Finding Me (Love's Not Easy Series Book 1) (16 page)

Chapter
Eighteen

The day of the first ever Wise Chapel Carnival had arrived. Everyone spent a lot of time preparing and setting up the carnival. They had twenty different gaming booths, inflatables, food stands, live music, and a petting zoo for the kids. The lady's aide was hosting a pie baking contest and pie eating contest. The youth was sponsoring a cake walk and a dunking booth.

The owners of Wise Park had allowed use of a portion of the park, so the kids had a safe place to run and play. The day was turning into a huge success. So many neighborhood kids came out to the festival. Everyone was enjoying themselves.

Aiden and Colin stopped by to show their support. Aiden came over to Aimee’s game booth. Her booth was teaching about the ten plagues on Egypt. She had one of those games where kids had to flop a frog on a lily pad. She would wait until she had a group of six and then would tell them the story of the ten plagues God sent on Egypt and how God rescued the Israelites from bondage.

He watched as she made the story come to life. She was involving the kids into the story. At the end, she had them to line up like they were leaving. She then had them march as if they were leaving the land of Egypt. “Now, let’s go play a game and learn about how God parted the Red Sea.”

She came back to wait for her next group. “That was great.” Aiden stood holding an ice tea for her.

“Thanks. For the tea and the compliment.”

Aimee noticed the girls from the Sunday School class she and Piper taught coming to her booth.

She hugged each of them and then turned to Aiden. “If you like my lesson for the little ones, you will love this.”

She talked about the plagues and let the kids play the frog game. When they finished, instead of letting them go like the little ones, she discussed how the story of the plaques and how God freeing the Israelites from Egypt compared to how Christ came and died for our sins, releasing us from our sins. “Now, let’s go see what it was like when God parted the Red Sea.”

When she came back to her booth, Aiden was telling Colin about the lesson Aimee had just taught to the kids. “If you two think that was cool, go to the last booth James and Mark are doing; and, then come back and talk to me.”

The day was warm, but not too warm. Aimee lost count of how many kids came through her booth. Aiden and Colin came back to her booth twenty minutes after they left. James and Mark’s game gave them a lot to think about.

It was now time to close up the booths and join everyone for an evening picnic. Aimee, Lexi, and Piper were cleaning their booths. They worked together to make it go faster. The last one to clean up was the booth Aimee used. She walked over to the area where she sat to clean, while James and Mark took down the frog pond. She saw a piece of paper on the ground and picked it up; it was a letter addressed to her.

Piper and Lexi came over and placed the frogs and Lily pads in their totes. Piper noticed Aimee looking at the paper. “What is that?”

“I don’t know, it is addressed to me. I just found it lying on the ground.”

“Well, open it.” Lexi put the last of the stuff in the totes and shut them up. “We’re done. Let’s go sit under that tree and you can open it.”

Aimee was scared, the writing seemed to be off and scary. She carefully opened the envelope and took out the note.
IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU. YOU WILL GO BACK TO AMERICA AND NOT COME BACK.

Aimee stared at the letter a minute then folded it back up and put it in her back pocket. “Someone is just playing a joke.  Let’s not worry anyone else about it.”

“Aimee, are you sure?”

“Yes.” Aimee didn’t tell them she got a similar letter last week.  She was at the market and someone placed it in her basket.

Aimee sat quietly through the picnic that night; she hid the new letter with the other one.   They were in the same strange handwriting. When she said her prayer that night, she prayed for her protection more than anything else. She was not going to be scared backed to the United States.

♥
♥

Still not sure the spy they had contacted would be fully invested into the job given to them. The two men were still in town. They had delivered two messages to try to see if it scared her. But, she did not seem to be bothered by the notes. Perhaps things are just as they hoped and she is not the heir they fear she may be. They still needed more time and a definite trust in the spy.

♥
♥

Aiden was waiting at the bottom of the stairs the next Sunday. “I thought I would join you for church today.” When Aiden walked through the door, no one treated him different. They greeted him the same way they did Aimee, Lexi, and Piper. He sat through service and listened to every word the preacher said. When he left, he realized one thing. He may be a Prince by title, but Jesus was the true Prince.

LJ and Drew had been by every evening for two weeks now. Sunday night, when Aimee got home from church, LJ was sitting in the living area talking to Colin. Lexi was taking the same approach with Drew as Aimee was with LJ. Both guys showed a lack of respect by not calling the girls back like they said. He stayed until around eleven, then Aimee told him she needed to get some work done for school the next day.

