Blast From the Past (7 page)

“You’re crazy, you know that?” he grunted.

She cast down her eyes. “I know,” she murmured, smoothing out the wrinkles in the soft pink of her dress.

“Amy. Look at me.”

She cast a weary gaze at him, afraid to meet his eyes. He was so gonna dump her and tell her he was taking Trixie Martin to the prom instead. A pretty blond with a huge rack, she was every guy’s dream girl, she knew.

“Don’t sell yourself short, honey,” he said softly, his eyes surprisingly mellow and gentle. “You’re the most beautiful girl in all of Buford, don’t you know that by now?”

She frowned, his answer not exactly what she’d expected. “What are you saying?”

He reached over and cupped her chin in his hand. “I’m saying that I love you, Amy Remington. Always have. Always will.”

Now she was confused. Love? He loved her? Where did this come from all of a sudden? “But I thought you just hung out with me for fun?”

“I used to, sure, back when we were kids. Now? Fun isn’t the half of it, honey. And no matter what happens tonight, please remember that I’ve never stopped loving you. Not for one second.”

She couldn’t comprehend what he was saying so she merely inclined her head. At least he wasn’t dumping her for that bimbo Trixie.

“It’s been ten years, Amy, and not a day has gone by that I didn’t regret what happened.”

She frowned. “What are you talking about, Brad? What’s there to regret?”

His eyes had turned mellow and sweet, melancholy even. “Everything. Nothing. Just… never forget that… Brad Fuller loves Amy Remington.”

She grinned, remembering what Brad had carved in that old oak tree lining one of the fields back of the house. Must have been when they were ten. Jackie had thrown a fit when she saw what he’d done, but she didn’t care. Jackie could find her own Brad. This one was hers. And now, it seems, he seemed to suddenly remember his boyish sentiments. Well, that was a first, she thought. In all the time they’d been going steady, he’d never even mentioned the L word once. She figured he just liked to hang out with her because she was fun to be around, and she let him go all the way, something not all girls were into.

The rest of the drive no more words were spoken, but she thought deeply about what he’d said. Never forget… Brad Fuller loves Amy Remington. A warm glow suffused her and spread out inside her chest, and when they finally arrived at Jefferson High, a stupid grin was etched on her lips. Brad… loved her? Really?

She waited for him to open the door, and when she stepped out and hooked her arm in his, she knew this night would be special. A night to remember.

The night was going well, all things considered. Brad had escorted a ravishing Amy into the school ballroom, and the kids had greeted them like royalty, which in a sense they were. Prom King and Queen of yesteryear, though Amy didn’t know that, of course. He just hoped being in these familiar surroundings would stir a memory, and perhaps bring back the real Amy, substituting her teenage alter ego.

Though he had to admit she looked every bit as lovely as she had when he’d escorted her down these halls the first time around, and he was just as enamored now as he had been then. The only difference? This time he knew he was in love, back then his cocky eighteen-year-old self had denied the claims of his heart and had looked upon Amy as merely a conquest. A mere notch on his belt before he set out into the world and laid down his claim for real.

That his future had been walking right next to him had never occurred to him back then, but it did so now, and if this experience had taught him anything, it was that second chances are something to hold onto and seize with every fiber of your being. He just hoped he wouldn’t mess this up like he had the first time.

“Care to dance, my lady?”

She regarded him with sparkling eyes, and he felt a familiar weakness affecting his knees. God, she was beautiful. Even more so than back then. “Don’t mind if I do.”

He led her to the dance floor, mirror balls throwing around their sparkling glitter in all directions, the music a soft mellow slow dance. Kids looking impossibly young—had he ever been this young?—were glancing in their direction as they took to the floor and started their first turn.

She rested her head on his shoulder, and his heart sang as he pulled her close. He’d never, not even in his wildest dreams, hoped ever to hold her like this ever again, and now he was, and he just wished this moment would last forever.

“Brad?” she murmured.

“Mh?”

“Don’t you think it’s weird that… there’s no one of our year here?”

“Perhaps they’ll show up later on. The night’s only just begun, honey.”

“Mh. Maybe you’re right.”

