Blaze: A Texas Heat Novel (2 page)

“Excuse me?” Amber gasped.

“We’re done, you and I.”

Tiffany and the other cheerleaders scattered. The gossip spread with astonishing speed. Amber, the prom queen, the most popular girl in school, just got dumped.

“Dylan,” she hissed, looking around self-consciously, “You can’t break up with me.”

“I just did.”

“I’m Amber Vahn, girls wanna be me, boys wanna do me.”

What did I ever see in her? Dylan asked himself, amazed, besides the smoking hot body? “You’re the ugliest person I’ve ever met,” Dylan said quietly. He walked away and left her sputtering.

Emerson had the time of her life. Much to her surprise, half the football team asked the wallflowers to dance. She peered over her shoulder as Dylan Chambers leaned close to Donavan McClain, the running back and murmured in his ear. Immediately, the popular jock approached one of the wallflowers. Dylan grabbed her absentee date by the arm, said something before Jake asked her friend and fellow wallflower, Harper Grant to dance.

Chapter 2

Emerson allowed herself to look at Dylan full on. Dear God in heaven, no one should look that good. He stood six foot two, broad shoulders, the length of him all solid muscle. His chiseled face, aqua blue eyes and sun kissed chestnut hair did strange things to her pulse. He always had that effect on her. From the first time she saw him walk into History class. That day she drifted home in a daze.

She cooked watered down stew for Gran in the hopes it would stretch till the end of the week. Nell eyed her quizzically over a steaming bowl.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked in her kind, unobtrusive way. Emerson slumped back in her chair. “Gran, I don’t want you to think I’m a silly boy crazy girl.”

Gran’s eyes twinkled. “I would never think that. You’re my little scholar.”

Emerson was at the top of her class. Gran proudly displayed her honor roll student awards all over their tiny Victorian bungalow.

Emerson covered her face in mortification. “I keep thinking about him, it’s so annoying.”

Gran took a sip of mint tea. “Does our mystery boy have a name?”

“Dylan Chambers.”

Nell cackled. “Those Chamber lads were always sweet on the eye.”

“Oh Gran, he’s so beautiful.”

“So are you my darling.”

Emerson stared at him now, drinking the sight of him in. As if sensing her, Dylan looked up. Their eyes locked and held. Holy crap! Being on the receiving end of those piercing blue eyes made her shiver and tingle all over. Lord! She could stare at him all day long. He moved through the crowd never taking his eyes off her. Emerson swallowed hard. She wanted to run but Gran didn’t raise a coward. He reached her at last. They stood facing each other in the middle of the dance floor.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.”

“May I have this dance?”

Make memories
, Gran said. Emerson nodded, “Yes,” she whispered.

She stepped into his arms. His touch felt like an electric shock. Something flashed in his eyes that she couldn’t identify.

The band played a tortured rendition of Rod Stewart’s
Down Town
Train
.

“Dylan Chambers,” she breathed, as if he were Elvis Presley or Justin Timberlake.

“Emerson Riley,” he made her name sound like a prayer. She was shocked he even knew it.

“I know who you are,” he said softly.

“We’ve never talked before,” she said. Indeed, why would they? He ran with the country club set – rich, popular and gorgeous. He came from a vast political dynasty. His last name synonymous with power. Senators, Governors and Mayors were in his blood line traced back 150 years. The Chambers lived in the lush hills overlooking Aberdeen Lake.

Emerson could trace her family line too. Her dad was in maximum security prison like his dad and his dad before him. Her mom was an alcoholic, in and out of rehab. Oh she had rich relatives, aunts and uncles who sold heroin and cocaine to business men, housewives, kids, they were equal opportunity drug dealers and they didn’t care who overdosed or how many lives they ruined.

Gran refused their blood money and shielded Emerson from the lot of them. It wasn’t easy. They lived frugally on Gran’s social security check and the extra cash from Emerson’s baking. Emerson’s high grades in public school caught the attention of the Headmaster of Aberdeen Prep. The prestigious high school screamed Ivy League. It cost $40,000 a year to attend. Emerson was offered a full scholarship. The sons and daughters of the rich and privileged never let her forget it. No wonder dancing with Dylan Chambers felt surreal.

“Everyone is staring,” Emerson said.

“Do you care?”