Wednesday, when Lexi, Aimee, Piper, and James came back from church, LJ and Drew were sitting on the couch. Aimee heard the guys arguing in the kitchen. From the sounds of it, Colin was shouting at Josiah. The girls, followed by James, entered the kitchen.

“We have put up with a lot from you Josiah, but this has gone too far.” Colin threw a baggy full of pills on the table.

The girls’ mouths dropped. Sophia and Aiden had come down from their rooms to see what the shouting was about. James and Aiden stopped Colin, just as he went to hit Josiah. Lexi and Aimee went to tell LJ and Drew to leave, but they had already left.

Josiah was now going after Colin. Aiden let loose of Colin and held Josiah. Lexi came and stood in between the four guys. “What is going on?”

“Just stay out of it, Lexi. You four girls go upstairs.” Colin’s face was red.

“We all live here and have a right to know what is going on.” Piper stood with Lexi.

Aimee turned to see Sophia heading back up stairs. “You two need to calm down.”

Colin relaxed a bit and stopped fighting James. “He brought drugs in here. Coming in here drunk all the time is one thing, but we can’t have drugs in our flat. We would all get kicked out.”

Aiden tightened his grip. “Man, are you stupid? Did you even think about what kind of trouble that could cause everyone?”

“They are not mine. I tried to tell my knot headed cousin, but he will not listen.”

Aimee turned to Colin. “Where did you find the drugs?”

“In the hall closet. Josiah had just come in and I went to get a pair of my shoes and found the pills laying on the closet floor.”

“It is hard to say how long they have been there, Colin.  To accuse Josiah without knowing isn’t right.” Aimee turned to both men. “Aiden, loosen up your hold on him.”

“Aimee, why are you defending him? You stand to lose just as much as the rest of us.” Colin yelled at her.

“Because we have no proof they are his or how long they have been in the closet; and, don’t yell at me.”

“I am sorry.”

Piper sat at the kitchen table. “Since we don’t know whose they are we, need to get rid of them.”

“How?” Asked Lexi.

“Flush them down the toilet and send them into the sewage where they belong.” James spoke for the first time, then he let go of Colin and nodded to Aiden to do the same with Josiah. They all followed James to the downstairs toilet and flushed the pills.

When they went to the living area Aimee stood next to Josiah. “A guilty person would not have let us flush those pills.”

Colin folded his arms and turned away. “He would if he wanted us to believe otherwise.”

“Colin, seriously, we have known him our entire lives; do you seriously think he would stoop to that?” Lexi looked him dead in the eyes.

“You guys believe what you want. I just know I better never see anything like…”

“Don’t worry, Colin, you won’t. I am out of here. I am not staying here and being ridiculed by the likes of you.” He headed up stairs and, in a short while, he had his belongings packed in his car.

Colin seemed to not care one bit that Josiah was leaving. Aiden told him to at least stay and talk, but he wasn’t having it. Aimee went up to talk to him when he went for his last bag.

“Josiah, I am sorry you feel you have to leave.”

He turned to her. “Thanks. I am surprised, after the way you acted over Aiden’s hang over, that you took up for me.”

“Aiden let me down and didn’t keep his word. He was supposed to be there for me and he wasn’t. I had proof of that. There is no proof the drugs where even yours. To place judgment on you would be wrong.”

“I am glad you feel like that.”

“So does Piper and Lexi.”

“I get this all the time from other people. Because I dress different and play rock-n-roll, that doesn’t make me a junkie.”

“No, it doesn’t.  If I ever made you feel that way, I am sorry.”

Aimee went to walk out as Josiah finished stuffing the last of his stuff in his bag. “Josiah, I know that what happened with your mom is hurtful. But, it does not have to control your live.”

“What does that mean?”

“When I look in your eyes, I see someone who is hurting and crying out for help. Don’t let things eat at you until there is no point of return. Find someone to talk to.”

“You don’t know anything about my mom.”

“No, I don’t know anything about your mom; and, I am learning that I know very little about my own mom. What I do know is, we can’t let what happened to our moms during the war here control our lives. We need to find ourselves and rise up from the ashes that we have been left to sift through.”

“Your mom fled the country. My mom was taken advantage of and then died giving birth to me.”

“I fear my mom went through far more than I know before leaving this country. I know she had an uncle I believe to be a radical member and he hit her and my Gran while trying to take over their family.”

