Southern Belles, a Novel About Love, Purpose & Second Chances (9781310340970) (8 page)

“I really like you. You’re not like anyone
I’ve met. I don’t want to mess this up Lucy.” Skylar whispered in
my ear as his cheek rested against my temple.

I loved his honor and his strong sense to do
the right thing. I could tell he was fighting back his urges to
take me further down the path he and I wanted so badly to explore.
I couldn’t help but smile, feeling intoxicated in the moment.

“I like you too,” I said in a trance-like
state. “I’m not scared.”

Holding my face in the palm of his hands,
his eyes searched my face. “If we don’t stop before this goes too
far I’m scared that I may never know what a future with you could
be like.”

“I just don’t want to miss something that I
may wonder about the rest of my life,” I said, making myself
vulnerable to Skylar’s emotions.

“Lucy, I don’t want to take something of
yours—something that’s not mine to take.”

“I feel safe with you Skylar.”

Scanning my face, Skylar bent down to kiss
my lips again. Once more, when his lips touched mine, my body went
limp and my breathing stopped. I was falling deeply, quickly, madly
in love with him.

“Take my hand.” He said as he stood up and
led me to a small covered cabana on the beach. As he laid me softly
down on the chaise lounge, he leaned in and kissed my ear
whispering, “Let’s make tonight last forever.”

That night was one I never stopped dreaming
about. Skylar was everything I dreamt that a prince charming should
be. He was kind, smart, funny, respectful, handsome, and loved God.
Even though we knew that what we’d done didn’t sit right with our
beliefs—we took a chance hoping that by holding onto every moment
together, our lives would intertwine. I wanted to give Skylar
something no one else had in hopes he would return me his
tomorrows. I was told that nothing in life is coincidence. Meeting
Skylar tonight was my destiny and I’d never been so happy to meet
my fate. My mind had already encapsulated him into my
future—accompanying me in my journeys around the world, chasing
toddlers, and puppies.

“Are you Okay Lucy?” Skylar asked, as he
lifted my chin up with his thumb and forefinger.

With my face glistening in the moonlight, I
answered, “Yes, are you?” I looked at him checking for his
reassurance.

“Lucy, I’ve never met anyone like you.
I…”

Waiting for him to finish his sentence, I
looked over his face, as he appeared to be searching for the right
words to say.

“I’ve never felt like this before about
anyone. And I want you to know that I don’t act like this
normally.”

“Act like what?” I asked, feeling all of a
sudden more alert.

“I don’t go around meeting girls and falling
in love with them. I haven’t slept with anyone before and I am
sorry if I am talking too much. I just don’t want you thinking I’m
some sort of
jock
that gets around.”

I had started to feel a bit self-conscious
before he spoke as I couldn’t discern the look on his face. But
now, I heard him say something about falling, no one else—it was
all muffled. Blushing, I looked up at Skylar and my heart started
to pound. I thought it was going to explode out of my chest. He
turned closer to me, lying on his side, now face-to-face with me.
Gathering enough breath to speak I said, “Skylar, I’ve never slept
with anyone and never considered it before you.” I paused, “I don’t
think that about you and thank you for that.”

“For what?”

“For helping me know that I didn’t just make
a mistake…and that there really are good guys out there.”

I had never met anyone like Skylar. Even
though we were from different worlds, we connected. We laughed. We
got entrenched in each other’s stories. He drew me in with every
word and held me close. It was like a flowing stream. We went on
and on with no breaks—only wanting for more time as we saw the
early beginnings of the new day amongst us.

“I don’t want this to end.” Skylar said,
with his arms wrapped around me as we watched the moon continue its
path across the sky.

“I have to get back; my friend is going to
be worried if I don’t.” I said hesitantly.

I turned and gave Skylar a kiss on the
cheek. Just hours before meeting Skylar I couldn’t wait to get to
Athens to start my freshman year at the University of Georgia. Now,
I didn’t want this night to end. I didn’t want to leave Skylar. I
knew we would meet up again but my heart was strongly bonded to him
even more with the coming of the new day and the goodbye’s we would
be saying, soon.

Walking back to the beach house, things had
gotten much quieter than when we left it some hours ago.
Hand-in-hand, and wearing his cardigan, we entered the house.

