Chapter 9: New

"Oh my goodness, Eric," I smiled as I opened the box. I put the lid back on and closed it. "May I ask why you brought me a Christian Louboutin?"

"I thought you might like it," he replied. "You were looking at it when we went shopping the other day."

Eric and I had gone shopping together on two separate occasions. The first time it was to buy a few groceries for his place. I wanted to make him dinner and dessert but he didn't really keep anything stocked in his cabinets or in his refrigerator. I had brought enough food to last through a storm, hurricane, power outage and a zombie apocalypse. Eric didn't mind. In fact he had encouraged it. I had thought that he wouldn't like me making dinner at his place because Eric enjoyed going out to eat but he surprised me.

"I actually don't like eating alone," he said. "My father always had us dining around the table together. No matter what happened during the day, he insisted that we eat together as a family. After he passed, my mother didn't really keep up with the routine. And I found that I didn't like the sense of eating at a dinner table without someone with me. I usually eat in my office before closing up."

"My father liked eating dinner together too," I smiled before pausing in the dairy aisle. "He liked to listen to whatever we talked about, giving advice when we needed. Even after working all day out in the fields he'd put a smile on and ask us about our worries, making them his own."

"What does your Dad do?"

"He works as a manager for Amity Food Group," I smiled again looking at the milk cartons that had the Amity Food Group label on them. "He's been there since high school. Started off as a field worker, most of my brothers and I had done that during the summer or when we didn't have school," I said. "Even after my Dad got promoted to various positions in the company, we still worked the fields seasonally," I shook my head and laughed.

"That sounds like fun, being with your family."

"It was," I turned to him as he smiled at me. "We'd laugh more on those days. I guess when we would start school back up that's why my father liked having us together again at the table, keep us close."

"I understand that part. My mother and I don't really see eye to eye that much anymore," Eric explained. "I guess we should eat dinner together more often but we always found excuses not to meet up with one another. I suppose that's another reason why I so desperately wanted to have dinner with you. I didn't want to feel alone again," he said reaching out to run his hand gently down my cheek.

I smiled and turned to gather more food. "This is actually turning out to be a lot, don't you think," I asked as I looked down at the wagon before wandering off.

"I think it would be nice to eat dinner in my house again."

"You really don't mind?"

"As long as we're spending time together," he wrapped his arms around my waist as we stood in front of the meat deli.

He had started to hold my hand or wrap his arms around my shoulders or waist more often after that one night on his balcony. That had only been a week ago but I liked the turn of events. It made me feel different and special. Especially during the second time that we went shopping together. We had gone to a few shopping outlets to look for a dress to where to his mother's house for Thanksgiving dinner. He had insisted that the dress I had would be okay but I wanted to get something new. When he demanded that he come with me to shop and pay for the dress, we had almost gotten into a small argument at the store.

"I didn't want you to come in the first place," I walked around another clothing rack.

"Well, I'm here," he stated, "and what is wrong with me wanting to pay for the dress?"

"You pay for everything as it is."

"I don't pay for everything."

"Yes, you do. You pay for every dinner, lunch, breakfast, movie," I began to list. "And now you want to pay for my clothes. I don't need you to take care of me. I don't need your money. I don't need your help anymore, Cain," I practically shouted as I marched down the aisle.

"Is this what your ex did?"

I stopped mid step. Slowly I turned to see Eric standing a few feet back. "Why did you bring him up?"

"You were the one who brought him up. You shouted your ex's name at me," Eric explained. "You told me that you didn't need me to take care of you. Did you intend to tell that to me or was it something that you were looking forward to telling your ex?"

I looked away and sighed. Eric came to stand close to me and I closed my eyes, feeling his warmth. "He made me dependent on him. My friend Hec was telling me that that was the ultimate hold he had on me. He made it so that I would need him and that I wouldn't have anywhere else to go to but to him." Eric took one of my hands in his. "I quit my job. I quit school. I left everything behind to be with him and," I sighed again. "It was so hard to build myself back up. I don't want to be that girl again."

"You're not, Ana," he took my other hand in his. "I know you work really hard. I know that you are responsible and strong. I know that you do not need someone to take care of you. But Ana, I want to. I want to be there for you."

