Key To My Heart: Stay Read Free Page A

uncomfortable by the nagging voice at the back of her
mind that told her she had never gotten over Gavin and that she was
just trying to find a suitable substitute. Her mind raced with
confusion as she picked up Garett’s food from the window, and she
wondered again if it wouldn’t be easier to run away from it
all.
    Garett’s grin faded when she approached
him. “You look like you’ve got storm clouds in those beautiful eyes
of yours. I didn’t really upset you did I? If I did, I’m
sorry.”
    She forced an uneasy laugh.
“Don’t flatter yourself Gar. You know I’d never let YOU get to
me.”
    “ Funny Acasia. Seriously,
are you okay? I know it sucks to live at home with your mom, but I
think it would be preferable to living with mine.” He winked at
her.
    She could tell that he was
trying to lighten the mood, but she wasn’t in the mood to continue
with their usual flirting. She made an excuse and quickly excused
herself since the restaurant had chosen the perfect time to get
busy. She had to stop herself from breathing a sigh of relief as
she walked away from him, and cursed herself for how much she was
letting him get to her.
    It was even more obvious
that night when she fell asleep as his face was the last thing she
saw in her mind before she closed her eyes. She woke up sweaty, and
feeling like her cheeks were on fire as well, having had a vivid
dream of making love to Garett. But it had only ended up making her
mind even more conflicted since she had called him Gavin in the
dream.
    She sighed as she got out of bed. She
wished again that Gavin had given her some kind of explanation when
he had broken it off with her. Then maybe her mind wouldn’t cling
so stubbornly to the memory of him, forever wondering if she could
have done something differently. She had been so convinced then
that he was the one for her, that they would get married and have
gorgeous children. Then again she had thought the same of Colton
and that certainly hadn’t turned out like she had planned
either.
    She used the restroom and
then took a quick shower, glad that she didn’t have to work that
day and that she wouldn’t have to face Garett, but wondering what
she was going to do to occupy her time. Her mother would come up
with something for them to do together, probably already had, but
with as much as Acasia loved her mother, she couldn’t take her
mother’s motherliness today. She had too damned much on her mind,
and her mother always seemed to know when something was bothering
her, whether it was something she wanted to discuss or
not.
    Her mother was an early
riser and she knew that Heather Brown was probably in the kitchen,
preparing the “real” breakfast she had always insisted on them
eating while growing up, consisting of eggs and toast, sausage or
bacon, hash browns and some sort of fruit. The sisters had often
joked while growing up that they wished their mother would work
outside the home so they would be able to eat a bowl of cereal for
breakfast every now and then. But Heather Brown had always been
involved in activities outside the home, various women’s clubs,
volunteering, PTA, etc. and probably would still have managed to
get up at 5:00 in the morning to prepare what she considered a
proper breakfast for her family even if she had worked outside the
home.
    Feeling like a teenager
sneaking out for a midnight rendezvous with her boyfriend, and more
than a little silly since it was eight o’clock in the morning and
she was hardly a teenager, Acasia pondered her window. The girls
had been lucky enough to sleep in the basement rather than the
second story with their parents, making their windows somewhat
easier to escape through; but the windows were small and Acasia’s
had been a tight fit for her even then. She figured she had
probably gained ten pounds since high school, and while she was
grateful that it hadn’t been more, she knew that the added weight
certainly wasn’t going to make her chances of