Читать книгу Tall, Dark And Temporary - Susan Connell - Страница 8

Prologue

“Hey, girlfriend, who says you can’t go home again?”

Another warm wave of nostalgia washed over Megan Sloan at the spirited sound of her old high-school classmate. Megan was already smiling as she turned to face the woman walking toward her across the dimly lit dance floor.

“Unlike you, Rebecca, some of us never left,” Megan said, sharing a hug. “I’m so glad you made it back.”

“Me, too.” Rebecca Barnett reached out to run her hand through the curtain of crepe-paper streamers billowing behind them. “It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since we graduated from this place.”

“Not if you squint a little. Try it. It’s like being back at the senior prom.”

Megan knew; she’d been stealing filtered looks back to the past since the first couple wandered out onto the dance floor over an hour ago. The silly thrill she experienced each time she did it was embarrassing. Or would have been if anyone knew what memories she was stirring up. But that’s what high-school reunions were all about. Reliving moments from another lifetime. At least, the good ones, she thought, glancing toward the red and white streamers.

She fidgeted with one of her earrings, then took a long, quiet breath before turning her attention back to Rebecca. The strikingly attractive brunette tilted her head and dutifully squinted for several seconds before turning a doubtful gaze to Megan.

“I don’t know, Meggie,” Rebecca said, a teasing reprimand in her tone. “As the person in charge of this reunion, you did one heck of a good job. But that’s not exactly Prom Night, Part Two going on out there.”

“And what’s not working for you?” Megan asked, pretending disbelief. “The fake French café? The golden oldies?”

Rebecca stepped closer. “John Canfield and Freddie Wagner,” she whispered behind the curled fingers of one hand.

Leave it to Rebecca to make her feel as if they were standing by their lockers exchanging high-school gossip once again. “What about them?” Megan asked, while somehow managing not to move her lips.

“Their hair,” Rebecca whispered. “How could they have lost so much of it in just one decade?”

Biting back a laugh, Megan managed to shrug. “You’ve been away a long time.”

“And while I’m dishing,” Rebecca said, leaning closer to deliver her critical, if not downright comical commentary, “what’s with Michelle Barante’s dress? It’s not exactly the purple satin slip thing she wore without a bra to the prom. She looks puffy tonight.”

“Well, you would, too, if you were dressing for three. She’s expecting twins.”

Rebecca delivered a deadpan stare, along with a slow and solemn nod. “That would explain it.”

“Let’s get Jade in on this.”

“Good idea,” Rebecca said as they reached out to close their hands around the wrist of the pretty redhead walking by them.

The faraway look in Jade Macleod’s eyes suddenly focused on Rebecca and then Megan. She ran a nervous hand over the waist of her black velvet cocktail dress. “Hi, you two. What’s happening?”

“We’re trying to time travel back to the prom, but reality keeps tripping us up.”

“Help us out here, Jade.”

After stealing a glance at her escort standing several yards away, Jade gave them a bewildered look. “Why would we want to do that? We’re doing exactly the same thing we did at the prom.”

Megan and Rebecca looked at each other and then at Jade.

“What are we doing?” they both asked.

Jade gave an exaggerated shiver. “We’re standing on the edge of the dance floor. Alone. Again. Without men.”

Shaking her head, Rebecca gave in to a lively burst of laughter. “She’s right, Meggie. We are back at the prom.” Jutting her chin toward a couple standing several yards away from them, she added, “Listen to that. Lily Magnusson is still arguing with her date.”

“I think that’s her fourth husband, Reb,” Jade said as the couple’s arguing got louder, “but my mother told me it’s impolite to count them after the second divorce.”

As Jade and Rebecca continued the high-spirited repartee, Megan blew softly through her lips as another memory wedged itself into the moment.

When she and Andy used to fight like that, she lived in constant fear that they would be overheard. Even though she’d been widowed over five years ago, she could still recite their arguments line for line. Closing her eyes, she pulled in a deep breath, then swallowed hard. She had looked forward to this reunion for months, and she wasn’t going to allow the memory of Andy Sloan to ruin it now that it was here.

“Hey, you two, I have some very good memories of prom night,” Megan said.

“You do?” Jade smiled encouragingly as she moved to face her. “We’re listening.”

“We dare you,” Rebecca said, folding her arms across her midriff. “Tell us something that will make us go all gooey.”

“Hold on.” Megan waggled a finger, as if to stir up a memory. But the memory was already there. Complete, intact, and still shimmering with promised pleasures. “Rory Buchanan almost didn’t come because she broke up with her boyfriend the day before. At the last minute, her cousin Nick volunteered to bring her.”

Jade shook her head. “Give the lady a ribbon, Reb. I’m actually feeling gooey inside.”

“Nick Buchanan,” Rebecca said. “Did that guy look great in a rented tux or what?”

“He looked great,” Megan said, her heart thumping hard against the inside of her rib cage. She looked out at the crowded dance floor. He smelled great, too. And when he took my hand and led me behind the curtain of crepe-paper streamers, I began to understand what temptation was all about.

Megan closed her eyes, her insides tingling at the memory of Nick Buchanan’s body pressed against hers and moving seductively to a song that was now a decade old. Maybe it was rubbing up against his bad-boy reputation that still held the power to stir her and her imagination. But was there really any harm in a hardworking widow who was raising her child alone indulging in a sexy fantasy now and then? She pressed her lips together. It wasn’t as if Nick was around to tempt her. He had roared out of town on his motorcycle shortly after the prom. She had never seen him again, except in her fantasies.

“Meggie?” Jade asked softly.

Megan opened her eyes to see Jade and Rebecca quietly watching her.

“Are you thinking about Andy?” Rebecca asked.

Megan plastered a smile on her face. A well-practiced smile that she knew would never betray the mixed emotions she felt toward her dead husband. “I’m thinking about when we believed that every dream could become a reality, if we just tried hard enough.”

“They still can, Meggie.” Jade turned to look at Rebecca. “Don’t you agree?” she asked a bit too earnestly.

“Maybe,” Rebecca said as she turned a soft smile toward Megan. “If you’re willing to be a little flexible with them.” A few seconds later her thoughtful expression changed as she looked past Megan. “Look who’s coming over. It’s Rory.”

“We were just talking about you and your gorgeous cousin, Nick,” Rebecca said as they welcomed her into their circle. “What ever happened to him?”

Megan held her breath. Her head was suddenly pounding and a wave of panic was threatening to turn nostalgia to nausea. She didn’t need to know what happened to Nick. She didn’t want to know that he’d probably settled down, gotten married and was developing a paunch while raising his two-point-five children in a heavily mortgaged one-and-three-quarter-bath split-level somewhere in suburbia. Selfish as it sounded, she preferred to remember him as the bad boy who dared to whisper naughty suggestions in her ear while he danced with her in a stolen moment of make-believe.

“Nick moved out to California, but he’s never there. His work keeps him on the road.”

“That must be hard on his wife and kids,” Jade said.

“Nick? Married?” Rory rolled her eyes.

And Megan sighed with relief. At least she didn’t have to feel guilty fantasizing about a married man. The last thing she wanted was a dose of reality interfering with one of the few pleasures she had. She still could allow herself the occasional luxury of an innocuous fantasy.

“You know, it’s so strange that you asked about Nick though,” Rory said. “I had a Christmas card from him last week. He said he’s coming back to town next year.”

Rebecca shook her head. “So Follett River’s bad boy is finally coming home.”

“Imagine that,” said Jade.

Megan stared at all three women, wanting desperately to echo a comparable sentiment. But the breath had left her lungs at the mention of Nick’s return.