"You don't need to be all the time though," I responded.

"That wasn't my intention on making you feel suffocated. I don't want to take away your drive in being a hardworking, diligent and reliable woman. It's one of the things that I'm attracted to," he smiled and pulled our bodies closer. "I care for you, about you. It's the only reason why I do so much. I'm sorry that it made you feel that I was trying to take away your independence."

"I appreciate everything that you do Eric. I like how patient and giving you are with me. It's just hard for me to discern between kindness and deceit."

"I didn't think that buying you dinner or buying you clothes would make you feel that way."

"It doesn't. Didn't," I shook my head in confusion.

"I like eating dinner with you. I already explained my reason why."

"I know, I know," I replied. "I don't like eating along either. And I like that we can talk during day and share what happened throughout the day or just unwind from something stressful that happened. I didn't mean to say what I said about not needing you. I just," I shook my head again, feeling utterly confused and irritated with myself.

"Ana," Eric whispered as he pulled me into a warm embrace. "I don't want you to get the feeling that I'm trying to demean you. I'm happy to buy you things. I'm happy to let you buy things," he added which made me smile. "If you ever feel uncomfortable with anything, you need to tell me," his breath was hot against my neck. "At the same time," his lips mumbled until they pulled away, "you can't go around being suspicious of my motives whenever I want to treat you to dinner or buy a present for you."

"I promise that I'll do my best," I said as he leaned down to kiss my cheek.

Eric didn't end up buying me the dress. But here was a pair of shoes that cost twice as much as my rent.

"I had been looking at these shoes," I commented.

"It matches your dress."

"It does," I smiled running my hand on the heel and then turning back to Eric. "It was expensive Eric. I don't know how to pay you back."

"It's a gift, Ana. I don't expect much in return. Besides you earned it, you passed your final," he smiled.

"I sort of had to pass that test, so I don't think that..."

"You were walking around here," he motioned to his place, "reciting the words in your text as if though they were some presidential speech. Then you were praying most fervently," he put his hands together, "please let me pass, please let me pass, please let me pass," he repeated causing me to hit his shoulder as he chuckled. "All that hard work and determined hope deserves to be rewarded. And as I said before, I just want to do something nice for you."

"Thank you," I whispered as Eric kissed my forehead and then my cheek. He hovered right before my lips. I parted my lips slightly showing him I wanted it too. He pulled away and then shook his head slightly. "Eric..."

"I like you Ana. I know we haven't really confirmed anything but I want to date you. When I said that you make you happy, I meant it. From the moment that I saw you on the camera smiling at your cousin..."

"Wait," I pulled back. "You were watching me on a camera?"

Eric chuckled and then nodded. "A bit of a stalker, I guess," he shrugged. "As a supervisor I have access to the security system and check the cameras around the building. I noticed that one of my workers had a girl sitting on his desk." I let out a small laugh thinking about my cousin Dillon and those few days when I was unemployed and would have lunch with him. "She had the warmest smile and these innocent eyes."

"You were really looking closely in that video weren't you," I teased.

"I got a little upset because I had no one like you in my life. I didn't have someone who would bring me lunch and ask me about my day. I didn't have someone to smile at me when I was having a bad day. I thought about my Dad and how he and my mother would do that for each other and I hated that someone else had that and I didn't. I watched you smile at Dillon day after day. Then I realized that I didn't want some random girl smiling at me, I wanted your smile. And I hated myself for that because to me you belonged to Dillon. It was wrong of me to desire another man's girl let alone covet a relationship with her."

I smiled and looked away. "How did you feel when you found out that we were related? I briefly remember you saying that the office wasn't ancestry dot com."

Eric chuckled. "A part of me was thrilled because I thought that I had a chance with you. Then I realized that I knew nothing whatsoever about you. It was purely a physical attraction and a fantasy of a possible relationship. That's why I escorted you out. I wanted to know your name, the name to my fantasy."

I blushed and continued to look anywhere but at him.

"Then you stopped coming to the office and I panicked that I had scared you off. I saw you at the bank and then again at the restaurant and I took my chance in asking you to dinner."

"But then I declined, over and over again," I rolled my eyes.

