New Beginnings by Charlotte Carter Read Free Book Online

eyes.
    “Did she tell you why?”
    “She said she wanted to date other guys. That I’d be gone for four years at the Naval Academy, hardly ever home, and she didn’t want to sit around watching TV every Saturday night while everybody else was out having fun.”
    Ouch! “She’s known all along that you had your heart set on Annapolis. In fact, I thought she was excited about it. Why did she break it off now? It’s another year and a half before you’ll be going to the academy.”
    Gideon ran his hand over Sapphire and scratched her between the ears. “Tad Bishop asked her out.” He mumbled the words as though he had a bad taste in his mouth.
    Frowning, James asked, “Who’s Tad Bishop?”
    “Only the biggest jock in school. Captain of the basketball team. Star receiver in football. And he’s getting a full-ride baseball scholarship to the U of Illinois.”
    Tough competition. “Since Jenni is hoping to go to Wheaton College, that means he’d be a lot closer to her than you would be in Maryland. Right?”
    “Yeah.” Dumping the cat from his lap, Gideon got up and paced across the room. His old green sweater had stretched out and hung loosely on him. “It isn’t fair, Dad. It just isn’t fair!”
    “I know, Son. Not much about love—or war—is really fair.” James had a girl break it off with him in high school. It hadn’t bothered him much. He knew he wasn’t ready for a permanent commitment, and she seemed to want that. So no heartbreak for him.
    “I mean, I was going to take her to the movies tonight, buy her popcorn and everything. I even bought her a necklace for Christmas. But Tad invited her to some dumb ol’ party, and she said she’d go with him. So she up and dumped me and broke our date.”
    Sympathizing with his son’s problem, James leaned back on the couch. “I have to say I’m surprised Jenni would do that to you. But look at it this way: Maybe she’ll find out Tad isn’t all that good a catch after all. In a day or two she may call you up full of apologies and ask to get back together with you.”
    Gideon seemed to brighten at the thought. “You think so?”
    “I don’t know. It could happen.” Or not. James wouldn’t want to make any promises about what a young woman would or wouldn’t do. Despite twenty-plus years of marriage, Fern could still surprise him.
    Having been patient as long as she could, Sapphire jumped back up on the recliner. She circled the seat twice and then curled herself into a ball.
    “Maybe that’s what will happen.” Gideon tucked his fingertips in his pockets. “Tad’s had a lot of girlfriends. Maybe he’ll decide Jenni isn’t so great and he won’t ask her out again. She’d come back to me then, wouldn’t she?”
    “No way of telling for sure. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. You might want to hang onto the receipt for that necklace, though, in case you decide to return it.”
    A scowl furrowed Gideon’s brow again.
    James got up to give his son a hug and a pat on the back. A guy’s first love was always a tough one to handle if the relationship went south. He was pretty confident Gideon would survive the blow, but it might take a while for him to recover.
    And he’d probably never forget it.
    James went into the bedroom to check on Fern. He found her on the bed, the quilt pulled lightly over her. She was awake.
    “Hi, honey, I thought I heard you talking to Gideon,” she said.
    Bending over, he gave her a kiss. “Yep. Poor guy is bummed out. Jenni broke up with him.”
    “What?” Fern rose up on one elbow.
    James sat down beside Fern and briefly told her what had happened.
    “My goodness. That doesn’t sound like Jenni at all. She’s such a nice girl. And she has a lovely family. I simply can’t imagine—”
    “Neither, apparently, can Gideon. He’s hoping she’ll come to her senses and come back to him. I’m not so sure.”
    “Neither am I.” Fern put her head back on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling.