by Hope, Amity
They had been together eleven months. Longer than anyone, including either of them, had ever thought they’d last. Now what Cole was proposing was another year away. Would they still be together by then? She hoped so. She realized he must hope so too, since he was the one that brought it up.
A slow smile spread across her face. “I like that plan.”
He frowned again. “I have no idea what I want to do with my life though.”
“You have time to figure it out,” she assured him. “I’m not sure either. I mean, I love to read. I’d like to major in literature but I’m not entirely sure what I would do with that. I’ve thought about becoming an English teacher.”
“Really?” he asked with raised eyebrows. “You’d have to deal with students like me.”
She rolled her eyes. “And that would be such a tragedy. No, but seriously, that’s what I’m thinking about doing. I’ve got a few years to decide so who knows. I’ll probably change my mind. All I’m saying is that’s the last thing you have to worry about. I’m sure you’ll find something you like.”
He nodded and she hoped he was listening to her. Just the fact that he’d put college in his future plans was a huge step. She knew he’d figure out the rest eventually.
“Yeah, you’re right.” He looked relieved. Like the crushing weight of his unknown future had just been lifted from his shoulders. He moved across the blanket again so that he was next to her. As he stretched his legs out beside her, she found herself asking him the question she had wanted to ask for weeks. She hadn’t because he’d seemed too stressed and she hadn’t wanted to add to it. But now? His mood was so much lighter.
“Will you go to prom with me?” It was only two weeks away. She had been waiting, hoping he would ask her. She was disappointed that he hadn’t. But then, in his defense, she’d never even hinted that she wanted to go. But she did want to go. And time was running out if she was going to find a dress and shoes.
He cringed as he turned to face her.
She scolded herself. Way to ruin the mood.
“You know that’s not really my kind of thing.”
She gave a quick little shake of her head, as if to imply she hadn’t been thinking. “No. I know. You’re right.”
“But for you…yeah,” he said. “I’ll go.”
Her heart took off racing and she realized she’d never actually expected him to agree. In fact, she hadn’t even meant to ask him. It had been impulsive and the words had just slipped out. “You don’t have to. I mean, I wasn’t thinking. I know tux rental must be ridiculous. And—”
“Sarah, it’s okay., i/span>
She realized the money he’d saved was probably set aside for school. She suddenly wished she’d never asked him to go. And yet…it was her junior prom. Even still, it had been a selfish thing to do. “But—”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“It’s a lot of money,” she meekly pointed out.
He cut off anymore protests with a look. “If you want to go, you deserve to go. I’m actually considering going to college because of you. I’ve managed to pretty much stay out of trouble all year because of you. Taking you to prom if you want to go? That’s the least I can do. I want to go,” he tacked on.
“You want to go?” She giggled at that because she doubted very much that he wanted to go. But his argument was convincing, nonetheless.
“Nah. But I want you to go. And you’re not going without me.”
She tackled him in a hug as she speckled his face with kisses. He laughed as he flipped her onto her back. Her stomach fluttered at the look in his eye. Then her lip popped out in a playful pout. “I need to leave pretty soon.”
“Are you sure? Can’t you cancel?”
She swatted at him, knowing he was joking. Mostly joking. She had plans with Cassie and a few other girls for the evening. She’d been careful not to ignore her friends just because she had a boyfriend.
“Girls’ night,” she said firmly.
He grumbled good-naturedly as he climbed to his feet. Then he reached down to pull her up too.
*****
He was smiling to himself as he walked into the dumpy trailer. It had taken him months to get up the courage to talk to Mrs. Richards. He’d never had any reason to speak with her before. He had expected her to look over his grades and his previously poor attendance and blow him off. She had done exactly the opposite.
She’d taken her time talking with him, finding where his possible interests lay. She had strongly encouraged college and had even discussed a few with him. At first, his pride hadn’t wanted him to discuss his financial concerns. However, when she brought it up, he found himself telling her. He realized that was probably part of her job, to help him realize all of his options.
Mrs. Richards had brought up another option. Something he hadn’t mentioned to Sarah. She had tossed out the idea of joining the military. It seemed that she hadn’t thought he’d really be interested. But she must’ve seen something flit across his facecrorah. S. Because the next thing he knew, she’d pulled out a stack of brochures.
There was only one that caught his interest. He’d plucked it out of the arrangement fanned out on her desk. Now, the Air Force brochure was tucked safely inside a folder, stashed in his locker. He wasn’t sure why he even bothered to take it. It wasn’t like he was really interested.
He shook his head at the thought as he trudged into the sad excuse for a living room. If he was thinking about, which he told himself he wasn’t, that would mean leaving Sarah. On the other hand, if he was thinking about it, which he told himself he still wasn’t, that could mean that he really would be doing something with his life. But it would still mean leaving Sarah.
Possibly his priorities were skewed, but maybe they weren’t. He wasn’t going to dwell on it because it really wasn’t an option.
He stopped halfway through the living room when he heard a giggle come from Darren’s bedroom. He returned to the front door, slamming it shut this time. It was a warning to his brother and whatever tramp he was with this week that they weren’t alone. Not that they probably cared. Usually they didn’t but he could hope for the best.
