He gave her a sheepish grin, and she laughed
out loud.
“
I’m sorry. So he ended up
grounding you? If you like, I can call and tell him it was an
accident and I forgive you.”
With a simple gesture of his wrist, Blake
brushed her offer aside.
“
It’s not so bad and it’s
only for this week. Well, having to wash the dishes for the next
two weeks sucks, but besides that, I just have to come straight
home after school for the next week.”
Hesitating for a moment, Blake contemplated
if he would ask her out or not. But when she looked up at him with
her light brown eyes, he knew he had to at least try.
“
Veronica, I was wondering,
once I’m off of punishment and when you’re feeling up to it, maybe
we could go out. You know like ‘I’m sorry for breaking your arm
kind of thing’.”
“
Like a date?”
“
Well, I guess you could
call it that.”
“
Oh.”
Blake watched as Veronica thought about his
question. He wasn’t sure what ‘oh’ meant. She did like him, didn’t
she?
“
I think you’re going to
have to ask my dad first. I’ve never gone on a date
before.”
That made him feel a little less confident
in himself, but Blake said his goodbyes and headed out to the
garage where Mr. Klark was working on his car.
“
Hi, Mr. Klark. How are you
today?”
Standing up from the car, Blake took a step
back from the man who towered over him.
“
I’m good, Blake. Thank you
for dropping Veronica’s homework off.”
“
Not a problem. I’m heading
home, but I wanted to ask you something first.”
“
Sure.”
“
Well, I was kind of
wondering if once Veronica is feeling up to it and I’m not grounded
anymore, if I could take her out? You know as an ‘I’m sorry kind of
thing’.”
Mr. Klark looked unhappy with Blake’s
request, and he pondered the question for a few moments.
“
That sounds more like a
date. You know Veronica is only fifteen.”
“
Yes, sir, I know. I
promise not to have her out too late.”
Letting out a snort at Blake’s adamancy, he
turned to go back to working on his car.
“
I’ll have to think about
it. Come back and we’ll talk once you’re off of
punishment.”
“
All right, sir. Thank you.
Have a good night.”
A year and a half later
On top of Hideaway Hill, the spot where they
shared their first kiss, Blake and Veronica waited for the Memorial
Day fireworks to start. It was the perfect location. You could see
the whole park, but no one could see you. Blake claimed the hill to
be his favorite spot in all of town. He could spend hours up there
thinking, and no one ever came to bother him. It also happened to
be the most practical place to view the fireworks. Since it was
still early in the year, a slight chill hung in the air. He and
Veronica were wrapped in a blanket passing the time by kissing. It
was a little past dusk and the fireworks were going to start at any
minute. Moving his hand over her soft skin, Blake broke from their
kiss and his lips began to glide down her neck.
“
Blake?”
Veronica’s voice came out low and raspy as
she sucked in a breath of air. Her velvety voice sounded like music
to his ears, but he knew what she was about to say.
“
I know, sorry. I’ll
stop.”
Blake began to pull his hand away. Veronica
reached for it and threaded her fingers with his. They were close
enough so that he could see her smiling at him. Her lips, which
glistened, looked a little swollen from their kissing.
“
That’s not what I was
going to say.”
Leaning forward, she kissed him softly on
the lips. Blake felt his heart beat faster from her touch. He
brought his free hand up and brushed a strand of her hair away from
her face.
“
What is it,
Vee?”
“
I want to.”
He gave her a perplexed look as he repeated
what she said.
“
You want to…” Realizing
what she meant, his blood raced.
“
Are you sure? I told you
we can wait.”
Giving Blake a smile that took his breath
away, Veronica nodded.
“
Yes, I’m sure.”
She then leaned in to kiss his lips again.
Her lips felt so smooth against his, he let a low moan slip from
his mouth.
“
I love you,
Blake.”
“
I love you too,
Vee.”
As the fireworks began to illuminate the sky
above them, Blake and Veronica made love for the first time on
Hideaway Hill.
Chapter 1
Present day
W
alking down the familiar street, Veronica noted some of the
changes that had occurred to Main Street since the last time she
traveled the main road of her home town. It was dusk, but she
didn’t feel the need to hurry to get to her next location. No, here
she could honestly say she felt much safer walking alone at this
time of night. What could really go wrong? She was in the small
town of Surpatch, Iowa. It was the place she called home as a
child, and the place she was to call home again, after being away
for so many years. Thinking of everything that changed since she
left her safe place brought a shiver to her, but she quickly pushed
those awful memories out of her mind. She promised herself that
this would be a fresh start; the past was the past, and as her
father used to say, ‘there is no point in crying over something
that couldn’t be changed’.
She came to a stop in front of Gilligan’s
Watering Hole. She had another flood of memories. When she was
growing up, Gilligan’s by day was a place the locals came for
lunch. After school, it was a teenage hang out. At dinner time, it
was the place to go to grab a bite to eat with either family or
friends. And on the weekends, the adults hung out, danced and drank
after a long work week. The building took a rather large portion of
the street block. Veronica could hear the laughter and excitement
coming through the walls. She and Arthur had just moved back into
her parent’s old house, and they decided to go out for dinner. To
beat the dinner rush, Veronica decided she would make her way to
Gilligan’s while Arthur unpacked a few more boxes. Although, she
didn’t see anyone that she recognized, yet, she knew most of the
locals had already spread the word that she was moving back home.
In small towns like Surpatch, there are few secrets. It had taken a
little convincing on her part to get Arthur to come with her. He
wasn’t the biggest fan of small towns, and when he learned the
location of Surpatch, he really had his doubts. Sitting between
Webster City, Iowa and Kamrar, Iowa, Surpatch is the second biggest
town in the Hamilton County area. The population had doubled in the
last three decades, but with a little more than two thousand people
populating the town, it was still rather small. After she accepted
the job as assistant librarian, she knew word of her homecoming
would spread fast.
