Beautiful Sky 2: The Conclusion (A Billionaire Rock Star New Adult Romance) (Amazing Love) (7 page)

“Look at me when I am speaking to you!”

She raised her eyes to his and her face turned ghost white.

“I just asked if she had ever been to Aspen.”

He pursed his lips and clenched his jaw as he ground out his words.  “Given the silence in the room, I know that your question was not asked in a genuine manner.  Skylar, I apologize for my daughter’s rude behavior, my family and I do not want you to feel uncomfortable in our home in any way.”  He looked at Abby and it was the look that a parent has on their face when they are fed up with their child’s behavior.  “Abigail, apologize
right
now!”

She looked at me with apologetic eyes but also was terrified. “I’m sorry I was rude Skylar, I didn’t mean any harm by it.”

“That’s okay.”  My words were soft because I couldn’t believe that I was in the middle of this scene.

"It is most certainly not okay and Abigail, I want to speak with you when we are all done with dinner.  Everyone, please accept my deepest apology for my daughter’s rude behavior. Now let’s enjoy some of mother’s delicious pumpkin pie which she has been preparing for us all day today.”

Bunny was so cute, she perked up when she heard her pie mentioned and I could also tell that she was happy to have the awkward moment behind us, and so was I.

“Yes, you are all going to love my pie, and if you don’t then don’t tell me.  Just let me believe that it’s perfect!”

Everyone laughed, happy to have something to lighten the mood.  The rest of dinner was, thankfully, uneventful and we all enjoyed Bunny’s pie which was actually very good. After dinner a few people went to take naps and Jonathan was one of them, he told me he would stop by my room when he woke from his nap.  I called my family to wish them Happy Thanksgiving and I could tell that my mom was sad that I wasn’t there.  I reassured her that I was having a good time and told her that I would see her in a few short weeks.  I was in my room reading one of my textbooks when I heard a light knock at my door. I opened it to see Jonathan’s mom standing there with a friendly smile.

She looked at the book in my hand. “Am I interrupting you?”

“No, of course not! I’m just studying a little bit, but please come on in.”

She sat in one of the chairs and I sat on my bed waiting to hear what she wanted to talk to me about. 

“My husband and I just want to apologize again for Abby’s behavior toward you Skylar.  We have always been careful not to raise children who feel entitled to everything and I fear that we missed the boat with Abby.  I do not want you to think that we condone her behavior in any way because we don’t.  Just remember what I told you yesterday, the ‘stuff’ does not matter to us,
trips
and
things
do not matter to us.  I don’t want you to feel that anyone in this family thinks of you any differently because you haven’t done some of the things we have been able to do.  What matters to us is that our son cares about you and you care about him, that’s it.  Okay?  So please don’t let Abby’s rude behavior change your opinion of us.”  Her eyes were so sincere and it kind of shocked me a little bit because I sat there thinking,
she’s
worried about what
I’m
going to think of
them? I’ve been worried this whole time of what they would think of me!

I smiled at her and I instantly felt better about the entire situation.  “Okay, thank you Mrs. Hunter.”

She smiled at me and then stood to leave.  “You’re welcome dear.  I’ll let you get back to studying.  We’re going to play games in a little while so please feel free to come down and join us.”

She closed my door behind her and I sat there for a minute kind of dazed at how nice she was.  I smiled and immersed myself in my textbook for the next hour.  I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew Jonathan was gently shaking me awake.  I was out of it for a second and didn’t remember where I was at first but then it all came rushing back to me.

“Hi.”  Jonathan’s smile was so beautiful.

The butterflies went crazy as I returned his smile.  “Hi, I guess I dozed off.  What time is it?”

“It’s just after 6:00.  Everyone is downstairs playing games and watching TV.”

I quickly sat up, frantic that I had slept for too long.  “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”

“Relax, it’s okay.  They’ve only been gathered down there for 30 minutes, it’s no big deal.”

“Okay, well I’ll be ready in five minutes.”  I quickly freshened my makeup and a few minutes later we joined everyone else downstairs.