Josiah stepped around Aimee and headed for the stairs when he reached the door he turned to her. “Aimee, watch who you trust and be careful searching into your mom’s past; it may not be as safe as you think.”

Josiah pulled out of the flat. He left his key with Lexi to turn in for him. He never wanted to look at his cousin again. He was still in shock that not only was Aimee sticking up for him, she was the first to do so.

He now regretted talking to those guys. He was going to let them know he can’t help them. He will tell them the truth; he had to leave because of a disagreement with one of the male roommates. He just hoped he had not already said too much.

Aimee couldn’t believe Colin; and, she was letting him know it right now. She brought to his attention the amount of dust on his shoes and how he had not cleaned out the hall closet like he was supposed to. She asked him how many people have come through that door and put their coats in that closet. When he said that they would have come looking for their pills, she brought up they may not know where they lost them.

After a long discussion, they agreed to never bring up the drugs again and then the whole group cleaned the entire closet and Josiah’s room. No new drugs had been found.

LJ text Aimee to let her know he was sorry he left, but it sounded like the flat needed to settle something. He never said if he knew why they were fighting and she didn’t ask, just in case he did not know. She did not want to risk him asking her what it was about. She simply text back thanks.

That night, she went to bed with one thing on her mind, and that was what Josiah said when he left. Could he be the one leaving her the notes to not come back to Neahovia?

♥
♥

Mr. X and Lady Y sat at the cafe drinking coffee. Her fears had come true. Some of Mr. U’s (for ugly) men were now following Aimee. They had convinced the guy in the grey shirt that she was not the girl he thought she may be. Though, he had no clue Lady Y was the one feeding him this information or who Lady Y really was.

Now, these two loons have appeared. They don’t seem very bright because person Z told her Aimee caught the tall creepy looking one staring at her when she went on her Easter Vacation with her roommates.

But now, he has this loon following Aimee. They are not clever at hiding, so that makes Lady Y wonder if Mr. U even knows what they are doing. The green head kid was talking to them again tonight. She had sent Mr. X to see why. Apparently he and one of the guy roommates had a disagreement and he moved out. He told them he would not be able to work for them.

That was good news. Now, she needed to get these loons off of Aimee’s trail.

Chapter Nin
eteen

Monday began the refreshment part of their classes. Finals was a mere two weeks away. They wanted to spend the last Saturday they had before finals to relax. Aiden had the perfect private beach. Aimee and Lexi decided not to tell Drew and LJ. So, at eight a.m. Saturday morning, Aimee, Lexi, and Sophia loaded in Lexi’s convertible car. Colin and Aiden followed in Colin’s sports car.  James and Piper were last in line.

Lexi had the top down and praise songs playing on her satellite radio. The road to the beach was a two lane curvy road, but once they got to the parking lot, it was worth the curvy drive. The beach was very secluded; only one other car was parked in the lot. Aimee watched Colin park his car beside it; and then, Aiden hugged the guy who got out.

There was no doubt, he was Aiden’s older brother. The guys unloaded the trunks and packed the baskets to the beach. The first thing on the agenda was a volleyball game. Girls won.

The girls watched the guys make a pitiful attempt at surfing. They had a picnic lunch. Aimee challenged the other girls to try something new. None of them had been jet skiing. So, the guys rented the jet skis. Aimee sat on the back of Aiden’s, while Sophia shared with Colin, and Lexi with Donavon (Aiden’s brother). Piper and James headed out first, with the others close behind.

Aimee convinced Aiden to let her have a turn at driving. It was so fun; she loved riding the waves. They only had the jet skis for two hours. When that was done, Colin and Donovan went swimming in the ocean. James and Piper took a romantic walk, while Sophia and Lexi tanned.

Aiden and Aimee went for a hike to see the view from a nearby cliff. Half way up, they saw a sign to follow for zip lining. So, they followed the sign and found themselves higher up the cliff than they realized.

The instructor came over and ask if they could wait about thirty minutes before going down. He needed to do his afternoon safety check. They were more than pleased to let him do the safety check.

Aiden found himself thinking of how beautiful Aimee was. “Aimee, you are like no girl I know.”

“Why is that?”

“One minute you are all prim and proper, the next you are driving jet skis and zip lining off a cliff.”

“Life to me would be boring if all I did was lie around and tan.” She laughed.

“I believe that.”

“What about you, is there some kind of restrictions on how dangerous an activity you can try?”

