Gone Country

Chapter 36 (Changes?)

"Hey, princess, how are you holding up?" he softly spoke into the phone. "Are you sure you don't want me to come get you?"

Shocked by his soft tone full of concern, I nearly started crying. Truth be told, I wanted to be comforted physically by my father in this moment. A fatherly hug sounded really nice, but the last thing I wanted was for him to drive in the rain. I found as much comfort in Brant's arms than if I was in my father's. I would be okay.

"Daddy, I'm begging you to stay home. All of you please stay home. I'm okay..."

Brant took the phone from me when he realized I was talking to my father. "Phil, I've got her," he said into the mic of the phone. "Trust me." He tilted my chin up, inspecting me to make sure I was alright. I weakly smiled at him. "Tell the twins that she's fine, and Phillip..." He paused, softly smiling at me for some reason. All was explained with his next words. "I love your daughter more than anything in this world. I would never take her virginity in a motel room, she deserves so much more than that."

He urged me inside before someone saw me pant-less. I refused to let go of his hand, giving him no other choice but to follow me into our motel room. Brant halted at the doorway, his face showing a shock that I've never seen before. "I love you too, Phil," he said in a manly, but relieved tone.

The phone was passed to me again. When I quietly told him that it was me, my father told me he loved me. "I love you too," I replied, echoing most of Brant's words. "I'm going to be fine, I promise. Thank you for worrying about me."

There had been plenty of days I thought he hadn't cared, other times it seemed he cared too much. All of it suddenly had a balance. He knew where we were suppose to stand now. "You're my daughter, I have always worried about you."

Maybe he had, maybe he hadn't. The past was officially in the past. As far as I know Chanel was still out of our life, my father was around more to tell me that he loved me, and life was pretty dang good. Now if it would only stop raining outside, everything would be perfect again.

My dad and I finally ended our conversation via phone after a million more I love yous and words of encouragement to make sure that I was fine. If I was here alone, feeling okay while it rain never would've happened. The rain brought on memories of both my mother and Jives. Normally it's my butler who's holding me in comfort, but he was thousands of miles away now and hasn't tried to call me once even though he swore he would.

The rain brought a different kind of pain over me this time as I laid in Brant's arms, sprawled across the bed. There was nothing to do but think about how Jives left me, how my mother left me. It was two different kinds of disappearances, yet they almost felt equal. I miss him a lot, especially since I haven't heard from him in about two weeks.

The thought of calling him had crossed my mind plenty of times. I've tried dialing his number, only to have something tell me that maybe he needed some time to himself to get adjusted to his new life. But he said that he would call everyday. I was worried that something either happened to him, or he had forgotten about me already. He couldn't have not realized how much I cared for him, how it would worry me to death if I hadn't heard from him longer than forty-eight hours. There had to be something going on.

"Something is on your mind," Brant whispered across my forehead. He kissed me there, gently constricting his arms around me as a reminder that he was here for me to talk to.

I tossed my leg over his intimately, trying to be closer to him than I already was. Looking up in his eyes now, I could see how I'm always dependent on him to help me solve every little thing wrong in my life. It wasn't until then did I see how tired Brant was, both physically and probably emotionally. He really needed to get some sleep to help ease his mind.