***
I couldn't help but laugh as I saw the picture. "That's Ray, all right. Looks a lot like Luke did our junior year. I had no idea he could play the trumpet!" I said.
"It gets better," Andrew said. "Take a look in the flute section."
It was hard to make out in the twenty-five-year-old yearbook's grainy photo, but I scanned over the picture. "Is that... your mom? She's so cute!" It was true. She looked about twelve years old in the picture, even though she would have had to have been about sixteen.
Andrew laughed. "She's always looked younger than her age. I looked up the names on the list and recognized one in particular, Mr. Watson."
"You mean Mr. Watson, the photography guy?" I asked curiously. Andrew nodded.
***
"So how did they get together?" Andrew asked.
Mr. Watson laughed. "No one was ever really sure. One day, on the way back from a football game, it was dark on the bus. All of a sudden, someone saw them making out. We made fun of them, but soon enough they were inseparable."
***
"So they were each other's first loves. Pretty much what we knew already," I said.
Andrew closed the yearbook and opened another one. "There's a lot more in this one," he said, opening to a page somewhere in the middle of the book. There was a picture of the two of them in their dress clothes with the caption, "Voted Most Likely to Have Beautiful Children." It looked like it had been taken at prom.
"I agree with that caption," Andrew said.
I looked at him, and he made a model pose, and I laughed. "It's got one part right. You are a child!"
He grinned. "It's a sweet picture of the two of them, but I was really surprised when I saw the next one."
I turned back to the yearbook as he leafed through the pages. As he settled on one in particular, I gasped.
***
"Were you there for the big moment?" Andrew asked.
"Oh yes," Mr. Watson said, looking wistful. "It was a beautiful moment. I was in on it, of course. Someone had to take the picture. The drum major was in on it too. At the end of practice one day, he kept stopping the routine and telling Audrey that her tempo was off. Finally, he got off his podium and walked over to her. I remember him calling over to Ray, asking if he could please show his girlfriend the right way to mark time. Ray marched over to them, playing "Your Song" by Elton John on his trumpet the whole way there."
"I bet Mom was mortified," Andrew said.
"Most certainly. When he arrived, he continued to mark time in front of her, playing the trumpet, not in her face but right next to her. When the song finished, he got down on one knee and pulled a ring from his pocket. That's when I snapped the picture."
***
I stared at the blurry picture. Ray was down on one knee. Audrey, her hands covering her face. Boys and girls in the background were clapping their hands or crying for joy. It made me want to cry just looking at it.
"That's so romantic! I'm sure she said yes right away," I said. "There's no way I could have said no if someone did that to me."
"Actually..."
***
"I mean, she certainly didn't date any other boys in high school, but I've never been quite sure," Mr. Watson said. "There was so much chaos afterword that I never heard an answer. She looked stunned, and Ray was on his feet before long. He hugged her tightly and whispered something in her ear. She let him put the dime store ring on her finger. We all thought it was official, but I guess puppy love never lasts."
Andrew nodded. "Thanks for your time, Mr. Watson."
***
"So that's it? He waited in town a year and then she left him here?" I asked.
"Something didn't add up for me, either. I checked on the Internet and found another strange detail. Mom didn't stay in the dorms her freshman year. I did, however, find a very interesting lease in the public records." He pulled out a piece of paper from under a book and handed it to me.
"Ray West and Audrey Oscars," I read. "This is a lease for Fort Collins. But...that means that Ray left with her?"
"I had an interesting phone conversation with my Aunt Heather. She's not my real aunt, but she was Mom's best friend from college. It was the last piece of the puzzle."
***
"Ray West. Haven't heard of him in years," Aunt Heather said.
"What happened between my mom and him?" Andrew asked.
"Oh, you know, the same things that many couples go through. Ray hated going out, was too shy. He wanted to stay in all the time, wanted Audrey to stay in with him. But, you know, part of the college experience is going out, doing new things, and she was curious."
"So she went out anyway," Andrew said.
"Oh no. It was like they were practically married, and she would never go against his word. But they fought a lot. Finally, one day, he left, and I moved in to cover his half of the rent. She met your dad a few weeks later," she said.
Andrew paused, thinking it over. Heather piped back up. "It's funny. When she and your father decided that they couldn't support you while still going to school, he suggested that they move in with your grandparents back in Conifer. She didn't want to go, said she couldn't stand to see Ray, thought he would tell her, 'I told you so'. I told her to avoid him like the plague, to concentrate on her new family, and I guess she did just that."
"Why would he have said, 'I told you so'?" Andrew asked.
"Oh, never mind, sweetie. When are you two going to come down to Denver to visit your Aunt? I'm only an hour away..."
***
"She was evasive after that, and I couldn't get any more out of her," Andrew said.
