A New Hope (The Second Chance Series Book 2) (27 page)

Two hours later everything was in place and Karla pulled Manuel to the side. “Did you get it?” She asked in a hushed tone.

“I did.” He answered and handed her a small box. She lifted the lid and grinned. “It’s perfect.”

“Glad you approve.” He said dryly.

Karla looked at him and smiled when she saw the expression on his face. “I’m going to let that slide because I can tell that you’re afraid this isn’t going to work. Have a little faith, big brother.”

“Believe me, I have a lot of faith, but this is a long shot, Karla.”

Karla rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. “Do you still want to do it? If not it’s not too late to call it off.”

Manuel stood there for a minute and thought before he spoke. “I need her to know that I don’t think of her as a sister.”

“Then trust me please. I know her and I know how she thinks.”

“I trust you.” Manuel said and slipped the box back into his pocket. “I’ll be in the entertainment room.” He said and walked off.

Karla pulled out her phone and sent a text to Rylee.
Phase one complete. You’re up.

Rylee was talking to Travis Carpenter when her phone signaled an incoming text. She pulled it out, read the message from Karla and grinned. “Travis, I’ll be back in a minute.” She said and walked away before he had a chance to respond.

“Callie, how’s it going? Are you having fun?” She said when she stopped beside her best friend.

“Yes I am.” Callie answered. “You and Karla did an amazing job pulling this all together.

“We didn’t do it alone.” Rylee told her. “Manuel, Kiara and Leslie helped a lot. Manuel especially. He took us to get all the decorations and even paid for most of it.”

“That was generous of him.” Callie said and wondered why he would do something like that. “Where is he anyway?”

“I don’t know. I saw him go upstairs earlier, but I haven’t seen him come back down yet.” Rylee said, giving Kiara her cue to step into the conversation.

“Callie, can you do me a favor?” Kiara said as she walked up from where she was listening just out of view.

“Sure.” Callie answered with a smile. She really liked Karla’s sister.

“I need to call and check on Abuela, but Karla’s looking for Manuel. He said he was going to the entertainment room. Could you possibly run up and see if he’s there and let him know that Karla needs his help in the kitchen? I sent him a text, but he hasn’t answered it.”

“Yeah, sure.” Callie answered, not really wanting to talk to Manuel, but not wanting them to know she was avoiding him either. “I’ll look for him and let him know.”

“Thank you.” Kiara said and hugged Callie tightly. When Callie started walking upstairs Kiara locked eyes with Rylee and grinned before she headed into the kitchen to wait with Karla.

As Callie approached the entertainment room she heard music playing. When she opened the door she just stood there and listened for a minute to the song that was playing. It was
My All
by Mariah Carey. Even though it was an older song it was one of her favorites. When she stepped into the room she looked at the screen and gasped. Playing on the screen was a slide show. There were pictures of her and Conner when they were younger mixed with more recent pictures that included Karla and Rylee. She stood there and watched until the song ended and the last picture to pop up was a picture that was taken on Christmas Eve. It was a picture of her and Manuel. She was looking at something off in the distance and he was looking at her.

“Look at that picture, Callie, and tell me what you see.” Manuel said from behind her.

She jumped in surprise and turned to look at him. “What’s this all about, Manuel?”

“This is about me giving you your birthday gift.” He answered.

“Couldn’t you have just given it to me downstairs like everyone else?” She asked in a quiet voice.

“No,” was all he said as he took another step towards her. “I needed to do it up here so you could see that picture in private.”

“I’ve seen the picture before.” She told him.

“Yes, but have you really looked at it?” He asked. He was starting to worry that this wouldn’t work.

“Manuel, what’s this all about?” She asked again.

“Turn around and look at the picture.” He said and when she did he came up behind her and placed a necklace around her neck. “Happy birthday, Callie.” He whispered in her ear and kissed her on the cheek before he stepped away and silently left the room.

She stood there, staring at the picture for a few minutes before she really saw the look in his eyes. When she noticed the longing and sadness in his eyes she realized what he was trying to tell her. “Oh my God.” She whispered and sat in the seat next to her.

She sat there for a few more minutes, trying to figure out what to do, when she remembered the necklace he’d put around her neck. She lifted it and saw a small silver key. She looked at it for a couple of minutes before she laid it against her chest, stood from the chair and walked out of the room. She needed to find Manuel.

