by Sally Henson
“Linc, I need to know what happened.” I twist in my seat to see him better.
He shakes his head. “I don't want to talk about that right now. I only have a few minutes. Let's not waste it on bad memories. Please.” He smiles weakly. “What are you and your friends up to?”
It takes some time to transition from the tense accusations to a lighter conversation, but we get there. Linc’s chest puffs up a little when I tell him about my dual-credit classes. He doesn’t know Haylee, but he remembers her mom as a teacher.
“You mean that tiny little pipsqueak is the same age as you?” Linc laughs about seeing Haylee with her mom at ball games.
Once we start talking school and dual-credit classes, Stacey’s face blurs my thinking. She’s in every dual-credit class I have.
My heart sinks every time I think about my cousin Susanna and all the lies Stacey and her family made up about her. Susanna had a full ride volleyball scholarship to the University of Illinois. She had her future waiting for her and didn’t need the Faniger’s money. But Stacey’s brother wouldn’t stand up for Susanna.
My jaw aches from gritting my teeth at Stacey’s antics. “You know Susanna’s still living with insults and lies about her. I haven’t seen her for a month or so, but Stacey doesn’t let things go for too long and she’s back to spreading juicy lies about Susanna. And this town is happy to share Stacey’s news.” No, Stacey’s mom wasn’t going to stand for a baby getting in the way of her son’s future.
Linc’s lips press into a thin line. “This f—" He stops before his foul language comes out, shaking his head. “Freaking town.”
“Stacey Faniger enjoys making my life miserable, too. She was stirring crap up about me and Cameron last month.”
Lane flinches when I bring it up. I don’t know what he’s flinching about. Susanna and I are the ones who always get dragged through the mud. Stacey would love to mash her viper lips to Lane’s sweet kissable mouth, though. She’s always had a thing for him. The thought of her kissing him turns my stomach.
Linc shifts in his seat, leaning his elbows on his knees. “I thought they were going to get married.”
I snarl a bitter laugh. “Yeah, well, Jesse’s mom wouldn’t stand for some tramp trapping her son. He went off to college as if nothing ever happened.”
Linc’s face pinches in disgust.
“Even though the paternity tests prove Jesse’s the dad, the Fanigers deny it. And now Susanna’s raising a baby, on her own.” My voice has risen and I’m so worked up right now, I realize I’m standing in front of Linc.
I sigh. My stomach’s in knots. If the gossip queen finds out Lane and I are together, she’ll bring back every lie she ever told about us, and the people in this town will take her word as gospel. If it makes its way back to Dad at the factory, and it usually does, he’ll believe all the lies Stacey’s told about me and Lane in the past. Dad might think there’s been something going on between me and Lane for much longer than it has.
Lane puts his hands on my shoulders. It helps me settle down.
“Wow.” Linc swipes his hand down his face and slides it to the back of his neck, rubbing it. “And this Stacey girl’s in all your classes?”
I shake my head. “Not all.”
“I’m sorry, Sis. I had no idea.”
3
Lane
Of course, you have no idea. You’ve been out of your family’s life! He’s acting like a real jerk. Does he think Regan’s world’s stopped rotating while he’s been gone? I’d really like to call him out on it, but I’ll bite my tongue for now.
Regan whispers a faint question. “Where’ve you been?”
“Boot camp. Navy school. Here and there.”
Really? That’s all he’s going to give her? I chew on the inside of my cheek. My lower back and shoulders are coiled, ready to pounce at him.
Regan leans her head back against my chest. It’s a chain reaction that loosens my muscles. She’s not afraid to show Linc we’re close. Even after his crazy accusations. This is good.
“How are things with Mom and Dad?” His tone is low and solemn as if he already knows.
I slide my hands down Regan’s shoulders and hug her middle to me. She needs to know she can count on me, that I’m not afraid to stand up to anyone for her, for us. She flinches; my actions must have caught her off guard.
