Read Online Stand of Redemption by Cathryn Williams - Free Book Online Page A

They each had to worry from one day to the next that someone could take what they had fought so hard for.
    “Finished?”
    “Yes.”
    Nicholas rose from the table, pulling out her chair for her. Ria picked up her sweater.
    Nicholas’s hand rested on her bare back as he guided her through the tables. Outside, when they reached her car, he opened the door for her.
    “Thanks for taking a break from studying to keep me company.”
    Ria gazed up into his handsome face, wishing the night wasn’t about to end. “I had a good time.”
    Nicholas bent down and brushed his firm lips over hers before stepping away. “Goodnight, Ria.”
    “Goodnight, Nicholas.”
    Ria got in the door and Nicholas closed it before stepping away.
    Ria self-consciously started her car, briefly waving as she pulled out of the parking lot. How had she misjudged him so badly? He hadn’t even pressured her to go home with him. She didn’t recall that ever happening after a date before. Then her smile turned to a frown. He hadn’t mentioned seeing her again or calling. Maybe it hadn’t gone as well as she had thought. He was used to more sophisticated women; therefore, maybe he wasn’t as attracted to her as she was to him.
    Ria bit her lip. She had a feeling he was going to be on her mind during the next week as much as the test she was going to be taking. She would have to force herself to stay on track. The test held her and her mother’s future while Nicholas hadn’t even committed himself to another date.
    Ria still couldn’t help looking at her phone before she went to bed that night to see if he had left a message, and was disappointed when she saw he hadn’t.
    Turning off her bedside lamp, she couldn’t help wishing the night had ended differently.

 
    Chapter 8
     
    What the hell?
    Ria was confused. She had been studying for this exam and didn’t think she could have been more prepared. But somehow, it was as if each question was something she hadn’t stu died enough on.
    Damn! This had been her biggest fear—that even with all the studying, she wouldn’t have studied the right material. There had been several topics she didn’t focus enough on, thinking those questions probably wouldn’t be on the exam. She had been dead wrong.
    She has halfway through and had been sweating for the past hour. Her head was pounding and her neck was aching. She wanted nothing more than to just walk away, but she was tired of worrying about money. She had to try.
    She forced herself to get through the remaining questions. Fortunately, the material she did know, she was able to answer quickly and easily, giving her time to go back and review the questions she was unsure of.
    She did her best, racking her brain for everything she had studied and had learned in her training.
    Finished, she sat back and took a deep breath. She tried not to cry, but she didn’t think she’d passed. It was going to be miserable waiting for her results over the next few weeks.
    She rushed to sign out with the test proctors, gathered her things out of the provided loc kers, and then hurried to her car and slid in.
    “Damn it!” she screamed at herself. She was tired of her crappy life and all the stupid dec isions she had made.
    She banged her head on the back of the seat in frustration then yelped as the pain shot through her head and neck.
    Done with her pity-party, she turned the car on and drove home. She had promised her mother she would be home in time for a late lunch.
    It was a thirty minute drive to their house, giving Ria time to calm down. She didn’t want anyone to know that she might have failed; both her mother and Lacey would be so upset. Her mother was already disappointed that she had dropped out of college. Ria felt like a failure to her mother. Lacey would accuse her of not studying enough.
    They were out of money, and her mother wasn’t improving. She was not only screwing up her own life, but she was afraid her mom would slip away if she