Hey Sunshine

by Tia Giacalone

  HEY SUNSHINE

  Tia Giacalone

  Copyright © 2015 by Tia Giacalone

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design © Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations

  Cover photograph © Maja Topcagic

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9962774-0-2

  ISBN-10: 0996277404

  Tia Giacalone

  Visit my website at www.tiawritesbooks.com

  This book is dedicated to anyone who ever wanted more and wasn’t afraid to reach out and grab it.

  PROLOGUE

  “You can’t wear that, Avery. The guy is flying two thousand miles to come home, for God’s sake. Show him some cleavage, at least.” Heather Wilson shook her head, clearly disappointed by my fashion choices.

  I rolled my eyes at my best friend’s disgusted look.

  “What do you expect me to do, put on a pageant dress? We’re meeting him at the bus depot, Heather. I know the whole town will be there but it’s not exactly a black-tie affair.”

  I self-consciously smoothed my hands down the bodice of my knee-length cotton dress. When I first bought it, it had seemed breezy, cute, and comfortable – perfect for a hot, late-August night in West Texas – but now I was reconsidering. What did you wear to welcome your former high-school boyfriend home from fighting wildfires?

  Heather snorted, an unladylike sound that was totally out of place with her primly styled chestnut hair and petite frame, but I knew better. Snorting was only the beginning.

  “As if we’d have any idea what it’s like to attend an actual fancy event. Meeting the Greyhound for the hometown hero is as exciting as it gets around here.” Surveying my closet, she sighed. “Seriously, that dress is boring. It’s not like you haven’t had time to prepare.” She crossed her arms and studied me. “I’ll run home and bring over a couple options.”

  “Yeah right, anything of yours will be way too short and tight,” I protested. “That ship has sort of sailed.”

  “Avery Kent, this is your life,” Heather admonished me dramatically. “Don’t be such an old lady. You’re not even twenty-three, remember? If you’re going to do this, do it right.” And she disappeared out of the room.

  I pulled the rejected dress over my head and tossed it onto the unmade bed. The room was stifling, so I opted to stay in my sports bra and shorts as long as possible instead of getting fully dressed. Central air was an unrealistic dream on a part-time waitress, full-time college student salary. Dropping into the overstuffed chair next to my bed, I leaned my head against the cushion and closed my eyes.

  Chapter 1

  Four Years Ago

  “Avery! Wait up!”

  I turned and saw Chase Dempsey jogging toward me, still in his practice jersey with his helmet in his hands. My cheeks immediately flushed. Why was our state champion quarterback talking to me? Had he seen me earlier, watching the drills in the stands?

  As far as I could remember, we hadn’t spoken since seventh grade when he had asked to copy my math homework. Before that, I’d given him half of my peanut butter sandwich when we were eight and he’d dropped his hamburger on the floor at lunch. Not exactly life-altering moments but I remembered them. Did he?

  I usually steered clear of football, but for senior year I’d been assigned to cover the team after one of the other students on the paper transferred to another school. I knew next to nothing about the game – practically blasphemous in this county – so I’d started watching the practices last week.

  “Hi,” I squeaked as Chase came to a stop in front of me.

  “Hey,” he said, giving me an easy smile. “I saw you from the field. Why’d you leave?”

  “Um.” I wracked my brain for something cool or offhand to say but came up with nothing. “I had to go.” I had to go? Really Avery? I gave myself a mental head shake.

  Chase’s smile faltered for a second at my vague answer but he recovered quickly. “I was wondering if you had plans for Friday, after the game? After we demolish them, I mean,” Chase added, his grin growing even bigger.

  Plans? Is he asking me out? No way. He probably just needed help with his English homework. “I don’t know…” I said, feeling my face heat up again. “Why?”

  “A bunch of us are going over to Kyle’s house for a party, and I thought maybe you'd like to go. With me,” he elaborated.

  “You’re inviting me to go with you to a party at Kyle’s? Kyle Hill?” I asked incredulously.

  Brancher was a ridiculously small town with a definite hierarchy, featuring the football team and their friends at the top of the food chain. Those parties were strictly for the A-list crowd at our high school, and a shy, serious, journalism club girl like me didn’t make the cut. I was the girl with stacks of college brochures and lists of pros and cons for each one; the girl who color coded her notes by class and always turned in her assignments promptly – never the one who flirted in the hallways or led the dance-planning committees. I had friends of course, and even a few dates, but Chase’s group typically passed by me like I was invisible.

  “Why not?” Chase laughed.

  “But we’re not– we don’t–” I stopped talking before I could sound any more flustered.

  “I’ve wanted to ask you out for a while, Avery,” Chase admitted, and I felt my heart speed up a little. He was so cute. “C’mon, come with me. It’ll be fun.”

  “Okay,” I said slowly. “Why not?” I looked toward the parking lot and saw Heather standing there, a puzzled look on her face.

  “Cool. I’ll call you.” Chase winked at me and ran off.

  I walked over to where Heather was waiting somewhat impatiently. “Hey, sorry I’m late.”

  “What did Chase Dempsey want?” she asked immediately.

