“And were they?”
“Yeah. They were fine. All the families were fine.” He brightened. “But then one day Melanie showed up and told me that she found someone for me, and that he was really different from everyone else I’d been with. He was doing it because he wanted to help a kid and one day adopt.”
“And that was Gunnar?”
“Yeah.” He smiled. After they walked a little bit more, he said, “I can’t believe I just told you all that. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m glad you told me some more about what happened to you.” She smiled up at him. “I’d rather hear about that instead of the weather.”
He chuckled. “I bet.” He released a ragged sigh. “Bethany, I’m going to be honest. I’ve been afraid that if you found out about my past, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me. But then I started thinking that maybe it’s better you knew. In case . . .”
His voice drifted off.
“Jeremy, in case what?”
“In case I finally ever get the nerve to ask if you’d go to the Christmas dance with me.” Looking horrified, Jeremy stared at her for a long minute before looking down at his feet again.
He’d asked her! Elation filled her insides like she’d been deflated and she hadn’t even known what had been missing.
All Bethany did know now was that there was something about Jeremy that she really liked. She didn’t care how his mother died or that he was a foster kid. She didn’t even care that he was kind of shy and unsure of himself. She liked that. It was different. He was different in a lot of ways—ways that counted.
Though her palms were sweating a little, she said, “Jeremy, maybe you should go ahead and ask me.”
His chin popped back up and his blue eyes were bright. “You think?”
She pointed to the red-brick house with black shutters that was just up the road. “Well, yeah, since we’re almost at my house.”
He stared at her house, seemed to kind of shake his head, then collected himself again. “Bethany, will you go to the Christmas dance with me? I promise I won’t bore you with foster kid stories the whole time.”
“Yes.”
“Yes?” He looked kind of stunned, which was really cute.
“I don’t even care if you tell me a bunch of foster kid stories either.” She kind of liked them, but she didn’t want to tell him that. She was pretty sure he’d think that was weird.
“I won’t. But thanks.”
Glad that he’d asked her at last, relieved that she knew more about him, and so happy about a lot of things, she giggled. “I better warn you—you’re going to have to meet my parents before the dance. They don’t let me go out with anyone before meeting them first.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” He frowned at her home like he expected her mother to come running out the door. “You’ve got a really big house.”
“It’s not that big.”
“It looks like it to me.”
Embarrassed now, she shrugged. “I’ve lived there all my life. I guess I don’t think about it much. And don’t worry about my parents. You don’t have to meet them today.”
“Good. I don’t know if I could take it.”
She giggled again as they walked to the foot of her driveway. “Well, um, I guess I better go inside. Thanks for walking me home.”
“Wait. Can I have your number?”
At last! She called out the numbers when he pulled out his cell, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction as she watched him punch her phone number in. A couple of seconds later she heard her own cell beep.
“I just texted you so you’ll know my number too.”
“Thanks.” She wondered if he was going to text her later. She kind of hoped he would.
He smiled at her. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Jeremy.” She smiled at him before walking up her driveway. Even though she didn’t dare look back, she was pretty sure he didn’t move until she was almost at her front door. It was strange, but she was glad that he did that. He was so different from any of the other boys she knew. None of the other guys she’d dated had ever acted like she was anything special to them.
Unable to help herself, she started humming some song they’d been practicing in choir. She hadn’t really liked it at the time, but now it seemed like it was the only thing that could sum up her feelings.
“Who was that?” her mother asked the moment she tossed her backpack on the floor inside. “He watched you until you were halfway up the drive.”
Bethany was feeling so happy she didn’t even care that her mother had watched her out the window. At least she hadn’t opened the door or anything. “That was Jeremy Widmer.”
Her mother folded her arms across the front of her gray sweater. “Jeremy Widmer? I don’t remember you mentioning him before.”
“I haven’t mentioned him because he’s new.”
“And he walked you home? Maybe you’d better tell me something about him.”
Oh, her mother and her twenty questions! “Mom, there isn’t much to tell.” Which was a lie, of course. There was a ton to tell but she wasn’t going to share it.
“How about some basic facts, then. What grade is he in?”
“He’s a junior like me.”
“He looks pretty cute.”
“Jeremy is cute. And . . . he just asked me to the Christmas dance.”
Her mom raised her eyebrows before smiling. “What did you say?”
“Yes.”
Her smiled wavered. “Even though you just met him?”
“Jeremy is really nice, Mom. I promise. And he’s different from all the other boys.”
“Different? That’s kind of a funny way to describe someone you like.”
She figured her mother had a point but she wasn’t going to explain what she meant. “Don’t worry. I already told Jeremy that he’s going to have to meet you and Dad, and he said that was fine.”
“I see. Now, there’s about a dozen questions in my head but I’m going to give you a break and not ask any of them.”
“Thanks, because I’ve got to go get ready to go to the Upchurchs’ house in an hour.” There was also a pretty good chance that she wouldn’t have answered any of her mom’s questions anyway. No way did she want her mom to start classifying Jeremy into some kind of neat little box.
