Once she graduated from high school he sensed another boundary about to be crossed. Mia was ready to leave home for a bigger world. That fall, she’d be attending NYU, going for a business degree. He had to make sure she didn’t lose sight of the vision, had to make sure she wouldn’t forget that they belonged together. So he gave her a ring. Not a diamond. He couldn’t afford that. Anyway, if he gave her a diamond when she was so young, everyone in the family, not just Dad, would have a fit. The ring he found was pretty and it showed that he meant business.
After her graduation party, they went up to Lost Bride Falls on Sunday afternoon. It was a sunny June day with blue skies and warm weather, great for a hike.
And other things. Colin had his trusty condom in his pocket again. This time he was going to use it. Nobody would find them up here and start lecturing. Anyway, they were a whole year older now and as good as engaged. There was no reason to wait.
It wasn’t a long hike, but it felt like a year as they wended their way up the mountain path, past firs and hemlocks and cedars, Lady’s Slippers peeping out at them from beneath the underbrush.
They rounded a bend—and saw the falls in all its mountain glory, crashing over the crag, concealing the cave that lay behind the cataract. He and his dad had gone behind the waterfall once and explored that cave. He still remembered how cold and dank it was. If ever there was an ideal home for a ghost, that cave was it.
Maybe they’d see the ghost of the lost bride today. He took Mia’s hand, and they stood there taking in the sight.
“Do you see the lost bride?” she asked.
All he saw was water. If he had to wait to get laid until he saw that ghost, he’d be waiting until he was ninety. He drew Mia close. “Never mind her. All I care about is seeing my own bride.”
Then he kissed her. And she kissed him back, enough to encourage him to lead her off the trail, down by where Icicle Creek began, with a front-row seat to the falls. Oh, yeah, here was a nice, mossy spot, private and hidden from view. He sat down and held out a hand. “Come here, you,” he said with a grin.
She cuddled up next to him and it was a perfect moment. They could have so many perfect moments if they chucked her out-of-state school plan and got married. She could go to school here in Washington.
Except she was determined to go to that university in New York, and of course, that was the practical thing to do. It was a great school and she’d worked hard to get that scholarship. It would be stupid not to take advantage of the opportunity.
But he hated to let her go. He voiced a thought he’d been kicking around ever since she got her letter of acceptance. “You know, I was thinking. I could come to New York with you, get a job out there. We could get married.”
For a moment she seemed excited by the idea. Then she frowned and shook her head. “You need to at least get your associate degree. If you quit after one year, your dad will blame me.”
“No, he won’t,” Colin insisted. Okay, maybe he would. But so what? It was his life, not Dad’s. “I can finish anytime.”
“Col, I want to make sure we do everything right.”
He knew what that meant.
“After we’re done with school, we have our whole lives to be together,” she said.
“We have our whole lives right now,” he told her, and kissed her neck.
She threw back her head, a sure sign that it was all systems go, and that was fine with him. So, hidden under an outcropping of rock on that bank across from the falls, she finally gave herself to him completely.
“I love you so much,” she said later, tears in her eyes. “You’ll come visit me at school, won’t you?”
“Count on it,” he answered.
“And I’ll come home for holidays and for summers, so we won’t really be apart that much.” She looked as though she was going to cry, but then she brightened and said, “It’ll all work out. You’ll see.”
“I guess,” he said doubtfully. “I hate that you’re not going to be here.”
“But even if I was going to a state college, we wouldn’t see that much of each other during the school year.”
“Yeah, you’re right...”
“Of course I’m right,” she quipped and laid her head on his chest. They stayed there holding each other, her watching the falls and him watching her. Suddenly, she let out a little gasp and sat up, pointing. “Look! I see her.”
He looked. All he saw was water. “Where?”
Her excited smile fell. “Oh, she’s gone.”
She’d probably never seen the ghost of the lost bride at all. She’d seen the play of light and shadow and taken it for the ghost. “That’s okay,” he said. “As long as you’ve seen it, we’re good.”
She smiled. “Now I know everything will work out.”
He stared at her, puzzled. “You didn’t know before?”
She failed to meet his gaze. “Your dad thinks you can do better.”
Not that again. Ever since Dad had caught them in the orchard, she’d been convinced he didn’t like her. “Come on, I’ve told you, that’s not true. He likes you fine.”
“No, he doesn’t. But maybe once I’ve graduated, have a good job...”
“Once you’ve graduated, we’ll be married.” Let’s get our priorities straight here.
* * *
Nothing had gone according to plan. So much for the idea that seeing the stupid ghost of that lost bride promised a happy ending. Sure hadn’t worked for him.
* * *
Here was where Mia had given herself to the man she thought was the love of her life, where she’d seen the ghost of the lost bride and dreamed of a wedding followed by a happy life with her best friend. Boy, had things taken a wrong turn.
No ghostly bride flitted behind the violent froth of waters today. Rainbows and sunlight diamonds, but no bride.
She sneaked a glance at Colin. He was looking pensive. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“You can’t think nothing.”
“Sure you can. Guys do it all the time.”
