realize what I have. Or maybe I am just nuts.
“See ya.” He gives me a pathetic wave and drives off leaving me standing in front of my house embarrassed.
Inside out
I throw my purse on the table by the front door and drop my heels right there. I smell food, and that’s strange because my dad doesn’t cook. Or have company. But a lot could have changed in the years I have been away.
I follow the smells to the kitchen and stop shocked to see him and a woman laughing over a pot on the stove. Or who I see sitting in the chair.
“Hey, Hope. We didn’t expect you back so soon,” dad says. “This is Rachel.”
I force a smile and look at the guy at the table. The guy at the table stands up, he’s tall, lanky and ready to introduce himself. “Hutch.”
I move back. I have to be losing my damn mind.
“So nice to meet you… awake,” Rachel tells me. “I’m…” She looks at my dad for the right word to describe who she is.
“Rachel is my girlfriend.” Dad clears it up no problem. “And this is Hutch, Rachel’s son.”
Rachel pulls me in and wraps her arms around me. “We are so thrilled to see you.” She rubs my arms and releases me.
“Hutch found a job in town so he moved to Cherry recently,” Rachel explains as if that makes any sense to my fragile mind.
“So you both are new to the area,” dad jokes. I’m not laughing. “Maybe you can venture out together and take in Cherry.” He gives me the kind of look that tells me I have little choice in the matter. And I give him the kind that tells him I wish he told me he had a girlfriend.
“You know, I am a little tired,” I lie. “I was hoping for a nap.”
Dad shoots me another warning glare. I force a smile and shake my head dismissing my first answer. “But what the hell. I’m sure I can handle a little sightseeing.”
I go for my room and promise to return after I switch out of my date clothes and into something more comfortable. I pull a tank top out of the drawer and a pair of shorts and slip out of my clothes in a hurry to get the night over.
My dad has relationships and food on the stove and things he want to do alone. I hop into my shorts and button them and search the room for my shoes. My mind settles on the window remembering the way I felt when Slade used to slip through it in my perfect world. I pull my top on and sit on the bed fastening the straps of my sandals.
My dad knocks and opens my door checking to make sure I am decent before he enters the room and shuts the door.
“I was going to tell you about Rachel,” he says. Like it hasn’t been weeks since my recovery. She would have been a nice thing to know about. “Hutch is a nice kid.”
I raise an eyebrow. “He wasn’t in my dreams. He was an arrogant jerk that fucked my life up.” I wonder if that makes me crazy to think Hutch is not a good guy. “But what the hell do I know?” I stand up and study myself in the mirror. “I thought Slade was my one and only and made out with him on the boardwalk only to be told I am crazy for ever thinking such a thing.”
My dad shakes his head. “I do not want to hear this. Just have a good time. That’s all you should be doing.”
“Okay. I will have a good time.” I push my hair behind my ear and smile in my dad’s direction to assure him I will be okay. “See you in a little bit unless real life Hutch is a monster… then I may not.”
Dad rolls his eyes. “Hope, we know what the doctor said. Your brain has been through trauma. These things are normal. It will pass.”
But will it?
***
“So let me get this straight,” Hutch says, walking in front of me down the boardwalk. “I was an evil brit who made you kill your father?” He shakes his head at the thought of such absurdity.
“You are forgetting the part about magic,” I say with a grin because now that I am talking to Hutch it’s silly.
He’s not British, he isn’t a pompous jerk—we get along well. I don’t mind hanging out with
“See ya.” He gives me a pathetic wave and drives off leaving me standing in front of my house embarrassed.
Inside out
I throw my purse on the table by the front door and drop my heels right there. I smell food, and that’s strange because my dad doesn’t cook. Or have company. But a lot could have changed in the years I have been away.
I follow the smells to the kitchen and stop shocked to see him and a woman laughing over a pot on the stove. Or who I see sitting in the chair.
“Hey, Hope. We didn’t expect you back so soon,” dad says. “This is Rachel.”
I force a smile and look at the guy at the table. The guy at the table stands up, he’s tall, lanky and ready to introduce himself. “Hutch.”
I move back. I have to be losing my damn mind.
“So nice to meet you… awake,” Rachel tells me. “I’m…” She looks at my dad for the right word to describe who she is.
“Rachel is my girlfriend.” Dad clears it up no problem. “And this is Hutch, Rachel’s son.”
Rachel pulls me in and wraps her arms around me. “We are so thrilled to see you.” She rubs my arms and releases me.
“Hutch found a job in town so he moved to Cherry recently,” Rachel explains as if that makes any sense to my fragile mind.
“So you both are new to the area,” dad jokes. I’m not laughing. “Maybe you can venture out together and take in Cherry.” He gives me the kind of look that tells me I have little choice in the matter. And I give him the kind that tells him I wish he told me he had a girlfriend.
“You know, I am a little tired,” I lie. “I was hoping for a nap.”
Dad shoots me another warning glare. I force a smile and shake my head dismissing my first answer. “But what the hell. I’m sure I can handle a little sightseeing.”
I go for my room and promise to return after I switch out of my date clothes and into something more comfortable. I pull a tank top out of the drawer and a pair of shorts and slip out of my clothes in a hurry to get the night over.
My dad has relationships and food on the stove and things he want to do alone. I hop into my shorts and button them and search the room for my shoes. My mind settles on the window remembering the way I felt when Slade used to slip through it in my perfect world. I pull my top on and sit on the bed fastening the straps of my sandals.
My dad knocks and opens my door checking to make sure I am decent before he enters the room and shuts the door.
“I was going to tell you about Rachel,” he says. Like it hasn’t been weeks since my recovery. She would have been a nice thing to know about. “Hutch is a nice kid.”
I raise an eyebrow. “He wasn’t in my dreams. He was an arrogant jerk that fucked my life up.” I wonder if that makes me crazy to think Hutch is not a good guy. “But what the hell do I know?” I stand up and study myself in the mirror. “I thought Slade was my one and only and made out with him on the boardwalk only to be told I am crazy for ever thinking such a thing.”
My dad shakes his head. “I do not want to hear this. Just have a good time. That’s all you should be doing.”
“Okay. I will have a good time.” I push my hair behind my ear and smile in my dad’s direction to assure him I will be okay. “See you in a little bit unless real life Hutch is a monster… then I may not.”
Dad rolls his eyes. “Hope, we know what the doctor said. Your brain has been through trauma. These things are normal. It will pass.”
But will it?
***
“So let me get this straight,” Hutch says, walking in front of me down the boardwalk. “I was an evil brit who made you kill your father?” He shakes his head at the thought of such absurdity.
“You are forgetting the part about magic,” I say with a grin because now that I am talking to Hutch it’s silly.
He’s not British, he isn’t a pompous jerk—we get along well. I don’t mind hanging out with
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