“You need to buy new earrings,” Heather said.
Scarlet ignored Heather and went on. “No more excuses. The time has come. Today, I am going over to Gabriel’s house after school.”
“Good for you. Now let’s talk about your shoes.” Heather put her magazine down. “They suck.”
17
Gabriel had forgotten how much he hated school.
Homework...P.E....cafeteria food? What had he gotten himself into?
School had been a very bad idea.
He grabbed his lunch food, bit back a sigh of despair, and made his way over to where Scarlet and Heather were seated.
“Hey.” Scarlet smiled up at him with her perfect, kissable lips and radiant blue eyes. He studied them for a moment. Were they bluer than they’d been yesterday? It was hard to tell.
A pang of concern shot through him as he took in her sweet face and, suddenly, he was overwhelmed with the desire to keep her safe.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said.
“So, I was thinking.” Scarlet leaned forward. “How about I come to your house after school today?” She smiled. “We can ‘study’ in your bedroom this time.”
Well, that certainly wouldn’t be happening.
Tristan would kill him.
Scarlet batted her lashes. “Please?”
Oh, crap. He was going to sound like a jerk. “I would love that, but today won’t work.”
Why won’t it work? Come up with something good. Come on, come on….
“It won’t?” Scarlet’s big eyes looked hurt.
“Unfortunately today…” What do I say? Think, think… “My house is being fumigated.”
Wow. Terrible excuse.
Heather coughed.
Scarlet raised her eyebrows. “Fumigated?”
He was committed now. “Yeah, you know, we have lots of those big…Georgia bugs.”
What in the world was he saying?
Scarlet nodded slowly. “Oh.”
Gabriel wanted to kick himself.
“Maybe next week,” he said, putting as much charm as possible into the smile he gave her.
Scarlet tucked her lips in and nodded her head. “Yeah. Sure. Next week.” She looked down at her food.
Gabriel moved his eyes and caught Heather glaring at him with an eyebrow raised.
I know, I know.
Busted.
18
Scarlet decided not to hang out after school. Gabriel had wanted to watch a movie or “study” with her—at her house, of course—but Scarlet hadn’t been in the mood.
Fumigated?
She wanted to believe him, but the lie was so bad she was almost ashamed of him. What was he hiding from her? What could possibly be so bad at his house that he didn’t want her there?
With those thoughts, Scarlet drove herself downtown after school. Downtown Avalon pretty much consisted of the town square, The Millhouse, and the public library.
Heather was working at The Millhouse after school, so Scarlet’s plan was to grab a cup of coffee from Heather and head to the library to study.
The real type of studying.
That’s how depressed she was; she actually wanted to study.
Scarlet’s boyfriend was a liar.
Agh.
She steered her car into the parking lot of The Millhouse and waited for Heather to arrive. Heather’s car was nowhere to be found because she was late for work.
Of course.
Scarlet tapped on her steering wheel and listened to the radio as she watched people mill about downtown.
She felt a pity-party coming on and let herself indulge for a minute.
Look at all these people. Happy, content. None of them have amnesia. None of them have identity issues. None of them have a lying boyfriend.
Poor Scarlet.
Lost, abandoned, lied to by her boyfriend.
If it hadn’t been so pathetic, Scarlet would have cried.
Maybe.
Scarlet wasn’t much of a crier, but she could see herself crying over Gabriel lying to her.
Maybe.
She sat in the car and tried to conjure up some tears.
Nothing came.
She sighed, looked across the street, and froze.
There was Gabriel, exiting the public library, looking as sexy as ever.
Her heart began to beat erratically.
What had he been doing at the library? Had he been studying?
Apparently, Scarlet and Gabriel needed to actually study during their next “study” session.
Scarlet watched him walk down the sidewalk and couldn’t help but sigh.
He was so perfect.
So handsome.
She almost got out of the car to call after him. Maybe they could get coffee together. Maybe they could talk about Gabriel’s secrets. Maybe Gabriel’s house really was being fumigated.
Maybe Scarlet was an idiot.
She moved to open her door when a thought hit her.
Or maybe…she could spy on Gabriel and see where he was going.
It was a naughty thought. It was wrong.
And it was absolutely what Scarlet was going to do.
How else was she going to learn things about Gabriel? He, clearly, had no intention of telling her himself.
She reached for her sunglasses—a universally accepted form of disguise—and started her engine.
Gabriel walked for another minute until he reached a black car she’d never seen him drive before. Usually, Gabriel drove a silver car.
Strange.
Scarlet stealthily pulled out behind Gabriel, keeping a good distance between them, and followed him out of downtown.
Heather would love this.
It went right along with her theory that Scarlet had been a spy.
Gabriel drove out of the city limits and into the thick wooded area outside Avalon, the same general area where Scarlet had woken without her memories.
Very strange.
She trailed him deeper into the forest until the dirt roads and lack of cars made it impossible for her to be sneaky.
She pulled off the road and waited until Gabriel’s car had disappeared into the woodlands, giving him a very generous head start, and then proceeded to track him down.
Like an assassin.
Maybe she had been a spy.
She drove through the forest for several minutes until she was sure she was lost and on the wrong trail. She couldn’t see the black car anywhere. All she saw were the many, many Georgia trees.
She’d lost him.
Maybe she’d failed as a spy in her other life and that’s why her memories had been erased.
Maybe Heather had been right.
Then Scarlet spotted him. The black car was a few hundred yards in front of her, cruising down a long driveway.
She slowly drove closer, trying to keep her little car as hidden as possible in the thick foliage.
She watched as Gabriel pulled his car up alongside an enormous cabin and parked.
Was this his home?
He got out of the car and headed up to the front door, where he let himself in. The cabin door closed behind him and Scarlet blinked.
The large cabin, made entirely of knotty pine, looked like a mansion with dozens of windows and a four-car garage. It stood two stories high with a short set of stairs that led up to a wrap-around porch and a huge front door.
This must be Gabriel’s house.
A house that was not being fumigated.
She’d officially caught him in a lie.
Was Scarlet satisfied? No.
Why would Gabriel hide this from her?
Scarlet found a shadowy place to park her car; close enough to walk to the cabin’s front door, but far enough away where Gabriel wouldn’t be alerted to her presence.