Never Meant to Be

September 4th, 2010
Saturday
Boston’s Bright Beginnings Daycare, Boston, MA
4:00 P.M.

She stared into the soft brown eyes that were so similar to her.

“Evangeline?” he said in that deep voice.

“Hello Nathan,” she said with a bit more of confidence then she intended.

“What um, what are you doing here?” Nathan knew it was her she had the same unique different colored eyes he’d seen before.

“Going to college here now,” she said.

“Oh,” he said back “Cool, what are you doing at this daycare?”

“My son goes here,” she said.

“You’re married now?” he asked.

“No,” she said. It was his. His baby. Their son.

“Oh,” he said awkwardly. “Boyfriend?” Suddenly the doors of the daycare burst open and the twelve kids came pouring out, followed by three of the employees. The parents waiting out front greeted their kids. One of the employees came over and handed her son to her.

“He was good today Ms. Beauregard, he didn’t fuss anytime today at all and ate all his food.”

“Thanks Amy,” she said to the woman. A second later another employee came over to Nathan and said

“Mr. Horton your wife came earlier and picked up Dylan early.

“Thanks,” he said. The employee left and Evangeline said

“I remember Dylan.” Nathan looked at her baby and was shocked to see how similar he looked to his own baby pictures. He looked up at her and said

“Who’s the father?” Evangeline looked away and didn’t answer him. Nathan felt angry that she wasn’t answering him and not to cause a scene he said in a serious but quiet tone “Who’s the father of the baby Evangeline?” Evangeline felt as if she had lost her voice. She couldn’t answer. Finally she turned to him and said

“Who do you think is?”

“I’m serious Evangeline, I want a clear answer.” She looked at him straight in the eyes and said

“It’s yours Nathan.” He suddenly felt sick and very light, like a feather. His whole world was being turned upside down.

“That’s a lie,” he said.

“No it’s not; I never had sex with anyone else. After you left I found out I was pregnant a month after you left.”

“Oh my god,” he said running is hand down his face. He held it over his mouth in shock.

“I understand that you already have a family, that’s why I never bothered to contact you after.” Evangeline turned to walk away but Nathan said

“So, stay. I wanna talk more with you.” Evangeline couldn’t understand if he was angry, happy, or sad. “We need to talk about this.”

“If you really want to.” She said surprised at his offer.

“Ya I do, how about you meet me somewhere.”

“When?” she said.

“For dinner at 6:00 at Fire and Ice.” He said.

“What about your wife?”

“I’ll tell her my coach wanted to talk with me before the season starts.”

“This is not a date,” said Evangeline.

“I know,” he said. “I don’t intend for it to be I just want to talk about him.” He said gesturing towards the baby.

“See you at six then.” She said. And with that the two parted ways. Everything seemed to be a blur for both of them. Evangeline buckled her son; Trenton, into his car seat and pulled out of the parking lot. She watched as Nathan by in his large black Escalade SUV. Everything seemed to have gone by so fast. Did that just really happen? She remembered the first day she laid eyes on Nathan. Evangeline had been born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to a wealthy Cajun family that bred race horses. When she turned ten her mother had been tragically killed in a car crash sending Evangeline into a downward spiral of drugs and alcohol. Her father and older brother decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee to get away from her troubled life. At the age of 16 Evangeline met Nathan taking a walk.

It was beautiful out. There was a clear blue sky, the sun was beating down brightly making the temperature around 85 degrees on that summer day. Evangeline Beauregard had decided to go for a walk on the street near her house as there was nothing to do. Her father and brother Troy were away for the nest week at a horse race. The lone road she was walking down was surrounded by extensive fields fenced in. Her large country home could be seen further across the field. Except for the stable staff that went hoe for at night Evangeline was alone.

