When Its Least Expected (40 page)

She nodded and wiped her free sweaty hand against her graduation gown.

God, she seriously hated attention.

The commencement ceremony ended with Abigail skipping off the stage, her blond hair

flowed behind her like a hero’s cape. Harley’s tears were there again, and she quickly
wiped them away with her sleeve, sniffling the whole time. It was over. Four years
of sweat, hard work, tears, pain, and even a little love, was done. It was almost
impossible to believe.

“Let’s get out of here, Har. Mom and Dad want to take us to Flippin’ Yummy in Kearney

for dinner. I’m dying here.” David bumped into her with her chair as she marveled
at the crowd around them.

“God, David, when are you
not
hungry?” He laughed as she grabbed the handles of his chair. Surprisingly, he didn’t
fight her as she pushed him towards the exit to meet her parents.

“So, it wasn’t so bad was it?” Harley leaned over his shoulder to whisper in his ear.
He

smiled back at her over her shoulder.

“Nah, it wasn’t. You were worried for nothing, sis.” Harley slugged him in the shoulder,

and he winced, laughing even harder.

“Whatever. You were the worried one. I was just worried
for
you. It doesn’t matter now.

I’m just excited that we never,
ever
have to set foot in this place again.” He smiled back at her, but he didn’t respond.

She wondered what he was thinking. Did he not feel the same way? Then again, he

technically hadn’t been back inside the school for almost two years.

Abigail and her parents were there next to Harley’s parents, chatting politely back
and

forth. It was rare to see the Zanes all out together. They may have appeared to be
a married couple to others around them, but to the people who knew them best, like
Abigail, Harley and David, they were a raging inferno, ready to explode on a moment’s
notice. Not a lot of teenagers actually
wished
that their parents were going to get a divorce, but Abigail was one of a kind.

“Well, what do you guys think? You want to go get some pizza? Never mind. That was

probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever asked,” Harley’s dad laughed, as her mom reached
out to grab his hand. Her eyes were sickeningly sweet and all too adoring as she stared
up at her

husband.

Yeah, the Andersons and the Zane’s were night and day.

A text message sounded on her phone, and eagerly she searched through her pockets
to

grab it. There was only one person she expected to hear from. She grinned like an
idiot as she stared down at his written words.

Hey, little beast. I wish I was there with you, but still know that I am thinking
of you. I’m
so, so proud. I miss you…

Those three little words said it all.
I miss you.
She grinned as the seven of them made their way out the door. She absolutely, one
hundred percent, couldn’t wait to see him again, but her giddiness was short lived
when she noticed her best friend staring longingly off in the distance.

“Everything okay, Abs?” Abigail turned to face her, eyes wide in surprise. Her demeanor

instantly changes into a fake looking mask of happiness.

Abigail blinked, seeming to refocus on the present rather than her daydreams as he
turned

to answer her. “Yep, everything is fantastic, Har. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m actually pretty good,” she nodded, flexing her hands at her waist as they
made

their way to the car. “But don’t try changing the subject on me. I know when something’s
up, so spill it.”

Abigail sighed, resting her head against Harley’s shoulder. Her voice was barely above
a

whisper when she responded. “It’s just my parents. They’ve been at each other’s throats
all night, and I can’t take it. It’s like they can’t even get along for one night,
even for me. I’m sorry; I don’t mean to be a downer. It’s just … Ugh, never mind.”

Harley didn’t know what she was going through. She was blessed with parents who

would do anything for each other, but she nodded, trying to pretend to understand
for Abigail’s sake.

“You want to hang with us and maybe get some pizza or something? We’re going to your

favorite place!” She nudged Abigail in the ribs, getting a giggle out of her in response.
She seemed to relax … for a moment at least.

“Nah, not tonight. Its family night. Gotta try and maintain some resemblance.” Harley

nodded and squeezed her arm in reassurance. Things must have been pretty bad.

“Call me later. We’ll talk, okay?” With one last one armed hug, Abigail turned and

walked away blowing a
friendly
kiss to David as she did.

