Love Revealed

Love Revealed

Published by Stella Sokefun-Salu at Smashwords

Copyright 2015 Stella Sokefun-Salu

Discover other titles by Stella Sokefun-Salu:

Tardy the wise tortoise: Tardy the tortoise Book One

Tardy and the princesses: Tardy the tortoise Book Two

Tardy the greedy tortoise: Tardy the tortoise Book Three

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to all our men and women in uniform, veterans, and their families.

Appreciation

I want to thank God for His wisdom in completing this book. I will like to thank my loving husband, who always stands by me in fulfilling my dreams, my children and grandchildren.

You all have made this possible. I love you.

Disclaimer

This book is fictional. All names and events are fictional. Any name used in this book that has relevance to any particular event, any individual living or dead is purely coincidental and author cannot be liable.

Chapter One

It had rained a lot in the past few days and last night’s was the heaviest. The Thompsons have been putting finishing touches to their packing. They had rented a moving truck to pack all of their belongings and tow one of their cars along while they drive the other car. It had been a tedious work but Thomas and Brandon managed to derive fun from it all while Kimberley had mixed feelings.

They worked into the night and were tired, but they knew that they had to get up early to attend to the movers as they would be at their house 9.00 am prompt. They hurriedly took peanut butter sandwich for breakfast and drank the remaining milk that they deliberately left for that morning.

The movers arrived on time and in no time all the things were packed carefully into the truck. At this point everyone was reminiscing on the memory that they are about to leave behind.

On one hand, Kimberley was excited to be going to a new neighborhood but she could not get over the fact that she was leaving her school that she was familiar with, and the fact that she would not be able to see Benjamin was not settling well with her.

Are you all already? Jerry shouted from outside. This sound brought Kimberley back to the hustling and bustling going on around her. Jerry Thompson was the supervisor in an electrical company where he had worked for ten years. He had a bachelor’s degree but luck had been against him, as he had not been able to move pass the supervisory level for a whole decade.

He however was able to meet his financial obligations because his high school sweetheart, Becky was supportive and as a nurse she earned enough to compliment Jerry's take home pay.

Jerry and Becky met in high school and from then, there was no separating the two. They got married the same year that Jerry graduated from college and their three children came in quick succession. Kimberley was the first and she was sixteen, but will be seventeen within two months.

She had been looking forward to calling a few friends over since it would be her last birthday in high and maybe finally Ben will come and they could have a chance to talk, but obviously this was not meant to be.

Thomas was fifteen and Brandon was thirteen years old. Thomas and Brandon were excited about the fact that they were moving to Texas and it is said that everything is bigger in Texas, so they were looking forward to the steaks and burgers and making new friends. Their house in Louisiana was a three-bedroom bungalow, with a small backyard but within a nice neighborhood. It had a small grocery store close to their house that they could pick few things up without needing to go further into the city. This they did when doing elaborate shopping for the month.

It was in a quiet, family friendly neighborhood and they loved it. Their house stood out in the area because of the flowers that Becky planted in their front lawn. She loved gardening and prided herself with the outcome of her flower arrangements and the fragrances that welcome you as you approach their front door. She knew that she would miss her garden but took solace in the fact that she could transfer the same ideas to their new place and possibly put in new ideas that would make their new house hopefully more beautiful and exciting. She was looking forward to the idea of her new creations and the compliments of visiting friends and neighbors as these boost her ego though she takes such compliments with humility.

Thomas and Brandon liked their street because it allowed them to ride their bikes and go on their roller skates as their house was at a cul-de-sac, hence they did not have to worry about cars. They were particularly going to miss the Saturday basketball games that they played with the friends within the neighborhood. They were always looking forward to the weekends.

There was however, an incidence during their game on a Saturday, one of their friends fell down while they were playing and had a serious injury that kept him in the hospital for about two weeks. All of them felt bad and not too many parents were willing to allow their boys to go out for the games, but with time and the incidence behind them, the boys started trickling out, until things were back to normal.

Nevertheless, they were excited about moving to Texas. They put their house out for sale and several people came in to look. The garden added to the beauty of the house. Their Realtor had worked frantically to sell their house and a week to their moving there was an offer, which they accepted.

They had been in that house for seventeen years and had finished paying their mortgage on the house. They had taken a fifteen-year mortgage on the house because they wanted to finish paying for it on time. This was the reason why money was tight and coupled with their mortgage payments they were also putting money aside for the kids’ college. They felt if they did all that while they were young, things would be easier down the road. They made a little gain on the house, therefore had cash ready for their new house, but were willing to go a little over that amount because Becky’s dad was willing to help them. That way, they would not need to take a mortgage and pay interest on the loan, and they could get a bigger house.

