Chapter Five

Still standing on the beach, Colleen thought back to that fateful day in the fourth grade. She’d been working on a picture to give her teacher when a white piece of paper appeared on her desk.

Meet me by the tall tree at recess. I have a secret.—Storm

When the bell rang for recess, she peeked back at Storm, who always sat in the back of the room. His head lay on his desk, with his curly hair falling over his forehead to cover his face.

He looked up and smiled.

No one else had a smile like Storm. Butterflies fluttered inside her chest. She was too busy watching Storm to notice Tyler grab the note off her desk.

“Oooohhh, Storm has a secret.” Tyler held the note high in the air. “Maybe he’s really a freaky alien.”

Colleen leaped up to grab at the note, but she wasn’t tall enough. “Give that back, Tyler. Now.”

“Fine.” He let the note drop onto the vinyl tile floor. “Why do you want to be around Stinky Storm anyway? He wears the same shirt to school every day and smells like old food.”

“Shut up.” She picked Storm’s note off the ground. “Leave him alone.”

Tyler walked away, laughing.

Colleen shoved the note into the pocket of her shorts and headed outside for recess. She hated the way Tyler talked about other people, especially Storm. All the other kids in class followed his lead. Skipping under the bright sun, she found Storm hiding behind a tall tree.

He looked down at his dirty sneakers, kicking up small stones.

“I’m here.” She hopped over and landed at his side. Standing next to a large oak tree, they were hidden from the rest of the playground. “So, what’s your secret?”

Storm raised his head and gazed back with wide eyes. He stood silent for a long time. Then, he took a deep breath and leaned in.

Colleen wanted to close her eyes but couldn’t. She watched Storm’s puckered lips move toward her in slow motion. He was about to kiss her. When their lips connected, she felt a static electricity shock and jumped.

Their kiss only lasted a few seconds. Colleen wanted to try kissing again, until the sound of teasing voices broke the spell. Practically their whole class now gathered around the tree, laughing.

“Colleen kissed Stinky Storm,” one girl taunted. “I bet she has lip fungus.”

Tyler reached out and pushed Storm. “You think she likes you? Colleen told us to come over so you’d leave her alone.”

“That’s not true. I didn’t tell them,” Colleen pleaded. “I promise.”

“Storm and Colleen, sitting by a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” a redheaded boy with a missing front tooth sang.

Finally, their teacher strode over and put a stilling hand on Colleen’s shoulder. “What is happening over here?”

“Colleen and Storm were kissing.” Tyler pushed back a lock of blond hair. “It looked so gross I think I’m sick.”

Her face and body grew hot, and her stomach threatened to heave. Why couldn’t everyone just leave her alone?

Their teacher grabbed Colleen’s hand. “Go sit on the bench by the door. Your father will not be happy about your behavior.”

While she walked away, Storm took off running in the other direction.

Their teacher yelled for him to come back, but he didn’t. He left the playground and sprinted down the road.

For the rest of the day, Colleen felt like vomiting. She wanted to go home and get away from the other kids who teased her. But she did not want to see her dad. She could almost hear him scolding her for being a disappointment to the Gardner name.

After that day, Storm was absent from school for several weeks. When he finally returned to their classroom, she had to show the other kids she wasn’t his girlfriend like they’d been teasing. To her shame, she no longer treated him like a friend. His note and their kiss caused her trouble with her dad, and she became the laughing stock of the entire Liberty Ridge Elementary School.

As they progressed through each grade, their ill will turned into outright hostility. She used her words as weapons, and Storm purposely did things to make her squirm, like the time in eighth grade when he’d changed the school’s outdoor sign to read, Congratulations Colleen Gardner on your pregnancy.

When she learned Storm was behind the fake message, she plotted her revenge. A little laxative snuck inside his hot lunch had gone a long way.

Now, years later, Colleen stood facing the cool wind blowing off the water and shivered. Why did memories of Storm still rip out her heart? Until their fourth grade kiss on the playground, Storm had been a small bird under the shelter of her wing. Colleen rolled her yoga mat, and guilt rose to choke her.

With the fading daylight, the rolling ocean turned a steel gray, mirroring her own melancholy mood. She licked her lips and tasted the salt of her tears mixed with the spicy aftertaste of Storm. Earlier, when he’d leaned in to kiss her, the earth tipped underneath her feet. She’d thought he offered a chance to renew their friendship. Colleen was a naïve twit to believe Storm held anything but contempt. And why shouldn’t he? After the way she betrayed him, just when he’d needed her friendship the most.

Looking back on the situation as an adult, she mentally berated herself. She had a choice—to stand by Storm or keep her other friends. Unfortunately, she’d chosen the wrong side.