"That you did," Eric chuckled again. "There were so many occasions where I wanted to go back to the bank or restaurant and demand that you let me take you to dinner. You had my phone number, heck you knew where I worked and yet there was no response from you but insecurity and frightened thoughts."

"Eric, I explained why I..."

"I get it but I feel like this is more than you just being with someone who had cheated on you constantly throughout your relationship. That day at the mall when you said that he made you dependent on him, I got the feeling that he also made you lose confidence about yourself."

"He did," I nodded.

"I wanted to give you some of that back before we established what was happening between us. I wanted you to have confidence in me, too. You are this beautiful person, inside and out. I hope you see yourself the way I do. I hope you see in me something worthwhile."

"I do. Eric you haven't given up on me and you treat me like I'm different than the rest."

"I know you're still scared Ana. But I want," he smiled. "I want us to be together, in a relationship. I want to introduce you as my girlfriend. I want to hold you when you cry and make you laugh when you're sad. I want to argue with you over what movie to watch or whether you hate a certain shirt that I love," he said as I smiled. "I want to see your smile when I come home. I want us to have dinners at the table, debate about the next president or irritate each other by me drinking out of the carton or you leaving your personal things all over my bathroom. I want to give you romance and affection and promises of forever," he ran a hand down my cheek and wiped at a tear that I didn't know I had shed. "I want the bad and the good and everything else that we have to offer one another. I want to be with you. What do you say?"

"That was probably the most humorous, caring, lovely and honest way of asking someone to be their girlfriend. Well at least that I know of," I said smiling.

"I did say that as long as you're honest with me then I'll be honest with you. Everything will work itself in there if we're truthful about how we feel, think and act," he kissed my hand. "So how about it?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Yes," he leaned in with his lips hovering above mine for yet a second time today.

"Yes," I whispered.

Eric's lips brushed against mine tentatively causing me to close my eyes before he reached his hand up around my neck, closing the space between us completely. The kiss was soft and slow. I never thought I would ever be kissed like this, especially by someone big and strong like Eric. Before I knew it Eric had wrapped his other arm around my waist and pulled me into his lap. I let myself melt, molding our bodies together. The pressure of his lips was still gentle and I liked that our first kiss was sweet and filled with such hope.

It had been a long time since I had been kissed properly. Even during the last months of my relationship with Cain, he'd never been this sweet. I huffed in annoyance at the thought of my ex causing Eric to part my lips gently with his tongue. He did a slow exploration, nothing demanding and rough. It was overall the perfect kiss for me, for us. His kiss and his touch made my core heat and my stomach tighten. It was a brand new feeling for me that ended far too soon for my liking.

I felt Eric smile against my lips and my heart begun to beat faster. Yup, this was definitely something new. "You're my girl, now," he mumbled before pressing another tender kiss to my lips. His mouth moved to the corner of my mouth and then my jaw. I moved my head slightly back so he could kiss my neck. "And I'm your guy," he finished before pushing away slowly.

My eyes opened to see him smiling back at me. "I don't know what I did to deserve you," I ran my hands down his arms and then let it rest on his abs.

He took one of my hands and pressed a kiss to the back. "It is me who doesn't deserve you, Ana."

"Well we can be 'deserving' together," I tried to joke as we both laughed quietly before Eric kissed me softly again.

I moved my hips forward just a bit, mostly done by accident. That tender kiss had waked up new feelings in me and my body reacted before I could stop it. I caught something hard and thick press against my core.

Eric's hand released mine and gripped onto my waist. "Don't move like that again," he groaned closing his eyes. I waited for a moment before he opened them to see that they had darkened. "It is safe to say that you turn me on rather easily. Therefore, let's not do something you'll regret later."

"I won't," I replied before tilting my head down to his.

"I think that you will," he moved me back where I could no longer feel his erection. "It can wait. I can wait," he reassured me.

I wanted to argue. Anyone who saw Eric knew that he was attractive. He was built and his muscles were defined. Sometimes his voice was so low and deep that it could get any woman wet. Then there was that look in his eyes and that wicked smirk that made you want to take off your panties. How could I keep a guy like that if I withheld sex? I wasn't adventurous enough in bed with Cain and he ended up cheating on me multiple times.

