Free Shadows at Sunset: Sunset Trilogy ~ Book 1 by Tonya Royston

please,” Brooke groaned. “She may be gorgeous, but so are you. And you are something she is not. Nice. Someday, guys are going to see that her beauty is only skin deep.”
    “You really think I can compete with her?”
    “You obviously haven’t looked in the mirror lately.” Brooke grabbed my hand, turning and pulling me with her toward Ethan. “Now, come on. You guys are coming over tonight for pizza and movies.”
    We had gotten close enough to Ethan who heard her. “Pizza?” he asked, his attention suddenly focused on us.
    Brooke laughed. “You just ate like three sandwiches and all you can think about is pizza?”
    “I’m a growing boy. I can eat around the clock,” Ethan responded matter-of-factly.
    I smiled at them. They always knew how to take my mind off my worries. Ethan stood as he and Brooke started packing up the picnic items. “Think fast, blondie,” Brooke said, tossing my sunglasses to me as soon as I looked her way.
    I caught them and slipped them on. “Thanks.”
    Ethan stood up, holding the basket in one hand and the cooler in the other like they weighed nothing, while Brooke folded up the blanket.
    “Let’s go,” Brooke said, taking the lead.
    I suddenly remembered the reporters. “Can we take the long way around? I saw some TV cameras over there at the entrance to the parking lot.”
    “Sure.” She changed direction to lead us through the trees surrounding the lawn.
    I followed behind them, reminding myself to call my mother and let her know I was going home with Brooke so she wouldn’t wonder where I was. I stole one last glance off to the side to catch a glimpse of Noah beyond the trees. He stood in front of the gazebo next to my father greeting some of our town’s citizens. I sighed, wondering if Brooke was right, that I could be competition for Marlena. If she was, life was about to get a lot more interesting. Maybe this town gathering had been worth getting up in front of a crowd after all. With that thought, I smiled to myself as I jogged to catch up with Brooke and Ethan.

    ***

    I didn’t have long to wait before I saw Noah again. I only wished I had a warning before our next encounter. I spent the next day in the woods with Dakota and the book I had been reading the afternoon Ryder had disappeared. When I returned home that evening, my parents had a surprise dinner guest waiting for me.
    At first, it seemed like every other evening. I approached the house from the backyard and came in through the door to the kitchen. My mother was in the midst of tossing a garden salad. “There you are,” she said. “I was beginning to wonder when you’d get home.”
    “You weren’t worried, were you?”
    “Always,” she said seriously. Then she smiled. “But I’m sure you were with Dakota, so no, I wasn’t really worried.”
    Before I could respond, I heard two male voices in our family room. “Mom, do we have company?”
    “Yes, actually, Noah is joining us for dinner tonight.”
    I gasped. “What? Really? Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “We only just decided to have him over a few hours ago, and you, my dear, were out in the woods. We didn’t think you would mind...”
    My mother’s voice faded as I turned and rushed up the stairs. There wasn’t enough time to shower, so I wiped my face and arms with a damp cloth. I exchanged my dusty hiking jeans and T-shirt for clean skinny jeans and a black shirt with three buttons down the front. All I had time for with my hair was to pull it out of my ponytail and run a brush through it. Then I added some eyeliner, slipped on silver hoop earrings, and spritzed a dash of perfume on my wrists before hurrying back downstairs.
    “Okay,” I told my mom. “I’m ready now.”
    “That was fast,” she said, grinning. She had finished with the salad and was setting glasses next to a pitcher of lemonade on a tray. “Your dad and Noah are out on the patio. Would you take this out to them?”
    “Of course.”
    I picked up the tray,