I thought about it. They broke up because he wanted her to stay in, to be the good wife, and she didn't want that. "This is great news. Ray broke up with your mom for not being Suzy Housewife, and now she's willing to be Suzy Housewife. Funny how people change."
Andrew nodded, looking me in the eyes. His leg pressed against mine. I had been avoiding him all week, but after hearing such an emotional story, I was feeling pretty emotional myself. We were so close, we were alone, and things were coming together. He was so handsome.
The work he had done, the story of old loves, the closeness of our bodies, it was all intoxicating to me. My body craved the taste of his lips and I could no longer fight against the craving. I leaned over and kissed him. It was the culmination of years of longing, particularly intense for the last three weeks. I had wanted this so badly, ever since the kiss at the Winter Carnival.
He pulled back a little. "Holly?"
I immediately felt like I had messed up. Before I had a chance to apologize, though, he reached out and pulled me into a deeper kiss. It was heavenly. Weeks of sexual tension flowed between us as the dam broke, and our need for each other spilled out like water. I kissed back fiercely, my tongue finding his with ease. He moaned, and his breathing quickened. The stubble on his chin tickled me lightly, and I giggled a little as our lips parted.
He wasted no time, grabbing my chin and bringing me in for another kiss. My hand found its way to the back of his neck, and his finger stroked my jawline. My heart pounded within my chest. Andrew, the man of my dreams, was finally allowing my dream to come true. The vow we had made in high school surfaced in my head for a moment, but I quickly shoved the thought back down as I leaned in closer.
Andrew apparently forgot the promise as well. His hand moved from my jaw, down my neck, to my collar. He quickly unbuttoned my long sleeve shirt and pulled it off one arm, then the other. As he revealed the thin white shirt I wore underneath, his hands moved to my sides, holding me tightly. His fingers moved up and down as we shared another long kiss.
He broke from the kiss, and looked down at my body, seemingly for the first time. His hands ventured upward under my shirt, touching the bottoms of my br**sts through the lacy bra that encased them. His eyes met mine again, a look of desire consuming him, before closing them and leaning back in.
The door to the conference room opened. The librarian poked her head in. "Another group has reserved this room, so you students will have to find some other place to make out."
I was so embarrassed that I didn't even correct her to tell her that we weren't students. Andrew and I quickly picked up, throwing the yearbooks back on the re-shelf cart and hustling out the door. I could feel my cheeks burning the entire way out to the car. The cold March wind felt good against my skin, as we ran out into the parking lot.
"Want to come to my place? My dad is out of town." I grinned as I pulled out my keys.
"Race you there," he shouted as he sprinted to his car. I felt a giddy happiness flow through me as I started my car and followed hot on his heels.
Chapter 7
Red and orange demons flickered between the trees, leaving glowing fingerprints on everything they touched. Impish embers soared into the sky, raining down on the unsuspecting tinder below. The fire crackled with laughter as it danced among the trees and branches, twirling along the forest floor with devastating footprints.
***
"I'm pretty sure you cheated," I called out through my window as I pulled into the driveway next to Andrew.
"If anything, you cheated. You know those big red octagons? They're called stop signs. Most people recommend actually stopping at them," he teased as I got out of my car.
"The ones with white borders around them are optional. I'm surprised you didn't know that," I said, bumping my shoulder against him as I moved to unlock the door. I could sense him behind me. I fumbled with my keys in the lock, his presence flustering me. He leaned his hand against the door frame, his body barely touching mine, but so close that I could feel his warmth. I wanted to kiss him again so badly, and I could barely get my key into the door.
I finally slid it in, the door unlocked, and the door swung open easily. I turned to look back at him, and his hand came to my cheek, pulling me into a kiss. I stood in the doorway, my knees turning to Jell-O as he pushed his lips into mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, losing myself to his kiss.
He stopped only long enough to guide us through the open door, kicking it shut with his foot as he enveloped me again. My fingers found his hair, pulling him ever closer to me. He tasted like sunshine, his tongue dancing with mine. My skin burned to be touched by him, my temperature rising as he kissed me. I drank his kisses like cool water, wanting to feel him everywhere.
I pulled my shirt open and flung it on the floor as we stumbled toward the couch. I felt the fabric of the couch on my leg and I sat down, pulling him with me. His hands pulled me closer, his kisses hungry as he straddled my legs, pinning me to the couch.
I ran my hands up under his shirt, feeling his muscles tighten under my fingertips. He sat up, and pulled his shirt over his head, his muscles flexing as the fabric left his body. I wanted to touch him everywhere, to taste every inch of his skin. I pulled him back down against me, my lips open and waiting for him. He pressed his body against mine, his skin hot against the thin fabric of my undershirt. He moved his kisses down my neck, nibbling gently on the sensitive skin of my throat and collarbone. My h*ps arched up into him, feeling him harden against me.