Bridge to Haven (17 page)

“Mind if I join you?” Dylan slid into the seat facing her without waiting for an answer. He folded his hands on the table and gave her a slow, taunting smile. “And don’t pretend you didn’t know I’d follow you.”

Pride jabbed, she lifted her chin. “If you’re looking for Penny, she’s at Eddie’s Diner across from the high school. Do you need directions?”

“Are you telling me to leave you alone? Just say the word and I’ll
go.” He waited. When she didn’t answer, he studied her face and everything else he could see above the table. “I’ll bet you turned a lot of heads today, Abra. Always happens when a girl lets down her hair for the first time.”

It wasn’t what he said. It was the way he said it that brought heat into her cheeks. She looked away out of self-defense and saw Susan watching them. The waitress frowned and shook her head at Abra. Dylan looked over his shoulder and gave a soft laugh. “I’ll bet she’s a friend of that PK you’re dating. Right?”

“PK?”

“Preacher’s kid. Penny told me all about him on the way home last night. A war hero. I’m so impressed.” He tilted his head slightly. “Would you like to go for a ride with me? See what I’m like?” His expression teased. “I promise not to take you any further than you want to go.” His smile dared her. “And you’ll be safely home in plenty of time to get all your homework done and have supper with your mommy and daddy. They won’t even know you’ve been missing.”

Abra’s heart raced. She glanced at Susan and then looked back at Dylan. “Where do you want to go?”

“Take a risk.” He slid out of the booth and held out his hand.

“What about your soda?” Susan spoke up from the counter.

Abra didn’t even remember ordering one. Dylan pulled a quarter from his pocket and slapped it on the counter. “That should cover everything.” Holding Abra’s books under one arm, he spread his hand against the small of her back and guided her to the door. He opened it for her and stayed right on her heels. “Seems like everyone in this town wants to protect you.”

It was a broad statement, and far from true. “No one in this town cares what happens to me.”

“Is that so?” He gave her an odd smile. “You really are an innocent, aren’t you?”

Was he mocking her? “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” Dylan dumped her books onto the floor in front of the passenger seat and opened the door for her. “Are you ready to live dangerously, little girl?”

“I have to be home by five.” She felt infantile as soon as the words came out.

Dylan laughed. “We’ll make it quick.” He leaned over the stick. “Hang on, baby. I’m going to give you the ride of your life.” He peeled out of the parking place, shoved the stick into gear, and shot toward the stop sign, braking for barely a second before the car squealed onto Main Street. He stayed at the speed limit until he turned onto the bridge. Shifting gears, he hit the gas.

Wind whipped at Abra’s hair as he raced out of town. Laughing, she tried to hold it. When the air current caught beneath her skirt and lifted it, she grabbed it and tucked it under her thighs. Dylan watched. “Spoilsport!” He grinned. He took turns so fast the wheels screamed. A green blur of trees and bushes flew by. Abra’s stomach tickled when they raced up and over a hill and down into a dip, then up again and around a sharp curve. She felt a jolt of fear when he accelerated, tearing up the road like a race driver. His grin looked more like the baring of teeth as he shifted again.

Vineyards spread out on both sides of the road. Abra’s pulse shot up when Dylan downshifted quickly and took a hard right. The Corvette slid as he compensated. Dylan shifted again and cranked the wheel so hard the Corvette swung around in a full circle and skidded to a stop in a cloud of rubber-scented dust. He leaned over and raked his fingers into her hair. “Now I’m going to do what I’ve wanted to do since I laid eyes on you.” He kissed her long and hard. She gasped when he let her go. Grinning broadly, he ran his hands over her hair.

Some intense, basic instinct rose up inside her when he stared at her. His hand curled over her hip. “I love the way you look at me.” He kissed her again. It wasn’t the same as the first time. He parted
her lips and devoured her. When he drew back, he looked amused. “Never been kissed like that before, have you?”

“No.” Had he kissed Penny that way?

“You’re delicious. Let’s try it again.”

Nothing stayed hidden in a small town for long. Zeke knew Abra had gone for a ride with Dylan Stark before they crossed the bridge. Susan Wells called him. “He followed her right in here and sat at her booth. Five minutes later, he had her in his car. She’s just a baby, Pastor Zeke, and he’s . . . I know his kind only too well.”

Mitzi called the next day. Her son had told her he’d seen Abra in a red Corvette. “Hodge said that boy was driving like a maniac. He said he must have been going sixty by the time he passed Riverfront Park. Is Peter out of his mind letting Abra go off with a boy like that?”

He’d no sooner hung up than Priscilla called. “Peter told Dylan both girls are too young for him. I’ve never seen Peter so angry.”

“What did Dylan say?”

“Nothing. He just got in his car and drove away. Peter talked with the girls. I thought Penny would go through the roof, but she was fine. It’s Abra who was furious.”

Peter had told Abra she was never to speak to Dylan again, and she said she’d do whatever she wanted, and he said, “Not under my roof, you won’t!” and she said she’d leave. She could go live under the bridge! That’s where they all thought she belonged anyway, wasn’t it?

“I don’t know what to do, Zeke. Peter is out of his mind with worry and hurt. I don’t know what Abra is. Crazy in love. Isn’t that what they call it?” Priscilla wept. “I’ve never seen her like this. Will you please talk with her?”

He tried. She sat in stony silence, hands fisted, staring straight ahead. When he fell silent, she got up and walked out of the room.
Peter and Priscilla came out of the kitchen and looked at him. He shook his head.

