Fate

Chapter 6 - Part 1

Rose

Her phone beeped and she read the text.

I'm here.

Those two little words had her insides spinning. This was the first time she'd be seeing Vincent since the shower. Rose had finally convinced Grace, who'd been seriously warned by Sal, that Vincent shouldn't be trusted to let her hang out with him. Of course these were warnings that had come when her sister and Sal were still together, but her sister had taken them very seriously.

Since Grace was so leery about allowing it and thought Rose was still too young to have a boyfriend, Grace made her promise this was nothing more than a friendship. Up until now that was all she and Vincent called it, so she had no problem agreeing to that.

Rose understood why Grace was so apprehensive about Vincent. Some of the things he'd done or gotten in trouble for in the past were pretty bad, but Rose could feel it in her heart that he was a good guy. He'd made some mistakes: mistakes he'd learned from and that he was really trying to make up for. Her heart fluttered remembering how he'd said he was doing everything he could to stay out of trouble. His incentive was that if he did stay out of trouble, he'd get to spend the summer in La Jolla. The possibility of hanging out with her was all he needed.

She texted back that she'd be right down then kissed Grace's forehead. She was now sound asleep in the bed they shared. Grace wasn't feeling well lately. She said she was under the weather, but Rose knew better. Her break up with Sal had affected Grace in such a way that she'd made herself ill. Their trip to Laughlin had been, in part, to try and get her mind off him. Grace was trying to play it off that she was better, but Rose didn't buy it. For that reason alone, she made sure not to do anything with Vincent that might upset her sister. Her sister had enough on her mind; Rose didn't need to add more.

Stopping to check herself in the mirror before walking out of her room, Rose took a very deep breath. She never imagined that seeing Vincent again would be this nerve-wracking.

"Where you going?"

Her mother sat on the sofa watching her novella as Rose made her way to the front door. The question was almost rhetorical. Rose knew her mother didn't actually care, but she answered anyway.

"Outside, my friend is downstairs."

Her mother lifted an eyebrow then asked. "How's your sister doing? She feeling any better?"

"I think so," Rose turned to face her. "She's sleeping right now."

As expected, her mom upped the volume on the television when the commercial was over and her novella came back on. She didn't bother to ask Rose any more about Grace or the friend waiting for Rose, not even how long she'd be gone. Rose stood there for a moment waiting to see if she might ask anything else. When she didn't, Rose didn't say another word; she just walked out. She was long over the sting that her mother simply had no interest in being a mother to her. Rose had Grace. That was all she needed.

Shaking away thoughts of her mother and Grace, her belly began doing flip-flops as she walked down the stairs toward the picnic area where she'd told Vince she'd meet him.

Her heart danced in her chest as she turned the corner and saw him. He stood there by the picnic tables near the playground wearing faded jeans and a white tank top holding his keys in one hand and smiling big the instant he saw her. Rose remembered that butterfly-inducing smile, but somehow it was even more amazing now. Maybe it was because seeing him in a tank top that showed off his toned arms and shoulders instead of that out of place polo added to the overall picture. The girls at her school would die for him.