Bridge to Haven (18 page)

She tossed the brush on the unmade bed, got up, and went to the door. She opened it and stood aside. “Thanks ever so much for coming by.” She spoke in a sugary tone, then added ice. “Don’t bother ever coming back.”

Joshua stepped over the threshold. She uttered a choked cry, slammed the door, and locked it.

Joshua stood in the hallway, stunned. It was over before it had ever begun.
I’ve lost her, Lord. Oh, God, I’ve lost her.

Joshua’s nightmares returned, worse than ever. He dreamed he was back in Korea, suffering through a cold white winter, running—
always running—to save someone he couldn’t quite reach. Dad awakened him almost every night and sat and prayed over him while Joshua lay panting, fighting the panic that lurked just under the surface.

Gil MacPherson called and invited Joshua out to the ranch. Dad had suggested it. “He was a medic at Normandy. I think he might understand better what you’re going through than I can.”

Gil did.

Dad still went out every morning for his long walk around town. Joshua knew he still stopped at Peter and Priscilla’s gate. He still prayed for Abra.

And Dylan Stark still showed up in town. A high school teacher friend of Peter’s said he’d seen a red Corvette parked at the cyclone fence on the far side of the high school football field. Dylan Stark had also been seen near Eddie’s Diner, where students liked to hang out.

Joshua knew Dylan wouldn’t give up. Dylan was biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to take what he wanted. Peter couldn’t keep Abra grounded forever.

Abra felt like she was going crazy. All she could think about was Dylan and when she could see him again.

Classes let out for lunch break; the halls and corridors swarmed as students made their way outside, sitting in clusters on the lawn, sitting at picnic tables set up under the trees near the shop building, or gathering in groups on the football field. When Abra spotted Dylan standing by the cyclone fence, she darted a look around and went to him. She gripped the wire. “It’s good to see you.”

His fingers curled over hers. “That’s all you’ve got to say?” He looked angry, frustrated. “When are you going to break out of that prison they’ve locked you in?”

“Peter grounded me for a month, Dylan. I still have two weeks to go.”

“I’m not waiting around for another two weeks, baby. I’m sick of this town.”

Her heart knocked hard and fast. “Please don’t go.”

“Come with me.” His fingers tightened, hurting her.

“Where would we go?”

“Does it matter? You love me, don’t you?” At her breathless nod, he stepped closer. “I want to get my hands on you. We were barely getting started that day I took you home. We’re going to be good together, baby. We could go to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, wherever we want to go.”

She didn’t doubt he loved her. “You know I want to get away, Dylan.”

He let her go and stepped back from the fence. “Then meet me at the bridge at midnight.”

Tonight?
“I can’t!” She couldn’t think that fast.

“Can’t or won’t? Maybe I was wrong about you.” He walked away.

“Dylan! Wait! I’ll be there.”

He looked back then and smiled. “If you’re not, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering what you missed.” He kept walking this time and didn’t look back.

Abra ate even though she wasn’t hungry. It was Penny’s turn to do the dishes, and Abra asked to be excused. She had homework to do and was a little tired. Maybe she’d go to bed early.

Peter looked at her, a faint question in his eyes. “Sure you don’t want to join us in the living room? Watch a little television?”

“I wish. I have a report due on Friday.” Two lies in a row and it didn’t even bother her.

With everyone downstairs, it was easy for her to slip into Penny’s
room and steal a suitcase from the set Priscilla had given her for Christmas. Penny wanted to go to Mills College. Ian Brubaker said Abra should go to Juilliard. But she only wanted one thing now. To be with Dylan.

The suitcase wasn’t big enough for everything, but Abra packed what she could and hid it under her bed. It was after nine o’clock before Peter came upstairs. An hour after that, Priscilla came up. She tapped lightly on Penny’s door. “Lights out, Penny. School comes early.”

