Amelia was hanging out in Annabelle's bedroom, doodling in her journal when Jade called for her. She put her pencil down and closed her journal. She hopped off the bed then leaned over the bannister.
"Yes?" she called out.
"Come down here. There's someone that I want you to meet," Jade told her daughter.
Amelia scurried down the stairs and found her mother in the living room, talking with an older man.
"Who's this dude?" she questioned in a very non-Annabelle way.
"This is Richard Blake. He's promoting my newest show," Jade said.
Amelia introduced herself, then awkwardly shook the man's hand as she eyed him suspiciously. She could tell immediately that he didn't like children. She could also tell how fake he was acting.
There was a loud ding that broke the tension.
"Oh! That must be the kitchen timer. I'll grab dinner, and we can all eat together!" Jade said. As she was walking out of the room, she bent down and whispered into Amelia's ear, "Be nice."
Amelia gave Richard a phony smile and brought him to the dining room. The walk from the living room to the dining room was filled with tense small talk. When the two got to the dining room, Jade was placing a steaming pot of macaroni and cheese down on the table. There were three place settings.
Everyone took a seat and served themselves food. Jade and Richard engaged in polite small talk, while Amelia texted Annabelle under the table.
After dinner was over, Richard announced that he had to go home. He said a syrupy sweet goodbye to Amelia, who immediately excused herself afterwards. When he thought Amelia wasn't looking, he kissed Jade goodbye. Jade said goodbye and walked Richard out to his car.
Amelia had bolted up to her room after seeing Richard kiss her mother. She was pacing, as she sent frantic "SOS" texts to Annabelle. Jade walked up to her daughter's room and knocked on the closed door.
Amelia immediately stopped pacing and cracked the door open. She peeked her head out and looked at Jade.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Can we talk?" Jade replied.
Amelia nodded and opened the door all the way. Jade stepped into the room and took a seat in Annabelle's bed. She patted the spot next to her, indicating that Amelia should join her. Amelia plopped down and looked at her mother.
"What?" she asked flatly.
"Annabelle, it's not like you to act this rudely!" Jade scolded.
"I'm sorry. I'm just...tired from traveling," Amelia said with a sigh.
Jade accepted this and moved on. She asked Amelia what she thought of Richard. Amelia told her that she thought the man was "okay". Then, she asked why her mother wanted to know her opinion of Richard.
"Well, kiddo, Richard proposed to me while you were away..." Jade told Amelia.
"And you said...?" Amelia asked anxiously.
"I said 'yes'," Jade replied.
"YOU SAID WHAT!?" Amelia exclaimed, jumping off the bed. She started pacing around, ranting to herself. She ran her hands through her wavy hair. Jade noticed this and was reminded of Beck and how he used to run his hands through his hair when he was stressed. "I can't believe you actually said 'yes'! This completely ruins everything! Why is this happening!? Of course! That's why he kissed her! My God, I just thought maybe that's just what New Yorkers do: kiss each other goodbye!" Amelia rapidly mumbled to herself.
Jade caught the tail-end of what her daughter said and raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?" she questioned.
Amelia stopped and looked at her mother, realizing what she had said.
"I meant I thought that's just what they did nowadays...you know...I thought that maybe a new trend started while I was away at camp..." she rambled nervously.
Jade gave her daughter a suspicious nod.
"Mom, may I please have some alone time right now?" said a frustrated Amelia. She ran her hands through her hair again.
Jade took the hint and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
Beck walked around the house, looking for Annabelle. He found her sitting on the couch, reading a book about ballet. He thought it was strange that his daughter was reading about ballet. He knew Amelia would much rather read one of her fantasy book, but he shrugged it off and assumed that his daughter had developed more of an interest in ballet while she was away at camp.
"Hey, sport, go on out to my truck. I want to take you somewhere. Oh, and grab your boots," Beck told his daughter.
Annabelle shrugged and stuck a bookmark between the pages of her book before setting it on the coffee table. She took off to Amelia's room to grab her cowgirl boots. Beck thought that what his daughter just did was odd. The Amelia that he knew would've just dog-eared the page and left the book on the couch. He wasn't complaining though. He was thrilled that someone had had a good influence on Amelia while she was at camp.
Annabelle was excited to see what her father had in store for her. She tugged on Amelia's boots and ran back downstairs. She darted past Beck, heading straight for the truck. Beck chuckled to himself. Now, he was seeing the Amelia he knew. He ran after Annabelle and met her at the truck.
Annabelle was already in the truck, buckled in the front seat. Beck hopped in next to her and buckled his seatbelt. He started his truck and drove off.
"I was thinking that we could go on a trail ride and scope out the nature park. I thought it would be nice to see the place before the camping trip," Beck told Annabelle.
"What camping trip?" Annabelle asked.
"'What camping trip'!? The one we go on every year before school starts! What? Did you think that we'd stop the tradition just because we moved?" Beck responded.
"Oh! That camping trip! Umm...yeah...I didn't know if you'd be able to find a place for us to camp in California," Annabelle said.
Beck chuckled and began telling his daughter about the nature park that they were driving to.
Once they arrived, Beck parked his truck and trailer. Annabelle helped him take the horses out of the trailer. The two groomed and saddled their horses. Then, they headed for the trail.
