Summer Romance #wattys2017

Chapter XXXV

 For the next two weeks, not a one of the three were allowed to go anywhere. Shelby helped with the cooking and cleaning. John and Tommy worked in the mornings then when they were back there was yardwork and whatever else Frank could find for them to do.

At night, Shelby was glad to go to bed. She stayed tired. She couldn't sleep if Tommy wasn't there though. On the weekend, Tommy stayed with Shelby. On weekdays, because of work, he stayed in John's room.

By the time Shelby would doze off, it was time to get up and start the day. She was up to cook breakfast for everyone before they left for work. She would walk Tommy to the door and sneak a kiss goodbye before returning to the kitchen to do dishes.

Joyce sometimes would stay and help out. They would talk about all kinds of things to make the time pass. Joyce was always ready to leave by eleven thirty. By the time most of the housework was done. Shelby would do whatever she wanted.

John and Frank was always home before five. Tommy would be there at five. Shelby would wait until Tommy got back to start dinner with Frank. John and Tommy would either follow them into the kitchen to talk or stay in the living room to watch TV.

Frank and John would sit on one side of the table which made Tommy sit next to Shelby. Frank was always watching them. John did most of the talking.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, Shelby did the laundry during the day. She did the dishes twice a day. She cooked all meals but not always alone. She would sweep and dust when she had time while everyone was gone.

Somedays, she would sit and watch TV until four or four thirty. Other days, she would find a book to read. Most of the time, she would reread Gracey's romance novel. She was finding out she had a lot more to learn about love.

The two weeks were almost over. Joyce said she sould decide if they could come off groundings by this weekend. Shelby really needed to get out before she went crazy from being stuck inside for two weeks. It was the only thing she could think about. She wanted to do something and she didn't care what. She just knew she couldn't stay in that house another two weeks.

When Joyce finally got home, Frank was alone in the living room. Shelby was in her room reading. Tommy and John were in John's room goofing off as always. Shelby could hear some of the conversation.

Joyce was talking about the grounding. Frank was explaining everything that had been done over the last two weeks. She agreed that things were getting done but she wanted to know had they learned their lesson.

Joyce appeared in Shelby's doorway.

"May I come in?" Joyce asked.

"Of course." Shelby said.

"Frank told me how hard you've been working. I'm proud of you." Joyce said.

"Thank you." Shelby said.

"I want to know have you learned anything from this experience?" Joyce asked.

"Yes, I have." Shelby said.

"What did you learn?" Joyce asked.

"Don't sneak out or you won't get to go out." Shelby said.

"That's right." Joyce said. "Do you think you can behave from now on?" Joyce asked.

"Yes ma'am." Shelby answered.

"Ok then. I'm going to talk to Tommy and John." Joyce said.

"Ok." Shelby said.

She went back to reading the book. She noticed that there was a lot that she failed to read before. Like, the woman had met the man on the train ride. She didn't remember reading that at all. They had talked to each other on their long trip. They had gotten to know each other first.

"Just like me and Tommy." she thought.

The party didn't happen for weeks after they had arrived. They were meeting each other in secret before then and talking.

"That makes more sense." she thought.

"You can go out this weekend with the boys." Joyce said.

"I can. Thank you." Shelby said.

"You're welcome. Get some sleep. Tomorrow's Friday." Joyce said as she walked back to the living room.

Shelby was so excited she thought she would explode. She squealed out loud. She could hear John and Tommy laughing at her. She didn't care. They were free to go out and party this weekend after being stuck inside. Two weeks is a long time when you're bored.

She curled up in bed and closed her eyes. She could hear John and Tommy talking. She couldn't hear what was being said though. She did know they weren't fighting.

"It's been a good day." she thought as she fell to sleep.