Parker's Island (18 page)

T
rue to his word,
Brian showed up at my door at exactly 6:00 pm.  And,
just as I had imagined, he immediately won over both of my parents.  They loved him, even my dad.  I stood there, watching this perfect guy charm my
entire family in a matter of minutes.  By the time we left, I think my parents would have given them my hand in marriage.

“How did you do that?” I asked
him
once
w
e
were in his
car.

“Do what?”

“Make my parents love you.  My parents don’t even like ME that much!”  I said, almost believing it.

“Well, I like you enough for
both
of them.”

“I’ve missed you
,
” I said, knowing it was true.

“Good, because I was going crazy being away from you.”

“Brian, I don’t know exactly how I feel
about…
anything
, b
ut I do know that I’ve missed you.  I’m not making any promises
though
, okay?”

“I’ll take this as slow
ly
as you want
,
Delaney.   I won’t rush you and I won’t ask you for anything
that
you’re not ready to give.”
             
“Thank you
,
” I said.   We never talked about Logan, but I was sure Brian knew that he was in the back of my mind.

We met Molly and Jason at a local hot spot.  “I thought it was going to be just you and me?” I asked, surprised that he would want to share our first
date
together with anyone else.

“I thought you’d be more comfortable if
you were with
Molly
.”

“I’m comfortable with you.”

“Do you want to leave?”
h
e asked.

“No.  I just don’t want you to think that you have to include Molly every time we go out.”

“So, you’re saying we can go out again?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On what your mom’s serving for dinner?”

“You tell
me
what you want, and she’ll make it
,
”
h
e grinned.

“Well, I did promise.”

“Tomorrow too soon?” h
e asked.

We had a nice evening
,
and Brian was right
.
I did feel more comfortable sharing the evening with Molly and Jason.  I still didn’t completely trust Jason, but he did seem to be on his best behavior and we all spent the evening laughing and enjoying ourselves.

Brian brought me home, walked me to the door and told me he had a great time.

“I did too
,
” I smiled.

I know he wanted to kiss me, but he took my keys from my hand, opened my door and waved me inside.  “Goodnight
,
Delaney.  Thank you for a wonderful evening.”

I woke up the next morning to a knock on my bedroom door. 

“Delaney, Brian is on the phone for you
,
”
m
y mom called from the hallway.

“What time is it?” I asked, knowing it had to be early.  I felt exhausted, like I hadn’t slept at all.

“It’s 9:30
,
”
s
he said.

“Really?  Wow, it can’t be that late already.  I’ll be right there.”

“Hi.”  I said groggily.

“Hi.  Did I wake you?”

“No. Well, actually I over-slept.  I never sleep this late.”

“Really, it’s early for me
.  I usually sleep later than this, but I missed you
.”

“Hmm
,
” I said, waiting for him to get to the point.

“So, my mom wants to know what you want for
dinner.
  If you don’t have a favorite, she makes the best
Chicken Cordon Bleu
you’ve ever tasted.
” 
He
wasn’t
about to let me off the hook.

The mention of food instantly made me ill.  I took a few deep breaths, trying to ease the nausea.  “Um, anything she makes will be fine.  I’m not
really
feeling
very
well
right now
,
Brian.  Can I talk to you later?”
I aske
d, trying to hold back the bile.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine
,
” I said, suddenly feeling perfectly well.  That was weird
, I thought.  “
What time should I be ready?  Or, should I just walk to your house?”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“You just want to charm my parents again.”

“No, I want to charm you.”

“You are charming.”

“Good
.  S
ee you at 5:30.”

Dinner with his family was a lot of fun.  He was an only child and his parents obviously adored him.  Their affection was very open.  I suddenly wished I had a better relationship with my parents.
  I know they loved me and I was very lucky to have them, but
Brian really talked to his parents, and they obviously listened.

“So, are you planning on going to college
, Delaney?”
Brian’s mother asked me during dinner.

“I’m not really sure.  I’ve been accepted to a few universities, but I’m not sure where I really want to go.”

“
Where have you been accepted?”
Brian asked.

I went through the list of the colleges I was considering and I watched Brian mak
e
mental notes.

“Brian, don’t you have some scholarships at a few of those
schools
as well?”
h
is mother asked, grinning. 

I sat there
very quietly, feeling as if I were
being set up.

