Hope's Chance(56)

When I got closer to the pool house I could hear them yelling.

“I don’t have a choice Buffy.” Chance said.

“You could have said no. Do you have any idea what this is going to do to her?” Buffy asked.

“Of course I do, don’t you think this is killing me? I don’t know what else to do. I am kind of stuck. I have no other options.” He exclaimed.

My heart started beating faster. I knew something was wrong. I rushed into the pool house and stood there waiting for an explanation.

“Maybe I should leave you two alone.” Buffy suggested.

I shook my head. “No please stay.” I said.

Chance pulled me over and sat me down on the chair. “Hope.” He said and then started to get choked up. “I have to leave.”

This couldn’t be happening.



Chance



That son of a bitch didn’t believe me last night and then when he saw me protecting his daughter he couldn’t take it. He must have made some calls last night or early this morning because I was on the next flight to South Carolina to work on the construction of a hotel. He didn’t give me an option. He said it was an opportunity I needed to take and that he had done a lot to get me the position. I did not thank him. I wanted to hurt him. He was such a f*cking coward.

Now I had to leave Hope when she needed me the most. It broke my heart and it killed me more that I had to be the one to tell her. She was never going to understand.

“What do you mean you have to leave? Where are you going? When will you be home?” She asked.

My eyes filled with tears and I didn’t want to feel like a *, but this was hard. “Your father got me a job working on a construction site in South Carolina. It lasts for a few months and then he said I can come back.”

“No! No way! This can’t be happening. Why would you agree to it? Please Chance, you can’t just leave me here.” Hope was clinging to my arms, her words were hard to make out because she was crying so badly.

“Hope, I don’t have a choice. I haven’t had much time to think about this, but I think he wants me to be out of the picture until this deal is finalized.” I explained.

“Does either of you see how convoluted this is?” Hope screamed.

I tried to grab her, but she pulled away. “Hope please just listen to me.” She wouldn’t look at me. Instead she buried her face into her hands. “Nothing between us has to change baby. We can talk every day and I will find a way to come home on the weekends.”

Buffy put her hands on Hope’s shoulders and started rubbing her back. “In the meantime I can keep talking to your dad. We will get Chance home as fast as we can.” She said.

“No! This can’t be happening. He saved me. He saved me last night and this is what happens? I don’t understand.” Hope cried.

I knelt down in front of her. “Hope look at me.”

She finally looked up past her tear filled eyes. “There is nothing you can say to make this better Chance. My father has done nothing but hurt me and now he is taking the person that I love the most away from me.”

“I know baby. Please just calm down. I know that things seem horrible right now, but we are still going to see each other. I will call you every day. The months will fly by and then I will be home.” I explained.

My heart was breaking even more seeing her reaction to all of this. I wanted to walk in that house and punch that bastard in his face. His daughter needed support, but instead he was torturing her, and he didn’t even realize how much.

“I am going to head into the house. Hope, don’t be too long okay.” Buffy said as she walked outside.

The shades were down in the pool house windows, so that Hope’s father couldn’t see in if he were outside. “Hope I love you. I promise you that we are going to get through this. I promise you baby.”

She fell into my arms and I let her cry. I could feel the tears running down my cheeks, but I held her tight and tried to think positive, even though I knew we had just hit yet another hurdle.





Chapter 32


Hope


When Chance told me he had to leave I felt like my whole world was crashing down on me. Buffy and I drove him to the airport and we both cried as he boarded his plane. He called us once he had made it there safely and later that night before he went to sleep.

I refused to speak to my father, even at meals when he sat at the same table with us. Buffy finally gave in and started talking to him after holding out for a week. He seemed remorseful, but my heart was shattered.

Chance called me at least twice a day. He called me to wake me up in the mornings and then to tell me goodnight. Although, sometimes our nighttime talks would last for hours. One good thing about him being away was that we got to talk a lot more than around the house. We didn’t really have to hide. Since I spent most of my time in my room, my father never even knew.

Buffy called Chance every few days, always making it a habit to bring it up at dinner time when my father was around. She talked about how much he hated it, and wished he could be here where his only family was.

Obviously, the news of Chances being homesick did not faze him in the least. He played golf with Mr. Greg Thomas at least once a week. They shot the shit at least once every morning, and I even heard him mentioning Trevor and Michael in a positive conversation.