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“Sure is,” Michael added. They grabbed their stuff and headed out the door.
* * * *
“So, aren’t you going to at least tell me if it was good or not and whether the wait is really worth it?” Sally asked as she and Alexa sat at their kitchen table.
“Oh, it was worth it and it was perfect. They’re perfect.” Alexa played with the bottles of salt and pepper that sat on the table.
“You’re not falling for them are you?” Sally asked her, and she sounded so disgusted.
Alexa looked up at her and saw the expression on her face. It was one Alexa knew all too well. Sally was scared and, therefore, defensive. She would need to tread carefully here.
“Well I don’t go around sleeping with guys, so I guess you could say that I’m falling for them.”
“Look at me, Alexa.”
Alexa slowly looked up and into her sister’s eyes.
“You have to be careful. We know how men are and that’s why we’ve been waiting to give ourselves like this. I want you to promise to be careful and to remember that men lie and you need to be ready for their lies.”
“Sally, they don’t lie. Michael and Chad are different. They’re good men and I really care about them.”
“But they’re still men and men lie. I just don’t want you to wind up with a broken heart on top of everything else you’ve gone through. It’s not a big deal that you had sex with them and gave up your virginity. It was bound to happen sooner or later. It doesn’t tie you to them.”
“You’re wrong, Sally. It does tie me to them and them to me. I don’t know why you’re being like this when you’re the one that told me to go for it.”
Sally took a deep breath and released it. She stared off into the distance, and Alexa knew that she was just scared. She had been hurt by their uncles, too. She’d come even closer to getting raped, and Sally was the one who had the dogs on her. She was deathly afraid of dogs. Especially since one had bitten her that terrifying night.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to ruin your good mood. What’s done is done and we need to move on. I just want you to promise me that you won’t get hurt. Please promise me that you won’t let them hurt you.”
“I promise,” Alexa whispered, but inside she knew that she was in trouble. In her mind she missed them already. She felt hollow inside without them here beside her. She was becoming instantly attached, and that should have been a warning sign for her to slow things down between her, Chad, and Michael.
It was shocking how much she wanted to see them and hoped that perhaps she would before the week’s end. She also worried about Sally. Could her sister let a man ever get close enough to her to prove that not all men are evil? She hoped there was a man strong enough out there and one meant for Sally.
* * * *
Alexa, Sally, Juliet, and Elise walked together through town. The recreation departments were beginning to set up for this weekend’s Fall Festival. There were pumpkins and bales of hay lining the street corners, and every store was decorated in fall colors. Delite Café and Diner had purple and yellow mums decorating the flower boxes out front and some cool-looking scarecrows in the windows. They found a spot to sit as a large gathering outside Bart’s Surplus Store gathered around. The owner, Bart, set up tables with various items he was selling and donating to benefit Sarah McClocklin. Delite Café and Diner donated various baked items to sell, and the local farmers had pumpkins, apple cider, hot chocolate, and other items to sell to raise money as well. It was beautiful out, and Alexa was taking pictures with her new camera.
As she clicked away, she watched through the lens as various shots caught her attention.
The baby they were raising money for was sitting up in a stroller, wrapped in pink blankets. She looked adorable and not sick at all. She was suffering from a rare blood disease, and without the correct and constant blood transfusions she would only get worse. On top of that she was young, only eleven months old. Down the street at the local firehouse and paramedic headquarters, they were running a blood drive. Alexa was going to head there next.
“I’m going to go take some pictures over there. I’ll be back in a bit,” she told the others.
“No problem. But you’re not getting out of donating blood, you little chicken,” Sally teased her, and she laughed. “You’re the one who’s afraid of needles,” she replied, and the others laughed.
Alexa absorbed the feelings she had being in Delite. It was such a beautiful town, with friendly people and prosperous businesses. She loved how everyone said hello and offered help in an
instant. She looked through her camera and spotted the Warriors biker gang making their way into town. Her heart began to hammer inside of her chest. She looked for Chad and Michael. They were up there in rank. Whatever rank it meant, she hadn’t a clue, but Chad had told her over the phone. The sound of their roaring motorcycle engines filtered through the streets, and more people rushed over to see the fancy-looking bikes. Alexa clicked away as she absorbed how different each motorcycle was. They appeared to be custom made, too.
As she moved the lens through the crowd, she spotted Chad first. Tight, black camo pants, which seemed to be a favorite of his, tight black shirt, and leather jacket. He even wore black cowboy boots and of course dark sunglasses. He looked delicious. She licked her lips and shot away, trying to catch him as he glanced around the area. He appeared to be looking for someone, and that was when she caught sight of Michael. He was looking around for someone as well. She felt her belly tighten and wondered whom it could be. She felt jealous, and then the ceremony started. She watched for a few moments until the crowd began to clap. She sat down on the rock wall where a large planting bed decorated the center. It was covered in fall mums and other greenery. She began to fix her camera when she felt the hand on her elbow.
“Hey, darling, do you remember me?”
She turned around and then looked up and up until she locked gazes with two very large-looking cowboys. They each wore their Stetsons low. Their dark eyes held her gaze. The other cowboy was built, too. She remembered them from Dixie Chix.
“Hi, yeah, I remember you. How are ya doing?” she asked, and the other guy placed his brown boot on the wall about a foot away from her hip and he leaned down a little lower to look her over. She felt tightness in her belly and a feeling of uneasiness came over her. She didn’t like being cornered.
“The question is, how are you doing, honey?” the other cowboy asked then licked his bottom lip and stared at her. She quickly got her camera into her bag and looked up as the first cowboy introduced himself.