"Ana," Eric's voice woke me from my thoughts. He looked frustrated. "What are you thinking about right now? Because, I have a feeling that you aren't thinking sensibly."

"I should be," I closed my eyes. "I just had this wonderful guy ask me to be his girlfriend in the most romantic way that I could ever hope for and then we shared the sweetest first kiss that I swear is better than the ones that I've seen in the movies," I opened my eyes and leaned forward to rest my forehead against his. "And then this stupid thought appears in my head and I..."

"Tell it to go away, Ana," he reached up and caressed my cheek. "And if they are still there," he adjusted our bodies until we were in a position where he could lie back on his couch. He placed me on my side, half of my body still draped over his. My head rested below his chin. "I will make them disappear. It's just me Ana. Just you and me, being deserving together, remember?"

A small laugh escaped my mouth and he turned down to kiss my forehead. Eric's hand slowly rubbed my back as his other took my hand in his and interlocked our fingers. I smiled and then looked across to see that the shoe box sat on his coffee table. They always say that it's the thought that counts. Well, Cain had never brought me a thoughtful gift. In fact he had never noticed what I liked. If I had said something he always brought something else. But he had paid attention to all those other girls. Looking at the shoe box I remembered Eric's words.

"I thought you might like it," he replied. "You were looking at it when we went shopping the other day."

"It matches your dress."

"It's a gift, Ana. I don't expect much in return. Besides you earned it, you passed your final," he smiled.

"You were walking around here," he motioned to his place, "reciting the words in your text as if though they were some presidential speech."

Cain had told me to stop going to the University because I was to stay home. He had enough money, made enough for the both of us. I could stay home and he would take care of everything. But here, Eric was encouraging me to reach out for my goals. I had passed a final and he was proud of me. Eric remembered me wanting to buy the shoe. He even remembered that it matched my dress. What guy remembers that sort of thing? He was truly observant. Either that or he could take his eyes off of me. I'd like to think it was the second notion.

And that was why his gift was more valuable than all the other gifts I had ever got from Cain. It wasn't just the fact that he brought me an expensive shoe. He brought a thoughtful gift, one that he knew I would want. It definitely is the thought that counts.

"Thank you," I whispered closing my eyes as he continued to soothingly touch me.

"Whatever for," he asked quietly. His chest rumbled underneath me as he spoke.

"Everything," I said before moving my head to kiss under his jaw.

"Stay with me tonight."

"Of course."

I half expected Eric to move us and that he would show me to the room that I had been making my own. But instead we stayed there on the couch for a while more. I forgot how it felt like to be held. But this was totally different, something all brand new. I am this man's girlfriend. And he belongs to me. It made me feel happier than I did when Cain had proposed and I innocently walked around flaunting the ring that I believed meant that he made a vow to me.

Eric's touches, his breathing and the rise of his chest under my head lulled me to sleep. I couldn't help but think that after a wonderful evening I was going to wake up next to this man.

The next morning I was sorely disappointed. My eyes opened to see the coloring of the pillows and comforter. Sitting up I realized that I was moved into the room that I had stayed the last two times that Eric had asked me to sleep over. I flung the blankets back about to march to his room when the door opened and Eric walked in carrying a large plate in one hand and two rather large mugs in his other hand.

"I am not a good cook but I made eggs and bacon and warmed up those croissants you brought from the store," he smiled walking in with just his pajama pants.

I gulped and looked away embarrassed. He noticed and moved to set the plate down. There on the plate were two forks for us to use. He obviously had put some thought into this. And I knew what he said was true. Eric knew how to cook certain foods but that was about it. For him to have done this meant a lot but I was still so irritated with the idea of me marching to his room to demand that he sleep in the same bed as me.

"What's wrong?"

"I know that you said it can't wait, or that you can wait. But I just thought that after everything last night that, even if we didn't," I started to explain as he sat down on the bed next to me. "We'd still, I don't know," I shook my head.

"Do you remember anything last night?"

"What are you talking about? I remember everything about last night," I turned to look at him as he continued to smile knowingly as though he held some secret. "You gave me a thoughtful gift and then asked me to be your girlfriend. We shared our first kiss and you asked me to stay but you always leave me alone and..."

