Chapter 8

The next month was the longest four weeks of Bailey Crawford's young life.

Along with her sister, she went to work and got ready for school. They attended orientation, registered for classes, applied for financial aid and tried to get work-study jobs on campus. The girls had chores around the house and each took on more hours at their part-time jobs to save some money for when school would start.

In their small community, some of the kids went straight into a full-time job after high school. Most of them were from working families—if they weren't downright poor—and they needed every dollar they could get from every able-bodied person in the household. Some went to the service, seeing it as the only ticket out of their small rural town, even knowing that a trip to Iraq or Afghanistan was probably in their immediate future. A few were planning on going to college. And a handful were just taking up space and milking the welfare system. Like their parents and grandparents before them.

Bailey and April had no delusions about their circumstances. They weren't destitute, but they weren't rich, either. Their parents worked hard and tried to give the girls every opportunity they could, but the fact of the matter was that if April and Bailey wanted to go to college, they were going to have to get scholarships and loans and jobs to pay for it. So they scrimped and saved and applied for every kind of financial aid they could find.

That didn't mean they couldn't have any fun, though. They spent some afternoons sunning themselves in the backyard, going horseback riding or swimming at the wave pool. They flirted with the boys and gossiped with the girls. Normal, kid stuff.

At the same time, like many newly-minted high school graduates, Bailey felt like this was her last summer before life caught up with her. She knew that reality was going to set in soon. Their parents had offered the girls a place to live while they went to school, but were told in no uncertain terms that once they either decided to get a job or graduated from college, they were "off the payroll", so to speak. Andy and Joanne had raised their daughters to be independent and they weren't going to spend their lives with grown kids still in the house.

The fun times seemed to fly by, but the rest of Bailey's summer dragged. And it was all because of Gabriel MacKenzie.

He was back in New York working. It seemed that after the prom, just about everyone in Washington County stopped what they were doing from 1 to 2 PM to watch The Sun Also Sets. When his portrait graced the issue of Soap Opera Digest announcing his return to the show, there was not a copy to be found in any store within twenty miles. He was officially the biggest thing to hit the county since Dane Beck got a full scholarship to play football for Virginia Tech back in '02.

If they were home, April and Bailey watched the show in their living room. If they weren't, they taped it and watched it with their mom after dinner and before Jeopardy!

All the while, Bailey counted down the days until he returned to take her out on the date he had promised at the party.

They talked a couple of times, but never for very long. He was working during the day and couldn't answer his phone or return calls. She didn't like talking in the evening because there really wasn't any privacy in her small house. He seemed to be busy with the show and all of the other things that go on in a TV star's life, but he did try to call on a consistent basis, and sometimes it seemed he just wanted to hear the sound of her voice.

After each call, Bailey got some good-natured ribbing from her sister, but it was worth it. Even her parents joked about it a couple of times, and her dad wasn't nearly as intimidating towards Gabe as he was with some of the other boys who called the house.

Mentally, she had circled the first of August as the day he was coming back, although she knew it might be a week to either side of that. His character on the show had returned from a long sabbatical in Tibet or something and was immediately drawn back into the usual soap opera drama. They had written a story arc for him that spanned four weeks and several loose threads were left dangling for his inevitable (permanent) return.

Knowing that Gabe's run was coming to the end, Bailey grew more excited with each passing day. She wondered where he was going to take her and what they would do.

One night after dinner, right about the time that Gabe usually called, the phone rang. Bailey was in the bathroom and couldn't answer, but she came running as quick as she could.

"—We're doing fine, Gabriel," her mother was saying. "The girls got registered and start their classes on the twenty second ... Yes, both got the freshman scholarship and the Pell Grant ... That, too ... On campus ... Bailey's working for Admissions and April will be in the math department ... Okay ... Okay ... I will ... It was good talking to you."

Bailey reached for the phone, but her mother swatted her hands away. She covered the mouthpiece. "He wants to talk to your father ... Andy! Telephone!"

Dumbfounded, Bailey stared as her mother waited for the other phone to pick up, then she hung up the receiver. She was even more shocked when her dad didn't come and get her when he finished his conversation with Gabe.

She thought to call him back, but a little part of her grew angry.

What the hell does he think he's doing? Why doesn't he want to talk to me? the young girl thought.

Making up some excuse, Bailey went to bed early. Gabe didn't call the next night or the day after that. She began to panic.

"I'm sure he's fine," April tried to comfort her before bed.

"What if he's found some other woman?" Bailey asked, rattling off the most negative things she could think of. "What if he was just using us to get back on the show? What if he's never coming back?"

"I'm sure he'll be back," her sister said. "He promised, didn't he?"

By Friday, Bailey still had not spoken to Gabriel. She called him once and left a voice mail. A couple other times, she was in the middle of dialing his number but stopped before the call went through. She didn't want to come off as desperate, or even worse, psycho.

April was making plans to go out with some of their friends, but she didn't invite Bailey along. "Mom said you were going to help out with the spaghetti dinner at church."

