Hope's Chance(62)

Once we ordered our food, my father started talking to Chance about the town he worked in. He even had the nerve to ask him if he had met anyone special. I felt Chance’s leg start rubbing against me as he answered. “There is nothing there that I want. I go to work and then go back to the motel. It is lonely and I feel like it just drains the life out of me.”

“I am sorry that it isn’t working out for you Chance. I know Buffy hates that you are so unhappy. Perhaps it is time for you to come home.” Before Chance could reply or I could scream, my dad started talking again. “I would have one condition if you came back though Chance.”

Whatever it is, just take it…

“I don’t know what you said or how you managed to do it, but you convinced my daughter to enroll in college.” He looked over at me. “Buffy told me all about it.” Then he looked back to Chance. “Thank you for that. I want so much for her and I could not be prouder. Therefore, my condition would be that you mentor her and help her get through any hard classes. I know how smart you are Chance.”

I could tell that Chance felt happy. He still did not care for my father’s actions, but he could finally come home and I was so happy.



Chance



Was this really happening? Was I being asked to come home and spend time with Hope? I didn’t waste any time accepting his offer. “Of course I will help Hope. I plan on enrolling there myself next semester anyway.”

Mark held up his drink. “Well since we are celebrating, Buffy and I have another announcement.”

He turned to my sister and I half expected her to yell out that she was pregnant, but instead she just gave him a smile. “We decided to get married on New Years Eve.” Buffy announced.

A rush of relief went through me and I know it was the same for Hope. It wasn’t that neither of us wanted Buffy to have children, we just needed to be able to reveal our relationship first. “That is great news.” I replied.

“Mark and I are going to have the wedding here, with just a few close friends, and we want you both to stand up for us.” She said in an excited voice.

Buffy started clapping and had a huge smile on her face.

“Sounds great guys.” I said as I took another swig of my beer.

When our food finally came, everyone got quiet and started eating. Halfway through Hope asked me to scoot out so that she could use the ladies room. I hadn’t noticed a change in her demeanor, but I couldn’t help get this feeling that something was wrong. The last thing I needed was to draw attention to how concerned I was about her in front of her father. All of my plans on coming home would be ruined and I would be back to living hundreds of miles away from her again.

After about two minutes, I noticed Mr. Thomas heading to our table. I cleared my throat as he approached and fought with myself to put on a smile.

“Hey there guys, I didn’t know you would be here tonight.” He said.

“Ah Greg we were celebrating Chance coming home and setting a date for the wedding.” Mark announced.

“Well congrats on both. Why don’t you all join us at our table for drinks?” Greg suggested.

After a few reluctant glares, he saw we were going to say no. “Aw, come on. Are you really going to pass up on free booze Mark?” He joked.

As Mark and Buffy signaled the waiter as to what we were doing, I still hadn’t noticed Hope. When we stood up to move to the table in the other room with Mr. Thomas, I noticed why Hope had gotten upset. Sitting there at the table was Trevor and he wasn’t alone. I remembered the slender darkly tanned girl from the bar and pictures in Hope’s room. He was with Rylee and they were all over each other.

Not wasting any time on a missed opportunity, I turned to Mark. “I am going to go find Hope and tell her where we are going.”

Mark gave me a nod, right before realizing how bad of an idea this really was. His face turned pale even as I walked past him. Buffy looked like she was ready to cry. I kept walking, determined to find Hope before she had to face them.

The ladies room was just off the main dining area. As I walked toward the door listed “ladies”, an older woman was stepping out. Without any regard for who might see me, I rushed inside.

I could hear Hope’s sniffles even before I approached the stall. Lucky for me there were no other women in here. “Baby it’s me, are you okay?”

I heard the door unlock and crack open. “No!” she said as I entered and closed the door behind us. “Did you see who he was with? I don’t get it. She knows what he put me through. She saw the bruises he gave me before. She knows he used to force me Chance.”

“He what?” I started to walk out of the stall, with all intentions of killing the f*cker, but Hope grabbed my arm.

“Please Chance, don’t! He can’t hurt me now, not ever. Don’t risk being sent away again.” She begged.

“Fine, but we should have called the police before. In addition, Hope, as far as your friend goes, she deserves him. She obviously only cares about herself. Let the money hungry bitch get what she deserves.” I exclaimed.

“I don’t want her to get hurt Chance. Even after all the lies; I just don’t want that to happen to her.” She said.

Hope and I stopped talking when we heard the door opening. I climbed behind Hope and stood on the toilet in case they looked under the stalls. When I heard the voices, I knew everything was going to play out differently.