When she walked down the stairs she headed straight into the kitchen. He was sitting at the bar alone and she slid on the stool beside him. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Manuel pulled out his keys and laid them where she could see them. When she spotted the little heart shaped lock on them she gasped.

“You are the holder of the key to unlock my heart.” He said in a soft voice. “Since the first moment I met you I have been drawn to you. I fought it and denied it, but it wouldn’t go away. I tried to convince myself that there could never be anything between us because you’re Karla’s best friend and you’re so young, but the more I’m around you the harder it is to stay away. I even moved out of this house hoping it would put some distance between us, but you’re there, in my thoughts, always. I know you’re sixteen and I’m twenty and I know that you still have a lot to experience, but I needed you to know how I feel. I needed you to know that when you’re ready I’ll be there. If you don’t feel the same way it’s okay. I want you to keep the key though. I want you to always know that I’m there and that you can always count on me for anything.”

When he stopped talking Callie’s eyes were filled with tears. She wiped them away and took a deep breath. “When we first met I was going through a really rough time and you irritated me to no end, but I felt that pull too. The day you followed me into the family room and wiped away my tears was the day I knew I wanted more than a big brother/little sister relationship with you, but in the days that followed you seemed to slip more into that big brother role and I hated it. I have enough big bothers and I wanted more from you. I wanted you to see me as more than your little sister’s best friend. When you went back home I was relieved and devastated at the same time. I pushed you from my mind and focused on school until Daniel asked me to go on a date with him. My first thought was of you and how you would react if you knew I was dating him. I pushed that thought aside and accepted his invitation, but I knew there would never be anything except a few dates between us. When he asked me to make it official I told him I couldn’t see him anymore. I don’t know that I’m ready for a serious relationship, but I would like to get to know you better and see where this goes.”

Manuel looked at her and smiled. “I would like that very much.” He said and the room filled with cheers.

“Well it`s about time.” They heard Karla say from the dining room door and they both started laughing.

Conner rang the Peterson’s doorbell and waited for Leslie to open the door and invite him in. “Hello, Conner.” She said and stepped aside for him to enter.

“Hello, Leslie.” He answered past the lump in his throat.

“You look very handsome.” She told him with a smile. “Why in the world are you so nervous though?”

“It was one year ago tonight that I asked Karla to be my girlfriend.” Conner answered. “I want to make tonight special for her and I’m not sure I can.”

“What do you have planned other than the dance?” Leslie asked. She thought it was cute that even after a year Conner still got nervous when he picked Karla up for a date.

“I’m taking her to dinner first. I also bought her a small gift. Want to see it?”

“You know I do.” Leslie answered with a smile.

Conner reached in his pocket and pulled out a small box and placed it in Leslie’s hand. She looked at it for a second before she opened it and gasped. Inside was a silver infinity ring. “This is beautiful, Conner.”

“Think she’ll like it?” He asked, unsure of his choice.

“She’ll love it. How did you know her ring size?”

“Callie had her try on a couple of her rings last week and she gave me the one that fit Karla’s right hand ring finger to take with me when I got this.”

“Very sneaky.” Leslie said with a smile as she closed the ring box and handed it back to him. “I’m going to go see if she’s ready. I’ll be back in a minute.”

When Leslie left Andrew walked out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. “Can you come in here for a minute please?” He asked and walked back to the kitchen.

Conner gulped audibly before he followed Andrew into the kitchen. “Yes, sir.” He said and Andrew grinned.

“Conner, you have no reason to be scared. I’d never hurt you, unless you hurt my girl that is. I just want to talk to you for a minute.” Conner visibly relaxed at Andrew’s words and Andrew continued. “It wasn’t that long ago that I was a sixteen year old boy and I remember what I thought and did back then. I know that sex is a big part of growing up and it`s very common among teenagers. I don’t know if you and Karla have taken that step and frankly I don’t want to know. I hope you haven’t and I in no way encourage it, but I do want you to both be safe. I guess what I’m trying, but failing, to say is that if you have any questions or need anything you can always come to me. I know it’s not always easy to talk to your dad, and it would probably be harder to talk to me, but we have both been in your shoes and as doctors we can both answer any questions you have.”