Joshua was the last to hear what was going on and the most deeply disturbed.

Joshua rang Peter and Priscilla’s doorbell. His hands were shaking. Dad had asked if he’d go by and speak to her. Joshua reminded Dad that he’d already tried to warn Abra about Dylan Stark, and he hadn’t even seen her since that night at the movies. But he figured it was worth a try.

Priscilla answered the door. “Thank God.” She stepped back so he could come inside. “I hope she’ll listen to you, Joshua.” She kept her voice low. “She’s grounded, but I’m worried the minute she goes out that door to school, she’ll be in Dylan’s car. She won’t listen.”

“How’s Penny?”

“Upset. Of course. She had a crush on Dylan, but I think it’s already over. I’m not quite sure how that happened.” She looked at him. “I thought all the melodrama over Kent Fullerton was trying, but this is frightening. We don’t know what to do, Joshua. Abra wouldn’t even speak to your father yesterday. I don’t think she heard one word he said.”

“She can be stubborn.”

“Can’t we all?” She gestured weakly. “She’s upstairs in her room. She must be hungry. She wouldn’t come down for dinner.” She gave a bleak laugh. “She said she didn’t want to eat with hypocrites.” Her eyes filled with angry tears. “Some people are very difficult to love.”

Which meant they needed love even more.

Joshua went upstairs. Penny’s door was open. She lounged on the window seat, flipping through a movie magazine. She got up when she saw him and came to the door. “Good luck. You’ll need it. She’s an idiot!” Her voice rose. “Abra wouldn’t listen to God if He appeared
in a burning bush.” She threw the magazine on the floor, raising her voice another notch. “She thinks I’m jealous. I’m not!” she yelled. “You’re going to be sorry you ever met Dylan, Abra!”

“Penny!” Priscilla called from downstairs. “That’s enough!”

In tears, Penny slammed her bedroom door.

At least one Matthews girl had seen through the disguise.

Joshua tapped on Abra’s door. “Abra? It’s Joshua.”

The lock turned and the door drifted open. Abra walked back to her unmade bed. She didn’t look at him as she sat cross-legged on the bed and picked up her hairbrush. “Are you here as a friend or foe?” She sounded hostile.

“When have I ever been your foe?”

She kept her face turned away as she yanked the brush through her hair. “Then close the door. I don’t want that little witch across the hall to hear anything we say to each other.”

No matter how long he’d known her, it felt wrong to be closeted alone with her in a bedroom, even if Peter and Priscilla approved under the current circumstances. “Maybe we should go out for a walk.”

“I’m grounded.”

Joshua shrugged and closed the door. He took the chair from her small desk and turned it around, straddling it. Abra continued brushing her hair. He looked around the room. It felt like a hotel room, not her personal living space. Everything matched perfectly except for the bulletin board with pinups of old-time movie stars more suited to Mitzi’s generation than Abra’s. His heart lifted when he spotted two pictures of himself, one in his high school graduation cap and gown and the other in uniform. At least he still mattered somewhere in the scheme of things. Maybe there was still hope.

“So . . . what’s going on?”

She lifted her chin, pale-green eyes spitting fire. “Nothing.” She clenched the brush as though she intended to throw it at his head. “Yet.”

“Yet?”

“Dylan and I have a lot in common.”

“Like what?” He kept his tone cool, though everything inside him tightened up for battle.

“His father left him when he was a baby.”

“What else do you know about him?”

Her eyes flickered. “He plans to get his degree in business and marketing.”

“Sounds like a family thing.” He tried to sound neutral, but her eyes flashed again.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Cole Thurman is reputed to be a consummate businessman. That’s all I meant.”

She went back to brushing her hair. “He’s trying to make up for the years he lost with Dylan.”

Joshua fought against the anger rising in him. It had been boiling beneath the surface since he came back from Korea. “How well do you really know Dylan Stark?”

“He doesn’t like pretense. He wants me to be myself.”

“Oh, really.” Sarcasm dripped this time and he knew he was already defeated.

“He understands me!”

“He understands you’re attracted to him. I saw that much at the Swan. This isn’t about love, Abra. It’s about sex, the basest kind.”

Her mouth fell open and her face flamed red. “You’re disgusting!”

He stood so quickly the chair toppled. “I’m telling you the truth!”

“Dylan says I’m beautiful. Dylan says I’m smart. Dylan loves me!”

“Dylan will say anything to get what he wants!”

“He wants
me
.”

“I don’t doubt that! But for how long? His affection for Penny didn’t last a week.”

She smiled and lifted her chin. “He said Penny is water, and I’m wine.”

Dylan seemed to know exactly what Abra wanted to hear. It infuriated Joshua that she didn’t know what the guy was up to. He righted the chair and sat again, hands clasped between his knees this time, fighting his emotions. “Listen to me, Abra. Hear me out. We’re friends. Give me that much.” When she didn’t say anything, he prayed as he spoke. “A man who loves you will strive to bring out the best in you.”

“I
am
my best when I’m with Dylan.”

He gripped his knees. “Vain and rebellious? Completely self-centered, without a thought of what you’re doing to your family? This is your best?”

Abra’s eyes filled with tears of accusation. “You’re supposed to be my best friend, and you can say that to me?”

“I say it because
I love you
.” She had no idea how much.

“You know what, Joshua? I used to think you were the only real, true friend I had.” Her eyes went cold. “Now I know you’re just like all the rest.”

The wound in his side throbbed. “I’m still your friend, the best friend you’ll ever have.” And more, so much more. “And I always will be.”