Eric leaned forward and barely brushed his lips against mine.

"You obviously were too tired to remember," he chuckled, pulling back and looking at my confused expression. "We both fell off to sleep on the couch."

"That part I remember," I said.

"My phone buzzed sometime during the night, waking me up. And even though I didn't mind sleeping with you in my arms, I wasn't that comfortable on the couch. I was just going to carry you to my room but I did not ask if that would be okay with you. I didn't want to assume."

"So instead you carried me here?"

Eric nodded. "Just as I put you down on the bed, you woke up and wouldn't let go of my shirt," he gestured to the other side of the bed where his shirt lay. "You told me you didn't want to be alone."

"I did," I blushed looking down. Eric took my hand in his, causing me to look up at him and he smiled encouragingly.

"You did," he replied. "I asked if you were sure about it, considering that we only just confirmed our relationship. And you said that it would be wrong for me to leave my girlfriend all alone," he said as I tried to hide my face in embarrassment. But Eric wouldn't let me. Instead he pulled me into his lap. "I thought it was endearing. And I really wanted to sleep with you in my arms so I have to admit that even though you don't remember asking last night, I was really happy that you did."

"Well, I'm happy that I did too," I said. "I had been waiting a while to sleep with you." I shook my head. "I meant on you, wait no," I held up my hand.

He chuckled and kissed me softly. "I know what you mean. At least now we know that it was something that we both wanted and we were both ready for it to happen."

"Even if I don't remember," I asked.

"Even if you don't remember," he smiled. "There will be other opportunities, I'm sure."

And there was one that following Thursday. I had gotten ready to go to Eric's mother's house for Thanksgiving dinner. He had asked if I wanted to go to my cousin's first just to wish them Happy Thanksgiving but I decided that it would be best if I didn't. Peter had gone back home to see his mother and Dillon was stuck in the same situation as I was. He was going to meet Lauren's family.

"You look wonderful," Myra told me. "I love those shoes," she pointed down at my feet.

"So when is he coming," asked Edward as he ate away at whatever food he could find in my fridge.

"Seriously," Myra looked at him, "you're eating before we go to Will's?"

"I told you that I was hungry," he mumbled before taking another bite. "Besides," Edward's voice got louder, "you two are gushing over shoes and..."

"Eric brought them for me," I interrupted tilting my foot and showing the side of the shoe.

"Is that what I think it is," she stopped me from turning and stared down at my feet. I nodded and she ended up squealing. "Those are expensive."

"The dress is Chanel," I ran my hands over it. "I liked the dark red, almost wine color and when I saw the shoe, I fell in love with it because when you tilt it like this..."

"It looks the same color as your dress, ooh!" Myra grabbed my hands and smiled brightly.

Edward sighed dramatically as Myra and I spoke for another twenty minutes or longer. After they had left, I looked at my phone and realized that Eric had been running a little late. Despite the fact that I didn't go to see any of my cousins, I decided to call my parents. It was about the time they would be having dinner so everyone would be home.

"Hi," I shouted happily when my brother Jensen came on the phone.

"It's JoyAnna," he screamed at everyone, "it's JoyAnna!"

There seemed to be a shuffling on the other line and I had to hold back laughter as my youngest brother came on the phone. "Hi. How's my little Jimmy Bean doing?"

"Okay," he replied before the phone was taken away from him. "Hey!"

"After," Joshua told him. "Hey Ana guess what? I got sent to the Principal's office last week and I saw your picture in there when you part of the dance team during your freshmen year. You guys won the state championship or something like that," he explained.

"Wait," I stopped him. "What were you doing in the Principal's office?"

"Were you even listening to me? I saw a picture of you on the dance team, winning the state championship. I didn't even know you were on the dance team!"

"I only did it for two years. Blossom and I were co-captains freshmen year. And then after she left I didn't really feel like being there anymore," I said but something told me that my brother and I both knew the reason why.

Cain didn't like me being on the team. He felt that being a dancer was worse than being a cheerleader because the dancers were at almost every school event, hosting parties and even working out in the community more than the cheerleaders. That would be that I would be spending more time away from him. Not to mention the attention that I got from my older brother's friends who were constantly around the dance team since Jordan's girlfriend was on the team also.