“Where the hell you been?” Darren slurred as he stumbled down the hallway moments later.
“Out,” Cole said as he tried to push past him. Why had he come home? He was supposed to meet up with Alex later. He should’ve just found something to do until then. Especially when he’d seen Darren’s car parked in the driveway. He should’ve taken off again. But he hadn’t. And now here Darren was. In his face. Again.
“I need you to go get something for me.”
Cole cringed. “No.” It wasn’t even dinnertime yet and it was clear that Darren had had plenty of ‘something’ already.
Darren took a menacing step forward but Cole stood his ground. He ignored the ache in his ribs. He hadn’t told Sarah about his latest confrontation with Darren. Last Thursday afternoon, he’d caught his brother rifling through their mom’s purse. She had cash tucked inside of an envelope with the electric bill. Most likely, she’d been running late and hadn’t had time to drop it off. She usually knew better than to keep cash anywhere in the house. Darren had been pocketing the money as Cole had walked in.
Cole had tried to talk him into putting it back. When that hadn’t worked, he’d tried to take the money from his brother. That really hadn’t worked. Darren still had several inches on him and probably thirty pounds. Worse yet, he had a meanness in him that Cole just couldn’t conjure in himself.
All Cole had gotten for his efforts were several jabs to his ribs and Darren had still walked away with the money.
“There’s a case of beer in it for you,” Darren bribed. “Unless you’re so whipped these days that your pansy-ass doesn’t drink anymore.”
He still drank. Just not as much as he used to. And almost never around Sarah. It wasn’t that he was hiding it from her. She had told him repeatedly that she didn’t want him to change for her, though he kn
ew it made her uncomfortable. That was why he’d cut back so much. He was nowhere near a saint and would never claim to be one. Tonight, he and Alex had somewhere to go. Somewhere a lot more low-key than the parties he used to go to. A case of beer might come in handy…
But doing a favor for Darren?
He wasn’t interested.
“Guess I could drive up there myself,” Darren offered.
This stopped Cole on his retreat to his bedroom. Darren was trashed. That wouldn’t stop him from making the drive.
He held out his hand, disgusted with himself for caving so easily. “Give me your damn keys.”
Darren grinned at him. “There’s a bottle of whisky under the cot. Should be a case of beer too. Grab ’em both.”
Without another word, Cole left. As he climbed into Darren’s car he found himself wondering if he should’ve let Darren go himself. He would’ve been a menace on the road. But maybe he could’ve called his brother in. The thought was tempting. Darren with a DUI? Darren spending some time in jail? But then his thoughts flipped back to reality. Their mom would eventually be the one to bail him out, pay his fines. Not to mention the stress it would bring her. If it were up to Cole, he’d happily let his brother rot there. But Karen wouldn’t and he just couldn’t do that to her.
Besides, if Darren managed to plow down a kid before he was pulled over, Cole knew he’d never forgive himself.
He ground out a frustrated sigh as the engine chugged to life. He wasn’t crazy about being underage and driving with alcohol. But it wouldn’t be the first time. At least when he was aware it was in the car, he knew to take care to drive more cautiously.
Best to not think about it and just get the damned errand over with.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cole stayed with Sarah the next several nights. He left his truck parked right out front, next to her car. He wanted it to be a clear warning that Sarah wasn’t home alone. He had the new front door in place by Saturday evening. The security system was in by Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday, the police still had no leads.
“I don’t think they’re trying very hard,” Cole grumbled as he let himself into Sarah’s house at the end of the day. He now had all of the siding torn off and was waiting for Tom to send some help his way.
“Why do you say that?” Sarah asked. It had taken them the entire weekend to get her house back in order to her liking. The last few days, she’d been working hard at trying to finish up her painting. Everything had taken so much longer than she’d planned. She realized she might need to let the hardwood floors go until the following summer.
“It’s just an ordinary robbery,” Cole said. “Not much was taken and they have nothing to go on. I’ve started to wonder if you should mention Brynn to them.”
She looked tentative. “I’m sure they’ll ask why I never reported her when she broke in last time.”
“Why didn’t you?” he asked.
She inspected her hands for a moment, trying to be sure she’d scrubbed away all traces of paint. “I guess because she just wore me down. I was so tired of dealing with her. The next day, Liz began to convince me I should move back here. I guess I just ran from my problem instead of facing it. Now, I realize I probably should’ve filed a report. If it was her that did this, she was probably thinking that if I let her get away with it once, I’d be willing to let her get away with it again.”
She dried her hands on a towel and turned toward Cole. “Did you change your mind about Toby?”
“No,” he said. “I talked to Alex about it. He asked around. Toby was definitely out on Friday night. He could’ve seen you out. He was at Lucky’s until closing. But after that? Hell, he could’ve shown up here anytime after the bar closed. But if they checked things out with Brynn, then we might know one way or another if it was her.”
“Why don’t you mention Toby to them?” Sarah asked.
“How do I do that without telling them why? I can’t say I think it might be him without giving them a damn good reason.”
