Gunnar stared at him for a moment then seemed to make up his mind. “Okay, I’m thinking that it’s time for us to have a talk. Get up, grab your books, and come on into the kitchen. We’re going to work on your homework—and whatever has been bothering you at the same time—all while eating the dinner I just brought home from the Works.”
“I told you I don’t need your help.”
“Well, I’m telling you now that I didn’t just ask you to do this.” His voice hardened. “Now, listen up. I’m telling you to do this, and I don’t expect you to argue. Got it?”
Jeremy blinked. Gunnar was usually so laid back, it was hard to come to terms with the fact that this was the same guy.
“Got it.”
“Good.” He turned and walked down the hall.
Even though Gunnar hadn’t looked back at him, Jeremy did as he asked. Picking up his books, he headed down the hall after him.
He wasn’t real smart, but he was learning that there were some things a guy didn’t argue with. Gunnar, when he was aggravated with him? Well, that was one of them.
When he got into the kitchen, he found Gunnar at the sink and his head was lowered. He didn’t move when Jeremy put his stuff on the table.
There was already a pizza box, a container of salad, and a glass of milk on the table. On another time, Jeremy would grin about it. No matter how many times he told his foster father that he wasn’t a kid, Gunnar still did things like that.
Carefully, he pushed the containers to one side and set his books down. He paused, waiting for Gunnar to acknowledge him. When he didn’t, Jeremy decided to continue on his homework.
He’d just flipped back to Julius Caesar when Gunnar turned to face him. The silence felt like a brick to his chest as he approached. Jeremy wasn’t sure where to look so he stared at the pages. The words on the page blurred.
“Jeremy, are you not going to look at me?”
He popped his head up. “I’m looking.” But what he saw didn’t make him feel any better. Gunnar looked like he’d just been hit on the head or something. “What’s wrong?”
He sucked in a breath. “What’s wrong?” He laughed softly. “Boy, do you really not expect better from me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I lost my patience with you in there. I was being a jerk. Not the person you needed me to be. Not the dad I wanted to be for you.”
“I keep trying to tell you that I’m not a little kid. You don’t need to act like I’m going to fall apart all the time.”
“One day, when you’re older. When you’re old, that is . . . I’m going to remind you of what you said.” He half-smiled. “Maybe then you’ll understand how I feel right now. Anyway, for what it’s worth . . . I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
He nodded. “Okay then.” He reached over to the kitchen counter, grabbed a pair of plates and some silverware that were sitting out, and placed them on the table. “Grab something to eat and we’ll talk.”
Jeremy took two pieces of pizza and put a handful of the salad on his plate. Then, while Gunnar was doing the same, he drank about half the glass of milk. That was his peace offering.
Gunnar didn’t say anything, but his lips twitched.
Finally it was time to just put it out there. “Bethany called me this afternoon. She backed out of the dance.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She said that she just got the rehearsal schedule for The Nutcracker thing and the first big all cast rehearsal was the night of the dance. Her teacher said she couldn’t miss it.”
“Shannon said that? Huh.”
“Is that her teacher? Wait, do you know her?”
“She is and yes, I do. We grew up together in West Virginia.”
Relief flared in him. “So you can fix it, right?”
Gunnar had just taken a bite of pizza and he looked thoughtful while he chewed. “Um, I don’t think so.”
“You don’t want to try either?”
“What do you mean by either?”
“Bethany said that she wouldn’t even talk to her teacher about it. She said it wouldn’t be right.” When Gunnar looked like he was going to say something, Jeremy spoke faster. “But you know, that doesn’t make sense. I mean, I bet Shannon doesn’t even know about the dance. And if she did, she’d let Bethany go. Then everything would be good. Unless—” He stopped himself before he shared his fear.
But of course Gunnar didn’t let him off that easy. “Unless, what?”
“Unless . . . she was just looking for an excuse to not go with me.”
“You acted like the two of you had a good thing going. Why would she want to back out?”
“Because maybe she doesn’t want to be seen with me or something . . .”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
He glared. “Do you think I’d be telling you all this if I was kidding?”
“Hey, now. Settle down.”
“No, just forget about it.” He scooted back in his chair.
“Oh, no. You’re not going anywhere, and I’m not going to forget anything. Furthermore, I’m trying to talk to you so, let me tell you a couple of things. You eat your pizza and just listen for a sec. First, and most importantly, you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. You are a nice guy. A good guy. Plus, you’re cool.”
Jeez. “Gunnar—”
“No, listen to me. The way I see it, God put a whole lot of people on this earth who are all different. Some guys are destined for all kinds of great things but maybe they’re not exactly the coolest cats in high school, you know?”
“Coolest cats?”
“Shut up. Okay, I admit that sounds lame, but you know what I mean. Anyway, that’s all good, but that’s not you. You made friends right away. You kept those friends. They like you and want to be your friend. Okay?”
“Okay. Fine.”