Their first kiss broke their friendship. Their second kiss, here on the beach, asserted she had no hope of ever getting it back.

****

Back home, Storm tossed his bag onto the floor of his apartment and walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. After a whirlwind trip to California and back, he was tired of airports and planes.

He swore he wouldn’t let Colleen occupy any more of his thoughts, but the look in her eyes last night still pricked at his conscience. Throwing their first kiss in her face had been a low blow. Back then, they were both young and acted like children. Now as an adult, he held himself to a higher standard.

His mom sat in the rocking chair, knitting something resembling a snake that barfed up a rainbow. “Hey, there.” He gave her a peck on the cheek. “You stay out of trouble while I was gone?”

The knitting needles in her hands trembled. “I was a good girl. I took my medicine, even though it makes me sick.”

“Your medicine makes you sick?” Storm knelt before her on the carpeted floor, pushing aside a few skeins of colorful yarn.

“I just don’t feel like myself.” Rose shrugged. “I don’t feel like eating, not even my vegetables. And you know how much I love my vegetables.”

Worry for her health grew. “Your body might need more time to adjust. When we see your doctor on Wednesday, you can ask him about it.”

Rose scoffed and waved a hand. “Those doctors use their prescription pad as a magic wand. I don’t think he listens to half the things I say. He didn’t even want to discuss my natural supplements.”

Everything she said was true, but at least her doctor and the medication kept her stable—which was a sharp contrast to her behavior before he came home. “I know modern medicine isn’t perfect, but you need to keep seeing him.”

“Colleen’s a doctor, and she actually takes the time to listen to me. No one ever listens. Can I go see her, instead?” Rose’s chin trembled, and her knitting needles fell from her hands onto the floor. “You hate me, don’t you? I was a bad mom.”

He knew this song and dance well—guilt and reassurance. Storm knelt and took hold of her hands. They were cold to the touch, like frost on a flower petal. “Why do you think I hate you? Aren’t I here to help?”

“Colleen said holding onto anger is like drinking poison.”

He smirked. “I believe Buddha said that.”

“Humph. Well, I heard the saying from Colleen.” She patted his cheek. “Storm, I love you. I see the poison of anger inside you. You do a good job of hiding your feelings, but I’m your mother. I can tell.”

How could he explain the deep-seated resentment still germinating in his heart? Maybe he didn’t have to. His mom might not have been mother of the year, but she had a witch’s talent for peering into a person’s soul. “I want to make things right between us. Being back in Liberty Ridge stirs up a lot of bad memories.”

“The people in this town are generally good. I know you were teased a lot growing up, and the teasing was because of my neglect. I’m so sorry.” Her shoulders sagged. “I hope you can start seeing the positive energy flowing around you and stop letting the negative have control.”

“I’m dripping in positive energy.” He wouldn’t debate his mom. Despite, or maybe as a result of, her mental illness, she was one of the most generous and loyal people he’d ever met. “What do you want for dinner? I need to go to the grocery store.”

“Go to Nature’s Harvest Market. Their produce is to die for.” Rose’s blue eyes sparkled. “I never asked you how your audition went. Did they pick you?”

“I’ll know in two weeks.” Should he mention Colleen had been there, as well? Probably let that sleeping dog lie. For some reason, his mom had elevated Colleen to saint status.

“You know, I was at the park yesterday doing tai chi and heard the funniest thing. Colleen went to LA, too. Did you see her?”

Why did he think he could keep anything from his mom? “LA is a big town.”

“I thought maybe she was doing the same thing you were. I saw the advertisement for the show at the Founders’ Day Celebration.”

He shivered at the notion his mom really did have psychic powers. She could always sniff out his bull. Once in his junior year, he’d snuck off the commune to meet up with some pothead guys from school. That night had been the one night his mom paid attention to where he was going. She caught him before he stepped foot off the commune, and he spent the next month pulling weeds—the real kind—out of the community garden. “Colleen was at the audition.” He shook his head. “Knowing my luck, she’ll be chosen, and I won’t.”

“What if they picked you both?” Smiling, she clapped her hands. “How wonderful.”

Yeah, not wonderful. He broke out into a sweat simply thinking about spending time with her. “I think the chances are pretty low.”

“If they were smart, they would pick you both. Oh, imagine the fireworks. You’ve always carried a flame for that sweet girl.”

What girl was she referring to? Colleen was not sweet. “I’ve never carried a flame for Colleen. She’s a rich brat.”

“I remember you coming home from school and all you talked about was Colleen this and Colleen that.” Rose gave him a pat on the shoulder and kissed his cheek. “When I moved, I found a stack of letters hidden under your old mattress. They were all made out to her. You were too young to understand that you loved her.”

