Page 28 of Family Forever
Chapter Eight
Dylan finished the morning milking and chores, taking extra time in the barn as if that would delay the inevitable—dropping Marissa off at college. Though he’d spent most of the summer avoiding her, especially since the night of Jake’s party when he’d acted like such a heel to both her and Cole, he dreaded this particular day all summer. He didn’t want her to go, his brothers were going to miss her something terrible,hewas going to miss her. Plus, her leaving put him back in charge of handling the home front. He’d already made arrangements to use part-time staff to help with the farm chores again, just like before Marissa had come into their lives. On a good note, Aric now had his driver’s license, so he could help with running the younger boys to and from practices and their other school activities.
When Dylan stepped into the garage, he found Nate and Braden helping Marissa load her suitcase and boxes into the back of his truck. His heart pinged. Yeah, he knew he was driving her to school today so she could move into her dorm room, but the reality of seeing her belongings piled in the back of his truck still felt like a blow.
“I’ll shower quick, and then we’ll go.”
She nodded. “I’m all set. Everything is packed.”
Dylan stepped into the bathroom, nearly all the reminders of Marissa were gone. The spots on the countertop where her bottle of hand lotion and hairspray once stood were vacant. He pulled open the drawer where her makeup had been stored to find it empty. Why wouldn’t it be, she was moving out, onward to bigger and better things. He glanced into the shower, it now looked empty, only his shampoo and soap remained. No reminders of her were present, no fresh rain scented shampoo or conditioner, no pink razor, and no fluffy pink body scrubber thingy hung from the shower nozzle. He wasn’t sure if that body scrubber had an official name but he was sure he missed seeing it already. Countless times he’d lifted that fluffy pink thing and pressed it to his nose. Luckily, her scent still hung in the air, hopefully that reminder would linger, or perhaps he should scrub it away with Pine Sol or something, in order to not be reminded of her.
In hindsight, he almost wished he would have made her share the upstairs bathroom with his brothers, rather than sharing the master bathroom with him. At least under that scenario, he may have never come to know her true tantalizing scent, and it wouldn’t be so difficult to let go of her now.
After finishing in the shower, he slid into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and found everyone waiting for him in the kitchen.
“Who’s riding along?” he asked.
Braden, Nate and Luke all volunteered to help Marissa move into her dorm. Aric wished her well and turned his attention back to the TV set.
The forty minute drive to the campus had to be the longest drive of Dylan’s life. Though his passengers chatted non-stop he’d hardly made out a word they said. His selfish mind reminded him over and over how lonelyhewas going to be without her.
It took only two trips to unload the truck of her belongings. Even at the end of the second trip, there was no sign of her roommate yet. Dylan was curious to meet the person with whom she’d be living, hoping her roommate was as nice a person as Marissa. He knew from experience the importance of liking one’s roommate.
Wanting to grab as much time as he could with her, he offered to hang around and help her unpack.
“We have to go,” Nate said.
“What?” Dylan asked.
“I have a troop meeting in an hour and a half.”
That’s right.He had nearly forgot.
“That’s okay. I got it,” Marissa said with a quick glance around the room. “It’s not like I have a lot of stuff, and I’ll wait for my roommate before I unpack some of my stuff so we can line things up together.”
Marissa swung her gaze between Braden and Nate. “I’m going to miss you guys.”
Nate stepped forward and hugged her. Braden kept his distance. Dylan supposed Braden figured he was too old for this hugging business, though he was sure his teenage brother still worshiped the ground Marissa walked on, as he’d done from day one.
Marissa crouched down in front of Luke and embraced the little boy. Her eyes watered. “I love you, Luke.”
Luke clung to her. “Love you too.”
Tears ran down her cheeks. Dylan’s chest constricted. His brother had grown very close to Marissa over the summer. He hoped this separation wouldn’t be too much for Luke.
Before letting Luke go, Marissa kissed him on the cheek. “You be a good boy for your brother now, okay?”
He nodded and stepped back from her. She didn’t really need to tell Luke to be a good boy, he already was a well-behaved child. Perhaps she just needed to fill the silence.
“Well, I guess we should shove off and let Marissa be,” Dylan said, swinging his gaze between his brothers. “Braden, why don’t you take your brothers to the truck and I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”
Braden nodded, and the boys exited the room.
Dylan stuffed his shaky hands in his pockets and looked at Marissa. He wished her eyes weren’t still watery. She had no idea how difficult this was for him already, letting her go like this. He fought the urge to narrow the gap between them. “Remember, Marissa, like I told you before, you are more than welcome to come home anytime. All you have to do is call and I’ll pick you up. I’m for sure expecting both you and Cole home for Thanksgiving break, though, okay?” The thought of not seeing her for three months nearly killed him.
A tear rolled down her cheek. His right foot slid forward but he caught himself. He wanted to hug her, kiss her, and hold her. At his hesitation, she nearly threw herself into his arms. Her firm grip was tormenting and pleasant at the same time.
“I’m going to miss you guys so much. With as happy as I am to be here, I’m so unbelievably sad at the same time.”
