Susannah's Garden (Blossom Street #3)(63)

Susannah frowned, feeling helpless in the face of her own regrets and his unyielding bitterness. “I intend to, yes. Please, Joe, don’t be angry with me.”

“Keep your appointment,” he said, “but I don’t want to hear a word about it, understand?”

Before she could agree or disagree, the line was disconnected.

CHAPTER 25

Chrissie went outside and sat on the top step to think over what was happening to her family. Her hand curled around the ring. It seemed that her parents’ marriage was dissolving in front of her. The minute she’d arrived home from college, she’d sensed that things weren’t right between her mom and dad.

Now her mother was hung up on this guy she’d known as a teenager. Jake was on her mind 24/7. It was obvious. Hardly anything had gotten packed in the last couple of days because her mother was too busy doing her own investigative work, looking for her old high school boyfriend, talking about him constantly with Carolyn Somebody—whom Chrissie hadn’t even met.

She couldn’t worry about her parents, though; Chrissie had concerns of her own. Troy was exciting and fun and—she had to say it—dangerous. Almost every afternoon she made a run into Spokane with him. She didn’t ask what that was about, but she had her suspicions. He left her in the car while he went inside a “friend’s house.” These visits took all of five minutes and then they drove back to Colville. A couple of times they’d stopped at Loon Lake for a swim. Once he’d taken her for ice cream next to a video rental place.

They spent hours at his friends’ homes. These guys weren’t the type who attended college, either. If her mom knew about Troy’s friends, it would freak her out.

Chrissie brightened as the familiar sound of his truck came from the end of the block. She was off the porch and standing at the curb by the time he roared to a stop.

“Hi.” He leaned out the window, elbow on the edge, and sent her a ready smile. “What’s up?”

Chrissie shrugged. “Not much.”

“Want to go for a ride?” he asked, with the lazy certainty that she would.

“Sure.” She dashed around the front of the truck and climbed in.

“You don’t want to get your purse?”

“Will I need it?”

“No, but I’ve never seen a woman who didn’t drag her purse everywhere she went.”

The problem was, Chrissie didn’t want to go into the house. If her mother saw her with Troy, she’d ask where Chrissie was going and what time she’d be back. Chrissie could live without that particular form of harassment.

“I don’t need it. Let’s get out of here.”

Troy responded with a throaty laugh and grabbed her bare thigh, his fingers creeping under the hem of her shorts. She didn’t stop him.

“We going to Spokane?” she asked.

“Not today.”

“Then where?”

“Ever been to Northport?”

“Nope.” Chrissie had heard of the small town close to the Canadian border. Now she’d see it.

“It’ll be fun.”

Chrissie rested her head against his shoulder. “Everything with you is fun.”

Troy released her leg, shifted gears and they were off. Normally he racked up the volume on his sound system and let the music blare. This afternoon, he seemed to notice her mood and kept the screaming pitch down to a more moderate level.

“What’s wrong?” Troy asked as they pulled out of the city limits. “Is your mother on your case about me again?”

Chrissie shook her head. “What would you think if I moved to Colville?” she asked, testing the waters. She couldn’t imagine going back to school after this summer. Not with the Jason mess and her current indifference to academics. Moving here made a lot of sense. Her grandmother needed her, and that way they wouldn’t have to worry about packing up the entire house in a few weeks. She could live there and take care of everything.

Besides, she’d never had a relationship like this. With Troy, life was one big party and she was along for the ride and loving every minute of it.

“D’you want to live with me?” he asked.

That would definitely freak out both her parents. “I’ll think about it,” she said, but her parents weren’t going to let that happen.

He laughed. “Your daddy would probably have me arrested.”

“I told you I’m over twenty-one.” It was a lie, one that slipped easily off her lips. So she’d exaggerated a little.

Troy chuckled and gave her a knowing look. “You’re not twenty-one, are you.” He didn’t make it a question.

“I’m—”

“Just as long as you’re not under eighteen.”

“No way.” Indignation caused her to straighten. “I’m not a kid!”

He stroked her thigh again and laughed.

Then, because she was curious, she asked. “Have you had girls live with you before?”

“A few. They generally don’t last long.” His eyes momentarily left the road and connected with hers.

Chrissie lost herself in the sexual intensity of his gaze, and her breath caught in her throat.

“I have a feeling that if we got together it’d be different, though,” Troy murmured.