Long Way Home

by Vaughn, Ann

  “I learned my lesson. I’ve never brought up any of my dreams again after that day.”

  He cut his eyes sharply over at her. “You dreamed about me? In Kindergarten?”

  She sighed. “I’ve always had…interesting dreams about people I know.”

  Not quite sure how he should reply to that, Shane chose to change the subject.

  “So, why are you sitting here alone in the dark, crying?”

  She raked her fingers through her long blonde hair, sweeping it away from her face to push over one shoulder.

  “Steve and Stacy and some of the others were talking about me earlier. They didn’t know I was there. What they said…well, I don’t blame them, really. I mean, I have made a habit out of beating up on one of the town’s favorite sons.”

  “They were saying something about you and me?” She shrugged. “Well…what did they say?”

  “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “It’s not just nothing if it made you come over here and cry. You’ve been a lot of things over the years, but a crier has never been one of them.”

  “I really don’t want to talk about it,” she said, standing and trying to walk past him. He reached out and placed his hand on her arm, stopping her.

  “Talk to me, Tess, don’t walk away.”

  “Shane, please,” she said softly, her voice breaking slightly.

  “You’re always walking away. What would it hurt to stay and see what happens?”

  For a moment they stood silent, each staring at the other, trying to convey in a look what the other was feeling. When the band began the opening chords of “I Cross My Heart” by George Strait, Shane’s hand shifted from her arm to her hand.

  “Dance with me?” he asked softly.

  She sucked in a harsh breath and closed her eyes, as if his words physically hurt her. He saw a tear slip down her cheek and used that moment to pull her closer and began slowly swaying to the music with her. Tessa held herself rigid right at first, then allowed him to pull her closer, one arm around the small of her back, the other hand laced with hers, held against his chest, right over his heart.

  “Stop thinking,” he whispered to her, his lips close to her ear.

  Tessa shivered and tried to pull away but he tightened his hold on her.

  “Come on, Shane,” she said, pulling her head back enough to look up into his eyes, “I’m the enemy, remember? We aren’t supposed to even talk to each other, much less dance together.”

  He chuckled. “That was for when we were kids. I think we’re both mature enough now to handle being friends, don’t you?”

  “Hey, so long as you don’t try to rub dirt in my face again, I’m good,” she said after a moment, a smile touching her lips.

  Shane laughed. “You gotta admit, you would have deserved it.”

  “Ha!” she laughed up at him. “Never!”

  He gave her hand a light squeeze. “See? This is nice. We can dance and have a conversation and even be nice to each other.”

  “Guess that means we’ve grown up, huh?” she said, and he couldn’t help but notice the way her eyes were shining up at him.

  “Guess so…so, what do you say we really shock the heck outta every body, and you come back to the dance with me?”

  At that, Tessa missed a step in their dance. “Oh, well, I don’t –“

  “What’s the matter, Tess? Chicken?”

  She frowned at him. “I’m not chicken.”

  “Oh yeah? Prove it. Put your arm thru mine, walk back down there at my side and dance with me out in the open in front of everyone.”

  “All right. Who are you and what have you done with Shane McCanton?”

  “I’m serious. Come dance with me. Out in front of everyone. Lets really give them a show and keep them guessing. What d’ya say?”

  After a couple moments of silence, Tessa sighed and shrugged her shoulder. “Why the hell not?”

  He winked at her. “Let’s go rock everybody’s world.”

  Tessa slipped her arm through his and together they walked back to the main square to rejoin the street dance. Shane led her directly out onto the dance floor and expertly spun her into his arms, causing her to squeal and laugh, drawing all sorts of eyes to them. Shane smiled and found that she was an easy dance partner, super light on her feet and easy to stunt with. He knew that all eyes were on them but at that point, he really didn’t care. He hadn’t been enjoying the dance prior to excusing himself to use the restroom at his dad’s office. Now, he couldn’t remember ever having such a good time at a dance.

