Waylaid (14 page)

Anthony elbowed Adam and pointed to Graham. “What do ya think?”

With narrowed eyes, Adam eyed Graham up and down. “I don’t know, man. He’s kinda scrawny.”

“And short,” Anthony piped in.

I held out my hand. “Hey, wait a minute—”

My obnoxious brothers chortled. “We got a look at him when he was talking to Mom after the graduation. We conferred with each other and have given our approval.”

“Yep.” Adam nodded. “He’ll do.”

My mouth dropped open. “Well of all the—”

Graham wrapped his arm around my waist. “Addy, the brothers have spoken. Guess I’m in.”

Adam slapped Graham on the back and the three of them left the room, heading for the kitchen.

What just happened here?

I followed the merriment and walked into the kitchen. Just in time to see my dad sticking out his hand to Graham.

Was I in an alternate universe? My parents had never, ever liked any of my boyfriends before. A few times I had thought Dad was going to chase Jud from the house with a baseball bat.

Dad caught sight of me and grinned. “Come here, you.” He held out his arms and wrapped me in a giant hug. “I am so proud of you.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder. “Thanks, Dad.”

He stepped back. “But remember. This is just phase one, right?”

I swallowed, darted a glance at Graham and then back. “Right.”

Graham

We said goodbye
to Addy’s family, who were all very nice, and headed out on our own. I pulled the truck away from the curb. “Where to?”

She shrugged. “Don’t care. Wherever you want.” She glanced at me, but I got the feeling she wasn’t really paying attention. I’d never seen her like this. Before she was always laughing. Something was really bothering her.

Maybe I could get her to smile again. “So… If I wanted to visit, say, Jupiter, you’re on board?”

“Sure.” She stared out the window.

“And if I wanted to ride an elephant instead of a tractor tomorrow, you’d be good with that?”

“Yeah.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about something.”

“What’s that?” She leaned her forehead against the glass and kept staring outside.

“I think that instead of calling you Addy, I’ll just start using your real name. Got any problem with me calling you Adelaide Hildegard from now on?”

“That’s fine.”

“Or I could use a nickname for your middle name and call you Addy-Hildy.”

“That works.”

“Addy?”

She looked at me and then blinked. Did she finally see me? “Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“You’re not even
here
with me. I’ve said some pretty weird things and you didn’t even bat an eyelash.”

“Oh, you did? Sorry.” She shrugged. “Just have a lot on my mind.”

I wondered if any of those thoughts were about me. “That’s okay. Uh, by the way, what’s
phase one
?”

That got her attention. “Oh, that.”

“Yeah. I heard your dad mention it. Is it important?”

Addy nodded slowly. “Yeah, it is.”

I turned back to the road and focused on driving. It was so quiet inside the truck I could hardly stand it. I turned on the radio, but kept the volume low. Something was going on with Addy, and I had a gut feeling I wouldn’t like whatever it was.

Since Addy didn’t care where we went, I drove back to Love Road. Maybe the magic we’d had here the last time would repeat itself. But I still wanted to know what was bothering her so much.

I parked the truck and then took her hand, rubbing my thumb over her skin. “Wanna talk about it?”

When she turned to me, the light from the dash reflected off moisture in her eyes.

“Addy, are you crying?”

She brushed her fingers over her eyes. “No, um. No.”

I undid our seatbelts and pulled her close. “Please tell me what’s going on so I can fix it for you.”

“It’s not something to fix. I mean, it’s not a problem. Well, it is, but it isn’t.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I have a plan. A life plan, I guess you’d call it. High school. College. Job…”

Her voice was muffled against my chest, but I got the gist of things. There didn’t seem a good place for someone like me to fit in there anywhere. “So phase one was graduation.”

She nodded.

“And then college.”

She sniffled. “Right.”

“But not in Oregon?” That would be a nightmare for both of us.

“No. Purdue.”

Thank goodness
. “Good. Go on.”

“College is a couple of years for pre-requisites and then, assuming I even get in, four more years in the actual program.”

“What’s after that?” I smoothed my hand down her soft hair.

“A job, hopefully.”

“Well,
yeah.
”

She finally chuckled.

“And then?” I tensed, not really wanting to hear her answer, so afraid it might not include me. Us.

Addy raised one shoulder in a shrug. “The plan was always to go to college, meet someone there, and get… married after graduation. But you, Mr. Stewart have ruined that.”

“I have?” Something inside me leaped for joy. Did that mean she’d changed her mind about going away to college? Was she not going to leave me after all?

“So… when I go to college…”

She was still going? My heart sank so low I thought it might not stop.

