Chapter 8

Mom left to go pick up Samuel from the airport about ten minutes earlier. It was an hours ride to get to the airport, so it would be a good while before they were back. Jermeiah made the comment to me that I was preparing for the president's arrival. It was something that was half-true. Although, I had my guard up as well just to make sure that this guy was good enough for my mom, because I thought of my dad to be one of the sweetest men and the world and he didn't even make it too long with my mother. She obviously had strong feelings towards this guy. What really bothered me is that she felt like he wouldn't come and visit her here if she had asked him herself. That didn't settle well with me. We also had Anika and Carlos coming later in the morning, so we were going to have a full house.

I busied myself by going to the grocery store with Taylor and picking out flowers to bring a little bit of Susannah to the occasion. The boys were occupying their time today fishing with some other guys from the beach.

I decided while we were at the store that I wanted to try and bake a cake for Samuel.

"Belly, you have no idea what kind of cake this guy likes, and what if we mess it up?" Taylor complained as she walked beside the grocery cart.

"Taylor, it is a boxed cake. The ingredients are on the back. We are adults. We can follow instructions."

When we got back to the house we started the cake first. We were worried that it wouldn't be ready by the time Anika and Carlos arrived. Taylor was in charge of measuring and I had put myself in charge of finding the mixer and preheating the oven.

"Belly how do we know these are large eggs?" Taylor asking with her head inside the refrigerator.

"It says it on the carton." I said deadpan.

"Oh, I knew that." She said and laughed at herself.

I smiled and shook my head. We had followed every instruction to the T. The house started filling up with the smell of fresh baked goods when I heard a car pull into the driveway.

"That must be the happy couple." I said smiling triumphantly. We had moved mom into Susannah's room. If anybody deserved staying in that room, it was my mom. We had planned on putting Anika and Carlos in my mom's room. We decked it out with candles and rose pedals like they were on their honeymoon. We hoped they would like it.

Taylor and I rounded the corner of hallway into the foyer and ran to open the door. Taylor opened the door and as our guests came into view. I saw the very tall Benito first, because he was so tall and I blanched before I could even welcome Anika and Carlos. Anika looked sorry, but Carlos looked as unaffected and innocent as ever.

"Hey!" Taylor said in the most cheerful voice she could manage and she zeroed in on Benito and turned to look at me raising her eyebrows. Just once. I knew what that meant.

"Hey Isabel!" Anika said taking me into a ginormous hug. She whispered into my ear, "I am so sorry he just showed up last night. Carlos didn't tell me." She released me with apologetic eyes and winked to let her know that it was okay. Even though I was freaking out on the inside. Conrad would not like this.

"Carlos!" I said wrapping him into a hug as well.

"Hello Isabel, this place is so beautiful. I must see the ocean." Carlos said walking further into the house and looking around.

"Hi Benito." I said smiling up at him with a reserved politeness. It was the politeness I would often use at work.

"Hey." He said shyly from the entrance to the house.

Taylor gladly engaged Benito in some small talk as we all ventured towards the stairs.

"Let me show you your room, so that you can put your bags somewhere." I said as we all started up the stairs.

"I guess Benito can either sleep in your room with you guys or I can see if my brother is okay with Benito sharing the twin bed in his room?" I asked as we wondered down the hall towards my mom's room.

"I guess we will wait to figure that out when we can ask Steven." Anika said as we walked into the room we had romantically decked out for her and Carlos.

"Guys this is so pretty." Anika said and Carlos agreed enthusiastically as he placed their luggage on the floor near the closet.

"We thought we would welcome you with a romantic suite." Taylor said batting her eyes at Benito. He seemed to like the attention well-enough.

Once we all started back down the stairs the buzzer to the oven was going off and I wondered how long it could have been going off. The air did not smell as wonderfully as it did before.

"Oh no! The cake!" I said running the rest of the way down.