“She’s going to be okay, Har. Abigail is a strong girl. You know that as well as I
do.”

Looking down at the hopeful face of her brother, Harley smiled sadly. God, she hoped
he was right.

“Race ya to the car?” David suggested, attempting to lighten the mood. Before she
could

actually respond, Harley found herself running madly to catch up to him. He was hella
fast.

“When are you going to learn that I’ll always kick your ass, even in this thing?”
He

patted the arms of his chair, not even a bit breathless as their dad helped him stand.
Within a matter of seconds, he hobbled over to the car one legged. He strapped his
body into the buckle before she could say her full name without gasping for breath.

He was a speed demon … and she was majorly out of shape.

“Whatever, asshole,” she mumbled under her breath, finally settled in the back seat
next

to him.

“Harley,” her mom warned, and David, the butthead, had the nerve to stick his tongue
out

at her like a four year old.

Ugh, boys…

* * *

couldn’t remember the last time they’d laughed like this. It had been too long … way
too long. It did her aching heart good to know that they could weather any storm.
She just hated the fact that she was about to rain on their happy parade.

She cleared her throat and flexed her fingers on top of the table. Here it went. “Okay,
so

you all know I’m going to Santa Cruz to in a week to see Mase, right?”

“Of course, honey. We paid for the tickets. How could we
not
know?” Her frugal mother had apparently developed a mild version of the dreaded Anderson
smartass
curse.

“Yes,
Mom
, I know.” She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but all she wanted to do was hug
her and praise her for finally loosening up. “Anyways, I’ve been doing some thinking
about college and stuff, and Mason convinced me that I should check out the community
college right there in Santa Cruz,” she cringed and averted her eyes to the table,
determined to get the words out before she could turn into a complete chicken. “He
said it was super nice and stuff, so I thought
why not look into it
?”

She gnawed on her lower lip, waiting impatiently for someone to respond, finally lifting

her eyes to chance their quiet gazes. What she didn’t expect was for mother to be
balling like a baby. “Mom, come on. Don’t do this here, please? I won’t go. It was
just a thought, okay?”

Harley’s dad was the first to respond, and surprisingly, he did it with a genuine
smile on

his face. She scrunched her eyes together. What was going on?

“Honey, your mom’s not crying because she doesn’t want you to go. Well a little bit
I’m

sure, but mostly sweetie, she’s proud of you. You’re finally making a mature, adult
decision involving your future. You’ve been avoiding
any
kind of decisions for so long now, and we’re both just … proud of you, Har.” He pulled
her mom close to him, kissing her the top of her head.

Harley gaped in disbelief. Her mouth practically hit the table as she did. What the
hell

was happening? Her parents were actually okay with this? It was a college, sure, but
it was over fifteen hundred miles away! She turned her suddenly excited gleam towards
David, but all of her enthusiasm waivered as she took in the sad shadows in his eyes.
Crappity crap, he wasn’t happy.

“David?” she whispered, needing his approval more than anyone else’s. She’d vowed
so

long ago to stay with him, and he was most likely going to hate her for it, even if
he didn’t actually physically say so.

Tears filled her eyes as she waited on bated breath for his reply. “Come on, Harley.
Don’t

cry. If this is what you want, then I’ll stand by you, as always,” he finally grinned.
The look was so genuine, that she’d become a blubbering mess just like her mom.

She jumped from her chair, moved towards her brother, only so she could wrap her arms

around his neck. A full on hug was definitely in order. Her parents beamed she sat
back down.

Things were good. Life was good. Then David spoke.

“I’ve got news of my own,” he paused, clearing his throat as he messed with his white

napkin. Everyone focused their unwavering gazes on him, Harley especially. He was
being

cryptic. She didn’t like cryptic.

“I’m ready to get my new leg now.”

Okay, so that kind of news wasn’t cryptic. That kind of news was fan-freaking-tastic!

Harley squealed. Her mom rose from her chair this time, arms outstretched as she reached
in for a hug of her own. He pulled back and shook his head. His face was a fireball
red, but for once Harley agreed with her mom and followed in her footsteps, wrapping
her own arm around his

shoulder, pulling him close to kiss his fluffy head of brown hair.

