The Proposal & Solid Soul - Brenda Jackson [139]
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“LET ME MAKE SURE I have this right,” Chance said as he paced back and forth in front of the two teenagers, who were now the ones sitting on Kylie’s sofa. To say they were in the hot seat was an understatement. “Are the two of you saying you aren’t madly in love and that you never were?”
It had taken the kids twenty minutes to explain to their parents what it had only taken ten to confess to Donovan a few days ago. But Kylie and Chance had stopped them periodically to ask questions.
“Yes, Mr. Steele, that’s what we’re saying. Marcus and I are good friends and have been since the first day I started at Myers Park High. One day while talking we decided that neither you nor my mom had a life that didn’t center around us, so we decided to give you one,” Tiffany said, smiling.
Chance frowned. “You decided? Just like that?”
“Yes, sir, we decided just like that. Wasn’t that cool?”
Kylie came to stand next to Chance. “No, that wasn’t cool. Did it ever occur to either of you that we liked the life we had?”
“Yes, it did occur to me, but then I wondered what you would do when I left for college in a few years, Mom,” Tiffany said quietly. “Just the thought of you being here all alone almost made me give up the idea of leaving home and going off to school. But then I figured it wouldn’t be fair for me to give up my life just because you didn’t have one. So I decided to help you find one. And when Marcus mentioned how handsome his dad was, and I told him how beautiful you are, we decided the two of you would make the perfect solid soul.”
Chance lifted a confused brow. “Solid soul?”
“Yes, it’s where two souls combine into one. A very solid one that can withstand anything.”
Kylie crossed her arms over her chest and glared at them. “The two of you deceived us. You had us almost pulling our hair out by pretending you were so much in love.”
“We kept asking you to trust us, Ms. Hagan,” Marcus spoke up and said. “Even if we were in love, Tiffany and I have been raised right. You and Dad have done a good job. We know right from wrong and we know what to do and what not to do. We kept telling you and Dad that, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“That’s besides the point. What the two of you did last night was—”
“Necessary, Mom,” Tiffany cut in and said. “I’m not a child. I knew you were beginning to really like Mr. Steele. I could tell. And I could also tell that you wouldn’t let yourself like him fully because you probably thought I wouldn’t go along with it when all I ever wanted was someone to come into your life and treat you nice, take you places and make you smile. And Mr. Steele made you smile, Mom. I’ve never seen you smile so much as when you were around him or talked to him every night on the phone. And I knew our plan was working because Marcus said his dad was smiling, too.”
Marcus picked up their defense. “But we also knew something happened, Dad, that weekend Tiffany and I went out of town. When I got back to town the smile was gone and you were acting like you had lost your best friend. Tiffany told me that her mom was acting the same way so we figured the two of you had had an argument. We knew we needed to do something.”
Chance sighed deeply. “Is that the reason for the stunt the two of you pulled last night?”
“Yes,” Tiffany said softly. “I figured if you cared for my mom that you would come over and make sure she was okay. And you did just what I knew you would do, Mr. Steele.”
“In other words, we played right into your hands,” Chance said, frowning.
“No, you played right into each other’s hearts,” Donovan said, coming to stand next to Chance. “I think you’ve drilled them long enough, and yes, I let them talk me into being a part of their shenanigans because I saw the same thing they did. The two of you cared for each other and you were smiling a lot, Chance, when you were together.” Donovan grinned. “You were even smiling when you weren’t together. You don’t know how many times when we were in your office for a meeting that Bas, Morgan