Authors: Vi Keeland
Kennedy started to speak but I beat him to
it. “The only assistant he has on this flight is you.” I smiled back with all
the sugar I could muster as I took his hand and we made our way to our seats.
When I finally noticed Kennedy was watching
me, he held my eyes and leaned in. “That little attitude you threw just made
me hard. What the hell are you doing to me?”
I smiled at him and arched one eyebrow. I
didn’t look away while I motioned for the flight attendant and spoke. “M’aam,
may I have a white wine and Kennedy will have a Scotch, no ice.”
Kennedy laughed and shook his head.
The flight was uneventful. Kennedy and I
talked quietly for the first hour. He told me about his trip to London and the
deal he was working on and I told him about Shauna’s latest conquest. When the
captain dimmed the cabin lights, I snuggled into him and he put his arm around
me. I rested my head on his chest and his heartbeat soothed me as I lay there
feeling warm, happy and content.
I must have dozed off for an hour, because
the next thing I knew the captain was overhead asking the flight attendants to
prepare for landing. “How was your nap, sleepy head?” He kissed my forehead
tenderly.
I righted myself in my seat and started to
think of the eminent visit with my dad and step mother. I was nervous about
bringing Kennedy home and afraid being around Candace and her girls would tear
any confidence I had developed to shreds as soon as I was back in their presence.
Would Kennedy see what they saw when they looked at me? Kennedy saw New Hope
and I didn’t want to disappoint him when he discovered the real Old Hope.
I shifted in my chair, unable to relax at the
realization of what was soon to come. “What are you nervous about beautiful?”
He was already so good at reading me.
Luckily a good explanation came to mind. One
that was not totally a lie. “Umm…I’m about to see my dad for the first time in
three months and I have no underwear on and I’m afraid I look like I just had
three hours of mindblowing sex.”
“You look beautiful. Like the angel that you
are. But every time I look at that skirt I remember you have no panties on and
I picture that skirt bunched up around your waist. Your dad has a gun. I
think I am the one that should be nervous.”
***
“My house isn’t exactly the luxury you grew
up in Kennedy.” I looked out the window as we drove through the small town of
Florence. It was odd to be back home, even though I had only been gone four
months. The houses all seemed so small and rundown now, although I had never
noticed it when I lived here. New York was so filled with life and luxury, and
it made the empty streets lined with small houses seem worlds away.
The homes were small but quaint, spread out
between lawns that were now brown. The trees were already bare and summer
flowers long gone. Driveways were made of rocks, not bricks, and were lined
with old cars. A few houses had run down old cars on the laws between houses
that looked like projects long forgotten. I wasn’t sure if Kennedy didn’t
notice or if he just didn’t mention it.
“I don’t care if you grew up in a cardboard
box, Hope. Besides, growing up with money isn’t exactly what it’s cracked up
to be. My father was always at work and my mom was always out on the society
or charity circuit playing a part. The size of a house doesn’t really matter
when it’s always empty.”
I had warned him that my Dad would be
apprehensive about him. Being in the service had made him wary of people and
it took him longer than most to offer trust to people’s intentions. And, being
that he was coming home with his only daughter, I expected my dad to be more
apprehensive than usual. He would be polite, but he wouldn’t get the same
warmness that Dad reserved for me.
I told him a bit about Candace and her
daughters, but I didn’t tell him about how much she really hated me. I left
him to assume that any tension between us was probably because of how close I
was to my Dad and that she was my step mother. I wasn’t ready to share the
whole story of her years of torture and I might never be.
We pulled into the driveway and I looked at
the house. Everything looked the same but yet it all felt so different. I
didn’t live there anymore. It was the first time I was going to be a guest in
my house. I took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. Dad walked through the
front door and out onto the big white wraparound porch. He smiled at me.
“You going to sit there and look at the house or you going to come in baby
girl?” He took a swig of his beer, smiled and headed toward the car.
At fifty four, my dad could still pass for
forty. Six feet tall and lean with an athletic body that he worked hard to
maintain. He wore his usual jeans and t-shirt and his feet were bare. He had
the start of some grey in his dark thick hair, which would soon turn into salt
and pepper. Like me, he had green eyes and a pale complexion. He held
himself like he was still in the service and had a naturally quiet demeanor
that worked in his line of business because it kept people talking and allowed
him to take it all in.
I hugged Dad and he lifted me up and spun me
around. We’d been doing that dance since I could walk and I had forgotten how
good it felt. I suddenly felt like a little girl again. Kennedy walked around
the car and introduced himself, and the two shook hands. Kennedy caught me
smiling looking at the two of them together and gave me a quiet smirk and head
shake.
My momentary happiness came to a screeching
halt when I walked in the door. Candace stood there eyeing me in between my
dad and Kennedy with a murderous look on her face. She looked more glamorous
than usual. Tall and thin with big blue eyes, a straight nose and mounds of
well dyed blonde hair. Her lips were pink and pouty and her cheekbones were
model high. She had a full, gleaming white smile that showed perfectly
straight teeth when she turned her attention to Kennedy. “You must be Hope’s
friend. Welcome to our home.” He accepted her hand and I wasn’t sure if
Kennedy had noticed that his handshake was more contact than I had received
from her.
Dad asked Kennedy what he was drinking and I
was surprised when he told him beer. Dad brought me a glass of white wine and
Candace requested water. We all stood around while dad and Kennedy talked
about the flight and I watched as Candace eyed Kennedy. Her eyes studied him
up and down and I was disgusted to see a look that said she liked what she saw,
and not in a motherly sort of way.