“Good. Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s talk about girls.”
He could only imagine where this tangent was going, and it wasn’t going to be good. “Um, let’s not.”
“Oh stop. I’m not talking about sex. Listen, Jeremy.”
“I am.”
“Here’s what I know about dating. Girls like Bethany? Girls who are sweet and pretty and have a lot going for them like she does? Well, she can pretty much pick whoever she wants to see. She wouldn’t have said yes to you if she didn’t want to.”
“But”
“You said you told her about you and me. You did, right?”
Jeremy nodded.
“Then she’s not all of a sudden going to change her mind. If you coming from a couple of crappy parents bothered her, she would have never said yes to the dance.”
“You think?”
“No. I know. Girls like her are pretty special and pretty much every guy is going to think that. I have a feeling she could have had her pick of dates, but she wanted to go with you. Do you hear what I’m saying?”
He nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Good.” Still looking like he was stewing, Gunnar drummed his fingers on the table. “Now, let’s move onto Bethany’s dance rehearsal. Just for a second, pretend that you were playing football and the dance was the night before the biggest game. Like for the state title or something.”
“Okay . . .”
“Now, say you had a prime position. You were the running back. Quarterback. Coach wants to go through one more set of plays. Are you going to tell him that you can’t make it because you’ve got a date to a dance?”
Gunnar made a good point. “No.”
“Sure?” He raised an eyebrow. “Well, how about this? Want to have your dad or better yet, your girl’s dad go talk to the coach so he’ll understand?”
“No way. I’d be a laughingstock.”
&n
bsp; “Then why do you think things are different for her?”
“They’re not.”
Gunnar’s expression softened. “Say again?”
“They’re not. Bethany can’t skip the practice and expect everyone to be fine with it.”
“No, buddy. She sure can’t. She likes you. She’s upset, but she doesn’t have a choice.”
What he did then hit him like a bag of bricks. “I pretty much hung up on her.”
“Ouch. Hmm. Well, it sounds to me like you’re going to have to call her back and apologize.”
“Do you think I need to do that tonight? Like, right now?”
“Not right this minute. You’ve got to drink your milk first.”
Jeremy felt like smiling for the first time all night, which was saying something, since just a few minutes before all he’d wanted to do was fume.
Without another word, he picked up that glass of milk and started drinking.
CHAPTER 24
“Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame
of charity in the heart.”
—Washington Irving
Sitting in his room, staring at his phone, Jeremy tried to think of the right way to apologize. But just saying he was sorry seemed lame. Bethany was probably really mad at him and would expect him to do something big and special before she’d forgive him. Phillip had said that was what girls expected.
He wasn’t sure if Phillip was right, but he figured there was a good chance he wasn’t wrong. The only problem was that he had no idea what he could do that was big and special enough for her.
If he had money, he would send her some flowers. Even he knew that all girls liked flowers. But he didn’t have any money, so that was a no-go.
Finally, after watching the clock tick for another three minutes, Jeremy knew he couldn’t put it off anymore. He needed to call and say his piece. Then, their relationship—such that it was—was in her hands. If Bethany wasn’t going to forgive him, then she wasn’t going to. He would be disappointed, but he would stop worrying about it.
Well, he hoped he would one day stop worrying about it.
Before he lost his nerve again, Jeremy clicked on her name and called.
It rang three times. Each ring felt like a jab to his heart. Hating how emotional he was getting, he pulled the phone away from his ear, ready to tap the icon and hang up.
And then he heard her voice. “Jeremy?”
“Yeah. Hi.”
After a pause, she spoke again. “What do you want?”
Ouch. He was going to need to start talking, and it was going to need to be fast. “I called to tell you that I’m sorry.”
She didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds. “For what?”
He wasn’t sure if this was a test, or she really didn’t know. Deciding to play it safe, he said, “Everything. I shouldn’t have hung up on you. I should’ve understood about your ballet schedule. I really shouldn’t have jumped to a bunch of conclusions. It wasn’t fair.”
“Do you really mean that?”
Her voice sounded softer. Maybe something he’d said had actually made sense. “Of course I do.” Deciding at this point he couldn’t say enough, he added, “If you knew how nervous I’ve been to call, you’d know how bad I feel.”
She chuckled. “I’m glad you called. I’ve been kind of upset.”
“I’ve been upset too.” He closed his eyes and told himself not to sound so stilted. “I, well, I ended up talking to Gunnar. He told me I was being an idiot.”
She laughed softly. “You weren’t an idiot.”
“I was close. I should have understood that you couldn’t just blow off that rehearsal. I should have thought about things from your point of view instead of just mine.”
“I wish I could get out of it, but I can’t, Jeremy. I mean, I already bought a dress and everything.”
She had? Why hadn’t he let her talk more? “So, um, I was thinking that maybe we could do something after your rehearsal.”
“You don’t want to get another date?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Her tone softened. “What do you want to do after my rehearsal?”
