Donovan crossed his arms over his chest, not believing what they were asking of him. He loved his nephew but was he willing to incur his oldest brother’s wrath? “I think you had better tell me about this plan first.”
Marcus nodded. “I’ll let Tiffany explain things since it’s her idea. But I think it’s a good one.”
Donovan doubted it was all that good but decided to listen anyway. Twenty minutes later a smile touched his lips. He hated to admit it but he liked their idea, although it could use a little tweaking here and there to make sure neither Chance nor Kylie panicked and got the police involved. There was no doubt that Chance would be mad in the beginning, but in the end odds were he would be a very happy man. “Okay, count me in. I’ll help but only on one condition.”
“What?” Marcus asked.
“That you modify your plan somewhat.”
Marcus and Tiffany quickly agreed.
Donovan then smiled and said, “Now, I think that this is the way we should handle things….”
Chapter 15
Late Friday night Kylie glanced over at the clock on her nightstand the moment the telephone rang. It was almost midnight. She suddenly got a funny feeling in her stomach. Was it Chance? The last time she had seen him was Sunday night when they had all gone to the movies.
Deciding that answering was the only way to determine who her caller was, she reached out and picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Mom?”
Kylie shot straight up in bed. The voice sounded like Tiffany’s, but there was no way her daughter could be calling her when she was down the hall in her bed sleeping.
“Mom? Are you there? It’s me.”
Kylie jumped out of bed to her feet. “Tiffany! Where are you?”
“Mom, I’m fine.”
Kylie angrily began pacing her bedroom. “Fine, nothing! Where are you, young lady? No one gave you permission to leave this house. How dare you pull something like that!”
“Mom, please calm down. I’m fine. Marcus and I are together.”
“What?” Kylie screamed at the top of her lungs, before collapsing in the wingback chair in her room. “What do you mean you and Marcus are together? It’s after midnight. No one gave you permission to—”
“Mom, Marcus and I have been thinking.”
Kylie gripped the phone tightly in her hand. “Thinking? The two of you have been thinking? Fine, then think at your own houses. I want you home immediately!”
“Not until you and Mr. Steele promise to become friends again.”
Kylie frowned. What was Tiffany talking about? “Listen, honey, Chance and I are friends. You need to come home.”
“The two of you didn’t act like it Sunday night. You barely said two words to each other. If Mr. Steele is going to be our in-law one day, then the two of you are going to have to get along.”
Kylie threw her head back and began silently counting to ten, not believing the conversation she and her daughter were having. “Look, Tiffany, I don’t know where you are but I want you to end this call right now and come home. Better yet, tell me where you are and I’ll come and get you.”
“No, Mom, I can’t do that. Marcus and I aren’t going to do anything we shouldn’t, so don’t worry about that.”
“But I am worried about that! You’re only fifteen, it’s after midnight and you’re out somewhere with a boy when you should be home sleeping in your bed. How dare you tell me not to worry!”
“Then maybe I should ask you to trust me, and to also trust Marcus. We’re in a safe location and we won’t do anything that you and Mr. Steele will be ashamed of.”
“That’s not the point!”
“It is the point, Mom. You and Mr. Steele are going to have to trust us. Marcus and I figured the reason the two of you can’t get along is because you don’t trust each other and you don’t trust us.”
Kylie struggled to keep her voice calm. “I do trust Chance and I’ve tried to stop being so uptight and to start trusting you more, but I see doing so was a mistake. You either come home within the next thirty minutes or I’m calling the police.”
“Mom, please don’t. All it will do is cause unnecessary embarrassment for me and Marcus.”
“Tough! The two of you should have thought of that sooner.”
“Mom, I’m serious. If you call the police then we won’t come back. All we need is time to talk.”
“And just what do the two of you have to talk about that you had to sneak out in the middle of the night to do it?”
“We need to talk about you and Mr. Steele and your inability to get along.”