by Sam Crescent
Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2012 Sam Crescent
ISBN: 978-1-77130-005-6
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Susan Fitch
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To everyone who refuses to give up on a dream.
CROSSING BOUNDARIES
Cape Falls, 1
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Dear Diary,
My name is Laura Cox. I’m twenty years old and yesterday I fell in love. I’ve had this diary for years and never felt compelled to write in it before now. With this new turn in my life, I have no choice. You’ll be my new best friend and my complete soul mate. So, I'll tell you what has my heart racing. His name is Dean Riley and he’s forty years old. He’s a widow and so sexy, with wide shoulders and a kind face. He has that stubble that men get when they don’t shave for a day or two. At the picnic he sat all by himself and didn’t give anyone the time of day. My parents liked him though, and so do I.
What shall I do? I can’t nurse this crush in the vain hope it will fizzle out. I mean, my heart was racing and you know that down there? Yes, I felt something for the first time. Nothing ever happens in this place. I mean, who would want to spend the rest of their life in Cape Falls? It's a stupid town in the middle of nowhere with old-fashioned views. Women still get married when they get pregnant. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single woman in my life.
Shit, I hear my mum coming.
Laura placed her diary in a box under the bed and pretended to read her college books. Cape Falls didn’t have a college and Laura had to travel about thirty miles to the next town to get to campus, and she hated it. This was the only college her parents would allow her to go. For the rest of her life she’d be expected to live here, in a shitty town, with a shitty job, and a shitty life.
“Baby, are you getting ready for school?” her mother asked as she came through the door without even knocking.
“Mum, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s college. And, yes, I’m ready.”
“College, high school—they’re all the same to me. Come and get some pancakes before you go.”
Laura smiled at her mum and watched her leave. She glanced down at her stomach and wondered when she would ever be able to diet? Didn’t her mum know how many times people called her fat? College may be filled with older people; but they still liked to tease her. She gathered her backpack and the books she’d need for her classes and made her way to the kitchen.
Her dad sat drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.
“He looked so lonely,” her mother was saying.
“Sweetheart, the guy has just turned up in town. Let the guy breathe a little,” dad replied.
Laura looked at her younger brother, Tommy, but he shrugged his shoulders and went back to his book.
“Dean Riley has been through hell," her mother continued. "I think we should invite him for dinner and welcome him to Cape Falls.”
Laura's heart rate picked up as she listened intently to what her parents were saying.
“He lost a wife and a kid. He’s been here for about a month and doesn’t speak to anyone,” dad argued.
“He came to the picnic,” Laura said. She always tried to stay out of her parents' arguments, but she couldn’t help herself.
“I don’t want to hear anything more about the guy. Let me eat breakfast and then I’ll take you to school,” her dad replied.
“College,” she shouted. When were her parents going to see her as a grown-up? In the evenings and on weekends she worked at the local diner. Also, she paid rent. Surely this gave her some adult privileges.
“Sorry, college. You know how I struggle to deal with my little girl growing up,” dad told her.
Laura tried not to roll her eyes. Instead, she glanced at her mother and saw the anger flash in her eyes. Shrugging her shoulders, she went back to her pancakes. She didn’t taste them, as with each bite all she could think about was the excess it would cause on her waist.
Before they could drive out of town, they had to drop off her brother. Thank God she didn’t have early classes. Tommy wanted to pick up one of his buddies along the way and Laura spent a great deal of time gazing out of the window.
“So, what does your college look like?” her dad asked.
“You’d know if you ever came inside,” Laura remarked.
When Laura had begun looking at several different colleges to attend, her dad had decided he would only pay for the cheapest, one where she didn’t have a dorm room and came home every day. He wouldn’t even pay for her to have some driving lessons.
They dropped off Tommy and his friend and continued over to the college campus.
“Your mum and I thought you’d have a steady boyfriend by now,” her dad said.
She knew exactly what her dad had thought. If a steady boyfriend was on the scene, she would be barefoot and pregnant, and he wouldn’t have to deal with college expenses.
“Not me. I’m all about the study,” she replied.
“I hope you meet a nice boy one day and won’t be afraid to drop by the house with him.”
Laura nodded and kissed him on the cheek before getting out to go to class.
