Summer Swing (55 page)

“Most women claim they’ll never have another one again.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard,” I said with a laugh.
“
I’ll probably watch Dawn go through labor and change my mind.”

He smiled but replied, “That would be a shame though. You’ll make an incredible mother.”

That was sweet to hear. Very Harlan.

“Thanks. I tend to think I’ll be somewhat decent.”

“Somewhat decent,” he chuckled. He studied my features for just a second, and then softly combed my hair with his fingers. “You, my dear, will
be a fantastic mum.”

“And how many lads and lasses do
you
want?” I smiled.

“Hmm, well I guess the final result will depend on my wife, but I think I could survive having two or three.”

I nodded. “That’s a reasonable number. And you’ll make an excellent father, by the way.”

“You think so?”

“Absolutely. You’re very patient.”

“Hmm. My children will probably be hellions, then.”

“What?” I chuckled.

“My mother used to say, ‘
You
just wait, Harlan. You’re going to have children just like you someday.
’
”

I laughed out laugh. “Little Harlan was a hellion?” I pretended to be shocked.

“Little Harlan, big Harlan… Yes, I was quite a handful. My mother would make my father take me to work with him as a punishment for when I was really naughty.”

“Where did your dad work?”

“He wa
s a dishwasher. We were very poor. My mother mended clothing for a little bit of extra money, but when Felix was old enough to be in school she got a job cleaning the floors at the theatre. I guess I didn’t really understand how much stress I added to their lives
until I hear
d
her sobbing one night to my father. She had suffered a horrible injury to her leg and could hardly perform her job anymore. Really that extra income was the only thing barely getting us by, so she was very upset when my father made her quit.

“
I was fourteen, but I just remember hearing her say, ‘But he’s too young,
James
. Please don’t send Harlan to work.’ Well we tried to get by that way and it was tough. We basically ate only one meal a day, and Felix ended up getting pretty sick. I really did want to quit school so I could work and help out the family, but my mother refused to let me. I later found out that my parents—my biological parents—had quite the sum of money put away in my name, and it was entirely for my education. My parents—my adoptive parents—could have used som
e of it during those hard times,
but they chose not to. I guess… Well, I guess it was a very big lesson I learned
. I was very bright—as my mum always told me—so I chose to start applying myself to my studies.”

He shrugged as if to say, “And that was that.”

“So? You decided to become a doctor?”

“Yes. I wanted to be something they could be proud of, I suppose. I began university when I was sixteen and decided that I actually liked it quite a lot. I guess you could say I became an overachiever,” he chuckled.

“You were motivated by your family’s needs. That’s very admirable.”

He shrugged
again
. “They’re still pretty stubborn about
being taken care of. I try to tell them it’s their return from caring for me all those years. Gradually they’re learning to accept help.”

“So are they doing pretty well now? Did your mom’s leg ever heal?”

“She had surgery a few
years ago to reset the bone that hadn’t healed correctly. She’s doing much better, and she’s even working for the theatre again. But,” he smiled, “she’s a seamstress for the performers, not cleaning floors.”

“Oh, really? S
he make
s
the co
stumes
?”

“Yes, she does. She’s very talented.”

“Wow, I guess so. That’s great. I’m glad you get to see them a couple of times a year. Have they ever come to the
States?”

“No, not yet. I’m still working on it. They’re considering next Christmas for a visit. I hope it works out that way.”

“Good, me too. I’d love to meet your parents.”

He paused for a few seconds before he replied, “Oh?”

I nodded. “Well yeah, I want to hear some really great stories about what a naughty kid you were.”

He laughed. “Well you’d hear a lot of stories about getting into fights, stealing from the market, and skipping school a lot.”

I feigned my disbelief. “Sheesh, Harlan.”

He chuckled. “I know,
I tell you
,
I was pretty bad.”

“Well, it’s only shaped you into the person you are today, so I guess I’m grateful you were such a rotten kid. Obviously your parents are over it if they put up with you for that long.”

“Yes,” he smiled. “I suppose they are. And I would like for you to meet them.”

“Good, because I would like that too.”

He looked into my eyes for several seconds. I wasn’t quite sure what he was searching for, but I guess I figured it out when his hand softly touched my face. My heart began
to pound in my chest, thinking that he was going to kiss me again. But he didn’t, and he only smiled and took my hand in his.

Yes, that did it for me. He was so considerate of my feelings and it made me appreciate him even more. I felt a very strong desire to kiss him, so I resumed the spot I had been in earlier to be closer to him
, and placed my hands against his neck
.
I even tried to change my mind, thinking that I would have the will to do that, but I didn’t, and I kissed him anyway. It was much like the first time he kissed me, except I was the initiator this time, and I kissed him a lot longer. It was also a little more passionate, and because I could tell how much he cared about me, it made my heart grow for him even more. It was Harlan, the man that had been so patient with me, giving me all the time and space that I needed, and I was very thankful that he was in my life.