“Well, you weren’t. You didn’t have a think-nothing expression on your face.”
He raised one sandy eyebrow. “There’s such a thing as a think-nothing expression?”
“Yeah, there is.” She let her mouth go slack and her eyes go blank. “That’s a think-nothing expression. You were looking like this.” She demonstrated by tightening her lips and drawing her brows together.
“Ah, well, thanks for explaining.”
“So, what were you thinking?”
His brows drew together again. “Do you really want to know?”
Maybe not. “Yes,” she said, and braced herself.
“I was remembering the last time we came up here and how wonderful it was.”
“I was remembering that, too,” she confessed, and the memory of his lips on hers sure brought back those pesky tingles.
He shook his head. “What happened to us?”
He was going to do the love forensics thing now? Really? “You know what happened to us,” she snapped, and the tingles ran for cover. “Your suspicious mind and quick temper, that’s what happened. Just because I went away to school didn’t mean I stopped loving you. Why couldn’t you trust me?”
“I did trust you, and fat lot of good it did me. You broke my heart, Mia.”
“Right,” she said in disgust. “Who broke up with whom?”
“What was the point of pretending?” he demanded. “I saw how things were with you and Arthur.”
She could smack him. “You imagined how things were.”
“Yeah, and I guess I imagined that diamond ring on your finger when you came home.”
“What was I supposed to do, Colin? We were through. Did you want me to wait forever fo
r you to get over yourself and come to your senses? Well, excuse me for not wasting my life.”
Except in a way she had. The life she’d wound up with hadn’t been the one she’d wanted, and Arthur had been a mistake. Good old funny, clever Arthur. Tall and skinny with dimples when he smiled, curly brown hair, and a never-ending appetite, Arthur, as Mia’s roommate succinctly put it, was adorable.
* * *
“I’d take him in a heartbeat,” Mia’s roommate, Angie, said as she and Mia walked to Starbucks in search of lattes. “If he’d even look at any girl besides you.”
Mia held up her left hand, showing off her ring. “I’m taken.”
“I don’t see a diamond there. I bet Arthur doesn’t, either.”
“There will be.”
“I don’t know. That childhood-sweetheart thing only works in movies.”
“Well, they could do a movie about Colin and me. We’re like Heathcliff and Cathy. The happy-ending version,” she quickly added.
“Hurry up and explain that to Arthur so I can have a crack at him.”
Yes, she and Arthur needed to have a talk. Mia didn’t want to lead him on. So when he suggested going for lunch after Lit class, she reminded him about Colin.
Her reminder bounced off him like raindrops off a turtle’s shell. “You’re not married yet. In fact—” he lifted her hand and examined it “—you’re not officially engaged.”
“As good as,” she said, taking away her hand. “So you’d be wasting your time.”
“I like wasting time,” he cracked, “especially with you. Come on. Let’s go get something to eat. You can explain why I should care about anything Albert Camus has to say. If you ask me, his writing is absurd.”
Mia chuckled at the pun. If she hadn’t already given away her heart, Arthur could probably have taken it.
Autumn turned the leaves orange and gold, and as Halloween approached, Colin planned to come visit her at school and scare away any big-city ghosts. They’d been emailing or talking on the phone every day, and she’d told him all about her classes and her new friends—Manda Jenkins, the math genius; her crazy drama-major roommate, Angie; and Arthur. Although she tried not to mention Arthur too often. Colin didn’t like hearing about him, seemed to see him as a threat in spite of her assurances that she and Arthur were simply friends who happened to share a couple of classes.
It was Colin who made her heart race every time he called; Colin who turned her dreams hot and steamy on those crisp October nights. She could hardly wait to see him. Angie had promised to stay with Manda and her roommate for the weekend, so Mia and Colin could have the exclusive use of their dorm room.
“You owe me for this,” she told Mia. “I’m on the floor on a blow-up mattress and I’m going to have to put up with Sherry Know-It-All.”
“I’ll have Colin bring some Sweet Dreams Chocolates from Icicle Falls,” Mia promised. “You’ll love me forever.”
“They better be good. That’s all I can say.”
“They are. Anyway, you’re getting a little dramatic here. You won’t see that much of Sherry. She’ll be in the library all weekend, and Saturday night’s the party. So you only have to live through Sunday morning.”
“Which’ll be bad enough. But hey, you’d do the same for me, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“I still think you should’ve sent him to stay with Arthur and Gregory, get to know some of the guys.”
“I’m not sure Colin and Arthur are going to hit it off.”
That was an understatement. Friday night, after Colin got in, they joined her friends at a local pizzeria near the college. Mia wound up with Colin on one side of her and Arthur on the other. Arthur was his usual clever, bantering self. Colin, who started out acting friendly, got quieter as the evening wore on. By the time they were done eating, he was a clam.
When the bill came, Colin dug out his wallet, but Arthur said, “No worries, I’ve got it,” and tossed down a hundred-dollar bill.
Then Colin became a scowling clam. A Heathcliff.
“What on earth is wrong with you?” she demanded when they got back to her room.
“Nothing,” he growled. “Is that Arthur rich?”
