Crosswinds: Episode 3

by Elisabeth Naughton

  Silence.

  Moving through the first floor, she checked rooms for her mom, but they were all empty. Celeste hadn’t been out of the house in days, but if she was gone, Lacey figured that was a good thing for her. For once she wouldn’t have to tiptoe around her own stupid house.

  She grabbed a soda from the fridge, then jogged up the steps to her room. After flipping on the radio, she flopped onto the bed and opened her reading app. Right now she didn’t want to think about real life. She just wanted to get lost in a book. But her phone buzzed before she could do that, and she frowned as Mallory’s name flashed on the screen.

  Her best friend was the last person she wanted to talk to. Not after all Lacey’s crazy thoughts about Luis. She couldn’t ignore Mallory though. If she did, Mallory would just show up at her house to see what was up.

  “Hey, Mal,” she said as nonchalantly as she could, pressing the phone to her ear and rolling to her back on the pink comforter.

  “Luis said you’re not coming tonight. What’s that about?”

  Lacey pressed a hand to her forehead. Stupid Luis. “Um... I’m not really feeling it tonight. I’m just tired. It’s no biggie.”

  “Lace.”

  Lacey could hear the exasperation in Mallory’s voice, and she knew what her friend was thinking. How could she be tired when she didn’t do anything all day? Technically, Lacey worked part time at Cuppa Joe, but Marisol Moreno, who ran the bakery, had told her to take as much time off as she needed to get her head on straight, and so far Lacey didn’t feel like she was there. Marisol, being Luis’s older sister, knew all about grief and loss. So the fact that Lacey hadn’t gone back to work yet had absolutely nothing to do with being lazy, as Mallory thought, and everything to do with simply listening to her boss.

  “Come on,” Mallory said. “It’ll be fun.”

  Lacey wasn’t so sure.

  “Besides, if you don’t go I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

  Lacey snorted a laugh. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means a lot,” Mallory muttered. She drew a deep breath. “Luis and I have been talking about... doing it.”

  “Doing what?”

  “You know.” Mallory’s voice took on an edge of nervousness. “It.”

  Lacey sat straight up. “What?”

  “I don’t know,” Mallory said. “I mean, we’ve been together for three months already, and he’s got girls hitting on him all the time. Luis is Mister Popular even if he isn’t from one of the old families in town. I just... I don’t want to lose him, you know?”

  Lacey’s stomach swirled with the force of a tornado. “That’s why you’re going to screw him? To keep other girls away?”

  “Ugh. I hate that word. Can’t you find another way to say it?”

  “If you don’t like screw you’re not going to like the other ways I say it. Answer the question, Mal.”

  Mallory sighed. “No, that’s not why. Not really. I mean, I care about him. A lot. And we haven’t totally decided yet. We’re just... thinking about it.”

  Lacey couldn’t believe it. Didn’t want to believe it. Dating Luis was one thing, but sleeping with him... that took their relationship to a whole other level.

  “What does Luis think about it?” she asked quickly.

  “He’s interested. I mean, he’s a guy. They’re all interested.”

  “Was it his idea or yours?”

  Mallory was quiet for a second. Then said, “Mine.”

  Which didn’t surprise Lacey. Mallory’s older sister, Dakota, had a reputation for getting around, and Mallory was definitely more of a wild child than Lacey had ever been. But she wasn’t like Dakota. She was smart and, because of those brains of hers, one day Mallory was going to do something important with her life.

  “I don’t know.” Mallory groaned. “Tell me what to do, Lace. I don’t know what to do.”

  Lacey knew this was her moment to be the supportive best friend. To talk about the pros and cons. To remind Mallory that she was only sixteen. But she suddenly didn’t want to be supportive. She wanted exactly what she’d wanted today at the pool. She wanted Luis. And she knew if Mallory slept with him, her chance to have him for herself was gone.

  “I think”— She glanced toward her closet, already choosing her outfit for the evening—“I’m going to come tonight after all.”

  “You are?” Excitement lifted Mallory’s voice.