  When the band began another slow song, Shane pulled her close and led her in a two-step, squeezing her hand when she looked up into his eyes.

  “Now, aren’t you glad you came back with me?” he asked, keeping his voice low so she had to lean into him to hear him.

  “This has been fun, I gotta admit. And I gotta give you Props…you got some serious moves, McCanton.”

  “Amazing what six years of cotillion will do for a guy, huh?”

  “This is more than just dance lessons, my friend. I’d say you’re a natural.”

  Before he could respond, they were bumped from the side. They each looked up to see Shane’s best friend Steve Sinclair and his girlfriend Stacy Bennett dancing beside them.

  “Did Hell freeze over and we missed it?” Stacy asked, eyeing Shane and Tessa skeptically.

  “Yeah, man, what the hell?” Steve said.

  Shane felt Tessa stiffen in his arms and wanted to curse at his best friend for putting a damper on their mood.

  “We’re just enjoying the dance, man,” Shane replied.

  “Be sure you keep your hands above her waist, there, Bud. She’s got a mean left hook,” Lane Reynolds laughed.

  Tessa stopped dancing and flashed a bright but completely false smile at Lane, putting Shane instantly on alert.

  “Would you like another demonstration, Lane?” she asked sweetly. She’d punched him their Freshman year when he’d taken one liberty too many at the Back-to-School dance.

  “Relax, Tess,” Shane told her, twirling her away from them, “it’s just you and me out here, OK? Look at me,” he coaxed when she was still glaring over at the group they’d just left. He waited until she complied and then gave her hand a squeeze, “just you and me here.”

  She closed her eyes a moment then nodded and looked back up into his deep blue eyes. It was a jolt, seeing them this close to her after all these years of them pretending the other didn’t exist.

  “Why are you being so nice to me, Shane?” she asked, genuinely puzzled. “I’ve certainly never deserved your kindness.”

  “Not when we were kids, no, but that was a long time ago. People change. I know I’m not the same person as I was back then.”

  She watched him cradle their joined hands close to his heart again, still extremely puzzled by his actions.

  “So…are we friends now, Shane? Is that what you’re saying here.”

  He squeezed her hand. “I thought we already were, after being lab partners and hanging out with the group all this time. I know I’d like to be. What about you?”

  She tossed her head in such a way that her long blonde hair slung back over her shoulder, then cringed at the obvious flirtatious nature of the move. It was habit, but it could be misconstrued by those watching.

  “Tess?” he prompted. “Do you want to be friends now?”

  She smiled at him. “It’s what I wanted from the very beginning. I just didn’t go about it the right way.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I’d say that’s the understatement of the decade. So, my study group meets tomorrow night at Miss Nettie’s to go over notes for the English Lit test. Want to come? You’re the best in that class anyway. “

  She bit her lip. “Will Lane be there?”

  “Yeah, but I’ll talk to him. He won’t bother you. We could all benefit from you being there. You know that stuff inside and out.”

  “I’ll think about it,” she
hedged.

  “Don’t wimp on me. I need to ace that test.”

  “Oh, please. You always do good on your tests.”

  “Yeah, but not without a lot of studying. Why do you think we have the study group?”

  She snorted. “So you guys can hit on all the girls.”

  He acted wounded. “Please! When is the last time you saw me flirt with anyone?”

  “Seriously? You flirt with everyone…well, except me, but we haven’t exactly been on speaking terms the last ten years.”

  “Guess we need to make up for lost time, then,” he said with a wink.

  Tessa shook her head and frowned at him, missing a step in their dance.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “I just keep waiting for the punch line.”

  He stopped dancing and shocked the heck out of her by cupping her face in his hands. In that moment she was acutely aware of how tall he was, how much bigger he was than her.

  “I’m not pulling a prank on you, Tess. I promise.”

  She looked up into his eyes, her breath catching when he lightly skimmed his thumbs over her cheeks. Just when she thought he might lean in to kiss her, his mother walked up, turning his attention.

