Rustler's Moon. Jodi Thomas

I’ll have time. Mom says she’s going to forget my name if I don’t spend a few hours with the family while I’m home this time.” His answer made sense, but he was breaking her heart.

      Trying to sound as if she didn’t care, Lauren added, “No problem. I need to study this weekend anyway.” Lucas was her best friend, her first boyfriend, her only love even if she’d never told him. She knew how busy he was. He carried a full load, worked part-time at the campus AG farm on weeknights and left every weekend to work either with his father or on the Kirkland ranch next door. He was working his way through school, no scholarship, no loans.

      “I’m proud of you about the A.” His warm voice broke the silence between them.

      “Thanks.” Somehow it didn’t seem so important anymore. She’d spent two years dreaming of being at college with him and now, if possible, she was more lonely than she’d been back in Crossroads.

      She hung up. All the happiness had drained out of Lauren. In the weeks she’d been at college they hadn’t had a real date. Study lunches and Lucas walking her to class a few times didn’t count.

      She curled into a ball and let silent tears fall. Maybe Polly had the right idea. Sleep your years of higher education away.

      The phone sounded. One, two, three rings before she found it in the covers.

      “Lauren!” Tim O’Grady’s voice reminded her of home. Maybe because he’d been her neighbor in Ransom Canyon for most of her life. “Want to go get something to eat? It’s Friday night and, as usual, I don’t have a date. You can pick the restaurant. Anything but dorm food.”

      She wiped a tear off her cheek as she pushed her heartache deeper inside. “Sure.” This was Tim’s second year at Tech, and it seemed during his freshman year he’d done an extensive study of the coffeehouses, bars and cheap restaurants in town. “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

      “Food,” the body under the blankets on the other side of the room mumbled. “Food.”

      Lauren frowned. “Can my roommate come, too?”

      Tim was silent for a moment, then added, “If she combs her hair. Last time she tagged along I kept thinking a bush was following us.”

      “Fair enough. Give us ten minutes. I have to get out of this dress.”

      Laughter traveled through the phone. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say that for years, Lauren.”

      She smiled knowing he was kidding. “In your dreams, O’Grady.”

      The phone went dead. Lauren stood and began changing clothes. “Ten minutes, Polly,” she shouted toward the other side of the room, “or we’re leaving without you.”

      Fifteen minutes later, with Polly buttoning her blouse as she walked, Lauren and her never-friendly roommate headed downstairs.

      Tim’s dorm and hers were joined by a long lobby and cafeteria. When Lauren watched him coming toward her, she could tell immediately he was tired by his slight limp, something she knew he’d correct the minute he spotted her.

      The limp was a lingering reminder from a night almost three years ago when they’d both been hurt.

      Polly must have noticed the limp, too. She leaned toward Lauren and asked, “What happened to your friend’s leg?”

      Lauren closed her eyes knowing that, thanks to the echo in the foyer, Tim probably heard Polly. She thought if she ignored the question, Polly would forget about it.

      No such luck. She asked again.

      Only, Tim answered first. “It was a dark and stormy night, dear Polly Anna.” He drew close and sliced his body between them, giving all his attention to Polly. “Four high school kids decided to break into an old house we thought might be haunted.” He waved his hands. “‘Be afraid,’ the old Gypsy House warned them, but they dropped in anyway. Dust filled their lungs and rotting boards creaked beneath their footsteps, but they were explorers looking for thrills. Four went in but only three came out. One was left trapped inside with the ghosts. Me.”

      Polly looked interested. “What happened?”

      “I died.” Tim shrugged.

      Lauren laughed seeing Polly’s horror as if she believed Tim for a second.

      “He broke several bones in his leg,” Lauren corrected. “Thanks to Lucas, I climbed out with only scratches. Reid Collins was with us, too. He didn’t have a scratch, just a sprained ankle.”

      Polly’s eyes widened with true interest. “You two know Reid Collins? I met him at a party a few weeks ago. What a hunk.”

      Polly didn’t seem to notice both Tim and her shaking their heads. Reid had been attracting girls for years. In high school everyone thought he was the hero from that night in the haunted house. He’d let everyone believe he’d saved Lauren, but it had been Lucas who saved her from falling through the collapsed floor. They’d all three let Reid take the glory that night, but they all knew the truth even if they never talked about it.

      Sometimes she thought four kids dropped through a broken window that night and four different people came out. The accident had changed all of them.

      “How’d you do on the chem test?” Tim asked as he turned away from Polly.

      “An A.”

      He took her hand and pulled her closer for a quick hug. “Great! I know just the place to celebrate. Chicken fried steak and all the trimmings. Two for one on Fridays.”

      She managed a smile as they walked with Polly following behind. “Do you always celebrate after an A?”

      “Hell.” He slowed and leaned near her ear. “I party after a C. My folks don’t care about grades. They just told me if I flunk out, I’ll be working at the new Walmart going in Crossroads. So, I sign up for whatever looks easy and pray for the best. I plan to waste as much time at college as possible, then go home and write a great novel about my wild college days. It might take me a year or two, but I’ll be rich and famous by the time I’m twenty-five.”

      “Can I be in your book?” Polly asked as she circled around them like an out-of-control top.

      “I have an opening for one character. She’s a nude girl dancing on a table. Of course, you’ll have to audition. I need to make sure you can dance.”

      Lauren laughed and glanced at Polly as the girl asked, “You would use both my names, wouldn’t you? Otherwise it could be anyone named Polly.”

      Lauren changed the subject. “Any idea what degree you’re heading toward, Tim? I’m not so sure you’d make it as a writer. They don’t usually audition their characters.”

      “True, but I’m willing to sacrifice for my art.” He looked back at Polly. “You got any moles or scars I could put in, Polly Anna? Their detailed description might increase the word count, you know.”

      Lauren shoved him off the sidewalk. “Focus, O’Grady. What is your major?”

      He caught up to her and put his arm lightly on her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. I’m majoring in life.” He kissed her forehead. “You want to call this a date? If we do this right, you might make it in my book, too.”

      “No.” She tugged her hood up as fog surrounded them.

      “Good. We split the cost of the meal as friends.”

      Lauren never thought of dating Tim, though he asked from time to time. However, it would be nice if once in a while he acted disappointed when she said no.

      The memories of the abandoned house seemed thick in her brain. Tim and Reid had been best friends back then and almost every conversation they had was about football. When Reid Collins suggested breaking into the place, Tim joked about ghosts and went along with the idea. He still bore the scars, physical ones on his leg and arm, and mental ones inside after his