  “Yeah.” A voice in the back of Lacey’s head whispered she was playing with fire, but Lacey was way past listening. “We’ll talk about it all then. Just don’t do anything stupid.”

  “I won’t,” Mallory answered. “This is going to be fun.”

  It would be. Lacey would make sure of that. Because she was tired of sitting around feeling sorry for herself. It was time she forgot about everyone else and had her own fun.

  * * * *

  Luis Moreno dumped his gym bag on the kitchen table and grabbed a cookie from the jar on the counter before heading into the living room. Marisol, his older sister, always brought home a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies from work, just for him. She was up and gone before the sun, owning and operating Storm’s local bakery, and he hated that she had to work so hard, especially because she did it to take care of him, but he definitely enjoyed the perks.

  He munched on his cookie as he dropped onto the old couch, kicked off his slides, and propped his bare feet on the dinged-up coffee table. He was still wearing his red lifeguarding shorts, but after work he’d pulled on his favorite black Hollister T-shirt, the one Mallory said made his eyes look dark and sexy. Reaching for the remote, he flipped the channel to ESPN and settled in to check the day’s baseball scores. Drawers opened and closed somewhere in the back of the house, and he knew Marisol was back there putting away laundry, but he had a bet with Jeffry on the Ranger game, and right now he needed to know if he’d won before his buddy showed up in an hour.

  “Luis?” Marisol called from the bedrooms. “Is that you?”

  “Yeah,” he yelled, eyes glued to the TV. “I’ll come help you in a second.”

  “I made lasagna. It’s on the stove.”

  He mumbled a thanks and watched the scores roll across the bottom of the screen. A clip from the Ranger game flashed, and Luis lifted the remote to turn up the volume.

  “What a game,” the announcer said. “I haven’t seen a matchup this explosive since Robin Ventura went after Nolan Ryan back in 1993 and—”

  Marisol stepped in front of the TV and flipped it off.

  “Hey.” Luis dropped his feet from the coffee table and sat upright. “I was watching that.”

  Marisol turned to face him. “What the heck is this?”

  A rattling sounded, and Luis’s gaze shifted to the orange box in her hand. Trojan was written in big white letters all across the front.

  “Oh, shit.”

  Marisol’s big brown eyes grew wide. “Are you and Mallory having sex?”

  Luis cringed. Just the way she said that word—sex—made the hairs on his nape stand and quiver. This was so not a conversation he wanted to have with his sister. She might be thirty-one, but some things should be private from a sibling, even one who was your guardian.

  “Answer me,” she demanded.

  Luis sighed and dropped the remote on the couch beside him. He knew when Marisol meant business. He also knew when he couldn’t blow her off. “No. We’re not.”

  “Not yet.” Marisol lifted an eyebrow in displeasure.

  Crossing his arms, he perched his foot on the edge of the coffee table and pursed his lips.

  “I thought you said you were going to wait until college. That you didn’t want to do anything to mess up your chance for a scholarship. I can’t pay for college, Luis. You know that. College is your way out. If Mallory gets pregnant, you’re going to be stuck in Storm forever.”

  Like her. She didn’t say it. She never said it, but Luis knew Marisol had sacrificed her dreams to take care of him and G
inny. She’d stayed in Storm, opened the bakery with a little help from the Rush family, and most days she seemed happy, but he knew what-ifs were always somewhere on her mind.

  “We’re not having sex, okay?”

  “Then what are these?” She shook the box, her long, dark hair falling over her shoulder with the movement.

  He sighed. “They’re a precaution.”

  Her shoulders dropped. “Luis—”

  “No, listen.” He sat forward. “Nothing’s happened and nothing’s gonna happen. Mallory and I talked about it, and I bought ’em just in case, but I knew as soon as I got the box home that I’m not ready. College is still important to me. And I’m not stupid enough to mess that up.”

  Relief trickled over Marisol’s face, followed by a whisper of guilt. She moved around the coffee table to sit on the edge of the couch next to him. “I’m sorry. I know I should be the cool older sister about all this but—”

  “But you can’t.” He took the box and set it on the floor because just looking at it in her hand wigged him out. “I get it.”

