Jodi Thomas - Rustler's Moon

She’d said, “I always make sure I know the guy’s name before I sleep with him. After all, I don’t want to wake up married after a night of drinking, like my mother did, and find out I have some stupid last name.”

Lauren had only known Polly a week then, but she asked, “Do you sleep with all the guys you go out with?”

Polly had laughed and said, “Of course not. Sometimes I don’t go out with them at all.”

Lauren wasn’t sure if Polly was trying to shock her or being honest, but after that she tried not to get too close to her. Only, leaving her here at the estaurant with some guy named Roger seemed cruel.

She touched Polly’s arm. “Call if you need a ride back to campus.”

For a second Polly seemed surprised, maybe even touched by the offer. Then her face hardened. “I never need help,” she answered. “Don’t worry about me.”

Lauren nodded once and followed Tim out.

He pulled her into the night air saying they shouldn’t interfere with true love.

“True love?” she whispered.

“Yeah, I have a feeling it hits Polly about every other weekend.”

They drove back without talking. Lauren couldn’t help wondering if Tim was bothered by Polly’s quick hookup more than he admitted.

Lauren didn’t know whether to be worried about her or angry that Polly seemed to think so little of herself.

At the dorm doors, Tim kissed her cheek, and Lauren felt as if she’d almost had a date. “Promise we’ll always be friends.”

He grinned. “Promise.”

They usually stood around talking whenever they got together but tonight something seemed to be on Tim’s mind and hers was heavy with lost dreams. He tipped his imaginary hat and walked away as she turned and headed up the stairs.

By the time she got back to her room she still hadn’t received a message from Lucas. She’d hoped he would have texted just to let her know he’d made it home to Crossroads, but he hadn’t.

She did have a text from Reid asking if she’d made up her mind about the party next Friday night. Say yes, he’d texted, everyone wears black or red to the dinner.

Angry and frustrated and feeling very much alone, she texted back. Yes. I can go.

A moment later Reid answered, Pick you up at six. Bring a coat we’ll go directly to the game after the party.

Her first official date at college, she thought. But it wasn’t with Lucas. It wasn’t even with a guy she liked. All the daydreams she’d had of college and being with Lucas were falling around her like snowflakes vanishing as they touched the rug.

From this night on, she’d build new—real—experiences. Maybe not with a guy she was crazy about. Maybe not forever dreams she’d cherish. But someday when her friends talked of their college days she’d at least have a few memories to compare.

Glancing out her window, she noticed a break in the clouds where tiny stars were shining through. The night of her sixteenth birthday, Lucas had taken her far away from town lights to watch the stars over the lake.

Lauren smiled remembering earlier that same evening when Reid had shown up drunk to her party and tried to kiss her. One swift knee between his legs had sent him to the ground. He’d been a perfect gentleman after that. Tech’s stadium was at the far north end of the campus. If he stepped out of line next Friday night, she could always walk back to her dorm.

Leaning back on her bed, she thought of Lucas and how she loved kissing him, but she was his someday love. He wanted them to finish school before they got serious. He hadn’t believed a sixteen-year-old would know about real love, and in many ways he still treated her as if she was that sixteen-year-old.

Lucas raced through life. He’d graduated early from high school. He would make it through to his bachelor’s degree in three years and planned to start law school in the spring. He hinted that he wanted her to be part of his future, but Lauren wanted to be part of his now.

A plan simmered in the back of her thoughts. Maybe if he saw how other guys wanted to go out with her, he’d pay more attention.

She shook her head. It was a dumb plan. Stupid. But then, being available and waiting every time he called didn’t seem to be working.

If she went out with Reid, Tim would tell Lucas. If he reacted, she might just get that real date with Lucas Reyes that she’d been waiting for since she was fifteen years old.

CHAPTER FOUR

Angela

ANGELA PULLED ON an old jogging suit and decided to walk around the edge of the lake. She’d spent all week cleaning and moving into her little cabin and had grown to love the lake and the small town a mile away. Tomorrow morning she’d start a new job, a new life. Her years of taking care of her mother, of worrying about her father, were in her past, washed away by a river of tears. Now she had to face her future.

Glancing at the cat trying to spread his fat body across the windowsill, Angela whispered, “This is our new home, Doc. You’re going to love it here.”

Doc Holliday just stared at her, but Angela couldn’t stop smiling.

No one in town cared about her family, and, for the first time since her birth, no family was watching over her. Her mother had smothered her for eighteen years, then she’d passed her off to two old aunts so Angela could attend a small college outside Washington, DC. Her parents said they’d save money if she lived with the aunts, but she’d missed most of campus life. As soon as she graduated, there was never any question that she’d find a job back in Florida and move in with her parents for a while. A part-time job in a small marina museum was all she found and her duties included ordering and cleaning the gift shop as well as giving the grade-school tours.

Then her mom’s cancer returned and any possibility of having her own place was forgotten. Her father needed help.

Though her uncle Anthony had offered her a job, Angela had studied to be a museum curator, and even at half the pay, she was glad to be working in a museum. At least she had the title of assistant curator.

Every day she’d come home and tell her parents all about her work at the tiny marina museum as if what she did was fun and important.

Her father rarely talked about his job. She knew he hated it, but somehow he was tied to what he did.

When her mother died, she stayed at home helping him in grief, thinking that they’d move along pretty much as they had before.

One note from her father, written on the day he died, changed all that.

She guessed her aunt and uncle would be glad not to have her around. Surely whatever, or whoever, had frightened her father would not follow her here. She knew no secrets. She owned nothing of value.

As she clicked on her flashlight and began to navigate the uneven shoreline of the lake, Angela felt light-headed with possibilities. Her plan just might work in this quiet little community where cows outnumbered people. She’d fill her new home with her mother’s quilts, and the furniture she’d picked up at secondhand stores. She’d fish on the lake with her father’s gear. She’d have their memories with her—the photo of her and her dad, his ledger with the leather worn thin and her replica Greek coin necklace. All that would have to be enough.

She decided her father had been right to tell her to leave. She felt newborn here, as if anything were possible, as if life could be somehow fuller, richer here.

She breathed in the night air, the smell of evergreens and lake water. She was stepping into a new world. Walking on a different planet. All her life she’d been a meek homebody and now she was an explorer.

The few dozen houses that stood along the shore didn’t seem to have drapes, or even blinds. She felt a little like a voyeur staring into the homes as she walked. Couples reading, playing cards, watching TV. “Yes,” she whispered. “There will be a peace here for me.”