Bellamy's Redemption

“Well, I thought I reminded you of your younger sister.”

“I never should have said that.”

“No, you really shouldn’t have,” I said laughing. “She’s adorable, but I don’t want to be your sister.”

“I just said it because I didn’t think you were interested in me.”

“I was a little confused coming into this, but I think I’ve worked through my doubts,” I said.

“Whew!” He pretended to wipe some sweat of his brow. “So, could you see yourself coming back here again? Spending holidays up here with my family?”

“Yes, for sure, Bellamy,” I said. Then I wondered, would I still call him Bellamy, or would I call him Dirk if we were married? Well, whatever. What’s in a name, right?

“I want you to know,” he said, “that I think you’re really a great girl.”

I swallowed. “And you’re a great guy,” I said. I couldn’t believe how serious this was all getting. I looked around me at the mountains and trees whizzing by, and at Bellamy’s tan, manicured hand comfortably resting on the leather steering wheel. I wasn’t sure about the manicures. Was that a coat of shiny clear polish on them, or had they been buffed to a reflective state? Hopefully that would stop once we were married. I’m sure it was just a part of him being on the show.

“Yep,” he continued, “I really see you meshing with my family.”

“Super,” I said, noticing the pattern of the fancy wooden dashboard. The car was so expensive that I didn’t even know what kind of car it was. Something foreign and really obscure. What did his parents do, anyway? Why were they so rich?

“Can you see yourself being part of my family?” he asked.

I found myself nodding emphatically. “Sure! It’s great here!”

“Awesome,” he said, running his right hand up and down my thigh. “Oh, they’re back on our tail,” he said, catching a glimpse of his parents’ SUV in the rearview mirror. He slowed down and turned down the radio. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“You’ll love this restaurant. Every time I’m home we come here. We’ve been coming here since I was a little kid. It’s great.”

“Do your brother and sister live near here?”

“Dwight and Sherifaye live about thirty minutes away. I’m not sure if you already caught onto this, but Sherifaye is pregnant.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” I said.

“Uh huh,” said Bellamy, without a huge amount of enthusiasm. I was getting the impression that he and his family weren’t crazy about her. “My sister goes to college in California. She’s quite a bit younger than my brother and I.”

My brother and me, I thought. “Where did you go to college?” I asked. Oh no. I’d seen myself do this before. I was going to pick apart everything about him and talk myself right out of this. Prove me wrong, Bellamy, I mean Dirk.

“I started at the Arizona Rock Climbing Academy. That place was insane. They aren’t in business anymore. Then I took some business classes online for a while. Now I run my own rock climbing studio near Phoenix. Have you ever been to Arizona?”

“Not yet.”

“You’re going to love it there. It’s so beautiful. Do you like the desert?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never been to the desert. But I’m sure I would love it.”

“You will. You definitely will. Well, here we are,” he said, turning into the parking lot of a place that looked like a giant lodge. His dad pulled in right alongside us, and the carload of cameramen and crew took the spot beside them. Everyone piled out

“It looks like rain, honey,” said Bellamy’s mom to his dad.

“Why don’t you put the top up, son,” his dad suggested, nodding at the convertible.

“I don’t think it’s going to rain,” said Bellamy.

“Just to be safe, why don’t you put it up?” said his mom. “You and Emma wouldn’t want to ride back on wet seats, would you?”