Skipping Stones - COMPLETE

Chapter 25

TODAY I'VE BEEN through a myriad of emotions. Some are so familiar. I didn't know what they were fifteen years ago, or maybe I did, but I didn't realize they were normal stages of grief. I've felt guilty for having any kind of emotion other than remorse for Papa. I've gone through five million 'what if' questions.

As I wait for Drew, I mean Stone, to pick me up, I glance in the mirror. I decided to go shopping earlier to try to recreate the outfit that was his favorite. It's a more adult version. White hipster shorts, and a sequined white tank top. It sounds fancy, but it's comfortable, yet dressy.

The back doorbell rings, sending zaps through my entire body, zaps of anticipation and maybe hope. Memaw smiles, "I'm glad you came to your senses and you're going to go see that boy."

I laugh. "He's not really a boy anymore, but yeah. I'm gonna try."

She pauses for a moment, her eyes filling with tears. "He reminds me of your Papa when he was younger."

I purse my lips together and squeeze my eyes closed hoping to control my emotions. The last thing I need is to start the night in tears. He needs to see that I've learned how to deal with the tears, even without him. So I try to think happy thoughts. Memaw sees Papa in Stone. "He does?" I ask.

She nods. "From what I can see, he's the kind of guy who will spend his entire life trying to make the rest of yours a fairy tale. They are rare, Alex. So I hope, for your sake, you can find it in your heart to forgive him for the hurt he once caused you."

The doorbell pings again. I point. "I love you. I better go, though."

She opens her arms to give me a hug, we embrace, and then I walk the short distance to where he's waiting, rather impatiently. Yes, it's hope that I'm feeling along with the nervousness in the pit of my stomach. Hope that I'm walking to my future.

When I open it, Stone's face is hidden behind a huge bouquet of wild flowers. He extends them to me and confesses, "I thought you had backed out for a minute."

I laugh, "Sorry to keep you waiting. Ya know, you're not the only one who doesn't break promises." I wink.

He beams. It's infectious. "You have no idea how loud and welcome that music is to my ears."

I take the flowers from his hands. "I'll just go give these to Memaw –"

Before I can finish the sentence I realize she's behind me because she interrupts, "I'll take those and put them in water. You two better be on your way."

I roll my eyes playfully. Of course she's been listening. "Thank you," I say as I offer them to her, then turn back to walk through the door, pulling it closed on my way out. Stone immediately threads his fingers through mine, leading me across the concrete steps leading to the road. I look around. There's no car. "How'd you get here and where are we going?" I ask, confused.

"I parked at the creek."

Glancing over to his face, I think for a moment he may very well be just as nervous as me. In a way this is like it's always been, but there's something else in the air that I can't place my finger on that makes it slightly awkward. That scares me. It makes me wonder if we've built those three weeks up in our minds to something that wasn't realistic.

My mind continues to ponder that thought as we walk in silence to the creek. It would have been easy to put him on a pedestal since we never fought and he never hurt me. Did I do that? I shake my head trying to get the negative thoughts out of my mind. Soon we're at the creek, and my eyes are drawn to the car parked on the side of the road. It's familiar. "Is that your car?" I ask.