A Darker Love

Chapter Fifteen- The Family Dinner

Chicken. I cried even harder. My mom used to call me that when I was feeling sad or was unwell. Dad stroked my hair to comfort me and held me tight just like she use to do when I was little. Once he'd calm me down I told him what happened and even he was shocked that Kayla was dating someone, she just wasn't that type of person.

I went to clean myself up for Caleb coming over but I just too felt numb and tired inside to try. I put on a dress that I thought would look nice but quickly changed my mind, it looked horrible on me. The sad, iron board girl stared back at me in the mirror longly, looking too tired to do anything but stare. I sighed and laid back on my bed until my Dad came in and hugged me again.

"Come on Sam, it won't be that bad."

"I'm sorry Dad, I'm just not feeling up to it tonight. Maybe I should phone up and cancel?"

"I think your just trying to stop me from meeting him." He said, trying to make me laugh.

I frowned slightly, sinking down on my bed. "I'm just not feeling well."

"Do you really like this boy?"

"Yeah..."

"Then he's coming over tonight. You can't hide him away from me, I have to meet him sometime."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll get ready."

"That's my girl." He patted my back and then walked out, closing the door behind him.

I wiped my eyes and then put on another dress that looked okay and then brushed out my hair that was curly from the topknot. I cleaned my room and then texted Caleb back.

Lasagne okay?

Perfect x be there in ten

I went into the kitchen and helped Dad by setting the table for us, it felt strange putting out three places instead of two. Dad had on his best shirt and had even bothered to put in his cuff links, Caleb was going to get a grilling tonight. I sat on the couch and waited anxiously for the doorbell to ring, butterflies settling in my stomach and making me feel like I was about to puke.

Then the bell rang and I almost ran to it. I opened the door to see a very classy looking Caleb grinning at me holding a slim gift bag in his hand. He was wearing a black shirt underneath his leather jacket and had smart, posh shoes on instead of his usual dirty black converse, I was touched he had made an effort for me and eagerly took the bag off him. He waited outside like he was unable to come inside.

"Umm, you can come in if you want." I laughed awkwardly and pulled him in.

"Thanks." He smiled at me and then smiled at Dad who was busy checking on the lasagne in the oven.

Dad stopped and took off the oven gloves and then went over to shake his hand. "Hi, I'm Sam's dad Chris, but you can call me Mr Hayes."

"Ignore him." I said as Caleb shook his hand. "He likes to think he's the big, tough guy but he's not. You can call him Chris if you want."

Caleb laughed awkwardly, unsure what to say.

"What's that you have?" Dad looked at the gift bag in my hands.

"Oh, Caleb's brought you wine." I smiled and gave it to him.

"My uncle said it's good so he got it for me."

My Dad looked at him, shocked. "This is my favorite, how did you?"

"It's my uncles favorite too, he gave it to me."

My Dad laughed, an unusual belly laugh. "Your uncles got good taste, thank you!" He opened it and poured the red liquid into a glass, smiling happily.

The dinner went well after that, my Dad was a bit nicer now that he was a bit drunk but still liked to show that he was in charge. Caleb was really sweet and patient, complementing the dinner and asking Dad questions about work which Dad loved to talk about. It was all going great, better than I thought until they started talking about me and Caleb's roadtrip.

"So, where are you planning to take my daughter tomorrow on this 'roadtrip'?"

"We're going to Pittsburgh to my parent's old house."

"Pittsburgh?! That's miles away! No, absolutely not."

"Dad! But you said yes when I asked."

"I thought you said Portland, no your not taking her miles away on your own."

"Please sir, we'll be careful." He looked deep into Dad's eyes just like he did with Miss Walsh. "I promise I'll look after her, she'll be back in a couple of days. There's no need to worry."

"There's no need to worry, you'll look after her." He said like he was in a trance, just like Miss Walsh.

"So, I can go?"

"Yes, Caleb will look after you."

I ran up and hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you!"

He smiled at me and hugged me back, I was so glad he'd changed his mind. I needed his trip I'd never been on one before and sounded like fun, sure it was miles away but Caleb would look after me.

We had dessert next and Dad seemed back to normal, he was eating like a hungry bear like he usually does and quizzing Caleb intensely on everything from his school work to family life.

"Why don't you live with your parents?"

"They died when I was eight."

"Of?"

"Dad! You insensitive pig!" I elbowed him.

"It's okay, I was a car accident. I lived with other family members for a while in Georgia but it didn't really work out so I came here to live with my uncle."

"Where is your uncle?"

"Out of town. Hes running some errands and stuff."

"What does he work as?"

"This and that, right now he's trying to work on a business deal in New York. I don't really get into it personally."

"Hmm. What's his name?"

"Tobias, Tobias Shulman."

"I've heard of him. Small guy, quite weedy and disappears for months on end."

Caleb shrugged. "He asks me to look after the house while he's gone, maybe that's why he invited me to live here with him."

"Okay, that's enough with the millions of questions." I took both their bowls and put them in the sink.

"Well, that's almost half night." He got up. "It was lovely to meet you Caleb, thanks for the wine." He shook his hand again.

"It was nice to meet you too, sir." Caleb smiled. "And I promise I'll take care of her tomorrow."

"You better." He laughed.

"I'll walk Caleb out."

I walked him to his car and then let out a burst of giggles. "I'm so sorry! That was so bad!"

"No, it was fine. I liked the lasagne and I think it was good to meet him."

"Yeah, thank god you convinced him to let us go tomorrow. How did you do that?"

He shrugged. "I'm good at convincing people to do stuff, it's like my superpower."

"A little too good."

"What?" He unlocked his car.

I laughed awkwardly. "It's kind of unbelievable, just like how you could break Kai's hand..."

"What? You think I actually have super powers?" He laughed, but it sounded wrong and fake.

I gave him a look and he smiled and patted my arm. "I'll explain everything tomorrow, please wait till then."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you." He smiled at me, it was warm and almost made me forget every suspicion I had. Almost.