Divine (32 page)

I took his threat to
heart about Jonah staying off of the property; I didn't want to take
any chances and have to deal with the cops being called. So, over the
next few weeks, I brought Jonah lunch at the auto shop. It was quite
nice actually, a change of pace and new scenery to stare at while we
ate.

Fox seemed a little
bothered by it, though. But he eventually came around as it got
closer to my birthday, chatting me up between customers during my
long shifts. It really bothered me that he showed no respect for the
relationship that Jonah and I had shared. He never brought him up or
asked how he was. It was really starting to sink in that he
did
have feelings for me, that he didn't want me to be with the man
who had stolen my heart.

* * *

The day of my
eighteenth birthday was yet another one of those days that I would
consider the best day of my life. I woke up to my phone humming
Jonah's ring tone on my nightstand, making my sleepy face light up
with a smile. I rolled over and disconnected it from its charger and
answered it swiftly before it went to my voice mail.

“
Hi,” I
uttered through a tired yawn.

“
Happy Birthday!
Eighteen years old. You know what that means?”

I rolled onto my back
and pulled my arm above my head in a long stretch. “Um, that
I'm officially an adult and am responsible for everything that I do?”

His deep voice laughed
on the other end of the line and made my smile widen. “Yeah,
that's one thing. But you know what else it means?”

“
Hmm,” I
breathed as I propped my arm behind my head. “We're going
fishing?”

“
Yep!”

“
It's about dang
time,” I complained with a tease. “You promised me so
long ago that I almost forgot it was going to happen.”

“
Oh yeah right,
you haven't stopped talking about it since I told you about it.”

I chuckled lightly into
his ear. “Yeah, I know. It better be amazing.”

“
It will, don't
you worry about that. And remember to bring your bathing suit.”

“
Bathing suit,
huh?” I asked as I kicked the covers off of my body and looked
down at what I had worn to bed. The hot pink tank top and black lacy
underwear fit me well; I had been trying to watch my figure, and I
was pleased to have the chance to show off my body to him.

“
Yeah, Ash,
you'll need it; we'll be getting in the water.”

I wasn't really
listening to what he was saying. There was just something about
rolling around in my bed in lacy underwear that made me want to talk
racily to him; I wanted to stir him up. “Well,” I
breathed softly, “what time do you want me?” The words
flowed out with an obvious double meaning but I left them alone,
mostly because I really wanted to ask him in the way that it sounded.

“
Uh,” he
laughed shyly as he searched for his words, “well, how about an
hour from now?”

I pulled the phone away
from my ear to check the time and saw that it was nine o'clock. “I
might need a couple of hours, actually. Steve said he had something
for me at the restaurant, so I'm going to swing by there first.”

“
Okay, well, do
you want me to pick you up when you get home or do you want to come
get me?”

I weighed the options
in my head about who's car to take fishing. It had been awhile since
I'd been in his Dodge, and I really missed sitting so high up and
looming over the cars that passed us on the streets. He looked so
good driving it, too; it was a very sexy truck.

“
I want you to
come get me,” I told him matter-of-factly.

“
Ooh, I like a
girl who knows what she wants.”

I laughed softly and
rolled over to the edge of my bed, holding the phone close to my ear.
“Yeah, I
do
know what I want.”

“
Well, maybe I
can help you out with that today.”

“
That's what I'm
hoping for.”

A light knocking came
from the other side of my door just as my sentence ended. I raised my
eyes up toward it and waited, knowing that it was my parents and
hoping that they hadn't heard any of our flirtatious conversation.

“
Hey, Jonah, I
gotta go. My parents are knocking on my door to sing me the birthday
song.”

“
Okay,” he
laughed. “I'll pick you up in a couple of hours.”

“
Okay, see you
then.”

I ended the call and
sat up in bed, pulling the covers over my lap so my dad wouldn't see
what I had been rolling around in. “Come in,” I called as
I sat the phone back on my nightstand.

The door slowly opened
with a single push, revealing my smiling parents. This time my dad
had made an actual cake, and they were wearing real party hats, not
the homemade ones like last year. I smiled giddily as they paced
toward me singing in unison, “Happy Birthday to you . . .”

“
You guys,”
I giggled as my dad pushed the cake down in front of me. Eighteen
green candles were blazing on the top, waiting to be blown out.

“
Make a wish!”
my mom sang loudly.

I closed my eyes and
made my wish, the same as last year's:
Jonah.
My wish just
had
to come true. After all, my wish had already been granted from the
year before when I wished for him, and all the time I had spent with
him since then was completely amazing. I opened my eyes and drew in a
breath, releasing it into the air and blowing out all of the candles.

“
Well,” my
dad beamed, “I made this cake for you, Sugar Bean; I hope you
like it. But, you don't have to eat it right now.”

“
I think I can
handle it, Dad,” I said as I looked down at the perfectly
concocted dessert.

My mom pulled a silver
fork out from the pocket of her fuzzy robe. “Here you go.”

I laughed as I took it
from her and smoothed my fingers down its prongs to remove any fuzzes
that might have been stuck to it. Then I dove right in and pulled out
a huge chunk to push into my mouth, almost getting one that was too
big to fit.

