Hope's Chance(89)

The weather was getting worse and we knew we couldn’t afford to stay much longer. My mother seemed to be getting concerned about it herself. I was surprised when we went to leave. She reached up, hugged Chance, and said something in his ear. He smiled and nodded his head before following me to the truck.




Chance

The day was going great. I had my girl around my arm, and we had just told her mother about us. She took the news better than I could have imagined and Hope seemed thrilled about it.

The roads were really getting slick and I had to drive really slow in order to keep us from sliding off into a ditch. The entire ride home we had been the only cars on the road. It made me nervous when we reached the country roads that a snowplow hadn’t even visited yet. I wasn’t used to driving such a big vehicle and I worried if I took a turn too fast we would be in big trouble.

“I’m just going to take my time Hope. I want us to get home in one piece.” I announced.

“Take your time.” She said as she scooted in the seat right next to me and buckled back up. “I hope you don’t mind me changing seats. I felt so far away from you.” She admitted.

“Have I told you how awesome you are?” I asked.

She put her head against my side. “Not in the last ten minutes.”

“I love you Hope.” I never hesitated when I said it, because it was the one thing I never doubted.

“I love you too Chance.”

We made it home in one piece and finally pulled down the long driveway. I almost choked when we pulled up behind a Jeep with Pennsylvania tags. “Oh shit!”

“What? Who is it?” Hope asked.

I should have known that our perfect Christmas would have come to an end sooner than later. I shook my head and placed it on the steering wheel once we came to a stop. “It is Susan’s.”

Hope grabbed my arm. It was snowing too hard for anyone to see us in the truck. “Who cares Chance. She can’t hurt us right?”

I shook my head again. “Here is the problem. She likes to drink and run her mouth. Knowing Buffy, she won’t tell her about us in fear that she will blab after a bottle of wine. If she doesn’t know we are together, she is going to try to hook up. I swear to you that I have no interest in being with her, but not being able to give a reason could become difficult.”

“I appreciate your honesty. It will be fine. It is just a few days anyway. After that we can tell the whole world if you want.”

I looked into her eyes. “It is all I want Hope. I swear.”

“Then let’s go in and say hello to Susan.”

I was reluctant, but we couldn’t sit outside and contemplate our plan. It was going to be a long couple of days.





Chapter 49

Hope

I wanted to picture Susan as some older woman who was overweight and maybe missing a few teeth. She was the opposite of that. In fact, she was the opposite of me. She had very long straight hair that was obviously professionally done. Her face was beautiful and the makeup she was wearing made her look like she was a movie star. Unlike Buffy, she was dressed classy in some kind of tunic sweater and her long legs were exposed with only a pair of leggings that accented her narrow hips. She had a glass of wine already in her hand and as we walked in the door, I watched as her eyes lit up.

The beautiful woman walked right past me and took Chance into a long embrace. “Oh Chance, it has been so long. I have really missed you. I hope you don’t mind me coming in a couple days early. I just wanted to be able to catch up with you.” Before he could get a word in edge wise, she leaned in and kissed him straight on the lips.

I swallow hard and tried to keep from screaming. Buffy came up behind me and sensed my anxiety. She grabbed me gently by the arm. “Susan don’t be rude. This is Hope, Mark’s daughter I was telling you about.”

She slowly let go of my boyfriend and turned to face me. I watched as she looked from my hair to my feet, then finally extended her hand. “Nice to meet you. I guess I didn’t realize he had a kid in high school.”

“Actually Hope is in college.” Chance corrected her and gave me a wink before anyone could notice.

“Well you are very cute. I bet she has lots of hot young men coming over to swim in that pool with her.” She suggested.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” My father interrupted.

I watched him walk into the room and Buffy take his side. They all were holding drinks and when Susan, the bitch, noticed Chance was empty handed, she took it upon herself to drag him into the kitchen by his hand and attend to his thirst.

When I couldn’t see them any longer it made me feel jealous.

“How was your visit with your mom today?” My dad asked.

“It was nice. She was impressed with Chance for some reason.” I tried to say nonchalantly.

“Well he is an impressive kid. It looks like he may be preoccupied for the next few days though. The way Susan talked, they go way back.” He replied.

He may as well have kicked me in the gut, or stuck his hand into my chest and ripped out my heart.

“So where is she sleeping? Do I need to get the guest room ready?” I asked.

Please don’t say the pool house. Please don’t say it……

“Actually, she put her things out in the pool house already. She said Chance wouldn’t mind. Besides, he needs to be around a good woman this time of year. I don’t want him being alone and depressed.” My dad explained.