Volume from a boy trying to prove he was a man, Staten thought.
He couldnt see the faces of the two boys with letter jackets, but the girl kept her head up. Weve been working on a project for the fair, she answered politely. Im Lauren Brigman, Mr. Kirkland.
Staten nodded. Sheriff Brigmans daughter, I remember you. She knew enough to be polite, but it was none of his business. Good evening, Lauren, he said. Nice to see you again. Good luck with the project.
When he pulled away, he shook his head. Normally, he wouldnt have bothered to stop. This might be small-town Texas, but they were not his problem. If he saw the Reyes boy again, he would apologize.
Staten swore. At this rate hed turn into a nosy old man by forty-five. It didnt seem that long ago that he and Amalah used to walk up to the gas station after meetings at the church.
Hell, maybe Quinn asking to kiss him had rattled him more than he thought. He needed to get his head straight. She was just a friend. A woman he turned to when the storms came. Nothing more. That was the way they both wanted it.
Until he made it back to her porch next Friday night, he had a truckload of trouble at the ranch to worry about.
* * *
TWENTY MILES AWAY Quinn OGrady curled into her blanket on her front porch and watched the night sky, knowing that Staten was still driving home. He always came to her like a raging storm and left as calm as dawn.
Only tonight, shed surprised him with her request. Tonight when hed walked away at midnight, it felt different. Somehow after five years, their relationship felt newborn.
She grinned, loving that she had made the first move. She had demanded a kiss, and he hadnt hesitated. She knew he came to her house out of need and loneliness, but for her it had always been more. In her quiet way, she could not remember a time she hadnt loved him.
Yet from grade school on, Staten Kirkland had belonged to her best friend, and Quinn had promised herself shed never try to step between them. Even now, seven years after Amalahs death, a part of Staten still belonged to his wife. Maybe not his heart, Quinn decided, but more his willingness to be open to caring. He was a man determined never to allow anyone close again. He didnt want love in his life; he only wanted to survive having loved and lost Amalah.
Amalah had wanted to be Mrs. Kirkland since the day she and Quinn had gone riding on the Double K ranch. Shed loved the big house, the luncheons and the committees. She knew how to smile for the press, how to dress, and how to manage the Kirkland men to get just what she wanted. Amalah had been a perfect wife for a rich rancher.
Quinn only wanted Staten, but never, not for one moment, would she have wished Amalah dead. Staten was a love Quinn kept locked away in her heart, knowing from the beginning that it would never see light.
When her best friend died, Quinn never went to Staten. She couldnt. It wouldnt have been fair. She never called or tried to accidentally run into him in town. Amalah might be gone, but Staten still didnt belong to her. She was not the kind of woman who could live in his world.
Two years passed after Amalah died. Staten would stop by now and then just to check on Quinn, but her shyness kept their conversations short.
Then, Randall died.
Shed heard about the car crash on the local radio station and cried for the boy shed known all his life.
Tears for a boys life cut short and for a father who she knew must be hurting, but who she couldnt go to. She wouldnt have known what to say. Hed be surrounded by people, and Quinn was afraid of most people.
When shed heard a pounding on her door that night, she almost didnt answer. Then shed seen Staten, broken and needing someone, and she couldnt turn him away.
That night shed held him, thinking that just this one time, he needed her. Tomorrow hed be strong and theyd go back to simply being polite to one another, but for one night she could help.
That next morning hed left without a word. She had never expected him to return, but he did. This strong, hard man never asked anything of her, but he took what she offered. Reason told her it wouldnt last. Hed called the two of them the leftovers, as if they were the ones abandoned on a shelf. But, Staten wasnt a leftover. One day he would no longer suffer the storms. One day he would go back to living again, and when he did, hed forget the way to her door.
As the five years passed, Quinn began to store up memories to keep her warm when he stopped coming. As simple as it seemed, she wanted to be kissed. Not out of passion or need, but gently.
Every time he walked away might be the last time. She wanted to remember that shed been kissed goodbye that last time, even if neither of them knew it at the moment.
CHAPTER THREE
Lauren
A MIDNIGHT MOON blinked its way between storm clouds as Lauren Brigman cleaned the mud off her shoes. The guys had gone inside the gas station for Cokes. She didnt really want anything to drink, but it was either walk over with the others after working on their fair projects or stay back at the church and talk to Mrs. Patterson.