“Probably, if I wasn’t the spare.”

“Stop calling yourself that; you are not a spare.”

He laughed at her. “You are the only person who gets mad when I say that.”

“I get mad because it makes you sound like you are not important. Like you don’t matter. That is not true; you are important and you do matter.”

“It’s a joke. I am second in line to the throne until Donovan marries and has a child; then, I move down to third.”

“I know how the Neahovian Monarchy works; I am taking a history class. But, to me, when I hear you say that, I don’t think of your Royalty standing. I think of how you stand to your parents. I am sure they don’t treat you as a spare.”

“No. I hadn’t even thought of it that way.”

The gentlemen operating the Zip line came over to see if they were ready. The line went over the water where their friends were sitting at; and, they landed just on the other side of them. Aiden sent a quick text telling them to watch out below for them.

They each put on their Zip lining gear. Aiden took off first. He glided down the line in a breeze, laughing all the way. Aimee sent up a prayer to God, then went on her first Zip line adventure.

When she went over the ocean, the whole backside of her body went in the water. When she landed in the sand at the opposite end of the zip cord, the worker unhooked the gear. Aiden was waiting for her, bent down laughing with his hands on his knees. He lifted her up and twirled her around. “That is the highest I have ever zip lined.” Aimee looked up at the altitude of the cliff they had just left. “That is the first time I ever zip lined.”

Aiden kept his arm around Aimee as they walked back to meet the others. Lexi and Piper were standing, hands on hips, like a mother ready to attack.

Lexi pointed her finger at Aimee. “What do you think you are doing, young lady?”

“Did you not think about how dangerous that was? Piper threw her hands up in the air. “Of course not.”

Aimee just laughed. “Oh my goodness, that was such a rush.”

“Seriously?” They walked off and Aimee went after them.

“Girls, wait.” They turned to Aimee and made sure they were out of earshot from the guys.

“That looked so fun.” Lexi grabbed her arm.

“It scared the life out of me when I first saw you; but, then I could hear you laughing.” Piper shook her head.

“Then what was the mothering act about?”

“Your self-proclaimed big brother nearly had coronary attack.” Piper laughed.

“Poor James.”

The girls joined the guys and decided to go into the town to have a dinner at a country club that Aiden and Donovan had membership with.

The first stop, however, was at a dress shop known as Maria’s.

A tall slender brown haired lady stood at the front door when the group of friends walked to the store entrance.

“Your highness. So pleased to see you again.”

“Maria. Nice to see you, as well. Please, call me Aiden.”

“Aiden.” Maria looked around. “Where is Miss Ava?”

“She is still in Italy for a few more weeks.”

“Oh what a pity.” She dragged the t sound in pity.

“You know Miss Lexi. These are Lexi and my roommates and friends Aimee, Sophia and Piper. I will take care of the bill when we return for the ladies.”

“Nice to meet you, ladies. It looks as if you have had some day at the beach.”

“We did.” Lexi replied.

“Well, let’s get you ladies ready for the country club.”

She took the girls to a private back room. The room was lined with cocktail dresses, shoes, and accessories. Red velvet seats was carefully placed around the room, though no one was seating on them right now.

A small, petite, oriental lady came to the room. “My name is Camellia. I am your hostess for now. I take you to shower, so you can wash up.”

The ladies followed Camellia to the shower room. Camellia pointed at a stack of towels and robes. “Shower essentials inside shower. Do not wash hair. We wash hair.”

The girls said not a word, but went straight to the showers. When done, they put on their robes and stood waiting for the return of Camellia.

“Lexi, is this typical service here?” Aimee asked.

“Not unless you look like you have been dragged in off the street or a beach.”

“We didn’t look that bad.” Piper placed her hand on her hip.

“Look in your showers.”

Sophia laughed. “I hate to see the shampoo basins.”

Camellia returned. “You done? Good, come with me. I take you to hair salon now.”

Hair and makeup were completed; and that, only left finding a dress for the evening. They returned to the small room they were first brought to. This time, they sat on the smooth red velvet chairs.

In twenty minutes, each girl was dressed for the country club. Just in time for the guys to arrive, just as fresh and redressed as the girls.

The country club was a few miles from town. It sat on a hill that overlooked the ocean. It was far more beautiful than the country club her dad had membership at. A full moon was out tonight. Aimee was captivated by the atmosphere. It was, by far, one of the most romantic places she encountered in her life. They ate dinner and enjoyed a show from the member's youth theater. Then, they made their way to the dance floor.