“You know,” she said, “the thought has occurred to me that it was completely random.”
Cole blew out a breath. “Yeah. Me too. But what bothers me is that this house stood empty for years. Why didn’t anyone break in then? Hell, if they had, it could’ve been months before anyone would’ve even noticed.”
“So maybe it is related to the coins,” Sarah said. “Maybe someone who heard about them?”
“Yeah, that’s just it. It could’ve been anyone.”
Sarah’s brows furrowed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Hey,” Cole said as he crossed the kitchen to her. “You know what? We’re both done for the day. It’s a nice evening. We never got to go for that ride. Why don’t we do it tonight? We can just hop on and ride until we feel like stopping. Maybe we can find somewhere new to try for dinner.”
The thought of getting away for the evening was enticing. “I’d like that,” she said. “Give me a few minutes to change?”
*****
“I was wondering if he was ever going to bring you around,” Karen said.
“Karen!” Sarah exclaimed as they walked through the front door of Cole’s apartment building.
Cole realized his mom must’ve seen them approaching through the window of her ground floor apartment. Now here snt.’he was, perched against her doorframe waiting. Her eyes had a sparkle to them that he hadn’t seen since he couldn’t remember when. It made him wish that he’d made more of an effort to bring Sarah around for a visit sooner.
He noticed the flash of concern that flitted across Sarah’s face. He could only imagine what his mom looked like to her after all of this time. She’d never been a large woman but now, she appeared tiny and frail. She looked like she’d aged twenty years in the past eight. Her hair, which had been blond, was now predominantly gray. But it was her face that was the most deceptive. She did not look like a woman in her fifties. Her skin was marred by deep wrinkles. Her eyes always looked tired and the dark crescents beneath were ever-present.
Her years of smoking and hard work had taken their toll. Worse, she’d always worked in a smoke-filled environment. Bars and truck stops that had been hazy with toxic air until the later years when smoking bans went into effect.
Sarah moved forward and carefully pulled Karen into a hug. “It’s so good to see you again,” she said. “I know I should’ve come around before. But to be honest, I’ve not been very good about that this summer. I’ve hardly seen my own parents at all.”
“Well, you’re here now,” Karen answered as Sarah released her. “This one here,” she said as she pointed to Cole, “has told me what you’ve been up to. You’ve sure taken a lot on.”
Sarah smiled. “To be honest, I feel like I’m in over my head.”
“Don’t let her fool you,” Cole said to his mom. “She’s doing great. I’m impressed with what a good job she’s done.”
“Can you come in for a bit?” Karen asked as her eyes darted between her son and Sarah.
Sarah glanced at Cole with raised eyebrows. He tried to read her expression. He thought she was looking at him hopefully.
“You know,” he said, “I’d like to take a quick shower.”
“Perfect!” Sarah exclaimed with a smile. “I’ll visit with your mom while you do.”
“Take your time,” Karen said.
Sarah smiled sweetly at him. “Yes, take your time.”
“Well,” Cole pressed as an idea suddenly came to him, “if you really mean that, I have an errand I could run while you two catch up.”
Sarah gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. “It’s fine.” She turned back to Karen and the two of them disappeared into his mom’s apartment.
Since the break-in, he had been making a point of staying by Sarah’s side. But now that she was with his mom, and not alone at the farmhouse, he decided there was something he needed to do while he had the chance.
He hurried up to his apartment and quickly got ready for his
evening out. Then he grabbed the keys to his H kefont>
It was just the excuse he needed to make a trip to the service station on Mill Street. As he let himself out of the apartment building, he figured his mom and Sarah were watching him through the window. His mom often left the curtains open. He knew she easily grew bored with being cooped up all the time. Sometimes when she tired of television, she would simply people watch.
He strode to the parking lot, feeling guilty. As if they knew what he was up to. He wasn’t sure Sarah would approve. That’s why he hadn’t told her what he was planning to do.
By the time he took off, he’d convinced himself it wasn’t a big deal. Sarah had looked happy to have some time to catch up with Karen. And his mom had looked ecstatic at the realization she was going to have some company.
As he neared the service station, he realized Toby might not even be working. But as he pulled up, he saw him behind the glass.
Cole pulled his motorcycle up to one of the pumps and began filling it. He glanced around, glad to see that he’d missed the after work rush. He saw only one other car in the lot and from what he could see through the large bank of windows, that person was finishing up. He topped off his tank as the customer emerged from the building.
He strode across the parking lot with purpose. He realized that Toby must’ve caught sight of him while he was pumping gas because he didn’t seem surprised to see him.
“I heard you were back in town,” Toby said coolly by way of greeting. His arms were folded as he leaned against the back counter. He had a cheap shirt on with the service station’s logo embroidered on the front pocket. His jeans were worn and probably hadn’t been washed in a while. A set of keys dangled from a chain connected to a belt loop.
“You heard right,” Cole said as he pulled his wallet out from his back pocket. A car pulled up to the pump next to the one he’d been using. He knew he only had a matter of minutes before they were interrupted. A few minutes were all he needed. He decided to try to make nice before getting to the point. “What have you been up to?”