She gazed out across the room, at the twinkling multi-colored lights giving the ballroom a festive look, and at the ribbons and garlands she thought she had helped create, though now she wasn’t so sure. Plenty of faces were staring back at her, but there was none that she recognized, which struck her as weird to say the least. Where was everybody? Then she decided Brad was right. Perhaps their friends would show up late.

“Just relax and enjoy this moment,” he whispered as he nuzzled her ear.

She nodded against his shoulder, deciding to let herself disappear into the dance and his embrace. Who cared about friends anyway, when she had Brad Fuller to trod the measure with and whisper sweet nothings in her ear?

As she moved across the dance floor, in sync with Brad’s steps, her body pressed up against his, she started experiencing the familiar stirrings of heat in the pit of her stomach.

Later tonight she hoped to lure Brad into her bed, invite him to make love to her for the first time in her own space… Suddenly, though, she wasn’t so sure that was such a good idea after all.

“Brad? Do you want to see more of me in the future?” she asked, a pang of concern flitting through her mind. “I mean, after school is out?”

“Finally out,” he groaned comically. “Couldn’t last another day. You?”

She bit her lip. “But…” She decided to plunge ahead. “What about us? What will happen to you and me?”

He eyed her curiously, and she felt her heart sink. She should never have voiced the question. Not now, at least. She was ruining everything!

He trailed a loving finger down her cheek. “You and I,” he murmured, “are going to be fine, Amy. Just fine.”

Fine didn’t cut it, and his answer disappointed her on more than one level. She couldn’t resist pressing the matter. “Don’t… you want us to stay together?”

A look of concern appeared in his eyes, and she gulped. This was the end she thought as panic shot through her being. He hadn’t wanted to say it, hadn’t wanted to ruin their big night, but she’d provoked him and now he was going to lay it all out. Clean break. The words popped into her mind. He was going to make a clean break and leave her behind. Leave her to rot in Buford while he went out into the world.

“I’ll never leave you again if that’s what you want, Amy.” He spoke with a seriousness she’d never thought he was capable of, and for the first time she thought he looked… different. Older, perhaps. Had he always had those wrinkles around his eyes? They made him look sexy as hell, she decided. “Is that what you want?”

“What… I want?” she echoed, suddenly not feeling too well.

The lights—the stares of the people—it was as if something was throbbing in the back of her head. Her eyes were growing misty, as if she had trouble focusing on things. Brad looked different, yes. Suddenly a horrific thought entered her mind. Who was this man? Who was the man holding her? He wasn’t Brad—he wasn’t the Brad she knew!

She frowned at him and pushed herself away. “Who are you?” she demanded. She searched around the room but everything was a blur now, of lights and sounds and stares—eyes everywhere. “Who are you!” she screeched to Brad, fighting off his arms as they tried to grab hold of her. “What’s going on here? No, leave me alone! Don’t touch me!”

She fought loose from his grip and raced to the exit, only to falter and come crashing down to the floor mere meters further. My head, she thought. What’s happening to my head? It was pounding, and not just with the music and the sounds of the evening. “Daddy,” she wailed, trying to push herself up from the floor. “Daddy, where are you?”

Strong hands enveloped her, then, and as she tried to fight them off, she blacked out, the last thing she saw a pair of dark eyes boring into hers. Brad. It was Brad. But it wasn’t, really.

Who was this man?

When she came to, the first thought that entered her mind was that she’d died and gone to heaven. Gazing up at a clear blue sky convinced her that she had, the fleecy clouds drifting before her mind’s eye enhancing the illusion. Her daddy was here, she knew. Her daddy was waiting for her up here—had been for a long time, in fact, and when the familiar stocky figure came walking up to her, she wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“Dad,” she exclaimed, and when that broad smile split his friendly features, she felt a deep relaxation melt her being. Finally.

“Hey, honey,” he spoke in that deep, sonorous voice of his. “Great to see you again. What took you so long?”

“Oh, just this and that. Minding the store with Jackie…” She frowned at the notion of her opening a shop with her sister. Hadn’t they always been rivals, if not for love then for the best grades or the most lucrative business opportunities? And now they were working together? That was a first.

