Chapter Sixteen: Objections
As soon as Scott saw us, whatever conversation he was having with one of the guests dropped off immediately, and they both stared up at us with their jaws hitting the floor. Within seconds, the entire room fell quiet as Molly and I slowly descended the staircase. It was a moment out of a fairytale, an ugly duckling turned princess descending the stairs soaking in the gaze of all her amazed and, maybe a slightly jealous, family.
The only thing missing was Prince Charming standing at the bottom of the stairwell. A pain tightened my chest as I thought of Mr. Jones standing there looking up at me with love in his eyes. At least that's what the naive side of me was hoping he'd be doing.
Instead, there was just Scott looking up the stairs at us with a soft half-smile on his face. However, his eyes were glued to Molly, and a soft light burned in them.
We took the last step with a light, happy bounce. Molly stepped close to Scott, giving him a happy smile and a wink as she jerked her head towards me.
"How's this?" she asked.
"Much better," he admitted. "How do you feel, Becca?"
I ran my hands down the front of the dress, once again taking in the beautiful silk fabric. "Like a princess."
"What do you think you are doing?" Hissed an overly irritable voice in my ear.
I winced as the tone was a borderline hysterical shriek. I turned to find my mother and her perfectly primped face turning an interesting shade of red.
"Why aren't you in the dress I picked out for you? What in God's name is this?" She demanded quietly.
Molly stepped in front of me and stood looking up to my mother.
If I had stood back and watched this scene unfold, I might have found it hilarious.
A young, bouncy girl who topped out at about five feet at most stared down a woman that looked vaguely like a well-dressed witch who stretched almost half a head taller.
"We got her that dress when we were in France, Mrs. Delaney. I thought she should wear the gift we gave her... don't you think?" Molly gave my mother a look that dared her to argue with Molly AND Molly's family.
My mother's furious face paled a bit before flushing slightly with embarrassment. Mostly because Molly hadn't been polite enough to keep her voice down.
"N-No... of course not... it-it looks beautiful," Mother grudgingly admitted.
"Thank you, Mother," I replied cheerfully.
She leaned in to say something else, but someone called her name, and her good manners didn't allow her to ignore them despite how badly she wanted to. She mumbled under her breath then spun around, pasting an excited smile on her lips to greet the caller.
As soon as she was out of range, I let out a breathy laugh as the tension spilled out of me like a waterfall and turned to a giggling Molly.
"Oh my god! Thank you so much. I thought she was gonna explode!" I said to her.
"I hate to point out the obvious, but it seems as if your mom may be a little jealous of you," Molly stated, perplexed.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous! Why would she be?" I spewed in disbelief.
Molly fell silent as she mulled my question over. "Actually, come to think of it... I'm absolutely sure she's jealous of you. That's why she always makes you look like a spinster."
I opened my mouth to continue arguing with her, but the sight of someone walking up the steps made my mouth go dry, and my stomach tilt as if I had eaten something that I shouldn't have.
"Keith..." I muttered under my breath.
Scott's head jerked up, and he moved to stand in front of Molly like a human shield. I glanced up at his face and was shocked to see that it looked like it was suddenly made out of stone. The intense dislike of this man was rolling off Scott in waves.
Keith didn't seem to notice the hostility that was being sent his way as his eyes roamed my body like they had every right to.
"Hello, Rebecca," Keith purred in a way that I'm sure he thought would be sexy but just made me sick to my stomach.
"Keith," I forced out of my mouth. "What are you doing here?"
"You were kind enough to invite me," he said and held up an invite that had his name scrawled across the front of it in my handwriting.
K.J. Horton.
The new family that had just moved here in hopes of escaping whatever scandal that their son had caused in the last town. This son was standing in front of me now.
My heart dropped. I had indeed invited Keith, only I hadn't known it was him. If his family was so prominent and rich, then why on earth was he driving a bus? I opened my mouth to answer, but he turned away abruptly.
"Monroe," Keith greeted Scott with a slow smile.
"Horton," Scott shot back with a tone that was as stiff as his back.
"Who are ya hiding back there?" Keith asked with a sticky sweet smile.
"Gosh, Scott..." Molly said, trying to push him out of the way so she could greet the newcomer. "Hi! I'm Molly! A friend of Becca's!"
Keith accepted Molly's outstretched hand and pulled her to him.
"Oh yes... aren't you Monroe's little sister?" he asked, looking her over.
Molly's back stiffened a bit at his words as if he had offended her. "Step-sister."
"Oh, forgive me," Keith replied smoothly. "If I had a step-sister as gorgeous as you... I'd wanna make that distinction too."
