Opening Up

Chapter 12

We said nothing else during the drive to Lovington. There was little more to talk about. He was going to trust me to do what I needed to do for myself, and that was all I could ask for. The sun shines as we get closer to Lovington. I told Dean I wanted to go to Cherry Point.

Cherry Point is one area at the lake where live bands play, and people get together. I've heard stories of parties and bands that have played there.

"Eva," he whispers, "Hey honey, wake up." His hand is on my leg. "Eva, come on. I already checked us in. Let's go to the room, and you can get ready." He spoke, and I still wasn't fully awake. Our meeting with the landlords wasn't for another hour.

"Can I sleep more?" I spoke, and he laughed.

"Eva, come on. It'll take you at least that long to be ready." He's smiling at me as he looks up at me in the seat. "We have thirty minutes until our meeting.

"I'm just going to wear this to meet with them, and then we can come back and get ready for anything you have planned for us," I said, noticing how he was holding himself. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing." He was lying, and I knew that. His voice always went up when he lied to me. "I promise it's nothing bad. Let's go to the room and prepare for the meeting. I'm sure you want to fix the bedhead you have going on." He smiled and laughed sweetly.

"You suck at lying," I spoke quickly to him.

"Yes, I know, but at least you know I won't be able to keep anything from you that way." He spoke, and I laughed this time. I know he could never hurt me. "Besides, I know that Peyton and Ben have something planned for us tonight, and I don't know how I feel about being around all of them."

"Dean, you will like them. I promise you this. They are great." As I spoke this, I noticed a car driving by. It was odd. It was as though I had seen this car before. My heart raced when I realized it was the car that Danny owned. I felt the fear rush back to me. I never thought I would see it again. My body goes stiff, and I can't breathe or move. This isn't happening.

"Hey, Eva, what's wrong," Dean walks back over to me and reaches for my hand. "Hey." he steps in the way of my view of the car.

"Sorry," I spoke, and I worried that he'd ask me more questions, and right now, I didn't want to answer any more questions from him.

"It's okay. Let's just get into the room, and then you can relax before we go," Dean said, walking to the trunk to get our bags out.

"It's fine, Dean, I just... it's been a long day," I spoke.

I couldn't let him know I was afraid of running into Danny, even though I knew he was still in a coma. Peyton went and saw Danny. The coma helps him heal, and I know we all have mixed feelings about it.

"I understand, honey. Let's just relax, and then we can look at some apartments. I know we will find one we both love; besides, we are running out of time to find something. We only have five months left."

"Maybe more will open up with the college students going home for the summer." If only he understood that. Sure, most wouldn't give up their rentals just to go home for two months, but some would. The apartments we would look at were owned by the same company, and Dean had been talking with them about what we wanted. We knew it was only a matter of time until we found the one we loved.

"Maybe," he spoke, closing the trunk, and I followed him into the hotel.

We pulled up to one apartment building. The grounds have been taken care of, and this one has four levels. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. The brickwork took me back to New Haven; the brickwork appears to have been done by hand. Everything looked as though there was fresh paint on the windows, and overall, it seemed welcoming. Dean was smiling as he opened my door.