still come to see her today,

When I walk out of the bathroom, Jessica and Max are standing there looking like death. Serves them right. I walk right past them to the door. Holding it open and waiting for them to walk out of it so that I can lock it behind them. Max stops in the doorway and looks up at me.

“Blake, man, I’m…”

I put my hand up to his face. “Save it! I don’t want to hear it.”

He puts his head back down and walks toward my truck.

“I guess you don’t want to hear my apology either then.”

“No. I don’t. I do, however, want you to make smarter decisions in the future. You don’t have to have sex with men to get them to like you Jessica.”

She looks down at the floor looking completely embarrassed and she should be. She finally looks up at me. I feel a little sorry for her because she has no clue how to handle what happened last night.

“Thanks for everything Blake.”

She leans over and kisses me on the cheek as she walks to my truck.

I shake my head. What a freaking mess. I lock the door and make my way to the truck. I drop them both off at the game room where their vehicles are parked. They get out without saying a word and shut my door. I leave them there as they stand by Jessica’s car talking. Yep, crazy, freaking, mess.

Back at Scott’s apartment, I’ve showered and am now ready to make that call. This sucks beyond belief. I have no idea what to say or if she will even talk to me. It’s ten o’clock in the morning when I pick up the phone and dial her number.

The phone rings and I hear a deep voice on the other end of the line say….

“Hello.”

“Um, Hello. May I speak to Kayla?”

The man clears his throat before he speaks again. “Why do you want to speak to Kayla?”

Wow! Okay. He’s not being very friendly. “I’m Blake McGinnis. I’m a friend of Kayla’s.” Nothing. I don’t hear anything for a minute.

“I’m well aware of who you are Mr. McGinnis. Kayla doesn’t want to speak to you right now. Perhaps you should call another time.”

I put my hand up to my chest and rub my fist into it. The pain I feel is indescribable. She has to talk to me. I have to be able to explain.