We indeed, did burn the cake, and I got rid of the evidence so that the boys would not make fun of me when they returned. I forced Taylor to help me start opening windows to get rid of the evidence, because it was partly her fault as well.

"This stinks. I really wanted this to be special." I said pouting and scrubbing the baking pan we had been baking the cake in.

"Want me to run back to the bakery and grab a cake and say we baked it?" Taylor asked.

I smiled and nodded. She smiled and nodded too and took Benito with her since she said she didn't like to go places alone. She was a trip. She even brought back a cookie scented candle to make it seem like we had been baking. That is why she is one of my best friends.

The boys finally arrived back waltzing into the kitchen to see what the smell was and they were all astonished that me and Taylor had "made a cake" that looked so good. Conrad didn't look convinced even though he didn't say anything.

"So I am dating Betty Crocker now?" He asked teasing me.

"Looks like you are." I replied flirtatiously.

Conrad chuckled and nodded as if he appreciated my spunk or something.

"So I have something to tell you." I said all of the sudden nervous about telling Conrad about Benito.

"What?" He asked intrigued. I fiddled nervously and scrunched my nose.

"What?" He asked again. I blew out a breath and smiled charmingly at him.

"So don't be mad, but Benito is kinda in the rec room." I said peeking up at him nervously.

"Why?" Conrad asked. He didn't seem mad, only confused.

"Because he just showed up at Anika's parents' house last night and Carlos didn't even tell Anika that he was coming." I said exasperated.

"Oh, well alright then." Conrad said taking a carrot stick from a vegetable plate I had gotten earlier. He dipped it in ranch.

"Alright then?" I asked a little let down by the lack of jealousy coming from my man's reaction.

"Yeah, s'not a big deal." He said through the crunching of the carrot.

"Fine then. I will see if he wants to hang out." I said jokingly and a little defiantly.

Conrad narrowed his eyes at me. "Oh yeah?" He challenged.

"Yeah." I said walking over to the fridge to get a grape popsicle.

"Fine I will come watch." Conrad said, dusting his hands like something was on them and gesturing for me to lead the way.

I didn't move.

"Why aren't you jealous?" I asked exasperated. My popsicle rapper crunched violently with my attitude.

Conrad laughed. "I have you and I know that. He doesn't even live in America." Conrad said unaffectedly.

I laughed too. I knew I was being silly, but I just wanted to see him act like he is as obsessed with me as I am him, and I wasn't used to the attention that he did give me now. It was like once he gave me some attention, I craved for so much more.

Everyone came to us and sat around the large kitchen in comradery as Steven and Jeremiah charmed Anika and Carlos. They liked Carlos and Benito's accents so they would encourage them to speak. Benito snuck glances at me more times than I felt comfortable with. It was weird to look at him now and remember that his lips used to know mine. I wondered if Conrad thought about that. It is weird. He should notice that.

Conrad stood beside me against the island in the center of the kitchen. He didn't have his arm around me or touch me, which I wished he would so Benito could see that I was with someone else now.

I heard a car pull into the drive and shushed everyone just so that I could hear the car doors shut to make sure. "They are here." I announced and fidgeted in anticipation. Once I noticed that I was doing this I tried to find some calm to make it look like I was completely unaffected by what was about to happen.

The front door opened and I heard the bass of what could only belong to a male voice that registered that he was here with my mom.

"Kids?" Mom called from the foyer.

"In here." Steven replied. I am glad he replied because I would have been overly loud from nerves.

Once they entered the kitchen I smiled from ear to ear because they looked like a couple that belonged together.

Samuel was just as handsome as he was in his picture on the school's website. He was just a hair taller than mom, which was okay because my mom never really wore heels. He had this intelligence behind his eyes that was not cold and cross, but warm and welcoming. Like he would say, "Come here and let me happily teach you all of the wonders of the world." My own father used to have that look, but I have not seen it since I was a little girl.

"Belly, Steven come here." Mom said and I walked over and became shy all of the sudden. I was old enough to not be that way, but here I was acting like I was a four-year-old.