The grounds were already heaving with students and faculty members. Even though she was in college, the same groups of people still hung together, the jocks who had scholarships and the beauty queens. Everyone had their own unique role.
She didn’t have many days left until the end of the term year, about a month's worth of classes and then she’d be home for the summer, where she’d work her ass off in any job she could get.
The usual people were grouped together and she knew she would find her small group of friends in the library. It was insane the way they segregated themselves. Keeping her head bent down, she made her way through the throng of bodies.
“So, the eldest nerd has come back to play?” Laura tensed and looked into the eyes of Peter Miller, the guy who tormented her in high school and who had decided to stick around for college. Plus, he was a total asshole.
“Get out of my way,” she told him. Just figures, she thought, that her last month would end in a confrontation with a guy she despised.
“Why would I do that?” he asked, then laughed.
God, she hated him. She hated him more than she hated pancakes.
“Because your little group is missing its daddy and doesn’t know what to do without your male superiority," she said sarcastically. "Oh, I forgot, you probably don’t know the meaning of half those words.” She charged past him; but he grabbed hold of her arm, stopping her progress.
“I don’t think you’re funny,” he warned before letting her go.
Laura glared at him and continued up the steps to get into the campus' main hall. Castle Ridge College was the only campus to take some of Cape Falls' student body. Laura didn’t bother going to the library. She decided her best option would be to get everything ready so that when campus closed at the end of the month she wouldn’t need to wait around for anything.
For most of the day her mind was plagued by one man and one man alone,Dean Riley.
* * * *
Peter Miller watched her walk away from him. He cursed his own bad attitude and walked back to where his best friends were waiting. Laura Cox had become a thorn in his side ever since their last year of school. He had been the most popular guy in their class and yet he’d yearned for the school’s biggest nerd.
His situation was so laughable. In college, instead of going after the cougars on campus and hot sorority girls, his obsession with Laura had stuck.
“What’s with the girl?” his friend Russell asked.
He just shook his head in response. Laura wasn’t responsible for his feelings and she already received enough attention by being brainy. He did not want to add to the problem. They may all be in college now, but some of their old classmates hadn’t grown up through puberty.
The bell rang and they made their way inside.
Peter walked to his first class. As always, he took the seat directly behind her. He didn’t listen to the teacher much, but who cared about world history, especially when you've already passed the class? The class was shit anyway and he only took it after he’d managed to get a geek to pull up Laura’s classes. Fuck, he needed his head examined. No girl like Laura would look twice at him. Not only had he been a bastard, but his reputation was far worse.
She turned around and glared at him like she did every time he sat there, then turned her attention back to the front of the class.
Peter couldn’t cope anymore. Once this month was over he was going to spend a great deal of time trying to woo Miss Cox. She was far more important to him than maintaining his jerkish reputation
Chapter Two
Laura ran out of college at the end of the day and got a ride back to Cape Falls with a friend. Classes had been plagued by the likes of Peter Miller. That guy gave her the creeps. Her friend dropped her off in town. There were still a few hours before she needed to be at work and she was in the mood for a little peace. She walked through the town towards the edge of the forest. The usual path was well worn by now. She’d found the abandoned stream years ago and she always went there to think. No one else knew about it and she could imagine for a few split seconds that this was her own little world.
About thirty minutes later she found the stream and climbed onto one of the boulders overlooking the water. Laura loved this sanctuary and didn’t want to lose any of her time here. She pulled out her diary and began writing her thoughts and feelings about the day.
Dear Diary,
Today was a nightmare. Most of my classes were with that jerk, Peter Miller. I despise him. He’s spent most of his life tormenting me in some way or another. I can’t stand it. At least in a month I’ll be free of him and I won’t have to worry about being polite. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was interested in me—but that’s crazy. How can that man want me? His interest in me is going to cause me trouble, probably with another one of those stupid pranks he likes so much.
My parents argued this morning over Dean Riley...
“What are you doing here?” a man's voice asked.
Laura cried out in surprise, completely absorbed in the words she was writing on the page. She turned and saw that the owner of the voice was no other than Dean Riley, the man for whom her heart beat. With her heart pounding, she quickly shut the small diary and placed it in her bag. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if he found out how she felt.
“I’m so sorry. I’ve always come to the stream to think.” Laura gathered her things, her fingers clumsy and her entire body shaking with nerves.