“Oh, David, honey! We’re so happy! But … are you sure? I mean, you’ve been against

this from the get go. What made you change your mind?”

David shrugged. His eyes focused solely on Harley who squirmed, suddenly

uncomfortable. “Life is full of changes. Right, Har? Maybe I need one myself.” Harley’s
entire body eased. Her smile was in full force though as her heart beat with eagerness.

Yes, he was more than right. Change was good, beyond good apparently, and she’d never

been more excited for it in her life.

The crowd at the San Jose International airport was flowing mindlessly around Mason
as

he sat bouncing his knee in eagerness, waiting for his sister and mom to arrive.

With the Santa Cruz ASP tournament starting tomorrow, he needed his family to be there

with him. Selfishly though, he was mostly wishing Harley would be there with him instead.
For the first time in his fourteen years of surfing, Mason was losing his focus out
on the water. Hell, he was screwing up the simple things like duck dives. He’d mastered
those when he was like, what, ten? His surfing buddy and mentor Jake had been trying
to help him get his shit back

together, but in all honestly, nobody could save him from his real issues. He missed
Harley–

horribly. Ever since he’d left her, yet again, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking
about her. It was worse than before too, especially after what they shared that day
of his grandfather’s funeral.

Every time he closed his eyes, all he could envision was Harley lying under him, her
face

full of desire, need, heat, and all things love for him. Some nights, he could almost
feel her warm breath against his naked chest, but fantasizing about the girl he was
in love with in the middle of a busy airport wasn’t a good idea.

Hell, fantasizing about her at all was bad, because the more he did it; the more he
wanted

to board a plane back to Hillsdale just so he could whisk her away with him.

No longer able to sit still, Mason stood to stretch, running a hand down the front
of his

face. He forced himself to move towards the big terminal window to wait. Seconds later,
they announced their planes arrival, and just a little of his aching heart eased.
It wasn’t Harley, but it was mouse. She made his world that much more awesome. Yeah,
his mom being there was

pretty cool too.

A high pitched laugh caught his attention before he even saw her. Seconds later, her

familiar blonde head appeared. Mason practically smashed into her as they met, swinging
her around in a circle. She squealed and smacked his shoulder. He grinned hard at
her. She was

always so easily embarrassed.

“Hey, big brother, it’s good to see you! Wow, look at that skin! You look … black!”

Maisy giggled, lifting the arm of his t-shirt up to catch a glimpse at his dark shoulders.
He laughed at her sixteen year old greeting as he pulled his mom into a sideways hug.

“Hey, Mom.” She smiled up at him through wet lashes, hugging him back with a

fierceness he hadn’t seen or felt from her in a long time.

Too long actually.

“You look good, Mase. Have you been using plenty of sunscreen? By the looks of it,
you

haven’t.” And she was back, but he welcomed it, kissing her on top of her head as
he lifted her bags onto her shoulders.

“Yep, Mom, I can’t help it that the sun loves me!” He winked down at her, and she
shook

her head, pursing her lips.

“I’ve got it, Mom.” She shook her head no, pointing over at something behind him.
An

uncharacteristic smirk was on her lips. He scrunched up his nose in confusion. “I
think that young lady over there might need your help a little bit more than I do.”

Mason turned on his heels, and then it happened. His heart, it fell into his feet.
His jaw

dropped, and without even knowing it, his feet began to move. Still, he wasn’t fully
processing what stood ten feet before him.

Harley.

Christ, she’d come.

Picking up speed and not even caring as he rammed into people, he raced towards her,

wrapping her so tightly in a hug that she most likely wouldn’t be feeling her ribs
for days. “Jesus, Mase, I missed you too, but … I can’t … breathe,” she snickered.
Still, he didn’t stop clinging to her. He had her there with him, and he wasn’t letting
her go. Ever. Without her permission, Mason pulled back, cupped her face with his
hands, and crushed his mouth to hers.