Change Of Heart

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

                Josh had picked me up from my house for supper that night and took me to his house. This is the first time I have ever been to his place and it was cute. It was out on acreage and the house was huge but still had a nice country charm. There were lots of kid’s toys on the lawn and a swing set. Trees enclosed the yard and rustled in the breeze.

                He parked behind a white truck just like his black one that was behind about four other trucks. My palms were sweating as I jumped out and pulled down my denim shorts to cover more of myself. Josh came around and slung his arm over my shoulders.

                “Josh, why are there so many vehicles?” I looked up at him, not even trying to hide the fear in my voice, “Is there going to be a lot of family here or something?”

                “Well,” he continued as he laughed softly, “yes. There will be a few people here,” his tone was soft but mocking. I never realized how much I hated meeting people until this moment. It just brings on so much stress, which I don’t handle well.

                As we neared the door, my stomach was twisted in tons of nervous knots. Josh grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly before he turned the doorknob. This was all too weird for me, I mean we are definitely not dating, he doesn’t like me, and we haven’t even kissed! So why do I have to meet his damn family?! The door slowly opened and we stepped in to the foyer, which was huge but had quite a few pairs of shoes taking up the space.

                Josh led me through a hallway on the right that had multiple doors on either side and we finally reached the kitchen where four middle aged women stood with large wine glasses full to the top with red wine. I laughed in my head at how much it reminded me of my mom when her and my dad were still together.  As soon as we entered the room they all stopped mid conversation and smiled warmly to me.

                “Holly, these are my aunties,” he motioned towards three women on one side of the island who were dressed well but had a mommy type look to their style. “So this is the girl you talk about all the time,” one of his aunties said as she came over and hugged me lightly while I blushed like a fool, “she’s a cutie Josh. My name is Carrie,” she smiled and went to refill her glass.

Then there was Charlotte who hugged me as well; she had beautiful straight blonde hair and kind of looked like Marilyn Munroe. The last auntie to come and hug me was Lana and she was just as pretty as the others, she too had blonde straight hair.

 Then Josh walked behind the counter and kissed the one woman on the cheek, “This is my beautiful mother,”

                “She sure is pretty, Joshy,” his mom came over and hugged me while my face stayed in a permanent crimson colour.

                “You have a beautiful home so far Mrs. Streeter,” I said politely.

                “Thank you. But call me Laura!” she walked back to cut her vegetables.

                “Well I’m going to keep showing her around the house,” Josh said as he walked down the hallway and I followed.

                “Ok, but all doors stay open Mr.” Laura yelled after us. My face flared again and Josh turned around to yell back.

                “Mom! She’s just a friend!” I looked up at him shyly and noticed him blushing too.

                “Who’s a friend?” asked a deep male voice from behind Josh. Slowly, he turned around and breathed out a sigh of relief.