  “He wanted… to go out with me,” I said, still mulling it around in my head. “Weird, right?”

  “I don’t know why this is so unbelievable to you,” Heather rolled her eyes as we got into her parents’ station wagon. “I told you that after that growth spurt this summer added four inches onto your legs and you got your braces off, the boys would come running.”

  “Shut up,” I said, looking at myself closely in the visor mirror. “Since when do legs and straight teeth equal dates with the starting quarterback?”

  “Since you combined them with that swishy long hair and the whole smart-girl thing,” Heather insisted. “You’re pretty. It’s your cross to bear; use it wisely.”

  “Well, you should know,” I teased her. “I heard that Brandon cried when you broke it off with him last week.”

  “Brandon is diabetic, through no fault of his own, poor guy, and I felt guilty every time I baked anything in his immediate vicinity. It wouldn’t have lasted.”

  I laughed. “Heartless.”

  She shrugged. “Sugar-free is not my jam. We need to focus on your party attire,” she said, flicking a glance at me. “Two days isn’t a lot of time to plan the perfect first-date outfit.”

  “Sorry.” I peered into the mirror again. Chase Dempsey. I still couldn’t believe it.

  * * *

  “Chase, stop!” I squealed. “I have to finish this paper!”

  “C’mon babe.” He nuzzled my ear. “You can do it later, right?”

  Not really, my responsible mind argued, but Chase slid c
loser and I relented. “I guess so,” I said, giggling. I let him gently push the notebook out of my hands and pull me onto his lap. “I have to finish it today, though.”

  “Sure,” Chase said. “Later. Much later.”

  “You’re a bad influence,” I complained half-heartedly as he leaned in to kiss me.

  “On ‘Most Organized’? No way,” he teased me. “The yearbook awards never lie.”

  I laughed. “You would say that, Mr. ‘Most Attractive.’”

  He grinned. “Like I said, they never lie.”

  It was because of Chase that I was even on the radar for the yearbook committee. Dating him over the last few months had been an instant pass into the inner circle of Brancher’s teenage elite. Chase was the prince, the only son of the town’s most prominent and wealthy residents, which made me a reluctant princess by default. But he was sweet, handsome, and seemingly unthreatened by my intelligence, so I put up with life in the high school fishbowl.

  “You’re nonsensical,” I told him, but I kissed him anyway.

  “I love it when you use SAT words,” he murmured against my lips, and I laughed.

  “Speaking of SAT words, how are your applications coming?” I asked.

  “You want to talk about this now?” he grumbled.

  Chase was also more ambitious than most people gave him credit for, something I hadn’t anticipated when I agreed to our first date. When I told him about my plans to get out of Brancher as soon as possible and go away to college, I was surprised when he told me he wanted the same thing.

  “Me too, babe,” he’d said. “Football is gonna get me out of here.”

  Chase’s arm was his ticket out of Brancher, while mine was the grades I worked so hard to maintain, but neither one of us was above the daunting reality of the application process. Colleges liked well-rounded students, whether you were an athlete or an English major.

  That meant that I was spending my free time volunteering in the children’s section at the library, while Kyle and Chase were reluctantly padding their applications with community outreach hours. The local fire station welcomed them into their newbie volunteer ranks last week. Chase hadn’t mentioned it aside from expressing disappointment over their lack of a legitimate fire pole.

  “Tell me more about the fire station,” I prodded him. “Did you like it?”

  “Actually, yeah I did,” he admitted. His smile stretched over his whole face as he sat back against the couch. “We went out on a couple calls – no fires – but it was really cool.”

  “That’s great!” I said. “See, it won’t be that bad.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe not.”

  I smiled. “New yearbook category: ‘Most Likely to Save a Kitten From a Tree’ goes to Chase Dempsey.”

  “Give someone else a chance, babe,” Chase smirked. “There’s already gonna be tons of pictures of me in the yearbook.”

  I swatted him in the arm. “Incorrigible.”

  “Oooh, say it again.” Chase touched his lips to mine before I could say anything, and I gave up on my paper and gave in to his kiss.

  * * *

  The West Texas sun beat down mercilessly as Chase and I strolled toward the parking lot after our last class of senior year. Other students streamed by all around us, shouting and laughing on their way to celebrate the beginning of summer.

  “School is over! We’re free.” Chase tightened his arm around me and tipped my face up so he could look into my eyes. “Out of Brancher, out of Texas.”

  Free… I could hardly believe it. We’d talked about it all year, getting out of this town and starting our real lives. Graduation was tomorrow – it was finally happening – and then we’d be leaving for college. Chase would be playing football for Ohio State, and I’d be two hours away working on my creative writing degree at Oberlin College.

  “Sort of free,” I reminded him. “We do have to actually attend college, you know.”

  “Right, college,” Chase muttered darkly. “I know.”

  “I’m so excited!” I continued. “It’s going to be amazing. And we’ll still get to see each other every weekend. I won’t miss a game, I promise.”

  “Sure.” Chase pulled me closer for a kiss. “I gotta go.” He abruptly changed the subject. “I’m on duty this afternoon.”

