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“Did?” Wade’s face drained of color as he stared at her in shock. “Did love me?”
“Do! I do love you,” she corrected quickly.
Wade took his cowboy hat off and spun it in his hands. Tears marked his face. “You don’t. Honestly Lily, if you never loved me, why did you let me think you did? You think I enjoy this?” He waved his hand around at the people watching the scene as more tears slipped down his cheeks. “You think I enjoy being made a fool of? Fuck you, Lily. Fuck you and your Goddamn dream of making it big. I hope you have a great fucking life in fucking Toronto.”
He’d walked away from her then. Storming past commuters and security guards without a backwards glance. Before she could run after him, her name was paged over the loud speaker. Her final boarding call. She’d had to make a split-second decision. Run after Wade and beg for his forgiveness, or turn her back on that part of her life and follow her dream.
He would get over her, she told herself as she headed towards her gate.
She had a plane to catch.
*
Lily wiped at her tears and looked at the small clock next to her bed. Shit, now she was running late. She regretted how she treated him back then. She was just a child, too interested in what other people thought of her instead of worrying about the man who had loved her with all that he had.
She knew now that it was the embarrassment of what her mother had done that made her want to leave town as quickly as possible. At the time she just wouldn’t admit it. Not to herself and definitely not to Wade.
She quickly pulled on her jeans and thick socks. She wished she had some proper boots to wear. She’d have to put on her runners today. She’d make the trip out to her mom and dad’s soon to pick up her old stuff. Something else she’d been putting off. Pretty soon she was going to have to grow up and face the consequences of her actions.
She let out a big sigh. Her life hadn’t turned out at all like she had planned. When she’d assured herself that Wade would get over her, she never suspected that she’d never get over him. As for her dream?
It never came close to coming true.
She’d naively thought that all she needed to do was show up in Toronto, go to a few auditions and then be snapped up by some theatre company. Ha! There were thousands of kids just like her, who could sing and dance and act just like movie stars. She quickly learned the ones who got picked up had something extra – that little spark behind their eyes… or knowing the right people to get the job. Sadly, she had neither. And the more times she was rejected, the more the spark behind her own eyes died.
She checked the clock again. She’d better hurry.
She grabbed a woolly sweater from her suitcase, which was still lying open on the floor at the end of her bed, thrust her arms into it and pulled it over her head. At least she had warm clothes.
The morning was crisp. Frost encased her truck in a sugar-like coating. The old door creaked open in protest. She reached across the seat to open the glovebox. It took her a moment to find her windshield scraper. It was missing a corner and the handle was cracked, but it would have to do. In the good old days she’d used a tape case, but it was years since she listened to cassette tapes.
It didn’t take long for Lily to clear the windshield of ice. She jumped in the cab and turned the key, anxious to get her heater going.
Nothing.
Her poor old truck didn’t even make one sound when she turned the key. Crap. She should have made sure she plugged it in last night. She knew better than to just leave it sitting there in the cold. The water would have frozen.
She crossed her fingers and toes and tried again.
This time it made a grrr sound for a couple of seconds, but she knew it wasn’t going to start until it was warmed up. She slammed the door and went back into the house. She’d have to wake up Charmaine.
Bradley was in the kitchen when she got back into the house. Her feet were freezing already and she’d only been outside for five minutes tops.
“Morning,” Bradley mumbled through the toast in his mouth. He raised a cup of coffee to his lips. “Sorry, that was rude,” he said after having a drink, “How are you?” he asked her with a smile. “Have a good sleep?”
Lily knew why Charmaine loved her husband. Bradley was such a caring spouse and great father to their kids and would do anything for his wife, family and friends. He was just a really nice all-around guy. But he was stunning too. Charmaine wasn’t kidding when she said he was the second best looking man in town.
“My truck won’t start,” she blurted. “I don’t suppose you could give me a lift before you go to work?” She chewed on her lip. She really didn’t want to be late on her first day.
Bradley smiled. “Sure thing. I’ll just go tell Char where I’m going. Go jump in my truck.”
Bradley’s truck was a five star luxury vehicle compared to Ol’ Red. The seats still had all their stuffing, the springs were still springy, and most of all – it was warm. The fabric on the seats was a dream to her denim clad bottom. The cracked vinyl on the seat in her truck was freezing in the winter. It took ages to warm up, even with the heater on full blast.
“All set?” Bradley asked when he jumped in.
At her nod he backed out of the garage and started down the driveway.
“It’s nice to have you back home, you know that Lily? Charmaine was sure excited to receive your phone call the other day. We’re really happy you’re back.” He smiled at her and Lily felt herself relax.
“Thanks Bradley. I’m glad to be back. It really has been too long.” She leaned back in her seat and enjoyed the view out of her window. It really was good to be home.
“I was just wondering,” he said after a moment, “why haven’t you gone to see your parents yet? Surely they’ll want to see you? You really shouldn’t let someone else tell them you’re home.”
The air left her lungs. She turned her head and looked at Bradley. How could she make him understand without actually telling him why?
“I… I planned on going to see them today after work. But of course now that my truck isn’t going, I’ll have to wait.” That sounded plausible.
“Oh, don’t worry about your truck. I’ll get Ol’ Red up and running like new – first thing this morning.” He grinned at her. “I’ll drop it off at Wade’s today when I’m done so you can get home after work.”
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