Meadow Valley book series- Everything's changed

Chapter 46: The escort

     The next morning Zach showed up a little bit early while they were all still eating breakfast. Mr. Grant invited him to join them for breakfast but he politely said that he had already eaten and just took a seat down next to Ana at the table. David was slightly confused and curious to why Zach was there. Ana turned to greet him with a smile as she shyly swished a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

     She leaned over and just quickly finished up her breakfast. Then she asked David to come with her to the kitchen. David followed Ana into the kitchen and asked her why Zach was there. Ana looked nervously at David as she explained that Zach had called her and asked if she needed a ride this morning but she told him no because he was taking her. Then she continued to tell her brother that she invited him to come along with them because she and Cristov was supposed to give him a dance lesson. David hesitantly agreed to allow Zach to come along with them, he knew that his sister was acting a little different and must like this guy.

     David decided it would be a good time to get to know more about Zach and his relationship with his sister. Ana hugged her brother and then went off to go get her bag of clothes and met both of them outside by her brother's car. Zach opened up the front door for Ana to get in and then he hopped in the back seat. David just stared as he watched the way Zach was nervously trying to impress Ana and flirt with her. He knew that kind of look Zach had towards his sister.

     David decided that he was going to drill Zach with a million questions the entire drive to Lexington. Ana tried to interfere a few times by cracking a joke or two but her brother went into his overprotective big brother mode. David wasn't sure if he trusted Zach yet and was curious to what his intentions for his little sister were. Ana felt a little uncomfortable and bad for Zach because David wouldn't stop.

     It was especially awkward when he started to ask Zach about his relationship with Amanda, he had heard a few things from Zach's brother Adam about the two of them. Ana was a little curious as well in what he was going to say about the whole situation. Zach explained that their families had known each other since birth and they were kind of expected to marry each other one day. Their mothers had been best friends in high school and had hoped that their kids would get together one day. Zach continued to explain his complicated relationship with Amanda and how he thought they were better off as friends, even though she didn't seem to feel the same way about it. He told them that Amanda was a very insecure and jealous kind of girl, but she was basically harmless.

David looked him straight in the eye through the rear view mirror as he spoke to Zach "Then why did you even date her in the first place." Not sounding too convinced about what Zach was telling him.

"Don't get me wrong there was a time or two in my life when I thought she was pretty amazing and I wanted to date her," Zach explained to him, "but that time ended after our freshman year," he continued, "then we didn't date each other again until last year. I guess I don't know why I was stupid enough to give it another go around. I guess I thought things would be different the second time around. Like maybe she would've matured a bit more but she didn't change. Then it just turned into this on and off again complicated kind of relationship. We broke up for good like four months ago," Zach looked perplexed as he spoke about Amanda.

     David appreciated Zach's honesty and seemed to have been satisfied with his response so he stopped the interrogations. They finally arrived in Lexington and Ana got out of the car before Zach could open up her door. David and Zach followed Ana into the studio and she asked her instructors if they would be allowed to come into her class and sit quietly in the back and watch her dance.

     Ana felt a little distracted by Zach's presence and messed up a few times because of it during her contemporary dance class. Zach was completely mesmerized by the way that Ana moved across the room. He just sat there staring at her as she danced. David noticed how Zach was just staring at his sister and could tell that he was starting to fall hard for her. David was determined to keep a close eye on the two of them because he didn't want to see Ana get hurt.

     There was a small break in between Ana's next dance class and they all talked with each other in the waiting room. That's when Ana noticed that Elisabeth came walking through the front door. She came over to greet Ana and noticed that Zach was sitting right next to her. Elisabeth said hi to Zach and then gave Ana a strange look. Ana could feel her curiosity about why Zach was sitting next to her. Ana didn't say a word about it and just tried to distract her by asking a few questions about how her dance was coming along.

     Sergio came out into the waiting room and called for them to come follow him in the back. David and Zach followed after Ana in the back to her practice room. Cristov came over to greet Ana with a kiss on her cheek and then went over to say hi to Zach. Ana introduced both of them to her brother David and then she slipped on a different outfit and changed her shoes for ballroom practice.

     After she was finished practicing, Ana went over to Zach and grabbed his hand and led him over by Sergio to start their dance lesson. David jumped in a few times to dance with Ana and show off his rusty dance skills. Their father had forced him and Jess to take Latin ballroom lessons for a few years but they never got into it that much and ended up quitting.

     They all had so much fun playing around and showing Zach how to dance. He actually started picking up really fast and was doing pretty good for a country boy. Ana said goodbye to Sergio and Cristov as Zach set up a time for them to come over to his house for a horseback riding lesson the next day. They went to eat some lunch in the city and headed back home.