Tattered Innocence (37 page)

“You say that like I’m the last girl on the
planet you’d bring home.”

“Pretty much.” He held up his hands. “Don’t
get me wrong. You’re beautiful—high cheekbones, ivory skin,
internal sparklers behind your eyes. Just not my type. Naïve.
Über.”

She sling-shotted from euphoria to
irritation. “I don’t know whether to be awed you noticed all that
in two minutes under fluorescent light—”

“I’m an artist. It’s what I do.”

“Don’t spoil it—or should I be insulted that
you’ve smacked a naïve label on me.”

“Look, there’s no way a girl who was
homeschooled can survive in the real world.” He shifted position,
and she could see his grin. “Educating you this summer could be a
public service.”

“I can hardly wait.”

“Oooh. The Bible teacher does sarcasm.” He
waved and stepped away from the cabin. “A public service, I’m
telling you.” Cal’s voice trailed off as he moved away.

Raine slipped inside. She inhaled the
metallic scent of old screen and watched Cal disappear around the
corner of the last cabin.

He was a spinning vat of colors. Part of her
wanted to jump in and twirl around. Part of her wanted to sprint
for the gate out of camp.

He’d called her beautiful.

#

Cal shook his head and chuckled to himself as
he strode away. Educating Raine was going to be serious fun.

He crossed the athletic field. Tomorrow the
rectangle would fill up with sound and children and color. The
anticipation he’d felt as a kid welled up in him.

A breeze ruffled the pines beside the gym in
the moonlight. Cal’s eyes caught a flash of blond hair, a couple
making out in the shadows near the gym doors. Aly. Nobody else had
hair that long. And likely Garner Fritz, the guy she’d bee-lined
toward on the Canteen porch.

Aly had gone out with a long succession of
guys, trying to find one to plug into the place her father left
empty. It didn’t take a psychologist to figure that out.

He picked up a rock, tossed it in his hand.
Aly’s love language was touch. He’d heard Dad preach on the topic
back when he used to listen. Cal made a point of touching Aly in a
platonic way whenever they were together, but it hadn’t kept her
from going out with jerks like Gar Fritz. He tossed the stone again
and fired it at the side of the gym. It smacked against the bark
siding ten feet from the couple. Aly and Gar sprang apart a
heartbeat before Cal ducked out of sight.

Maybe that would help.

#

Raine dropped a pair of shorts into the
scarred dresser drawer. The screen door squeaked open, then slapped
shut against the doorframe. Aly breezed into the room looking like
a Barbie whose hair had been bunched into a clip by a small child.
A smudge of lipstick clung to one corner of her mouth.

Raine smiled at her. “Hey.”

“Oh, it’s you.” Aly blew her breath out and
ran an appraising look over Raine. Her gaze stopped on the crook of
Raine’s arm.

Raine scooped a quilt over her scar. She
forced a smile into her voice. “Which bunk do you want?”

“I’ll take the top.” She snagged Raine’s
dog-eared Bible off the upper bunk and tossed it onto the plastic
mattress below. “How did I score the Bible teacher?”

Raine gritted her teeth. “I’m not ‘the Bible
teacher.’ I’m Raine.” She
would
make friends this summer.
With Aly. “I’ve got three older brothers, a psychotic Great Dane
named Antoine, and my favorite show is
Lost
.”

A wry smile broke out on Aly’s face. “Lost.
Isn’t that what you call people like me?”

“Are you?”

Aly nibbled off the rest of her lipstick. “In
my sister’s opinion.”

“And in yours?”

“I know exactly where I’m going and how to
get there. I’m half-way to a BA in marketing and I will own my own
business before I’m twenty-five.”

Raine started to answer, but Aly cut her off.
“This is where you tell me I’m going to hell.”

God, give me patience.
“Look, I don’t
know where all your drama is coming from, but I’m not the enemy. I
could use a friend. If you don’t want to talk about God, fine.”

“Maybe I don’t need another friend.” But
Aly’s voice had lost its hard edge.

“Let’s say we’ll try to get along since we’re
stuck in the same room for the summer.”

Aly eyed her for a long moment. “Done.” She
reached a slim-boned hand out to Raine. Raine’s fingers tightened
around Aly’s.

“So, you have the hots for Cal, huh?”

Book Review Sisters '12 Top 5 Reads

In the tradition of
The Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants
, four friends navigate college and the drama
churned up by their Florida beach band to cement friendship and
more.

Avra wants love, but drummer
Cisco—self-medicating from his parents’ divorce with sex and
intoxicants—is a poor choice. Cisco hungers for fresh-baked cookies
and the scent of family he finds at Avra’s.

Kallie shares her classically trained
singing voice only with lead vocalist Jesse and fights to keep her
heart safe. Jesse feeds on fame and hides more than insecurity
beneath his guitar.

The friends surf ego, betrayal, and ambition
and head for wipeout. But somehow, when they’re not looking, Avra’s
God changes them all.

Cal walked out of jail and into a second
chance at winning Aly with his grandma’s beater sailboat and a
reclaimed dream of sailing charters.

Aly has the business smarts, strings to a
startup loan, and heart he never should have broken. He’s got
squat. Unless you count enough original art to stock a monster
rummage sale and an affection for weed.

But he’d only ever loved Aly. That had to
count for something. Aly needed a guy who owned yard tools, tires
worth rotating, and a voter’s registration card. He’d be that guy
or die trying.

For anyone who’s ever struggled to measure
up. And failed.