“No.”

“Good.” He slid his fingers between hers. They walked out hand in hand amid a firestorm of gossip. By dawn the whole town would know that Dylan Chambers dumped Amber Vahn for The Bookworm.

Dylan walked her home. He should let go of her hand but God help him, he couldn’t. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. They walked in companionable silence beneath the creek and sway of a tunnel of mighty oak trees. The branches and leaves arched across the star lit sky. Moonshine winked silver lights above. Lover’s Lane led to town square. They strolled past quaint stores, antique shops, horse and buggy rides, empty stalls of the farmer’s market, a 1950s silver diner called The Dixie Pixie and a small park with a Victorian gazebo, bandstand, playground, scattered benches and a fountain that overflowed with suds and bubbles.

“Thank you,” she said.

He steered her to the gazebo. “For what?” he asked.

“What you did for my friends.”

Oh, that. He looked away self-consciously, uncomfortable with the praise. “I’m sorry for what Jake did, he doesn’t mean to be a jackass.”

She smiled. He melted on the spot.

“I wish I talked to you sooner,” he said.  

“Why didn’t you?” she asked.

They sat down under the gazebo draped in white Christmas lights in June. How could he possibly say she scared the hell out of him? What he felt just being in the same room with her made him avoid any close contact at all costs. They were in the same English Honors class and Advanced Placement Calculus. He was acutely aware of her presence whenever she came near. He rubbed her palm with the pad of his thumb. He felt her shiver.

“Are you cold?”

“No.”

Then she felt it too, this intense attraction that could go nowhere. “I guess I didn’t want to start something I couldn’t finish,” he said.

She nodded. “I understand.” And she did. Everything was easy and natural with Emerson. One hour with Amber had all the drama of a telenovela soap opera. He was sick of it and realized he had been for quite some time.

“Have you decided on a college yet?” she asked.

“Harvard,” he said, “You?”

“Aberdeen Community College.”

He frowned. “I heard you got into gourmet pastry programs.” Only the top culinary schools in the country and overseas. She was an amazing baker. Dylan felt a burst of pride in her accomplishments.

“I did but…I can’t leave Gran.”

He stared at her in absolute wonder. “You are the sweetest thing,” he whispered. She blushed. They stared at each other for a long, breathless moment.

“I’m going to kiss you before the night is over,” he whispered. “If I had a choice, I’d kiss you for the next fifty years but-”

“We come from different sides of the universe,” she said. “My family are like alien life forms and yours are gods.”

They both laughed.

“Tell me something cool about your family,” she said.

He did.

Dylan looked at her tenderly. “Tell me your dreams.”

She did.

They talked for hours as if they’d known each other for years. Reluctantly, Dylan walked her home. He’d never been to this side of town before. The entire village of Aberdeen, a suburb of Austin, Texas was a historical landmark. The town had Victorian and Edwardian designed houses and buildings giving it a nostalgic aura.

The home Dylan grew up in was featured in national architecture magazines for its soaring turrets, sweeping verandahs, manicured gardens and stunning décor. His bedroom was bigger than Emerson’s ramshackle house. It hurt him to know that she lived here, scraping for pennies, buying groceries with coupons and clothes from thrift stores. Dylan wanted to give her the world. But so much was expected of him. His life was meticulously planned before he was born. He would go to Harvard University and one day be elected mayor of Aberdeen and marry one of the other power families – The Drakes, Thurstons or The Saint James’. He had a plan. He never questioned the plan until now.

Dylan slowly backed Emerson into the sagging porch shadows. Tenderly, he cupped her face between his hands and kissed her. As first kisses go this one was totally worth the wait. Emerson didn’t know what to expect. The heat of it shocked her. The drugging, deep sweep of his tongue made her tremble all over. Shyly, her tongue mated with his. Dylan groaned as the kiss went from sweet tenderness to wild passion within seconds. His lips and tongue were relentless. He savaged her mouth, licked and gently sucked her neck, kissed her forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, lips. His hands swept up and down her back, spanned her waist. They couldn’t get physically close enough.

Gran discreetly turned on the porch light without making an appearance. The young lovers sprang apart. Dylan’s heart hammered just as loud as her own. Emerson tried to catch her breath.

“Oh God,” he whispered, “What are we going to do?”

