Hope's Chance(82)

“I thought we were going to freeze to death.” She admitted.

I watched as she held her hands up to where the hot air was blowing from the vents. We were both soaking wet. Before I pulled out of the wet dirt road, I remembered she said she had a blanket in the trunk. I ran to the rear of the car and grabbed it out. When I got back in, I wrapped it around Hope to get her warm faster.

“Is that better?” I asked, while my teeth were still chattering.

“Much.” She gave me a quick smile while I made a makeshift cover for the broken window out of an old bumper sticker I found in her back window. I bit the sticker into small pieces so it acted as tape and used a piece of cardboard from an old taco box I found on the floor. Good thing Hope had a messy car.

“Okay, now let’s get you home.” I suggested.

“Chance?”

“Yeah baby?”

“I love you.” I looked toward her. She had a big smile on her face.

“I love you too baby. I would do anything for you.” I confessed.

After about a half hour of driving, Hope finally fell asleep. We only had another half hour to go, so I didn’t bother waking her.

Driving home in the silence gave me a lot of time to think about everything that happened. I enjoyed visiting the school and seeing what all of our possibilities could be, but I just didn’t feel as excited as I would have hoped. I lived my whole life thinking that all I wanted to do was play ball, but after everything that occurred last year, it made me realize that there are more important things in life to me.

I wanted more than just to play a sport forever. Finishing my education was important as well, but I was looking at a bigger picture now. I could do all of those things and have Hope by my side. I didn't need to separate the two. We needed to make the decision to move together. I wouldn’t do it without her, because I knew that once school was over, she was my future. I couldn’t risk giving that up for any reason.

It wasn’t that Hope would deliberately make me give something like that up. She wasn’t like that at all; in fact, she would have pushed me toward it, forsaking her own happiness for mine. It pissed me off when she put her needs last. I wanted her to be happy too. In all honesty, Hope was the kind of girl that didn’t need a lot of things to make her happy. She made do with what she had and was generally happy about it.

Whatever we were to decide, we needed to do it soon. With Christmas and the wedding, things were about to get hectic.

When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed that the living room light was on. Without waking Hope, I managed to reach into the passenger side and lift her into my arms. She wrapped her arms around me, but it was obvious she was still half-asleep. Mark met me at the door and held it open while I carried Hope upstairs to her room. I received some curious looks when they saw her disheveled hair and blanket. I knew as soon as I walked down the steps, I would be drilled by the sergeant himself.

Sure enough, I hit that last step and he was there waiting. “What happened to you two?”

“Hope thought she hit something so she pulled over. We both jumped out of the car, but one of us must have somehow hit the damn lock button. When we went to get back in, we were locked out. Our phones and everything were in the car. I had to break the window to get us inside.” I confessed, even though only half was the truth.

“I assume it was already raining?” He asked.

“Yep, it had just started. Anyway, Hope said she had a blanket in the trunk, so once I got her safely into the heat, I grabbed it and made sure she was warm enough.”

“Thank you Chance. You are always keeping her safe. I really appreciate it.” He gave me a pat on my shoulder. “So come in here and tell me how it went today. Did you see anything you liked?”

We walked into the kitchen and I started pouring myself some tea. “It was really nice. The fields are great there. Seems like they have a lot to offer.”

“What about Hope? Did she seem interested?” He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Some things she really liked, but you know Hope. She hates school. I don’t know what she would decided honestly. Maybe giving her a goodnight sleep will help.”

“So, have you made up your mind?”

“I don’t know yet Mark. I mean, I haven’t played in a while. I don’t even know if I will still be good enough.” I admitted.

“I don’t mean to keep pushing you about it Chance. I just want Hope to want to get a degree in something. She just has no clue what she wants to do with her life. I feel like if she has you there, she won’t feel so reluctant about it. You are friends and you could be a mentor to her like you are here at home.”

If he only knew how I mentored his daughter.

“I will talk to her tomorrow about it.” I announced.

“Thanks for taking her today Chance. She never would have gone with me.” He admitted.

I laughed. “Probably not.”

I took my drink and headed out to the pool house. Wishing Hope was there with me sort of came true when I found her already in my bed.

“Hey, how did you get in here?” I asked as I crawled into the bed behind her.

“I went out the garage while you and dad were talking. I locked my bedroom door and he already thinks I am sleeping. I just wanted to be close to you.” She confessed.

I got up and threw on some dry clothes and then finally cuddled my body into hers. With one final kiss to the top of her head, I easily fell fast asleep knowing she was right where she belonged.