A Jar of Dreams
Page 23
“Is there anything else you’ve got to say?” she asked curtly. “Because I really don’t care about how you think I should spend my time.”
She brushed her hair off her forehead with the back of her hand nervously. She cared every bit and she was making every damned effort to show otherwise. She tried to steady herself by avoiding looking him directly in the eye. Instead, she focused on the door beyond him, hoping she could escape without him discovering how nervous he was making her feel.
He narrowed his eyes as if he was doing his best to read her mind. He turned to his side, giving her room to make her exit and she took it without hesitation. He grabbed her elbows as she passed him.
“I’m not letting you go so easily, Christy,” he rasped against her ear, prickling her skin. “Just remember, you will pay for it heavily if I catch you out as late as this because of some boy.”
She shook her elbow off him and glared at him. “I already have a brother and if he approves of where I go and what I do, I don’t see why anyone else should needlessly bother with the task of watching over me.”
She disappeared out the door hastily with him staring after her, slightly surprised by her response.
Christy was beginning to find Ashton dallying about the house more than usual. He rarely spoke to her after that incident in Elise’s nursery. But it was the manner in which he kept an eye on her as she worked around the house that was beginning to unnerve her.
She would rather have had the old Ashton back, where she could simply admire him from a distance without him ever knowing it. Now that the thought of becoming suddenly visible to him, flustered her each time she met his gaze.
She stood at the kitchen table grating carrots for their dinner salad while Linda continued to complain about her life to Ashton.
“Why won’t Marshall simply accept a position at Dad’s hardware store? It’s better than that foreman position he has at that construction site?” Linda minced. “Why is he being so stubborn?” She looked over angrily at Christy as if it was her fault that Marshall was working in a position she had deemed unsuitable. “It’s not like she is ever going to speak to Marshall and convince him. She knows if she tells him, he would listen. Yes, Marshall will do anything for Christy. Not for his wife, but his half-sister. Oh sorry, sister. I would get into deep trouble if Marshall hears I called his sister a half-sister. No one can touch Christy. No, Christy does what she likes, whenever she likes.”
Ashton folded his arms across his chest, watching the two women silently.
Christy did her best to pretend to not hear her. She was getting used to being spoken in the third person. But to actually have Ashton witness her being subjected to Linda’s unkindly barrages was another matter completely.
She focused hard on the grater, trying not to cut herself despite the hurt rising inside the walls of her chest. Thankfully her phone rang and she flew out of the kitchen before Linda could stop her.
“Hilda?” she whispered as she entered her bedroom. “Thank God! I thought I’d lose it today.”
“What happened?” Hilda’s anxious voice came over.
“Later,” she replied, taking in a deep breath. “I just needed some time away to calm myself down. Linda is getting unbearable by the day.”
“Oh,” Hilda muttered. “You want to talk about it?”
“Not now.” She shook her head. “So what’s up?”
“We have a double-date remember?”
“Damn!” Christy palmed her forehead. “I had completely forgotten all about that. Could we schedule it for another day?”
“But I’ve already arranged it with Brendan. And you did clear it with Marshall, right?”
Christy grew quiet. Yes, she had talked about it with Marshall a week ago. She doubted if he remembered it though. But for now, she needed to get away from Linda. And grating carrots in the kitchen wasn’t helping her at all. As for Ashton… he was a disappointment. He had simply stood by listening to Linda berate her unfairly. She didn’t expect him to defend her. But any righteous man or woman would never have simply stood by in silence while another was being bullied.
“I’ll come,” she let out slowly. “Where are we meeting?”
“At the Chinese Dragon Restaurant. But Brendan will come over to pick you up. So don’t you worry about getting there.”
“Cool,” she whispered. “In an hour then?”
“Yeah. See you then.”
She took a quick shower and then rummaged through her closet looking for something appropriate to wear. It was her first date ever. She’d gone out with boys before but that had always been in a trusting circle of friends. This, however, was different. Someone was interested in her for a change. She was not salivating over some boy who would never be in her reach.
She picked out a cute lacey cocktail summer dress with a high bodice which she had bought a long time ago with some birthday cash she had saved. She remembered wearing it only once. She had been looking for something pretty to wear to the Pryor’s Christmas party. She had wanted to impress Ashton but like always, he had barely glanced at her.
She sighed and pulled the dress on. There was no use in weeping over a boy who would never give her the time of day. She heated up her straightening iron and did her best with her long dark hair. A few loose curls at its ends would make her reasonably presentable. Weren’t first impressions always important? She touched her face with a little make-up and then pulled on a little white cardigan to match her dress.
She assessed her full length in the mirror, biting her lips. She was no ravishing beauty. Perhaps, this was why Ashton never bothered to pay her any attention. He had a hundred girls always drooling about him and she hardly was a match.
The doorbell rang and she knew it had to be Brendan. She grabbed her wallet and raced down the stairs to open the door. She realized though, Ashton had beaten her to it. He now watched her grimly, his eyes darkened dangerously as she stepped down from the staircase.
“Brendan.” She tried a smile but her voice quavered instead. She wished to dear God, Ashton would leave so she could regain some composure. Thankfully, her blond handsome date smiled.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes. Give me a minute and I’ll just let Linda know.”
“Don’t worry about Linda,” Ashton spoke up. “I’ll let her know.”
He looked at her sharply over his eyebrows and then glanced away just as quick as if she was disagreeable to look at.
“Have a great time,” he said to Brendan.
Her eyes stung with her tears. His goodwill and that smile he gave her date cut her deeply. He didn’t care. He didn’t care at all about her.
She pushed past the men and rushed out the door. “We should go, Brendan. Hilda hates it when I’m late.”
“You alright, Christy?” Hilda asked her over the table.
“Yes, yes,” Christy stammered.
“Is it Linda?”
Christy smiled. “Yes, but it’s not just her. I suppose I’m just tired of my life. I can’t wait to leave that house, Hilda. To get away. To start a life of my own.”
“You’re almost there.” Hilda clasped her palm, giving her an encouraging rub on her knuckles. “Just hang in there, okay? You’re going to be eighteen in a month. And then you can do whatever you want.”
She nodded, biting her lip, hoping dearly she would get the freedom she desired greatly. But what would she do if she moved out? Where would she go? She needed a job and she had to start looking for one as soon as she could.
“The boys are coming back, so cheer up okay?” Hilda smiled. “Who knows, Brendan might be your ticket out of Linda’s?”
They sat together laughing at each other’s jokes like most normal teenagers. Someone looking upon them would have supposed they were carefree, unaffected by the burdens of life and their future.
And she would have thought the three young people sitting with her would actually have all that. They all came from stable families with
good financial backgrounds. Hilda’s parents were teachers. She had long envied Hilda’s relationship with her mother. Megan Eddings, Hilda’s mom was always very empathetic of her situation, inviting her often for meals and sleepovers. She wondered what her own mother might be like if she wasn’t half-crazed over her latest boyfriend. Who was it recently? Luke… Luke…
Her eyes fell over the young man coming through the door to stand in the entrance, glancing at the customers as if he was looking for something. His blue eyes clashed with hers and immediately his jaw line tensed. He took long quick strides towards her and as he came closer, she stared in puzzlement at him, wondering why he was here.
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