The house fell quiet. Abra lay in the darkness. Joshua’s words came back to her, and doubts followed. Did Dylan really love her? He’d never said so in so many words. But could he kiss her like that and not love her?

The clock ticked. Time crept by. She got up and paced, then stopped because someone might hear and come and knock on her door and ask if anything was wrong. She sat on the end of her bed, heart thumping wildly. She should leave a note, at least. She went to her desk and found paper. She turned on the lamp and wrote quickly. The wind came up, the maple tree outside the window rustling and startling her. The wind chimes danced under the patio arbor. The downstairs clock chimed eleven. She took out envelopes. She tucked in a note addressed to
Mr. and Mrs. Matthews
, another to
Reverend Ezekiel Freeman
, and a far kinder farewell to Mitzi. She wanted to write to Joshua, too, but didn’t know what to say. Best to leave well enough alone. As an afterthought, she took Marianne’s Bible from the bottom drawer and scribbled a quick note to tuck inside:
Marianne would want Joshua’s wife to have this.

Pulling the suitcase out from under the bed, she slowly opened the door and tiptoed down the hallway, heart skipping a beat when the stairs creaked. She hurried to the front door and closed it quietly behind her.

Her side ached by the time she reached the bridge. Dylan was
there, leaning against his car. He straightened when he saw her. He tossed her suitcase into the small trunk and slammed it. “I knew you’d come.” He pulled her close and kissed her until she was breathless. “Wouldn’t you love to see their faces in the morning?” His hands spread over her breasts and she felt a moment of panic.

“Still wearing this?” He broke the chain holding Marianne’s cross and tossed it aside. “You don’t need any reminders of the past, do you?” He didn’t give her time to think before he kissed her again. His hands took liberties that shocked her, but she was afraid now to protest. “I’m going to have so much fun with you.” He shifted her so he could open the car door. “Get in.”

She slid down, swinging her legs in before he closed the door.

He came around and got into the driver’s seat. “Tonight, we start living.” He gunned the engine and honked the horn as they crossed the bridge out of Haven. “Just so they all know!” He looked so delighted, she laughed, exultant.

Joshua sat in the kitchen, still shaken by his nightmare. Head in hands, he tried to concentrate on Psalm 23.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

The telephone rang. Adrenaline shot through his body; he felt a premonition and tried to push it away. Just because the telephone rang at four in the morning didn’t mean something had happened to Abra. Dad often got calls in the middle of the night. Joshua scraped the chair back and went into the living room to answer.

“Joshua, it’s Peter. She’s gone.”

He didn’t have to ask who had taken her. “When did they leave?”

“Sometime after we went to bed. Priscilla woke up and thought she heard something. I’ve been out driving around town for the last two hours, but I haven’t seen her.”

Joshua hung up, flipped through the telephone book, and dialed Cole Thurman’s number. The telephone rang ten times before a groggy voice answered with a foul curse.

“Mr. Thurman? Joshua Freeman. Where’s Dylan?” Joshua barely restrained himself from shouting.

“How would I know? I’m his father, not his keeper.”

“Abra Matthews is with him. She’s sixteen.”

“That girl was trash the day your father found her. He should’ve left her under the bridge.”

Joshua slammed the receiver down.

“There’s nothing you can do, Joshua.” Dad stood in the doorway, dressed for his morning walk. His face looked even more pale and worn than it had when Mom died.

“I can’t just do nothing, Dad! I have to go after her!” He grabbed his jacket and keys and headed for the door.

Abra felt warm and velvety enclosed in Dylan’s sports car. He drove fast, radio blaring rock and roll. Her nerves tingled every time he looked at her. When he downshifted, then shifted again, her stomach clenched with excitement. Penny and all her friends had tried to win his attention, but he’d picked her. They’d be together forever. He only had to look at her to make the heat flood her veins.

His hand glided up her thigh. “You look excited.”

Abra felt consumed with need. “I’m still taking it all in.” She looked at him, hoping he would say he loved her.