Chapter Nineteen
Finally it was New Year’s Eve, with Trixie and Bo hosting the party this year.
Cam and Dean attended as well. The music played through the night, with the Duke twins and their cousin Miles Belden terrorizing their cousins and neighbors.
The final countdown to the New Year came, with a lot of kissing going on. Tiffany didn’t realize Dean was standing behind her until he spun her around and kissed her quickly. Too startled to shove him back, she finally laughed and shook her head and he gave her a quick hug. Her heart ached, wishing she was with Tony, but there was no way she could have gotten away from the annual party. She didn’t notice Dean watching her most of the night, his expression thoughtful.
At the New Years Eve party, Tim Mangan stood next to his parents, hugging them tightly after Dan kissed Daisy at midnight. While they hadn’t still hadn’t had the big conversation both knew was coming, the last two weeks they had began to repair their relationship. Tim would be home in the summer, and both expected it would come then. Neither wanted to force the issue, the newfound peace between them was too fragile.
To Tim's disgust, he was nowhere near close to figuring out who Tiffany's secret lover was.
***
The day after Tim left, the Belden-Duke kids returned to a new semester of school. Aralyn, Tiffany, Cam, Dean and their other friends realized how close they were to graduation and the real world, and excitement set in.
Aralyn was pleased to realize her schedule was similar to Tiffany and Cam’s again. It made school much more bearable when she had someone to share the torment with. Cam would continue to tutor her in Chemistry and Algebra II, and she was happy to see she had managed low B’s in both classes, a vast improvement from the D she had been hovering on before tutoring.
Dean hadn’t decided what to do with his new information about Tiffany and Mr. Roth. Part of him thought he needed to tell Tim. But Tim had the Duke temper too, and would likely either a) tell his Dad, or Luke or both-which really, was probably for the best, or b) go after Mr. Roth on his own.
Tiffany was eighteen, Dean had reminded himself. But it was a serious breach of ethics to be sleeping with a student. Tiffany was the heiress to the Wheeler Empire. Dean knew Matthew Wheeler; he had met him many times over the years. Tiffany’s grandfather would obliterate the teacher.
Which he should, Dean thought. What was stopping Dean was his feelings for Tiffany. Tiffany knew this was wrong, otherwise she wouldn’t be sneaking around. But he knew Tiffany well enough to know that if she had given herself to someone, she was in love with him. Admittedly it hurt, but the last thing he wanted to do was hurt Tiffany herself. And betraying her to Tim would do just that.
Dean kept his internal struggle to himself, unaware that the two people he would confide in already knew Tiffany had a secret and were desperate to find out who her mysterious lover was. What Dean didn’t know was that Cam and Tim had the wrong information.
***
Finally, one afternoon in mid-January, Dean knew he had to talk to Tiffany. There were just too many ethical violations happening, not to mention school policy about absolutely no relationships between teachers and students. Dean wasn’t a narc, but he cared about Tiffany. A lot. And he knew she might be so furious with him that she never spoke to him again, but he had to intervene. He had kept his silence for almost two weeks, and it was killing him.
“Hey, Duke!” he called.
She turned and waited for him to catch up.
“Need something, Dean?” she asked warily.
“I need to talk to you,” he said in a low voice.
“Why?” she asked suspiciously.
“Because I’m worried about you.”
Tiffany raised one eyebrow. “I’m fine. And Dean, I have to get practice.”
“This is important,” he insisted, stepping in front of her. He stood over her by a couple inches, and tried not to get lost in the intense hazel eyes.
“What’s gotten into you?” she asked, annoyed. “I’m going to be late.”
“I saw you last weekend.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen you too, a couple of times,” she replied with a laugh.. “Cam’s party. And the New Years party where you kissed me.”
“I mean two Sundays ago,” he said softly.
Tiffany blinked.
Dean took a deep breath.
“Morning.”
She felt herself grow cold as she stared at him. “You must have been mistaken.”
Dean leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I saw you leave his apartment, and I saw his face. I know who you’re seeing.”
Tiffany turned white and Dean reached to steady her, worried she’d faint.
“What are you talking about?” she whispered.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said quietly. “Tiffany, please, stop it before you get hurt.”
“Let go of me, Dean.” The hazel eyes had gone icy. “Are you going to rat me out?” she asked coolly.
“No,” he answered after a few seconds, releasing her when he was sure she was steady. “You’re legal age. But Tiffany, it’s a bad idea, it’s unethical, it’s against school policy and it could cost him his job.”
Her hazel eyes were hard as she glared at him. “Dean, I know you’ve wanted to get together for years, but it’s not going to happen, and while I appreciate your concern, you have to admit your motive here is a little shaky.”
“You’re one of my oldest friends, Tiffany,” he said quietly. “And I value that. I value you and our friendship. But he’s ten years older than you and he’s our teacher. That makes this incredibly unethical and immoral.”
Tiffany’s entire body tensed as she stared at Dean.
“I love him,” she hissed. “And he loves me. And as soon as I graduate, we’ll go public. Just you watch.”