Quickly, one of Skylar’s friends found him
and insisted they had to get going because of one of the guy’s
curfews. I reached into my purse to look for a pen and paper.

“Didn’t you say your friend is around here
somewhere?” Skylar asked, looking around.

“Yeah, she’s here somewhere. She promised
she wouldn’t leave me.” I said, writing my phone number on the back
of a receipt.

“Are you sure I can’t give you a ride home
or stay with you until you find her?”

“Sky, we have to go.” One of his friends
called out.

“I’ll be Okay; she’s around here somewhere.
Skylar, I have to see you again. Here’s my number.” I looked into
his eyes.

He took my pen and ripped off a piece of the
paper with my number on it. He wrote his number down, folded the
paper up, and placed it in my hands.

“I promise Lucy; I will see you again. Keep
my sweater and think of me till I see you next. Until then, your
beauty will haunt my dreams,” Skylar smiled and leaned in to kiss
me goodbye. Seconds later as he was ushered away by his friends he
shouted, “Lucy, you are the most beautiful girl in the world,”
before he disappeared out the door.

As he walked away I grinned, feeling like
the most beautiful woman in the world. After he was gone I felt a
growing heaviness in my chest. I sat on one of the sofas, wrapped
in his sweater, feeling numb. I already missed him. I could smell
his cologne on the sweater as I brought the sleeves up to my face.
Making my heart skip a beat the smell brought me back to the
cabana. The smell was intoxicating. I closed my eyes and time
stopped all over again. I felt the butterflies fill my stomach,
remembering his kiss on my lips, and for a few quiet moments I
smiled reliving our unforgettable night. I couldn’t believe that
I’d met someone that I imagined a lifetime with. People talked
about having soul mates—people who were destined for each other. I
was sure he was mine. I was still floating, thinking about him, our
conversation, and how he made me feel. While waiting for CeCe, I
pulled the folded paper out of my pocket that Skylar placed in my
hand. On it were his number, Skylar, and a message that read
olive juice?
Seeing his handwriting made my face break into
an unending smile. I squeezed his sweater and inhaled Skylar’s
cologne again.

“Char, where have you been?” CeCe asked,
interrupting my moment of joy. “I’ve been looking all over for you.
It’s almost four in the morning.”

“CeCe—I met someone.”

“Good, we need to go. I hope your mom’s not
still waiting up for us; she’ll be worried.”

“I know, I lost track of time and I didn’t
care about anything else for once.” I said, glowing.

CeCe stopped dragging me along and looked at
me, surprised. “You can tell me all about him on the way home.”

Still intoxicated by the hormones pumping
through my body, I felt good and woozy. As we drove through the
quiet streets with our windows down and my hand waving through the
rushing summer air outside the car window, I told CeCe all about
Skylar. I told her how we made love in the private cabana under the
moonlit sky and that I thought he was
the one
.

“Charlotte Renee Buchanan—you had sex!
Father John is going to be shocked! You better start on those Hail
Mary’s now!”

“CeCe!”

How was it? Was it good? Was he sweet? How
are you feeling? Did you use protection I hope?” CeCe blurted out
question after question.

“CeCe! Yes it was incredible and yes we used
protection and yes Father John is going to be shocked. I still
can’t believe I did it. I don’t know what came over me. It’s not
what I planned.”

“Well, are you going to see each other
again?”

“Of course, we will. We exchanged phone
numbers. He also wrote
olive juice
on my paper. I’m not sure
what that was about. I’m already dreaming about the next time I’m
going to see him although I’ll probably need to tell him my real
name at some point.”

CeCe giggled excitedly. “Char, mouth the
words olive juice without saying a sound. He’s saying I love
you.”

Quickly mouthing the words I wanted to
believe that Skylar was trying to tell me
he loved me…
too.

Sneaking quietly into the house, I saw my
mother sleeping on the couch. She had fallen asleep while waiting
for us to come home. I pulled the throw from the back of the sofa
and covered her before turning off the light and TV. By the time I
slipped into bed, it was almost five AM. I laid in bed, wearing
Skylar’s sweater, with my windows open watching the remaining
journey of the moon as the sun quickly chased him away. I hoped he
was watching the same moon thinking of me too. I envisioned Skylar
and me on the beach until I fell asleep.