"Besides you were going through that girls are icky phase," I let out a nervous laugh hoping that he would change the subject.

And to my amazement he did. "The Principal really talked you up. She said that you were an amazing student. You had better grades than Jonathan."

"Yeah," I smiled at the memory when I came home with an assignment that I received a '100%' on. Jonathan complained throughout dinner. "How is Jonathan doing?"

The conversation turned serious again.

"He's okay I guess," Joshua answered.

Jonathan had gotten let go from his job a couple months after I became a runaway bride. We later learned that the company he worked for was owned by Cain's grandfather. Cain's mother was the one to drop by our house with her sympathy over Jonathan's situation. Apparently Jonathan couldn't break the news to our father so she had decided to do it for him. After he wasn't able to afford the payments on his loft, he moved back home.

"You sure you didn't know about it," Jonathan questioned me when I called a couple months back.

"I swear, I had no idea that they were going to let you go all because I broke up with..."

"Broke up? Broke up?" Jonathan started to grow louder and angrier. "You fucking left him standing at the altar!"

"Jonathan," I winced at his use of foul language.

"Who does that, JoyAnna? And now you're playing the victim as though he done something wrong!"

"He did do something wrong. He was having an affair. Why can't you take my side on this? I'm your baby sister."

"Some sister," he scoffed. "If you had just married him, I wouldn't have been fired! I was humiliated! She came here to tell Dad that I wasn't working anymore! You're not the only one who lost everything! My car, my house, my job," he listed. "All gone because my bitch of a sister couldn't work it out with her finace! How dumb could you be? Why the hell couldn't you just let him apologize, JoyAnna? It was just one girl. She didn't mean shit to him. I can't believe you would do this to me!"

"You? I'm the one who was cheated on. And it wasn't even one girl or one time or one isolated incident!"

"Stop shouting," my father scolded as I heard Jonathan mumble. "Wildflower, Jonathan isn't blaming you for anything," he said as he came onto the phone.

"It sounds like it," I almost started to cry.

Jonathan had drifted away from the family after I started dating Cain. He had gone to the college in Amity. It was small but he had excelled and when the Banners met him they felt that his potential wasn't being used to full capacity. Jonathan had never really dreamed of being ambitious or living anywhere but Amity. They had come in, given him a taste of it and ever since then they had become his little puppet. He looked down on us and every visit to Amity seemed to be filled with more arrogance and less affection.

I always remembered my three brothers looking out for me and the rest of the family. Jonathan was shy around girls and didn't do much dating. But whenever he came to visit, there was always some new girl of the week. She was just as rude as he was. And the longer he stayed away, the more he became this other person. Our phone conversation had hurt so badly and it took him a couple more months to cool down and finally apologize to me.

"I don't blame you," Jonathan stated.

"Are you sure about that," I sassed.

"Maybe at first I did," his voice was soft. "But it was wrong of me to rationalize that if you had stuck it out in an unhappy marriage that I would be happy in my current lifestyle. I hope you can forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive," I told him. "You're my brother. You'll always be my brother."

"And you're my sister. I'm truly sorry."

From what our father stated, Jonathan had begun tutoring at the high school and doing some light research on pharmaceuticals. Apparently the company was working on something and now that he had time to think about it, it was something unethical and possibly illegal. He was hoping to expose the Banners but every time he got close to it, there seemed to be a road block in his way.

"Hey."

I smiled. Speak of the devil. "Hey."

"Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," I sighed.

"Uh oh," Jonathan chuckled. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," I answered.

"Really," Jonathan asked skeptically. "Alright, well what are you doing right now?"

"I'm just waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up. He's running kind of late and..."

"Did you just say 'boyfriend'?"

I gulped and waited in silence as I let my brother's question sink in. Then I realized that I hadn't told my family yet that I had started seeing Eric. Then again, it was just recent. Besides Eric and I, there were only five other people who knew. I didn't even tell Peter yet because he had gotten on a plane and flew to Candor.

