Home on Apple Blossom Road--A Novel by Sheila Roberts

Author:Sheila Roberts [Roberts, Sheila]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459292451
Publisher: MIRA Books
Published: 2016-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Colin and Mia’s walk up the trail to Lost Bride Falls was a quiet one, the conversation carried by the birds singing and the squirrels chattering in the trees. Colin suspected that, like him, Mia was caught in a fresh net of memories.

Eventually, he heard the thunder of the falls, and then they saw glimpses of it between the trees. Finally, they came to the scenic look-out that framed the cataract in all its glory.

Seeing the waterfall was like stepping behind the curtain of time. He found himself reliving the magical time they’d spent up here, as well as the experiences that had led to it.

* * *

Colin had accepted Mia’s childhood adoration as his due, and actually considered her his best friend—although he would never have admitted that to his buddies. But then along came puberty. His body began to change. So did hers. Breasts. Mia had breasts. Whoa, they were fascinating. But don’t stare! Okay, stare, but don’t let her catch you. Wait a minute, this is Mia. She’s like your sister. What are you doing staring at your sister’s boobs?

So the inner dialogue went. Colin’s eyes and brain agreed that there were other breasts in Icicle Falls, other girls to ogle, even date. The dates never evolved into anything serious, though, because the one vital organ that had been left out of the equation was his heart. Mia owned it. And it seemed his friends all knew that, since none of them ever hit on her.

Then Gram took in Adrian Malk, and Colin experienced heartburn for the first time in his life. Things had started out well enough, all friendly with video games and shooting hoops at the park, but that changed once Colin saw Adrian in action, making fun of Joe Coyote, asking him why he wasn’t living on the rez, taking over the lunch table and giving poor Andy Forrester a bad time because he was overweight. Colin, Neal and Bill Will switched to a different lunch table, taking Andy with them, and Adrian replaced them with guys who were losers and bullies. How soon until Adrian aged out of the foster-care program and left Icicle Falls? It couldn’t happen quickly enough for Colin.

“Are you and Adrian not hitting it off?” Gram asked him once.

“Not really,” he’d replied. Adrian was a shit, as slimy as an eel. And he, too, was fascinated with Mia’s breasts. He didn’t even care if she caught him staring. That alone made Colin hate him.

“So, have you done it with her?” Adrian asked one day late in March when he and Colin were in the orchard, raking brush. Actually, Colin was raking. Adrian was leaning on his rake, watching.

Colin frowned at him. Mia was too young to be doing it with anyone, including him.

A corner of Adrian’s mouth lifted in a sneer. “Didn’t think so. Bet you haven’t done it with anyone, farm boy.”

“Yeah? And you have?” Colin retorted.

Of course he had. Adrian Malk had probably had sex with every girl in his school in Seattle.

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