Getting home she thought she would be lucky enough to miss her father. That he would already be in bed sound asleep. The lights were off, the only light on was the porch light.
Sneaking up to her room, was a no go, as the second her foot hit the bottom step, the light in the living room turned on. With a sigh, she headed for the living room.
"What are you doing?" Harley asked. She said nothing. "It's a quarter to eleven; I get no call that you are going to be out late. I get no call that your plans changed at all. I ask again, Zoe, what are you doing?" Seeing him so angry, scared her a bit. He had been nothing but sweet and loving, and now he was mad at her, had every right to be mad at her. She was the one in the wrong.
"Having fun with a friend," she replied, sticking to the truth even if it was a bit vague.
"A friend who happens to be Wade Kinsella. I like the boy, but he's one of those boys you don't want hanging around your daughter alone."
"Then trust your daughter," she snapped at him. "I won't stay away from the one person that I am truly friends with, because you have a problem with his reputation. He may have slept with those girls, but they got into bed with him knowingly. Why do you suddenly have a problem with Wade? He has a room here?" She asked, her voice getting louder and angrier.
"I don't have a problem with him. I worry about you. I don't want to see you get hurt. To rush into something you aren't ready for," he told her calmly. "What Wade does is none of my concern until what he does involves my daughter. Who thinks it is okay to stay out as late as she pleases with a boy, without calling to inform her father," he explained, getting his emotions in check.
"I'm sorry about not calling. I didn't even think about that. I don't make a habit out of staying out all night. Things are different here, and I am still learning how to deal with it. I can promise you that it won't happen again. I will try to be better at informing you of my whereabouts," she told him. After not having to have a rule like that, it was going to be a bit hard to remember to let her father know if a plan changes while she is out.
"Okay," he told her, letting her believe that was the end of it. "You're still grounded for a week," he told her, heading off. "Goodnight sweetie," he said.
"Night," she replied, heading up to her room.
She tried to keep the smile from her face; it was one of the things she couldn't control. It was the first time in her 16 years of life that she was being grounded for breaking a rule, for making a parent worry. Of course, she got into trouble when she was a kid, a good stern talking to, just never grounded. As the years passed it was hard to get grounded when your mom wasn't around to make sure you, we're obeying any rules that were in place. Being grounded may have been a punishment, one she would grow to hate, right now she felt the opposite and relished in the fact that she was grounded for a week. It showed her that Harley did care a great deal about her and didn't want her to stay because he thought it was the right thing to do.
The following day she was free to do as she pleased in the confines of the house, without using the phone or having people come over. It should have been hell for her, she should be bored out of her mind. She wasn't not really. She spent the morning curled up on the couch reading a book she found in her father's study, with a steaming cup of tea. When lunchtime rolled around she made herself a sandwich with a side of salad and a cup of iced tea. It was after she finished lunch and cleaned up her mess that she was having a hard time, she wasn't in the mood to read her book any longer. The quietness of the house was starting to take its toll on her. Company would be great to have.
She would clean the house if Harley didn't already keep it in pristine conditions. She had no such luck in finding a speck of dust anywhere in the house. Grabbing the book, she spent all morning reading, she headed outside to the backyard, relaxing in the hammock that was nestled under the shade. The book lay on her stomach as she looked up at the sky watching as the clouds floated by at their own slow pace, a handful going by faster than others.
"Where have you been?" The voice startled her that she nearly fell on her butt right out of the hammock.
"What are you doing here?" She hissed, getting her racing heart to calm down in her chest.
"Making sure you are alright," he replied. He spent most his day waiting to see if Zoe would show up. Called a handful of times only for his call to go straight to voicemail each and every time. He didn't want to believe that she was avoiding him over what he shared with her the night previous, the more it seemed like she was avoiding him the more it seemed likely that she no longer wanted anything to do with him. He checked the practice and she wasn't there; neither was Harley, though he was out on the job.
"I'm good; a tad bored this afternoon," she shrugged. "You shouldn't be here. You need to go before my dad comes home," she panicked, getting to her feet to shove him out of the yard.
"Why?" He asked, taking her hands in his, getting her to stop pushing him.
"I'm grounded for the week because I didn't call home and inform him on the change of plans I had," she told him. "Which is your fault," she accused, pulling her hands from his.
"Nice try, I didn't tell you, not to call Harley," he dryly laughed, heading into the house, Zoe on his tail.
"What are you doing?" She asked, seeing him plop down on the couch, no intent on leaving. "You have to go, Wade. If you don't I'm going to be in bigger trouble than I am in now with more time tacked onto my grounding." She was fine with a week, longer she didn't want that. She did want to enjoy her summer in Bluebell and not spend it grounded.
"You won't be in trouble," he promised. He could easily see that she didn't believe him. "You forgetting that when things are too unbearable at home, I stay here?" He asked.
"Is that the truth or are you using it as an excuse?" She questioned, sitting in the chair. "Because if you are using it as an excuse, it won't hold up for the whole week," she explained her thoughts.
"Leave that to me," he replied with a smug smirk on full display. "We all need someone on the inside with us," he winked.
"Fine, but if you cost me a longer sentence, you're dead," she warned.
"Noted," he chuckled. "When is your father due home?" He questioned. Zoe shrugged her shoulders. She was still asleep when he left for work. "Okay anything we can do for fun?" He asked then.
"Music, is about it. The TV is off limits," she told him.
"Or we can play spin the bottle," he teased. "Ya know have a real party going."
"No parties," she warned him, pointing at him. "Spin the bottle is lame with two people," she responded.
"Can you blame me for wanting an excuse to kiss you?" He asked, his smirk slipping from his face.
"You want to kiss me?" She asked, swallowing nervously.
"Since the day you bit my head off in New York at the hospital," he replied honestly.
"It wouldn't work out," she said, moving to the couch. "I'm leaving at the end of summer," she reminded him, inching closer.
"I know," he replied, placing his hands on her waist, pulling her closer. "Says who?"
"Me," she whispered, running her tongue across her lips. "You."
"I say the hell with it," he husked out, pulling her down on his lap, his lips' fusing with hers.
"We can't," she said, breaking the kiss, moving away from him to not only catch her breath, but to also get her heart to settle down once again.
"We can," he informed her, getting up. His head a mess from the feelings rushing through his body. "No one and I mean no one can tell us what we can be, Zoe. Think about it," he told her. "Please," he begged, kissing her cheek and leaving her be.
She fell into the chair, her thoughts a jumbled mess of what she wanted, of things that would end horrible if she followed through with what she wanted. She couldn't think about things ending on a high note if she jumped into anything more than a friendship with Wade, even if it was clear she wanted more.
"How was your day?" Harley asked, breaking his daughter from her thoughts.
"It was good," she smiled. "Do you think… forget it," she said getting up. "Need help with anything?"
"I will let you help me with dinner if you tell me what it is you were going to say," he countered with.
"Was there ever a time you let your heart lead you, knowing it would never work out?" She asked, moving to lean on the kitchen counter. "And did you regret it?"
"There was a time," he smiled, handing her some corn to husk. "And no I don't regret it because I got you out of the deal. Whatever you feel, let it lead you to where it wants you to go. Listen to your heart, you will be surprised to learn that many different things can work out," he told her.
"Maybe," she shrugged. "For the record, I'm happy to know that you don't regret having me."
"You are the one thing in my life I could never regret, there many things I want to change when it comes to you, but never having you here. I love you, Zoe."
"I love you too, dad," she smiled through her tears of joy, hugging him tight.