Conner just stood there and stared at Andrew for a minute before he was able to speak. “Dr. Peterson, Karla and I have not taken our relationship to that level. Neither of us are ready for that. I know that sex is a natural thing, especially when you have a relationship like Karla and I do, and it is something she and I have discussed, but it’s not something that’s going to happen any time in the near future. Dad had almost this exact talk with me before I left the house tonight and I’m going to tell you exactly what I told him. I love Karla more than anything in this world, but more than that I respect her. Nothing like that will happen between us until we’re both one hundred percent sure it’s what we want.”

Andrew looked at Conner for a second before he clapped his hand down on Conner’s shoulder. “You are a very smart, very clear headed young man. I am so glad Karla found a boy like you. I trust you with my girl and I trust that you love her almost as much as I do and will never do anything to hurt her.”

“I love her more than anything and her happiness and wellbeing will always come first.” Conner assured him as he heard Karla and Leslie coming down the stairs. He turned as Karla walked into the kitchen and his jaw hit the floor. Karla was wearing a floor length sapphire blue dress and had her hair clipped up and spilling out in little ringlets from a fancy twist. She was wearing small heels, which brought her almost to his shoulder in height and she looked radiant.

“Wow. Karla, you look amazing.” Conner told her as he grabbed her hand and kissed it. “I am going to be the envy of all the guys at the dance.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself.” Karla said with a grin. Conner was wearing a black suit with a shirt that matched her dress perfectly and a black tie. At six feet tall he towered over her five feet two inches, but when he wore a suit he looked even taller.

“Ready?” He asked. He had made dinner reservations as one of the nicer hotel restaurants and didn’t want to be late.

“The dance doesn’t start for over an hour, Conner. What are we going to do until then?” She asked. She didn’t question him when he’d asked her to be ready early, but now she was curious.

“It’s a surprise.” He whispered in her ear as he led her out the front door. When he opened the door to his dad’s car she looked at him in confusion. “Trust me.” He said and helped her into the car.

“Where’s your car?” She asked. She loved his little Camry. It was the same color as his eyes.

“Dad let me borrow his Lexus for tonight.” Conner answered as he climbed behind the wheel and buckled his seat belt. “Happy first anniversary, Karla.” He said before he started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

“Happy first anniversary, Conner.” She responded with a smile.

As they made their way to the restaurant they talked about things that had happened over the past year and when they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant Karla smiled. They had just been talking about this place a couple of weeks ago after Jake brought Kiara here and she came home raving about how good the food was.

When the valet opened the door for Karla she stepped out and waited for Conner to hand the keys over and join her. “This place is so expensive.” She said in a whisper.

“Don’t worry about that, Karla. Tonight is special and I wanted to do something special for you.”

“I love you, Conner Newberry.” She said and kissed his cheek.

“And I love you, Karla Peterson.” He responded and she smiled. Her name change became official the day before and she loved hearing him say it.

Dinner passed quickly and was filled with conversation and laughs. As dessert was served Conner reached into his pocket and grasped the ring box. He took a deep breath, pulled it out and placed it on the table in front of her. “Happy anniversary, Karla.”

She looked at the small box for a second, but instead of reaching for it she reached into her small purse and pulled out a small box and placed it in front of him. “Happy anniversary, Conner.” She said and grabbed her box off the table. “On three?” She asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

“One, two, three.” He said and they both opened their boxes.

“Oh, Conner.” Karla said when she saw the ring sitting in the black velvet lining of the box. “It is perfect.” She whispered and looked at him with tear filled eyes.

Conner smiled at her and looked into his own box. “Wow,” he whispered when he pulled out the crystal replica of the Millennium Falcon. “This is absolutely beautiful.”

“I wasn’t sure what to get you and when I saw that online I knew you’d love it.” Karla said as she pulled her ring from the box.

Conner set his gift back on the cushion of velvet and took the ring from her. He reached down and grabbed her right hand and slid the ring on. “The infinity symbol means eternal and when I saw this I knew it was the gift for you. Like the necklace I gave you for your birthday, this ring is a promise. I love you, Karla and that will never change.”

Karla reached across the table and clasped both of his hands in hers and looked into his eyes. “I love you too, Conner. Nothing anyone says or does will ever change that.”

After they finished their dessert Conner paid the check and they headed to the dance.