Page 23 of Players Like Us (Reunion Gap #7)

N ight settled around them as Neal eased the car onto the road. “No matter where I go, I always think the stars are brightest at Goose Creek.”

Goose Creek . The make-out haven for Reunion Gap’s young, old, and in-between. She’d been there a few times herself and bet Neal was very familiar with the place. “I don’t think people go there to look at the stars.”

She spotted the hint of a smile playing about his lips. “I do.”

“Right, tell me another fairytale.”

“I do,” he said again, his voice shifting to a serious tone. “It’s a beautiful area and perfect for a lot more than the obvious.”

The obvious being a make-out place. She bet more than one baby had been conceived at the secluded spot.” My father absolutely forbade me to go there.”

“And of course you listened to him, right?”

“Of course I didn’t.” Memories of Oscar Reese’s firm words smothered her brain.

Stay away from that place. Only bad girls go there, and they end up pregnant.

Why don’t you just lock me in my room until I’m eighteen?

Maybe I will. If I catch you up there again, I’ll ground you for a month.

Rachel pushed away her father’s anger, her mother’s disappointment. Why had Mrs. Hampten told them she’d seen their daughter headed that way with some pony-tailed type in a Chevelle? Why couldn’t her parents have let her be a normal teenager?

“You’ve gone quiet. Memories of Goose Creek?”

Big sigh, a snippet of guilt that she’d caused her parents so much trouble. “I gave my parents a lot of grief. Sometimes I wonder if I’m the reason for my dad’s heart attack.”

Neal turned off the road to Goose Creek, said in a quiet voice, “Every now and then I wonder if I’m the reason behind my father’s stroke. But sometimes life just happens, and we can’t take the blame for every bad thing that floats around us.”

What he said made sense, but it was hard to let go of the guilt. “I guess we all have our regrets and wishes for do-overs, but… We shouldn’t punish ourselves until we’re frozen in a past that no longer defines us.”

“Easy to say, hard to do. It’s tough to move on when you’ve been told you don’t fit in.”

Was he talking about himself or was he talking about her ?

Maybe he was talking about both of them.

“I’ve gotten myself into enough predicaments because I wanted to prove how much I didn’t care what my family thought, and I wanted to show them they couldn’t stop me.

That was my young and very foolish stage, which unfortunately lasted too long. ”

He laughed. “I hear you on that one.” There were no other cars where Neal parked because he’d taken a route that led away from the make-out area.

He eased the BMW into Park and turned off the car.

“It’s hard having older siblings who do everything right.

Doesn’t leave much wiggle room for us younger ones.

” He grabbed the beer from the back seat, opened his door. “Let me show you the stars.”

Rachel opened her door and got out, glanced up at the sky. “Beautiful,” she murmured.

“Yes, it is.” The gentleness in his voice made her glance at him and she caught him staring at her.

A slow heat swirled inside, spread through her. “Show me the way.”

He held out a hand and she clasped it. “It can get a little bumpy so hold on. I’ve come this way enough times that I could close my eyes and find the spot.”

His grip was firm, his pace slowed to keep up with hers. She stumbled once, and he caught her. “Careful.” He looked down at her, his gaze settling on her lips. “Can’t have you falling.”

Rachel sucked in a breath, tried to settle her racing heart. This trip was not such a great idea. Neal Alexander was too close, too real, too used to getting exactly what he wanted, and the look in those eyes a few seconds ago said he might want more than to gaze at the stars.

“Here we go. I think this is a good spot.” He stopped, pointed to the sky. “I thought about stealing one of my brother’s blankets, but all I spotted in the garage was the dog blanket.” He shrugged out of his sport coat, placed it on the ground. “Sit on this so you don’t get your dress dirty.”

“But what about your sport coat and your pants?”

“I’ve got more. I don’t want you to have to explain grass stains on your dress.”

She didn’t argue because he was right. Her eagle-eyed brother might notice a grass stain or smudge of dirt.

Rachel sank onto Neal’s jacket, settled herself on the ground and kicked off her heels.

Neal sat beside her, leaned back on his elbows, and stared at the sky.

“You can come here late at night and nobody’s paying attention to what’s going on in this part of the place… ”

“Right. I doubt they’re paying much attention to what’s going on outside of the car.”

