Across The Hall (33 page)

he would be.

“Yes. Breakfast sounds great. I had pop tarts around six when I got up to work on pharmacology stuff. Like I would ever pass up a chance to eat

whatever you make.” I gave her the smile that I knew always used made her weak in the knees. I did an internal fist pump when her eyes focused on

my mouth, and she bit her bottom lip and blushed a light pink.
Good to know that still has an effect on her.

Sylvia made us stuffed French toast. She even made mine with peanut butter instead of cream cheese and jel y. We talked about our plans for

Thanksgiving break. It was only a couple weeks away. I was happy to hear that Sylvia was going home with Kel y. I knew that everyone else had

plans to be gone for the week. I didn’t want her here alone and I knew that she would be safe going to Kel y’s. I helped her clean up, and suggested

she go get ready for class. I planned on walking her to her class and then going to mine. I would be late but I didn’t care today.

While she was changing her clothes I looked out her balcony door. The pick-up was there again. I was sure it was Beau, watching her. It made

me nervous to think of him out there. I tried to anticipate his next move, but there were just too many options. The only thing I could do was keep

Sylvia close.

I stepped away from the window and went to get my bag that I’d left next to the couch. Sylvia came out and was al ready to go. She had changed

into a pair of jeans and a tight-fitting long sleeved t-shirt. I had simultaneous urges to cover her up and stare at her chest. Afraid of doing either I

turned away and headed to the door. She grabbed a hoodie and we left for class.

Stupid Jason. He was supposed to wait for me and give me a ride home for Thanksgiving break. Did he wait? No, he had to go back early with

Colby. Stupid boys skipped class just so they could be home early and party. Who parties on a Wednesday night anyway? I only left four hours later.

Real y, they could have waited for me. I’d been on the road for awhile, in fact I was over half way to Quarry Springs, but I was stil al mumbly and

grumbly, and I knew it.

I only skipped one class, and that was to take Kai and Sloane to the airport. At least Kai let me borrow her car for the break. I suppose Jason

would have waited for me if I didn’t have Kai’s car. There would have been no other way for me to get home otherwise. I real y needed to get myself

a car. I had some savings after working al summer. Maybe I could find a car with that.

For now, I was driving home to Quarry Springs in a very posh car. Kai had al the add-ons. I loved driving her car. I hated the bright blue “look at

me” color, but I loved the heated seats. At least I didn’t have to listen to Jason al the way back. I was getting seriously sick of that boy. I get it. He

didn’t like Quinn. His non-stop complaints about him were real y starting to grate on me. You would think he was more concerned about me getting

back together with Quinn than he was about Beau.

I would love for Jason to just go home but it wasn’t likely since Beau had stil been cal ing and texting and Quinn pointed out that he was watching

me from the street. I sent him a text on Monday tel ing him to stop trying to contact me. I hadn’t heard from him since. I hoped he’d final y gotten the

hint, but Quinn doubted it. He was sure that something was going to happen. I just wanted my life back. I wanted Jason to leave. I needed some

time to myself.

I had been looking forward to the drive back. Three solid hours, al alone. It gave me plenty of time to think about things. I knew the time with my

dad would be good, too. I missed him. I hadn’t seen him since this summer. I planned to tel him that Quinn was back in my life. I didn’t know exactly

how he was in my life, but he was there. I wasn’t about to tel him anything about Beau, other than I broke it off with him. I didn’t need him getting al

overprotective, too. He would probably send me back with pepper spray or something.

I smiled, thinking of Dad. Dad was a big gruff man. Often intimidating to most, he didn’t ever say much but when he did he was loud and

commanding. He had the typical Irish look that I inherited -- the red hair and green eyes. He took it very hard when mom died. He did al he could for

her. I was so young when she was first diagnosed. She went through al the treatments and we thought it was gone only to be told two years later it

was back and it was at a stage four and spreading. There was nothing we could do but enjoy the time we had left with her. It was so hard. Dad tried

to keep up the smiles and act like everything was okay. I played his game too. I hoped that it helped mom. I never wanted her to see just how much

we were hurting too, she already had too much of her own pain to deal with.

