Page 1 of Unsteady in Love

Prologue

PRUE

The Day After High School Graduation

My toes skimmedacross the worn wood of the porch as I tried for the hundredth time that day to reach Holden. We were supposed to go to Chicago to try to find ourselves an apartment for the fall, but Holden had failed to pick me up when he was supposed to. At first, I thought nothing of it and only thought he was late, but as time ticked by with no word, I started to get worried. This wasn’t like my boyfriend of three years. Holden always called when he was going to be late, which wasn’t very often. Hours later and I was a mess, grasping at straws as to where he was and why he wasn’t answering any of my phone calls or text messages.

“Any word?” my dad asked out the screen door, worry etched on his strong but tired face.

“No.” I hung my head as tears started to build for the millionth time that day.

“Why don’t you drive on over to his house? Maybe his parents know where he is. I think leaving the front porch will do you some good anyhow.” He gave me a weary smile that did nothing to ease my worries.

“Maybe I should. Sitting here isn’t getting me anywhere,” I strangled out, worried about what could have happened to Holden to prevent him from picking up his phone.

“That’s my girl. I’m sure it’s some big misunderstanding.” He gave me a wan smile.

“You think?” My head popped up, hopeful.

“Baby girl, Holden loves you more than life itself. Nothing could keep him away.”

He did. Holden loved me just as much as I loved him. My dad was right. Long ago, my dad had accepted that Holden would be around for the long haul. Not that Holden was bad news or anything. Only the fact that my dad thought I was too young to find the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with.

This all had to have been some kind of misunderstanding. Holden had probably left his phone somewhere and couldn’t hear it the hundred times I’d called. That had to be it.

“You’re right, Dad. Thanks. I’m going to see what’s going on. Don’t wait up for me.” I hopped off the porch swing and dashed inside for my car keys. On my way out, I popped up on my toes and gave my dad’s smooth cheek a kiss. So excited to see Holden, I tripped going down the stairs. Looking back up at my dad, he stood shaking his head and waved.

The entire way to Holden’s house, I had the windows down and let the wind blow through my hair. There was something about the feeling of the night air on my skin and my hair tickling along my back and arms that soothed me. By the time I made it to Holden’s house, I almost felt like myself again.

As I pulled up into his driveway, I noticed there were no lights on in the house which was odd. There were always lights on at night from the timer they always set. Stacy and Bruce Montgomery didn’t want their son to ever come home to a dark house. This was the first time in years I’d seen it pitch black inside. The worry from earlier reared its ugly head as I hoped a light would miraculously turn on.

Still, I parked and made my way up to the ornate front door. I tried to peek inside through the frosted windows to no avail. I knew there was no point, but I was desperate. It was eerie how quiet the house was. Not even a cricket was chirping in the yard.

Taking a deep breath, I rang the doorbell with the hope that this was all some sort of silly prank and waited patiently for someone to answer the door. After a few minutes with no one in sight, I decided to try my luck at the doorknob. If Holden knew I was coming over, he made sure that the front door was unlocked for me to come in. We’d been together for so long, I was part of the family. This time, though, I was met with the resistance of a locked door.

Where were they?

Fighting back the tears that were threatening to build, I slipped my phone out of my back pocket and punched in Holden’s number one last time. By that time, I expected it to ring and go straight to voicemail or for it to be dead after all the times I’d called and texted throughout the day. I never expected the message that shattered my heart into a million pieces.

“We're sorry. You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again.”

Falling to my knees, my entire world crumbled around me.

Holden was gone.

And I was alone.

1

PRUE

Blurry eyed,I made my way down the aisle, choking back the sob that had been threatening to spill out for the past hour. I had three goals in mind that were keeping me focused. Keeping me from making a spectacle of myself. The first was to make my way to my car without speaking to anyone. The second was to drive home without wrecking, and the third was to crawl into bed, pull the blankets up over my head and bawl my eyes out.

With my head down and hands clenched into fists, no one bothered to speak to me. They’d all already said their condolences. What more could they say? It was only a matter of time. I knew it was coming no matter how hard I had tried to deny it.

I was pulled up short when I spotted a large figure leaning against the trunk of my old Ford Taurus. When the figure saw me, he stood up tall. So tall, he was well beyond six foot with a hulking frame that on any other day of the week would have had me quaking in my boots, but not this day. I didn’t give one shit who it was or what they wanted. My sole focus was on my goal of making it to my bed to cry. Alone and in peace. That was all I cared about.

Not caring, I ignored the figure, bypassing him and making my way to the driver side door. I could feel him looking at me, his gaze burning a hole in the back of my head, but again, I didn’t care. Instead, I hit the button to unlock my door and heard the satisfying sound of my doors unlocking. With my hand on the handle, I felt his heat against my back.

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