Читать книгу Rustler's Moon - Jodi Thomas - Страница 9

CHAPTER THREE

Lauren

Texas Tech University

THE STRONG WEST TEXAS wind blasted dirt against her bare legs as Lauren Brigman ran across campus. No girl at Texas Tech wore a dress on days like this, but she’d thought maybe she would see Lucas, her almost boyfriend, today. He had gone home to work every weekend since she’d arrived on campus. Then last week he said he might not be driving home to Crossroads until early Saturday morning, which meant they might see each other tonight.

It meant they could have a date. A real date, she thought as she stormed the dorm door and took the two flights of stairs at a run.

She had spent her last two years of high school waiting for Lucas to come home from college so they could start dating. Only, when he did come home, he was always working on weekends and their times together consisted of no more than a few moonlit walks along the lake or early-morning coffee at the café before he headed back. He’d promised that when she joined him at Tech it would be different. They would be together, a real couple. Studying wrapped up in one another. Sharing kisses in the dark corners of the library. Late-night phone calls.

Until last month, she’d lived on thirty-minute breakfasts with him before he left Crossroads to go back to Lubbock, and late-night ice-cream runs where they talked in the Dairy Queen parking lot after he got finished working on one of the ranches around town. She’d lived on hope that he’d soon be her real boyfriend. They’d finally both be in college. They’d be a couple. No one could say he was too old for her. A few years difference wouldn’t seem so much.

She’d been at Texas Tech over a month and none of her dreams were coming true. Her entire love life had been Photoshopping her and Lucas Reyes’s faces onto couples in all the old movies she’d seen. If possible she saw less of him here than she had when she’d lived in Crossroads and he’d dropped in on weekends to work. College wasn’t turning out to be what she planned.

As Lauren opened her dorm room door, she wasn’t surprised to see her roommate still in bed. After all, it wasn’t dark yet.

Polly Pierce rolled over, her black-and-red hair streaking across her face. “You’re back already?”

“It’s after five, Polly. You missed lunch.” Lauren used to say that she missed class, but Polly was on the one-semester plan. She never studied and hadn’t bothered to unpack most of her stuff. There was little doubt that she’d be moving back home by Christmas break.

“I know. I’m starving.” She rolled over and pulled an empty cracker box from under her back. “I ate all your peanut butter and crackers.”

“Where’s the peanut butter jar?” Lauren wondered why she even talked to Polly. As an only child raised by her pop, the county sheriff of Ransom Canyon, Lauren had always had her own neat, organized space. Sharing quarters with Polly was like some kind of experiment to see if two different life forms could survive in the same environment.

Polly rummaged around in her mass of covers and found the empty jar. “Don’t give me that look,” she said, cuddling back under her blankets. “I think I’m descended from bears. It’s not my fault the fall semester parallels with hibernation.”

Lauren didn’t comment on how Polly managed to stay awake all weekend. “Don’t you have a date tonight?”

Polly’s words were muffled. “Jack texted me and said he had to work, and my backup date has the flu.” She sighed. “I could go out looking for a backup for my backup, but it’s such a bother to train a new one.”

When Lauren didn’t comment, Polly rolled over to face the wall. End of conversation.

Lauren pulled out her cell phone, punched in her favorite number and dropped atop her neatly made bed.

As soon as Lucas answered, she squealed. “I made an A on my first big chem test.”

“Who is this?” Lucas Reyes answered in a low voice flavored just a touch with his Hispanic heritage.

She could almost see the smile in his question. “It’s me.”

“Oh, yeah, the only freshman I know,” he teased. “Congrats.”

Lauren held the phone tight in hope. “Let’s celebrate, Lucas. I’ll buy the pizza.”

The moment of silence told her all she needed to know.

“Can’t tonight. I’m headed home as soon as I get cleaned up from mucking out stalls at the agriculture barn. Mr. Kirkland needs me to work at his place all weekend. Probably won’t be back on campus until late Sunday.”

Lauren fought down tears. He lived half a mile away on campus, and they were still miles apart. The only guy she’d ever really liked didn’t like her enough to stay around one evening.

“I’ll call you Sunday night and we can talk as I drive in.”

“No, don’t call. I’ve got a seven-thirty class Monday.” When he didn’t try to convince her, she tried another possibility. “I could drive home tomorrow. It would surprise Pop. I told him I wouldn’t be back until Thanksgiving. Maybe we could get together after you finish on Saturday night? We could cook out by the lake, then drive over and watch the stars on Kirkland land.”

“Doubt I’ll have time. Mom says she’s going to forget my name if I don’t spend a few hours with the family while I’m home this time.” His answer made sense, but he was breaking her heart.

