“Yes.”
“Yes?” He looked kind of stunned, which was really cute.
“I don’t even care if you tell me a bunch of foster kid stories either.” She kind of liked them, but she didn’t want to tell him that. She was pretty sure he’d think that was weird.
“I won’t. But thanks.”
Glad that he’d asked her at last, relieved that she knew more about him, and so happy about a lot of things, she giggled. “I better warn you—you’re going to have to meet my parents before the dance. They don’t let me go out with anyone before meeting them first.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” He frowned at her home like he expected her mother to come running out the door. “You’ve got a really big house.”
“It’s not that big.”
“It looks like it to me.”
Embarrassed now, she shrugged. “I’ve lived there all my life. I guess I don’t think about it much. And don’t worry about my parents. You don’t have to meet them today.”
“Good. I don’t know if I could take it.”
She giggled again as they walked to the foot of her driveway. “Well, um, I guess I better go inside. Thanks for walking me home.”
“Wait. Can I have your number?”
At last! She called out the numbers when he pulled out his cell, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction as she watched him punch her phone number in. A couple of seconds later she heard her own cell beep.
“I just texted you so you’ll know my number too.”
“Thanks.” She wondered if he was going to text her later. She kind of hoped he would.
He smiled at her. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Jeremy.” She smiled at him before walking up her driveway. Even though she didn’t dare look back, she was pretty sure he didn’t move until she was almost at her front door. It was strange, but she was glad that he did that. He was so different from any of the other boys she knew. None of the other guys she’d dated had ever acted like she was anything special to them.
Unable to help herself, she started humming some song they’d been practicing in choir. She hadn’t really liked it at the time, but now it seemed like it was the only thing that could sum up her feelings.
“Who was that?” her mother asked the moment she tossed her backpack on the floor inside. “He watched you until you were halfway up the drive.”
Bethany was feeling so happy she didn’t even care that her mother had watched her out the window. At least she hadn’t opened the door or anything. “That was Jeremy Widmer.”
Her mother folded her arms across the front of her gray sweater. “Jeremy Widmer? I don’t remember you mentioning him before.”
“I haven’t mentioned him because he’s new.”
“And he walked you home? Maybe you’d better tell me something about him.”
Oh, her mother and her twenty questions! “Mom, there isn’t much to tell.” Which was a lie, of course. There was a ton to tell but she wasn’t going to share it.
“How about some basic facts, then. What grade is he in?”
“He’s a junior like me.”
“He looks pretty cute.”
“Jeremy is cute. And . . . he just asked me to the Christmas dance.”
Her mom raised her eyebrows before smiling. “What did you say?”
“Yes.”
Her smiled wavered. “Even though you just met him?”
“Jeremy is really nice, Mom. I promise. And he’s different from all the other boys.”
“Different? That’s kind of a funny way to describe someone you like.”
She figured her mother had a point but she wasn’t going to explain what she meant. “Don’t worry. I already told Jeremy that he’s going to have to meet you and Dad, and he said that was fine.”
“I see. Now, there’s about a dozen questions in my head but I’m going to give you a break and not ask any of them.”
“Thanks, because I’ve got to go get ready to go to the Upchurchs’ house in an hour.” There was also a pretty good chance that she wouldn’t have answered any of her mom’s questions anyway. No way did she want her mom to start classifying Jeremy into some kind of neat little box.
“Are you watching kids or dogs?”
“Both.” Even though she didn’t really mind, she frowned.
As she’d hoped, her mother flew into action. “Three kids and four dogs? How many hours?”
“Three. Just until Mr. Upchurch gets home from a late meeting.”
“Oh, Bethany, I better go fix you a snack. You’re going to need it if you’re going to be over there for so long.”
“Thanks, Mom,” she said, even though Mrs. Upchurch always left her the best snacks. “I’m going to run upstairs and change.” And check her phone. Maybe Jeremy had already texted her. Then, of course, she was going to have to tell all her friends. Karyn and Jules were going to be beyond jealous. Jeremy might be kind of awkward but he was nice—and so cute.
She was pretty sure that tomorrow she was going to be the most envied girl in the junior class.
CHAPTER 16
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
—luke 2:14
Gunnar was sitting on the stoop when Jeremy got home twenty minutes after saying goodbye to Bethany. As usual, Gunnar was wearing faded jeans, scuffed brown Timberlands, a flannel shirt, his black Gor-Tex jacket, and a ball cap. He was also wearing a frown.
That was kind of new.
When he saw his foster parent’s expression, all the huge, optimistic feelings that had been spinning around inside him died. The guy was pissed.
Really pissed. Jeremy knew why too. He’d ignored Gunnar’s text when he was talking to Bethany and then had forgotten about it. It was like Bethany was all that mattered to him anymore.
Of course, that wasn’t true. But it was pretty hard to think of anyone but Bethany right now. Her saying yes to the dance made him feel like he’d accomplished something pretty big.
But now he had to face the fact that while he might have gotten Bethany to say yes, he’d also managed to make Gunnar mad. With his luck, Gunnar would probably be so mad that he’d ground him from the dance or something.
His steps slowed as he tried to think of something to say. But even though he tried his best, his mind went blank. He honestly couldn’t think of a thing to say. Gunnar hadn’t given him a ton of rules to follow, but the main one was to always let him know when he wasn’t going to follow his usual schedule.