Saving Laurel Springs Read Online Free PDF Page A

mutt, mostly Border collie, with her tail wagging like an eager flag.
    â€œTraitor,” Rhea muttered to the dog.
    Carter chuckled. “She hasn’t forgotten I rescued her the day that man drove by the lake and threw her out his car window—straight into the water all tied up in a gunnysack.”
    Rhea set her jaw, her anger stirring at the remembrance. “That horrible man stopped his car and threw her off the bridge into Douglas Lake!”
    â€œGood thing she barked or we might not have known a pup was in the sack at all.” He scratched Dutchie with fondness behind her ears.
    A flash of remembered fear hit Rhea as she recalled how scared she’d been that day when Carter dove off the bridge to rescue the dog. It had been a long dive, even from the shallow end of the bridge. “You dove in and swam out to save her. You could have drowned yourself.”
    â€œBut I didn’t.” Carter edged his way carefully out on the rock to sit down beside her. Dutchie, more cautious of the rocky ledge, stayed back in the shade of a deep overhang.
    He sighed. “Best view in the world.”
    Rhea edged herself away from him on the rock, hugging her knees in her arms. The silence stretched out between them as they looked down over the valley and the property of Laurel Springs.
    At one time, Rhea would have been happy and content to have Carter here beside her, looking out over their world together. But not today.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” she said at last.
    He turned to look at her, pulling his sunglasses down so she could see his eyes. “This is my home, Rhea. And this is my spot as much as yours.”
    She frowned at him. “No. Not anymore. You’re only a visitor now and not a very welcome one. At least not to me.”
    â€œI’d like to work past those bad feelings,” he said quietly.
    She crossed her arms, appalled at his words. “Bad feelings? That’s an understatement. Is that how you express the fact that you left Laurel Springs, abandoned all your dreams and promises, and haven’t come back for nine years?” Her mouth tightened. “Honestly, Carter, I feel it’s extremely charitable of me to even be talking with you at all.”
    â€œThere might be reasons for why I haven’t come back. There might be more to what happened than you know.” He reached out a hand to brush a stray hair back from her face.
    Rhea slapped his hand away. “Don’t start trying to work your way back into my good graces, Carter Layman. We may have known a deep friendship once, but you ended that when you abandoned Laurel Springs and when you abandoned . . .” She caught herself before she finished her sentence, biting off the word.
    â€œWhen I abandoned you?” Carter asked softly. “I know it seems that way.”
    â€œNo, Carter, it was that way.” She pulled her arms tighter around her knees, moving farther away from him. “We may not have been formally engaged, but we were committed. You, of all people, know that’s true. We were pledged and you broke all your promises to me.”
    Carter picked up a small rock and flicked it with anger over the rim of the rock. “You broke some promises to me, too, Rhea Dean. I’m not the only one at fault in what happened. We’d both planned to go away to college in California. Only I had to go alone.”
    Rhea looked toward him in annoyance. “My father had a heart attack the month before college started. Remember? I couldn’t have left then—left Mother and Nana with all the worry and care—and with all of Daddy’s responsibilities at Laurel Springs to shoulder alone. It was tourist season. I couldn’t go.”
    â€œMaybe.” His jaw took on a familiar stubborn line. “Or maybe you didn’t want to enough. That was our dream, Rhea—to go to California, to get our degrees and find a way to make big money so we could come