Sparked Read Free Page A

he could muster.
    He took it all the way to the other end of the lake—doing the whole three miles in under seven minutes—enjoying every bob and thrust of the water against its hull along the way. The weather was perfect tonight—warm but with enough breeze from the lake to keep cool. God, he had missed this place. Four years away from Independence Falls had been too much. He was glad to finally be graduated, finally be home.
    “What do you say we head in?” Will suggested as they reached the opposite edge of the lake.
    Clayton knew what he was asking. There was only one reason a man could be persuaded to get off this boat.
    “Meg coming tonight?” Clayton asked with a grin. Meg was Will’s fiancée. They’d gotten engaged right after high school, but had to wait for Will to complete his law degree. Now that he’d graduated, they barely spent a moment apart.
    “Should be there any minute,” Will said. “I told her I’d meet her by the dock. You got a girl coming tonight?”
    “No romance for me,” Clayton said. It wasn’t that he was opposed to romance, exactly. It was that he couldn’t afford the distraction. No woman had seemed worth the risk of failing again. In his experience, those who didn’t throw themselves at him once they’d learned his last name were so cool and indifferent that he never knew what they really felt at all. The women in his social circle were all so alike—perfect speech, perfect deportment, perfect hair, never so much as a crack in their mannered façades. Sometimes he wondered if society ladies like his mother were churning them out of a factory somewhere, like little dolls.
    “Careful. If you don’t pick someone yourself, Mom will do it for you.”
    “I’m doing my best to convince her to give up on me once and for all.”
    “Good luck, pal. Mom isn’t exactly the ‘giving up’ type.” 
    Clayton chuckled. Will’s words were an understatement. 
    From afar, Clayton spotted the blaze of the bonfire on the beach and realized Will was right. It was time to be heading back.
    “Mark my words, she’ll be digging in even harder now that you’re back home,” Will said.
    “She’ll have to catch me first,” Clayton said, grinning roguishly before revving the engine again. The rush of wind made talking impossible, which was fine with him. He wished his mother would lay off. He didn’t want to find someone like that. If he was going to fall in love, he wanted it to be natural, spontaneous … not manufactured from good breeding and excellent connections. It had to start with a spark.
     
    The moment they arrived, Will darted down the dock and kissed Meg full on the lips. Clayton chuckled to himself as the two disappeared into the crowd. Meg was sweet and they were good together. If he could find someone half as great as Meg, he’d consider himself a lucky man.
    Clayton docked his baby and made his way into the festival crowd. It seemed like the entire town was wandering across the swim beach, carrying candles and eating caramel popcorn. The smell of cotton candy wafted through the air and brought back images of his childhood—of running through this place with Will and the other boys when they were kids, trying to do everything all at once. Independence Falls had been a wonderful place to grow up. He smiled, wondering if Mrs. McClure had made her famous lemonade this year.
    It was then that he spotted her. 
    She had hair as dark as chestnuts and lips as red as wild strawberries. She carried a candle like everyone else at the festival, but its glow seemed extra warm on her skin. His breath caught in his throat. She was absolutely the most stunning creature he’d ever seen.
    Where was she from? He didn’t recognize her, and he was sure that if a woman as beautiful as that lived in town he would know her. Maybe she was visiting a relative or a friend, but she seemed to be alone. How was that possible? How did the exquisite beauty not already have a man on her arm? She