Chapter 5: The First Day of the Rest of Our
Lives

Morning
came early that day. I was still dreaming about Skylar when my mom
came in my room to wake me up. I was so tired but happy. I’d only
slept about three hours by the time she sat on my bed and began
stroking my hair. She did this from time-to-time on lazy weekend
days to wake me up. As I turned over I saw my mom’s big smile.
Looking at her suddenly reminded me of one of the last things she
said before we left the house last night—not to do
anything that
we couldn’t do if she were in the same room with us
. I smiled
back at her, thinking about last night, and wondered if she could
see anything different about me. I hoped she wouldn’t ask too many
questions.

“Mom, I met the most wonderful guy last
night at the party.”

“Oh you did? What time did you girls get
home by the way?”

I looked for CeCe and didn’t see her
anywhere. A voice billowed in from the bathroom across the hall.
“It was pretty late but I don’t remember the actual time. I told
Char we needed to get home before you worried but she was too busy
partying,” CeCe said laughing afterwards.

“Hmm…sounds like a good party. Tell me more
about this guy, Char.” My mom said, smiling.

“He’s really sweet, funny, smart, and—a
Christian, mom. I couldn’t stop talking to him. He’s the
kindest—super charming and sooo handsome. Mom, I’m going to marry
him one day.”

CeCe and my mother’s expressions froze. They
were amazed to hear me talk about Skylar because they had never
heard me get this excited over any guy before. CeCe started raising
her eyebrows at me from behind my mother doing a silent little
crazy dance pretending to be kissing someone in the air until my
mother turned around and caught her in the middle of her kissing
re-enactment and started laughing.

“Oh Skylar, I love you. Oh Lucy, I love you
too, marry me baby. I can’t live without you sucking my face.” CeCe
said hugging herself.

“Who’s Lucy?” My mother asked with a
quizzical look.

Giggling, we both looked at her and I
replied, “That was my fake name last night—but I think he’s a
keeper so I’m going to have to tell him my real name when I call
him.”

“I’m really going to miss you two and your
silly stories when you’re at college. You better call at least
twice a week and visit me before Thanksgiving! CeCe—you keep a good
eye on my Char and Char don’t let CeCe out of your sight! Do your
best and don’t beat yourself up over the small stuff. And lastly,
have fun and enjoy every moment.”

CeCe looked at me and laughed giving me the
wink, wink. I know she was trying to taunt me about the
enjoy
every minute
part. CeCe and I walked over to my mom and hugged
her tightly.

“Mom, CeCe’s parents just pulled up.” Richie
called from downstairs.

“What time is it mom?” I asked, realizing
that I still had a bit of packing left to do before we left.

“Honey it’s about nine o’clock. We need to
leave by ten AM” My mother said as she walked down the stairs to go
greet the Crawford’s and invite them in for coffee and Danish.

“Oh gravy! I need to get up now.”

“That’s right buttercup.” CeCe, fully
dressed and all dolled up, said as she sat on my bed.

“Why didn’t you wake me up Ce?”

“You were smiling and talking in your sleep.
It was more fun to listen to your conversation…
Skylar, olive
juice, Skylar.
Besides, I figured you needed the sleep after
all the enjoyment from last night. CeCe said laughing
facetiously.”

“Shut up CeCe!” I whispered loudly followed
by a pillow to her pretty blonde head.

“You cannot tell anyone. Pinky swear!”

“I won’t but you should probably stop and
see Father John before we leave town.” CeCe said in a
matter-of-fact way.

“Oh CeCe! Stop, I’m still trying to enjoy
our moment together. I will call Father John when we get to
school.”

“Chicken, you don’t want him to know.”

“Okay, you’re right. God loves me regardless
and I will behave from here on out. Drop it CeCe.”

“Okay, okay. I just had to give you some
gruff since I’m always the one on the other end of that pointed
finger.”

“You’ve got me and if I’ve ever sounded
judgmental towards you—I’m sorry. I just can’t believe it still; I
think I’m really in love, CeCe.”