Ever After by Karen Kingsbury Page B

Make a six-month commitment, go overseas, report on the war, and maybe while she was there, try to look at things the way Shane and his peers saw them.
    She turned and saw her group in the bleachers. Shane caught her eye, his smile as genuine as the summer sky. “Bob.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “I can’t make that decision now. I need … I need time.”
    “How much time?”
    “A month, at least.”
    He sighed. “I’d like you there first of September. I’m serious, Lauren. Do what you have to do, but make it happen. That’s where you belong, and you know it.”
    The conversation ended, and Lauren returned to her place next to Shane.
    “Who was that?”
    She kept her answer matter-of-fact. “Bob Maine.”
    Shane rested his elbows on his knees.“Still bugging you about getting back to the Middle East?”
    “He won’t let up.” She looked away and turned her attention to the soccer field. For the rest of the game, while Emily’s team won the championship and then on into the evening during the celebration at a nearby restaurant, she didn’t dare look too long into Shane’s eyes. Or Emily’s.
    She’d told Bob the truth, she would think about it. Soon. But right now she couldn’t do anything of the sort. Shane knew her too well. And if she let herself think about leaving, and then looked too long into his eyes, she’d break down there in front of everyone. Because Bob Maine’s offer gave her more than just the chance to see things the way Shane did.
    It gave her an escape. Back to the familiar danger of reporting war firsthand. And that thought stirred a longing deep inside Lauren. If she gave in, then sometime in the next few weeks she’d have to do the impossible. Look into the eyes of the only man she’d ever loved and tell him good-bye. Yes, just for six months. But if she fell into her routine the way she expected she would, the good-bye might last a whole lot longer.
    Maybe even forever.

    Emily couldn’t shake the terrible feeling.
    Yes, the tournament had gone perfectly. She’d played some of her best soccer ever, even scoring the winning goal for the tournament championship. She’d been giddy after the game. Then, when she saw her family and Justin’s together, it gave her a kind of premonition. As though, just maybe, the two families would be together again this way — not for soccer games, but for life.
    The terrible feeling had nothing to do with her game or her guy. She was in love, and everything about Justin Baker was more wonderful than she’d ever imagined. Rather her fear came every time she looked at her mother. The feelings she’d had that night in her room and the conversation with her mother the next day only served to worsen her fears. Something was off between her parents — and she was worried. Maybe their troubles were why they’d avoided a summer wedding.
    Ever since they found their way back to Fallon together, Emily believed without a doubt that her parents had worked out their differences, that the wedding plans were in full force, and that the toughest conversations between them were probably about where they’d honeymoon. Something like that.
    But now, all her certainty about her parents had changed.
    Her mother was quieter than usual and less affectionate around her father. She seemed distant, and no matter what Emily’s dad did to include her in the conversation, her mom acted out of sorts. As if she couldn’t quite connect with anyone.
    Not even Emily.
    As her parents left after the last game was over, she hugged them both, and when she was in her mother’s arms, she whispered near her ear. “Be happy, okay?”
    Her mom looked into her eyes, longer than usual. “I will, Emily.” She paused. “The important thing is for you to be happy, okay?”
    Now that her parents were gone, now that Emily and Justin were heading back to her residence hall in his car, she was struck by a thought. Her mother must’ve meant something by