A Summer Romance

5

The next three days went by in a hurry. John would text me everyday when he got to his stand and I'd send him a message back but I also purposely avoided the beach when I knew he was at work. On those days, I would explore the town and go shopping.

On one of my days out, I went into this cute little boutique. I found a pretty light pink dress with a floral print that I fell in love with. After grabbing it, I looked at the jewelry and saw that it was all handmade locally and some earrings were honestly so beautiful I wouldn't have guessed they were handmade. I grabbed a pair that looked beautiful with my new dress.

It was now Friday morning and even after confirming our date last night, John texted me first thing this morning to ask me if I was sure. I had told him that if he was that scared, maybe we shouldn't. He assured me that he wasn't and just wanted to be one hundred percent positive that I wanted to go out.

I wasn't one that usually spent a lot of time getting ready for a date but today I did. I spent extra time moisturizing everything. I was also spending more time on my hair and makeup today.

I found all of my makeup and got to work. I worked on my eyeshadow forever to make sure everything was blended and at the end, decided to do a small winged liner. I coated my lashes with my brown mascara because black always looked too harsh on me. Kept the face makeup a dewey finish and then added some pink blush.

When I was finished with my makeup, my curling iron was ready. My hair was curled to perfection, sprayed the flyaways down and added a headband that looked like it had pearls. After I was finished with that, I grabbed my sandals, added some gloss to my lips and went to the living area.

Just as I was putting my shoes on, my phone started ringing. Fully thinking it was John, I answered and said, without looking at the screen.

"I'll be down in a few. Just putting my shoes on."

"Are you meeting Charity again?" my mothers voice asked.

Well, I was not expecting her to call today. She promised that she'd loosen the line a little after I told her the multiple times a day calls were getting to be too much. Along with the texting, I felt like I didn't have much freedom and that's what this summer was about.

"Hi, mom," I sighed.

"I can tell this call was unexpected," she said.

"We just talked last night. I thought you agreed to loosen the line a little."

"Darcy, you know how we worry. You are our only child. I can check on you anytime I please."

"Mom, you know if anything at all happens, you are the first person to be notified. You and dad agreed that I could have some freedom this summer."

"We did but..."

"But nothing, mom," I said as I received a text message. I took a glance and saw that it was John telling me he was waiting for me. "Listen mom, I love you and you know I'm being safe. I'm taking my medicine and staying away from what I'm suppose to be staying away from."

"You never answered my question. Are you meeting Charity?" she asked in a huff.

"No, mom. I have a date," I said. "And he's waiting for me downstairs."

"A date. You haven't even been gone a full two weeks and you're already going out on a date. Who is this boy?"

"His name is John and he's a friend of Charity's. Tomorrow will be a week and I'll talk to you later," I said and then hung up.

I felt bad for being so short with her but I felt like she was just being a tad overbearing. I shot John a quick message telling him I just needed to grab my purse and I would be right down.

He was at the check in desk talking to the clerk. He was laughing at something she said and I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He cleaned up very nicely.

He was in a pair dark jeans and a white linen shirt with the sleeves buttoned up at his elbows. His dirty blond hair was falling in beautiful waves in the back and side. He hadn't heard the elevator until the doors started closing. When he looked over and saw me, he greeted me with his bright smile. He excused himself and walked over.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," he said as he stopped in front of me. "You look lovely."

"You clean up nicely."

"Momma didn't raise a fool," he smirked. "Shall we?" he asked, holding out his arm for me.

I placed my hand in the crook of his elbow and he walked to the door. Right outside was blue Jeep Wrangler with a soft top. He opened the door for me and waited until I was comfortable and then closed it. Once he got in, he looked over and smiled again.

"Aren't we chivalrous," I laughed.

"I wasn't sure how you would feel about the top being off so I just left it alone," he said.

"Either way is fine by me. I don't mind the wind."

"You are not like other girls worried about their hair."

"I have hair ties if I want to tie it back," I said, buckling up.

"I like your hair down. It's flowy,"he smiled.

"Yours is too," I laughed and reached over to ruffle his hair.

"Let's go enjoy the evening," he said and started the Jeep.

We talked on the drive and I learned he actually hadn't lived here all his life. He was originally from Iowa but his father had gotten some kind of job offer about fifteen years ago and they moved to South Carolina. He did say that he really had no intentions of leaving the area.

I told him that I was an only child because about the time my parents considered having another child, I started having all of my health issues and they decided that couldn't put another child through that. I admitted that growing up an only child was really rough. Most of my cousins were older than me growing up so I was always the "little" kid. Charity was the closest in age.

When we got to the restaurant, he told me not to touch my door and he jumped out and came to open it for me. When we walked in, the hostess asked for a reservation and he gave his last name, Wilson. She grabbed two menus and two sets of silverware and led us to the back to the restaurant. There was hardly anyone sitting back here. The music that was playing was soft and the setting was just very nice.

"I hope you don't mind being back here. I didn't want a lot of noise around while we got to know one another," he said.

"No, this is perfect."

We glanced through the menu and once the waitress came, he let me order my food first and then he gave her his order. We sat there and talked while we waited on our food and I just really enjoyed my time. I had turned my phone on silent so I wouldn't seem rude but again explained how protective my parents, especially my mom, was. He told me that he didn't mind if I checked my phone just in case my mom was having a cow so I slipped it out of my purse quickly, saw twelve messages and five missed calls.

I sent her a quick text, telling her that I was okay and about to eat. Just before I placed it back in my purse, she quickly sent a text telling me to call her tonight, no matter what time. I said okay and slid it back. I profusely apologized for that and promised that he had my full attention for the rest of the night.

As we finished up our food, the waitress circled back and asked if we wanted dessert. I declined because there was no way I could possibly eat anything else right now. He asked for the check and when that was settled, we went on our way.

The night ended with us walking the strip near my hotel and even walking on the beach for a little while. It was just before eleven when he said that I should probably go call my mom and was very nice about it. He walked me up to my room and right after I unlocked the door, he made a small move towards me.

He tucked my hair behind my ear and leaned in. My breath hitched just a little the closer his lips got to mine. He placed the softest, most gentle kiss on my lips and then said goodnight and walked away.

I closed the door and made sure the safety guard was against the door. I slid down the door onto the floor, smiling. I really liked this guy and couldn't wait to see what the next couple of months held.