“Well, I own this land. From now on you need to get permission before you come traipsing around on it,” Dean Riley replied.
“Yes. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“You don’t have to keep apologizing. Who are you?” he asked.
Oh my God, he asked me my name.
Tell him then. Don’t just stand there looking like a complete idiot.
“I’m Laura. Laura Cox.”
He stared at her a few minutes more. “You’d better come to the house. It looks like a storm is brewing and I don’t want your mum or dad to think I’ve got a problem with showing their daughter some respect.”
She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. Surely he hadn’t asked her to follow him? Laura panicked. She didn’t know what to do. The man she’d been writing about in her diary was here now, alive and in the flesh. And his ass looked too good as he walked in front of her.
“Actually, I’d better get to work. I work at the Cape Diner in town,” she replied and pointed behind her. Not that she had any sense of direction.
“You’ll get to work. Let the storm subside first.”
Laura gazed around her. How long had she sat here? The sky had turned a horrid, threatening black and showed a storm was indeed upon them. She bit her lip and followed after him.
His house was huge and as soon as she walked through the door the heat engulfed her.
The air had the scent of cigars and strong coffee.
“Here, give me your things,” he said.
Laura handed over her things and he caught her hand and walked her through his house to the kitchen.
“Sit.”
She grabbed the seat near the door.
“Do you know who I am?” he asked.
“You’re Dean Riley.”
He nodded his head and put the kettle on. “At least you know I’m not a serial killer.”
Laura chuckled and curled her legs beneath her. “Are you trying to give me a false sense of security?”
“Absolutely," he responded. "So you’re the Cox’s oldest girl?”
He knows who I am. Giddy moment. Focus.
“Yes. Do you know my parents?”
Dean shook his head. “No. I don’t know anyone. I’ve heard about you though. You’re their oldest girl who managed to get into college, right?”
“Yep, that’s me. Mum and dad had me when they were very young. They didn’t have the time or the money to go to college,” she explained.
He nodded at her words and brought over a steaming cup. She looked into the cup and smelt the scent of coffee wafting up.
“You can drink coffee?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m twenty years old. Of course I can drink coffee.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “Don’t shoot the maker.”
“I’m just going to call my mum. She’ll get in touch with the diner if I don’t get a chance to make it over there.” Laura took out her mobile phone and talked to her mum. She reassured her of her safety and told her Dean Riley had taken pity on her.
“He’s treating you good?” her mom asked.
“Yes.”
“All right, I’ll phone the diner in case you're late and you stay put. I don’t want you hurting yourself,” her mum said.
Laura agreed and hung up. “My parents worry.”
“They should. All parents worry about their children.”
“Do you have any children?” she questioned without thinking.
She saw the immediate change in him, the darkening of his eyes, and he no longer wore a smile. His hands gripped his cup tighter. The light and energy seemed to be sucked out of the room.
“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t ask personal questions.” She sipped from her cup and placed it back onto the table. “I’d better go.” She got up and grabbed her bag.
“There’s no need for you to leave. Stay. I’m sorry. It’s still too hard for me.” He stopped and glanced down at the floor.
She sat back down and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Talk about conversation killers.
“I only heard what my parents told me. I didn’t think.” Now she was babbling.
“The rumours can only be expected. So, what do you study at college?” he asked.
She heard instantly how quickly he changed the subject. Her heart mourned for his loss.
“Umm, English, I think. At least most of my classes are in that basic area.” Laura loved
to read and one day she hoped to be a writer. Not for political reasons or anything like that. She loved reading romance and figured that would be the area in which she would write. A cliché career choice, but she was a firm believer in following her dreams.
“I love English. Are you thinking of becoming a teacher? An editor of some kind?” he asked.
Laura couldn’t believe how interested he sounded. Feeling stupid at her dreams, she shrugged her shoulders and went with the neutral ground.
“I don’t know. Picking a career choice that will last my whole lifetime seems a little hard.”
You liar!
“Really? I thought you’d have a career in mind by now. Throughout college I knew exactly what I wanted to become,” he said.
Laura leaned forward on her seat. “What did you want to become?”
“A writer.”
Her heart pounded. This was too big of a coincidence. She should be in her own romance novel. The man of her dreams wanted the same profession she did. How was that possible?