Nathan Horton drove down the long country road. He was headed back to his cousin’s house from going shopping for food. His cousin Jared was at work and his wife Lisa was heavily pregnant so he had volunteered to go grocery shopping for her. Lisa was eager to have her baby and loved children so he’d left his newborn son Dylan with her to watch. His wife Tammy had gone on a girl vacation with her friends to the Bahamas and Nathan thought it’d be a good idea to go visit his closest cousin in Nashville with his son. His cousin Jared had lived next door to him back in Welland when they were kids and then his aunt and uncle decided to move to Nashville when they were both twelve years old. As he dove along he noticed that there was something wrong with his car. As he pressed on the gas pedal his car would move at the normal speed of thirty miles per hour but after a few seconds the car would fail and move down to only ten miles per hour. Finally his car shut down completely. Frustrated he sighed and leaned back in his seat. He’d probably have to walk miles to find a gas and repair station around here. He looked around and saw the only thing around him was fields. He had not brought a cell phone and regretted it. He looked further up the road and noticed someone walking. He jumped out of his car and yelled

“Hey you!”

Evangeline heard someone calling and she turned around to see a man yelling to her. He was running, towards her from his car. She stopped and waited for him to come up to her. As he ran up closer Evangeline noticed how attractive he was. He had darker skin, was well-muscled, and was wearing a T-shirt that showed off a large tribal tattoo on his left arm. His face was handsome with softer features, brown eyes, and brown hair. He couldn’t be a day over twenty-three.

“He,” she said.

“Hey,” he said back. “Uh my car just broke down back there. Do you possible have a phone I could use?”

“Back at my house,” she said pointing to the large home across the field. “I can bring you back there but it’s a twenty minute walk from here.”

“Better than to keep walking until I find a gas station,” he said. So the two set out towards the house. Nathan took a glance at the girl and saw how beautiful she was. She had long light brown wavy hair, an average skin color, a thin hourglass figure, and long legs. The most interesting feature on her was her eye color. They were two different colors. The left one was bright blue while the left one was dark brown. There was an awkward silence for a couple of minutes before Evangeline said

“So you from around here? You sure don’t sound like it.” She said, noting his northern accent.

“Oh no, I’m from Canada,” Evangeline nodded and said

“Cool, never met a Canadian before, thought they never came this far down south.” Nathan laughed, charmed with her southern accent.

“You ever been north of here?” he asked.

“Nope, not once, I was born in Louisiana and moved up here when I was fourteen.”

“Well I live in Florida,” he said. “But I was raised in Canada.”

“What made you move to Florida?” she said.

“I play on a professional hockey team there, The Florida Panthers.” He said.

“Oh,” she said. “I never watched ice hockey before. My dad had been breeding race horses since I was little that’s why it’s my favorite sport. That and bull riding.” She said laughing. Nathan smiled, she was so much like the stereotypical southern girl that he’d heard about back in Canada when kids laughed about how the people in the southern U.S.A. acted.

“You never heard of the Nashville predators?” he asked.

“Sounds familiar,” she said. “See the only time I go near the city is when my dad’s entered in a local race there, or when I go shopping.”

“What about school?”

“My dad hired tutors for me and my brother,” she said. “He didn’t want me going to a school after we left Louisiana so he got me a tutor and it was easier for him to just have my older brother tutored with me then send him to a separate school.” Nathan was curious but knew it wouldn’t be polite to ask. They turned down a road hat was heavily wooded.

“So are the Florida Panthers a professional team?” she asked.

“Ya,” he said.

“So does that make you a professional athlete?” she said yet again, admiring his muscled physique.

“It does,” he said. She smiled to herself and said

“You like Nashville so far?”

“Oh ya, nice city. I’m here to see my cousin for the next week. My wife is away on vacation and I brought along my son.”

“I bet he’d rather be back at home so can go to Disney World.” She laughed.

“He’s a newborn; my wife just had him back on July 2nd so he’s not quite in that annoying ‘I’m bored’ stage yet.” laughed Nathan. The two turned down a long driveway with an open iron gate. The top said ‘Beauregard Farm and Estate.’ They walked another five minutes own before they came to the large house that Nathan had seen from a distance.

“Nice house,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said. The two walked up the front stairs to the porch. When Evangeline pulled open the door Nathan smelt the vanilla scent that filled the house.

“I don’t think I got your name?” she said.

