Rock and a Hard Place (29 page)

“
I’m not going to answer
that,” he said stubbornly.

She smiled. He got it. He just didn’t want
to admit it.

He took her hand and pulled her to him,
burying his face in her hair. “Dammit Libby. Why’d you have to be
so sensible?” He murmured in her ear. “I don’t know how to let you
go. I don’t think I can do it.” His voice broke with emotion.

“
We have no choice. You
need to go one direction and I need to go another. But we’ll take
the love with us. No one can ever take that away.”

“
I don’t like
it.”

“
I don’t either,” she
whispered.

A knock on the patio door interrupted them.
Adam peered out. They released each other. Peter turned away from
the door, hiding the anguish on his face. Libby waved Adam to join
them.

“
Hey Adam,” she said, her
sadness clear.

“
Hey.” He looked worried as
he took in their tortured expressions. “Sorry to interrupt, but
Peter, we gotta go.”

Poor Adam looked miserable knowing she and
Peter would be separated again.

“
I’ll be there in a sec,”
Peter said, not facing him.

Adam quietly left them alone, each in their
private pain. Libby fought to keep her composure, but each moment
became more heartbreaking.

Peter turned to her abruptly. “I won’t let
you do this.”

“
It’ll never work. I can’t
be there for you, and you shouldn’t be there for me,” she
said.

“
Stop.” He put his finger
on her lips, then leaned forward and replaced them with his lips.
His kiss was gentle and soft as if healing a wound. Then he became
more urgent as if sending her a message, a promise of something
more to come. She clung to him, wanting to prolong their time
together. Tears rolled from her eyes. Peter kissed them away. She
fought to hold her emotions in.

“
I want you to call me.
I’ll leave my number for you. Promise?” His eyes were dark and sad
in the early evening dusk, as if holding up the weight of the
world. When she didn’t answer he gave her a little shake.
“Promise.”

She nodded, but knew she wouldn’t. It would
be easier to let him go this way. He didn’t need her holding him
back.

They turned at the sound of Roger opening
the patio door. “It’s time,” he said avoiding eye contact then
departed discreetly, but left the door open. Peter’s parents and
brothers waited inside the suite next to a somber looking
DarLynn.

Libby flung herself into Peter’s arms and
hugged him tight, wanting to remember everything about him. “I love
you,” she whispered, then released him and turned back to the
skyline. “Now go, before I embarrass myself in front of your
family.”

“
This isn’t over,” he
murmurred in her ear.

She stood for long minutes watching the
lights of the city pop on as the sun sank behind a mountain in the
distance. The sunset created a spectacular display of colors on the
evening sky. When she turned around, the hotel suite was empty,
except for DarLynn packing Libby’s bag.

Chapter 27

Two weeks passed since she said goodbye to
Peter, She missed him so much, but was determined to let him move
on and live his life without trying to take care of her. Parting
again felt like picking at an old wound. The only good part was
that this time it was on her terms and she and Peter had the chance
to say goodbye. She tried to focus on the next two weeks. She
needed to wrap up her life in Pebble Creek and get ready to start
school. She carried dirty dishes past Penny, who kept peeking out
the window.

“
What are you looking at?”
Libby glanced out and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“
Oh nothing, just watching
traffic.” She wore a crooked smile on her kind face.

Libby left Penny to her spying and returned
dirty coffee cups to the dish cart. “What’s got you in such a fine
mood?” She asked as she grabbed two clean glasses.

Penny appeared at her side grinning like a
crazy woman.

“
Everything okay?” Libby
eyed her suspiciously as she filled a glass with orange
soda.

“
I’m really gonna miss
you,” she said twisting a dish towel. Her boss acted like a grandma
gone kooky.

“
What are you talking
about?” Libby asked.

A loud rumbling sounded outside the
building. The front window rattled.

“
What is that?” Libby
glanced up. Penny tried to block her view.

A large silver tour bus pulled up in front
of the café. She immediately forgot the soda and looked to Penny in
question. Her friend rewarded her with a warm and loving smile, but
said nothing.

Libby staggered to the window in a trance.
She’d recognize that bus anywhere. The massive vehicle filled the
street causing passers by to stop and stare. Peter was here. In
Pebble Creek. Her stomach flipped in anticipation of seeing him
again.