“I don’t know. Go get ice cream or something?” There was a Graeter’s ice cream shop in the middle of downtown. Gunnar could drop him off at the dance studio and then he could walk her over to Graeter’s.
“I had an idea. If you don’t mind, maybe you could go to the dance without me and I could come as soon as I finish rehearsal.”
“Do you think that would work?”
“Maybe. My mom said I could ask Miss Shannon if I could leave as soon as the main practice is over. I think she might be okay with that.”
“Really?”
“I hope so. I mean, she was a teenager once. I could ask and let you know what she says.”
“Yeah. That sounds good.”
“Are you sure? If you want to go ahead ask someone else, you can. I’ll understand.”
“I’m not going to ask anyone else, Bethany. That’s not going to happen.”
She giggled again. “Then I guess I’d better make it work.”
“I have a feeling you’ll be able to. You’re pretty good at getting things to work out.”
“I have dance class tomorrow after school. I’ll ask Miss Shannon then.”
He was totally grinning. “That sounds good. So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school?”
“Yes.”
“See you then, Bethany.”
When she hung up, he felt like he’d just won the Super Bowl or something. Walking out into the living room, he saw Gunnar sitting with his mom. Both looked his way.
“Everything okay, Jeremy?” Gunnar asked.
“Yeah. I just wanted you to know that I called Bethany like you suggested.”
“And?”
“And she was glad I called and isn’t mad at me. I mean, not anymore.”
“That’s good, yeah?”
Jeremy nodded. “She’s going to ask Miss Shannon if she can leave the rehearsal a little early. She said like as soon as the ‘main’ rehearsal is over, whatever that means.”
“It might work out after all, huh?” Gunnar asked, smiling.
“I think so.”
Gunnar’s mom shook her head. “I can’t believe I missed such a big night.”
“It’s okay, everything worked out.”
“It sure did.” She brightened. “Oh! If you’d like me to teach you some dance steps, I can. I can do a mean fox trot now.”
“I don’t think this is that kind of dance, but thanks anyway.” Looking at Gunnar, he added, “I’m going to go get some ice cream. I’m starving.”
“Sounds good.” He winked. “Get a couple scoops and some hot fudge sauce too. You’ve got something to celebrate.”
Walking into the kitchen, Jeremy realized he really did have a lot to celebrate. Not just about the dance and Bethany either. He had Gunnar now, and it looked like, no matter what, Gunnar was always going to have his back.
CHAPTER 25
“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow.”
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson,
“Ring Out, Wild Bells”
Kimber was back in the city. But this time, instead being crammed into her tiny apartment with her girlfriends, she’d been put up in the penthouse suite at the Lexington Hotel. Instead of taking the subway like she always had, a black town car and driver were parked nearby, waiting to take her wherever she wanted to go.
In addition, there had been champagne and flowers in her suite when she’d arrived, along with a note from the general manager that pretty much stated that the whole staff would be delighted to move heaven and earth in order to make her happy.
&n
bsp; The first few minutes that she’d been in the room, Kimber had wandered around the suite, nibbled on grapes, and simply beamed. This was the life she’d always hoped for when she’d started her career.
But now, after a very long day posing in ball gowns and getting pricked and prodded by a half-dozen people for six hours? She was simply tired.
She could care less about all the over the top extravagances. The suite was beautiful and the attention was appreciated, but it felt strange. She was now used to living in a cluttered room in the middle of Ohio. She was used to wearing old sweatpants and hanging out in the kitchen and helping old ladies and little kids learn to dance.
She was used to thinking about Gunnar and his snug-fitting shirts and his gruff ways. And his love for Jeremy.
She’d become a Bridgeport gal.
After checking in with all the girls and texting Gunnar back, Kimber had taken Brett’s call . . . and set her mind to playing this game one more time.
Which was why she’d said yes to his dinner invite. It had been the right thing to do, but it was awkward. Because, here she was with a full face of makeup, a clingy emerald green dress that she’d borrowed from the designer, and four-inch heels, sitting at a table near the front of Gotham Grill across from Brett.
From the time she’d met him there, he’d been either on his phone or holding court with everyone who walked by. He’d also been drinking some kind of frou-frou rye concoction. He was on his third already.
She was nursing the same vodka tonic that she’d ordered almost an hour ago. After bypassing most of the choices on the menu and sticking with a piece of grilled fish and some veggies, she was eager to get out of the restaurant and call her sisters.
“Kimmy, what’s wrong? Is the fish not done to your liking?”
She really hated it when he called her Kimmy. “It’s exquisite, but Robert’s ball gowns show every bump.”
“You don’t have any bumps to worry about, darling. I know, because I asked Robert to show me a couple of the proofs. You’re as perfectly gorgeous as ever.”
“Why did you do that?”
“You know why.” He carved off another two-inch piece of his steak. “You’ve been down in Ohio. No telling what you’ve been doing. I didn’t want there to be any surprises.”
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