Wedded Unexpectedly, Sequoia Gallatin [best ereader for epub txt] 📗

I say against his lips. "I could never leave you, even if I tried."
"I love you too." He tells me, running his fingers through my hair. "So much. I don't think I could bear it if you weren't here. I think I'd die. And not just if you died but also if you fell in-love with someone else." He looks into my eyes. I can read the question that appears in his eyes.
"Never." I whisper.
"You sure?" He asks.
"Yes." Thats good enough for him. He kisses me again. Suddenly my grandma flings the door open. We jump apart.
"Ever heard of knocking?" I sneer. I'm still not really fond of my grandparents but I like grandpa better.
"Ah, your finally up. Good morning, Elizabeth. How did you sleep?" She smiles at me.
"Oh just dandy!" I say, sarcastically. "The best sleep I've ever had in my entire life!"
I watch her face fall. "Well I'm going to go make some breakfast. Would you like some, Adam?" She says, smiling at him.
"Yes please, Mrs. Lemming." He says, grinning back at her.
"Oh just call me grandma." She says, smiling. I know that she's charmed by him. But not in the way I am. More in a 'God do I wish Melissa had had him instead of this wicked, cruel witch of hers.' I feel kind-of bad about that.
"Thank you, grandma." I call after her. She stares back at me for a second then smiles.
"My pleasure, sweetie." She says, then leaves closing the door.
I stand up and walk to my closet to pick some clothes out.
"That was really nice of you, Love." Adam says. I look back to see him sitting on my bed, watching me. I shrug.
"I felt kind-of bad." I say.
He smiles. "Well at least it's a start."
I snort. "That's all though." I pull on some jeans and a top.
"You know that she loves you." He says.
"Yeah. Whatever." I say, looking in the mirror. I pull a hair band off of my wrist and put my hair into a ponytail. I feel his hands on my waist and turn in his arms.
"You look beautiful." He tells me, pulling me closer and kissing my forehead.
"Ellie! Adam!" I hear my grandma yell from the kitchen. She always calls me Ellie but all my friends call me Beth. It's kind-of confusing sometimes. "Breakfast is ready! Come and get it before it gets cold."
"Coming!" I yell.
"Come on." He takes my hand and pulls me with him out the door.
Chapter 2: Adam

I look out of the window.
"Ad-dam!" I look over to see my best friend, Charlie Shingle standing behind me.
"Hey." I say, grinning at him.
"Where you been, man?" He says, slapping my hand.
"Sorry, man" I say. "But I had to take care of Beth. She was almost dead."
"Oh yeah, I heard about that. Poor Beth." He smiles at me. "Well I'm glad that you got to be with her for a little while."
"What do you mean, a little while?" I look at him, suspiciously.
"Did you not hear?" He says. "Your dad's sending you to some mens boot camp. My dad's sending me there too."
I stare at him. "No." I say, angrily. "No way! He cant tell me what to do. I came back to be with Beth and be with her I will."
"Sorry man." He says, shrugging. "But I don't know what to tell you." But I'm already stomping out of there.

. . .
"Dad." I say, rushing into his office.
"Ah, my son." He says, widening his arms to me. "I heard you were back in town. Welcome back to America."
"Quit the sweet talk." I growl. "Just so you know, I'm not going to any Men's boot camp." I glare at him.
"Ah, but you can't decide what to do yet, My son." He says, shaking his head.
"I'm almost twenty years old!" I practically scream at him.
"You are still so young." He tsk-tsk's me. I roll my eyes.
"I can't believe you! You just don't like Beth!" I yell.
"Adam, Adam. Elizabeth Lemming is a fine young woman. But-"
"But, but, but, theres no buts. You just think that Stacie Milling would be much more suitable for me." I say, glaring at him.
"Yes that is true." He says, not ashamed of admitting it. "Adam, I want you to marry Stacie Milling. Nine days from now you will be wedded."
"No Father." I say, my hands curling into fists. "You cannot control my life."
"Yes Adam," He says. "You are only nine teen years old. Until you are married I will be in control of your life."
"And how am I supposed to be married if you wont even let me choose my wife?" Then I stomp out of the door, slamming it shut.

"What time do you have to be home by?" I ask. We're walking along the street. She's huddled against my body, her hand in mine. She shrugs.
"Before midnight." She stops and looks up at me. "Is it true? What everyone's saying? About you and Stacie?"
I sigh, rubbing my face with my hand. She pulls me along with her to a bench and we sit down next to each other. I lean forward, looking up in her face. She tries to smile for me but I can see the sadness in her eyes.
"My dad seems to think that he can rule my life. He wants me to marry Stacie, he wants to send me off to boot camp. He just doesn't want me to be happy. He knows that I am happy with you and that's why he's trying to take you away." I squeeze her fingers. "But I'm not going to let him win. I want to be with you and you alone."
Her eyes are glistening with tears. "You need to go through with it."
"What?" I stare at her, disbelieving.
"You need to do as your father says." Her jaw tightens but she continues on. "I love you Adam but I don't want to anger your father even more. I want him to like me. So you must go through with it." She starts to stand up but I grab her hand.
"Beth. Don't. Do. This. Please. Do. Not. Do. This." I beg with her, trying to pull her down with me but she won't budge. She just shakes her head, sadly.
"Adam. I love you so much. And I won't stop fighting for you but I need to give you a little time. Maybe in a few years we can be together again. You will be such a great father and such a great husband. But it's not for me right now. I'm sorry, my love. But I must say goodbye for now." Then she yanks herself away from me, looking down. Tears glistening in her eyes as she turns and hurries away. Not even remembering that she has my jacket on her. But I don't care. All I care about is the fact that she just left me. All alone. Hoping that this was just a nightmare. Then it begins to set in and I find myself crying. How can I live without her?

I'm dying, I'm dying. How can you feel this way about someone who has been out of your life for about one day? I know. Because they ARE your life. I've been avoiding my father the whole day. Suddenly there comes a knock on my door.
"Son, please open up." My father bangs on the door.
"No." I call.
He bangs even harder. "I swear Adam, if you don't open this door in 10 seconds I will break it down!"
I turn on my side and ignore his knocks. Finally I hear my mom's voice say,
"Honey, just leave him alone. He's upset."
"I don't care, Melissa." He says back to her. "He is 19 years old. He can handle himself."
"Stop being mean to him." My mom says. "You know what it's like to be in-love. He loves Beth. Not Stacie."
"Honey, listen. I know what it's like to be in-love. I have you but I also know what's good for him. And I'm sorry but Elizabeth Lemming just isn't good for him right now." He sighs. "I wish you could understand that I'm just trying to do what's best for Adam right now."
"I understand that your doing what YOU feel is best for him." She sighs too. "I just wish you could understand that what you feel is best for him and what really IS best for him are too different things." Then I hear them walk away down the stairs together. Then I fall asleep.

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Publication Date: 07-04-2012

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