Veronica pulled the door to Gilligan’s open
and was met by the overwhelmingly delicious smelling food. It made
her stomach growl in anticipation. As she stepped through the door,
she noted that not much had changed. The floor was still a dark
wood with deep scuffs from the weekend dancing. The old arcade
video games were still in the corner along with two dart boards and
a pool table. The black vinyl stools that stretched along the width
of the eighteen foot counter seemed to be in the same condition. To
the right, the booths where she and her family sat when she was a
child, and where her friends hung out when she was in high school,
seemed to be the only thing that was different. The wooden benches
were replaced with black cushioned high back benches. She
remembered how after sitting on the old ones for more than an hour,
one’s butt would go numb. The rest of the room was filled with bar
chairs and mini tables.
Scanning the room, she noticed as heads
began to pop up and watch her enter the building. The loud talking
began to quiet to mumbles as the patrons confirmed her suspicions.
Some waved as she walked further into the Watering Hole. Waving
back to those she recognized, she smiled. When her sight fell on
that familiar face, her smile faulted. Veronica stopped in the
middle of the room and stared into those blue eyes, the eyes that
she had once loved, and the eyes that had eventually been the
deciding factor for her to flee the small town. Veronica knew it
would happen sooner or later. She just hoped it wouldn’t have to
happen her first night back in town. Off to the right with two
other individuals sat Blake Darwood. She could tell by the look on
his face that he was not surprised to see her. She willed her lips
into a faint smile as her feet started to move towards the table,
before she was able to give it a second thought. She would have
rather walked the other way. She hoped no one saw her stop dead in
her tracks a few seconds ago. However, if she was aware of Blake’s
presence, everyone else was too.
Surely, in a bigger town it may seem weird
for the mayor to be out having a beer, but not in Surpatch. The
Darwoods had run the town almost since the day it was founded. As a
child, it was Blake’s father, Richard Darwood, who had been mayor,
and in the last three years, it had been Blake. Though he was
rather young, he had taken on the task that the town’s people had
happily passed onto him when his father decided to retire.
Veronica’s feet brought her to a stop in
front of Blake. No one spoke for a moment. It seemed as if they
were both too busy surveying one another. Parker, Blake’s younger
brother, broke the silence.
“
Hey, Vee! I heard you were
coming back to town. It’s been a long time.”
Breaking eye contact with Blake, Veronica
turned her head ever so slightly to greet Parker, and if memory
served her right, Hayley Mowers.
“
Hi, Parker, Hayley. How
are you?” Giving them both a warm handshake, she noticed that they
had on matching wedding bands. Looking at the couple, Veronica
could tell they were happy. Parker, who looked like a younger
version of his dad, had brown hair and blue eyes. He had definitely
grown into a nice looking young man. He was only a year younger
than Veronica, but she always thought of him as her younger
brother. He used to follow Blake and her all over town.
“
We’re good.”
Parker wrapped his arm around his wife, and
Veronica tried not to laugh as Parker tried to kick his brother
under the table inconspicuously. Leave it to Parker to try to help
with the tension in the air. Blake grunted when his brother’s foot
came in contact with his shin. As Blake stood, he reminded Veronica
of why other ladies’ heads would turn when he entered a room.
Standing at six foot one, his shoulders were broad like a football
player, and even though he was in a shirt and tie, she could still
see all of his thick muscles pressing against the fabric. Blake,
with his straight jet black hair, blue eyes, and strong chin could
have any woman he wanted. Only a fool wouldn’t do a double take as
he walked by. Reaching out his arms, Blake stepped forward to
embrace Veronica.
“
It’s good to see you,
Veronica. Welcome back.”
To any of the on lookers, it would have
appeared to be two friends reuniting, but Veronica could hear the
edge in his voice. She could still hear the hardness and guard he
had put in place all those years ago.
“
It’s good to see you too.
I see news travels fast.”
Laughing, Blake took a step back and sat
back in his seat.
“
Well, of course it
does.”
He looked across the table at his
sister-in-law and Hayley began to blush.
“
What? Oh, don’t act like
if you didn’t hear it from me than someone else would have
eventually told you.” She then turned to look at Veronica. “I work
at the library too. I don’t think you saw me when you came for your
interview, but once Sherry told me you decided to take the job, I
kind of let it slip to a few other people.” Her blush deepened as
she tried to bury her face in Parker’s shoulder.
“
It’s okay. I knew it
wouldn’t take long for the word to spread. It’ll be nice to have a
friendly face at work.”
Behind her, Veronica heard the door open and
close again. She secretly hoped it wasn’t Arthur who had entered.
Although they had been dating for a few years and were now engaged,
she failed to explain the long history she and Blake shared. She
was quite relieved the hug Blake gave her was quick and he was now
seated again. She could only imagine how Arthur would have reacted
if he had walked through the door a few moments before. Walking up
behind her, she tried not to jump or wince at the tight hold Arthur
placed on her upper arm.
“
There you are. I thought
you would have gotten us a seat by now. Who are your
friends?”
She knew it was best not to try to pull out
of his grasp. The less movement she made, the less attention would
hopefully be brought to the ironclad grip that was most likely
going to leave a bruise on her arm later.
“
Sorry, darling, I was just
catching up with some old friends.” She tried to ignore the snicker
that flashed on Blake’s lips at the mention of “friends” as she
spoke.
“
These are the Darwoods.
Well, a few of them at least.”
“
Ah, the Darwoods, so you
must be Mayor Blake Darwood. I saw your picture hanging in the town
hall on our last visit. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”