Free Reflections of Yesterday by Debbie Macomber

and kissed her long and hard, pulling her lower lip between his teeth and sucking on it. Angie had a beautiful mouth: wide, soft, passionate. Simon loved the feel of it under his own. But then he loved everything about her.
    As usual, he dropped her off a block before Oak. She sat for a moment, staring at her hands. “Lloyd Sipe was in Garland’s today.”
    “And?”
    “He asked me to a movie this weekend.”
    Simon felt a lead balloon sink in his stomach. “You’re not going, are you?”
    “I told him I wouldn’t.”
    Simon relaxed.
    “But I think it might be a good idea if we didn’t see so much of each other for a while.”
    “Why?” he exploded.
    “I’m afraid,” she whispered. “Afraid because I love you so much. I … I want us both to start seeing others. Just until school starts. We can talk about things in September.”
    Simon’s immediate reaction had been to argue, but eventually she had worn him down. They stopped dating. The separation nearly drove Simon crazy. He loved her; it was only natural that he wanted to be with Angie. But in the months that they’d been seeing each other, something else, something more far-reaching, had happened. Angie had become his best friend. Nothing seemed right without her. His life had been ripped open, leaving a gaping hole exposed. Even Cal, who had been Simon’s friend since grade school, couldn’t fill the gap. For a long time Simon didn’t date. He couldn’t see that it would do any good. When Angie realized he wasn’t seeing other girls, she started dating Lloyd Sipe. Simon got the message and asked out Kate Holston. He found her even more boring than Shirley. Later that summer his mother arranged a date for him with the visiting niece of one of her Garden Club friends. Jill Something-or-other had hidden a pint of vodka in her purse and proceeded to get smashed. By the end of the evening, Simon couldn’t drive her back to Auntie fast enough. Laughing, her hair in a wild disarray, Jill had placed her hand high on his thigh and claimed she wasn’t in any hurry to get home. If he knew “someplace private,” there were lots of things she could think of to do to kill time.
    The first day of their senior year, Simon had stopped Angie in the hall. “You said we’d talk. Are you ready?”
    She smiled and nodded.
    They met outside the library and drove to Three Tree Point. Simon parked the car, turned off the engine, and reached for Angie. He held her so hard that for a moment he feared he might have hurt her. “It’s not the same,” he whispered into her hair. “It’ll never be right unless it’s you in my arms.”
    Her own words were muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder, but the strength of her hold told him everything he needed to know.
    With Angie, Simon was on the same intellectual and spiritual plane. By early the next spring they were a hairbreadth from exploring the sexual plane.
    “Angie, I love you; I want to marry you.”
    “Don’t ask me,” she pleaded, spreading eager kisses across his face. “Please, don’t ask.”
    Simon was so inflamed that controlling himself took a superhuman effort. “We’ve got to stop, Angie. Right now. Do you understand?”
    “Yes,” she said, her voice soft and willing. “I understand.”
    He leaned his head against the back of the car seat and took in deep, agonizing breaths.
    “Can … can you hold me, Simon?” she pleaded. “Just for a few minutes.”
    “Oh Angie. This does it,” he muttered. “I’m talking to my dad tomorrow.”
    Angie turned stricken eyes to him. “About what?”
    “Us.”
    “Simon, they’re not going to let us get married.”
    “They can’t stop us. I love you. After last summer, I know I don’t ever want to be without you again.”
    The confrontation with his parents had been the worst thing Simon had ever faced. Angie had wanted to go with him. Later he thanked God that he hadn’t let her. The first thing his mother asked him after he announced