Prologue
“I want you home by eleven!”
Lincoln Harrington was sitting in the passenger seat of his girlfriend’s Mustang. Lara’s grandparents had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday two years ago. Lara was eighteen. A few months older than him. He didn’t care all that much.
He felt he was the luckiest dude in the school dating this hot chick that most wanted and she wouldn’t give the time of day to anyone but him.
“Sure!” Lara yelled back and she slid into the car. “Not likely. They are so controlling. I can’t wait until we graduate in two months and then I’m out of here.”
“Have you told them yet you aren’t going to college?” he asked.
Lara’s parents had her on a short leash most of her life. At least from what she’d said. It wasn’t until recently that her mother convinced her father to let her have some freedom since she’d be going off to college soon.
Or so they thought. Again, words from Lara’s mouth.
“No,” Lara said. “I’ve got time before they have to put the money down. I’m getting away from here and them. Then it’s just the two of us and no one to answer to.”
He leaned over and kissed her while she started the engine and it roared to life.
The muscle car had been a huge argument in Lara’s family. She’d told him all about it. Repeatedly in the eight months they’d been dating.
Lara’s father thought it was too dangerous. Lara’s mother told her father to lighten up, you only lived once.
Lincoln was going with the second, but he had to admit that Lara was a little reckless at times. More than he was, and for a guy entering the Air Force with the goal of being a fighter pilot, that was saying something.
“I want you with me,” he said. His heart had been long gone the minute he found out she was a virgin. “But it won’t be right away. I’ve got to go through basic training, then figure out where I’ll end up. You know you can’t live with me unless we are married.”
“I want to get married,” Lara said excitedly. “You can take me away from here and care for me right?”
“Always,” he said. Though he had doubts he could give her the life she was used to. She insisted it wasn’t a big deal, but her words and her actions never lined up.
He was middle class. His parents had stable jobs and they had a decent well-maintained house.
He’d never wanted for much in his life, but it’s not like his parents bought him a car for his sixteenth birthday.
He had a job and he put half in and his parents put the other four thousand in. He thought it was awesome, but it wasn’t the car he was riding in now and never would be.
Lara’s parents made it a point to rub that in their daughter’s face all the time too.
That Lincoln wouldn’t or couldn’t give her what she deserved and that she could do so much better.
He’d overheard her parents talking one day that she’d find someone better suited for her when she was in college.
She argued that she loved him and didn’t care about those things.
Yet they never went places in his car and she always was asking him to take her out, him using most of his paycheck on that rather than putting money away.
“Then that is all I care about,” Lara said. She hit the gas hard when the light turned green and he was sucked into the seat.
“What are you going to do when I’m in training?” he asked
Every time he brought this up she’d avoid answering. He’d always been a man with a plan. He couldn’t live by the seat of his pants. It just wasn’t his way.
Could be he didn’t have anything to fall back on like Lara did.
“I’ll figure it out,” she said. “If I have to start college for a semester, I’ll do it. Doesn’t mean I have to finish.”
He cringed. He didn’t care how much money her parents had, that was just wasteful to him.
Unless she changed her mind and was going to end things with him.
He tried not to think that way. It was going to be what it was.
It’s not like he was changing his plans. This had been his dream ever since his parents took him on vacation and he got to look at old fighter planes and helicopters. The helicopters drew him in more, but he was willing to give them both a try.
His parents always knew what he wanted and they supported him even through their fears.
Lara found it exciting and sexy. The night he’d told her what he was going to do after graduation was when she told him she was ready to go all the way. That was a month after they’d been dating.
It fed his ego that she was supporting his career choice, and from that point on, she’d bragged to many at the same time she’d tried to show him how much she needed speed.
He wouldn’t say he ever had a need for speed like she did.
Not when she took a turn fast enough to have him grabbing the door.
“What is your rush?” he asked. “We’re only going to the movies.”
“I’ve got this car, might as well drive it like it’s meant to be.”
He’d told her all the time to let up on the gas. She’d let him drive it a time or two, but that was it. He didn’t ask, she’d offered. He didn’t want her to get in trouble if her parents found out.
