Page 30 of Full Circle

That made him spring into action. He leapt off the bed to scramble into his shoes, chucking a pair of paint splattered cloth shorts at me from under the bed. I didn’t have time to argue as I pulled them on over my spandex bottoms.

We were both shuffling like maniacs as we tried to adjust our shoes and clothes while clambering down the stairs. Wesley’s shaggy hair was sticking out at all angles, and the wrinkles in his polo and jeans were a dead giveaway of just how long he had spent in the position where Desiree found us. There was no way we were going to come out of this in one piece once Daddy and Nana got a hold of us.

The screen door to the kitchen slammed behind us as we entered, Daddy and Nana both standing at the island with their mouths hanging open as Desiree loudly proclaimed me a harlot and a jezebel for sleeping with a boy at only fifteen. I turned my head to glance down the hall and found Hillary’s crestfallen face taking in the sight of Wesley and me, disheveled and half asleep. Her expression quickly morphed into one of pure loathing that promised revenge, which would have been far more concerning if I wasn’t certain my daddy was about to bury me alive.

Daddy’s shocked face turned to both of us, his mouth agape as he took in the state of our appearance. “Sugar bee…” he murmured in a daze.

“Oh no!” Desiree argued, pointing a finger at him across the island. “Don’t ‘sugar bee’ her and let her out of this, Doug! I caught her with a boy in her bed AT FIFTEEN.”

Wesley shook his head as his face flushed with anger. “Nothing happened, Mr. Hendricks, I swear on Rachel’s life!”

Nana gasped at his choice of words while Daddy’s mouth snapped shut. He peered at Wesley with newfound scrutiny as if he could laser the truth out of him with a single look.

Desiree continued to prattle on, however. “Of course you would say that! Nothing ever happens to a boy’s reputation! You just want her to be another notch on your belt! How many girls were you with this summer while you were out trotting the globe, hmm?!”

Although I should have known better than to rise to Desiree’s bait, her accusation gave me pause. Wesley and I had barely spoken all summer. What if he had been with another girl? Loving me didn’t mean he wasn’t pressured into hooking up with someone because of his lecherous father. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wesley puff up in rage.

“Nothing happened this summer other than me missing Celeste like crazy!” Wesley barked. “Just like nothing happened last night other than you interrupting my first night back with her!” He turned towards my father, all anger gone. “I absolutely swear to you, Mr. Hendricks, I would never disrespect you or your home like that. I came over to see Celeste last night and we just fell asleep. Nothing more than that.”

Desiree snorted as she folded her arms across her chest. “Yes, that’s obviously why I found Celeste half naked next to him this morning!”

Sparks were flying from Wesley’s eyes and I had to grab onto his wrist as he lunged forward. “She was wearing a sports bra and shorts because you make her sleep in an attic with no air conditioning in summer!”

“ALL RIGHT, THAT’S ENOUGH!” Daddy’s bellow rang out through the room with enough force to rattle the cupboard doors. He sent a piercing glare to Desiree and to Wesley before demanding, “Desiree, go to the living room. Wesley, step outside. I want to talk to my daughter.”

His fiancé immediately started protesting, citing again how she had more experience raising teenage daughters than he did. Daddy was not to be trifled with, however. “I am more than capable of talking with my own daughter, Desiree. Leave. Now.” Ice dripped from the coldness in his words.

With one eyebrow cocked, Desiree sent a glare my way that made me wish the ground would swallow me whole. She sauntered out of the room with her nose in the air, hips swaying in her tight pencil skirt.

Nana walked over and put an arm around Wesley’s shoulders, guiding him back towards the door. His bright blue eyes bored into mine, turning around to stare at me over his shoulder, fear written all over his face. Daddy had the power to keep us apart permanently and Wesley knew it.

“Daddy, I—” I started to say, but he held up a hand to silence me.

His shoulders sank wearily, making the gray hair stand out noticeably in the morning light. He lost weight over the course of the summer and suddenly appeared far weaker than I ever remembered seeing. It was my fault, too; my carelessness did this to him.

“Celeste, I am going to ask you one time what happened, and you’re going to give me an honest answer. You’re my daughter and I trust that you wouldn’t lie to me. Liars are the worst sort of people,” Daddy said. He kept his gaze trained on my face, which did nothing to assuage my burning shame. “What happened?”

My cheeks should have been combusting by now from how red they felt. “Nothing happened, Daddy. I swear it. Just like he said, he came over, we talked, and we must have fallen asleep. It wasn’t intentional. Wesley never would have broken your trust like that.”

He continued to stare at me while he considered my words. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up as I waited for him to say something in response. Guilt was going to make me suffocate, I just knew it.

After a long, pregnant pause, Daddy sighed. “Tell Wesley to get in here. You wait outside with Nana.”

It was so much worse than if he were to scream at me or punish me in some other manner. The resigned calm with which he spoke had my knees trembling and my palms sweaty. This wasn’t the reaction I anticipated and that only made my anxiety go into overdrive. But Daddy had to believe me. He wouldn’t really take Desiree’s word over mine, would he?

The bright sun outside was poking through gaps in the tree branches while the heat already indicated today would be a scorcher. I had the afternoon shift at the pool since I requested tomorrow off in anticipation of Wesley’s arrival. At this point, it was entirely likely that I wouldn’t be allowed out of the house again, even to go to work. I gulped to fight back the sobs threatening to burst as I made my way over to Nana and Wesley at the tire swing.

“Daddy asked you to go talk to him, Wes,” I instructed. My voice warbled from the tremor.

Wesley stepped up and placed a quick kiss on my forehead. “It’s gonna be fine, Celeste,” he assured me. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Nana harumphed loudly, her hands fisted on her hips, as he briskly walked inside. An odd part of my brain imagined this was what it must have been like in the olden days to watch someone you loved walk to the gallows. I turned back to Nana and hung my head.

“Celeste Renee Hendricks, what were you thinking?” she chastised me.

A tear leaked out from the corner of my eye. This entire scenario was Nana’s worst nightmare come to life, and was exactly what she had an issue with when I met Wesley two years ago. It seemed surreal to have felt so loved and important last night only to wake up scared and ashamed.

“We didn’t do anything, Nana, I swear it on Mama’s grave. We just fell asleep.”

---