She hitches her shoulder. “Dad’s off. He’s not been the same since you left, but he’s getting … I don’t know.” She shakes her head.
Mr. Stone’s been easy for me to get along with, but I’m not his son. And I know he’s pushing Regan to be more practical with her college major, but so are my parents, and Tobi’s, and Cameron’s. Haylee wants to be a teacher like her mom, so her mom doesn’t say too much other than it’s tough to put up with spoiled brats that can do no wrong in their parents’ eyes.
“Dad’s not as easygoing as he used to be. And he’s started pushing me to change my major and find something more practical.” She uses her fingers as quotation marks.
I shift my weight and let out a long sigh that blows through her hair.
Linc slams his hands to his knees and blurts out an obscenity.
Regan’s body tenses. “Linc! Is that really necessary?” She gets on his case about his mouth. It makes me chuckle.
Linc sighs and runs his hand over the dark blonde stubble on his head, ignoring her comment. I don’t think I’ve ever seen his hair that short. He stares out across the creek. “Don’t let him change your mind, Regan. You major in what you want, make your own future.” He stands and turns toward the creek when his phone sounds an alarm, causing him to growl. “I need to get going.”
Regan pulls away and steps toward Linc. “What? You’re not staying?”
He shakes his head.
“But we haven’t seen you in so long,” she pleads.
“I’ll be back.”
She glances away and I hear her swallow. “Tell me why you never come home.”
He nods. “I will … sometime.”
He won’t answer anything for her. “Is your life top secret or something?” It comes out before I can stop myself. I know that comment will annoy him, but I don’t care about that. He needs to start explaining things to Regan.
He narrows his eyes at me.
Regan sits back down on the bench, and I prop my foot on the seat beside her.
“So, Lane, you're leaving tomorrow?” So, he’s going to skip over everything and act like nothing’s happened, like we’re buddies again?
I nod in acknowledgement. I’m not sure if he’s being an old friend catching up or he’s trying to drive home the point I’m leaving Regan tomorrow.
“You'll like Eastern. I made some great friends there.” He trails off, twisting his mouth as he stares off across the creek. “Look, I know I said you shouldn’t tell Dad about you messing around with your best friend, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you two to try and continue whatever this is between you.”
I drop my foot to the ground and look away. Rubbing the back of my neck, I start in, “Linc, the- “
He cuts me off, holding his hand up to stop me. “Just listen. I’ve been there. College, the whole experience. You’re going to meet all kinds of good-looking women and I don’t want Regan to get hurt.” He turns to Regan. “Sis, what happens if …” He blows out a puff of air. “There’s a lot of hooking up going on. It happens all the time and I just don’t want you to get hurt like that.”
Regan drops her head toward the ground. Her shoulders sag as if she’s going to fall into a heap on the ground. He’s pushing all the wrong buttons, playing with her head, making her think she’s not good looking, not old enough, not important to me. My hands ball into fists. As if she doesn’t matter to me? I’m not sure what to do.
I fling my arms out to my side and step toward Lincoln. “Why are you doing this? I’d never do something like that to Regan. You don’t have any idea what she means to me.”
“It’
s crazy for you two to think you’re going to be able to stay together when your worlds are so different. All you’re going to have are a few hours on a few weekends. How’s that going to work out?”
I glance to Regan during his ridiculous rant. She’s slumped over, hiding her face.
“I’m going to come home every weekend. It’s going to work out great.”
“It won’t work. There are too many temptations.” Linc folds his arms across his chest. “I’d hate to have to beat you up for real the next time I see you. And you don’t want to have to end up together because of a lapse in your critical thinking skills either.”
Linc’s words continue to fuel the burn growing in my chest. Every muscle in my body tenses, and I can feel my fingers curl into my palms again. I’ve had about all his B.S. I’m going to take.
“End up?” Regan nearly shrieks the question. “I don’t plan on ending up with anyone.” She sits back against the bench, lifting her chin slightly higher than it should be. “I have a plan and it doesn’t include sticking around here.”