“If you abuse it too much it won’t last that long,” he said. He took care of what was his.
“It will be fine,” she said, laughing, her hair blowing in the breeze with the sunroof open and the windows down.
That was her answer to everything.
Lincoln knew he’d have to learn to accept that if they were going to be married. No two people were the same or perfect.
They got to the mall, went in and grabbed a quick burger at the food court, then were in the theater with five minutes to spare. They spent more time in the back making out, his hand sliding under her shirt and even down her pants, than they did watching the movie.
When it ended a little after nine, they walked around the mall before closing and were back in her car at ten.
“What do you want to do for an hour?” he asked.
“I’m not going to be home at eleven,” she said. “It’s lame. It’s Saturday night and I’m eighteen. You don’t have a curfew.”
Only because he knew she did and his parents were fine with that. When he got home late, it worried them and he’d apologize left and right, but they knew he was at the mercy of Lara if she was picking him up and dropping him off.
He’d offered to get her, but she always wanted to be out in her car. Since it was a sweet ride he couldn’t complain much about it.
He didn’t have a chance to dispute her comment when she pulled out in traffic with another car coming not that far away.
“Lara!” he shouted, but it was too late.
The truck hit them in the driver’s door, throwing Lara’s body like a rag doll in a washing machine toward him only to have it snap back by the seatbelt.
His last thought was this was going to end up being his fault. He knew it.
He didn’t remember anything else before his airbag went off, knocking him unconscious.
@font-face<br> {font-family:”Cambria Math”;<br> panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;<br> mso-font-charset:0;<br> mso-generic-font-family:roman;<br> mso-font-pitch:variable;<br> mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal<br> {mso-style-unhide:no;<br> mso-style-qformat:yes;<br> mso-style-parent:””;<br> margin:0in;<br> mso-pagination:widow-orphan;<br> font-size:12.0pt;<br> font-family:”Times New Roman”,serif;<br> mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;}.MsoChpDefault<br> {mso-style-type:export-only;<br> mso-default-props:yes;<br> mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;<br> mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;<br> mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;<br> mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;<br> mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;<br> mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;<br> mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;<br> mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}div.WordSection1<br> {page:WordSection1;}
Prologue
“I want
you home by eleven!”
Lincoln
Harrington was sitting in the passenger seat of his girlfriend’s Mustang.
Lara’s grandparents had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday two years
ago. Lara was eighteen. A few months older than him. He didn’t care all that
much.
He felt
he was the luckiest dude in the school dating this hot chick that most wanted
and she wouldn’t give the time of day to anyone but him.
“Sure!”
Lara yelled back and she slid into the car. “Not likely. They are so
controlling. I can’t wait until we graduate in two months and then I’m out of
here.”
“Have
you told them yet you aren’t going to college?” he asked.
Lara’s
parents had her on a short leash most of her life. At least from what she’d
said. It wasn’t until recently that her mother convinced her father to let her
have some freedom since she’d be going off to college soon.
Or so
they thought. Again, words from Lara’s mouth.
“No,”
Lara said. “I’ve got time before they have to put the money down. I’m getting
away from here and them. Then it’s just the two of us and no one to answer to.”
He leaned
over and kissed her while she started the engine and it roared to life.
The
muscle car had been a huge argument in Lara’s family. She’d told him all about
it. Repeatedly in the eight months they’d been dating.
Lara’s
father thought it was too dangerous. Lara’s mother told her father to lighten
up, you only lived once.
Lincoln
was going with the second, but he had to admit that Lara was a little reckless
at times. More than he was, and for a guy entering the Air Force with the goal
of being a fighter pilot, that was saying something.
“I want
you with me,” he said. His heart had been long gone the minute he found out she
was a virgin. “But it won’t be right away. I’ve got to go through basic
training, then figure out where I’ll end up. You know you can’t live with me
unless we are married.”
“I want
to get married,” Lara said excitedly. “You can take me away from here and care
for me right?”
