One Hot Fall Term (Yardley College Chronicles Book1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

She brings him coffee, takes his order, which he gives abruptly. She rolls her eyes at me.
    Once she’s gone, my stepfather and I talk awkwardly. Then, out of nowhere, he asks, “Why don’t you ask me how Lisa is?”
    His new wife. “I never ask how you are,” I say.
    The words come out of my mouth and surprise me. I never let on how I feel on the few times we see each other. I’m stiff and uncomfortable, but I never say anything. I can’t believe he’s irritated that I don’t ask about his new wife.
    “I want to change that,” he says. “I want to make up for the past. Be a part of your life. You are my daughter, Mia. And I love you.”
    I’m his daughter because he legally adopted me when I was little. Mom always used to say that—that he did love me. He just loved me too much.
    But having come close to an actual confrontation, I can’t take it further. I can’t now that I’ve accepted his offer to send me to college, can I?
    “It’s just weird,” I say. A sixteen-year-old’s answer, I know. I am nineteen now, an adult. I should be able to do better. “I guess, if that’s what you want, we can try it. But college is going to be demanding. I’ve heard about Yardley’s architecture school. There are students who put in almost one hundred hours a week at school, Dad. I’m not going to have a lot of time.”
    “I know. That’s why I’ve arranged with your mother that you can spend Christmas break and Spring break this year with me.” He smiles, looking handsome.
    My heart has dropped to the floor of Denny’s. It’s sunk so low, I think I’m stepping on it. “I was planning—”
    “Your mother is fine with it. She’s had you to herself for Christmas for years.”
    “I wanted to see Ryan.” Shock makes me blurt it out. How can he do this to me? I can manage a few days of our tense relationship, but not weeks of it. Not at Christmas. Not when that’s the only time, after Thanksgiving, I can see Ryan.
    “The boy I met before we left?” My father lifts his eyebrow, as if he’s a bit disgusted. “You’ll have moved on from him by then.”
    “No, I won’t,” I say tersely.
    Our plates come. I have a choice. Shut up and eat. Walk out and go hungry. But hell, no. He had no right to dismiss my relationship and look down on Ryan. Really no right.
    There is a third choice.
    To get some guts. Do what I should have done for the better part of my life.
    “I’m not like that. Maybe you went for what was convenient, knowing you always intended to move on or move up.” I say. “But that is not me. Ryan is special and I know it. I can recognize it.”
    I stand up, pick up my plate and my coffee cup and I walk across the Denny’s to a booth on the opposite side. At this point, I don’t care if my stepfather gets up and walks out.
    He just sits there, starting at his plate. I know he’s humiliated, and he does not like that.
    I’ve probably crossed the line in the sand. I’ve always been so docile and obedient and weak. He wouldn’t have expected this. A wild exhilaration flows through me. Remember, this is the heady moment when you leap off a bridge. The crash comes after.
    My father picks up his plate and coffee. Walks to my table.
    I really can’t believe this.
    “I’m sorry,” he says. “I want to make this work between us. If you care about this boyfriend, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Will you accept my apology?”
    “I guess.”
    “Can I join you again?”
    “All right.” I try to eat, but it is hard now. Why is so he interested in trying to get close to me? I can bury the past, but I can’t let it go.
    More than ever, I wish I was going to be near Ryan. I’m scared that if something happens where I need courage, I won’t find it. With Ryan, with his support, I know I could be invincible.
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
     
    My father drives through a set of iron gates from the main road onto the Yardley College campus. The first things I notice are all the trees.