“It will be harder to leave than I… thought.”

I rubbed her back, making slow circles below her shoulder blades. “Addy, going away to college. It’s that important to you?”

“It really is. Is that so hard to understand?”

“I just never saw the point, I guess. I tried a few classes when I got out of high school but didn’t have anything I really wanted to go into. I mainly went to play sports.”

She pulled away just enough to peer up at me. “That’s where we’re different, I guess. There’s this need inside of me to keep learning. Keep growing.”

“Uh-huh.” I wished she’d stop pointing out our differences. My heart only wanted us to be together. Do everything together. Not be apart.

“I’ve just always had this vision of me being a vet, you know? Haven’t you ever wanted something so bad it almost
hurt
?”

I nodded.
You.
You’re what I want. The only thing I want.

“So college is the only way to make my dream come true.”

“Which… is coming up soon, right?” My voice had a raspy sound that made me feel too vulnerable.

Addy pulled away and looked at me. “About ten weeks.”

“Wow… that fast?”

“Yeah.” She touched my cheek then ran her finger down the side of my neck, giving me chills.

“So then, you’re upset because…”

She shook her head.

“Addy, you can tell me
anything.
”

“I’m upset because…” Her voice lowered to a whisper. I leaned closer to hear. “Graham, I
don’t
want to leave you.” Fresh tears coursed down her cheeks.

I pulled her close again and tucked her head beneath my chin. “Shh. It’s okay.”

“No it’s not.” The last word came out as a sob.

“It will be. We’ll work it out.”

“What’s to work out?”

I sighed. “I don’t know.” There had to be something. Anything!

“You’re upset too, aren’t you?” Her arms went around my back and she gave a light squeeze.

“Yeah.” I swallowed, the movement bumping her cheek. “I… I don’t want you to… I’m going to miss…”

She gazed up at me, pulled her hands from behind me and placed them on either side of my face. “Graham, I—”

I kissed her, very lightly at first. Then it was like something took hold of me. A desperation. All of my senses were on high alert and I couldn’t get enough of her. She grabbed my shirt front and tugged me down on top of her. I placed a row of kisses down her neck, nuzzling her shirt aside with my nose so I could kiss her collarbone.

“Wait.” She took my hand and laid it on her chest. Even though it was covered by a shirt and bra, the heat coming off of her made me dizzy.

“Addy?”

“It’s… I want… to…” She inhaled sharply.

I glanced up and she was crying again. “Oh, Addy.” I moved my hand to her back and pulled her close. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not that. I… I just can’t stop thinking about leaving you.”

“But you said it’s ten weeks away, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So let’s enjoy them while you’re here, right?” My throat was so tight I could barely force out the words.

“Right.” She wrapped her arms around my middle and held me close. I laid my head next to her cheek and inhaled her lavender perfume.

Why did I have to find the perfect girl for me right when she was ready to leave?

Addy

My time with
Graham was going so fast. Too fast! I wanted to spend every second I could with him. Normally, my parents would have had a cow if I spent so much time with a boyfriend, but after the talk Mom and I had when we went shopping, it seemed like she was more okay with me being with Graham so much.

I took full advantage of it.

Graham had said he wanted to take me out to eat. The place where we were going wasn’t super fancy, but it was a sit-down restaurant. He wanted to take me someplace nice before I left and had to subsist on dorm food. I know he had said that to cheer me up, but his thoughtfulness warmed me all the way through.

When I heard his truck in the drive, I didn’t even wait for him to come to the door.

“I’m leaving, Mom!” I hurried down the front steps before she could even answer.

Graham was just getting out of his truck when I reached him. “Well, hey. Where’s the fire?”

“I’m lookin’ at him.”

A slow, sexy smile crept across his lips. “Is that so?”

“Yep.”

He helped me up onto the seat. “In that case, let’s get you in the truck, Miss Adelaide.” He quickly shut the door.

I rolled down the window. “Stop calling me that.”

He laughed and got in on his side.

As soon as he had his seatbelt on, I leaned against him. It would have been so much better if we weren’t belted in. Stupid, inconsiderate seatbelts! But I wrapped my arms around his. It was better than nothing. In a few weeks, I was sure I’d give anything to be able to do even that.

Don’t, Addy. You’ll ruin the nice evening.

But pushing those thoughts away was hard.

Graham raised his eyebrows. “I take it you missed me since yesterday?”

“How could you tell?” I pressed my check against his shoulder and sighed.

“Ya know, I kinda like having somebody care about me like that.”

“Good. Because it’s not going to stop.”

“It isn’t?”

I shook my head.