He let out a soft laugh. “True. I used to sneak a bottle of my old man’s booze up here.

I only got caught once, and the cop knew what an S.O.B.

my father was so he just took the bottle and drove me home.

Told me he better not catch me up here again, because next time would involve more than a ride home.

” A long sigh, followed by a quiet “Of course, I didn’t listen.

Why would I? Back then I thought no matter what I did, it wouldn’t be good enough.

Even if I did everything right, I was never going to be my brother.

It took a lot of years to realize that was nothing but a cop-out and a lame excuse for not taking responsibility. ”

It was easier to share in the dark when you couldn’t see a person’s face and you could almost pretend you were talking to yourself.

“I did the same thing. I just wanted to make my own choices and my own mistakes, but the more my parents pushed me, especially my father, the more I rebelled. Daniel was so protective, it was ridiculous. I don’t know if he thought I was doing everything he was telling me not to do or if he was worried I might do what he was doing with girls. It was such a pain.”

“He was watching out for you.”

“Ugh. Monitoring me and spying was more like it.” Don’t go here, don’t go there.

..that guy’s a jerk...he’s only going to use you, on and on it went.

“He embarrassed me so bad that I started sneaking around. I realize he was only trying to protect me and I wish I had listened, but I didn’t.

Then came college and my decision to study fashion design, but everybody said ‘you’ll never get a job, you’ll end up working in a retail store…

’ On and on it went so I settled for interior design, which they also thought was ridiculous, because why couldn’t I do something sensible like become a nurse, an engineer, or a teacher? Anything but what I chose.”

Rachel homed in on a bright star, spilling out the honesty she’d kept buried inside for so long.

She didn’t stop to think about why she was telling this man such truths because once they started coming out, it was a relief, a cleansing…

Long overdue and much needed. “I’ve been hopscotching from city to city, trying to find my place, always ending up in the same spot, no matter where the city.

If I’m in Dallas, it’s the wrong guy and a dead-end job and all I have are excuses—mine, his, the world’s.

If it’s Boston or San Diego or Denver, same thing.

Big dreams, look what I’m going to do, and then there’s the guy who’s never the guy, but always an imitation. ”

Her chest ached as she pushed through the pain of truth.

“Always someone else other than who they really are. But I guess I was, too. I started working at Claudia’s so I could earn enough money to build a decent portfolio, make connections, and get a design gig.

I wanted to show my family that I wasn’t a loser or a constant disappointment.

I wanted them to see I had value , I had ideas, I could be creative, just like Daniel…

That’s why the job at Matilda’s is so important.

I have to make this work and I know you think Simon’s a jerk, but if he hadn’t made the introduction with Dominic, would I have been able to do this on my own? Find an opportunity with a stranger?”

The slow burn of anger sizzled through Neal’s words as he spoke. “Why are you so sure he’s the one who made the introduction? Did he say he did?” More anger shot through his voice. “Even if he did, that man says a lot of things that aren’t true.”

“I admit he’s a bit too smooth at times, and he can be self-centered, but what is it about him that you truly dislike? What did he do to you?” From the first time she spotted Neal and Simon together at the Westfield Plaza, she’d sensed their mutual dislike.

“He slept with my girlfriend.”

“What?” Girlfriend? “You have a girlfriend?”

“ Had a girlfriend,” he corrected. “Had one that I was almost willing to commit to until she fell for Simon’s slick lines and slept with him.”

Rachel touched his hand. “Neal, I’m so sorry. It must have been horrible.”

He stared into the darkness, jaw clenched, body stiff.

“I thought she might be the one for me. That was something for me to admit. I think I was twenty-five or so and life was settling down. She worked for her father’s brokerage firm: high end, old money.

I didn’t care about any of that… I was more interested in the person behind the looks and money and status.

She could make me smile and laugh, and with her, life was always an adventure.

I never quite understood what she saw in a guy like me.

” The laugh that escaped his lips held no humor, ended in a sigh.

“You know, the playboy with no goals or ambitions other than the next good time. Serially unemployed…trying to find himself and constantly taking the wrong turn. Georgianna was different from the other women I’d been with.

.. She was special. She made me better and for the first time in a very long time, I looked at my future, and saw something other than chaos. I saw her.”