Abound in Love by Rosemarie Naramore Read Free Book Online Page B

police
officer.
    Although
Dalton had an aunt living in the area, he had preferred spending time at
Laura’s house, hanging out with Thomas and Candace.  Laura had often been in
the background, almost an afterthought where her family was concerned.  She
typically spent her time daydreaming about a future with the object of her
childish musings—Dalton.
    He was
three years older than her, and as children, it had amounted to a huge age
difference.  Now, the difference was irrelevant.  Not that she expected
anything to come of her arrival in town.  She had no illusions that Dalton saw
her as anything but the younger sister of two of his dearest friends.
    Laura
sat up, turned, and pounded the pillow—which was thin and wholly
uncomfortable.  She fell back against it and closed her eyes.  She suddenly
remembered all the times she had embarrassed herself around Dalton.  One time
in particular, when she’d been about thirteen, she had dressed in a blouse and
a skirt, donned high heels, and applied makeup to her plump cheeks—an attempt
to get him to notice her.
    When
she’d come downstairs—trying to float down the staircase like a princess—Candace
had spotted her first.  She had burst out laughing and nudged Dalton, who was
beside her on the couch.  “Get a load of Laura.  She looks like a clown!” 
She’d taken her voice down a notch and whispered something Laura hadn’t been
able to hear. 
    To his credit,
Dalton had only smiled serenely.  “You look very pretty, Laura,” he’d said.
    Candace
had burst out laughing.  “Oh, Dalton!  You’re terrible!”
    Laura
froze on the stairway.  She could only stare in horror at Candace, who by now
was clutching her sides and laughing hysterically.
    Thomas,
who had entered the room from the kitchen, saw Laura and surmised what had
happened.  “Candace, leave her alone!  Laura, go wash your face and get out of
that dress.  You need to give the dogs their supper.”
    Laura
had spun on her heel and run up the stairs.  As she’d scrubbed the blush off
her cheeks, she’d begun crying.  She also had nearly leapt out of her skin when
Dalton had popped his head into the bathroom a moment later.  “Don’t cry,
Laura,” he’d said.  “You do look pretty.”
    She’d
turned toward him and he had smiled encouragingly. 
    “Dalton!”
Candace had called from downstairs.  “Get back down here!  We’re leaving.”
    Although
Dalton had made her feel incrementally better, she’d known her sister was going
to talk about her for much of the evening, poking fun and laughing at her. 
Even then she’d wondered why Candace treated her so badly.  They were sisters. 
Weren’t sisters supposed to care about each other?
    As
Laura drifted toward sleep now, a series of hurtful memories ran through her
mind like a bad movie.  Being back here, in the room she’d shared with Candace,
was probably a bad idea, she mused groggily, as she felt herself succumbing to
sleep…
     
    ***
     
    “Laura! 
Laura!  Wake up!” a deeply masculine voice whispered into right ear.  “Wake
up.  It’s all right.”
    Unable
to shrug off sleep’s hold, Laura remained imprisoned within the nightmare.  It
was Halloween.  She was fifteen, Candace seventeen.  A group of her sister’s
friends had commandeered the family’s living room.  They were dressed for the
holiday, though they were attending a harvest day party at their church, rather
than attending any ‘Halloween’ events.
    Laura,
dressed as a character from her favorite movie of the time, had come
downstairs.  She was going to the same event at their church later that
evening.  She remembered someone inquiring of Candace what exactly her costume
represented.  She was dressed in a plaid skirt and button down white top and
wore comfortable, serviceable loafers on her feet.  She’d pulled her hair into
pig tails and was wearing a pair of lense-less glasses Laura recognized.  They
were an old pair she’d worn when