“Nathan Horton,” he said. Evangeline turned to him and said

“Evangeline Beauregard,” she held out her hand to shake and Nathan took her small one his large one. Nathan looked around the room. A grand tile staircase led up to the 2nd floor. To the left he could see a dining room ad to the right he could see a library. She led him into the dining room where he was amazed at the long polished wooden table. Sunlight streamed in from big windows on each side of the room. Big diamond chandeliers hung from the ceiling over the table. Not even his own home in Florida was this luxurious. They walked into the kitchen which had tile floors, tile topped counters, a large steel fridge, an oven, a microwave, and an island table in the middle. She went over to the phone on the wall and handed it to Nathan. She gave him the number for the towing service and Nathan called giving them the address where his car was and where to bring it to.

“They usually take a good twenty-five minutes,” she said. “Want some lemonade?” she went over to the fridge and pulled out a carton.

“Sure,” he said feeling how thirsty he was. As she poured him a glass he looked around the kitchen some more.

“You have a really amazing house,” he said as she handed him the glass.

“Thanks,” she said smiling, “Want a tour of this floor?”

“Alright,” he said. Evangeline went from room to room. She showed him the dining room again, the family room, the library, and the trophy room which held all of the trophies won by her father and her past grandparents. She took him out back where he got an amazing view of their large horse barn, a race track, and all of the fields he’d seen before. In the distance a mountain range was visible, giving the land the perfect look. He could hear the sounds of horses in the distance and said

“Wow this place is beautiful.” He then noticed the absence of her father. “Where’s your dad?”

“Away at a race with my brother Troy in Arkansas, I didn’t go because it’s only a small race, nothing serious. I won’t be missing nothing.” They stood there for awhile more looking out at the beautiful view when Evangeline heard the doorbell ring from inside. “That’s probably the tow guy,” she said going back inside. Nathan followed her at a slower pace and found her talking to the tow man at the door. The man saw him and said

“We picked up your car back on the road, I’d be happy to give you a ride back into town or wherever you live around here.”

“Thanks,” he said going out the door. He gave the man the address to Jared’s house and then turned to Evangeline before leaving. “It was nice meeting you Evangeline.”

“You too, Nathan hope you have a fun rest of the time you’re in Nashville.” Nathan began to walk away toward the truck where the tow man was waiting but he couldn’t help but turn back and say

“Hey I was wondering if you wanna do something.” Evangeline was surprised and said

“What?”

“I mean I just got here yesterday and I don’t know much about it here,” he felt so awkward. “I was wondering if you could just show me around a bit, you know the best places to eat, stuff like that.”

“Sure,” she said. “When do you wanna meet up?” He smiled, happy that she didn’t find him weird.

“How about tonight,” I’ll drive here with my cousin’s spare car and then we can go out somewhere to eat.”

“Alright,” said Evangeline leaning against her doorway. She smiled and said “I know the perfect place to take you.” He smiled and said

“Alright see you tonight around 6:00?”

“Yup, bye Nathan.” She said. She kept standing in the doorway as she watched the tow truck back out and go down her driveway, pulling Nathan’s SUV behind it. She smiled to herself. Would this be considered a date? He was obviously much older than her. She had never been opposed to age differences in a relationship; she’d gone out with a 19-year-old for a couple of months earlier that year. Nathan had to be around twenty-three. She wasn’t sure if he was aware that she was around the age of sixteen. It didn’t bother her to much, and it certainly didn’t bother her dad. He had a big heart and an open mind and welcomed any guy who was respectful and nice to his daughter with open arms. She moved out of the doorway and shut her front door. Her next task was to go pick out an outfit for later that day.

And that was where it all began. Evangeline reminisced as she drove down the highway back to her Boston apartment. It was very similar to how tonight was going to be. They were meeting at a restaurant for dinner at 6:00. But she knew the nature of the meeting would be very different.
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Thanks for reading :) Please comment.

So tell me your opinions. I thought I'd make Evangeline unique and make her southern rather than a Canadian or Northern girl lol. Half my families of Cajun descent and from the south so I love making at least one of my characters southern lol. I also like to include horses a lot if you haven't noticed lol. :)