Storm jumped to his feet. “What you found were letters written by a silly boy. I didn’t love her then and definitely don’t love her now. I wouldn’t be shocked if she has horns and a tail tucked beneath her couture clothes.”

Rose closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Colleen was right. Anger is like drinking poison.”

“Again…I’m pretty sure she stole that saying from Buddha. And for crying out loud, the woman is far from a saint.” Pressure built behind Storm’s eyes. His temples pounded with a growing headache.

Rose huffed then picked her knitting needles off the floor and resumed her work.

Why did he always come out the bad guy? His own mother would side with Colleen if push came to shove. Was there something in Liberty Ridge’s water that made people totally oblivious to her true nature? Maybe he was on a reality show right now, and everybody else in town was in on the joke, even his own mother.

Forget The Great American Scavenger Hunt. He was already starring in a remake of The Truman Show.

****

“I feel like I’m on freaking Days of our Lives,” Colleen said to Grace as they stood in the main aisle of the ranch’s horse stable. “I’m the evil vixen ruining his life.”

“Give him more time.” Grace nuzzled a gray-colored mare, who hung her head over the stall door. “He hasn’t gotten reacquainted with the reformed you, yet. The fact you and I are now good friends should testify to how much we’ve all grown up since we were teenagers.”

True, but Storm’s anger was a different beast. Their early relationship, despite being one of youthful affection, had only heightened his negative feelings. “We could spend from now until judgment day together, and he’d still hate me. All because of a stupid kiss in the fourth grade.”

Grace raised her eyebrows and grinned. “You and Storm have kissed? Oh, do tell.”

If Grace was excited about a kiss between two knobby-kneed kids, how would she react if Colleen told her she’d kissed a very grown-up Storm on an LA beach? She’d probably have to scoop Grace’s jaw off the stable floor.

“When we were in fourth grade, Storm kissed me on the playground. When we got caught, everyone started making fun of me.” She reached down to pet the orange tabby cat rubbing against her leg. The cat purred and wrapped around her leg, looking for more. “When I got home from school, my dad ordered me to stay away from that ‘white trash.’ You see, I’d been Storm’s only friend, and after our kiss, I just wanted him to go away. You already know how we pranked each other throughout middle and high school. And then, I was a part of a really bad prank the night before graduation. Tyler and a bunch of his friends roughed him up pretty good.”

Grace put up her hand to cover her mouth. “I heard a rumor about Storm being beaten up the night before graduation, but I hadn’t heard you had anything to do with it. You should accept the fact that in his story, you are the wicked witch.”

Would she ever be free of her past behavior? Frustration gave way to sorrow, and tears filled her eyes. “I’m scared we’ll end up playing against each other for the prize money. I know he wants to start a farm and raise his daughter there. If I get in the way of his dream, I’ll be so much worse than a wicked witch in his mind.”

“Just wait and see if either of you gets picked.” Grace looped an arm through Colleen’s. “From what you said, a lot of people were at the audition. You both being chosen is a long shot.”

As she exited the barn, Colleen squinted into the bright sunlight. She slipped on her sunglasses and saw Heath sitting on the farmhouse porch, rocking little John in his arms. “You’re right. I shouldn’t borrow trouble.” Colleen walked toward the house, and then stepped into the cool shade of the porch. “Did I tell you I found the perfect property for the veterans’ retreat?”

Heath lifted a finger to his lips in a shhh gesture. “Is the land close by?” he whispered.

Glancing down at the sweetly sleeping infant, she felt her sadness lift. “Mrs. Lyons is selling a fifty-acre plot from her late husband’s farm about ten miles from here. The spot is perfect and has a flat section for the cabins and main buildings. Otherwise, the landscape is rolling hills dotted with a few ponds.” A true smile pulled at her lips. “I finally picture the retreat as real and not just a dream.”

“I never doubted your dream would become a reality.” Heath stood and handed the little bundle of baby to Grace.

John let out a half-hearted cry then dozed again in his mother’s arms.

Colleen couldn’t help but wonder when she’d become a wife and mother. The right man had proven harder to find than an honest politician. She’d almost married once but luckily discovered he was an unfaithful lout before the wedding instead of after. He’d also been a raging alcoholic. In retrospect, she understood her fiancé was an image of her father, and she’d wanted nothing more than to finally earn her father’s love.

Over the years since, she’d grown into a woman who was independent, honest, and strong. So, Storm Thompson could take his bad attitude and kissable lips and go jump off a tall cliff. She wouldn’t let him get inside her head. Let him try kissing her again. Next time, he wouldn’t be walking away so smug.

Next time? Where had that thought come from? Light tingles danced across her skin. She’d happily go to the grave without Storm’s lips ever touching hers again.