After a while we all sat in the living room
and I poured myself a second glass of wine. Kennedy seemed relaxed and
comfortable and sat next to me on the couch with his arm casually around the
back of my seat. His presence and the wine were helping me to relax me until Candace
decided it was time for her interrogation to start. “So Kennedy, how did you
two meet?”
“I was a guest at The Monet, the hotel where
Hope works.”
“A guest? Don’t you live in the city?”
“Actually, I live in Chicago.”
“Chicago? Well that must be difficult for a
relationship.”
“It’s not the best situation, but we seem to
have managed okay by taking turns flying on the weekends.”
I felt dad’s eyes on my face. I knew he
wouldn’t be happy with the idea of my traveling to Chicago all the time.
“Kennedy picks me up at the airport in Chicago and has his driver take me to the
airport in New York, Dad.” I spoke directly to Dad, even though he had not
asked a question. I knew from his face that he was concerned. He did his best
at a small smile and nodded his head once.
“Well, that must get very expensive for you
two to be traveling all the time.” Candace wasn’t going to give up until she
founds something wrong.
“Candace….please.” I felt the flush spread
up my face.
“What, I’m just concerned for you?” Yeah
right. Like there was ever a day where you had concern for anyone but
yourself.
“It’s okay Hope, I understand why she might
be concerned. The truth is money isn’t an issue. I have a successful business
and a trust fund that will support my great grandchildren some day.”
It was Candace’s turn to turn pink. Only she
wasn’t embarrassed she was pissed. I knew exactly what she was thinking. Why
would this gorgeous wealthy man be with me?
I turned to Kennedy. “You don’t have to explain
any more, I’m sure my Dad already knows more about your finances than I do.”
Kennedy looked at my Dad and met his gaze. Something seemed to pass between
them, although no words were spoken. It was a male language that women were
never taught. But I could tell Kennedy was okay with whatever Dad had told
him.
***
Thanksgiving morning was a blur of cooking
and cleaning up and Candace and I managed to work in the kitchen for hours with
only a few snide comments thrown my way. Dad and Kennedy were in the den
watching football when Ashley and Amanda made their grand appearance. I was
busy stuffing the turkey when Candace ran to the door to greet them. I could
hear her fussing about how beautiful they looked and how excited she was that
they were home for the entire weekend from graduate school.
Ashley burst into the kitchen a few minutes later
followed by Candace. They must have gone into the den to say hello to my Dad
and met Kennedy. “Oh. My. God. Mom, why didn’t you tell me that you were having
a gorgeous man for Thanksgiving? I look a mess!”
“Are you talking about the guy sitting with Dad
watching the game?” This was going to be fun.
“Umm…yeah, did you look at him?”
I smiled smugly. “I look at him all the time
Ashley, that’s my boyfriend.” I had never actually called him my boyfriend out
loud, but I liked the sound of it.
Ashley’s mouth was actually hanging open. I
looked at Candace who looked as if steam was about to shoot from her ears.
“Close your mouth Ash, you might catch a fly.” I smiled and twisted the tops
off two beers to bring my men.
***
I think I caught both Ashley and Amanda
drooling during dinner, and it wasn’t at the sight of the twenty two pound
golden turkey. I would have thought it would bother me that they overtly
flirted with my boyfriend right in front of me, but it didn’t. Kennedy showed
no sign of interest in the beautiful twins. Instead, every time they did
anything remotely disrespectful to me, I noticed he made a small gesture of
affection toward me. A rub on my back, a brush of my hand, a smile only for
me. I didn’t know if he did it on purpose or not, but I felt like it wasn’t
just me against them anymore. Kennedy had my back. For the first time ever,
I felt like I wasn’t alone against them. And it felt good.
We made it through dinner, but by dessert I
noticed that Candace had started to slur her words slightly. I wasn’t
counting, but I was pretty sure that she had three glasses of wine during
dinner alone. The look on her face told me the alcohol was fueling a new fire
about to roar. “So, Kennedy, do you want children?”
I nearly choked on the wine I was drinking.
“Candace, I thought we were done with Kennedy’s interrogation.”
“It’s okay Hope. Yes, I’d like children
someday.“ He showed no fear as he responded to her.
“Won’t that be difficult with all the
traveling you do?”
He thought for a moment. “I’ve spent the
last 10 years growing my company. To be honest, there was never anything
important enough to keep me home. So when traveling was required, I did it.
But I have built a great team now. I have people I can trust to take over some
of the travel when my personal attention isn’t required. I’ve already started
to pass things off so that I can be home with Hope.”
I saw another unspoken exchange between Dad
and Kennedy. Their eyes caught and I saw Dad give Kennedy a small nod.
His answer was what every mother would want
to hear. To know their daughter was being made a priority over work. But
Candace wasn’t looking for a mother’s comfort. “Home? Which home would that
be, New York or Chicago?”
“Right now home for me is wherever Hope is.
We’ll figure the rest out later.” He looked at me and I smiled. He gave a
slight smile back and raised one eyebrow silently asking if his responses were
good. I stood to start to clear the table and leaned down to his ear and
quietly whispered. “Perfect.”
If I wasn’t in love with him before, the way
he handled Candace would have done it for me. As always, he was confident and
in control. His manner was strong and powerful, yet he was respectful and
dignified. I could understand why he was so successful in business. He was
intimidating and well spoken and his presence controlled a room.
***
Our flight wasn’t until late Saturday
evening, and I had told Kennedy I wanted to go to the cemetery and visit my
mom. I had never gone to the cemetery with anyone, except the day of the
funeral. I went all the time; I just always wanted to go alone. Shauna and Dad
had both offered dozens of times to go with me, but I’d always declined and
they didn’t push. But with Kennedy, he didn’t offer to go with me, he was just
going.