Here With You (A Laurel Heights Novel)

chapter Twenty-three



Rachel ended up spending the day at Romantic Notions. Nicole told her she could help with displays as long as she promised that she wouldn't cut any more school.

It was an easy promise to make.

Nicole's boss, Olivia, came in early in the afternoon with her baby Parker. Rachel had no idea what to do with him at first—she'd never been around small kids—but he was so cute with his big bright eyes and gurgly laugh that she decided he was okay, even if he did drool on her.

Olivia had been super nice, too. She and Nicole even discussed letting Rachel work there for a couple hours two or three days a week. Rachel had wanted to throw herself in Olivia's arms. It was contingent on her getting her father's okay, which was really iffy at the moment, but maybe if she begged.

She walked home shortly before her last period would have let out, feeling weird. It took her a moment to realize the weird feeling was happiness. For the first time since her mom died she felt like she wanted to live. She inhaled the air, and it smelled like roses. In New York, the streets never smelled like roses.

Maybe San Francisco wasn't as bad as she originally thought. She thought of Aaron and the way he held her hand and nodded. San Francisco definitely had good things about it.

Smiling, she let herself into the house and went to the kitchen. "Hey, Iliana, I'm home."

Except instead of Iliana, her dad was waiting for her.

She stopped abruptly, her smile fading as she saw the expression on his face. If she thought he was angry the morning after she'd snuck out, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. His arms were crossed and his jaw was tight.

He knew she'd been cutting school.

Of course he did. She hadn't done anything to keep him from finding out except erasing the automated message the attendance office left on their answering machine. Her therapist in New York would have stated that Rachel wanted her dad to find out.

Her therapist might have been right.

Which meant Rachel was crazy, because no one in their right mind would want to deal with a parent who looked like he was about to explode. She swallowed thickly, wanting to run.

But Nicole would tell her she was stronger than that. Besides, it was all her fault anyway. So she took a deep breath and said, "Before you yell at me, can I just say something?"

He just stared at her.

"I'm sorry." She hunched, feeling the weight of everything on her shoulders, wanting to cry suddenly. But she sucked it up so she could finish. "I know I've been a brat and that you're totally justified in sending me to boarding school, but—"

"How do you know about the boarding school?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

"I accidentally saw it on your tablet." She looked at him imploringly. "The thing is, I know I deserve being sent away, but maybe we could think out of the box and, um, negotiate a settlement or something."

She thought she saw a flare of humor make his lips twitch, but she must have been wrong because he just gave her that angry stare. "The settlement is going to have to be big. You've really screwed up, Rachel. I can't just let this go."

Sighing, she nodded mournfully. "I know."

"But I'm willing to accept some responsibility, too," he said, taking a seat at the table. "You were right. I haven't really been available, and I should have told you when I started dating Jennifer."

She sat across from him, mirroring his steepled hands, figuring this was how people posed when they conducted business. "You know the idea of you dating makes me want to puke, right?"

A ghost of a smile crossed his face. "You really have a way with words, Rach."

He hadn't called her Rach in longer than she could remember. Hearing it gave her hope. "Mom used to say that."

"Your mom thought you were a gifted writer."

"I miss her," she said, lowering her head to hide the sudden tears in her eyes. When her dad's hand covered hers, a drop escaped.

"I miss her, too, sweetheart," he said softly. "I'll always miss her. But she wouldn't have liked it if we lived in a bubble, sad for all eternity. She'd have kicked our butts."

Rachel smiled a little. "I guess."

"No, she definitely would have." He exhaled. "Like she would have if she found out I was even thinking of sending you away, which wasn't a serious consideration, but you've been on a self-destructive path and I didn't know how else to keep you from messing up the rest of your life."

"You weren't sending me away so you could be with Jennifer?" She managed to say the name without gagging.

He shook his head. "In fact, when I told Jennifer what I was thinking, she yelled at me."

"You talked to her about me?" Rachel asked, not sure if she should be happy or angry.

"You're my world, Rach. Of course I talked about you." He cleared his throat. "I'd like you to meet her. I like her. I don't know where it'll go, but I don't want you to be excluded from my life."

She sighed. "Fine, I'll meet her. But I'm going to tell you if she's a loser."

"Fair enough." Her dad stuck out his hand and they shook on it. Then he got all parental again. "About this boy you snuck out with."

She shook her head. "It's not like that."

He raised his brow.

"Okay, I like him, but that's not what was going on that night." She took a deep breath and went for it. "I wrote a poem for Mom and wanted to give it to Griffin Chase."

"Griffin Chase, the singer?" Her dad frowned.

"Remember how Mom loved his music? I thought it'd be so great if he'd put the poem to music and sang it for Mom, and I found out he was going to be at that club. Aaron just helped me get in."

"You were kissing when I saw you, Rachel."

She nodded, mortified that she was discussing this with her dad. "That was it. The only time. I swear."

"You like him."

She sank further down into her chair. Maybe if she wished hard enough, an earthquake would happen and the floor would collapse and she'd fall through.

Her dad stared at her a long time, in complete silence. Then he shook his head. "I'm not sure I can deal with my daughter dating."

"Try having your dad date," she said under her breath.

He chuckled. Then he began to laugh, rich and deep from his belly.

Rachel hadn't heard him laugh like that since her mom had been alive. It made her smile.

"Okay, let's lay out the bullet points of our truce," he said when he stopped laughing. "One, you can't skip school any more. Two, you're grounded for the next two weeks. Sorry, but I have to lay down the law there."

"But we stay in San Francisco, and after I'm not grounded any longer, I can go out with Aaron sometimes."

Her dad sighed. "You being a teenager is going to kill me."

"He's nice, Dad," she said softly.

"Okay. Okay"—he held his hands out—"I'll deal if you promise not to be a brat to Jennifer."

"Fine." She leaned forward, hands braced on the table. "And I get to work part-time in the lingerie store on Sacramento Street. That's not negotiable either."

"Your grades have to come back up," her dad said, warning in his tone. "And we have to have dinner together, just you and me, once a week."

"Okay.”

They shook on it, and then he got up and hugged her. She squeezed him tight, burying her face in his chest.

He kissed her temple. "I love you, Rachel."

"I love you, too, Dad."

"Dinner tonight?" he asked as he let go of her.

"Lobster mac and cheese?"

"You got it." He grinned. "I've got some work to go over. How about seven?"

"Okay." She had a few things to do, too. She ran up to her room and opened her laptop to Facebook. Opening a chat window, she hoped he was online.

He was.



Aaron Hawke: I thought you'd been sent to a work prison in Siberia.

Rachel Rosenbaum: Close. Dad was pissed.

Aaron Hawke: I'm sorry you got in trouble.

Rachel Rosenbaum: It was my fault, but except for my two-week jail sentence it's all good.

Aaron Hawke: We didn't get your poem to Griffin Chase.

Rachel Rosenbaum: I'm working on that, but that's not why I messaged you.

Aaron Hawke: You need help with chem homework?

Rachel Rosenbaum: Yes, but only if I can help you with English.

Aaron Hawke: I'll be a gentleman and not point out that was our original deal.

Rachel Rosenbaum: I'm rolling my eyes at you.

Aaron Hawke: I know.

Rachel Rosenbaum: I'm kind of hoping you'll go to a movie or something with me, too.



She waited, watching the screen for his reply. But when he didn't answer, she prodded him.



Rachel Rosenbaum: Well?

Aaron Hawke: I'm checking movie times.