Forever Fall by Elizabeth Sinclair Page B

go and then quickly preceded him out the door, her heart pounding so hard, it would be a miracle if it didn’t fly right out of her chest.
    As they walked along the shore of the lake, Mandy started second-guessing this idea. The setting came right out of a romantic, Hollywood chick-flick. The air was cool, yet not so cool that she needed a sweater. The smooth, moonlit lake stretched out before them like black silk swathed in streaks of liquid silver. A huge yellow moon hung in the sky surrounded by a faint sprinkling of sparkling stars. A soft breeze ruffled the trees. And a man, who was becoming far too important in her life, walked so close beside her she could feel his shoulder brush hers.
    Talk about playing with fire!
    For a long time they walked in silence. Soon they were far enough from the house that all she could see was the faint glow of light from Shannon’s bedroom window. Joey must be awake.
    Luc leaned close to her. “Let’s sit and talk.”
    She started, then nodded. “Okay.”
    He cupped her elbow and guided her toward a large outcropping of rocks positioned so close to the shore that she could hear the water lapping gently against them.
    Mandy boosted herself up on the biggest rock and turned so her feet dangled over the water. Luc sat beside her close enough that their thighs almost touched. Again, silence prevailed.
    Mandy glanced up to see a shooting star streak across the night sky. “Look, a shooting star. Make a wish.” She closed her eyes and wished her life had been different. Maybe then she could trust these feelings she was having for Luc and allow herself to follow wherever they led. But that was not gonna happen. She couldn’t change what had already been. So the wish was wasted.
    “I know what you wished for,” Luc said, his voice deep and too near her face.
    She turned to him in surprise. “You do?”
    “Yes. You wished to win this test.”
    Mandy laughed. “You couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
    “No? Then what did you wish for?”
    “If I tell you, it won’t come true.” But then it wouldn’t anyway. Besides, hadn’t she been searching for a way to tell him about her childhood? Perhaps the heavens had provided the perfect opening. As if in answer to her unvoiced question, another star shot across the sky. Still she couldn’t bring herself to start divulging her childhood.
    “My turn to wish.” He closed his eyes, then opened them and turned to her. “Want me to tell you what I wished for?” A tiny smile teased at the corner of his mouth.
    How she loved his smile. It spread through her like sunshine, leaving behind warmth and  . . . What? Finding no answer, she allowed the pleasant rush of emotions to wash over her. Some of the tension left her body. “If you want to, but remember, it may not come true if you do.”
    “I wished that you’d tell me why winning this test is so important to you.”
    She hesitated, staring deep into his eyes. “Were you being straight with me?” Studying his moonlit expression closely, she saw sincerity and caring reflected back at her. “Are you really a good listener?”
    Instantly, his expression grew serious. “Absolutely. It’s part of my job to be one.”
    Still she hesitated. Finding the words to tell him something she’d kept hidden away deep inside for so long wasn’t coming easily. Avoiding the subject altogether had been much simpler. But, she’d opened the door, and now she had to step through it.
    She stared out over the lake, took a deep fortifying breath and began to talk. “I’m the product of a single parent home. I don’t know who my father is, and my mother never saw fit to share that information with me  . . . if she even knew. However, she wasn’t a bit backward about reminding me on a daily basis, either with words or attitude, that I’d ruined her life, and that she wished I’d never been born.”
    She glanced at Luc out of the corner of her eye. His brows were drawn together in a frown,