I couldn’t even pull away very easily, because when I tried to the first time, I just wanted to kiss him again. So we kissed for several minutes, just sitting there on the couch, letting our affection for each other take over. I normally did let my mind think about things too much, but that time I chose to just let go of all my worries. I would leave the decisions for another day.

When I did finally
distance
myself, we were both quiet for a while. I knew that I kind of smiled sheepishly, sure that I had probably stunned him a little bit by my forwardness. He looked a little dazed.

“You should
probably
get some sleep,” I
told him. “
Will you be okay driving?”

“Uh, yes I believe so. Now I’m wide
-awake and might not sleep for
days.”

I smiled. “Well… Sorry for that.”

“Hmm, are you really?” He shifted on the couch and
softly ran a hand through my hair before he stood. “I should go, though. But first I’d like you to have your birthday gift.”

“What? It’s on the table,” I replied, pointing to the flowers.

“No, that’s not really it.”

“Harlan, I don’t need any gifts.
And holy crap, you already paid the entire tab for dinner.
”

He had picked up his
coat
and pulled out a thin package from the inside pocket. I stood up when he handed it to me and said, “Just let me know what you think when you’re ready.”

“Okay, just let me open it—”

He put his hand over mine to halt my progress. “I’d rather you wait until I leave.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want you to have an answer
right now
. And I don’t want you to feel obligated to have an answer
right now
.”

I was more curious than ever and I opened it anyway. Harlan was about to leave just as I looked at what was in my hand, so
I took a few steps to catch up with him at the door, and
grabbed his arm to stop him.

“A flight to England?” I asked with disbelief.

He leaned forward and kissed me
on the lips
. “You have
a couple of months
to think it over, and if you choose not to go with me, it’s not a problem, all right? Goodnight, Ellie.”

He gave me one last smile as he shut the door behind him.

England. It was so exciting to me and I wanted to run after him and say yes.
Why wouldn’t I want to go to England with him?

Then I looked at the date on the ticket and my heart sank.
April 1
st
to April 8
th
.
It was my vacation time in the spring.

And i
t was the
same time that I was
still
planning t
o
see
Tyse in California…

Chapter Thirty-One

A few days later I got a small package in the mail. It was postmarked from San Francisco more than a week ago. The return address seemed to be from a shipping port or something, but the one thing that stood out to me
were
the initials above it:
TCM
.

Tyse Christopher Morgan
.

I almost lost my breath. I couldn’t open it fast enough, and even though the package was no larger than a shoebox, I had a hard time
getting into it
. It was taped up pretty good, and when I got it open, amidst a bunch of packaging peanuts, there was another taped up box inside. I finally ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife
to
carefully slice
the tape open. Fortunately there wasn’t another box, but there was a pile of tissue I had to unwrap to reveal…another box. Only it wasn’t more packaging, it was a beautiful
wooden
box, and
a
nam
e was even burned into the wood:
Ambrielle
.

I very carefully opened the box, and to my complete and utter shock, Billy Joel’s
“
All About Soul
”
began to play. It brought instant tears to my eyes, especially when I saw—instead of a traditional ballerina spinning around—a little snowboarding girl instead. It made me laugh—and cry at the same time.

I noticed another little piece of tissue inside the box, and I opened it up
to
find a silver bracelet.
It was really quaint—not like a perfectly
crafted jeweler’s bracelet—and i
t had handmade beads interspersed throughout the chains. I knew it definitely told a story, but I wasn’t sure what that was until I
read the little note that came with it. It described each of the tiny little pictures or
tribal
symbols on the beads, and all six of them had to do with qualities that Tyse felt I strongly possessed.

I was completely blown away—just the thought that went into it amazed me—and I felt like I had something that was a part of Tyse, or at least how I had directly influenced his life.

I also
found
another note on the bottom of the box and it was written in
Tyse’s
handwriting
as well
:

Dear Ellie,

These past few weeks have been really hard for me physically, but it’s been even harder emotionally because I miss being able to talk to you. I’m so sorry about Christmas—I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity because it’s the only way I could pay for my next semester of school.
For now Nate is footing the bill and I’ll miss the first week
of classes until I’m done here
, but I’ll have the money to pay him back, and I’ll be able to pay for the next semester too.
I guess besides me needing the money, it was also good timing for you a
nd the new changes in your life.

I’m sorry for not calling you before I left. Some things happened and I just decided to put it all aside for now and deal with it later
. I guess for now I’m just saying that I’ll be pretty busy for the next few months, and you probably won’t hear from me much. I hope everything is going good for you and I wish you the best, so don’t feel like you have to keep in touch anymore. I’m happy for you Ellie, and I just want to say thank you for being such a great friend to me.

             
Take Care,

             
Tyse