"Wildflower?" I sighed and closed my eyes. Of course Jonathan's question would make my father stop whatever he was doing and hurry over to the phone.

"Hi Daddy," I replied.

"Hello," my father's voice was soothing. "We just sat down to eat. Your brothers were passing the phone back and forth and I figure I get in some time before Jack comes on. How have you been?"

"Good," I answered. "How are you and mom?"

"Your mother and I are well, JoyAnna. We uh," he cleared his throat and then chuckled as I heard everyone getting boisterous in the background. "We're expecting."

"Tell them they're getting old," Joshua shouted.

"Leave Mom and Dad alone," Jonathan groaned.

"I have five grown children and none of them have given me grandchildren yet," I heard my mother scold.

"Haven't found the right girl," Jonathan stated.

"I found a lot but none that can cook," Jensen joked. "Ow," he exclaimed and I knew that my mother had smacked him over the head.

I rolled my eyes at my brothers' statements. "Well, at least I have hope in Jack," my mother said.

"What's going on with Jack," I asked.

"I'll wait for him to tell you when he gets here. But I'm glad to hear that you're doing well. And what's this about a new boyfriend?"

"Is it too soon, daddy?"

"It'll be a year, come next month," he said.

Next month, I shook at my head at how naive I had been.

"Get it," I nudged Cain. "Twelve, thirteen, fourteen," I repeated, "that will be our wedding date!"

"Wedding in December," he scoffed.

"No, the date. It's sequential and it is also the last time that you could do something like that with the date. You can't do thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen because there is no thirteenth month and..."

"It's just a date," he replied.

"I know but it's our wedding date," I bounced excitedly on the bed. "Come on what do you think?"

"As long as you're happy with it," he shrugged.

He shrugged, I thought as I closed my eyes. He shrugged as if it wasn't important, as if he didn't care.

"I think that's enough time to meet someone. How did the two of you meet," my father asked bringing my mind back to the present.

"He works with Dillon."

"I thought you said you didn't like any of Dillon's workmates because they were clowns."

I let out a small laugh. "They are a bunch of clowns. But Eric is actually Dillon's supervisor."

"He is name is Eric, huh?"

"Yeah," I smiled.

"You sound happy," he noted.

"I am."

"So tell me more because your mother is bouncing over here, trying to get the phone out of my hands."

"We met a few months ago actually, right before I started working at the Bank. Then a couple months later he asked me to dinner. I said no at first," I explained. "I had avoided answering his calls for a while too after we finally did have dinner."

"That's to be expected," he replied. "Dating is new for you. You're bound to be nervous and cautious."

"I feel like a fool sometimes, Dad. He's patient and kind. He buys me flowers or when I've had a bad day at work. He would text me just to say 'good morning' or 'good night'. He always asks about me and my interests. And he doesn't keep a lot of secrets from me. He always says that I can ask and when I do he answers them honestly. He promised that when we first went to dinner, that he will be honest with me as long as I'm honest with him. I wonder why I kept stringing him along and..."

"Don't," my father stopped me. "Don't feel sorry for keeping things at your own pace, JoyAnna. Does he know about Cain?"

"He knows that Cain cheated on me."

"And that's it?"

"Yes."

"You're still scared. I can sense it. And nothing is wrong with that. But don't bring your old relationship into this new one. It will only hurt the two of you more if you hold back from telling him what's going on. There is never a right timeline as to when you'll get over your past and start anew. There is no deadline as to when you can fall in love again, and I know it may be too soon to talk about love but I think that as long as you keep your mind and heart open to it, it will happen. Things take time, and time can mean days, weeks, months or even years, my Wildflower. When you know that you're ready, then you're ready. I'm just glad that you're happy again. Although you do know that you don't need a man in your life to be happy right?"

"I know that Daddy. I'm working two jobs. I'm going back to school. I'm living on my own, doing things my way. I feel independent right now, more so than I ever have before and I think I'm in a good place in my own life to start this relationship."

"That's my girl," he said, his voice full of pride. "It sounds like this young man gave you back some strength."

"He did. I like him, Dad."

"That's good but I'll reserve my final judgment for when I meet him."

"Really," I rolled my eyes.