Somewhere Mrs. Patterson had gotten the idea that since Lauren didnt have a mother around, she should take every opportunity to have a girl talk with the sheriffs daughter.
Lauren wanted to tell the old woman that she had known all the facts of life by the age of seven, and she really did not need a buddy to share her teenage years with. Besides, her mother lived in Dallas. It wasnt like she died. Shed just left. Just because she couldnt stand the sight of Laurens dad didnt mean she didnt call and talk to Lauren almost every week. Maybe Mom had just gotten tired of the sheriffs nightly lectures. Lauren had heard every one of Pops talks so many times that she had them memorized in alphabetical order.
Her grades put her at the top of the sophomore class, and she saw herself bound for college in less than three years. Lauren had no intention of getting pregnant, or doing drugs, or any of the other fearful situations Mrs. Patterson and her father had hinted might befall her. Her pop didnt even want her dating until she was sixteen, and, judging from the boys she knew in high school, shed just as soon go dateless until eighteen. Maybe college would have better pickings. Some of these guys were so dumb she was surprised they got their cowboy hats on straight every morning.
Reid Collins walked out from the gas station first with a can of Coke in each hand. I bought you one even though you said you didnt want anything to drink, he announced as he neared. Want to lean on me while you clean your shoes?
Lauren rolled her eyes. Since hed grown a few inches and started working out, Reid thought he was Gods gift to girls.
Why? she asked as she tossed the stick. I have a brick wall to lean on. And dont get any ideas were on a date, Reid, just because I walked over here with you.
I dont date sophomores, he snapped. Im on first string, you know. I could probably date any senior I want to. Besides, youre like a little sister, Lauren. Weve known each other since you were in the first grade.
She thought of mentioning that playing first string on a football team that only had forty players total, including the coaches and water boy, wasnt any great accomplishment, but arguing with Reid would rot her brain. Hed been born rich, and hed thought he knew everything since he cleared the birth canal. She feared his disease was terminal.
She thought of mentioning that playing first string on a football team that only had forty players total, including the coaches and water boy, wasnt any great accomplishment, but arguing with Reid would rot her brain. Hed been born rich, and hed thought he knew everything since he cleared the birth canal. She feared his disease was terminal.
If youre cold, Ill let you wear my football jacket. When she didnt comment, he bragged, I had to reorder a bigger size after a month of working out.
She hated to, but if she didnt compliment him soon, hed never stop begging. You look great in the jacket, Reid. Half the seniors on the team arent as big as you. There was nothing wrong with Reid from the neck down. In a few years hed be a knockout with the Collins good looks and trademark rusty hair, not quite brown, not quite red. But he still wouldnt interest her.
So, when I get my drivers license next month, do you want to take a ride?
Lauren laughed. Youve been asking that since I was in the third grade and you got your first bike. The answer is still no. Were friends, Reid. Well always be friends, Im guessing.
He smiled a smile that looked like hed been practicing. I know, Lauren, but I keep wanting to give you a chance now and then. You know, some guys dont want to date the sheriffs daughter, and I hate to point it out, babe, but if you dont fill out some, its going to be bad news in college. He had the nerve to point at her chest.
I know. She managed to pull off a sad look. Having my father is a cross I have to bear. Half the guys in town are afraid of him. Like he might arrest them for talking to me. Which he might. She had no intention of discussing her lack of curves with Reid.
No, its not fear of him, exactly, Reid corrected. I think its more the bullet holes theyre afraid of. Every time a guy looks at you, your old man starts patting his service weapon. Nerve-racking habit, if you ask me. From the looks of it, I seem to be the only one hell let stand beside you, and thats just because our dads are friends.
She grinned. Reid was spoiled and conceited and self-centered, but he was right. Theyd probably always be friends. Her dad was the sheriff, and his was the mayor of Crossroads, even though he lived five miles from town on one of the first ranches established near Ransom Canyon.
With her luck, Reid would be the only guy in the state that her father would let her date. Grumpy old Pop had what she called Terminal Cop Disease. Her father thought everyone, except his few friends, was most likely a criminal, anyone under thirty should be stopped and searched, and anyone whod ever smoked pot could not be trusted.