  “I need you to take your sisters home, Shane,” Susie McCanton said, her voice breaking the mood completely.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’ll be there in just a minute.”

  “Now, Shane Gabriel.”

  Shane sighed. “Yeah, OK. Do you need a ride home, Tess? I don’t really want to leave you here alone.”

  “Um, yeah, actually, if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. Let’s go round up my sisters before my mom has a cow.”

  “I heard that, Shane Gabriel!” Susie called over her shoulder.

  He shook his head as he took Tessa’s hand and led her over to where he’d spotted his youngest sister, Gracie. After collecting her, he skimmed his eyes over the dance floor, finding his sister Cordy dancing with Pat Baker and felt his blood boil. He led Tessa and Gracie through the dancing couples and inserted an arm between his sister and his classmate.

  “Hands off my sister, Baker,” he growled. “She’s a Freshman.”

  “Shane! Back off,” Cordy snapped.

  “Can’t. Mom said it’s time for us to head home.”

  Cordy glanced at her watch then scowled at her brother and Tessa. “Great. Because you had to hook up with her, I get penalized.”

  Tessa’s brows raised. “What?”

  “Hey, come on, McCanton, cut a guy a break,” Pat groaned.

  Shane released Tessa’s hand and took a menacing step toward Pat, growling at him.

  “You keep your hands off my sister and eyes in their sockets and you and I won’t have any problems.”

  “Shane!” Cordy protested.

  “Let’s go.”

  “Fine,” Cordy huffed. Gracie, having spotted the scene with Shane and Cordy had already made her way to their side. Shane nodded to his sisters to follow him, then to Tessa’s shock, he laced his fingers with hers as he led them to his truck. He had a single cab truck so they all squeezed in the bench seat, Tessa beside him. She wanted badly to ask Cordy what she’d meant when she said they had to leave early because of her but Cordy was nursing a bad mood so Tessa wasn’t interested in stirring her up.

  When they pulled up to her house, Tessa watched Shane get out and motion for her to slide out on his side.

  “Be right back,” he told his sisters, then shut the door and turned to walk Tessa to her door.

  “Thanks for dancing with me tonight, Tess. It was fun.”

  She nodded as they stood just outside the reach of her front porch light. “It was fun.”

  “Will you need a ride to Miss Nettie’s tomorrow?”

  “Um, I’m not sure.”

  “I don’t mind picking you up if you do.”

  “I’ll let you know.’

  “OK. Don’t wimp on me, all right? I expect you to be there.”

  “OK. Thanks for the ride.”

  “Any time,” he answered with a wink, then turned to go.

  “Good night, Shane.”

  He turned back to her and flashed a smile that had her heart pounding. “Night, Tess.”

  He watched her go inside then jogged back to his truck.

  “What are you doing, Shane?” Cordy asked when he got in.

  “What?” he asked, backing out of Tessa’s drive.

  “Are you seriously falling for Tessa Kelly?”

  “You need to stay away from Pat Baker. He’s got a big mouth. I wasn’t trying to just be a jerk brother. I’ve heard him bragging in the locker room. I don’t want his next story to be about you.”

  “Nothing happened, Shane. We were just dancing.”

  “Nothing does have to happen; you just have to be seen with him. Then his mouth gets the better of him and he starts telling lies. Trust me. He’s no good.”

  “Fine, duly noted. But what about Tessa? Mom’ll have a cow if you start dating her.”

  “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it, OK?”

  Gracie spoke up for the first time. “Well, I think you and Tessa would make a great couple.”

  Shane and Cordy exchanged a look at their younger sister’s junior high romanticism but both refrained from teasing her.

  The next day in the study group at Miss Nettie’s, Shane found it hard to concentrate on anything but Tessa. Her hair, her eyes...her lips. She was so pretty she took his breath away.

  “What?” she asked self-consciously when she felt him staring at her.