"Samuel this is Steven and Isabel, we all call her Belly." "Kids this is Samuel."

Samuel looked over both of us with a fond smile, like he already knew us.

"Steven, it is a pleasure to meet you. I have heard that you are graduating this winter. That is great!" He said giving him a firm man's handshake. Steven straightened his back and shoulders a little bit and nodded and said, "Yes sir, I am going to be a computer engineer." He seemed proud and goad. I wanted to pinch him for it.

"And Isabel, you are a sight my dear! Your mother has talked so well of you. How did you like Spain?" He asked me with so much interest that it took me off guard.

"It was wonderful. It was one of the best times of my life." I said looking up into his hazel eyes. He was so handsome. My mom had a cutie. I bet all of the female and some male students flirted with him. His charisma and accent drew you in as well as this other undescribable air he had about him. I smiled up at him with no-holds-baring approval.

"Will you continue your travels Isabel?" He asked.

"Oh I hope so, and you can call me Belly." I told him and he smiled as if it were a gift.

"Alright Belly. That is what I like to hear. I would love to tell you of some of the most wonderful places in the world if you are up for it. It doesn't have to be now because this is a joyous occasion, but I would love to tell you about some of the places your mother and I have adventured." He said with a warm smile at my mother. She was watching him with silent admiration that showed only because I knew her so well now. She looked at him as if she loved him.

"I would love that." I said inviting them further into the kitchen to show them that we had made them a cake. Mom seemed surprised and she didn't comment about the cake either. Even though the bakery that Taylor got it from served it on the regular.

Mom introduced Samuel to Jeremiah next. He had already met Conrad so he shook his hand and told him that he was happy to see him again.

Jeremiah was putty in his hands and wanted to talk about where he had been too. Cabo and England.

"I just want you two boys to know that I am so sorry that I never got to meet the infamous Susannah Beck. Laurel here cannot tell me many stories that she is not a part of and I just wish that she was here so that I could meet her too. She is kind of the reason why me and Laurel met. I would never have met her if it wasn't for the lone trip that Laurel took after her passing. We were at the airport and I was sitting at a table reading a book outside a bar and Laurel was at the bar drinking a martini." He paused and grabbed my mom's hand sweetly and kissed it right in front of all of us. And then continued. "She was crying and I wouldn't have noticed if it was for the tear drop I saw fall onto the bar top. I was not sitting too far away from her, because the table I was sitting at belonged to the bar. Anyways, I watched her. She sipped her martini and had the most still in a statue like beauty, strong, elegant, lines from her cheek bones that pointed to her mouth. She was breathtaking. She was just so mysterious to me. So I watched her for a bit longer. A heavier fellow tried talking to her and she turned her whole body in her stool in my direction and it made me laugh and she saw it. She saw my smile and then her stone face melted into a small smirk that indicated that she too, knew that what she did was both rude and funny. I didn't think her sad face could be topped in beauty until I saw her smile, and then that was it. I walked over and it turned out we were on the same flight. I switched seats with a small older lady. She didn't mind first class and I didn't mind coach with Laurel. We spent every day together on that trip."

As he finished his story I felt tears well into my eyes and I tried to hide behind Conrad's bulky shoulder and he looked back and down at me over his shoulder and chuckled as I dashed a tear away. It was one of the most romantic stories that I had ever heard.

Taylor vocalized that thought.

"I wish they still made guys like you Samuel." She sighed as he watched him adore my mother and my mother look shy and as elegant as he described in his story. I then felt extremely self-conscious. I was floppy and not very lady-like at times and I felt a pang of regret for chasing these dang boys around my whole life. I didn't think for one second that a man would call me elegant or statue-like in beauty. I showed every emotion clear on my face as I thought it. I was a clear and open window while my mother was a tinted window with interesting curtains and beads that hid what was on the inside.

Conrad noticed my behavior of course. Open window and all. "What is wrong?" He whispered down at me.