The tour bus door opened. Libby held her
breath. The amazing and gorgeous Peter Jamieson appeared on the
steps and hopped off. He held something small in his hand. When he
saw her in the window, a sexy smile crossed his face. She bit her
lower lip to hold back squeals of euphoria.

“
That is one good looking
boy,” Penny said from Libby’s side.

She couldn’t agree more. “Why is he
here?”

“
What are you waiting for,
get out there and find out,?” Penny nudged her toward the
door.

Libby wiped her hands on her apron and
walked outside. She hoped the onlookers couldn’t see how much she
wanted to run and leap into his arms. Her eyes drifted to his and
locked. She couldn’t look away if her life depended on it.

“
What is going on? Peter,
why are you here?” Not that he needed a reason. She knew now she’d
been wrong to suggest they live apart.

He flashed his sexy eyes. “First, here’s a
new phone. I hope you’ll use it to call me any time you want.”

She accepted the new phone, her life line to
Peter back and fully powered.

“
After talking to DarLynn
and your friends here, we decided you’ve been working too hard and
need a break,” Peter said.

She looked behind her to find DarLynn, Penny
and Jerold beaming.

Peter continued. “So I’ve cleared my
schedule. You and I are taking a road trip.” He gestured and
grinned toward the bus.

“
But I still have two weeks
left to work.” She turned to Penny for explanation. She desperately
wanted to go with Peter, but wouldn’t leave Penny in a
lurch.

“
Don’t you worry about a
thing.” Penny stepped forward and unpinned Libby’s nametag. “Your
boyfriend here gave me notice two weeks ago that you needed to quit
for this trip.”

“
Peter, is that true?” She
turned to face him, giddy that Penny referred to him as her
boyfriend.

“
I hope you don’t mind. I
didn’t think you’d go without a team effort to kick you out of
town.”

The kindness in his eyes warmed her like a
late summer sun. Words escaped her. Penny untied Libby’s apron
strings and slid the garment from her hips.

“
You always said you wanted
to travel the country, so we’re going to see what we can fit in
before you start college.”

At that moment Peter’s mother stepped off
the bus and waved to DarLynn.

“
Oh yeah, Mom’s coming
along too, something about us needing a chaperone.” He looked
embarrassed.

“
Peter, why are you doing
all this? Have you gone mad?”

“
Yup, pretty much. There is
no way I’m letting you go this easy. We have time to make up. Oh
yeah, I forgot to mention that I bought a condo in Boston. Did you
know that forty percent of the cities we tour are within five hours
of Boston? Yup. Turns out you picked a perfect place to go to
school.”

Her mind was a whirl. With him based in
Boston, they would have plenty of time to spend together without
ruining his career or keeping her from school.

“
I don’t know what to say.”
It was difficult to take it all in.

“
Listen,” he said gently
and stepped closer. “No one can predict the future, but right now
you’re the most important thing to me. I would regret it for the
rest of my life if we didn’t give this a chance.” He took her hands
in his and caressed her scarred palms. “You say the word and I’ll
go away. It’s up to you.”

She looked at his beautiful eyes and saw
love and hope.

“
When do we
leave?”

The End

~ ~ ~

About the Author

Angie Stanton lives in Wisconsin with her
family including two naughty dogs and an overweight cat who can’t
be bothered unless it’s meal time. Angie was raised out in the
country far from the distractions of friends, transportation and
cable TV. She mastered the skill of daydreaming at a young age and
has finally put that talent to work.

Angie enjoys reality TV, particularly those
shows involving dancing, surviving and dating. When not drifting
off to another place in her head, she loves to travel as often as
her husband and wallet will allow.

Rock and a Hard Place is a story that
refused to stay in Angie’s head. It forced itself onto the page.
Peter and Libby are amazing kids whose love can’t be denied. While
Angie created Peter and Libby, she’s knows they would never be
friends with her in real life as Angie isn’t nearly as cool as they
are.

More work by Angie Stanton:

Love ‘em or Leave
‘em
- available in print via
Amazon.

If you like the Bachelor or Bachelorette TV
shows, you’ll love this!

Website:
http://www.angiestanton.com

Facebook:
http://facebook.com/angie.stanton

Smashwords Profile:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AngieStanton

My blog:
http://angiestanton.wordpress.com