Pierced by Love

CONTENTS

• One
  
• Two
  
• Three
  
• Four
  
• Five
  
• Six
  
• Seven
  
• Eight
  
• Nine
  
• Ten
  
• Eleven
  
• Twelve
  
• Thirteen
  
• Fourteen
  
• Fifteen
  
• Sixteen
  
• Seventeen
  
• Eighteen
  
• Nineteen
  
• Twenty
  
• Twenty-One
  
• Twenty-Two
  
• Twenty-Three
  
• Twenty-Four
  
• Twenty-Five
  
• Epilogue
  
• Discussion Questions
  
• About The Author
  

To Rob

who, by helping me flesh out the chapters to this story, also encouraged me to begin a new chapter in my own.

I love you.

And to my parents, Lynn and Lois,

who have dedicated their lives to teaching

both at home and in the classroom.

Much appreciation to Brittany F., my first unofficial editor, who helped me prepare this manuscript for submission, and the Thankful Gals, my cheerleaders whose encouragement when they discovered I was writing a novel was nothing short of amazing.

ONE

N
OELLE JENSEN COULD see her breath in the cool winter air as she and her boyfriend, Chase Dunlop, jogged their second loop around the south campus at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Since she hadn’t had time for a morning run and would be tied up in a study session with her friend later, she’d invited Chase for a quick jaunt. Now, as he was slowing her down, she was regretting her impulsive decision. She’d have to settle for a little less than three miles instead of her regular four.

Noelle glanced at her watch, noting that it was a quarter after six. She needed to step it up a notch if she was going to meet Jill by seven. Being late was not an option. The thematic unit they would be working on together for one of their classes in the elementary education program promised to be a lengthy process.

“I’ll race you back to the car.” Without waiting for his response, she shouted, “On your mark, get set, go!” Noelle ran faster, exhilaration spurring her on. She squashed a momentary pang of guilt from knowing that her boyfriend was probably struggling to keep up. Why did she always feel so compelled to invite him? It wasn’t like Chase enjoyed this sort of thing. But he was improving nonetheless.

“Are you crazy? That’s all uphill,” Chase huffed behind her, his outraged voice sounding farther away. “Noelle!”

Exerting all her strength, she pushed on for another fifty yards or so before slowing to a walk, her lungs burning for oxygen. In spite of the steadily dropping temperature, sweat drenched the edge of her headband.

“Awesome!” Noelle exclaimed after catching her breath. As Chase slowly climbed the hill to the Skydome, she held her hand up for a high five. “Good run.”

His slick hand met hers before wrapping itself around her wrist. Holding it loosely and with a baleful look in his eyes, Chase returned, “That was a bit unfair, don’t you think?” He cocked one eyebrow at her.

“Aw, come on.” Slugging him playfully on the shoulder, she answered mischievously, “It was just for fun. Besides, friendly competitions make life interesting.”

Chase’s eyes narrowed darkly. “It wasn’t supposed to be a race. But since I can’t convince you otherwise, consider this fair warning. Next time, babe, you’ll be the one who’s left in the dust.” Then his muscles relaxed, and he chuckled.

Noelle smiled back, her lips wobbling—whether from the coldness of his words or the night air, she didn’t know. A niggling of doubt scurried through her mind. Surely he’d only been joking about her love of running. However, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he was talking about something else.

Chase drove Noelle back to her apartment off Butler Avenue. Upon walking through the door, they inhaled the rich aroma of beef stew simmering in the slow cooker. Even more tantalizing were the fresh homemade rolls that Noelle’s older sister, Melody, was pulling out of the oven. Taking her oven mitt off and tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, she greeted them with a smile. “Hi, Chase. Hey, Noelle. How was your run?” The heat from the oven had turned her fair skin rosy.

“Fabulous,” Noelle answered cheerfully.

“A killer.” Chase aimed a saucy grin at her sister. “Melody, your sister is a drill sergeant.” He winked at her.

“What can I say? You’re in training.” Patting his abs, Noelle made a show of looking impressed. “You’re not as flabby as you used to be.”

“Nope. Thanks to my slave-driving woman.”

Just then, Melody set a steaming bowl of stew on the table a little too abruptly, causing the hot liquid to slosh dangerously close to the edge before settling. “Eat up, Noelle. You’ve got to keep up your strength, you know. You’re always going at a hundred miles an hour. You too, Chase.”

Chase reached out and grabbed a hot roll with his bare hands, tossing it back and forth to let it cool.