That was news to Bailey. But at least it gave her something to do. In her broken-hearted teenage mind, she stumbled blindly through the day, going through her daily routine by rote.

She and her dad were watching TV and waiting for her mom to get ready when the door bell rang. She was dressed up for church but otherwise pretty casual. No sense in putting on nice clothes only to get them covered in spaghetti sauce. Bailey was so spaced out, she didn't hear a car drive up.

Uncharacteristically, her father sprung out of his chair to answer the door, something he never did. Bailey blinked a couple of times and wondered what was taking her mother so long.

"Good evening, young man," she heard her father say.

"Hello, Mr. Crawford. I was wondering if your daughter was available for me to call on her." Bailey's heart jumped into her throat when she heard Gabe's voice. He was speaking a lot more formally than she had ever heard him, but his tenor was unmistakable.

"Why, yes, she is," her father replied, something between vague amusement and outright laughter in his voice. "Please come in."

"Thank you," Gabe said, stepping into their living room. Bailey stood immediately, unsure of what was going on. Her date was wearing a blazer and a nice shirt with jeans. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hands and a wrapped package under his arm. All of the anger and disappointment Bailey had felt earlier evaporated at the sight of Gabriel. He held out the flowers for her. "I was hoping you'd allow me to take you out for dinner."

Flustered, Bailey only blushed. She wanted to run over and throw her arms around him, but her feet wouldn't move.

"Who's here—" her mom came out of the bedroom. "Oh, hello, Gabriel. Are you here to take Bailey out?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied politely.

"I trust your intentions toward my daughter are honourable," the corners of Andy's mouth turned up.

"Entirely," Gabe smiled.

"And that you'll have her home at a reasonable hour," Andy continued.

"Is eleven too late, Mr. Crawford?"

"That would be fine, young man."

The absurdity of the situation struck Bailey just then. Her dad was maybe three years older than Gabriel, although years of work in the auto shop made him look like he was closer to fifty than forty.

"I have something for you, Mrs. Crawford." Joanne blushed as Gabe addressed her. He held out the package, which looked like a framed picture. Bailey's mom opened the neat wrapping. Her smile spread from ear to ear when she saw a publicity photo of the cast from The Sun Also Sets that was autographed by each of the show's stars.

Bailey knew that if things didn't work out between she and Gabriel, and by some chance her dad were out of the picture, Joanne would run away with the soap opera star and not even think twice. Bailey smiled to herself; if he really was interested in pursuing her, Gabe knew exactly who to suck up to first.

"You kids have a good time," Andy said and then sat back down in his chair.

Joanne winked at Gabe, then gave Bailey a warm hug before whispering in her ear, "Use a condom, honey."

"Mom!" She turned only a deeper shade of red.

"My lady," Gabe motioned theatrically towards the door. "Your chariot awaits."

Bailey slipped her hand into the crook of Gabe's arm. He led her out to his car, opened her door then got in on the driver's side. She was only vaguely aware of her parents and sister watching them from the window at the front of her house. It was very surreal.

Things happened so fast, they were well on their way before she felt underdressed. She still clutched the flowers Gabe had given her. Bailey glanced up in the mirror on the backside of the sunshade and saw that she had a goofy smile on her face.

Gabe's eyes twinkled.

"What was that all about?" she asked when she found her voice.

"What was what all about?" her date asked innocently.

"That whole 'may I call on your daughter' stuff? Isn't that a bit old-fashioned?"

"Bailey, I am old," Gabe laughed. "And old-fashioned."

"Where are we going?"

"I thought we'd go somewhere for dinner. Do you like Italian, seafood or steak?"

"Um ... you pick."

"We could always go to your church for the spaghetti dinner."

"No, thanks," Bailey giggled. Showing up with a date who was twice her age—and famous, too—would cause quite a stir since her sister and friends wouldn't be with them. "How about steak? We could go to the Outback and you could really buy my dinner."

"Outback is nice, but it's always crowded and noisy. I know a nice place over in Shelbyville," Gabe suggested. "It's a little bit out of the way, but it's worth it."

"I'll go where ever you take me," Bailey smiled.

The drive took about an hour. The first part was awkward. Neither seemed like they wanted to start the conversation, even though both had a lot they wanted to say to the other.

Bailey asked about New York and the show. He seemed excited to be back working. He shared a couple of stories about the three main stars: Celeste, Jeffrey and Lori. Gabe asked about school. She was sad her summer was coming to an end, but was ready to get on to the next stage of her life.

They went to an old farmhouse that had been converted into a restaurant. They specialised in steaks, although they also had a wide variety of chicken, seafood and pork on the menu.

Even though there was a considerable wait, as soon as they walked through the door, the hostess escorted them to an open table. It seemed that Gabe wasn't above using his celebrity for a few perks, like getting a table in advance at a place that usually didn't accept reservations. The booths were private and the lighting low. It was very romantic.

Neither ate much and both picked at their food. A couple of times during dinner, an uncomfortable silence fell over their small talk. Bailey's shyness returned. She was afraid that she was blowing the one chance she might have to get Gabe to truly like her and ask for that second date.