Fallen Dreams - Elaine Brown (free romance novels txt) 📗

to take more of your money.”
I smile sweetly up at him, knowing he thinks I’m about to yield. Subconsciously, he loosens his hold on my wrists, raises himself a little, giving me just enough room to maneuver. Swift as a cat springing from a hunters crouch, I bring my right knee up so it is pressing into his stomach. At the same moment, I push off with my left foot as hard as I can, forcing Shawn into a backward somersault with me. He flips over my head and the hold he has on my wrists help me to follow him, the flip ending with one of my hands holding both his wrists about his head, the other arm pressing hard against his throat. My right knee and shin press his chest to the ground, my left knee digging into the ground at his side; I grin down at him, dark-chocolate hair hanging loosely about my face, and my mix of grey and blue eyes shining. Shawn is still stunned, sprawled beneath me, one knee up behind me, the other leg flat against the grass and wild flowers.
“I guess I owe you ten bronze,” he finally manages, incredulous.

The sky was just beginning to darken, the warm mug in my hand steaming as we watched the first of the stars peek out of the darkness from my back porch. I steal a glance at Shawn over the rim as I bring the warm, sweet drink to my lips. I’m surprised to see him doing the same, and I fight to keep myself from laughing while drinking. He sees my face and begins laughing, lucky him for already having swallowed.
I replace the mug on the small table and bring a hand up to cover my mouth while coughing and laughing, unsuccessfully. This makes Shawn laugh even harder. Glaring at him mockingly, I reach across the table and shove his shoulder. He feigns falling by rocking back on the chair legs; noticing too late how close to the edge he is, he loses his balance and topples over the side of the porch.
My fit of coughing ends and I rush to the edge, taking in the sight of Shawn, sitting up on his elbows covered in grass, wooden seat a few feet away, and begin laughing anew. He looks up at me sheepishly and I jump down next to him. Taking the hand he extends for help, I am about to pull him up when he pulls me down, making me land on the grass beside him, looking up at the brilliant stars. Such a gorgeous day and now such a clear night? Could it truly be real?
“I’m staying here tonight, okay?”
I snap back out of my thoughts and turn my head to look at him. “What? Oh, sorry, why?”
He takes his gaze off the stars and shifts it to me, smiling. “Don’t worry, I’ve already talked to your mom and she doesn’t mind as long as we sleep in different rooms, as always. I don’t want to go home, today has just been so perfect and I don’t want to risk ruining it.”
I turn toward him a little more. “Ruin it? How?”
He turns away again, watching the sky and tracing constellations with his finger. “Mom’s away for a while, so I’d be alone at the house.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Shawn and his mother don’t get along very well, not since his father and brother died a few years back in a wild animal attack in the woods.
“Usually, but tonight I just don’t want to be alone in an empty home.”
I leave it at that, not wanting to ruin his “perfect” day myself. It’s been a while since he’s called “the house” “a home”, even an “empty” one, so I hardly notice that my home is more of a home to him than “the house”.
I turn back to the sky just as a shooting star makes its fiery path across its dark canvas. I smile and close my eyes just as I hear Shawn whisper a faint, “Make a wish.”
“I wish…”

that Shawn could have many perfect days, just like this one.

“Done, what about you?” I open my eyes and find Shawn facing toward me, on his side.
“How could I wish for anything else when I’ve already been given such an amazing gift?