The burning in my chest is doused with her talk of leaving me. It filters through my body, leaving my arms limp, dangling at my sides.
Regan continues her rant. “Tobi tells me my stubbornness is an excellent quality that will help me get out of this town.”
I turn my back to them. I hate it when she talks about leaving without me.
I hear a ruckus between them, but I can’t turn around yet.
“What kind of plan you got, Rey Rey?” Linc has always liked to taunt Regan with baby talk. It only ticks her off.
“Lane. Help.” Regan’s voice is strained.
I turn to see he’s got her in a headlock, rubbing her scalp with his knuckles. This feels like déjà vu. Only I’m positive this has actually happened, like at least a hundred times. A smile creeps on my face at my childhood memory, softening the pain, but it still hurts. “Looks like you’ve got this.”
Linc grunts when Regan finally gets an elbow to his gut and he releases her, hee-hawing at the pleasure of his brotherly torture.
“Jerk face.” Regan smooths her hair back in place. “Aren’t you supposed to be a grownup? You’re acting like you’re twelve.” She pushes out a disgusted breath, shakes her head.
Linc continues to enjoy a good laugh at her expense. “It’s so easy to ruffle your feathers.” He belts out a satisfied sigh and pulls her shoulder into him while checking his phone with the other hand. “I need to get going.”
She grabs his arm. “Where are you staying? You can stay at the house.”
Linc smiles and shakes his head. “No, I don't think that's a good idea. I'm meeting up with someone. We need to get back to base.”
“You're not coming to church tomorrow? You're leaving town?” She’s whining, trying anything to get him to stay.
“I'm sorry I haven't been here for you. It sounds like I’ve missed a lot.” He groans. “I miss you and Mom. I even miss Dad, sometimes.”
I missed Lincoln, too, but I’m not sorry to see him go tonight. I wish he hadn’t even shown up.
They stand, but Regan’s still pleading. “Call me, okay?”
“I'll keep in touch with you, I promise. Do you have a cell?”
I promise. Yeah, right. Like he’s done the past couple years? Talk about hurting Regan.
Her shoulders drop. “No, I don’t have a cell phone.”
“I’ll give you my number.” I swap numbers with Lincoln. For Regan’s sake.
“You two have to promise me something, though.” Linc shoves his phone back in his pocket.
“What?” Regan steps back and stands beside me. The hurt from her leaving me behind disappears at her move of solidarity with me.
“Lane?” Linc lowers his chin and pops his eyebrows up.
I drape my arm across her shoulders. It’s kind of a possessive move, I guess, but I want him to know I’m not giving her up that easily. “What, Linc?”
“You can't let anyone know I've been home. No one. Will you promise me that?”
He looks at Regan. She nods and utters, “I promise.”
“Lane?”
He offers his hand to me. I reluctantly shake it. “Promise.”
Linc gives us a strained smile. “I know you’ve been close for a long time. Just think about what I said.”
I ask if he needs a ride because it’s the right thing to do, but thankfully his buddy is picking him up at the bridge. At least I can walk Regan to the house and maybe counteract the damage he’s caused tonight.
He hugs Regan one last time. “I love you, Sis. I'll talk to you soon.”
“I love you, too.” She squeaks out the words without crying.
I stand behind her with my hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing thumbs against her tense muscles.
Linc told me before he left to take care of Regan and I’ve been doing exactly that. Now he’s going to hold it against me? I really wanted to tie into him, but it wasn’t my place. Not tonight. Not like this.
I whisper through her hair, “You okay?”
She nods her head, keeping watch on her brother as he disappears into the night. A hoot owl says it’s goodbyes from across the creek. We stand like this for a few more moments.
“I better get to the house. Hopefully, they didn't hear the scuffle outside and don't notice I'm late.”
We start down the path from Fox Creek to her house, hand in hand, the light from my phone guiding our way. The breeze finally stirs, wafting the fragrance of the dry floor of the woods. It brings a coolness under the canopy of the trees. The steady rhythm of the night song of the crickets eases the tension brought on by Lincoln Stone. “That was … bizarre.”
