Taken

Chapter Eighteen--GRADY

I watched her as she cleaned out the cups at the sink and came back to sit at the table.  She had out a notebook and was scribbling in it with a pencil.  I watched as she would stop every now and again and chew on the eraser before bending her head back over and continuing, eyes full of concentration.  I had this weird fluttering in my stomach as I discreetly watched her.

          Her black hair fell in perfect waves and was really long.  Her bright blue eyes stood out on her pale skin and when she glanced up and over at me, I held my breath but didn’t look away.  She just smiled and looked back down, blushing slightly.  Why had I fallen for Denny? Denny, the only girl that was so far out of my reach she may have well been standing on the moon.

-

          “There they are!” chirped Sarah as we walked through the door.  The house smelled wonderful, like her homemade bread, and as I set Haven down on the ground she rushed over to give her a hug.  “Hello there, sweet pea.”

          I hugged her too and planted a kiss on her cheek.  She smiled affectionately over at me and then wrapped an arm around Denny.  “I just finished lunch, so help yourselves.”

          Ladd came out of his study then and hugged Denny, lifting her off the ground.  “How’s my girl doing?” he said with a smile.  I could tell he loved Denny like a daughter.

          “Just fine,” Sarah replied with a wink and they both laughed.  She sure was happy when we came over, even though we saw her every week.

          When lunch was finished and cleaned up, Ladd and Denny retreated to his study and we could hear him telling her what all had happened in his book since they last talked.  I took this opportunity to talk with Sarah, though I didn’t jump right into the conversation.  I decided to let her start it, so I slid into a chair by her at the kitchen table.

          “How’s Denny doing lately?” she asked.

          “Fine,” I replied, my knee starting to bounce nervously. 

          “Is something wrong?” I glanced over at her.  It was what I wanted her to ask, but yet I wasn’t ready to answer. 

          I cleared my throat and answered, “I’m kind of in a fix.”

          Her eyebrows raised.  “Are you guys fighting?”

          “No, no, no.  The opposite actually.  Well, for me anyways.” 

          Her eyebrows raised higher as her voice turned to a whisper.  “You like her? I mean, Denny’s a very charming girl but you don’t mean more than a friend… do you?”

          I buried my face in my hands in frustration.  I hated attraction crap.  I never liked it in school either, when I was the captain of the football team and had to deal with girls drooling over me.  What beautiful eyes… I hated it.  It was like Red Riding Hood meets high school.

          “This isn’t good,” commented Sarah.

          I looked at her miserably.  “I can’t help it.  I like her a lot, but it isn’t like I can really leave and forget completely about her.  She’s my best friend’s girlfriend and I made a promise to protect her, but it seems like she is my best friend too.”

          “Have you, I mean, has anything happened?” she asked.  “I mean, you guys are still just friends right?”

          “Yeah, we are.”  There was a pause before continued, “We talk a lot.  I feel like I’ve known her my whole life.”

          “Oh.”  Her expression was thoughtful as she stared out the window.  I wanted her to give me her awesome advice.  I wanted to be able to take it and everything would be better and I could just keep on living.  It wasn’t that easy though, because I wasn’t expecting an answer like this.  “Win her over.”

          “But Sarah!” I said, my voice raising, then it dropped suddenly into a whisper.  “I can’t do that.”

          “Something wrong?” asked Denny, coming in with Ladd. She sat in the chair next to me and smiled.

          I smiled back, “Nope,” and watched as a look flashed across Sarah’s face.

          “You guys sure are acting weird,” Denny said, but she said it more like a comment and brushed it off like she didn’t care.  In fact, she dropped the subject and stole my tea to take a sip of. 

          I stood and left the room, not being able to sit so close to her and without screaming.  “Do I smell?” she asked comically as I went and found Haven flipping through an old children’s book, sitting on the hearth, her lips slowly moving as she worked through each word soundlessly.  “Need help?” I asked, smoothing down her hair that was tangled in the back.

          She shook her head and went back to the book and I read over her shoulder as she read aloud.  “Very good,” I praised once she finished, faking a smile for her sake and then crumpling on the hearth with my face in my hands once she left to tell Denny about her achievement.

          “I read the whole book!”  Haven’s voice was getting closer and I snapped up before Denny could notice.  She was beaming and probably very proud of herself on the inside for teaching Haven to read.

          “You can borrow it if you like,” offered Sarah, following behind the two.  I guessed Ladd dissolved to his study again, like always.  “I have plenty.”

          “What do you say?” Denny pushed, and I noticed how much she sounded like a mother.

          “Thank you,” Haven said happily.

          I just sighed.  Happiness was all around me but I couldn’t participate in it because my life was so messed up I didn’t know when it would ever look up again.  So all I did was fakely smile too and hope Denny couldn’t see through my charade.

-

          “You seem tired lately,” Denny commented.  We were sitting in our kitchen, the sunset officially over, and I was trying to light a few lanterns.  I saw her leaning against the counter and tried not to think about how good she looked in the new sweater Sarah had made for her. I quickly averted my eyes and went back to the lantern in my hand.

          “I have been,” I said, which was partly true, but not the reason for my gloomy expression.  She didn’t have to know that though.  I was so glad she couldn’t read me like I could read her. 

          I watched as another wick caught fire and shed off more light.  I kept setting them on the table after I lit them, and eventually it was as if the table itself was glowing.

          Denny came over and dragged a chair next to me. Her beautiful face was illuminated by the soft candle light and her skin seemed porcelain perfect.  She spoke, but I couldn’t tell what she was saying, I just kept staring, and eventually tore my eyes away to look over her shoulder at the moonlight streaming through the window.

          “Man, you are tired.  Talk about spacey.”

          I stood and walked into the shadows of the room so she couldn’t see me redden.  “I haven’t been sleeping good.” I was startled at how easy the lie came out, but didn’t let it show.  I busied my hands by pouring tea into two mugs, then reluctantly returned to the table and set hers by her.  I downed mine, muttered goodnight, and retreated to the spare bedroom for the night.