The next couple of days flew by and I had a great time getting to know Jonathan’s family.  Claire and I really hit it off and I also really liked Emily.  Abby never really warmed up to me and Barbi, well, she was Barbi.  She and I would never be friends but we were cordial.

I was sitting by the fire with Jonathan and his mom and dad while everyone else was either outside playing in the snow or taking a nap, so we had a chance to have some really nice quality time together.

Jonathan’s mom looked at me. "I hope you're having a nice time Skylar, I know it can't be easy to be away from your family over Thanksgiving.”

“I’m having a wonderful time, really this has all been so amazing, thank you again for inviting me.”

"Are you ready for finals when you get back to school?" Mr. Hunter seemed to always have work or school on the brain, I could see why he was so successful.

“I will be, I brought some of my books with me so that I could study during any down time we might have.”

He smiled at me and I could easily see Jonathan in him. “You’re a smart girl.”

Mrs. Hunter looked over at Jonathan who looked like he was deep in thought. “Honey, is everything okay?”

Jonathan glanced at me and I could tell that he was about to talk to his parents about the band. I gave him an encouraging look to let him know that I was there to support him.

“Actually, mom, dad, I have been wanting to talk to you about something.”

They both looked at him giving him their full attention.

He looked nervous and he glanced over at me again and I winked at him and nodded to let him know that everything would be okay.  That seemed to give him the courage he needed.

“I want to invite you both to come see me play at the Shadow Room in January.”

The silence in the air was deafening but I was so proud of Jonathan for taking the first step. I could see the look of anger on Mr. Hunter’s face but he probably kept it under control because I was there.  Mrs. Hunter looked surprised and I could see a small smile turn up the corners of her mouth as she looked over at her husband.

"We would love to see you perform Jonny," she looked over at her husband whose gaze was ice cold as he stared off into the distance, “wouldn’t we, honey?”

Mr. Hunter said nothing for a couple of minutes and we all sat there in silence waiting for him to speak.  It was pretty awkward for me to be there but I had to be there to support Jonathan.  I looked down at his hands and they were trembling a bit and I felt so bad for him that he was that nervous to talk to his parents about the band.

"Dad, I know you're probably not interested because you think this is just a hobby for me but this is something that I really do love to do and I think if you come see me you will see you that I’m actually pretty good at it.”

"I have no doubt that you're talented Jonathan, I just don't want you to lose focus on what the ultimate goal is, what you have been groomed for all of your life.  But if you want us to see you perform I’m sure we can arrange that.”

Mrs. Hunter's smile was enormous and I could tell that she was really excited and wanted to see his band.  That had to make him feel good because he did tell me earlier that if his mom was on board then his dad would be on board too. It totally looked like his mom was on board and I couldn’t be happier for him. Now, all we had to do was make sure they actually showed up and stayed for the entire set.

Jonathan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as a cautious smile spread across his face. “Really?”

His mother looked at his father and answered for both of them. "Yes, really, just let us know when and where and we will definitely be there!”

Later, when we were alone, I gave Jonathan a big hug and told him that I knew everything would be okay.

“See, I told you if you just invited them to a show they would come see you. It will all be a piece of cake from here because, I'm telling you, once they see you perform live they will be blown away. I'm sure your parents have no idea how incredibly talented you and the band are Jonathan, just wait, it’s going to change everything.”

He looked at me but I could see that his mind was elsewhere and I was sure that he was nervous about performing for his parents. “We’ll see.”

       It was getting late and we both had to finish packing since we were leaving the next morning, so we said good night to each other.

       “I love you, sleep well.”

       “I love you too, Skylar.”

At around midnight, I still could not fall asleep so I decided to go downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water.  Just as I closed the refrigerator door Abby came walking in and startled me.

I felt nervous when I saw her because I had no idea what she would say to me without anyone around to witness how nasty she could be.  I braced myself for the worst.

“Sorry Skylar, I didn’t mean to scare you. Looks like you and I had the same idea.  Couldn’t sleep?”

Okay, who is this woman and what have they done with the nasty twin?
  I couldn’t believe how nice Abby was being to me and I immediately became suspicious but I decided to play along.

