Hope is Rising

13. Forest Trails

I finished breakfast and got up from the hospital bed for the first time. I felt really dizzy, so Dylan carried me to the bathroom so I could change and put on makeup. Although I was allowed to walk on my foot, it was still very scraped and wasn't sure how it would feel. Even though it was wrapped in many bandages, I could still wear sandals. I hoped it would heal quickly so I could go surfing again soon.

As I stood in front of the mirror, I noticed my makeup wasn't as badly smeared as I was expecting. Well, I had been wearing waterproof, but still, after my experience, you'd expect it to be pretty bad.

I put on the pink dress that Dylan had picked out for me and brushed my hair out as well as I could. I took off the remaining makeup on my face and applied a fresh layer.

As I came out of the bathroom, Dylan was waiting for me.

"Huh, turns out that I'm great at picking out clothes. You look stunning," he said.

I smiled as he gave me a warm hug, something he hadn't been able to do while I was lying in a hospital bed.

"Hardly," I replied. "I'm not looking too 'stunning' today."

"Are you kidding me?" He said cheekily, "Seriously, you've always looked amazing."

"Pshhh, stop it," I said laughing.

We went back and forth until the doctor came in to discharge me from the hospital. My head still throbbed a little bit, but I could walk without feeling too dizzy and without feeling too much pain from my foot.

"So where are we going?" I asked as we slowly walked out of the hospital.

"We'll be there soon," Dylan said as he guided me to my jeep. He helped me get into the passenger seat and we finally drove out of the hospital.

"So you've been across the Golden Gate Bridge, right?" He asked me as we turned onto a private road not too far from the hospital.

"Many times," I replied.

"Good," he said as we took a winding road up a seemingly endless uphill trail. He stopped at a driveway and parked my jeep.

"Well, babe, I wanted to show you an amazing view that you've probably never seen before," he said helping me get out of the car.

"What is this place?" I asked, seeing only one very large building peek out over the trees.

"I'll tell you after you see the view," he replied.

I held his hand as we walked up a winding path through many trees to a small bench on the secluded side of the hill. The view of the Golden Gate Bridge was breathtaking. This was San Francisco like I had never seen it before.

"This is what I wanted to show you," he said. "I think some things in life look better when you see the bigger picture."

"I've never seen a view this amazing before," I told him as we sat down on the bench.

He pulled me close to him as we sat and took in the moment.

"How did you find this place?" I asked curiously.

"I didn't find this, babe. This is actually my family's property," he said humbly. "We don't usually show people; only family and a few close family friends know about this land we have. I don't mind showing you though."

I was really surprised. I felt really honored that he wanted to show a part of himself to me. It was refreshing to see that Dylan wasn't one of those people that let money go to their heads.

"Wow," I said looking back at the view.

"This is where I grew up after we moved to California," he said pointing to the large building that I now realized was his family home.

"This is amazing," I said.

"My parents have been really wanting to meet you," he told me.

After a few minutes, he led me to the large family home on the property.

The house was very modern with a light colored exterior. There were many glass windows and a nicely landscaped yard with palm trees and flowers. In the back was a very large pool and even more land. It was truly unbelievable. I had never seen a house this big in my life.

As we walked in, I saw a huge spiraling staircase fill the huge entrance hall.

"This is stunning," I told him looking around at the nice furniture.

"I'm glad you like it," Dylan said smiling.

"I think they're probably in the kitchen," he said referring to his parents. The smell of fresh cookies was in the air.

He led me through a countless number of rooms to the huge kitchen. The large windows showed the same breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Oh, hello Dylan," I heard a voice say as we both entered the room.

"Hi, Mom," he replied, "I want you to meet my girlfriend, Steph."

"Hello, sweetie," she said giving me a hug. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Carson," I said.

"We've heard so many good things about you, Stephanie," I heard another voice say coming into the kitchen.

I turned around and smiled, "Well, thank you."

"Hi, Dad," Dylan said.

"Are either of you hungry? I've just finished making a batch of my homemade cookies," his mom said handing us a platter of warm chocolate chip cookies.

"I'll take one," I said. Dylan picked up some cookies also.

"How is your foot, Steph? Dylan told us you were in the hospital," his dad asked me.

"It's doing better," I replied, "I hope to be surfing again by Friday."

Just then, Emma and Madeline came running down the stairs and came into the kitchen.

"Hey Steph, hey Dylan," they greeted us.

"Aunt Claire, are your cookies ready yet? We could smell them and had to come check," Emma said to Mrs. Carson.

"Of course, help yourselves," she said handing the girls the plate.

"I've heard you three are going out to shop this afternoon," his mom said to me, motioning to Madeline and Emma."

"Yes, we are planning on it," I replied.

"How wonderful," she said. "I hope you girls have fun."

The girls went back upstairs to grab their stuff, while Dylan and I sat in the den with the parents. We talked more until Emma and Madeline were ready to go.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Steph," Dylan's father said as we were leaving.

"You too, Mr. Carson," I replied.

"Bye, sweetie," his mom said, "You're welcome to come by anytime."

"Thank you, Mrs. Carson."

"Babe, I need to do some things here if you don't mind," Dylan said. "I'll catch up with you later, though." He kissed me as we walked to the car.

We all said goodbye and piled into my jeep.

Emma, Madeline, and I had a great day of shopping. By lunch, we had already been to many stores and had loads of new clothes. I had bought some new dresses, two swimsuits, and some cute summer tops.

We decided to go to lunch near the water at one of my favorite burger places.

"So how's everything with Dylan?" they asked me as we sat down at a table.

"Everything's great," I said, thinking about how he's cared for me.

I'm sure they had already known about it but, I told them about the lifeguarding incident and how Dylan have saved me.

"Wow that's really scary but I'm glad Dylan was there," Madeline said.

"Have you talked to your ex, yet?" Emma asked me.

"No I haven't," I replied, "I don't know what to say."

I decided to tell them about my terrible past with Carter.

"It sounds like he still may have feelings for you since he's trying to sabotage your relationship with Dylan," Madeline said.

"Will you see him anytime soon?" Emma asked.

"Erm, I may see him at the late night surfing thing tomorrow; he goes every month," I said.

"Hmm, I think we are going to that too," Madeline said.

"We can help you talk to him!" Emma said.

Although I really didn't want to talk to him, I knew I would have to tell him off at some point or another. I might as well get it over with.

"Alright," I said, "We can talk to him tomorrow."

We finished our day of shopping. We had a ton of fun and laughed a lot. It was nice to have some fun with friends that cared about me like Kate.

"So did you like the way Dylan asked you to the dance?" Madeline asked me.

"Yes it was amazing!" I said. "I love the new surfboard!"

"I'm glad!" they both said smiling. "We may have helped him pick it out."

"It was truly perfect," I replied.

We decided we should probably get back to the house, so I drove them back to Dylan's family house on the private road.

Dylan greeted us as we came up to the front door.

"Hey Dylan," we all said as we came in the house.

"Hey, how was your day?"

"Brilliant," both girls said. They went into another room leaving Dylan and I alone.

"I have another surprise for you," he whispered in my ear.

A/N: Wow Dylan just has so many surprises for Steph!  What do you think about Dylan's family? Remember to comment, vote, etc for more :) Thanks for reading! ~Elizabeth