The Summer Moon
Chapter 16 -

Malia

My heart sunk in my chest as Ty suddenly hung up the phone. Was everything okay? Had something happened? Anxiety began to build in my stomach as my thoughts landed on myself. What if I had said something wrong or something that upset him? I had just been talking about my plans when returning to New York, it was completely unrelated to him or whatever was going on between us.

I stepped outside the back door and breathed in the fresh air, urging myself to calm down. I would call Ty back in the morning and everything would be fine. Off in the distance, I heard howling in the woods and a shiver ran up my spine. As much as I had enjoyed my dad's stories of wolves growing up, it still scared me to know they were so close by. Wolves were definitely an animal I'd like to love from a distance.

I stepped back into the house and crawled into bed. I willed myself to sleep and forget about Ty hanging up. All I could do was hope that everything was okay, and he would explain himself in the morning. Finally, sleep overtook me and I drifted off.

The next morning I woke early, hearing footsteps on the back porch. I jumped out of bed, scurrying to the door and peering through the curtain to see my dad now sitting on one of the patio chairs.

"Dad?" I asked, opening the door and peering outside. He looked back at me.

"Oh honey, sorry I didn't mean to wake you," he stood from the chair as I stepped outside. I went to sit down in the chair next to him.

"It's okay, why are you up so early?" I asked.

"Oh no reason," he shrugged his shoulders. "So I never got the chance to ask, how was Emily's the other night? Did you make some friends?" My dad suddenly asked and my mind flashed back to the time I spent with Ty.

"Um yeah, I met a few people." I said, fiddling with my fingers in my lap. I wondered if I should tell him about Ty, but it seemed all too soon to be telling my dad about a relationship that had only just started, if I could ever call it that. It took 3 weeks after I started dating Brayden before I finally told my mom about him. Ty was different though, and honestly I felt closer to him than I had ever felt with Brayden.

"Good, I really want you to enjoy your time here, Malia. I know it's uh..." he trailed off, looking for the right word, "different from New York." He landed on.

"It is different, but I'm enjoying my time so far dad," I gave him a reassuring smile which he eagerly returned. "I'm sorry we haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time together yet," I said next, suddenly feeling guilty. My dad had made such a big deal about me visiting this summer and I'd hardly even been home, or when I was, I was mostly just in my room.

"Don't worry about it, I want you to have fun this summer, get to know the people here. It's just nice to have you around," He squeezed my knee, then stood up. "Well honey, I'm going to go get ready for work. Savanah said she wants to take you shopping this afternoon. Have fun," he planted a kiss on my forehead, then headed off towards the front door. Shopping this afternoon sounded great. Alana and I used to go all the time in New York. Plus, it would give me some time to process everything that had happened over the past couple of days.

The morning passed quickly. I spent most of the time reading. Mom sent me a text to check in, but after quickly telling her that everything was good, she stopped texting me. I was sure she would check in in a few days, and I would have to rehearse what I was going to tell her.

Savanah and I took the car to the mall shortly after lunch. I really enjoyed spending time with her. Unlike my mother, she was easy to talk to about anything. I told her about my plans for the Fall. Truly, I wanted to go to college and study to be a vet. I'd always loved taking care of animals, even though my mother never let us have any in the house. My mom, however, had different ideas. She wanted me to be the heir to her fashion company. Everything about her company bored me, but it didn't feel like I had much of a choice. So, instead, we compromised, or at least that's what she called it. I would attend college part time in the fall, while also working at her company.

The real plan, however, was that once I saved enough money, Alana and I were going to get a place together. I could replace a different job, focus more on my schooling, and finally get some distance between my mother and I. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother and I'm grateful for the life she's given me, but it felt like she was suffocating me my entire childhood, trying to control every aspect of my life.

I picked up a shimmery black dress off a rack in the store and tried it on. I instantly fell in love with it as I came out of the change room and looked in the mirror. It was tight around my chest, showing off my cleavage, and flowed loosely over my waist and hips. Savanah whistled as she came over to see me.

"Now that looks like a date dress," she winked at me and I blushed. "Who's it for?"

"No one," I mumbled. Savanah gave me a look, clearly she knew I was lying. "It's kind of soon but I met someone. He hasn't actually asked me on a date yet, but I think he's going to." I confessed, my mind drifting to Ty's perfect smile. Savanah wrapped an arm around me and gave my shoulder a squeeze as we looked in the mirror together. "How could he not? You look beautiful, Malia. Now let's replace some shoes to go with it."

Savanah and I continued to shop for the remainder of the afternoon. I really enjoyed spending time with her. I ended up coming home with the dress, a new pair of heels, a couple of t-shirts and a few new sets of matching bras and panties. I couldn't wait to call Ty when I got home. If he didn't ask me out soon, I'd already decided that I would ask him out. I was already beyond excited for the date we hadn't even planned yet. I ended up having even more fun with Savanah than I

thought I would at the mall, it was hard to believe I could call these people family, and how quickly I was beginning to love spending time here. The fact that I had ever doubted coming here for the summer was now a distant memory as I found myself beginning to wish that I had come sooner.