“Tiffany, please,” Dean said quietly. “Please, don’t do this. We’ve heard about this happening in other places and it’s always a disaster. He’s going to break your heart!”
“It’s my heart to give him,” Tiffany snapped. “And if you even think about ratting me about, Dean Acklen, don’t forget I know plenty about you that you don’t want being public knowledge.”
“Tiffany—”
“Promise me you won’t tell,” she said sternly. “Or some of your secrets will be locker room gossip for weeks. I’m an adult, Dean, I make my own decisions.”
Dean sighed. There was no way out of this. It was unheard of for her to pull the blackmail card. She was in too deep, he realized. “I promise. But Tiffany, please, be careful. Please listen to what I’m saying. You’re going to get hurt and I don’t want to see that happen.”
“I hear you,” she said with a sigh if impatience. “I’m always careful but you can’t control who you love. You know that, Dean. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to get to practice.”
“I wish you’d reconsider this,” he said.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone Dean, or you’ll regret it. I swear.”
She stormed away, and Dean murmured, “I already do.”
***
Tiffany sat in Algebra II, wishing it was Wednesday. Wednesday was a Tony night. She had hockey Tuesday and Thursday, so he graded on those days. They could be together Wednesday and Friday nights, sometimes Saturday night she could stay over. He was working on his dissertation and had grading, so she couldn’t see him as much as she wanted to.
Aralyn was back playing on the team, and they were gearing up for the spring season, with the hopes of going to Regionals. Aralyn was pumped that they had a good shot at it but Tiffany only partly heard her cousins’ excited ramblings. Aralyn was pushing Tiffany to talk to their parents about the road trip, but Tiffany was hesitating. She didn’t want to leave Tony. Aralyn was willing to leave Cam behind, but Tiffany wasn’t sure she was ready to make the same decision. After graduation they could go public with the relationship. To put that on hold…that just wasn’t something Tiffany was willing to do.
***
Tiffany lay on her bed, trying to work on her Algebra homework and failing miserably. She just couldn’t concentrate. She hadn’t been able to since her conversation with Dean the other day. He knew about Tony. She knew he’d keep his mouth shut, at least for now.
But the words kept echoing in her head. Unethical. Hurt. Caution. Tony could lose his job if they were found out.
But Tony loved her. She was sure of it. He had seemed ready to say it the other day. It was fast, she knew, but then love was like that, she figured. Fast and crazy and giddy.
Tiffany eyed the phone. She wanted to call Aralyn, gush, giggle and gossip about him. But she couldn’t. Not until June, when they graduated. Then she could share all with her cousin. The tension between was a little less, and Aralyn had broached the topic of their road trip with her. Tiffany had suggested they wait until fall, spend the summer working.
“Why?” Aralyn asked. “One more miserable summer here, when there’s two countries waiting on us to explore? It’s bad enough I’m going to have put going back to school in the offer to Mom and Dad, so I want to start as early as possible. Like, the weekend after gradation or something.”
“I just think it’d be nice to have a relaxing summer,” Tiffany hedged. “Besides, what about Cam?”
Aralyn looked away and hesitated before she answered… “He uh…doesn’t really know.”
Tiffany’s eyes popped. “What?”
“I haven’t told him,” Aralyn sighed.
“Aralyn Duke, are you crazy? He’s your boyfriend!”
“I know. I told him at one point I wanted to do it, I just haven’t told him I’m planning to. Besides, if Mom and Dad say no, then I’m screwed and I have to go to college.”
“Have you even sent in your applications?”
“Yeah, a couple. The community colleges and a few universities with good hockey teams, but Tiffany…I don’t want to go to school. Not just yet anyway.”
“Your parents will freak if you don’t go at some point,” Tiffany pointed out. “Especially your dad.”
“I know,” Aralyn sighed, lying back on the bed. “I just want to have some fun first.”
Tiffany hoped her cousin would agree to at least postponing, but Tiffany’s secret hopes were with Tony. What if he asked her to marry him? Sooner rather than later, she thought dreamily. They would have been together for about seven months by graduation time; they could have a lovely fall wedding. A smile crossed Tiffany’s lips at the thought of her dream wedding on the grounds of Manor House, just like she and Aralyn had always dreamed. It wouldn’t be a double wedding they had planned as small girls, Tiffany knew Aralyn wasn’t even thinking about marrying Cam, but that was okay. Her grandmother Madeleine would insist on it being a big splashy occasion, but Tiffany would be fine with just her, and Tony and a minister on a beach in Mexico.
Spring Break was a couple months off; maybe they could sneak away somewhere romantic. Usually she and Aralyn went somewhere, but she’d find a way out of it. Maybe Aralyn would cover for her. No, no way. The oldest cousin wouldn’t help her because she believed Tiffany was involved with a married man. She’d have to figure out something romantic for them to do.
Her cell phone beeped with a text message, interrupting her daydream. Picking it up, she felt herself grow warm as she read Tony’s text message. Yes, she was certain he was in love with her.
Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!
Author’s Notes
- A huge yee-haa to the fabulous Donna, for editing this!
- Poor Tiffany. Things always get worse before they get better.
- Word Count, 1,977
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