"You may be on your own but you'll always be my Wildflower," he added. "Oh, your brother Jack is here. I'll let him talk to you. I love you my baby."

"Love you too, Dad," I said.

"Hey there, little Sis!"

"Hey Jack!"

Jack was marrying his longtime girlfriend, Hannah. They had broken up twice before and not because either of them had cheated on the other. In fact, they were so in love even during the time they were separated that both her and Jack refused to see other people. It was a cute, romantic story and my heart clenched a little when he broke the news to me. Hannah came on the line and asked if I could be one of her bridesmaids. I wanted to say 'no' until I realized that this would help me. Not only that, but this was for my brother. So I said yes and then she said that I would be walking down the aisle with her cousin, Gregory. I internally sighed because Greg and I used to be close friends until I started dating Cain. He didn't like Cain either and just like Blossom, stopped talking to me when I chose to go out with Cain.

I spoke more to my mother and then realized that I had been waiting for almost an entire hour for Eric. I hung up, wishing them Happy Thanksgiving again and promised that I would make it out for the New Year. I didn't think that I could take off Christmas weekend and my mother said that was fine, as long as they got to see me.

Looking around I realized that Eric should have been here by now. Right when I was about to swipe my finger to call him, a knock sounded at my door.

"Hey," I opened it. "I was wondering where you..."

"This is serious, Mom," Eric practically yelled. "Jessica was over earlier and told me what happened."

I stepped aside as Eric walked in and started pacing in my living room/kitchen/dining room. He mentioned another girls' name. I was about to say something about who this Jessica was and why she had been over at his place earlier but I decided to wait until he was done. I walked to the fridge to get a beer for both him and me.

"Just because Aunt Jeanine says that..."

He stopped and you could tell that she was arguing with him.

"But it's Thanksgiving. I just got to my girlfriend's house. I was looking forward to introducing you to her."

He ran a hand through his hair and over his face. I took this time to notice that he was dressed in a wonderful dark grey suit with a dark blue shirt inside. It fit his frame well. I swear the guy looked like a model in a luxury car commercial. Had I ever mentioned that?

"She's lovely, smart, hard-working and sweet," Eric turned to me. It was like he finally saw me. His eyes ran over me the same way that I had been appraising him earlier. "And breathtaking," he said taking another step closer to me. He wrapped one arm around me pulling me against his chest. "She was looking forward to tonight as well."

He moved the cell phone away from his mouth.

"You look gorgeous," he kissed me quickly and gave me a smile before putting the phone back to his side. Eric sighed and looked above my head. I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed his back slowly. "Can we at least try to get together for Christmas?"

There was a pause and Eric moved his head to rest his forehead against mine.

"Alright. Happy Thanksgiving," he said and pulled away, pressing the button to end the call to his mom. "Something came up with my mom. She's doing something for my Aunt and," he sighed. "Apparently she didn't feel that having dinner with us was a priority."

"I'm sure it's something important."

"This is my Aunt Jeanine. To her, everything about her and her life is far more important than that of anyone else's."

"Maybe your Aunt wanted to spend time with her sister on Thanksgiving," I offered.

"My Aunt doesn't celebrate holidays. You do remember what I told you that she does for a living, right?"

"Yes," I nodded. "But even criminals have holidays," I tried to make a joke but Eric just shook his head.

"I'm just sorry that I can't give you a better family holiday dinner. Here you are, with your parents in another state and I hate that you're on your own," Eric sighed.

"I'm not on my own," I smiled leaning up to kiss his cheek, "I'm with you."

It was an impossibly cheesy line but Eric smiled in appreciation. He called two people and managed to get us to have dinner on a yacht. He carried me on board the ship and didn't put me down until we came to the couch where dinner was to be served. He took off my heels and then offered me wine from the boat's bar. It was utterly romantic. We sailed around for a while after dinner before we returned to the harbor. This night, Eric slept over at my apartment. The bed wasn't the best and I warned him but he said he didn't care about the bed as long as I was there with him. I couldn't help but think that my dad was right. There was no timeline or set date. I couldn't rush our relationship. I could only hope that over time, things would be better. And I closed my eyes after whispering 'Happy Thanksgiving' I realized that things had gotten better.