Free Broken Pieces by Carla Cassidy Page B

Hot.”
    “Hmm, if he passes the Kelsey test, he must be hot. Are you seeing him again?”
    “I’m sure I’ll be seeing him again. It’s a small town,” Mariah replied.
    “You know that’s not what I mean,” Janice replied impatiently.
    “Honestly, Janice, it would be pretty stupid for me to look for a relationship in a town I’ll soon be leaving,” Mariah exclaimed.
    “And it’s about time you did something completely stupid in your life,” Janice countered. “A brief affair with a man nicknamed Dr. Hot would probably be good for you.”
    “Have you been talking to my daughter?”
    “No, I just don’t want you to wind up like me, alone and so set in my ways I scare off most men. You’re young and gorgeous and you deserve to have a healthy, loving relationship with a special man.”
    Mariah laughed once again. “How did we get from brief hot affair to happily ever after?”
    Janice’s familiar low chuckle filled the line. “I’m being a pain, aren’t I?”
    A deep affection for her friend rose up inside Mariah. “I know you only want what’s best for me.”
    “We’ve talked about this before. If you allow thatnight to keep you from falling in love, then you remain a victim for the rest of your life.”
    “Are you through?” Mariah asked. This time it was her turn to feel slightly impatient. They’d been over this a million times before.
    “I’m through,” Janice agreed.
    For the next few minutes the two caught up on news from Chicago and by the time they hung up, it was time to start getting ready for the barbecue at Finn’s.
    What Janice had never understood about Mariah was that she’d found her happiness without a man in her life. She was fulfilled by her work as a teacher, warmed by her love for her daughter. She’d never needed a man to fill empty spaces or make her complete. She was complete on her own.
    Sure, it might have been nice to find some man to share her life with, one who admired and respected the choices she had made, one who shared the same likes and dislikes.
    There were times she admitted that it would be nice to have somebody to whisper to in the quiet, somebody to share a pot of coffee with in the mornings, somebody to make love with late at night. But she didn’t need that in her life.
    At a quarter to six Mariah checked her reflection in her dresser mirror. She’d pulled her long hair back and fastened it at the nape of her neck with a mother-of-pearl clasp. She wore one of her favorite outfits, a turquoise sundress that would be cool and airy for a night spent in the late-spring heat and fun turquoise flip-flops. She’d even taken time to paint her nails a pearly pink.
    She felt nervous as she turned away from the mirror. Tonight she would be seeing people she hadn’t seen in years. Classmates she’d laughed with, fellow students she’d seen on a daily basis.
    But in the back of her mind as she thought of the young men she’d known in high school, she’d always wondered if one of them had been waiting for her that night, hiding beneath the cover of the woods and the storm.
    Was she going to eat barbecue tonight, drink a beer and exchange old memories with the man who had raped her?
    She shoved these thoughts away, refusing to allow her evening to be tainted by something that happened so long ago. “Wow, you look nice,” Kelsey said as Mariah met her in the hallway and they went downstairs.
    “Back at you.” Mariah smiled at her daughter, who looked achingly fresh and pretty in a pair of pale pink shorts and a pink and white tank top.
    “We can’t leave yet,” Kelsey said. “You’re the guest of honor and so we can’t be one of the first to get there. It’s so uncool.”
    Mariah sat on the edge of the sofa. “Well, we certainly don’t want to be uncool.” Kelsey perched on the sofa’s arm, the clean scent of her shampoo battling with the latest had-to-have perfume.
    Tiny yipped from his confines in the kitchen and Kelsey popped up to run to