Trying to sound as if she didn’t care, Lauren added, “No problem. I need to study this weekend anyway.” Lucas was her best friend, her first boyfriend, her only love even if she’d never told him. She knew how busy he was. He carried a full load, worked part-time at the campus AG farm on weeknights and left every weekend to work either with his father or on the Kirkland ranch next door. He was working his way through school, no scholarship, no loans.

“I’m proud of you about the A.” His warm voice broke the silence between them.

“Thanks.” Somehow it didn’t seem so important anymore. She’d spent two years dreaming of being at college with him and now, if possible, she was more lonely than she’d been back in Crossroads.

She hung up. All the happiness had drained out of Lauren. In the weeks she’d been at college they hadn’t had a real date. Study lunches and Lucas walking her to class a few times didn’t count.

She curled into a ball and let silent tears fall. Maybe Polly had the right idea. Sleep your years of higher education away.

The phone sounded. One, two, three rings before she found it in the covers.

“Lauren!” Tim O’Grady’s voice reminded her of home. Maybe because he’d been her neighbor in Ransom Canyon for most of her life. “Want to go get something to eat? It’s Friday night and, as usual, I don’t have a date. You can pick the restaurant. Anything but dorm food.”

She wiped a tear off her cheek as she pushed her heartache deeper inside. “Sure.” This was Tim’s second year at Tech, and it seemed during his freshman year he’d done an extensive study of the coffeehouses, bars and cheap restaurants in town. “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

“Food,” the body under the blankets on the other side of the room mumbled. “Food.”

Lauren frowned. “Can my roommate come, too?”

Tim was silent for a moment, then added, “If she combs her hair. Last time she tagged along I kept thinking a bush was following us.”

“Fair enough. Give us ten minutes. I have to get out of this dress.”

Laughter traveled through the phone. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say that for years, Lauren.”

She smiled knowing he was kidding. “In your dreams, O’Grady.”

The phone went dead. Lauren stood and began changing clothes. “Ten minutes, Polly,” she shouted toward the other side of the room, “or we’re leaving without you.”

Fifteen minutes later, with Polly buttoning her blouse as she walked, Lauren and her never-friendly roommate headed downstairs.

Tim’s dorm and hers were joined by a long lobby and cafeteria. When Lauren watched him coming toward her, she could tell immediately he was tired by his slight limp, something she knew he’d correct the minute he spotted her.

The limp was a lingering reminder from a night almost three years ago when they’d both been hurt.

Polly must have noticed the limp, too. She leaned toward Lauren and asked, “What happened to your friend’s leg?”

Lauren closed her eyes knowing that, thanks to the echo in the foyer, Tim probably heard Polly. She thought if she ignored the question, Polly would forget about it.

No such luck. She asked again.

Only, Tim answered first. “It was a dark and stormy night, dear Polly Anna.” He drew close and sliced his body between them, giving all his attention to Polly. “Four high school kids decided to break into an old house we thought might be haunted.” He waved his hands. “‘Be afraid,’ the old Gypsy House warned them, but they dropped in anyway. Dust filled their lungs and rotting boards creaked beneath their footsteps, but they were explorers looking for thrills. Four went in but only three came out. One was left trapped inside with the ghosts. Me.”

Polly looked interested. “What happened?”

“I died.” Tim shrugged.

Lauren laughed seeing Polly’s horror as if she believed Tim for a second.

“He broke several bones in his leg,” Lauren corrected. “Thanks to Lucas, I climbed out with only scratches. Reid Collins was with us, too. He didn’t have a scratch, just a sprained ankle.”

Polly’s eyes widened with true interest. “You two know Reid Collins? I met him at a party a few weeks ago. What a hunk.”

Polly didn’t seem to notice both Tim and her shaking their heads. Reid had been attracting girls for years. In high school everyone thought he was the hero from that night in the haunted house. He’d let everyone believe he’d saved Lauren, but it had been Lucas who saved her from falling through the collapsed floor. They’d all three let Reid take the glory that night, but they all knew the truth even if they never talked about it.

Sometimes she thought four kids dropped through a broken window that night and four different people came out. The accident had changed all of them.

“How’d you do on the chem test?” Tim asked as he turned away from Polly.

“An A.”

He took her hand and pulled her closer for a quick hug. “Great! I know just the place to celebrate. Chicken fried steak and all the trimmings. Two for one on Fridays.”

She managed a smile as they walked with Polly following behind. “Do you always celebrate after an A?”

