Read Online Ever After by Karen Kingsbury - Free Book Online Page A

Vonda’s radar so they avoided any comments about how it went or whether Emily had made the boy’s day by saying yes. The rest of the shift passed in a blur, and every few minutes Emily had to remind herself to focus.
    What could it mean, Justin asking her out? Had he been feeling about her the way she’d been feeling about him? Like even the most beautiful summer day couldn’t compare to the way it felt simply to sit in the same room together, working on press releases and breathing the same air?
    When their shift finally ended, they decided he would follow her back to her residence hall, and they’d both ride in his car — a Jeep Cherokee his dad had given him. He opened the sunroof as they set out, and she settled into the spot beside him. The leather seats felt soft and inviting. “I like it.”
    “I had no idea Dad was giving it to me.” Justin kept his eyes on the road. Now that Vonda wasn’t around, he seemed relaxed, at ease. As if the two of them had known each other forever. “I came home from my first tour in Iraq and my parents met me at the airport. They drove me to the base, and there it was in the parking lot. Covered with yellow ribbons.” He smiled. “My first car.”
    Emily studied him for a moment. So, he’d been to Iraq. The detail was proof that the two of them didn’t know each other nearly as well as it might seem. She pressed her shoulder into the seat and faced him. “How long were you there?”
    “A year, about the same as most guys.” Something changed in his eyes.
    “I thought …” She remembered the first time she met him, “I thought you wanted to run the base.”
    “Vonda exaggerates.” He grinned at her. The evening was still sunny and would be for another three hours, but the temperature had cooled. He looked up at the sunroof and back at her. “You cold?”
    “No.” She brushed her fingers over her long sleeves. “It feels good.”
    “It does.” He pulled onto the freeway and merged into a heavy flow of traffic. “I wanna be career military. Like my dad.” He shot her a quick smile. “Like yours.” He shrugged. “If they let me run the base, I’ll take it.”
    “So …” She didn’t want to ask, didn’t even want to picture him in danger — this golden young man who had so easily taken up residence in her heart. “So what did you do in Iraq?”
    “I’m trained for medic work, but that’s not where I spent my time. I did the frontline stuff, kicking in doors, looking for insurgents.” He made a face that suggested it was no big deal. “Traveling in convoys, that sort of thing.”
    Each bit of description hit her like a blow. He’d been in the most dangerous positions, she knew that much from her conversations with her father. Army guys who went looking for insurgents were the ones in the greatest danger. Certainly with his family’s pull, he could’ve been worked off the front line, still serving without putting his life in imminent danger.
    When she didn’t say anything, he gave her another quick look. “Hey, it wasn’t so bad. The people love us over there.”
    Emily was fascinated and frightened all at once. “Tell me about it.”
    “The truth isn’t something you’ll read in a newspaper article — ” he winced — “or in a magazine piece your mother might write.”
    So he knew about her mother. Emily’s expression must’ve changed, because he hurried to cover himself.
    “My dad says your parents’ story is complicated. I mean — ” he changed lanes — “people are entitled to their opinions, Emily. Don’t get me wrong.”
    “I’m not.” They were already in Seattle, and ahead she could see the Sound and a hundred sailboats dotting the water. “I think … I think a lot of people helped shape my mother’s viewpoints.”
    He nodded toward the water. “Pike Place Market okay? They have some great seafood restaurants.”
    “Seriously?” She’d heard about the place from some of the girls on the soccer team, but