Long Time Gone (Rough Riders) Read Free

several years?”
    “You’re kiddin’ me, right? I barely ever get to see any guys, let alone get to shoot the breeze with them in an unchaperoned situation since I live in a convent most of the year.”
    “Were you serious at lunch? When you said you wanted to drop out of school?”
    “No! I just like to tease Aunt Hulda since she’s footing the bill for our ed-ja-kay-shun . Of course Mom took the opportunity to jump on me for it and call me ungrateful.” It was just another indication that her mom had never understood her sense of humor—or anything else about her. “So don’t you dare say anything to her about me flirting with Cal.”
    “I’d never do that.” Carolyn said. “Did you know that Thomas tried to fix me up with one of his friends?”
    “A coal miner?”
    “No. A college guy.”
    “And?” Kimi prompted.
    “And I’d already met Carson. I couldn’t help but compare them. But there was no comparison. At all.”
    Kimi thought back to Cal’s sexy taunt. Get ready to understand the difference between havin’ a boy kiss you and havin’ a man devour you. “How do you think Cal compares? Bein’s he and Carson are twins?”
    “I don’t know Cal well. Yet. But even in the short amount of time I’ve spent with him, I’ve found him to be more introspective. He doesn’t seem prone to the same impulsive behavior that Carson deals with.”
    “So Cal isn’t a brawler?”
    “Only if he’s backing his fight-lovin’ twin,” Carolyn said dryly.
    “Well, I appreciate the concern, sis, but Cal is outta my league.” She sighed. “That’s not to say I can’t admire him and practice my flirting skills because he’s so good lookin’. Lord, his smile just lights up that whole handsome face of his. And those blue eyes…”
    “They’re something, aren’t they? The whole McKay family has that eye color.”
    “Maybe all your babies will too,” Kimi teased.
    Carolyn blushed. But she didn’t say anything else.
    After taking one last drag of her cigarette, Kimi flicked the butt out the window. The scenery flew by. Nothing changed here. The desolate landscape depressed her. It always had.
    Aside from Carolyn’s giddiness about her husband-to-be, it shocked Kimi that her sister had signed on to live in the vast void of Wyoming for the rest of her life. They’d both talked of getting out. Moving on. Kimi had selfishly hoped Carolyn would move to Chicago with her friend Cathy. Then she’d have a place to go when she finished her sentence at St. Mary’s, because there was no way in hell she was ever coming back here. No way.
    One more year. She could survive that. She’d taken extra classes the past two years so she could graduate a year early—not that anyone in her family besides Aunt Hulda was aware of her plans. Catholic school had been tolerable with Carolyn around as a buffer. Everyone adored her big sister and that admiration had provided Kimi with a layer of protection from the holier-than-thou girls populating the school. Now that Carolyn had graduated, the torture had already begun for Kimi during her summer classes.
    She hated her classmates’ judgment and supposition. They called her a fast girl just because she paid attention to the opposite sex when she had the chance. Kimi wasn’t fast or loose—as evidenced by her virginal status. But just to entertain herself, she’d adopted the attitude of a wild child. Let her classmates whisper and talk about her. It amused her that her only transgression had been detention for getting caught smoking.
    “Kimi? You all right?”
    She tamped down her melancholy. “I’m just tired.” She dreaded being left alone with her mom and dad while Carolyn and Aunt Hulda worked on the wedding dress. But she’d sworn not to cause any family problems. Her sister had enough to deal with. “This will be a quick trip for us.”
    “Does that mean you won’t see any of your friends while you’re here?”
    “What friends? I’ve been livin’ in