  “I just... I want you to have everything, Luis. You could really go places. You’re smart and funny and so mature for your age—everyone says so. And I just don’t want to see you throw it all away for some... girl.”

  He understood she wanted him to have all the things she hadn’t. But he didn’t like what she was implying. “Mallory isn’t just some girl.”

  She tipped her head and frowned. “Four months ago you had the hots for Lacey Salt, not Mallory Alvarez. You’ve had a crush on Lacey since you were in the second grade.”

  Warmth spread up Luis’s face, and he crossed his arms over his chest, then leaned back away from her. “Lacey and I are just friends.”

  “Which is why you’re going out with Mallory.”

  Was it? No. He really liked Mallory. Sure, he hadn’t thought much about her as girlfriend material until she’d asked him to the spring dance, but now he was glad she had. Besides which, Lacey had never—and would never—be interested in him, so it was a moot point anyway.

  “Look,” Marisol said. “I’m not trying to diss on Mallory. I like her. A lot. She’s a great kid. She comes from a rough family, but she’s managed to get through it better than most. I just want you to be sure she’s the one before you take a big step like”—she gestured toward the box of condoms at his feet—“this.”

  “We’re not having sex,” he said louder. “I already told you that.”

  “I know. I heard you. It’s just... I love you, you know? And I want you to be happy. I want both you and Ginny to be happy. And Ginny’s not happy right now, and I don’t know what to do to make her happy. And I have no idea what she’s going to do with a baby. She’s going to be stuck in this town forever now, with no chance to get out. And I know everyone’s excited about this baby and that I should be too, but...”

  Oh crap. Marisol’s eyes filled with tears, and Luis sensed she was about to completely break down. She hadn’t done that yet. Not since Ginny’s accident. Not since Ginny left to live with the Salts. Not once in all that time. She’d been the family rock, like always. But apparently even those rocks had cracks.

  “Hey.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in to his chest. “It’s okay. We’re all okay.”

  She grabbed onto his T-shirt as the tears slid down her cheeks. “It’s not. Not really. It’s like our family’s being ripped apart all over again.”

  He held her as she cried, thinking a little of the same thing. But she saw things differently because she was older. Life hadn’t been fair to Marisol. He knew that. She’d been in her third year of college when their parents had died. And instead of going to frat parties and bonfires and football games, she’d suddenly had to drive carpool and attend PTA meetings and help with homework. He missed his parents every day, but he’d only been six when they’d died. Marisol was more a parent to him than he could remember them being. It wasn’t the same for her. She had a lifetime of memories with their parents. And her life was the one that had been forever changed when they died.

  “We’re not being ripped apart, you hear me?” Luis gripped her shoulders and pushed her back so he could see her face. Marisol sniffled and swiped at her tears. “We’re fine. Ginny’s fine. You’ve done an amazing job with us, Marisol. You raised us right, and I know Mom and Dad would be proud of what you’ve done.”

  Tears filled her eyes again, but she swiped the back of her hand over her face before they could fall. “I just want to protect you both.”

  “I know you do. But you can’t. Not forever. At some point we have to make our own choices. And you have to trust us enough to let us do that.”

  Marisol rubbed both hands over her face, then dropped them in her lap and glared at him. “I don’t like it when you’re smarter than me.”

  He smiled because that was the feisty older sister he knew and loved. “I’ll try not to be. At least when you’re around.”

  She punched him in the shoulder. “Fine. Whatever.” Then, pushing to her feet, she added, “What time are your friends coming over?”

  “Eight.”

  “Okay. I’m gonna take a shower, then I’m going to take some cranberry scones left over from work to the Salts’ and see how Ginny’s doing.”

  “You don’t have to leave. My friends like you.”

  “I know.” She moved around the couch. “But you’re right. I have to start trusting you to make your own choices. Even if I don’t like them.”

