Rumor Has It

For a moment she felt an eerie sense of déjà vu, as she stared at the man who stood on her doorstep dressed in jeans and a T-shirt—the uniform of their high school days. Only the shoulders filling out the shirt were broader now, the thighs beneath the jeans more muscular, the man himself more confident and comfortable in his own skin than that teenager had ever been. He smiled, a look of warmth and welcome. “Hi. You ready?”

Oh, yeah. She was ready, all right. She collected her purse and followed him outside to a red crew-cab pickup truck. “What do you think about grabbing a bite to eat first?” he asked as he opened the passenger door for her.

“That sounds good.” She slid across the seat and fastened her seat belt.

“You’re more familiar with the town now than I am.” He started the engine. “Where should we go?”

“Where would we have gone in high school?”

He laughed. “Danny’s Drive-in, I guess. That was the big hangout.”

She nodded. “Then let’s go there.”

“You mean, it’s still around?”

“And it’s still the hangout. Some things never change.”

They drove the few short blocks to Danny’s. The orange-and-blue neon sign had faded over the years, but the same metal awning stretched out from the squat white building. Modern speakers and lighted menus had replaced the hand-painted signs and drive-in movie relics of their senior year. Dylan steered the truck into an empty bay and rolled down the driver’s-side window to study the menu. “They didn’t have veggie burgers or chicken wraps when I was here last.”

She laughed. “Even Danny has had to make a few changes to keep up with the times.”

He leaned out to press the speaker button. “What will you have?”

“I think I’ll try that veggie burger. And a cherry limeade.”

He placed their order, then leaned back in the seat and sighed. “I never would have thought this place would have survived the fast-food invasion.” He glanced at her. “I had a lot of good times here when I was a kid. I must have eaten hundreds of Danny burgers.”

“When I moved here, I couldn’t believe a place like this still existed.” She unfastened her seat belt and turned toward him. “It was one of the few things I actually liked about my new home.”

He made a face. “I guess there wasn’t much to like for you, was there?”

“Oh, I was a snob, I’ll admit it.” She shook her head. “As far as I was concerned, this hick place couldn’t compete with the glamour of L.A.”

“But you see it differently now?”

She nodded. “I do. Maybe it’s growing older or just growing up.” She smoothed her hand along the seat. “I guess I’ve come to appreciate that sense of…I don’t know…belonging…that a small town can give to some people.”

“Some people…but not you.”

She shifted. How could she explain to this man, who wanted nothing more than to settle down forever in his old hometown, that she hadn’t found what she was looking for yet? “I guess maybe I’m not really cut out for small-town life. And this opportunity at Oxford was too good to pass up. I mean, it’s not like I have any real ties here to hold me back.”

“Sure.” He nodded, his expression guarded. “I’m sure you’ll love it over there. Little Cedar Creek, Texas, will seem pretty pale next to ancient Oxford.”

She hadn’t mean to insult him, or the town, but that was apparently the way he was taking it. She started to protest, but they were interrupted by the arrival of the car hop with their order.

Patrice Miller, dressed in cropped jeans and a red Danny’s T-shirt, hooked the tray onto the edge of the window. “Hey, Ms. Reed.” She smiled shyly, showing a row of braces. “How are you?” She glanced at Dylan, a question in her eyes.

“Patrice, this is Dylan Gates. Dylan, this is Patrice Miller, one of my students.”

“Nice to meet you, Patrice.” He accepted the bill from her. “So is Ms. Reed a mean teacher?”

“She’s not too bad.” She looked at Taylor, then back at Dylan. Taylor could almost see the questions bouncing around in her brain. She took the bills Dylan handed her. “I’ll be right back with your change.”

“That’s okay.” He waved her on. “You keep it.”

“Thanks.” She turned and darted away.

Dylan handed Taylor her burger. “I guess it’ll be all over town by tonight that we were out together.”

She nodded. “Considering how many people saw us leave the reunion together on Saturday, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Does that bother you?”

She considered the question. On one hand, it would be nice to keep her trysts with Dylan secret—something they did just for themselves. They might have done so in an anonymous big city, but never in Cedar Creek, Texas. She shrugged. “We’ve already agreed it’s useless to try to keep a secret in this town.” She remembered Alyson’s warning about discretion. “Besides, that doesn’t mean they have to know everything we do.”