“Are you watching kids or dogs?”
“Both.” Even though she didn’t really mind, she frowned.
As she’d hoped, her mother flew into action. “Three kids and four dogs? How many hours?”
“Three. Just until Mr. Upchurch gets home from a late meeting.”
“Oh, Bethany, I better go fix you a snack. You’re going to need it if you’re going to be over there for so long.”
“Thanks, Mom,” she said, even though Mrs. Upchurch always left her the best snacks. “I’m going to run upstairs and change.” And check her phone. Maybe Jeremy had already texted her. Then, of course, she was going to have to tell all her friends. Karyn and Jules were going to be beyond jealous. Jeremy might be kind of awkward but he was nice—and so cute.
She was pretty sure that tomorrow she was going to be the most envied girl in the junior class.
CHAPTER 16
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
—luke 2:14
Gunnar was sitting on the stoop when Jeremy got home twenty minutes after saying goodbye to Bethany. As usual, Gunnar was wearing faded jeans, scuffed brown Timberlands, a flannel shirt, his black Gor-Tex jacket, and a ball cap. He was also wearing a frown.
That was kind of new.
When he saw his foster parent’s expression, all the huge, optimistic feelings that had been spinning around inside him died. The guy was pissed.
Really pissed. Jeremy knew why too. He’d ignore
d Gunnar’s text when he was talking to Bethany and then had forgotten about it. It was like Bethany was all that mattered to him anymore.
Of course, that wasn’t true. But it was pretty hard to think of anyone but Bethany right now. Her saying yes to the dance made him feel like he’d accomplished something pretty big.
But now he had to face the fact that while he might have gotten Bethany to say yes, he’d also managed to make Gunnar mad. With his luck, Gunnar would probably be so mad that he’d ground him from the dance or something.
His steps slowed as he tried to think of something to say. But even though he tried his best, his mind went blank. He honestly couldn’t think of a thing to say. Gunnar hadn’t given him a ton of rules to follow, but the main one was to always let him know when he wasn’t going to follow his usual schedule.
Since he’d ignored that rule big time and he didn’t have any sort of decent-sounding excuse, Jeremy decided to just stand there and let Gunnar have his say. As he tried to look anywhere but at Gunnar, the cold air seeped into his clothes.
Funny, it was the first time in hours that he’d noticed just how cold the temperature actually was.
After another minute passed—which felt close to an hour—Gunnar stood up, his hazel eyes cool under the brim of his ball cap. “Looks like you took your time getting home today.”
He swallowed. “I know.”
“You know?” A line formed between his brows. “I gave you a cell phone for a reason, Jeremy Widmer. Is it working . . . ? Or did it break for some reason and you didn’t think to tell me?”
Oh, boy. “It’s not broken. I mean, it’s working just fine.” It had sure worked fine a couple of minutes ago when he’d texted Bethany and she’d texted him right back.
“We had some rules we agreed to.” His voice deepened. “Did you forget what they were?”
“No, sir. I didn’t forget.”
Gunnar’s expression became even more confused. “I’m trying to keep my patience here, but you’re starting to make it real difficult. You going to give me a reason for being late and not calling? Maybe even apologize for making me worry? Because I’m beginning to get pretty tired of hearing your short, pat answers to my questions.”
“I’m sorry.”
Gunnar still didn’t look impressed. “Is that it?”
“I mean it. I really am sorry I didn’t call.”
He cracked his knuckles. “I’m waiting, boy.”
It didn’t look like Gunnar was getting ready to hit him or anything, but he did look like he was barely holding it together.
Okay. It was time to start talking even though he might really regret sharing so much. “First, I thought you were going to still be at that house working. I didn’t think you’d notice if I came home on time or not.”
When he saw Gunnar’s expression tighten further, he winced. That had absolutely not been the right thing to say. Like, at all. “I mean—”
“Boy, if I’ve been staying there working, it was because I trusted you to be here. Part of me even thought you might need some time to relax and watch TV or whatever without me watching over you like you were a little kid.”
Jeremy had never thought about it like that. “Um . . .”
Gunnar cut him off again. Looking at him directly in the eye, he blurted, “Have I been wrong? Have you been doing this a lot?”
“This?”
“Going out after school?” He waved a hand. “Have you been doing your own thing and lying to me?”
“What? No.” When Gunnar’s eyes narrowed, Jeremy tacked on another word. “I mean, no, sir. This was the first time. I promise it was . . . and I had a good reason. I really did.”
He sighed. “I sure hope so.” Gunnar stuffed his hands in the pockets of his down vest, as if he’d suddenly noticed the temperature outside. “You know what? Come on in. Let’s go sit down. I’m too old for twenty questions and it’s getting real cold out here.”
The sun had started slipping down and the wind had picked up. He was no weatherman, but it sure looked like more snow was on the way. Jeremy followed Gunnar inside, closing the door behind him and kicking off his tennis shoes. Gunnar had gone into the living room and lit the fireplace. When the flame roared to life, he stood for a moment facing it, warming his hands in front of the fire.
