Until Forever Read Free Page B

closed her eyes this time, but it only helped a little. The flash of lightning filled her classroom again, and was still quite bright through her closed eyelids.
    There weren’t quite as many spots before her eyes, however, so when she opened them, she was able to see outside her windows the campus beyond, which was still undisturbed by wind or rain. She frowned. The stillness meant nothing, of course. Within seconds, a downpour could occur. Damn weatherman. Was it too much to ask for an accurate forecast with today’s technology? Apparently the vagaries of Mother Nature refused to cooperate.
    But at least a glance around the classroom showed her that her unwelcome visitor had departed. She got back to work, blocking out the picture of Barry Horton laughing when he learned how well his little joke had worked. She was still as gullible as when he’d first met her, when she’d believed all his lies and professions of love.
    Her only consolation from that debacle was that she’d stuck to the morals her father had imparted to her. Barry Horton might have gotten a ring on her finger, he might have stolen two years’ worth of her research, but he hadn’t managed to get into her bed. Perhapsshe’d known, on a subconscious level, that he wasn’t sincere. Or perhaps her heart hadn’t been involved as much as she’d thought. But at least she did have that one fact to be grateful for. Small consolation, considering what she’d lost, but better than nothing.

3
    “W ell, are you going to show it to me or not?”
    Roseleen grinned as she joined Gail at the foot of the bed where the long wooden case had been laid on top of a bedding chest. She had arrived so late at her friend’s house last night that there had been no time for them to talk. They’d just finished breakfast now, and she’d told Gail that the long-awaited antique had finally arrived, that she even had it with her. Gail knew all about the sword, but then Gail knew everything about Roseleen.
    They had grown up together in the same small town in Maine, attended the same schools, even the same college. For as far back as Roseleen could remember, Gail had been a part of her life and her very best friend. No one knew her better than Gail, not even David, because she didn’t share all confidences with him, whereas she did with Gail.
    They weren’t at all alike. Roseleen wasauburn-haired, with chocolate-brown eyes. Gail was blond and blue-eyed. Roseleen was tall, bookish, and basically shy, while Gail was short, had been chubby all her life, and was afraid of nothing. They complemented each other, because what one lacked in personality, the other possessed.
    Neither had dated much in high school, Gail not for lack of trying. She’d just had a little problem with rejection that had come too often because she hadn’t been remotely pretty in her teen years, retaliating with deadly insults that had kept any boys who might have been interested away.
    Roseleen, on the other hand, just hadn’t had time for boys. She’d known what she wanted to do with her life, and getting the best grades was part of it. Unfortunately, her intelligence wasn’t on the remarkable side, so she’d had to study much harder than everyone else to get the grades she wanted. She was where she was today because she had worked toward it all her life. But all that studying hadn’t allowed for an active social life.
    Gail had grown into a little beauty, still on the chubby side, but she was now comfortable with that, and it showed. She had dropped out of college to get married after her second year. It had been the third marriage proposal she’d received.
    Roseleen would never have considered doing such a thing, even if she’d had some offers. She didn’t have any. Boys came to her to help them study. The few she had datedfound out quickly enough that she was all for having a good time—if it didn’t include groping in a backseat. Since they’d rather be groping, they found other girls to