They were in love – deeply, madly, truly, head over heels in love. He cursed under his breath. She touched his cheek.

“Emerson,” he said as if her name were torn from him.

“I know,” she said. She felt it to with an intensity that frightened her. She took a moment to memorize his beautiful face, spun and ran inside, bolting the door behind her. Gran took one look at her pale face and never questioned. That night,

Emerson relived that kiss again and again. She cried herself to sleep and wept for what could never be. The next morning, Gran didn’t comment on her puffy eyes but she made her a chocolate cake for the heartbreak.

Rumor had it, Dylan flew to Boston the very next day after prom. Guess he couldn’t get away from her fast enough. Gran took her by the hand and led her to the porch swing. Somehow the sun shined on and the birds sang merrily. Didn’t they know? Her love was gone?

“When you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here,” Gran said.

Emerson nodded miserably.

“Young Chambers seems determined to move on, I think you should too.”

“How?” Emerson asked with tears flooding her eyes.

“My darling, if he can live without you, you can live without him,” Nell said with steel in her voice.

“Yes ma’am,” Emerson said.

“Good, now where are you going to college?”

“I don’t know.”

Gran raised a silver eyebrow. “I found the acceptance letters.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.”

Gran rocked the swing back and forth. It squeaked as they swayed.

“I’m staying local, Aberdeen Community College has-”

Nell’s expression was positively fierce. “Lookie here girl,” she huffed, “Now I know God gave you a brain for a damn good reason and talent to boot. It won’t be wasted, not on my watch.”

“Gran, I can’t leave you.”

Her grandmother’s face softened. “Oh my darling, you don’t have a choice in the matter. I got my big girl panties on, how ‘bout you?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“All right now.”

Nell took the university acceptance letters out of her floral apron pocket. L’Academie de Cuisine, California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, French Culinary Institute in New York, Yale, Columbia and Brown.

“Whose it gonna be?”

Emerson felt the wrenching pain of loss recede a bit as her attention focused on the future. “What if something happens to you and I’m not here?”

“Have faith my love.” Emerson wiped tears away. “Aw sugar, nothing will give me greater happiness than to know my baby girl is out there doing her thang, I’m so proud, very proud of you.”

“I’d be so far away.”

“I won’t be lonesome if that’s what frets you.”

Emerson raised an eyebrow. “I know you have the Ladies Book Club-”

“Yes, I have a man friend too.”

Emerson’s mouth fell open.

“Girl, you’re gonna catch a fly.”

“Who? What? When? How?”

“Mister Hickman.”

“Hickman? Owner of the hardware store? But he’s a hundred years old!”

“Now be kind, he’s five years my junior.”

“B-But I had no idea.”

“Well we’ve been courting going on two years now. We have sex at least three times a week.”

Emerson gasped. “You still have – but – oh my gosh, I’m getting a visual, make it stop.”

Nell cackled. “After that steamy display last night I gotta ask, are you still a virgin?”

“Yes ma’am that was my first kiss ever.”

“Well you did mighty fine.”

Emerson leaned her head on Gran’s shoulder. “It hurts.”

“I know.”

“I love him so much.”

Nell stroked her hair. “You’ll feel like roadkill for a hot minute but you’re strong enough to rally. Rise up, you hear? You’ll never forget him and that’s okay but you will move on, do you understand me Emerson Sophie Riley?”

She nodded. Gran kissed her forehead. “Now, go get your dreams.”

Chapter 3

10 Years Later

Emerson drove her ’65 candy red Mustang with the top down, sun shined on her face, Def Leppard blasted from the speakers. Her strawberry blond hair tumbled in wild curls about her shoulders. She cruised down Capital of Texas Highway Loop 360, through the winding roads of Great Hills to the vibrant green hill country.

She tapped the steering wheel and sang at the top of her lungs, “Pour some sugar on me!”

Emerson grooved along to the pounding music. A sweet breeze, vast blue sky and basking in the sunshine, made her one happy girl. The town was nestled in a stunning valley. Emerson caught her breath. Waterfalls, underground caves, limestone natural springs, rolling hills and bluebell flowers bursting with color across the country side, just a few miles outside Austin, her favorite city in the world. The sign said – Welcome to Aberdeen, Home of the BBQ Kings & World Lizard Race, population 6,542.