AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Delta smiled, and luckily the bell above the door jingled, and a family came in with their four children, taking up both of her parents’ attention. Delta was off at 5:00, so she said good-bye to them both and then drove home in her mom’s car, as Mom was sticking around the store tonight till closing.
When she let herself into the house, she looked around at the home she’d lived in since she was born. She’d always wanted more, and still did, but her parents had done everything for her. They wanted her to succeed, and though she’d dismissed their belief in their own success, she had a new appreciation now. They’d lived a happy life together and had secretly saved money for her. They’d done everything they wanted to. They were satisfied, whereas most of her friends’ families were ripping apart or facing terrible tragedy. She’d been selfish and self-interested.
But I’d leave with Tanner in a heartbeat.
An hour later, after she’d made herself a can of chicken noodle soup and a nearly out-of-date Caesar salad in a bag, she heard the familiar roar of an engine outside her front door.
Tanner?
She raced to the window. Yes! It was his Trailblazer!
She threw open the door, so glad to see him she was shaking. It was dumb. She was foolish. She knew it and didn’t care.
When he came half-jogging up the walk, she stood in the doorway like she’d been frozen. “What are you doing here?” she managed.
“She miscarried. Amanda’s not pregnant anymore!” He laughed. “I’m not going to make that mistake again. I’m loaded with condoms, and please God . . . don’t let them break.”
“Oh . . . great.” She was thrilled, wasn’t she? Amanda had no claim on him anymore, and he’d come to her door.
“Wanna use one?” he asked suggestively.
“You’re sure that . . . she miscarried?”
“That’s what she told me. Delta, I never was interested in her. You know that. It’s you and me all the way.”
But you slept with her.
Tanner added, “I told you before, I love you. I want to marry you.”
He expects you to feel the same. Do you? Of course, you do. “There’s a lot of school ahead of us.”
“A lot of school,” he agreed, pulling her onto the porch and taking her into his arms. “But you love me. And I love you. What else matters?”
“I guess nothing.”
“But . . . ?”
“Why Amanda? I mean . . . why?” When you knew it would hurt me?
He shrugged, said, “Why anything?”
“That’s not an answer.”
He suddenly grinned. “Okay, the devil made me do it.”
“Tanner,” she said achingly.
“Now stop,” he said. “We’re together, right?”
She loved the smell of him, the feel of him. “Yes,” she said, “we’re together,” and then, “I can’t believe you’re back.”
“Oh, you can’t get rid of me now,” he said on a chuckle, and then he was kissing her and she was kissing him, and they were laughing and falling back into the house, closing the door firmly behind them.
PART TWO
The Stabbing
Chapter 8
