Free The Broken Lake by Shelena Shorts Page A

future was meant for me. I willed it, even wished it. But an aggressive, overwhelmingly sad aura consumed me as I held on to him even tighter. And then, behind me, the last flower was tossed. I could almost hear it land six feet below the hand that had let it go.

Chapter 7
     
MAKING THE MOST
     
    T he strange thing about what happened at the funeral was that neither Wes nor I talked about it afterward. Even though we both knew my uncertain future was hovering over us like a low, dark cloud, there was no need to discuss it.
    We tried to keep ourselves busy. I’d never eaten so much ice cream or seen so many movies in the two weeks following Ms. Mary’s death. We were constantly doing something until it turned into such a routine that we had to change up, or both of us would burst. It was his idea to expand our horizons. We had just finished eating takeout one evening at his house when he suggested it.
    “Let’s do something different,” he said.
    I was stuffing our trash back into the bags. “Like what?”
    “Like get away.”
    Tropical island? Was this it?
I was beyond thrilled. “You mean, like, go away. For real?”
    “No, not
go
away.
Get
away. I want to take you somewhere. Not too far. Just somewhere different.”
    “I’d love to.” I curled up next to him on the couch, practically bouncing up and down on the cushions.
    “Where would you like to go?”
    “I don’t care. Anywhere. You pick.”
    He smiled and shook his head. “No, I’ve picked where we’ve gone since the day we met. It should be somewhere you want to go. Pick a place.”
    “I’d love to see Kerry again, but that’s too far and too cold. Hmm.” I thought about it for a minute. “Fishing.” The weather had warmed up nicely by then, so it sounded perfect, but he laughed.
    “Fishing? Sophie, be for real.”
    “I am. We can’t really go to a tropical island. It’s too hot, and I don’t snorkel.”
    “You don’t fish either.”
    “Well, that’s because no one takes me. My dad and I used to fish all the time, until he left. I haven’t been since I was little. And it’s different.”
    Still unsure, but seemingly content, he answered, “Okay. Fishing it is.”
    “Yay!” I gave him a kiss, and he shook his head. “What?” I asked.
    “I had no idea you were so outdoorsy.”
    “See, you don’t know everything about me after all.”
    The truth was, he did. I wasn’t all that outdoorsy, but I remember enjoying fishing. The only reason I was such an indoor girl now, was because I preferred to be holed up in the house after all the new places my mom moved us. Heck, for all I knew, I might have an outdoor girl waiting to burst out of me.
    He planned to pick me up at 8:00 Saturday morning, so I had to request off work, which I was hesitant to do since coverage would be thin. It turned out to be no problem. Mr. Healey had already hired someone new. Dawn said it was one of Danny’s new friends and he was scheduled to come in and train on Saturday anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal that I wouldn’t be there.
    I waited in the living room for him to pull up and when I heard a car, I snuck out without saying good-bye to my mother. She knew I was going fishing and it brought back memories of my dad that she’d rather not visit, so she didn’t ask too many questions.
    I opened the front door then almost shut it again, because a very intimidating vehicle was sitting where Wes’ car should’ve been. Just as I was about to step back into the house, Wes got out.
Huh?
    I closed the door behind me and walked toward him. “What’s this?”
    “We can’t go camping in a Maserati.”
    “Who said anything about camping?”
    “Well, not overnight camping, but we are going to a campground. It’s where the best part of the lake is, and I can’t go four-wheeling to it in a sports car.”
    “So what is this?”
    He had taken my bag by then and tossed it into the back. “It’s my new car.”
    “New? You bought it? Where’s the other