  “Again?” I couldn’t hide the apprehension in my voice. Chase was still spending a lot of time at the fire station, long after fulfilling his quota for college applications. He loved the rush; he said there was nothing else like it, not even football. He was a full-gear volunteer now, and I worried every time he went out on a call.

  “I’ll be careful, babe,” he said, kissing me once more.

  Of course he would. Stop stressing. I banished the nagging voice inside my head that spewed doubt every time something was going well. “Okay.”

  “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning,” he said as he vaulted over the car door into his convertible Mustang. “We’re graduating!”

  “Finally!” I laughed, and he blew me a kiss.

  I smiled to myself as I watched him drive away. Chase and I were on the fast track out of Brancher and into our new lives. It was time to celebrate.

  * * *

  “He’s not here.” Janice Dempsey’s voice was clipped, angry.

  “Oh, okay,” I said meekly. “I’ll try his cell phone.”

  After the ceremony yesterday, the Dempseys threw Chase a large, extravagant graduation party. When it was over, Chase dropped me off at home and went back to his house to help clean up. It was a late night, and I was surprised he was already up and gone; I figured he’d still be sleeping.

  “If you manage to get ahold of him, tell him to call home immediately,” his mother demanded. “I do not find this amusing at all, by the way. His future is at stake.”

  “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” I said slowly. “What’s going on?”

  “You expect me to believe you didn’t know? That this wasn’t part of your plans?” I could picture her sneering face as she spit out the last words.

  “Mrs. Dempsey, what happened?”

  “Chase is gone. He left early this morning.”

  “Gone?” I could feel my pulse pounding in my head. Gone where? Chase couldn’t be gone.

  “Yes, Avery, gone. For a smart girl, you’re not following along here.” I cringed at the venom in her words. “Chase packed his things and left sometime before I woke. According to his note, he’s been recruited for a forestry position in Alaska.”

  “Alaska?” What about football… Oberlin… Ohio?

  “I don’t have time for you to repeat my words back to me. If you hear from Chase, you will call me immediately. Goodbye.”

  The line went dead and I pulled the phone away from my ear in disbelief. I took three deep breaths before I clicked over to my speed dial and pressed the button for Chase’s number. After four rings, a recorded message said that the person I was trying to reach was not accepting calls at this time.

  On an impulse, I scrolled through my contacts with shaking fingers until I found Kyle’s number. They were best friends and I hoped he’d know something about Chase’s whereabouts. He answered immediately.

  “Hey, Avery. What’s up?”

  “Hi,” I said cautiously. Kyle sounded completely normal, just like this was any other day. “Have you talked to Chase today?”

  “Nah,” he said. “We’re supposed to hit the school gym later though. Wanna come?”

  I almost smiled, because Kyle was always sweetly oblivious, but today was different. “No, thanks. Um, Kyle, I don’t think Chase is going to the gym with you today.”

  “No? That’s cool. We can go tomorrow. Maybe I’ll go for a run.”

  I sighed. He clearly had no idea that Chase was MIA. “Kyle, Chase is gone. His mom said he left for a forestry job? Do you know anything about that?” My voice cracked on the last word.

  “Oh shit…” Kyle exhaled. “He really left, huh? I didn’t think he was serious
.”

  “You knew?” I cried. “You knew he was going?”

  “No, no,” he protested. “He just talked about it once or twice, you know, since that guy from the Odessa station mentioned it. I never thought he’d actually go.”

  “What guy from Odessa? I need you to tell me whatever you know, please.” Getting information from Kyle’s meandering mind was like pulling teeth, but I was determined.

  “Um, well, we met this old guy from another station on a call a couple months ago, this other firefighter who used to work for the National Park Service. You know – smoke jumping, doing search and rescue and shit. He talked it up a lot, made it sound real exciting. Chase kept asking him all kinds of questions, and the guy said he could get him a job if he wanted.”

  Kyle paused, and my stomach sank. This was real. Chase loved the adrenaline rush, the praise and glory of being the hero quarterback fireman, on and off the field. Firefighting and emergency work would be the ultimate high for him. We were eighteen, legal adults. Chase was free to do whatever he wanted, regardless of our plans.

  “Anyway, Chase mentioned it a few times, and we kinda joked around, like wouldn’t it be crazy if he blew off Ohio and ran up to Alaska instead.”

  My entire body went numb. “Do you know who it was, Kyle? The firefighter from Odessa?”

  “No. Sorry, Avery. I can't believe he just left, without telling you. I never thought he’d do that,” Kyle said sadly.

  “Me neither,” I told him.

  Kyle kept talking, his voice distant in my ear as I slid from my bed to the floor and rested my forehead on my knees, too shocked to cry.

  * * *

  A nagging beep woke me from what was probably the worst night’s sleep of my life. I rolled over and grabbed my cell phone from the nightstand, jabbing at the screen until the alarm finally shut off. The air in the tiny room was stale, and the only light came from the single window where one of the blinds was crooked and broken.

  I watched the dust filter through the stream of sunlight for a second before glancing at the phone again to check the date. Exactly seven weeks since Chase disappeared and three weeks since I’d stopped trying to contact him. What's the point? He’s clearly forgotten all about you.