Renewed (The Fractured Series Book 3) (9 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Chelsea had her butt planted on the steps to Rob’s front porch when I drove up. Her hair fanned across her back
, and her clothes did little to hide her great shape.

As I collected the supermarket package
s from the trunk, I gave myself a pep talk.
Now Mandy, be nice. You can’t blame the girl for trying. He is the most beautiful human being on the face of the planet. It’s only natural she’d want him
.

I looked down at my hand. My engagement ring sparkled in the sun, reflecting light in every direction. Confidence replaced worry inside me, as I felt a smile spread across my face.

Taking the key out of my pocket, I carried the grocery bag up the stairs. “Hey, Chelsea.”
That’s a good start.

“Hi, Mandy. I was just waiting for Rob.”

“Oh, he’s working. Won’t be home until much later. I can tell him you stopped by.”
That should get rid of her.

“If it’s all right with you, I’ll wait for him. I wanted to ask him a few questions.”

She’s persistent.
I stuck the key into the lock. The door opened with ease. “If you’d like, you can wait inside. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
Although I would. Nice. Be nice.

“That would be great.” She pranced into the house as if she owned it
, and made her way to the family room off to the side of the kitchen. She threw herself onto the large beige couch.

Breathe, Mandy
. I placed the package on the kitchen counter and removed its contents, putting things where they belonged.

“Wow, the place looks great. Rob did a great job of redecorating since the fire.”

“Yeah, I like everything he picked out.” I tried to continue her small talk banter, even though I couldn’t wait for her to leave.

“So you and Rob have been together a few months, huh?”

“Well, actually, today is the one-year anniversary of when we first met. We started dating shortly after.”

“Oh, so things are moving quickly with the two of you. Would your parents have more than one grandbaby on the way?”

What a cheap shot.
With a deep breath, I swallowed my anger at her question and smiled.

“No. We’re both going to go to college first. Then we’ll talk about children. We’re still so young
, and we have our whole lives together to start a family.”
There, take that, bitch.

She leaned back in the cushions of the couch and stretched her arms above her head. “Yeah, I remember when we were all younger, Rob used to say he wanted to play the field for as long as possible. He didn’t want to settle down or have kids until he was well established. And he said one would be plenty.”

Now I knew she was full of it. Rob told me he always wanted a large family. He knew his parents weren’t able to have any more children after he was born, and he wanted to make sure they had plenty of grandchildren to make up for it. Plus, he said practicing with me would be worth changing diapers for the rest of his life. Rather than accept her petty confrontation, I answered with a smart retort. “Well, I guess he’s changed his mind since the fire.”

That shut her up. I could almost see the gears in her head turning, trying to think of some other way to jab at me. With the last of the groceries away in their place, I walked over to the couch and sat across from her. She cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. I don’t think she expected me to be so bold, but I had to show her she wasn’t a threat.

I looked at her large brown eyes and flawless nose. Men must throw themselves at her feet on a daily basis. Why would she want Rob? Maybe because she knew she couldn’t have him
. I bet she was one of those girls who liked a challenge.

“Can I get you something to drink?” I asked. I didn’t want her to accuse me of being a bad hostess.

“No, thank you.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. It was awkward, but I really had nothing to say to her.

“What college will you be attending in the fall?” she asked, but I don’t think she was too interested.

“Stony Brook University.”

“Is it because it’s close?” Another attempt at a dig.

“No. It’s because they have the program I’m interested in.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’m going to study
neuroscience.”

“Oh, you don’t look the science
type.”

That tightened my strings. “And what does the science
type look like?”

She laughed. “I’m not sure. People always say that to me.”

“So you’re majoring in science?”

“Yes. I’m going to be a bio-technical engineer. I’d like to work on cloning.”

Figures. I had to admit, it was pretty impressive. “Is that why you’re taking so many difficult science courses?”

“Yeah. I have a 90 average.” She pushed her nose in the air to sniff her imagined superiority.

“That’s great.”

“What average did you graduate with from high school?” she asked, no doubt trying to trump me.

“I had a 98, but when I took the entrance exam for Stony Brook, I scored 99. My SATs totaled 1590. I’m attending on a full academic scholarship.”

Her mouth dropped and she became more focused on me. She didn’t expect that. “Looks and brains. Rob has his hands full keeping up with you.”

Was that a compliment?
I offered a smile in response.

More silence filled the room. I decided I had had enough of her. I stood up. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’m going to start dinner. Rob will be hungry when he gets home
, and I’m sure he’ll want to eat quickly in order to get to dessert.” I let the thought linger as I walked back into the kitchen to prepare.

Chelsea stayed on the couch. She examined her manicure and sa
t while I took out the pots and ingredients I’d need to prepare dinner. We didn’t exchange another word until Rob walked through the door from the garage.

“Chelsea?” He was surprised to see her.
That’s good. At least I know he wasn’t secretly expecting her.

“Hey, Rob.” She sat up straight in her seat. All of her pearly whites were visible. “I came by to ask you a few questions.”

Yeah, let’s hear them. I bet you never had any questions. And, I bet you were expecting to get rid of me so you could be with Rob all by yourself.

“Sure. What can I help you with?” I could tell he was being courteous only because I was watching.