“Yeah.” Her voice is so sad.
I’m not sure what to say. “You know I’d never hurt you, Regan. I don’t like that some guys treat girls like they’re a throw-away toy. We’re so much more than a fling or hookup.” Sometimes it feels like I’m the last eighteen-year-old guy who’s a virgin, but I know it’s not true. I want to do what’s right. I want to hold out for something better. “I’m holding out for my future wife.” For you … one day.
“I know. He’s just being a big brother, I guess.” She lets loose of my fingers and slides her arm around my waist.
Ah, this is encouraging. He didn’t scare her off. I do the same and she leans her head against me. A surge of everything runs through me. I want to pick her up and swing her around, press her against the tree and kiss her like crazy, run after her through the woods, hold her tight and not let go, howl like a madman at the moon … she makes me feel like I can do anything and everything, even knock her brother’s block off.
I rub my palm against my cheek. “Linc's tougher than he used to be.”
She chuckles. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Are you? I can't believe you passed out.” I squeeze her body to mine and kiss her hair.
She pulls away to look at me with big, wide eyes. “I mean, my heart was already racing, and then when I heard him clear his throat … I thought I was going to throw up!” We laugh for a moment. “But tomorrow … I don’t know what to do.”
“Not telling your dad’s a bad idea.” I’d really like to prove Linc wrong. He thinks he knows, but he’s out of touch.
“Do we want to risk Dad being against us and then we don’t get to hang out at all? Being apart all week is going to be bad enough, don’t you think?” She looks down.
I slow as we near the end of the path and catch a whiff of sweet honeysuckle in the air. “I don’t know.” The security light fans through the foliage of the trees, illuminating her pained face. “Linc’s been gone, how does he know what your dad’s going to say?”
“We get to do whatever we want together right now, as long as I’m in by curfew. That’s going to change.”
I stop at the edge of the yard and put my phone away. “Why’d he show up?” My voice comes out harsh. I’m ticked at Linc, not her. I try to soften my tone. “I mean, what’s
the point? How did he know he’d even see you tonight?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got more questions than I did before.” She steps in front of me and fits her hands into mine.
A smile lifts the corner of my mouth. “What do you say to picking up where we left off when we were so rudely interrupted?”
Her eyes are focused on my shirt. “We have so much to talk about.”
I lean my forehead against hers. “I’ve had enough talking for tonight.”
She nuzzles me with a butterfly kiss.
My fingers comb through her hair and pull it over her shoulder, twisting a piece around my finger before I slide my hand down her arm to her waist. Her skin is so soft.
She leans up on her toes, pressing her lips to my cheek.
I whisper low and soft in her ear. “That's not where we left off.” My breath reverberates against the skin on her exposed neck. Her shoulders quiver as if a cold chill has run through her. It sends a warmth through me and I know I’m doing something right. I press my cheek against hers. The muscles under her smooth skin rise against mine, and I smile too. When I pull back to see her beautiful smile, she kisses me on the mouth before I can say anything. I’m happy to repeat our I’m going to miss you, desperate, I don’t want to leave, needy, you’re more to me than you know, deep kiss.
4
Regan
The alarm sounds at seven a.m. My fingers find their way to the off button. I groan and pull the sheet up to cover my head and roll over. Not enough sleep.
There's a knock on my door. “Late night?” My eyes pop open and my tired body is now on high alert. “Your alarm went off fifteen minutes ago. You need to get in the shower.”
My muscles release and I breathe a silent sigh of relief. Mom doesn’t know about my coming in past curfew. Stretching my arms and legs out on my twin bed, I try to contain my yawn. “Okay.” When I pull the coral-colored sheet off my face, she's standing in my doorway, smiling. “Morning.” I flash an innocent look.
She smiles back, dipping her head. “Morning. Go take your shower.”