you gave me the ring made out of a twig. You said we’d pledged ourselves to each other way back then…”
His eyes blazed. “ We were fuckin’ kids back then! We didn’t have a rat’s ass clue about nothing!”
“I’m not talking about Tucker Creek,” I said, knowing I was risking his anger, but unable to stay quiet. “I’m talking about the night you took my virginity. Do you think I would’ve let you do that if I hadn’t believed you loved me?”
He remained silent, but his fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
A group of bobby-soxed teenage girls in poodle skirts climbed out of a Chrysler and headed, giggling, into the drug store. I recognized them as juniors from RSHS…no, they’d be seniors now. School had started two weeks ago. I stared after them, feeling like I was a million years older. A year ago, I’d been just as carefree. When had life gotten so serious?
“There’s been nobody else, Jake. I love you . I could never love anybody but you.”
He just stared straight ahead.
My heart sank when I saw Aunt Jenny’s car pull into the parking lot. Time had run out. I watched her pull into a space far enough away from the wrecker so she wouldn’t invade our privacy, but close enough to make sure I knew she was here.
I looked at Jake. “I’ve got to go. Do you have anything to say?” I studied his profile, silently begging him to say the words I needed to hear. But he sat rigidly, avoiding my gaze. A muscle twitched in his jaw, the only visible sign of his turmoil.
My hand fastened on the door handle. My heart felt like lead. “I made an agreement with my aunt. She’d let me talk to you before we told my parents. If we was to go to them, man and wife, it would make things easier.” My cheeks burned with embarrassment. Oh, how humiliating to have to say words like this; it was tantamount to begging. It should be him asking me to marry him.
No response.
A tear ran down my cheek. Angrily, I brushed it away and opened the door of the truck. “Okay, then…I guess that’s my answer.” I gingerly jumped out of the wrecker and slammed the door. Even as I walked away, I kept waiting for his voice, calling me back. But it didn’t happen. As I came around to the passenger side of Aunt Jenny’s car, I heard the rumble of a motor and glanced back just in time to see Jake pull out of the parking space and onto the road heading toward the junction.
Numb with shock, I slid into Aunt Jenny’s car, keeping my eyes averted from her expectant gaze. “Well, what happened?”
I stared glassily out the window, my hands tightening on the rayon material of my circle skirt. “Let’s go home,” I said in a flat monotone. “It’s time to tell Mother and Daddy.”
CHAPTER TEN
“ I t’s okay, Lily Rae, please stop crying.” Norry’s plea, meant to be comforting, only made me sob harder.
Nothing was ever going to be okay again.
“Can’t you tell me what’s wrong? Maybe I can help.”
I buried my face in my pillow, trying to smother the bitter, hysterical laugh choking my throat. Can you turn back time, Norry Jean? That’s the only way you can help me.
She gave my shoulder an awkward pat, momentarily running out of words of comfort. Even though I couldn’t see her, I could feel the warmth of her body, curled up on the bed next to me. I could also feel her love and concern. But once Norry knew the awful truth, would she be like everyone else, and treat me like the fallen woman I was?
It had gone much, much worse than I’d ever expected. On the drive back to Opal Springs just as we neared Webb’s Cross Roads, terror had engulfed me. I’d pleaded with Aunt Jenny to give Jake some time—at least through the weekend—to do the right thing, but for the first time ever, Jenny had revealed a side of herself that I’d never glimpsed, and it was made of steel. Eyes straight ahead, hands locked on the steering wheel, she’d listened to my pleas without interruption.
When I’d finally
His eyes blazed. “ We were fuckin’ kids back then! We didn’t have a rat’s ass clue about nothing!”
“I’m not talking about Tucker Creek,” I said, knowing I was risking his anger, but unable to stay quiet. “I’m talking about the night you took my virginity. Do you think I would’ve let you do that if I hadn’t believed you loved me?”
He remained silent, but his fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
A group of bobby-soxed teenage girls in poodle skirts climbed out of a Chrysler and headed, giggling, into the drug store. I recognized them as juniors from RSHS…no, they’d be seniors now. School had started two weeks ago. I stared after them, feeling like I was a million years older. A year ago, I’d been just as carefree. When had life gotten so serious?
“There’s been nobody else, Jake. I love you . I could never love anybody but you.”
He just stared straight ahead.
My heart sank when I saw Aunt Jenny’s car pull into the parking lot. Time had run out. I watched her pull into a space far enough away from the wrecker so she wouldn’t invade our privacy, but close enough to make sure I knew she was here.
I looked at Jake. “I’ve got to go. Do you have anything to say?” I studied his profile, silently begging him to say the words I needed to hear. But he sat rigidly, avoiding my gaze. A muscle twitched in his jaw, the only visible sign of his turmoil.
My hand fastened on the door handle. My heart felt like lead. “I made an agreement with my aunt. She’d let me talk to you before we told my parents. If we was to go to them, man and wife, it would make things easier.” My cheeks burned with embarrassment. Oh, how humiliating to have to say words like this; it was tantamount to begging. It should be him asking me to marry him.
No response.
A tear ran down my cheek. Angrily, I brushed it away and opened the door of the truck. “Okay, then…I guess that’s my answer.” I gingerly jumped out of the wrecker and slammed the door. Even as I walked away, I kept waiting for his voice, calling me back. But it didn’t happen. As I came around to the passenger side of Aunt Jenny’s car, I heard the rumble of a motor and glanced back just in time to see Jake pull out of the parking space and onto the road heading toward the junction.
Numb with shock, I slid into Aunt Jenny’s car, keeping my eyes averted from her expectant gaze. “Well, what happened?”
I stared glassily out the window, my hands tightening on the rayon material of my circle skirt. “Let’s go home,” I said in a flat monotone. “It’s time to tell Mother and Daddy.”
CHAPTER TEN
“ I t’s okay, Lily Rae, please stop crying.” Norry’s plea, meant to be comforting, only made me sob harder.
Nothing was ever going to be okay again.
“Can’t you tell me what’s wrong? Maybe I can help.”
I buried my face in my pillow, trying to smother the bitter, hysterical laugh choking my throat. Can you turn back time, Norry Jean? That’s the only way you can help me.
She gave my shoulder an awkward pat, momentarily running out of words of comfort. Even though I couldn’t see her, I could feel the warmth of her body, curled up on the bed next to me. I could also feel her love and concern. But once Norry knew the awful truth, would she be like everyone else, and treat me like the fallen woman I was?
It had gone much, much worse than I’d ever expected. On the drive back to Opal Springs just as we neared Webb’s Cross Roads, terror had engulfed me. I’d pleaded with Aunt Jenny to give Jake some time—at least through the weekend—to do the right thing, but for the first time ever, Jenny had revealed a side of herself that I’d never glimpsed, and it was made of steel. Eyes straight ahead, hands locked on the steering wheel, she’d listened to my pleas without interruption.
When I’d finally
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