Christine looked at me and said, “Delaney, we’re just teasing you
,
”
s
he smiled.

The rest of the evening was spent in good humor.  I really loved his parents. They were so easy
-
going and so easy to talk to.

Brian and I offered to do the dishes for Christine, but she refused and sent us on our way to
,
“go
have some
fun.”

“How about a walk?”
Brian asked me.

“I’m really kind of tired.  I don’t think I’m sleeping
ver
y well.  I
even
wake up tired
lately
.”

“Okay, how about watching a movie then?”

“Here?”

“Yeah, unless you’d rather go out to one?”

“No, here
’s fine
.”

He led me upstairs to hi
s room.  “Where are we going?”
I asked, uncomfortable being alone in his room.

“To my room to watch a movie.  I have a lot of
movies
.  Y
ou can choose whichever one you want.”

“Your room?”
I asked.

“Why not?”

“Your parents…”

“They won’t care
,
”
h
e smiled.

“I’m not really comfortable…
”

“Delaney, you can sit on my bed and I’ll sit on a chair next to the bed.  I won’t touch you, I promise.”

“I trust you
,
Brian
.  I
t’s not that.  It just doesn’t look good.”

“We’ll leave the door open
.”

“Brian, my parents wouldn’t approve, even if yours would.”

“Okay, I’m sorry.   We’ll watch it in the family room.”

“Thanks.”

We sat on the couch
and laughed through a comedy.
I felt silly sitting at
opposite ends of the couch, so after
a trip to
the bathroom I sat down next to him.  He looked over at me and smiled.  “May I?”
h
e asked, putting
his arm around my shoulders.

“Ye
s
.”  He was so good to me and I found myself snuggling up against him.  The next thing I knew, Brian was shaking me awake.  “I’m sorry.  I guess I’m not very good company tonight.”

“You’re just tired.  I’ll take you home so you can get some sleep.  Can I see you tomorrow?”

“Maybe,
” I looked up at him and grinned.

“Um,
I think
we better go
,
now
,
”
h
e said.

“Is it late?”

“No, but I….I want to kiss you and I know you’re not ready for that, so let’s go
,
”
h
e said, standing up and holding out his hand for me.

“I’m sorry, I’m just…
”
             
“Don’t apologize,
it
’
s
okay.  I told you
,
I’ll wait.  I’ve just been watching you sleep for an hour now
and I…
um, I just think I should take you home.”

“Oh, okay.  I’m still tired
,
anyway
,
” I said, feeling like I had done something to make him angry.  “
Did I do something
wrong?
”
I
asked
, not really quite sure what.

“
No, Delaney, of course not.
  You’re just too beautiful for your own good…and you still think I’m a gentleman.  If you stay, I’m not
so
sure you will
,
”
h
e said, candidly.

“You are a gentleman
,
Brian
. 
I know that
,
” I said, reaching for his hand.

He closed his eyes and said, “We have to go.”

He took me home then, walked me to the door and opened it for me.  “Goodnight Delaney
.
I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Are you
sure you’re not
mad at me?”
I asked, noticing his distance.

“No, why would you think that?”

“I don’t know.  You just seem like you can’t wait to get away from me.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth.  I want to get
close to you
,
Delaney, and I know you’re not ready for that, so it’s just better that I bring you home.  I don’t want to put any pressure on you and I will wait, but you’re just way too tempting tonight…for your own good.  Goodnight
,” h
e said and headed back to his car.

I was still not sure what I had done to make him want to take me home, but the next morning when I saw him, he was fine.
 
On our
next
date, we met Molly and Jason for a movie.  Brian and I had been getting along very well.
We laughed and talked about everything with ease.  Molly followed me to the bathroom before we were
leaving the restaurant to go to the
movie.

“So, how’s it going?”
s
he probed.

“I like him, okay?”

“But, not better than Logan?”
s
he asked, sensing my
hesitancy.

“That’s not a fair comparison.  I really like Brian, but you know how I feel about Logan.”

“How
do you
feel about
Logan?
”
s
he asked.

“I don’t want to talk about Logan right now.  I’m having a good time.  I’
ve been ou
t of my room,
and
dating, like you
’ve
pestered me about for ages.
 
Don’t push it! 
Besides, it doesn’t matter how I feel about
Logan
.  H
e’s not mine.”