Tim OGrady, Reids eternal shadow, walked out of the station with a huge frozen drink. The clear cup showed off its red-and-yellow layers of cherry-and-pineapple-flavored sugar.
Where Reid was balanced in his build, Tim was lanky, disjointed. He seemed to be made of mismatched parts. His arms were too long. His feet seemed too big, and his wired smile barely fit in his mouth. When he took a deep draw on his drink, he staggered and held his forehead from the brain freeze.
Lauren laughed as he danced around like a puppet with his strings crossed. Timothy, as the teachers called him, was always good for a laugh. He had the depth of cheap paint but the imagination of a natural-born storyteller.
Maybe I shouldnt have gotten an icy drink on such a cold night, he mumbled between gulps. If I freeze from the inside out, put me up on Main Street as a statue.
Lauren giggled.
Lucas Reyes was the last of their small group to come outside. Lucas hadnt bought anything, but he evidently was avoiding standing outside with her. Shed known Lucas Reyes for a few years, maybe longer, but he never talked to her. Like Reid and Tim, he was a year ahead of her, but since he rarely talked, she usually only noticed him as a background person in her world.
Unlike them, Lucas didnt have a family name following him around opening doors for a hundred miles.
They all four lived east of Crossroads along the rambling canyon called Ransom Canyon. Lauren and her father lived in one of a cluster of houses near the lake, as did Tims parents. Reids family ranch was five miles farther out. She had no idea where Lucass family lived. Maybe on the Collins ranch. His father worked on the Bar W, which had been in the Collins family for over a hundred years. The area around the headquarters looked like a small village.
Reid repeated the plan. My brother said hed drop Sharon off and be back for us. But if they get busy doing their thing it could be an hour. We might as well walk back and sit on the church steps.
Great fun, Tim complained. Everythings closed. Its freezing out here, and I swear this town is so dead somebody should bury it.
We could start walking toward home, Lauren suggested as she pulled a tiny flashlight from her key chain. The canyon lake wasnt more than a mile. If they walked they wouldnt be so cold. She could probably be home before Reids dumb brother could get his lips off Sharon. If rumors were true, Sharon had very kissable lips, among other body parts.
Better than standing around here, Reid said as Tim kicked mud toward the building. Id rather be walking than sitting. Plus, if we go back to the church, Mrs. Patterson will probably come out to keep us company.
Without a vote, they started walking. Lauren didnt like the idea of stumbling into mud holes now covered up by a dusting of snow along the side of the road, but it sounded better than standing out front of the gas station. Besides, the moon offered enough light, making the tiny flashlight her father insisted she carry worthless.
Within a few yards, Reid and Tim had fallen behind and were lighting up a smoke. To her surprise, Lucas stayed beside her.
You dont smoke? she asked, not really expecting him to answer.
No, cant afford the habit, he said, surprising her. Ive got plans, and they dont include lung cancer.
Maybe the dark night made it easier to talk, or maybe Lauren didnt want to feel so alone in the shadows. I was starting to think you were a mute. Weve had a few classes together, and youve never said a word. Even tonight you were the only one who didnt talk about your project.
Lucas shrugged. Didnt see the point. Im just entering for the prize money, not trying to save the world or build a better tomorrow.
She giggled.
He laughed, too, realizing hed just made fun of the whole point of the projects. Plus, he added, theres just not much opportunity to get a word in around those two. He nodded his head at the two letter jackets falling farther behind as a cloud of smoke haloed above them.
She saw his point. The pair trailed them by maybe twenty feet or more, and both were talking about football. Neither seemed to require a listener.
Why do you hang out with them? she asked. Lucas didnt seem to fit. Studious and quiet, he hadnt gone out for sports or joined many clubs that she knew about. Jocks usually hang out together.
I wanted to work on my project tonight, and Reid offered me a ride. Listening to football talk beats walking in this weather.
Lauren tripped into a pothole. Lucass hand shot out and caught her in the darkness. He steadied her, then let go.
Thanks. You saved my life, she joked.
Hardly, but if I had, youd owe me a blood debt.