“I don’t know.” He always had plenty of money but so what?
“You didn’t tell me he’s rich.”
“Does it matter?”
Colin’s only response was to deepen his frown.
Mia frowned, too. “Colin, I really don’t understand what’s going on here. The way you were at dinner, that’s not you. Everyone’s going to think you’re a jerk. You couldn’t spare one smile?”
“I guess my lips were broken. Sorry,” he added. ‘I was a jerk.”
“A blue-ribbon one, but I love you, anyway,” she said, giving him a smile and wrapping her arms around him.
“I just don’t like that guy,” he muttered.
“What guy?” she teased, and kissed him.
He wasn’t so easily distracted. “You know he’s hot for you.”
“Well, I’m not hot for him.”
“You were flirting with him.”
She threw up her hands and flopped on the bed. “I was laughing at his joke.”
Colin frowned again. “You tossed your hair. Everyone knows when a woman tosses her hair she’s flirting.”
Okay, they needed to lighten up. Mia flicked back a lock of hair. “Yeah?”
That made him smile. When Colin smiled, those blue eyes of his lit up and crinkled at the corners. There was so much warmth in them. His smile set her heart on fire and made her knees go weak. It always had.
“Okay, maybe I jumped to conclusions,” he admitted. He joined her on the bed and drew her to him. “And maybe we can find something better to do than talk about Arthur.” Then he kissed her, proving that his lips weren’t broken. Oh, no. They were in perfectly good working order.
The next day they picked up their costumes at a costume rental store, then she took him to some of the city’s popular tourist attractions, hoping to make him fall in love with its energy and excitement the way she had—the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park. The park took up the rest of their day. They wandered through the zoo, rode the carousel and watched the men playing chess. They went up into Belvedere Castle and enjoyed the panoramic view of the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond. Colin insisted they ride in a horse-drawn carriage. And there he told her she was the most beautiful sight in all of New York, and kissed her.
“So what do you think of the city?” she asked, as they got hot dogs from a food cart.
“I gotta say, even with all the cool stuff here, I still like Icicle Falls better.”
“Me, too,” she said. Three more years of school after this, and she could come back for good. She’d make sure she graduated cum laude, then she’d land a job in Icicle Falls, say at the bank. She’d work her way up to being a loan officer, and eventually manager. Or maybe she’d start her own business. Then no one would think of her as a leech, taking advantage of the Wright family.
They were hardly back in her dorm room when Colin pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “That’s what I like best about New York, being here with you.”
Oh, so romantic. Of course she had to fall into bed with him and reward him properly.
Later, as they lay there, him playing with her hair, he said, “Let’s bag the party tonight.”
Good idea.
Before she could speak, Angie called. “Hey, we’re all going to get something to eat before the party.”
Mia looked at Colin. “We’re not sure we’re going to make the party.”
“You’ve probably been going at it like rabbits all day. Come out and be social.”
Mia caved. “Well, maybe for a little while.” They’d put in an
appearance and then they could go do something, just the two of them.
“I guess we’re going to the party,” Colin said when she hung up.
She sighed. “I guess so.” She didn’t enjoy big, noisy parties where she barely knew anyone, but it was at Arthur’s frat house. He’d be disappointed if they didn’t show.
“We can leave early,” she promised. The more she thought about it, the less time she wanted to spend with a bunch of other people. Especially female people. Colin was so cute, girls would be hitting on him all night.
They donned their costumes—hers a serving wench, his a pirate—and joined her friends at their favorite hole in the wall for burgers, then moved on to the frat house.
Mia had been right. It seemed they’d just gotten in the door when some girl in a scanty French maid costume was sidling up to Colin, offering to walk his plank. He turned down her offer, telling her his ship was in dry dock, earning himself major boyfriend points.
“There you are,” called Arthur, who was wearing a devil costume. “You need beer,” he added, leading them to where the keg was set up. “Some party, huh?” he shouted over the blasting music.
It certainly was. The place was as packed with food as it was with people—bowls of chips and popcorn, platters of sandwiches, plates piled high with store-bought cookies. Someone had brought caramel apples and there was plenty of candy corn. Beer was the main attraction, though, and a few revelers were already tipsy.
And here came the French maid again. “He’s with me,” Mia said, stepping in front of Colin.
Arthur laughed. “Give up, Mia. Everybody knows you can’t trust a pirate.”
“And everybody knows you can’t trust the devil,” Colin shot back, slipping an arm around Mia’s shoulders. “Come on, babe, let’s dance.”
They found a spot in the crush of bodies and danced. Then they ate chips and drank beer and danced some more. A couple of beers later—or maybe it was three, who knew?—Mia needed to find the bathroom.
“Let’s get out of here,” Colin was saying.
She nodded and her head protested. Eeew. Don’t do that. “I’ll be right back.”
The downstairs bathroom was occupied, so she went upstairs, where she was sure she’d find another, feeling as though her head was floating behind the rest of her. She hated feeling buzzed. No more beer. Ever. She only drank the stuff to be polite. She really wasn’t fond of the taste.
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