Radclyffe - When Dreams Tremble

to change any of it. Dev climbed from the truck, pulled Leslie’s luggage from

behind the seat, and started toward the lodge.

Leslie’s parting words, in the past and the present, reminded her more

powerfully than any blow that she and Leslie had never shared the same dream.

It had all been in her mind. A Þ ction created from her own need and foolish

hopes.

Thankfully, those long-ago dreams had been put to rest, but she was still going

to need to Þ nd another place to stay. She had never expected that seeing Leslie

again would hurt quite so much.

• 43 •

• 44 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

CHAPTER FIVE

Leslie stopped a step below her mother and tried to decipher the expression in

her mother’s eyes. Despite the fact that it was only a three-hour trip, Leslie

hadn’t been home in over three years, and the last visit had been only for a few

hours one Christmas. She’d never had to lie about the reason for her absence.

She always had work to do, even if that was only a convenient excuse. There

was warmth in her mother’s eyes, but wariness too. After Leslie left for college

they’d lost the easy companionability they’d had when Leslie was a teenager.

No, Leslie reminded herself, after you decided to go to law school.

“Hi, Mom,” Leslie said.

Eileen wrapped her arms around Leslie’s shoulders and hugged her. “Hi, honey.

I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up.”

Leslie felt the stiffness in her mother’s embrace and imagined that her own body

felt much the same. “That’s okay. I didn’t give you any notice, after all.”

“Well,” Eileen said, looking past Leslie down the gravel walk,

“I’m glad Dr. Weber was able to give you a ride.”

Leslie turned just as Dev reached her, Leslie’s briefcase under her arm and the

suitcase in her hand. “Dr. Weber?”

Dev shrugged, coloring faintly. “Not the regular kind.”

“You didn’t need to bring my luggage up,” Leslie said, reaching for the suitcase.

“No problem,” Dev replied, climbing the stairs. “Where do you want them?”

“Your old room’s available,” Leslie’s mother said, “if you want it.

• 45 •

RADCLY fFE

I don’t rent that one out unless I really need to, and the lodge isn’t full now.

You’d have plenty of privacy.”

Not if Rachel manages to come up, Leslie thought. There was no way she was

going to subject Rachel to her mother’s scrutiny or have sex in her childhood

bedroom. That wasn’t exactly the way she wanted to introduce her mother to

the idea that she had a girlfriend.

Plus, even if Rachel didn’t visit, she didn’t want to spend two weeks in the

constant company of her parents and be faced with the subtle disappointment in

their eyes. “I’d rather have one of the cabins. They’re not all full, are they?”

“Not yet, but we’ve got reservations—”

“Actually,” Dev said, wondering if the other two women had forgotten her

presence, “she can have mine. I…uh…should probably get a place closer to the

lab.”

Eileen look startled, and Leslie scrutinized Dev intently before saying, “Mom,

let’s settle the room situation later.”

“Of course. Let me double-check the registrations, and we can decide after

dinner. I’m sure I can work something out.” Eileen looked at Dev. “I hope you’ll

be able to join us tonight.”

“Thank you, but—” Dev said, scrambling for a polite way to decline when the

phone rang inside and Eileen turned away.

“Wonderful.” Eileen hurried inside, leaving Dev to stare after her.

Leslie lifted the suitcase Dev had deposited on the porch. “I’ll make your

excuses, if you want to pass on dinner.”

“I’m that easy to read, huh?”

“You might take a little bit of coaching before I’d put you on the witness stand.”

Leslie smiled softly. “Besides, your eyes always did give you away.”

“No, they didn’t,” Dev said quietly. “You were just always able to tell what I

was thinking. No one else could.”

When Leslie’s face lost all expression and she hastily glanced away, Dev knew

she had no good reason to put off sitting down to dinner with the Harrises. Until

now she’d avoided them because she didn’t want the subject of Leslie and their

shared past to come up. She hadn’t wanted to be reminded, and she hadn’t

wanted to talk about it.

But the past was standing right in front of her, and she couldn’t have stopped

thinking about Leslie now if she got into her truck and drove a thousand miles

away. What she needed was to understand that this

• 46 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

woman was not the girl she remembered, and whatever friendship they’d shared

had ended the night when everything in her life had changed. Maybe a casual

dinner where it would be apparent they had nothing in common any longer

would do the trick.

“Sorry,” Dev said.

“For what?” Leslie said, shifting her eyes away from the boathouse and back to

Dev.

“For bringing up old history. I’m just surprised to see you.”

“I won’t be staying long,” Leslie said abruptly, feeling inexplicably

claustrophobic. She was standing outside in the June afternoon sun, looking out

over a vista of forest and clear blue water that was still unspoiled by the

trappings of modern life. She couldn’t imagine a place where she might feel

more free, but instead she found herself trapped in memories she had no desire

to relive. “There’s no need for you to move out of your cabin. We’re not likely

to see each other. I’ll be working most of the time, and I imagine you’ll be off

doing whatever you do.”

Dr. Weber , her mother had said. Leslie could barely believe that this woman

was the angry, often sullen, teenager she remembered. Dev had never studied in

school, and her grades had shown it. Even though Dev had almost failed her

junior year, Leslie always knew she was smart. She could tell from the things

they talked about. Dev seemed to know something about almost everything, but

she never cared about doing well in school or whether other people approved of

her. That was one of the things Leslie always loved…

“I’ll stay in the lodge,” Leslie said.

“You ought to be able to stay wherever you want while you’re here,” Dev

pointed out reasonably. “It’s your home, after all.”

“No it isn’t.” Leslie shouldered her briefcase and started to add that she didn’t

care where she slept when she felt the ß uttering sensation well up in her chest.

The surge of panic that followed only made her heart pound faster. With a gasp,

she dropped her luggage and sat down quickly in the nearest porch chair.

“Les, are you okay?” Dev took the Þ nal two stairs to the porch in one long

stride. Leslie was very pale, but even more disconcerting, she looked frightened.

Dev knelt by her side. “Les?”

“Fine,” Leslie said with a wave of her hand. She felt just a little bit breathless,

but the ß uttering sensation was already starting to subside. “Hot. I should have

had something to drink on the train besides coffee.”

• 47 •

RADCLY fFE

“I’ll get you something to drink from inside.” Dev started to rise when Leslie

caught her arm.

“No, don’t. My mother…”

“I won’t tell her.” Dev, stiff with shock, stared at Leslie’s Þ ngers wrapped

around her wrist. It was odd, they were exactly as she remembered them,