“Hell.” He slowed and leaned near her ear. “I party after a C. My folks don’t care about grades. They just told me if I flunk out, I’ll be working at the new Walmart going in Crossroads. So, I sign up for whatever looks easy and pray for the best. I plan to waste as much time at college as possible, then go home and write a great novel about my wild college days. It might take me a year or two, but I’ll be rich and famous by the time I’m twenty-five.”

“Can I be in your book?” Polly asked as she circled around them like an out-of-control top.

“I have an opening for one character. She’s a nude girl dancing on a table. Of course, you’ll have to audition. I need to make sure you can dance.”

Lauren laughed and glanced at Polly as the girl asked, “You would use both my names, wouldn’t you? Otherwise it could be anyone named Polly.”

Lauren changed the subject. “Any idea what degree you’re heading toward, Tim? I’m not so sure you’d make it as a writer. They don’t usually audition their characters.”

“True, but I’m willing to sacrifice for my art.” He looked back at Polly. “You got any moles or scars I could put in, Polly Anna? Their detailed description might increase the word count, you know.”

Lauren shoved him off the sidewalk. “Focus, O’Grady. What is your major?”

He caught up to her and put his arm lightly on her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. I’m majoring in life.” He kissed her forehead. “You want to call this a date? If we do this right, you might make it in my book, too.”

“No.” She tugged her hood up as fog surrounded them.

“Good. We split the cost of the meal as friends.”

Lauren never thought of dating Tim, though he asked from time to time. However, it would be nice if once in a while he acted disappointed when she said no.

The memories of the abandoned house seemed thick in her brain. Tim and Reid had been best friends back then and almost every conversation they had was about football. When Reid Collins suggested breaking into the place, Tim joked about ghosts and went along with the idea. He still bore the scars, physical ones on his leg and arm, and mental ones inside after his best friend left him behind.

“What do you hear from Reid?” she asked, knowing the night at the Gypsy House must be on Tim’s mind, also.

“I haven’t seen him since we came back to school in August. He’s living at the frat house this year.” Tim took her hand and they jogged to his Jeep. Polly followed, but didn’t try to keep up.

Tim leaned in close to Lauren. “Last time I saw Reid, he was drunk. Cussed me out for caring.”

Lauren was glad she couldn’t see Tim’s face. Whenever he talked of Reid, he always looked hurt.

Before Polly caught up, Lauren said, “Reid called me last week and asked me to go out. Some kind of big party before the homecoming game next weekend.”

Tim froze for a moment before asking, low, “You going?”

“I might.” She shrugged. “He’s from home. Our dads are friends.” She’d never told Tim how close she and Lucas Reyes were or that they dated some. Somehow what was between Lucas and her was private, too special to share. Or at least she’d thought it was. Lately she wasn’t sure Lucas felt the same.

If he was working every weekend, Lauren didn’t want to miss the whole college experience waiting for him. Reid was simply looking for a date, or worse, his old man told him to take her out. Her pop, who’d spent her high school years worrying that she’d date too early, was now probably worrying about her lack of dates. He’d asked her twice if she needed money for clothes. A question Lauren was sure had come straight from her mother. Her mom might have run from raising a kid after divorcing her dad, but that didn’t stop Margaret from calling in her motherly advice from Dallas.

Tim pulled into the parking lot of a tiny little restaurant a few blocks away from campus. All the letters on the neon sign were lit except for the R in Restaurant and the O in Open. Huge dead elms leaned over the building giving the illusion that the place was caught in a huge spiderweb.

“What’s the name of this place?” Lauren didn’t make a move to open her door.

Tim stared at it a moment and answered. “Estaurant pen.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure she’d want to go in even if it were free chicken fried steak.

Polly leaned forward. “No, guys, can’t you see the two letters are out. I can’t believe you two missed that.”

Tim and Lauren looked at each other silently debating which one should kill the roommate.

“Come on, Lauren, live a little.” Tim cut his lights. Before Polly climbed out the back, he whispered, “Only, don’t go out with Reid.”

“Why? You keep telling me that.” She wasn’t surprised when Tim didn’t answer.

Like always, he changed the subject. They had great fun trying to read the menu in the dark estaurant and then laughing at how small the steaks were when the plates arrived. Tim tried to convince Polly the tough pieces of meat were cows’ ears. When she believed him, he offered to eat her steak.

Polly flirted with the waiter long enough to talk him into giving her a hamburger. When she got up to go wash her hands, the guy offered her a tour of the place. By the time the burger was served she and Roger, the waiter, were dating.

Polly waved them goodbye as she ate with Roger, who’d said he’d be off in an hour.

Lauren hesitated, then she remembered the dates Polly had come in after, all upset because she couldn’t remember the guy’s name, even though she’d had her tongue in his mouth for hours.

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.