  He shook his head and looked down at his notes, embarrassed to be caught staring. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “What number are we on?”

  Steve elbowed him but Shane ignored him. Tessa gave him an odd look but didn’t say anything. At the end of the night everyone left, but Tessa hung back to talk to Shane. She helped him clean up their tables for Miss Nettie and together they loaded the dishwasher, keeping conversation light since Miss Nettie was around.

  “Oh, Tessa, honey, your mother called,” Miss Nettie said as they were finishing up. “She said your dad was there and for you to call her before coming home. You can use the phone over there.”

  “Thank you,” Tessa said, her voice small. Shane noticed that she was pale and that her hands were shaking as she reached for the phone. “Mama? Are you OK?” He heard her ask, thinking that was an odd thing for her to ask.

  “Shane, will you take the trash out for me?” Miss Nettie asked, interrupting his thoughts. He gathered the bags and carried them to the dumpster. When he got back, only Miss Nettie was left in the restaurant. He said good night to her and walked out to find Tessa leaning against his truck.

  “Hey, you OK?”

  She raked her fingers through her hair. “Not really. My dad popping in is never a good thing.”

  Shane shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out to see if her hair was as silky as it looked.

  “Your folks are divorced?”

  “Separated and heading to divorce,” she corrected. “He hasn’t lived with us for a while, ever since your dad booted him out one night when he was drunk.”

  That brought Shane up short. “What?”

  Tessa shrugged. “I guess I thought everyone knew. My dad is an alcoholic. He used to beat my mom. She took it and took it until that night when he started hitting me. She called your dad and he came in and saved us. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.”

  “He doesn’t talk about his work much to all of us. Just my mom. Is he still there? Is your mom safe with your dad over there? Should I call my dad?”

  “She called him when my dad showed up. Deputies are sitting across the street. Your dad takes care of us. They used to date. My mom and your dad. Did you know that?”

  He shook his head. “No. When? In high school?”

  She nodded. “They got into a fight Christmas of their freshman year at college. Your dad was off at UT and my mom was at the community
college. Mom said she was insecure about him being in Austin away from her. He wasn’t coming home every weekend like he’d promised and she got mad. Said it was the biggest mistake of her life. He met your mom not long after they broke up and the rest is history. I don’t think she ever really got over him. Kind of pathetic, huh?”

  “Your folks must have loved each other, though, right?”

  “I suppose. She said he was different before he was in an accident at work when we were in the first grade. I remember he wasn’t always drunk and mean. Seems like a lifetime ago, though.”

  “God,” he managed, “you were going through all that kind of stuff when we were having our little spats at school?”

  She smiled. “Don’t look to excuse me, Shane. I picked on you pretty good back then.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, ya did. Made my life Hell.”

  “Well, they don’t call me Tornado Tess for nothing,” she giggled. “I’m glad we can put all that behind us now. These last few weeks have been nice.”

  “Guess Ms. Sheldon knew what she was doing, making us lab partners.”

  “Guess so.”

  “Come on, we’ll drive by your place and see if he’s gone yet.”

  He held his hand out to her to help stand straight. She hesitated for just a brief moment then placed her hand in his. Shane gave her hand a light squeeze and stood still a moment, looking down into her eyes.

  “If I never said before, your eyes are really pretty,” he said softly.

  She was quiet a moment, looking up into his. “So are yours,” she replied.

  He stood a moment longer, aching to kiss her but afraid to act. Finally, he released her hand and walked around to open the door for her.

  The ride to her house was quiet but oddly comfortable. Shane realized he liked having her beside him.

  “Looks like he’s gone,” Tessa said when they approached her house. “I don’t see the Deputies, either.”

  “They’re here,” he said, pulling into her driveway, “they’re in the van across the street. Stay here while I talk to them, OK?”

  “That’s OK, Shane, you don’t -”

  “Humor me. Just stay put while I make sure it’s OK.”

  “OK.”

  He jogged across the street and went to the driver’s side window.