Watching him, Jeremy thought about how Gunnar did a lot of things like that. He did a lot of things in an adept, concise way, without a lot of fuss or worry. He also did a lot of them for Jeremy’s sake, so he would feel secure and happy. Yep, what had used to feel foreign and new was now expected. He’d begun to take a lot of Gunnar’s mannerisms and habits for granted.
Which was kind of amazing.
Glad of the few moments’ reprieve, Jeremy sat down on the couch. He wondered if he should try to think of something to say but elected to stay quiet.
At last, Gunnar broke the silence. “Jeremy, this is where you start talking, yeah?” He turned at last. “And don’t even think about giving me a bunch of ‘I don’t knows.’ That’s not going to cut it.”
“Fine. I was walking Bethany Seevers home.”
Gunnar blinked and he looked kind of taken aback. Then his eyes lit up. “Huh. I guess you can tell I’m surprised. I don’t know why, though.” He rubbed a hand over the stubble on his cheeks. “I guess I should’ve realized there was a girl involved.”
Figuring he might as well get the rest of his news over with, he said, “I walked Bethany home because it took me all that time to work up the nerve to ask her to go to the Christmas dance with me.”
“You’re already going to take a girl to a dance? You’re moving fast, buddy.”
Gunnar was sounding a whole lot nicer. “Not that fast. All the guys were asking. It’s in a couple of weeks. On December twenty-third.”
He slowly smiled. “You don’t mess around.”
“I’m not really doing anything different than anyone else. All the guys I know are asking girls to the dance now. Phillip told me that if you wait too long all the girls like Bethany get asked up.”
“Girls like Bethany?”
“You know, the special girls.”
“So . . . don’t keep me in suspense. What did she say?”
“Yes.” Unable to help himself, Jeremy grinned.
“She did, huh?”
“Gunnar, it was so great, because Bethany didn’t even make me wait. All she did say was that I was going to have to meet her parents before that night.”
“Sounds like she’s got parents who care.”
“Yeah. I hope it goes okay.”
“It will. Don’t you worry about that.” He chuckled. “Well, I’m real pleased for you, Jeremy. That’s great news. I’ve had my share of asking-out-girls horror stories.”
“No way.”
“Yeah. Well, not every girl I liked felt the same way. A couple weren’t shy about letting me know that either.”
Jeremy didn’t even want to think about that. “I was nervous, Gunnar. I didn’t know what I was doing, and some guys were going all out, making banners and putting bouquets of flowers on girls’ cars and shit.”
“Don’t say shit.”
“Fine. But they were doing a lot, and I wasn’t doing any of that. And Bethany’s really pretty. She could have been asked out by any guy in the school.”
“But she said yes to you. Maybe she didn’t need all that other stuff.”
“Phillip said that she liked me. He could’ve been messing with me, though.”
“If she said yes, he might have been right.”
“Maybe. That’s why I asked her out today. I couldn’t do it at school though. I mean, if she told me no, then everyone would know and I’d have to deal with it all day. It would have been embarrassing.”
Gunnar nodded. “I reckon that would be bad.”
“I asked he
r if I could walk her home and finally asked her when we were standing in front of her house.”
“Even though you should’ve let me know what you were doing, that sounds like a good way to go. I’m glad she said yes.”
Suddenly, a thought rushed forth. “Hey, I am going to be here at Christmas, aren’t I?”
Gunnar frowned. “Jeremy, we filled out the papers together. I mean, you sat there with me when I did.”
“I know, but . . .” His voice dropped off. How could he say what he was thinking without sounding dumber than he already felt?
Gunnar turned to face him more fully. “Look, we still have our rules to talk about, but this is more important. Are you really thinking that I would change my mind after working on that paperwork together . . . and that I’d do it right before Christmas?”
He shrugged. What could he say? He’d learned from a couple of those foster kids that foster parents could do a lot of stuff that didn’t make sense.
“Jeremy, I know this is hard, but if we’re going to have a partnership, then we need to be able to tell each other things. So come on now. Talk to me. Do you want to wait longer to finish the paperwork? Have you changed your mind about living here with me?” He paused. “Or, maybe you aren’t ready to have me as your ‘real’ dad?”
“No! I mean, that’s not it at all.”
“Okay, then what are you thinking?”
“I thought maybe if you were mad at me you might have changed your mind.”
His eyebrows rose again. “You mean because of me being upset about you coming home late tonight?”
‘Well, yeah.”
“I’m not going to change my mind.”
“Okay.”
Gunnar shook his head. “Boy, this is normal stuff that all adults and kids go through. Kids sometimes bend or break rules and parents have to figure out how to make sure the kids know that they’re loved but that they still have to mind.” He shook his head. “Shoot. That sounded like a jumbled mess, didn’t it? My mom and dad made it all sound so good. I guess all I’m trying to say is that if we’ve got problems and we’re talking about it, then I think it’s kind of a good sign. It means we’re moving forward.”
Save the Last Dance Page 11