“
Wow, Dad,”
I said through my chews, “it's delicious. Thank you so much.”

His beaming face smiled
like it always did when he was complimented on his culinary skills.
“You're welcome, sweetheart.”

My mom took the fork
when I was done and stuck it back into her deep robe pocket. “I
bet you're so excited to go fishing,” she bubbled. “I've
heard about it for so long now that
I'm
excited that you're
going.”

“
Yeah, I'm pretty
excited. He's picking me up in a couple of hours, but I have to run
to work first because Steve has something he wants to give me.”

My dad shook his head
and took it as a cue to leave. “Then we'll get out of your hair
and let you get ready for your day.”

“
You're not in my
hair, Dad,” I said softly, sad that he would think that I felt
that way.

“
Oh, I know, I
just mean that I know you have a big day. We'll be here when you get
home tonight; get ready for us to take you on a nice birthday dinner
like last year. We'll be leaving around six thirty; does that sound
good?”

“
Yeah, thanks,”
I smiled warmly at him.

My mom walked out of my
room first and my dad followed behind her, still holding the cake.
“We'll see you later tonight, honey,” she called from the
hallway. “We love you.”

“
I love you guys,
too.”

As soon as my dad was
out of sight I jumped out of bed and closed my door so I could figure
out what to wear. I swung my closet open and pulled out a favorite
shirt of mine, a black scoop-neck that had thin lacy straps, and
paired it with some dark colored jean capris and a new pair of red
flip flops. I threw on my robe and took my clothes to the bathroom
with me so I could put them on after my shower.

When I was all dolled
up and ready to go I went back to my closet for the new bathing suit
that I had bought: a soft pink two piece. It was sexy enough, with
ties on the sides of the hips, as well as behind the neck and back.
When I went shopping for a new one I wasn't quite sure of what I was
looking for, but when I saw it I knew that it would look perfect on
me, and that Jonah would love it. I stuffed it in my purse and left
the house, eager to get the stop at my job over with so I could move
on to spending the day with Jonah.

* * *

The restaurant was slow
since it was earlier on a Saturday morning, so I had a lot of time to
chat with Brittany and Steve, who were apparently the only ones
there.

“
Happy Birthday!”
Brittany cheered when I walked in. “You look so pretty! I bet
you're
so
looking forward to your day with Jonah!”

I nodded happily as I
walked up to the counter and leaned against its freshly cleaned
surface. “Oh, man, I can't wait! I've had to wait so long for
this day to finally come!”

“
I know! And I
can't wait to hear about all of the juicy details,” she said
devilishly, shooting me a mischievous grin.

“
Well,” I
giggled, “you'll be the first to know.”

Steve stuck his head
out from the kitchen door and smiled. “Is that the birthday
girl?” he called out.

Brittany turned and
waved him over. “Yep, she's here! Come on out!”

He pushed his body
further past the door and revealed a giant chocolate cake, complete
with green sprinkles and green flaming candles. It was already cut
into eighteen thin slices, with a single candle sitting in the center
of each piece.

“
You've got to be
kidding me!” I laughed as I brought my hands up to my face. “My
dad made me almost the same exact cake!”

Steve stopped in his
tracks and faked a look of disappointment. “Oh, well, I'm
taking it back then . . .”

“
Oh, stop that!”
I chuckled. “I love it Steve! I can't believe you made me a
cake; we don't serve cake here.”

He continued his steps
and brought it to the counter, setting it carefully on the surface.
“Yeah, I told you that if I know it's your birthday then I'll
make you one. I would have made it for you last year too if I would
have known.”

I looked down at the
wonderfully made dessert. I had so many people who loved and cared
for me; I felt truly blessed.

“
Well, make your
wish!” Brittany bubbled.

“
Can I make the
same wish twice?”

Steve crossed his arms
and nodded. “It's your birthday, you can do whatever you want.”

I smiled and closed my
eyes, blowing out all eighteen candles with a single breath. My wish
was the same as this morning's, and it was the same as what I had
wished for on the morning of my seventeenth birthday.

Steve and Brittany
clapped wildly. “Hold on,” Steve said as he hurried back
to the kitchen.

Brittany bent down
underneath the counter and pulled up a single white envelope. “This
is my gift to you,” she said as she handed it to me.

I took it from her and
flipped it over, running my finger underneath the glued edges. Inside
was a gift certificate for a massage and a facial from a high end spa
in the city.

“
Oh my gosh,
Brittany, this is so amazing! Thank you so much!” I was so
appreciative of her gift that I wanted to go around the counter to
give her a hug, instead of reaching across it. She squeezed me
tightly and we swayed back and forth while we laughed, acting like a
couple of ten year-olds.

Steve came out of the
kitchen as we let go of each other, carrying a small stack of white
plates and three forks. “Okay, here we go,” he said as he
placed them down next to the cake.

I grabbed a fork and
stuck it underneath a thin slice, pulling it away and carefully
placing it on a plate. Steve followed after Brittany, and we all
stood quietly at the counter, eating away at the moist dessert.

“
It's delicious,
Steve, thank you. And thank you for the gift, Brittany.”

“
You're welcome,”
Steve answered. “I better be getting back to work now, I see a
customer pulling up outside.”