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With the confining walls of St. Benedict High behind her, Leslie relaxed in her car, breathing in the humid honeysuckle-tinged air that blew in her window. She couldn’t wait until the high school was a memory and the prison-like atmosphere created by Beau no longer existed. The only bright spot in her life—the wonderful guy in the seat next to her.
Unlike most days, he’d been relatively quiet during the ride, only engaging with her when she asked certain questions about classes or homework assignments they shared.
“What is it?” she finally demanded after a long silence. “You haven’t said much.”
Derek kept his eyes on the road. “I’ve been trying to come up with ways to get my mother out of the diner. I’d like to see her settled in a new, better job before I go to college, but I don’t know how to help her, or even what she can do. All I know is, she works too hard.”
“Maybe I could talk to my dad. He might know someone who could help her find a job.”
Leslie turned down his street.
The wrinkles in his brow eased as his eyes radiated a brilliant warmth. “You would do that?”
The question knocked her for a loop. Of course she would do that. Didn’t he know how much she cared for him?
“Why wouldn’t I? Your mother is my family, too. I want to help her in any way I can.”
She pulled up to the curb in front of his driveway and put the car into park.
Derek cupped her face. “You’re the most extraordinary girl. I love you with all my heart, Leslie Moore. Do you know that?”
The hardships of her life, the pain, the worry, all melted from existence when he spoke those words. A sensation of freedom and the strength to overcome all odds flowed through her. She could conquer the world with him by her side.
“I love you, too, Derek. I could never picture my life with anyone else.”
His forehead pressed against hers, he closed his eyes, as if praying. “Every day it’s getting harder and harder to wait for you. I want you so much it hurts.”
She took his hands and squeezed them, hoping to impart how his frustrations were hers. She longed to share every part of herself, but Leslie didn’t want their love consummated in the back seat of her car or on his mother’s living room sofa.
“I want you too, but until we have a place of our own, to take our time, we’ll have to wait. Until then, we have high school to keep us occupied.”
His rumbling chuckle sent a shiver through her as his lips brushed her forehead. “Yes, the trials of sex-obsessed, underwhelmed, electronically preoccupied, career-challenged, confused, and sometimes confounding temperamental teenagers will no doubt keep us occupied until June.”
She loved how his mind worked. “After that, we’ll have college.”
He sighed against her. “You’re going to kill me.” He pulled away. “Thanks for helping me with my mom.”
“Thank me after we see if my dad can help.”
Leslie headed down Derek’s street, and his house grew smaller in her rearview mirror. She fought the urge to turn her car around and return to his side.
Why not sleep with him? He loves you.
With every passing day, her determination to wait weakened. She was in love, in a committed relationship, and trusted him more than anyone. Perhaps it was time to find a private place for their special night together. But where would they go? There weren’t a lot of choices for two broke teenagers in St. Benedict other than the river.
And I’d rather die a virgin than go there.
* * *
With jittery excitement, Leslie shut the door to her father’s study. She traced the swirls of grain on the darkly stained wood, going over their conversation about Derek’s mom. Her father had encouraged her to help others, and even though she didn’t see much hope for Carol Foster’s job hunt—especially in the small town of St. Benedict—her father’s enthusiasm to join in the search encouraged her.
“I’ll make a few calls and see what I can do,” he had told her.
With a spring in her step, she couldn’t wait to get upstairs and text Derek. To be able to bring him some hope for his mother’s future, and lighten his worries, lifted her heart.
She reached the cushy carpet covering the second-floor landing and was about to make her way to her room when she spied Dawn’s ajar door. The lights were out, but pitiful sobbing came from within. The sounds made all her good vibes vanish.
Some sister I am.
So caught up in Derek’s concerns about his mom, she’d never bothered to check in with Dawn.
She knocked on the door. “Dawn? Are you okay? It’s me.”
Rustling grew behind the door, and then Dawn’s face appeared in the crack.
Her red nose hurt Leslie’s heart, but what distressed her more was the sadness in her sister’s eyes.
Dawn sniffled as she pulled the door open a little more. “Do you think I’m a fool?”
Leslie pushed her way inside and held her sister in her arms, feeling even more like a wretch for ignoring her. “You’re not a fool, Dawn. He’s the bad guy here. He lied to you.”
Dawn slinked away, wiping her nose on her shirtsleeve. “You knew what he was and tried to warn me, but I never listened.” She marched back to her princess bed. “I should have seen it like you did.” She snapped up a tissue from the box sitting on her pink comforter. “Some twin I am.”
Leslie went to her side. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” She slapped her bed. “Part of me wants to break up, but another part doesn’t want to be without a boyfriend. Especially with the big Halloween river bash coming up. I always dreamed of going.” She raised her eyes to her sister. “Sounds stupid, huh?”
Leslie sat next to her, determined to make her sister smile.
“It’s not stupid. And if you want to go to the party so much, go with me. Me and Derek. We’ll be your dates. You don’t need Beau.”
A sharp twinge tore across her chest. She shuddered at the image of The Abbey’s tall spires, but her sister’s happiness was more important than her fears. She had to make the sacrifice for Dawn and go to the river. Maybe it would turn out to be a good thing. If Dawn could envision a life without Beau, then perhaps she would give him up and start anew.
Dawn crumpled up the tissue. “But you hate the river.”
Leslie put her arm around her, feeling closer to her twin than she had in almost a year. “I can tolerate it for one night. If Derek is with me, it will be different than before. Who knows? I might even have fun. We both might.”
Dawn rolled her eyes. “Beau is gonna die if he sees me there and I’m not with him.”
Leslie nudged her shoulder. “He’ll have to go through me first to get to you. And I’m not going to let him touch you. Remember what we always believed as kids—together we’re stronger than apart.”
Dawn wrapped her arms around her and all the fighting and snapping over the past few months melted away.
“What would I do without you?”
Leslie held her close. “You’ll never have to find out. We’ll be together for life.”