Aimee wasn’t sure how it exactly happened, but she had danced the entire night in the arms of Aiden. She felt so comfortable and safe in his arms. Everything about dancing with him felt right. In fact, she felt like in his arms was where she belonged.

Aimee couldn’t believe she allowed herself to feel that way about Aiden. He was dating Ava. Even though his relationship with her was rocky, she was not going to let herself fall for him. She reminded herself that they were roommates; and, she could never have a romance with one of the guys she shares a flat with.

The night was coming to the end. The band announced this would be the final number. Aimee was trying to convince herself to sit this dance out. Before she could convince herself, Aiden appeared in front of her, reaching a hand for her.

“One last dance?”

“I was thinking I may sit this one out.”

“Are you feeling ok?”

“Yes.”

“Then why do you want to sit this dance out?”

“Because you are still dating Ava. People talk a lot, Aiden. We are roommates for another reason.”

Aiden took her hand as he danced her toward the balcony. “Aimee Pittman, I never thought you could be so silly as to worry about nothing. We shouldn’t care what others think when we know the truth.”

She wasn’t for sure why she followed him onto the balcony. When they entered the balcony, they danced around the other couples until they reached the far side of the balcony; where the best view of the moon shining over the ocean was.

“I wanted to show you this view before we left. I have never met anyone who shares the same appreciation for the view Mother Nature provides us.”

“That is where we disagree.”

“What do you mean?”

“This view.” Aimee pointed to the water and how the moon light was reflecting off it. “It is God’s creation, not mother natures’. To me, it shows how much God loves us. He created beautiful things, such as this view, sunrises, and sunsets for our enjoyment.”

“You know you give God an awful lot of credit. Especially for someone who has been through such horrible tragedies in their lives.”

“I give God the credit he deserves, Aiden. Actually, he deserves more credit than I ever could give him. He is the one in control of my life, not me. He is there for me through those good and bad times, even when no one else is. He knows when I am going to cry even before I do.”

“But…”

Aimee placed a hand on his arm. “Everything that happens in our lives, whether we think it is right or wrong, good or bad, He is there and He is in control. He will carry us through.”

Aiden leaned on a rail and pointed at the ocean. Aimee looked at the moon light shining over the ocean.

“Aimee, I don’t want to appear rude. I am only trying to understand this. How can you feel this way about God, after the loss of both your mom and Gran?” “How can you think there is something good that can come from such a great lost to you?”

Aimee started to speak but Aiden held up his hand. “How could He let such horrible things happen? How can He allow all the wars caused by man’s hatred toward man? What greater good can come out of a war that shreds a nation to pieces; causing the innocent women, like your mom and Gran, to flee the country for their safety?”

Aimee took Aiden by the hands and looked him in the eyes. “Those evil things you mentioned, were never caused by God. He was there to bring good out of the bad. The drunk driver who hit my mom, the war against the women in your country. Those are all caused by man taking pleasure in the sinful evil things in this world.”

She stopped and took a breath. “Satin plants seeds of evil. I like to think of satin’s seeds as weeds or a virus. They come in to a beautiful creation of God’s and spread their ugliness around. If we do not tend to those weeds or viruses, and get them out of the way, they eventually take over. Then, God somehow comes along and brings the beauty back.”

“You sound like my mom now. She blames the evilness of man for the Radical War.”

“God does not do evil, Aiden. One of my favorite verses is
James 1:17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

“But.”

“Aiden, how do you think the devil works?  He is putting seeds of doubt in your head. He even tried to tempt Jesus. He wants us to believe bad things.”

“You really sound like my mom.”

“Is she a Christian?”

“Yes. I guess I never really paid much attention to her when she talks about the Bible though. Because, if I had, I would understand before now. One man could not alone convince people to follow him. He was narrow minded and had no principles. Satin planted the seed of doubt in the other’s head and then used him to do the rest.”

“Exactly. We choose which way to go, good or evil.”

“Yeah, I still have a lot of reading and studying to do on this subject. But, right now, I want to enjoy this beautiful view God has provided us with.”

“It is beautiful; the moon is so bright. I don’t believe I have ever saw a more beautiful view.”

They stood still, facing the ocean, holding hands. Aiden took his right hand and moved a stray piece of away from her face, causing her to turn to face him. His hand now under her chin. “I agree, I love this view.”