“Always,”
he said. Though he had doubts he could give her the life she was used to. She
insisted it wasn’t a big deal, but her words and her actions never lined up.
He was
middle class. His parents had stable jobs and they had a decent well-maintained
house.
He’d
never wanted for much in his life, but it’s not like his parents bought him a
car for his sixteenth birthday.
He had
a job and he put half in and his parents put the other four thousand in. He
thought it was awesome, but it wasn’t the car he was riding in now and never
would be.
Lara’s
parents made it a point to rub that in their daughter’s face all the time too.
That
Lincoln wouldn’t or couldn’t give her what she deserved and that she could do
so much better.
He’d
overheard her parents talking one day that she’d find someone better suited for
her when she was in college.
She
argued that she loved him and didn’t care about those things.
Yet
they never went places in his car and she always was asking him to take her
out, him using most of his paycheck on that rather than putting money
away.
“Then
that is all I care about,” Lara said. She hit the gas hard when the light
turned green and he was sucked into the seat.
“What
are you going to do when I’m in training?” he asked
Every
time he brought this up she’d avoid answering. He’d always been a man with a
plan. He couldn’t live by the seat of his pants. It just wasn’t his way.
Could
be he didn’t have anything to fall back on like Lara did.
“I’ll
figure it out,” she said. “If I have to start college for a semester, I’ll do
it. Doesn’t mean I have to finish.”
He
cringed. He didn’t care how much money her parents had, that was just wasteful
to him.
Unless
she changed her mind and was going to end things with him.
He
tried not to think that way. It was going to be what it was.
It’s
not like he was changing his plans. This had been his dream ever since his
parents took him on vacation and he got to look at old fighter planes and
helicopters. The helicopters drew him in more, but he was willing to give them
both a try.
His
parents always knew what he wanted and they supported him even through their
fears.
Lara
found it exciting and sexy. The night he’d told her what he was going to do
after graduation was when she told him she was ready to go all the way. That
was a month after they’d been dating.
It fed
his ego that she was supporting his career choice, and from that point on,
she’d bragged to many at the same time she’d tried to show him how much she
needed speed.
He
wouldn’t say he ever had a need for speed like she did.
Not
when she took a turn fast enough to have him grabbing the door.
“What
is your rush?” he asked. “We’re only going to the movies.”
“I’ve
got this car, might as well drive it like it’s meant to be.”
He’d
told her all the time to let up on the gas. She’d let him drive it a time or
two, but that was it. He didn’t ask, she’d offered. He didn’t want her to get
in trouble if her parents found out.
“If you
abuse it too much it won’t last that long,” he said. He took care of what was
his.
“It
will be fine,” she said, laughing, her hair blowing in the breeze with the
sunroof open and the windows down.
That
was her answer to everything.
Lincoln
knew he’d have to learn to accept that if they were going to be married. No two
people were the same or perfect.
They
got to the mall, went in and grabbed a quick burger at the food court, then
were in the theater with five minutes to spare. They spent more time in the
back making out, his hand sliding under her shirt and even down her pants, than
they did watching the movie.
When it
ended a little after nine, they walked around the mall before closing and were
back in her car at ten.
“What
do you want to do for an hour?” he asked.
“I’m
not going to be home at eleven,” she said. “It’s lame. It’s Saturday night and
I’m eighteen. You don’t have a curfew.”
Only
because he knew she did and his parents were fine with that. When he got home
late, it worried them and he’d apologize left and right, but they knew he was
at the mercy of Lara if she was picking him up and dropping him off.
He’d
offered to get her, but she always wanted to be out in her car. Since it was a
sweet ride he couldn’t complain much about it.
He
didn’t have a chance to dispute her comment when she pulled out in traffic with
another car coming not that far away.
“Lara!”
he shouted, but it was too late.
The
truck hit them in the driver’s door, throwing Lara’s body like a rag doll in a
washing machine toward him only to have it snap back by the seatbelt.
His
last thought was this was going to end up being his fault. He knew it.
He
didn’t remember anything else before his airbag went off, knocking him
unconscious.