  He rolled his eyes and reached for the remote again, happy this conversation was over. A few tears he could handle, but if it had turned into a waterfall he’d have been in serious trouble. “I told you, I’m not sleeping with Mallory, and even if I were, I wouldn’t be doing it tonight.”

  “Good.” Marisol headed for the hall. “At least now I don’t have to worry about washing all the sheets.”

  “Ew!” He picked up his slide from the floor and chucked it toward her.

  The slide hit the wall and dropped to the floor. Marisol laughed and disappeared toward her bedroom.

  Luis was smiling when he sank back into the cushions. Unfortunately, though, the sportscasters were no longer talking about the Rangers. He watched the ticker, waiting for the score while the shower flipped on at the back of the house, but the longer he sat there, the more his mind drifted to what Marisol had said about Lacey. Images of her curvy body in the lime-green bikini she’d been wearing at the pool today flashed in his brain.

  Marisol was right, though he’d never admit it out loud, even to her. He was still into Lacey Salt. More than he should be for a guy who had a girlfriend. For a guy who had a great girlfriend. One who liked him so much, she was initiating the whole sex discussion instead of it being the other way around. He really cared about Mallory and didn’t want to do anything to mess up their relationship, but those feelings he’d had for Lacey for years were still there, lingering beneath the surface. And no matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to get rid of them completely.

  He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at the TV. He hadn’t lied when he told Marisol he wasn’t interested in sex yet because he wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready. But something in the back of his mind couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d feel the same if Lacey Salt were the one doing the initiating.

  Chapter Two

  Mallory Alvarez’s nerves were a jangled mess as she pulled her mom’s ancient Oldsmobile to a stop in front of Luis’s small one-story house. She still hadn’t decided what she wanted to do or if she was ready to take their relationship to the next level, but she needed to know how he felt about it all before she made up her mind.

  She shoved the car into park and killed the ignition. The old vehicle gave a rumbling shudder then went silent. After checking her hair in the rearview mirror, she told herself to stop being a baby. She’d started this whole discussion¸ hadn’t she? She had to be mature about it. Heck, her older sister Dakota was never mature about boys,
and all sorts of rumors had sprung up about her as a result.

  Her mind skipped to the day Dakota had discovered their father had split on the family without warning. Dakota had flipped out and blamed their mom for not doing enough to keep her husband happy. Mallory, on the other hand, considered Hector Alvarez’s disappearance a blessing. He wasn’t the perfect father Dakota thought him to be. He treated their mom like shit, and Mallory was tired of the bruises her mom tried to pass off as her being clumsy. Dakota chose not to see the truth because, Mallory knew, her sister was just as screwed up as their father.

  Not exactly the person you want to aspire to be, a little voice whispered in the back of Mallory’s head.

  Shaking off the voice—and thoughts of her sister that would just make her depressed all over again—Mallory climbed out of her car and headed across the walk toward the Moreno’s house. The days were long now, and even at 8 p.m., the sky was only just starting to show signs of darkening. She climbed the three porch steps and knocked. Shuffling sounded from inside, and she recognized Jeffry Rush’s voice just before the door opened.

  “Hey, Mal.” Jeffry’s rich brown eyes were warm and inviting as he held the door open for her.

  “Hi, Jeffry.” She handed him the bag of chips and six-pack of root beer she’d brought. “Is Lacey here?”

  “Not yet.” He closed the door. “Luis is in the kitchen.”

  “Thanks.”

  Those nerves kicked up all over again as Mallory headed for the kitchen and Jeffry set the snacks on the coffee table then dropped onto the couch. When she stepped into the room with its U-shaped counter and small round table, she found Luis setting out a batch of Marisol’s cookies on a plate.

  “Hey,” he said, looking up and smiling.

  Her insides warmed. God, he was cute. Lacey thought she was the one who’d made Mallory realize how hot Luis was, but the truth was that Mallory had noticed a long time ago. She’d had a crush on Luis Moreno since freshman year. She’d just been too shy to do anything about it until Lacey had nudged her into action.