"Nothing." I said shaking my head.

He knew not to prompt me further. If I wanted to share my insecurities with him - I most likely would not - but if I wanted to I could without him pesting me.

I had almost forgotten about Benito's intrusion until my mom talked to him and spoke to him about how she was glad I met him and whatnot. Conrad didn't seem to mind the comment. I was almost annoyed at how self-assured he was. I would never feel that secure with us. Unless we were married and that would be ages away. Sour from my thoughts I excused myself to the back patio and sat down near the pool to put my feet in.

"What is wrong belles?" Jeremiah asked.

"Nothing." I said grumpily.

"Oh touchy touchy. Turning into Conrad?" He asked a little sharper than I liked.

"So what if I am?" I snapped back. Conrad and I had been a thing long enough for this shit to be a thing of the past.

"You know I am joking. I am sorry. Fine I'll go back inside." Jeremiah said as if he were scorned.

He always knew how to make me feel bad for him.

"Jeremiah." I said stopping him.

"Yeah?" He said.

"I am sorry I just need a minute."

He nodded and returned inside. Mom came out as he went inn.

"What are you doing out here?" Mom asked joining me in the foot soak.

"Just thinking." I said moving my feet against the water.

"Care to share?" Mom asked.

"Do you think I am good enough for Conrad?" I asked. Moms expression grew stern and I didn't understand her reason.

"Why would you ask that?" Mom did not like what I had said at all.

"Because. Samuel described how perfect you are, mysterious, elegant, a beauty. I am none of those things." I admitted in a whisper.

"Can I share something with you?" Mom whispered back in conspiracy.

I nodded.

"You are elegant. You are so much like me when I was your age that it is scary. Conrad is to you like your dad was to me. I thought the sun and moon revolved around him until I grew out of it and your dad stopped motivating me and I stopped making him happy. We grew apart. Not to say that will happen to you two, but what I am saying is, is that you will soon see yourself and you will be a force to reckon with. Conrad already knows this because he has told me. He said that you become more otherworldly every single time he sees you. But remember, it doesn't matter how he feels of you it is how you feel of yourself. Don't ever let a man determine your own self-worth. It is nice to hear good things but only if they are pure in intention."

I was silent. Soaking in everything she said. Trying not to linger on "otherworldly".

"Thanks mom." I said and sat in silence for a few minutes smiling as the wind danced across my face, too soon we got up and ventured back inside.

Samuel was at the center of every conversation and I am positive that Jeremiah had found his hero. He overly tried to make Samuel laugh, but he failed more than succeeded. His humor more-so confided the scholar more than anything. Although, Jeremiah's crude frat boy humor wasn't something the European instructor had crossed before.

Conrad was finally touching me. I wondered if it was because of Benito's increasing attention or if it was genuine. After my talk with mom, I hoped it was genuine.

"I love you." He mouthed down at me.

I squeezed him closer to me and kissed his cheek.

I mouthed, "You know I love you." He smiled and pulled me into a grand kids in front of the whole room.

"Turn it down!" Steven complained.

"Never." Conrad said to Steven "Why you guys ever liked my sister is beyond me." Steven jokingly said to Jeremiah and Benito who both looked up at me like it wasn't a past-tense thing. I stepped behind Conrad for a moment and flipped Steven off behind Conrad's back.

"You know. There are some f-u gestures in other cultures that you all may find pretty interesting." Samuel said staring at my dancing middle finger. I was embarrassed that he noticed and mom rolled her eyes because she knew well-enough that I had indeed, flipped my older brother off.

"Well let's hear them." Carlos said enthusiastically making us all laugh.

*As always thank you to everyone who had been reading and encouraging me to continue this story. Thank you for your patience as well. As I am currently doing finals in pursuit of getting a degree in creative writing it has put me behind on getting these chapters out, as well as being sick recently. Just hang in there with me.. I have had to spend my time writing other things. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH! I will try to submit chapter 9 before next Monday! You all rock!*