Summerfield (6 page)

Chapter Five
I smiled as I strummed a rhythm with my guitar. It wasn't a song per
say, it was something that I'd been playing over in my head for about
the past ten minutes and I finally decided to try to play it out.
It sounded nice.
It sounded like it would be a good beginning to a song. A song I had
yet to write, but I figured that wouldn’t be too hard. After all, I did
have an all new inspiration now. Have for almost two weeks now and
every day I would only get more inspired.
I tried out a few various lyrics off the top of my head, trying to find something that had a good catch to it.
I sighed happily, writing down part of the verse in my song book.
"What do you think Buttercup?" I looked up smiling a Buttercup simply
stared down at me. I wonder why all animals always look at me like I'm
crazy? "Well, I liked it."
"So did I." Ben chuckled as he entered the stable, looking amused by
my sitting on the floor with a guitar and notebook, singing and
talking to a horse. Maybe I was crazy...
I stuck my tongue out childishly, but he did the same right back.
"Can't a girl sing a simple song for her horse?"
Ben laughed, glancing at Buttercup. "Lucky horse you."
I giggled and began to pick up my stuff. "What all do you have to do today?"
I bent down across from me, sitting a bit taller than I did. "I'm
taking Lace over there for a ride." Lace was Dad's favorite horse in
this stable. He was strong, big, and quite a beauty with a black,
silky coat to match. "Care to join?"
I glanced over his shoulder at Lace. I'd never really interacted much
with him before, because quite honestly, he scared me a bit. He was
about taller than I was. "But he might kill me." I pouted innocently.
He laughed, running a hand through my hair and going to lean in for a
kiss. I lifted up to meet him have way when we suddenly heard a man's
voice. We both jumped apart, me going back to my notebook like I'd
never looked away from it and Ben shot up quickly.
"Hey kids." Dad greeted as he entered the stable, totally oblivious.
Just the way I preferred him to be.
Since we had begun our relationship two weeks ago, Ben and I had
become quite a custom to being secretive and on the look out. We both
knew there would be major consequences if my dad found out.
"Hey Dad." I mimicked, smiling sweetly and hopefully looking as
innocent as possible. I brought my dark hair around my face, hoping to
hide the fact that I was blushing.
"What are you doing in here?"
I shrugged, trying to play it cool. That had never once worked well
for me. "Um, I was...singing to Buttercup." I blurted out, and I
noticed Ben was trying to hold back laughter.
"You were singing?" He asked slowly, his eyes boring into mine. "To a horse?"
I nodded. Playing cool was a no go. "Well, they deserve entertainment too."
"Hun, let's not make this an everyday thing, okay?"
I nodded slowly, glancing to see that Ben was now biting his lip
trying to not chuckle at my expense. "Yeah, okay. Buttercup's hard to
please anyways. He has no sense of rhythm."
Dad shook his head, looking dazed as he exited the stable. Ben freely
laughed out loud now, looking amused at my attempts.
I glared at my boyfriend, trying to ignore the butterflies I got
whenever I would call him that. "It's not nice to laugh at people.
Especially me."
"You were right." He chuckled, shaking his head as he lifted a saddle
off the rack, getting Lace saddled and ready to ride.
"Well, of course I was. About what?"
He grinned, leaning down and kissing me gently. "You are the best part
of my summer. Weird personality and all."
I rolled my eyes, giving him a peck on the cheek before standing up
from my position on the floor. "Well, when I'm right, I'm right."
Ben continued saddling Lace up, glancing back at me as I began to pick
up my things. "You sure you don't want to come? You can take Big Jay
over there." Ben tied to per sway
I shook my head. I really didn't feel up to. I was exhausted. "Nah,
I'll pass. I have a headache and I need some major sleep time."
He looked a bit concerned as he leaned over, placing a dizzying kiss
on my lips. "You okay? You've been getting headaches a lot lately."
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just probably because I haven't been sleeping
very well lately." I dismissed the subject with a wave of my hand.
"I'll talk to you later."
"Okay." He agreed with a nod, placing another kiss on my eagerly awaiting lips.
***
"Ugh." A groaned escaped my lips as I twisted the cap of the Tynol
bottle. I'd never considered myself physically strong, but this was
pathetic.
"The trick," Ella spoke as she entered the room, smirking lightly
at my attempts to open the bottle. She took it from my hand, opening it with
ease. "Is to be smarter than the child proof cap."
I sighed. This wasn't helping my now pounding headache. "As long as
it's open." I muttered, taking two from the bottle and swallowing them
with some water. I let out a breath after swallowing both pills,
relieved to have some kind of pain relief in my system.
"Another headache, huh?" She questioned, gently laying the back of her
hand against my forehead. "You don't feel warm. You okay besides the
headache? I think you have a fever."
I shrugged. Truth was that I hadn't been feeling that great lately,
but I figured it was just the flu or something. There was really no
need to worry anyone and I knew if Dad thought I was sick he'd go
crazy. He had a bit of a tendency to overreact to sickness. "I guess. Just a bit tired. I uh, think I'm going to go get some sleep. Maybe I'll feel better."
Ella nodded, looking a bit worried. "Okay, I'll wake you up for
dinner. Is Ben joining us?"
I shrugged, a small smile creeping onto my face at the mention of his
name. "Possibly. Is Lance?"
She smiled too, quite widely at the mention of her own boyfriend's
name. "Yeah, he said he had a surprise for me."
