Free Abound in Love by Rosemarie Naramore Page B

ages of sixteen to eighteen, and
earned her Associate’s Degree, she had left for university at age eighteen and
completed her Bachelor’s Degree at age twenty.  She had returned home then,
only to leave soon after to start her job in Atlanta.
    She
nodded.  “You’re right.  You have a good memory.”  She smiled at a woman she
recognized from church, years ago.  “I forget what it feels like to live in a
small town,” she mused.
    “It’s
nice,” he said, smiling.  “People tend to stick around.  There’s a real sense
of community.  It’s a nice place to raise a family.”
    Laura
considered his words.  ‘People tend to stick around.’  She hadn’t.  Was that a
jab aimed her way?  She couldn’t be sure.  Had he sounded just the littlest bit
accusatory?  But then, why would he?
    She
shook herself.  She was being silly.  Dalton Jance probably hadn’t and didn’t
care an iota that she had left Battle Ground. 
    “We
sure missed you when you left,” he said, prompting her to gasp.
    “What?”
he asked, smiling questioningly.
    “Uh …
nothing.”  She wasn’t about to tell him what she’d been thinking.  She glanced
off toward the buffet.  “You’d better get a plate while you can.  I’ll stay
here and do a surveillance, to assure no one drops anything untoward onto your
plate.”
    He
laughed as he stood from the table and extended a hand to her.  “Come on. 
We’ll risk it together.”

Chapter Eight
     
    “…A nd then
Thomas came running up behind me, as if he had a bull on his tail.”  Dalton
laughed.  “And, it turns out, he did.”
    Laura
chuckled at another recounting of one of Dalton and Thomas’ childhood—and
arguably, childish—antics. 
    Dalton shook
his head.  “It’s a wonder we didn’t get arrested.”
    “For
trespassing?”
    “That,
and trying to tip the bull, that we had somehow mistaken for a cow.”
    “I’m
not even going to ask why you couldn’t discern the difference,” Laura murmured
with a wince.  “But I am glad you’re alive to tell the tale.”
    Dalton
took a deep breath and stared intently at Laura’s face.  “Funny, but you were
the only one of the lot of us who ever had any sense.”
    Laura
was taken aback at the remark, which, it she wasn’t mistaken, had been said
with a definite hint of admiration in his voice.   
    “You
always knew where you were headed and how to get there,” Dalton mused.
    She
colored at the compliment, and asked, “You’re happy here, aren’t you?”
    He
hesitated before answering her.  Finally, he nodded.  “Yes, I’m happy living
here.”  He learned forward, bracing his upper torso on folded arms, as his eyes
locked onto her face.  “That reminds me of…  There’s something I’ve been
meaning to…” he began again, but was interrupted by a woman, who appeared
beside their table.
    Short,
with medium-length blonde hair, the woman stared at Laura with a big smile on
her face.  “Laura Landers, that is you!” she declared.  “It’s so wonderful to
see you.”
    Laura
studied the woman’s face briefly, and then broke into an equally big smile. 
“Stephanie!”  She leapt out of the booth.  “How are you?”
    The
young woman threw her arms around Laura’s neck, and then pulled back, and
watched Laura through eyes that had grown moist with tears.  “Laura, it’s so
good to see you.  I think about you every day.”
    Laura
smiled.  “You do?”
    The
woman nodded.  “I really do.  Hey, are you living in the area again?”  She
clasped her hands together, as if eagerly awaiting an affirmative answer from
her old friend.
    Laura
shook her head.  “Just visiting.  I take it you still live in Battle Ground?”
    She
nodded.  “I do.  I’m married and have a boy—as you know—and two little girls.”
    Laura
smiled fondly.  “How is Drake?  He has to be, what?—fifteen?”
    “You’re
right.  He’s a great kid.  I wish he was here so you could see him again.