“No, for some reason I couldn’t fall asleep tonight so I thought maybe a glass of water would help. What about you?”

“I’m a night owl, always have been, so I thought I’d raid the fridge for a snack.  So, are you ready to get back into the swing of things at school tomorrow?”

“Not really, I have had such a great time here this weekend.  Your family is so awesome, but it’s back to the real world for me tomorrow.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.  Listen, I have to say something to you.  I am really sorry for the way I have treated you this weekend, you didn’t deserve to be treated that way.  I really have been preoccupied and under a ton of stress and it has nothing to do with you.  I guess when I saw you and how happy Jonny looked with you it just reminded me of what I don’t have with Zane.  He is my everything and I just wish that my parents would see what I see in him.  My parents really ripped me a new one about the way I behaved and I’m really embarrassed about it.  Do you think you can forgive me?”

You could have knocked me over with a feather, I was so shocked by her apology, and it seemed really genuine.  Of course I wanted things to be kosher between us, I mean who wants conflict with a family member of the guy that they love?

“Yes, Abby, of course I forgive you.  I’ll let you in on a secret, if you get to know me, you’ll really like me.”

She smiled at me and her eyes were kind this time so I knew that she meant it.

“I’m really sorry Skylar, I feel just awful.”

“No worries, and by the way you can call me Sky.”

We chatted for probably at least an hour and I actually ended up liking her.  If you would have told me after our first encounter that we would be there in the kitchen past 1:00 in the morning chatting like old friends I never would have believed you.  But there we were.  At around 1:30 a.m. I was fading fast so I said good night to her and she gave me a genuine hug before I went back up to my room.  My head was spinning with all of the emotions I had encountered that weekend and I was happy to crash in my bed.  I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The next morning I woke up and for the first time that weekend I felt 100% content and happy about everything that happened. I was so happy to have resolved everything with Abby the night before and I was really hoping that she would still feel the same way that day.  I got ready and Jonathan had the butler bring my bags down to the car while we were eating breakfast.  Everyone was there and we all had a surprisingly pleasant morning.  Abby was much more friendly toward everyone, including me, and I was happy to learn that nothing changed from the night before.

After breakfast, Jonathan and I said our goodbyes to everyone and I actually felt sad to leave those wonderful people. I felt so welcomed by everyone that weekend, with the exception for Abby until Saturday night, that I knew that I was going to miss them. 

Bunny gave me a big hug and told me that she looked forward to seeing me again.  I said goodbye to everyone else and exchanged contact information with Claire, Emily and even Abby and told them that I would keep in touch.  Mr. Hunter gave me a quick hug goodbye and told me how nice it was to have me there for the weekend and I thanked him for all of his generosity.  Mrs. Hunter was the last person that I needed to say goodbye to.  She walked over to me, reached out and pulled me in for a big hug.

"It was so nice to have you here this weekend Skylar, thank you so much for joining us.  I know that we are going to see you again very soon and I hope you have a productive remainder of your semester and have a wonderful Christmas. Please tell your parents that we say hello and thank them for letting you spend Thanksgiving with us, will you?  I'm sure we’ll see you again in a couple of months. You take care of yourself and keep an eye on Jonathan for me.”  She winked at me when she said that last part.

I giggled and agreed and thanked her for the weekend.  Jonathan and I said goodbye to everyone and then we took off.  The car ride to the plane was pretty quick and once we were on the plane and buckled in Jonathan looked over at me and reached out to hold my hand.

“Thanks for coming this weekend Sky, it meant so much to me and my family really likes you.  Don’t worry about Abby, she’ll come around, I promise.”

“You will be happy to know that she actually apologized to me last night and it was a real apology.  We even exchanged contact info today, so it’s all good.”

“Oh I am so relieved, Abby is always the question mark in our family.  Her mood is so dependent upon what’s going on with what boyfriend, but deep down she has a big heart and doesn’t mean to hurt anyone.  I’m glad you guys are fine.  Well that means it turned out to be a perfect weekend.  We’ll have to figure out when you’ll get to see everyone again.  But next I want to go to Chicago and meet your family.”