Shadow of the Past by Thacher Cleveland Read Free Book Online Page B

streetlight coming through the windows
and back patio door.
    “Where was it?” Clara asked.
    “The kitchen,” he said, feeling his old
friend humiliation creeping up on him. “I guess I thought I saw
someone on the patio.”
    Clara walked over and pressed her face
against the glass of the back door. “I don’t see anything.” She
gave the door a tug and the doorknob a rattle. “Still locked. Are
you sure that’s all?”
    “Yeah. Must’ve been my overactive
imagination or something.” Mark said, forcing a smile.
    “Well, if we’re done with the homeland
security portion of the evening, can we finish the movie?” Steve
said, waving everyone back down the stairs.
     
    “That was fun,” Christine said, handing
Mark back the spare helmet. “We should really do that again
sometime.”
    “Yeah, totally. Hanging out is good,”
Mark said, fumbling the helmet as he tried to strap it back on the
V.
    “Why don’t you give me a call tomorrow
or something? We could hang out some more.”
    “Yeah, okay,” Mark said. He couldn’t
take his eyes off the helmet and kept fiddling with the strap even
though he knew it was secure. He’d avoided eye contact ever since
seeing that look on her face after he’d taken his tumble down the
steps. It was only going to get worse, he realized. The whole
evening would be beyond a waste if he wasn’t able to look her in
the eye ever again. He glanced up and she was just standing there,
hands still in her pockets and head tilted down as she tried to
catch his eye.
    Oh God, do something. Do
something, you silly spineless bastard.
    “I hope you had fun tonight,” he said,
standing up and smoothing out his jacket. “My life’s kinda boring,
and that about summed up the highlights. Well, there’s usually less
falling down. I think.”
    “I don’t know, you’ve been doing it an
awful lot since we met,” she smiled.
    “Yeah, I guess so,” he said, looking
away again.
    “Mark,” she stepped closer, “I’m sorry,
that was kind of mean. I’m just glad there wasn’t someone up there
or something.”
    Yeah, it’s better that I’m
crazy . “I know,
and I know you’re not being mean. It was just weird. And, well,
humiliating.”
    “You shouldn’t be humiliated. It was
kind of cute.”
    He finally looked up, and she was right
there, less than a foot away. Her hair had fallen over her face a
little but he could still see the green of her eyes reflecting the
tiny lights of the walkway.
    “Really?”
    “Yes, really.”
    He reached out, every micron of his
willpower keeping his hand steady, to brush the hair away from her
face.
    “It was in the way,” he said, his hand
lingering in the air next to shoulder.
    “It was,” she said, and then they were
kissing. Every single one of his senses seemed to shut down so he
could focus on this terrifying and wonderful new
experience.
    “So I was wondering if you wanted to go
out on a date sometime. Would that be okay?” he said when their
lips finally parted.
    “I thought I just asked you out on a
date! How much clearer do you need it to be?”
    “Well, I’m slow, what can I
say?”
    “Well, to clarify,” she said, wrapping
her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. “Yes, I would very
much like to go out with you. Tomorrow even.”
    “I just wanted to make sure,” he said,
and they were kissing again.
    “Still need convincing?” she whispered,
drawing back but still holding him.
    “Yeah, I think so.”
    “Well, that’s going to have to wait
until tomorrow.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes really, unless you want to deal
with the parental Gestapo.”
    “Gesundheit.”
    “And good night,” she said with a final
kiss before she pulled away.
    “Night,” he said, letting his arms fall
to his sides and not moving an inch as he watched her back up the
walkway.
    “I’ll call you,” he said.
    “You better,” she said with a wink, and
the disappeared inside.
    He didn’t yell in triumph until he was
a block away,