Beck was riding his Thoroughbred gelding, Baylor. The horse was tall for its breed, standing at seventeen hands tall. He was black with a white diamond-shaped marking on his forehead. Annabelle rode Amelia's Quarter Horse, Dude. Dude was about fifteen hands tall, and he was chestnut-colored with white markings that went halfway up both his back legs. He also had a white strip that ran down his face.
Baylor was anxiously to go, so Beck had to keep a tighter rein on him. Dude, however, was content with just plodding alongside Beck and Baylor.
After trail riding for almost two hours, Beck and Annabelle returned to the truck. They untacked their horses and put them back in the trailer. Then, they drove home.
Annabelle had fallen asleep in the car, so Beck let her be while he took care of the horses. She was still asleep when he got back, so he gently lifted her out of the car and carried her into the house.
Several hours later, Annabelle woke up in Amelia's bed. Amelia's (they had switched phones before leaving camp) phone was buzzing wildly on the nightstand. She picked it up and saw seventy-nine text notifications. Just as she was about to start reading through all the texts, the phone rang. She looked at the caller I.D. It was Amelia. She answered immediately.
[Phone Call]
Annabelle: Hello?
Amelia: Annabelle! Finally!
Annabelle: It's like 3 AM in New York. Why are you awake?
Amelia: Why haven't you been responding?
Annabelle: Sorry! Dad took me on a trail ride at this nature park. I forgot to bring my phone. Anyway, oh my god! Dad is the best! He's so nice and funny and-
Amelia: Annabelle, stop!
Annabelle: What?
Amelia: Mom's getting married.
Annabelle: WHAT!? (she realizes how loud she just was) Whoops...I mean: what!? That's crazy! Mom hates pretty much everybody. There's no way she loves some guy enough to marry him!
Amelia: I managed to get a stalker pic of them kissing goodbye after dinner. Check your texts!
Annabelle: Gimme a second... (she looks through Amelia's texts and finds the picture) Ew! He's so old!
Amelia: Oh, and get this: I'm almost certain that he doesn't like children. Cecilia thinks that he only wants Mom for her money and because she'd boost his social status.
Annabelle: You have to break them up!
Amelia: I'll try my best, but we gotta get Mom and Dad back together before it's too late!
Annabelle: I'll think of a plan tomorrow.
Amelia: Sounds good! I gotta go! My phone's about to die!
Annabelle: Talk to you tomorrow?
Amelia: Talk to you tomorrow. Bye!
Amelia had snuck down to the coat closet, so she could talk to Annabelle without waking anybody up. She was opening the door when it hit something. That something was Jade.
"I'm so sorry, Mom!" Amelia said after hearing Jade react to being accidentally hit with a door. She stepped out of the closet and saw Jade, who did not look very pleased with her daughter.
"Honey, it's 3:37 in the morning, and you are definitely not a Night Owl. What are you doing up at this hour?" Jade asked.
"I was talking to a friend from camp," Amelia answered innocently. She was technically telling the truth.
"At 3:37 in the morning?" Jade asked suspiciously.
"She lives in California," Amelia quickly replied.
"Uh huh...so you wanted to wait until it was a convenient time for her to talk because of the time difference?" Jade said.
"Exactly! Because of the time difference!" Amelia said confidently.
"Is 1:37 AM a 'convenient' time for Californians to take phone calls?" Jade questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Actually, my friend is vacationing with her family in Australia right now. So, it's only 5:37 in the evening for her," Amelia lied. She nervously bit her lip, something that Annabelle would never do
"Very smooth..." Jade said, by quite believing her daughter.
"Well, goodnight!" Amelia blurted out. She dashed upstairs before her mother could even respond.
Jade rolled her eyes and continued making her into the kitchen to grab some water. There was something going on with her daughter, but she couldn't figure out what it was.
Annabelle slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the kitchen, hoping not to wake anyone up.
Unfortunately, Bruiser, the pet Rottweiler sensed her presence. He barked loudly, and Annabelle shushed him. He jumped out of his bed and ran towards the girl, barking loudly and wildly. Annabelle tried desperately to hush the dog, but it was no use.
Beck and Samuel came sprinting down to the kitchen to see what was going on. Beck called Bruiser over to him and patted him on the head, quieting him down.
"Hey, buddy, it's just Amelia. Why do you keep barking at her like she's an intruder?" he said to the dog.
Bruiser had been barking at Annabelle whenever she came within fifteen feet of him. He could tell that she wasn't Amelia.
"Oh, I probably just smell like camp. That's all," Annabelle said.
"What are you doing in the kitchen at 1:37 AM?" Samuel asked.
"I just wanted a glass of water," Annabelle told her manny. She started making her way over to the cabinet that contained cups. She grabbed on and filled it with the built in water dispenser on the freezer. She told everyone that they could go back to bed.
Beck and Samuel went back upstairs, and Bruiser laid down in his bed.
Annabelle finished her water and put her cup in the sink. Then, she went back to bed. As she climbed up the stairs, Bruiser kept a suspicious eye on her.
As stated in the previous chapter, this story is on a semi-hiatus. I will update when I can, but with the start of school, I don't know how much writing I can do. I have a few chapters already written though, so be on the lookout for those! Thanks for reading and please review! :)