“Well, I’m taking advanced biology in the fall, and I was wondering if I could borrow your dad’s book on genetics. Remember, the one he had on his shelf in the basement?”

“I can check.” He walked to the door that led to the basement. She jumped off the couch and followed. I wanted to follow, too, but I thought
it would just show Rob I was still insecure. It wasn’t Rob I didn’t trust; it was Chelsea. I did make sure the door stayed open when they went down the stairs leading to the basement though. And I stood by the opening, listening very, very carefully.

At first, I didn’t hear any sound. Then Rob said, “Is this it?” I pictured him pulling a book from the expansive bookshelf that was against the wall at the far end of the basement.

“No, it’s not the right one,” she said. She was toying with him, keeping him down in a confined space, away from me, for as long as she could. I bet she was inching her way closer and closer to him, with the false pretense of being interested in a book.

“How about this one?”

“No. I think it had a light blue cover. It was like a textbook.”

“I don’t see one with a light blue cover.” I could tell he was scanning the titles on the shelves. It was not knowing what she was doing that had me worried.

I ran across the house, to Rob’s father’s office, and pulled out a light blue covered textbook from the shelf behind the large wooden desk. I walked down the stairs and handed it to Chelsea.

“Is this it? It was in your dad’s upstairs library.”

Rob smiled.

“Yes. That’s the one.” Chelsea had to accept defeat once again.

Rob put his arms around me and gave me a lingering kiss. It made me feel warm and mushy inside. “You’re so great.” He looked me in the eyes when he said it.

“Yeah, great,” Chelsea said unenthusiastically.

We all traipsed up the stairs, back to the family room.

“I promise to return this in a couple of weeks. I need something to read at night. I love Uncle John and Aunt Rachel, but their nightlife sucks.”

Was that a hint she wanted to be included in ours? Too bad, honey. Rob’s nightlife is well taken care of. He’s booked, with me.

I could tell the gears were turning again, searching for another reason to stay. “Well, I guess I’ll get started reading. Rob, could you give me a ride to Aunt Rachel’s?”

“Sorry, Chelsea,” I said. “Rob’s just come home and his dinner is ready. I think he’s entitled to have something to eat, don’t you?”

“Oh
, right.”

Nice try, tramp.

Once he said goodbye and closed the door after Chelsea’s exit, he turned toward me. “You handled that nicely.”

“What are you talking about?” I tried to use my innocent charm on him as I walked into the kitchen to serve him his dinner. He smiled and let it go.

“So, what do you want to do tomorrow?” Rob asked taking a bite of the hamburger I grilled on his barbecue.

“Matt gave you the day off?”

“Yup. I told him it was the most important day in the whole world.”

I smiled. “No, it isn’t. Hundreds of people are turning eighteen tomorrow. I just happen to be one of them.”

“But they aren’t special, like you.” His dimple showed.

“I don’t know. Want to go to the creek?”

“We can do that to start.”

“To start?”

“We have to do everything you want tomorrow. Those are the rules.”

An interesting thought entered my head. “Anything I want?”

His second dimple showed. “What are you thinking?”

“Just about what I want.” If I had dimples, they’d be showing, too.

I insisted on cleaning up on my own while Rob showered. I knew he wanted to get the sweat from work off his body. Since we ate off paper plates, it was easy to clean up. Then I ran upstairs to wash Rob’s back.

The magnetism of his kisses made it difficult to say
goodnight before I drove home.

I pulled onto the side of the road, and waited for the hitchhiker to climb into the passenger side.

“Thanks for the ride,” Chelsea said, tossing her small bag onto the backseat.

I pulled back onto the road and the car climbed to the speed limit. “Sure. Where are you headed?”

“To Rob’s house.”

“Why are you going there?”

“I’m going to seduce him.”

I turned off at the next exit and told her to get out of the car. I left her on a deserted road and floored it away from her.

This was a good dream.

***

The sun barely broke through the clouds. My clock read 6:45. The knock at my door didn’t wait for me to answer. My mother barged into the room, followed by my father and little brother. They sang the traditional ‘Happy Birthday’ song and placed a tray with breakfast on my lap. At the end of their tribute to me, Rob pushed his way between my parents and knelt at the side of my bed. I could barely get one eye open.

Afraid to speak in order not to offend anyone with my morning breath, I held up a hand as thanks. Then my family left Rob and
me in the room alone.

“Happy birthday,” he said coming close.

My hand went up to stop him. I placed it between us and spoke one word, “Bathroom.” He backed off the bed and waited until I came back.

I took care of
the necessities, which included a good scrubbing of my teeth and ten minutes of trying to control my hair; it was quite a sight when I first looked in the mirror.
Nice. That’s what he’s going to have to live with from now on.
I went back into my room. Rob was sprawled out on my bed with the breakfast tray next to him. At that moment, I didn’t need the food to satisfy my hunger. I moved the tray to my desk.

“Is
that my birthday present?” I looked him up and down with a sultry stare. I laid down next to him. “Okay, now you can kiss me.” And it was the best birthday kiss I’d ever had.

“Eat your breakfast,” he ordered. “You have a busy day.”

“I do?”

“That sounds nice when you say it.” His smile was big. He kissed me softly. “Yes, we have to squeeze all of the birthday things in.”