Read Online Passionate History by Libby Waterford - Free Book Online
Authors: Libby Waterford
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to fall back on. If it didn’t work out, then she’d have learned something about herself and would move on. But she very much wanted it to work out.
But where to start? How could she convince herself and Aidan they should take a chance on a future together when they hadn’t been on a date yet?
The first step would be to find her car, and her stuff, and to change her clothes. The clothes she wore smelled like Aidan.
She called the rental car company, endured the clerk’s derisive snort when she explained she’d forgotten what her car looked like, and wrote down the description. Silver four-door Japanese sedan. No wonder she’d lost it. It described every third car on the block. The campus was flooded with people and cars for commencement, but she worked against the tide of humanity hiking up to the green, scanning the street until she found her car parked in the shade of a maple tree, papered in wet green leaves shaken down by the storm.
Modesty could be overrated; Bree artfully changed into fresh leggings and a dress in the front seat of the car. She only hit the horn once. Then she called her friend Lena, and they made plans for brunch.
Lena was sensible. Bree could count on her to listen to her situation and give her honest feedback. Feeling more centered already, she was surprised when her phone rang before she could pull the sedan onto the road and head for Weston Village.
“Mom! Hi.”
“Brianna Lucille Ross, you fly across the country and don’t even tell us? You’re in Massachusetts, and you aren’t coming to visit?”
Crap .
“How did you know—?”
“Your sister saw pictures of you with your college friends on Facebook.”
Damn social media.
“It’s been ages since we’ve seen you. Can’t you come by for a quick visit?”
Her mother’s voice had gone from strident to soft. Bree had no defense against motherly guilt.
“Well, my plane isn’t until tomorrow, but I sort of have plans….” She imagined Aidan, broiling under the hot sun, listening to one rehashed commencement speech after another then sitting through the conferring of the diplomas as everyone from Abbot to Zweier got the little slip of paper that had cost them $160,000. She hoped he was wearing sunscreen or was in the shade. With his skin tone, he was likely to burn underneath a light bulb.
“Then why don’t we come to you?” her mother said quickly. “We can be there for a late lunch.”
About the time Aidan would be free. Oh, dear. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. “I guess lunch would be okay.”
“Fine, we’ll call you when we get there.”
Beeps in her ear signaled the end of the call.
She sighed. She wanted to see her parents, she really did, but they were a bit…overwhelming, and she’d wanted to be able to focus on her mission at Weston, so she hadn’t told them she was coming to the East Coast. Having sex with her old professor hadn’t been on the agenda either, but she wouldn’t have traded their night together for anything, even if it meant he could no longer write her a letter of recommendation for grad school. She had to admit it would look like a fairly egregious conflict of interest.
As she drove toward the diner where she was to meet Lena, she thought about the flight she’d booked back to Seattle. Her plan had been to come to Weston, secure her references, reconnect with some friends then go back to work at the outdoor school while spending the summer and fall applying for graduate school. She liked her job. She liked her cozy apartment. She had made some friends at work. She’d been thinking about getting a dog, something medium-sized she could take hiking with her.
But when she thought about Seattle, she didn’t think of it as home. She didn’t particularly want to go back, not when it meant leaving here, leaving the campus she was only beginning to realize how much she loved, leaving her family without at least catching up, leaving Aidan and his mind-blowing kisses and
But where to start? How could she convince herself and Aidan they should take a chance on a future together when they hadn’t been on a date yet?
The first step would be to find her car, and her stuff, and to change her clothes. The clothes she wore smelled like Aidan.
She called the rental car company, endured the clerk’s derisive snort when she explained she’d forgotten what her car looked like, and wrote down the description. Silver four-door Japanese sedan. No wonder she’d lost it. It described every third car on the block. The campus was flooded with people and cars for commencement, but she worked against the tide of humanity hiking up to the green, scanning the street until she found her car parked in the shade of a maple tree, papered in wet green leaves shaken down by the storm.
Modesty could be overrated; Bree artfully changed into fresh leggings and a dress in the front seat of the car. She only hit the horn once. Then she called her friend Lena, and they made plans for brunch.
Lena was sensible. Bree could count on her to listen to her situation and give her honest feedback. Feeling more centered already, she was surprised when her phone rang before she could pull the sedan onto the road and head for Weston Village.
“Mom! Hi.”
“Brianna Lucille Ross, you fly across the country and don’t even tell us? You’re in Massachusetts, and you aren’t coming to visit?”
Crap .
“How did you know—?”
“Your sister saw pictures of you with your college friends on Facebook.”
Damn social media.
“It’s been ages since we’ve seen you. Can’t you come by for a quick visit?”
Her mother’s voice had gone from strident to soft. Bree had no defense against motherly guilt.
“Well, my plane isn’t until tomorrow, but I sort of have plans….” She imagined Aidan, broiling under the hot sun, listening to one rehashed commencement speech after another then sitting through the conferring of the diplomas as everyone from Abbot to Zweier got the little slip of paper that had cost them $160,000. She hoped he was wearing sunscreen or was in the shade. With his skin tone, he was likely to burn underneath a light bulb.
“Then why don’t we come to you?” her mother said quickly. “We can be there for a late lunch.”
About the time Aidan would be free. Oh, dear. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. “I guess lunch would be okay.”
“Fine, we’ll call you when we get there.”
Beeps in her ear signaled the end of the call.
She sighed. She wanted to see her parents, she really did, but they were a bit…overwhelming, and she’d wanted to be able to focus on her mission at Weston, so she hadn’t told them she was coming to the East Coast. Having sex with her old professor hadn’t been on the agenda either, but she wouldn’t have traded their night together for anything, even if it meant he could no longer write her a letter of recommendation for grad school. She had to admit it would look like a fairly egregious conflict of interest.
As she drove toward the diner where she was to meet Lena, she thought about the flight she’d booked back to Seattle. Her plan had been to come to Weston, secure her references, reconnect with some friends then go back to work at the outdoor school while spending the summer and fall applying for graduate school. She liked her job. She liked her cozy apartment. She had made some friends at work. She’d been thinking about getting a dog, something medium-sized she could take hiking with her.
But when she thought about Seattle, she didn’t think of it as home. She didn’t particularly want to go back, not when it meant leaving here, leaving the campus she was only beginning to realize how much she loved, leaving her family without at least catching up, leaving Aidan and his mind-blowing kisses and
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