“Chase!” Melody cried. “You’ll burn your hands.”

A few seconds later, Chase popped a bite into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “There you go again, Melody,” he teased. “Always mothering everybody.”

“Don’t you mean, ‘smothering everybody’?” Noelle joked, watching her sister take over in a manner that was almost second nature for her. While Noelle had tolerated and even enjoyed the extra attention Melody bestowed on her as a child, she felt more than a little annoyed with it now. Not only was Melody forgetting that Noelle had taken care of herself just fine during the past two years, but she was also forgetting that Noelle could take care of her boyfriend too.

When Melody only gave her a perplexed stare, however, Noelle laughed nervously to cover her blunder. “Sorry. I guess I’m still a little giddy over the fact that I beat Chase to the Skydome.”

Chase’s lips tightened. His voice held a bit of an edge. “And I told you, it wasn’t a race.”

Melody’s eyes darted to Chase’s at that moment. If Noelle hadn’t been reaching across the table for a napkin from the holder, she’d have missed Melody shaking her head in warning at Chase. He, in return, smoothed his features and smiled pleasantly. Confused by the sudden tension in the room, Noelle set the napkin down and announced, “I’m going to take a quick shower first. Go ahead and start without me.”

Ten minutes later, Noelle turned off the hot spray of her shower and toweled herself off before quickly dressing in a warm pair of jeans and a thick sweater. She emerged from the bathroom to find that Chase had finished eating and was now conversing with all three of her roommates, who included Hannah Parker, Jessie Rasmussen, and of course, Melody. “I left your bowl on the countertop next to the microwave, Noelle,” Melody called from the living room into the open kitchen area.

“Yes,
Mother
,” Noelle whispered under her breath while reaching for a spoon.

Even if Melody’s penchant for taking care of everyone else bordered on the extreme, Noelle couldn’t deny the fact that she was a really good cook. “Mmm. It smells delicious.” While the others conversed, Noelle sat at the table and scarfed down the stew, which had cooled considerably, and then she stood to rinse out her dish. She grabbed a few rolls to take with her. “Thanks again for dinner, Melody. You’re one terrific sister.”

Melody stopped talking midsentence to give her a long look. Noelle felt a strange curling in the pit of her stomach. What was that look for? Had she left a stray piece of carrot on her chin or something? “Everything okay?” she asked. Hmm. Noelle hadn’t noticed it before, but now Melody’s smile appeared tighter, her forehead wrinkled in worry.

Suddenly, Melody smoothed her features and said, “Yes. Bye, Noelle. Good luck with your study session.”

“Thanks. I’m going to need it.” Truthfully, Noelle was looking forward to spending this time with her former roommate. The two hadn’t really had a chance to talk much since Jill had gotten married last semester. Noelle picked up her backpack and keys and walked toward Chase, expecting him to stand and escort her out the door. When he just sat there, she inquired, “So you’re going to stay awhile?”

He slowly stood. “No. I should be going.” He said his good-byes and followed her to the door. Noelle jerked it open to find Pierce Logan, a guy from next door, standing there with his arm raised, ready to knock.

“Hi, Pierce,” she greeted, backing up and bumping into Chase. She almost fell when her feet collided with his, but Chase caught her by the shoulders just in time. Noelle’s cheeks burned at her clumsiness.

Thankfully, if Pierce noticed it, he didn’t refer to it. But that was Pierce—always so courteous, at least to her. He’d been her home teacher a few years ago during her first year at NAU. The two had formed a friendship that had never blossomed into anything more, due in part to Noelle’s aversion to romantic relationships at the time. Having just been jilted by her fiancé, Mike, she hadn’t been ready for love.

“Hey, Noelle. Life still treating you good?” Pierce’s laid-back smile put her at ease.

“Yep. Can’t complain.”

“That’s good.” Pierce’s gaze landed on Chase, his smile slipping a little. He gave a short nod in greeting. “How’s it going, Dunlop?”

“Fine. And yourself?”

Pierce answered, “I’m okay.” Seeing Jessie, he turned to her. “Except that I was wondering if I can borrow your textbook for physics again tomorrow. I’m still trying to figure out what happened to mine.”

“Sure,” Jessie answered. “Didn’t you say that someone stole it?”

Pierce shrugged. “That’s what I’m guessing. I could’ve sworn I put it in my backpack before leaving class but you never know. Someone probably turned it into to the bookstore for money. Wouldn’t it be lame if I ended up buying my own book back?”