Jerry was a loving but strict father and Becky believed that the discipline of their children is a joint effort of the two parents, so the children knew that they could not hide behind either of the two parents to perpetrate any mischief. That notwithstanding, the children all loved their parents. They saw their parents as hardworking, and they could see that they were ready to do everything for them to have a good education and subsequently a good life, hence, they trusted there sense of judgment. They also could tell that their parents loved each other dearly. Therefore, the decision to move to Texas was no longer debated, especially because Jerry was given a managerial position.

Leaving the school now had cancelled the opportunity of having Ben as her date for their prom night, which was what she had fantasized about for so long, that is, being in Ben's arms while he gently sways her to the music. It really did not matter the type of music as long as she was in his arms. For Thomas and Brandon, they were excited about moving to Texas. They thought of the new friends they would make. Are you all set? Jerry repeated and everybody except Kim, echoed yes.

For the last time they all looked at the house, thinking about the memory they had all shared there. Jerry and Becky remembered when they bought the house, the excitement of owning their own first home. It was close to both their jobs and eventually the school for the children.

For Jerry, he remembered when he carried Becky over the threshold on their wedding day. Becky remembered bringing Kim home from the hospital and the birth of the other children. They went to see where they had marked the heights of the children at their birthdays.

Jerry, there is so much memory in this place, that it is hard to just take off and go and I am going to miss my garden. I agree with you but I am happy that those memories were made with you by my side.

With this, they all went into the car and as they drove off, Kim kept on looking at her school, hoping per chance, she might catch a last glimpse of Ben on the field.

The journey from Louisiana to Houston Texas is about four hours, but they intended to stop for food on the way. Thomas and Brandon would rather have their first taste of Texas as soon as they crossed the border of the two states.

Kim was relatively tall for her age; she was five feet ten inches with a beautiful and radiant skin. She was doing well in school, except for mathematics, which if given the chance any day, she would rather not have to go for that class. She carried herself well, had few friends but her best friend was Lori and even with her, she could not discuss how she felt about Ben, simply because Kim felt that she did not trust anyone with a secret that was that close to her heart. Moreover, she was very shy especially when it came to Ben.

Kim was particularly close to Lori because they were both shy and therefore became each other’s wingman. Lori lived on the same street with Kim hence after school they walked back home together. Lori's house was the first they would get to on their way from school but they sometimes would get pass Lori's house, go to Kim's house eat and play there for a while, and then go to Lori's house.

They became very good friends that the friendship extended to all members of the two families. Coupled with her shyness was the fact that her father was strict and would not allow his children to go for outings with their classmates for fear of pair pressure.

Kim remembered her father's reaction when she told him of her wish to join the cheerleaders group. No, you cannot join the cheerleaders because you are going to be exposed to the footballers and possibly other boys too soon.

Despite her protest and her explanation that the school frowned at such interactions Jerry would not hear of it. It was as if Jerry read his daughter's mind. Kim was not particularly ready for all the rigorous exercises that she had to do in order to perform well as a cheerleader but the thought that she would be within the vicinity of Ben was enough for her to overlook any discomfort that she might have to go through.

Ben was tall, handsome, broad shouldered and with a deep baritone voice which was good enough to send waves of pleasure in any girl's body. For these characteristics, many girls were falling head over heels for him, and Kim was not an exception.

Ben was aware of his influence on the girls and he felt amused at all the come on signs he got from the girls. He had enough girls to draw his attention that he had no eye for Kim.

Moreover, Kim was mostly withdrawn and inaccessible. Kim also knew that even if Ben were to talk to her she could never take him home and she dared not stay after school or sneak out.

She felt that her friends would laugh at if Ben or any boy came to her house and her father drove him out. She could not stand such humiliation again. She remembered one day when she saw one of her classmates, Robert; walking pass her house and he called her and greeted her. Unknowing to her, her father saw him as he was driving in from work. Kim could never forget the humiliation of that day because her father walked to her to tell her that he was disappointed in her and ordered Robert out of his drive way.

Despite Kim's plead that he was just a classmate and there was nothing between them, her father would not listen. The next day, it was the news of the day in school and Kim was very unhappy.

Jerry called Kimberly after dinner the next day. Kim knew there was going to be some serious talk because she had come to understand that whenever her parents called her by her full name there was going to be some serious talk. Otherwise, they called her Kim. Kimberly, her mother echoed. Yes mom and Kim went to their bedroom.

Please sit down, Jerry went on. Kimberly I am so sorry about yesterday. I know I overreacted. Sweetie, it was