I gave her a grin and a wink. "Night of surprises."
She shook her head, laughing. "Get upstairs and get some rest." I
simply shrugged and continued on my way up to my room.
***
"Belle." Whispered a gentle and soft male voice. "Time to wake up." He
whispered again.
I wasn't fully aware of whom it was or if it was really happening. I
felt groggy and like I could continue sleeping for about another three
days. "Mmm?"
"Time to wake up."
"Go away, I'm a pirate." Yeah, I tend to say incoherent things when I'm sleepy.
I heard the guy chuckle, rubbing my back gently and lifted some lose
hair away from my eyes. "Belle."
I opened my eyes this time to find Ben sitting over me, smiling gently.
"Am I dead?" I questioned, sleep evident in my voice.
He laughed softly, shaking his head and kissing me on the forehead. I
loved it when he did that. "No, you're not. Ella sent me up to wake
you up. Dinners ready."
I sat up beside him and rubbed my eyes, yawning in the process. "I'm tired."
He smiled, kissing me on the lips this time, which obviously only made
the room spin in my opinion. "I figured. You've been asleep for about
four hours." He paused, moving some hair away from my face and tucking
it behind my ear. "You feeling okay?"
I nodded, still not fully awake yet. "Yeah, my headaches gone."
He smiled, standing up, taking my hand and bringing me up with him. We
laced our fingers together as we started towards the stairs. "You know
you're never going to be able to sleep tonight, right?"
I shrugged, reluctantly pulling my hand away as we neared the kitchen,
knowing Dad was probably down there waiting for us both. "That's okay,
I'll just become nocturnal."
"Well, how about a late night drive?"
I glanced at his smiling face. It was just one of his amazing
features. "Think my dad would go for it?"
"Already asked. Already agreed."
I grinned, throwing my arms around his neck in a hug before walking
into the kitchen where Ella, Lance, and Dad had already began
eating.
"About time." Dad commented with a smile on his face as we both sat
down at the table. "Did she kick you?" He asked, leaning over towards
Ben.
"What?" I asked in curiosity.
Ben chuckled a bit, shaking his head. "No, but there was some talk of
being a pirate."
I glared back and forth between the two. "Why do I not like this?"
Dad laughed, an amused gleam in his green eyes. "Ben and I here made a
bet to see if you'd either yell or kick at him."
I pouted, not one of my cuter pouts either. The one I used to use when
I was little and I didn't get what I wanted. "I'm displeased."
Ben laughed from beside me, leaning over and whispering, "I thought it
was cute."
I tried not to smile, but I think my blush had given me away. At least
to Ella, who smiled at me knowingly as she rested her head on
Lance's shoulder.
Lance didn’t say much, but he seemed like a nice guy to me. I could
tell he honestly loved Ella. Occasionally he would crack a joke
and I discovered that he's actually quite funny.
I was so happy that she had found someone like that. And I was happy
that she was happy.
"I remember when she was a little girl she had a major sleep
disorder." Dad recalled, catching the attention of the table. He was
using his story telling tone and I knew I wasn't going to like his
stories of my childhood. "I'd go to wake her up in the mornings and
she'd start either bawling and yelling or she'd start kicking anything
within reach. Most of the time it was me."
"I got my roommate back in Lavance pretty good a couple of times too."
I mentioned casually, taking a sip of my lemonade.
"From your sleep disorder?" Asked Ben.
I shook my head, a proud smile on my face. "No."
Everyone laughed at the joke, probably assuming that I had only been
kidding. But like I've mention, I didn't care much for my roommate.
Dinner carried on normally, with eating, joking, and casual
conversations. I glanced over at Lance who seemed to be fidgeting with
nervousness, a hand on his pocket. I gave him a questioning look, but
he never saw. He was staring at Ella as she told a story about
her and a friend from years ago. I noticed as he took a deep breathe,
clearing his throat quite nervously.
"Um, Ella." Lance stuttered, grabbing everyone’s attention at the table.
Ella smiled up at him sweetly. "Yes?"
I smiled to myself. I had a feeling I knew what was coming next.
Lance stood up, only to get down on one knee in front of Ella. I
looked around the table to find everyone’s face was written with
surprise. Especially Ella's.
"I know this isn't the most romantic way of doing this, but I figured
you'd want the people you loved the most here for this. You know that
I love you more than anything in this world and I have never once
doubted that love. And I would be beyond the happiest man on this
Earth if...you would marry me?" His eyes were shining as held onto
Ella's hand tightly. He looked anxious and frightened, like she
might say no.
Ella starred at him with soft, tear filled eyes. "Yes." She whispered.
Lance stood up, hugging his new fiancée tightly and kissing her with as
much love as he'd just expressed for her in his speech. He pulled out
a jewelry box, took out a ring and slipped it on her finger. I thought
she was going to faint.
Dad clapped, grinning ear to ear in true happiness for her. I stood up
as went to hug my aunt as soon as Lance set her down.
"Congratulations. I'm so happy for you Aunt Ella." I whispered in her
ear as I held onto her tightly.
"Thank you, sweetie." She said, kissing my forehead lightly.
I let go of her so that Dad could give her a hug also. I stood in
front of Lance, giving him a stare down. "Now Lance," I began, trying
to keep my tone serious. "I warn you that if you hurt my aunt that I
will be forced to go all pirate on you." I stated, making a hook with