As hard as it was for both of us once she was gone it was almost a relief. Stil , it was hard for us to stay there in that house, in that town. Too

many expressed their condolences on a daily basis and al it did was remind us of what we had lost. Then one of dad’s old friends from his

hometown cal ed and said they had openings on the police force there. We decided together that the change would be good for us. Dad stil owned

Grandma O’Mara’s home. It was the one he had grown up in. We moved there and attempted to start over. Al in al it had been a good move for us.

I liked taking care of my dad. I had been doing it for as long as I could remember. It always made me feel that it was the least I could do for him

since he tried so hard to give me a normal life. This year I was planning to make us a big Thanksgiving meal. I hoped he would invite Shel y and her

kids. Even if he didn’t, I was stil going to get him to confess to dating her. I had three whole days with him. I was sure I could get him to break at

some point. Maybe I should just invite them over myself. I giggled a bit at the idea. Yeah, I could do that. If they couldn’t come on Thursday I could

ask them al over on Friday. Maybe then Brad and Jason could come. They were going to Jason’s grandmas on Thursday but I didn’t think they had

plans for Friday. That’s what I would do. There would be plenty of leftovers, and I could make us al a big meal on Friday night.

Now I just needed to keep Jason’s big mouth shut about Beau. Dad didn’t know that Jason had been staying with me. I could just see Jason

making some bone-head comment about it and dad picking up on it. Even worse he could say something about Quinn. I knew how Dad felt about

him. He had always gotten along fairly wel with him while we were dating. As far as he knew or cared to know it was al innocent between Quinn

and I. To his credit Dad never once said anything bad about Quinn leaving. I knew he was worried about me and was very unhappy with Quinn but at

the same time I always wondered if he wasn’t slightly pleased that I was no longer involved with a boy.

I thought about Quinn and how wonderful he had been lately. Oh, I was stil annoyed with his constant worrying about Beau, but I knew he was

doing it because he cared about me. We had been getting along extremely wel these past couple weeks. Ever since the day Beau showed up.

There was some turning point there. I couldn’t put my finger on just what it was, but something was different with us. I spent a great deal of time with

him after that.

Whenever Jason was gone I opted to hang out with Quinn more than Kai or Kerri. Sure I stil saw them, too. I just preferred to be with Quinn. We

would quietly study or watch TV together. I had started to teach him how to cook. It was nothing fancy -- just some basic things -- but it was so much

fun working in the kitchen with him. We had even gone grocery shopping together. There was just something comfortable being with him. I didn’t

know how I ever thought I could live without him.

I thought I was getting over him, but now that he was back I could see that I wasn’t ever real y over him. I thought about him every day. There was

always some little reminder that would bring his face to my mind. I would feel a little blast of pain in my heart every time I thought of him. It felt as if it

were an egg being cracked against a bowl, just a quick crack and it was over. I knew my heart had never healed properly. But now, with him back in

my life, it was starting to feel as if it were becoming whole once again.

I rounded another curve and realized the turnoff for our abandoned farm was up ahead. I made the snap decision to turn off. I hadn’t been on this

road in years. I went once that first summer. I just needed something to hold on to. It was so painful I could never do it again. I pul ed in and parked

on the dirt path. It was too dark to actual y see much. So I sat there and looked at the trees surrounding the path. I couldn’t see our normal parking

spot from where I was, but I could close my eyes and see it. I remembered perfectly what it was like.

The images fluttered behind my closed lids. The soft green grass splattered with little wildflowers in the late spring and summer. The trees and

rundown buildings circling it, casting shadows across the ground. The sun shining in the middle like a spotlight. And Quinn. Always Quinn. His smile

dazzling me and his eyes, the deep brown pools, shining with love and clouding with lust. I remembered his touch. The way he made me feel so

alive, so beautiful, and so loved.