He nodded and winked. “I hope you’re hungry. They have all you can eat fish tonight.”

I grimaced.

“What? Don’t like fish? And here I was thinking of a new nickname for you, my little salmon cake.”

I smacked his thigh. “Sorry. No.”

“Mind if I eat some fish?”

“Why would I mind?”

He angled a sly glance toward me. “I’m fairly sure I’ll be kissing you later, so…”

“Ah… Well, maybe you’ll have to use a breath mint after the fish.”

“That can be arranged.”

A giggle bubbled up from deep inside. “You can always make me feel better, no matter what.”

“Is there something going on that you needed cheering up right now?” Graham slowed the truck and pulled into the restaurant parking lot.

I shrugged, suddenly sorry I had mentioned it.

He turned off the ignition and turned toward me. “Addy? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“Stop saying you’re all right when you’re not. Are you thinking about college again?”

“How did you know?” The man seemed to sense the slightest thing about me, good or bad. I’d never had that with anyone before.

“When it comes to you, I just
know
. Something about us. We have a connection, don’t we?”

“Yeah. We sure do. It’s crazy, isn’t it? We haven’t even known each other that long.”

“Doesn’t matter. At least not to me. Why don’t we go on inside and we can talk during dinner. Does that work?”

I nodded. As soon as he had gotten out on his side, I checked my reflection in the review mirror. I’d been in such a hurry to leave the house, I hadn’t checked before.

It could be better. At least there wasn’t anything embarrassing in my teeth. Although, after dinner, all bets were off. But then, it would be dark in the truck later tonight, so…

I jumped when Graham opened my door.

“Uh, did you forget I was headed this way? It hasn’t been that long since I got out of the truck.” He shook his head and frowned. “And here I thought you really had missed me before.”

That did it. I giggled. Couldn’t help it. Graham had a way of putting a funny spin on things.

He reached up his hand to help me down. “Much better. I love your laugh, Addy.”

“That’s good.” I straightened my shirt where it was wrinkled from the seatbelt. “Just be glad I don’t cackle like a witch.”

He grabbed my hand and we walked across the parking lot. “That might be a deal-breaker.”

I dropped my mouth open and let out a fake gasp. “You mean, you wouldn’t want to spend time with me if I had an awful laugh? Graham Stewart, who knew you could be so shallow?”

“That’s me. High-maintenance farm boy.”

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we stopped at the seating hostess’ station. The girl, tiny and blond, peered up at Graham and winked.
Winked!
My hands curled into fists. How dare she? I glanced up at Graham who smiled back at her. Did he think she was pretty?

You’re leaving him soon. You don’t know who he’ll be around while you’re gone.

I’d been hearing so much from my mom about new boys I’d be meeting at college that I’d never even thought of who Graham might meet while he stayed here.

Miss Winky-face showed us to our table. I glared at her, but she only had eyes for Graham.
Paws off, blondie!
Thankfully, she turned and left us.

“You okay, Addy?”

Startled, I let out a gasp.

“You sure are jumpy tonight.” He pulled out my chair for me and helped me to sit before claiming his own chair. Reaching across the table, he took my hand.

“Sorry. I’m fine, though.”

He squeezed my hand once and then released it. “I’m not even going to check out the menu.”

“Oh, right. The fishy thing.”

He glanced both ways then leaned forward and whispered, “Don’t worry, I have a guy who’s gonna hook me up with some anti-fish breath mints.”

Caught off guard at his comment, I snorted and then slapped my hand over my mouth when several people turned to stare.

Graham, still keeping a straight face – how did he do that? – shook his head slowly. “Honestly, I can’t take you anywhere.”

I bit my lip until I could get my giggles under control. “Who is gonna amuse me like this when I’m at Purdue?”

Uh-oh. Wrong thing to say.

Graham blinked and an expression so sad came over him that it made me want to cry. “Don’t worry. We’ll be in touch. You know, phone, emails. Maybe I can come visit.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know. It just won’t be the same.” Before he could answer, the waitress came for our order. I’d been concentrating on Graham and hadn’t even looked at the menu. Oops.

After he told her what he wanted, I just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Uh, hamburger and fries?”

Graham raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure? Get whatever you want, Addy.”

Frankly, I didn’t care what I ate, as long as we were together. I nodded. “I’m sure.” Plus, I just wanted the waitress to go away and leave us alone.

She grabbed our menus and left.

“Addy,” Graham took my hand again. “Are you worried about the cost of dinner? ’Cause I’m not. I do have a job, you know.”

“I’m not worried. I do like what I ordered. I mean, it’s not like it’s halibut or anything.”