As if her dad had read her mind, he took her hand and said, “I’m glad you and Jackie are finally getting along. As kids you drove your mom and me crazy with all the bickering and fighting.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy.”

He patted her hand. “Family is all you’ve got, honey. You should know that by now.”

“What happened to you, Daddy? Why are you—” She gestured around at the tufts of fluffy white that seemed to surround them here. “—here? Wherever here is?”

“I’m here because you put me here, honey. You wanted to find me so here I am. Just for you, so you could find your way home again. You got lost, see? Got all muddled up inside after the accident.”

The accident. She remembered it now. Driving home from the prom, Brad had been zigzagging, skittering the car across the asphalt, showing off his driving skills and generally goofing about as he used to do. Then he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere, ended up driving against traffic. Dad had been sent to pick her up, several kids having called her and told her Brad was in no way fit to drive. On that fateful night, the two cars had collided, Brad’s pickup hitting Dad’s Toyota Corolla full-on.

The Toyota was no match for the powerful utility truck, and had been catapulted over the side rail and into a ditch several feet below the bridge. Dad had been slung from the car, his seatbelt malfunctioning at the critical moment, and had split his skull on a rock. He hadn’t suffered, the doctors had told them later. Death was instantaneous. Brad had some cuts and bruises, and so had Amy, but the emotional scars had been much more serious. Fatal, even, for the budding romance between the two teenagers.

Dad gazed into her eyes, his soft brown doing much to dispel the blanket of gloom that had started to cover her at the memory of that fateful night.

“It’s all right, honey. I wasn’t meant to drag out my existence on earth. Was never meant to live beyond my years.”

“But why, Daddy?” she suddenly exclaimed, the full horror of the situation once again hitting home. She grabbed his arm, digging in her fingers as if she wanted to hold onto him.

“It just wasn’t meant to be,” he simply said. “I’d reached the age where all I needed to learn had been taught me, and it was time to move on.”

“But what about us? How could you leave us like that?” she cried, tears flooding her face.

He touched his warm hand to her cheek, wiping at her tears with his calloused thumb. “There’s lessons to be learned here, honey. Lessons only you know about. How is your relationship with your sister?”

She angrily rubbed her sleeve over her face. “Fine, I guess.”

“Got much closer to each other after the accident, right?”

She nodded. That much was true. The shock of their dad’s demise had brought the rest of the family much closer than they’d ever been. It wasn’t too much to say that Jackie had become her dearest friend.

Dad smiled. “You see? Something good may have come from all of this.”

Was he telling her the trouble and strife between her and her sister was the reason for his leaving them? She simply couldn’t wrap her head around it. “What about Brad? We drifted apart and I never saw him again.”

His face darkened. “That boy had lessons of his own to learn, honey. But I do think he’s learned them by now. Finally, I might add. He was a tough nut to crack. A lot of anger in him.”

“He’s mellowed over the years, I think. I saw him. He’s become… more gentle. Lost the wild.”

He gazed at her tenderly. “You’re the one for him, honey. He just didn’t see it before. He does now.”

She raised her eyes to meet his. “He does?”

“Very much so. He loves you like a man loves a woman. No more a boy.” He gave her a weary smile. “Give him another chance?”

She shook her head involuntarily. “How can I? He’s the one responsible for—”

“Like I said. He had his lessons to learn, same as all of us.” He pressed her hand. “He’s ready now.”

“Ready for what?” She raised her chin mutinously. “If I never see his face again, it will be too soon.”

“Don’t say that, honey.” He gave her a wistful smile. “It will all have been for naught if you don’t let Brad Fuller back into your heart.”

The words shook her to the core. She suddenly realized with a shiver that he’d never been out of her thoughts over the years. Never been out of her heart. Not really…

Daddy laughed. “See? Told you.”

“But… what about Mom? She’ll never agree.”

‘Tell your mother I still love her as much as I ever did, but that it’s time to move on. Even for her. And who knows?” He shrugged. “Perhaps she should open her heart to new opportunities as well.”

Amy shook her head, her golden curls dangling wildly about her pale face. “No way, Daddy. Mom will never get involved with another man ever again.”