My eyes flew open when I realized I wanted that back. I had seen that look on his face a few times in the past several weeks. At the time I’d

ignored it. I didn’t want to see it. It hurt to see it because it made me remember what once was. I hadn’t thought about what could be. Quinn stil

looked at me like maybe he real y had never gotten over me. I thought back to his confession the morning after Hal oween. He told me he loved me.

That he had never stopped loving me. He said he was empty al those years apart, too.

I felt the warm wet trail of tears as they slid down my cheeks. The past couple weeks had been so good. I wanted to be with him as much as

possible. I craved his company. When we were apart, I missed him. He was the first person I thought of when I wanted to share how my day was.

Quinn was the one I wanted to whine to when things weren’t going right. It was his laugh I wanted to hear when I thought of something funny. It was

his arms I wanted to hold me. It was him, and I knew it had always been him.

Quinn had told me he knew now wasn’t the right time but he would wait for me. I didn’t want to wait anymore. There had been way too much time

lost already. I smiled and wiped the tears away. I was done thinking about it. My decision was made. For better or worse I belonged to Quinn and I

would risk my heart for him.

My phone buzzed alerting me to a new text. I was stil leery when it came to checking my messages. I sighed and checked it. Thankful y, it was

just Kai.

We just landed. Take care of my car. Be safe. -K

I rol ed my eyes.

Don’t worry about me just have a good time with Sloane and his family. - S

Almost immediately after sending it another came in from her.

“The bad things in life open your eyes to the good things you weren’t paying attention to before.” - K

I let Kai’s message float through my mind. I wasn’t sure why she was quoting Good Wil Hunting to me
.
I had no idea what she was referring to.

Was it regarding Beau and our breakup, or was it Quinn coming back? Maybe it wasn’t either of those, but something entirely different. I was stil

puzzling it out when my phone sang out in Dad’s ring tone.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Hey Syly-girl. How far out are you? I’m just getting done with work and I thought I would pick us up a pizza so you wouldn’t have to cook tonight.”

I smiled at my Dad’s thoughtfulness. “Thanks, Dad. That’s a good idea. I’m about ten minutes away.”

“Wel , drive safe, and I’l see you at home.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I looked out at the darkness once more. Maybe someday Quinn and I would visit here again.

That night passed quickly. It was good to be home with Dad again, even though it always left me with a longing for my mom. He arrived just

ahead of me. While we ate our pizza, I asked him about the plans for tomorrow. I decided it was time to put my plans into action.

“So I was thinking maybe you had someone you wanted to invite to dinner tomorrow.” I watched him careful y. He just continued chewing while he

shook his head.

After he swal owed, he answered, “No there real y isn’t anyone. Just you and me, Syl.” He picked up his beer and I couldn’t resist asking him.

“Real y? So I shouldn’t cal and invite the Wil iams? I thought maybe this year Shel y would like to join us.” I looked Dad in the eye with one brow

cocked.

He sputtered on his beer and coughed.

I just laughed. “Yes, Dad, I know. Did you think you could keep it hidden?”

“I wasn’t hiding anything.” He looked down at the half-eaten piece of pizza on his plate, talking more to it than to me.

“Sure you weren’t. That’s why Colby had to tel me about it, and not my own father,” I teased him playful y. It was fun to watch him squirm.

“Damn kids. Yes, I’ve been seeing Shel y. There, are you happy now that I told you?” He even had a hint of a blush.

I decided to let him off the hook. “Yes, Dad. I am very happy. I’m happy that you have someone on your life. Now about tomorrow, would you like

to ask them?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, kid, but they already have plans. Some of their family is coming to town and Shel y is making a meal for them. I didn’t

know how you would feel about going so I turned down her offer to have us over.”