I

got to spend a perfect day with

you

.” He smiles and reaches out to touch the back of my hand lightly.
I blush and smile back at him, flattered and grateful. The back door opens quietly, spilling a thin stream of light onto the porch and grass, the sweet, kind, trusting voice of my mother makes its way to my ears; “Orin, Shawn, come inside, it’s getting late. You can stay up for a little while longer if you’re quiet, but it’s time for the rest of us to go to bed.”
As she speaks, Shawn stands and pulls me up with him. “Yes, ma’am,” he says, ever the polite young man. I roll my eyes, smiling, and punch him lightly on the arm, and then wrap my fingers around the spot where I hit him; I tug him toward the door.
Mom kisses me on the cheek, short blonde hair brushing my skin lightly, tickling my nose, and her bright, intelligent blue eyes smile kindly as she tells Shawn how happy she is to see that he’s well and how glad we are to have him, even though I point out that it’s just for the night. Somehow, Shawn and I make it upstairs.
I turn to him, and hold up a finger to stop him before he can speak; “Wait here.”
Disappearing inside my room, I pull out the package I had asked my mother to purchase earlier that day, giving her ten bronze to do so. She had even wrapped it in clean, dark blue cloth with gold and silver designs webbing themselves across it. My eyes drift to the mirror to the left side of the room, a golden thread hanging from an ornate edge. I smile and silently thank my mother for both cloth and thread (and gift) as I tie the thread about the cloth enclosed box.
Slowly, I open the door a crack, peering through at Shawn before pushing the box through the crack and into his hands. He looks from it to me, still behind the mostly closed door.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“Well, open it and find out.”
An eyebrow is raised in my direction as he pulls the door fully open before turning his attention back to the box. He tugs lightly on the loose gold thread, pulls away the cloth, and opens the lid. Out of the box he pulls two long, silver chains; on the end of each hangs half of a twelve pointed star, but the center of one holds an obsidian stone while the other holds a blue-grey opal.
His eyes widen and he looks up at me; I blush. “What—“
“I bought them with the ten bronze you gave me. One for each of us.” I reach out a hand and lightly wrap my fingers around the silver and obsidian. “This one’s mine, the other one’s yours. It’s to show how important our friendship has been to me, so if for any reason you or I end up away from the other, we’ll have these to remember.”
His gaze softens and he tenderly wraps his hand around the other necklace. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me…”
I smile. “Technically it was

your

money, so thank you, too.”
He smiles back at me, pulling the chain over his head and tucking the star inside his shirt. “It matches your eyes,” he says quietly, placing the box on the ground and taking the second silver chain from me and lowering it over my head and around my neck. “Mine, not yours.”
“And mine matches your eyes.” I tuck the pendant under my shirt as well. “But that’s all the more reason I chose them.”
Shawn’s fingertips linger at the base of my neck and they trace my collar-bone lightly, the only spot I am truly ticklish, and I am unable stop a small fit of giggles from escaping my lips. I shake my head cheerfully and push his hand away. “What are you doing, that tickles!”
He yawns as he replies, “Sorry, guess I’m just worn out. That was our first rumble in a while; I must be out of shape. Night.” He yawns again, leans forward to lightly kiss me on the cheek, and disappears inside the guest room right across the hall from my own room.
“Night…” I mutter as I close the door once more, collapse on the bed and think,

no one picked up the box

, before drifting into a dreamless sleep.

II

A soft knock on a wooden door slides me into awareness. The knock comes again and I realize it’s coming from the other side of my door. Standing, I say a soft, “Just a minute.”
My mother would kill me if she knew I’d fallen asleep in street clothes, so I quickly shed pants and shirt and pull on a fresh pair of tank top and linen trousers, just in case.
Slowly making my way to the door, expecting to find my mother or father, I am surprised to be looking into the face of Shawn upon opening the door. I feel my eyebrows rise but he puts a hand over my mouth before I can speak, causing me to walk backwards as he enters my room; Shawn closes the door behind him.
As he removes his hand and I can breathe a little better, he whispers in my ear, “I’m sorry I woke you, I know I’m not supposed to be in here, it’s just… I woke up with a bad feeling and couldn’t fall asleep again, and I always feel better around you, so I—“
“Shawn, you’re babbling.” He bows his head and I take his hand, leading him to the end of the bed and making him sit down. I press a hand to his forehead before continuing. “Are you sick, what were you talking about?”
He shakes his head and gently removes my hand, holding it in his lap, forcing me to either kneel in front of him or sit beside him; I find the latter less demeaning. “No, I’m fine, I think; I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen and I can’t sleep anymore. But I’m always calmer around you, so I came here… sorry, I’ll leave, I’m just being ridiculous.” He begins to stand, cheeks red and not meeting my eyes, but I squeeze his hand and put my free hand on his arm.
“It’s alright, Shay, you can stay. It’s not ridiculous; I… I’ve had a really ominous feeling all day, but I didn’t say anything. It was such a nice day and I didn’t want to worry you…” I take a deep breath. “As long as Mom doesn’t catch you in here, it’s fine.”
His expression brightens and he hugs me quickly, kisses my cheek, and pulls me up as he stands. “Thank you, I’ll make it up to you somehow.”
My eyes had widened but they close again as I yawn. “You’d better.”
I crawl back onto the bed and under the covers; Shawn hesitates, looking torn. I hold up the comforter; “Well?” I ask.
He blushes but lies down next to me, whispering, “I’ll be gone before your mom wakes up.”
I smile at him, trying to lighten his mood. “Don’t worry about it too much, it’s not like anything’s going to happen anyway. It’s just like that time we camped in the woods when we were kids, it doesn’t mean anything; just two friends having a