Even someone as innocent as I could understand the innuendo underneath the overly polite tone of his voice. He was implying something dirty, and it immediately made both Molly and Scott extremely uncomfortable.
Keith let go of Molly's hand and stepped closer to me until I was surrounded by the acrid smell of his aftershave.
"So... this sweet innocent little schoolgirl is 19 now, huh?" he smirked.
"Actually, I was 19 almost six months ago... we are just celebrating it tonight," I spewed out.
That only seemed to make his smile grow wider. "So, it looks like you get to go have fun like a big girl now, don't you?"
"I... um..."
"Rebecca!" Mother's fake sweet voice cut through my stuttering answer. "Who's this gorgeous young man of yours?"
Her words caught me off guard even more, and my jaw wouldn't spit out Keith's name and a denial that he was mine at the same time. Keith chuckled at my awkwardness, enjoying it far too much.
"K.J. Horton, Mrs. Delaney. I believe your husband knows my father," he said with a charm that could have coaxed a rattlesnake to adore him.
Mother's own charm suddenly exploded tenfold. "Of course! Welcome! Will your parents be joining you?"
"Unfortunately, no. My parents couldn't make it. They send their apologies and hope that you'll forgive them," Keith replied, sounding genuinely upset with them.
I could almost believe that he felt terrible they weren't there... almost.
"Well, since Rebecca's manners are falling short tonight, come with me, and I'll introduce you around," Mother said graciously.
I wanted to feel terrible about my bad manners, but I really couldn't. I was happy that I wasn't going to have to spend another moment in either one of their companies. I turned back to my friends and sighed with relief. Scott continued to send daggers to the man's back as Mother swept him through the house and out the back where the party was adjourning to since I had now joined them. I watched Scott lean down and whisper something into Molly's ear, and she nodded quickly.
"What's going on?" I asked them.
"How do you know him?" Scott countered.
"He drives the bus I take to school," I explained.
"Is he the reason why you didn't want to ride the bus?"
I looked down and didn't answer him.
"What have I told you about dropping your eyes, little one?" A voice from the doorway made my heart skip a beat.
I lifted my eyes immediately and was met with the warm, happy brown eyes that I had been dying to see.
"Mr. Jones," I whispered. "You came."
"Of course, sweetheart. I wouldn't have missed your birthday party for the world," he said with a soft smile and handed me a small narrow box.
My heart fluttered as I looked at the black velvet casing, and it was all I could do not to snatch the box out of his hands. I opened it slowly and found a gorgeous sapphire and diamond bracelet. The beautiful stones were laid out in a beautiful pattern zigzagging their way around the wrist. It was so amazing it took my breath away.
"Oh... it's beautiful," I breathed, my eyes catching his.
"As are you, my little one," he said, pulling the bracelet out of its box and put it on my wrist.
An odd light shined from his eyes as he caressed the tiny jewels with the pad of his thumb.
"I knew it would look perfect on you the moment I saw it," he said softly.
"Thank you, Sir," I replied, feeling breathless for a whole different reason.
"You're very welcome, princess," he said, his eyes twinkling a bit.
Butterflies exploded in my stomach, and I couldn't help the giggle. A soft smile crossed Mr. Jones's face, and he reached out and touched my cheek gently.
"I guess you like being my princess," he responded.
I nodded shyly, feeling the blush spread up my cheeks. I would be Mr. Jones's anything as long as he kept touching me the way he was.
The sound of a throat clearing in irritation startled us out of the little bubble we had found ourselves in.
Mr. Jones looked up, and his eyes darkened a bit, but he stepped back and turned to Scott and Molly.
"Jones, good to see you again," Scott said, shaking Mr. Jones' hand.
"You too," Mr. Jones replied.
"This is Molly," Scott introduced them.
Molly's eyes were so wide as she looked between us I thought they were gonna pop out of her head.
"Hi!" She finally managed to greet him with her perky kindness. "How do you know Becca?"
"He lives next door," I interrupted.
"Ah," Scott said, nodding as if that explained everything. "Molly, why don't you take Becca out back to mingle. I'd like to speak with Ma-Mr. Jones."
I noticed Mr. Jones' back stiffen a little bit. Before I could protest, Molly grabbed my wrist and dragged me outback.
"Wait... what is going on? Why do they look like two guys about to throw down? How does Scott even know him?" I plastered her with questions as I tried, and failed, to dig in my heels.
"I have no idea. But I am going to find out as soon as I can," Molly said, looking back over her shoulder. "But, let's see if we can find some yummy snacks and try to push your mother on to the opening-presents portion of the evening."