“Ah… halibut. Now there’s something I could go for.”

“Blech.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners. “You are so funny.”

“I wasn’t even trying to be.”

“Even better.”

When our food came, I ate most of mine. I wasn’t really sure how much I tasted, though. All I wanted to do was study Graham. His big brown eyes, his dimples when he smiled, the sneaky glint he got in his eyes when he was trying to cheer me up. How was I going to leave him?

Our talk during dinner wasn’t anything deep. It’s like neither one of us wanted to get into anything like that with other people around. When we were done and had gotten back in the truck, Graham took my hand.

“Addy, I can tell that something is really on your mind. I’m sorry if you didn’t enjoy dinner.”

I kissed his cheek. “No, I did! Thank you. I had fun just watching you.”

“Watching me eat? That can’t be good. Farm boys are pigs. Watching them chow down ain’t pretty.”

I smacked his shoulder. “What I meant was, I just like looking at you.”

He raised one eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Yep. Now let’s get out of here.”

“In a rush, are we?”

“I just want to be alone with you, that’s all.” I reached up and ruffled the hair right above his ear. He shivered.

“Where do you want to go?” He started the truck and pulled out of the lot.

“Our spot.”

“We have a spot?”

I rolled my eyes. “You know we do. Love Road?”

“Ah…”

I smacked his knee. “Oh come on, you knew where I meant.”

One side of his adorable mouth slid upward. That dimple was gonna do me in.

I pressed my head against his shoulder and didn’t budge until Graham parked the truck in our spot. We opened the windows to let in some cool night air. The crickets and tree frogs supplied the music.

I sat back up and reached down to take off my sandals.

“Getting comfy, are we?”

I darted him a glance. “Got a problem with that?”

“No ma’am.”

“You can take off your shoes and socks, too, if you want.”

“Addy, I thought we had this discussion at the waterfall. Farm boys don’t like to go barefoot.”

“Mmmm…” I sighed.

“What’s that for?”

“That day, the one at the waterfall was…”

He wound a strand of my hair around his finger. “Was…”

“Amazing.”

“I thought so too.”

I touched his cheek with my fingers, running them to his chin and then lightly placing feather-light touches down the side of his neck. Where I had touched him with my fingertips, I used my lips.

Graham took a deep breath. “You have no idea how much you get to me, girl.”

“Is that good? Or bad?” I ran my tongue right below his ear.

He groaned. “Good. Really… really… good.” The last word came out as almost a growl.

I undid the top three buttons of his shirt. Graham peered down and watched me, as if fascinated. Leaning toward him, I pressed my lips to his chest. He took in a big breath of air. I pulled back and looked up at him. “This okay?”

He nodded.

I kept kissing his chest, but put my hand inside his shirt. When I touched his skin, he grabbed my hand, taking it and placing it behind his neck.

“Addy, you’re like a drug. I can’t get enough of you.”

“Mmmm. Same here. When I’m with you, I feel like we’re the only two people on earth.”

“Right now, we are.” His lips, full and soft, lightly played across mine. His tongue met mine in a seductive dance. He really did taste like mint. When had he gotten one? Not that I cared. At that point, I thought he would have tasted good no matter what.

I slipped my hands inside his shirt and ran my hands over his broad shoulders. Such power in those arms. Made me feel safe. His skin was a little rough across his shoulders, as if he’d been sunburned. Did he not wear a shirt when he worked on the farm?

As I continued to stroke his skin, I gasped when cool air played across the top of my chest. I glanced down. When had he partially unbuttoned my blouse? He pulled me closer. Heat rose from where we touched, skin to skin.

It was amazing. I’d never done that with a guy before. Never did more than hugging and kissing, really. Never wanted to. But with Graham, I wanted it. I wanted to do everything, even though a tiny part of me was still a little afraid.

Not of him. Not of being with him. Of that I was sure. I had no doubts. It was just the unknown. What if I messed it up? How many girls had he done things with, that was more than just kissing?

“Oh Addy…” Graham kissed my neck.

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, nearly losing control when he ran his lips down my neck and kissed right above my bra.

If he keeps doing that, I’m gonna burst into flames!

I felt the warmth of his hands on my back as he ran them beneath my shirt. “This all right, Addy?”

“Yeah.” Oh, yeah…

I gasped when he ran his hands up my stomach and cupped his hand over my bra. I thought I would combust right there!

His whispered against my neck. “Still good?”

“Um-hmm.”

“Your skin is so soft, Addy. It’s like silk.”

I smiled. “Glad you approve.”

“Oh, it’s much more than approve.” He ran his finger down my stomach, stopping just above the top of my shorts.