Small Town Girl Read Online Free PDF

unkempt hippy parents. She loved nothing better than to be seen on Charles’s arm at various events around the city. She had worked for this. She had attained her goals.
    “Go buy yourself some new shoes,” he continued. “Some Jimmy Choos. Whatever you like. And when I get home, we’ll go to Nassau for a break together.”
    “I’d rather just stay home with you, alone together,” Lauren said quietly.
    “Then that’s what we’ll do,” he answered indulgently. “Just think, soon you will be Mrs. Charles Reynolds Hobart III. And I will be a lucky man. I love you, darling. Sleep well. I’ve got some phone calls to make. I’ll call you tomorrow to let you know the flight numbers and where I’ll be staying in Singapore.”
    “I love you, too,” Lauren said, dejectedly. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye.”
    She clicked off the phone and wandered back into the kitchen. She reached in the refrigerator for a bottle of water. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but there was no TV and nothing to do. She took her bottle of water and slowly climbed the back stairs to the little bedroom under the eaves. The door was open. She went in, turned on the quaint little lamp on the bedside table and opened the window.
    This was the room where Lauren had slept as a child, years ago, every time she and her parents visited her grandmother. It was a small room, but it was decorated sweetly with flowery wallpaper and white painted furniture, with an eastern facing window that allowed the sun to pour in every morning.
    The bed was unmade. Lauren had brought pillows, sheets, and a duvet with her. Cautiously, she drew back the old bedspread, hoping she wouldn’t uncover a nest of mice, but the mattress was dry and clean. The room was airing out nicely. As she worked making up the bed with the clean linens, the fresh country smells came through the open window, aromas that Lauren had nearly forgotten, like grass and the seductive smell of the riotous rose bushes that bordered the old neglected flower garden. She leaned out the window. It was a pretty view, down the valley. She could see the lights from the center of the small town, blinking on, one by one, as the dusk deepened and the evening fell. The world was washed in the most romantic shades of blue. The quiet of the night enveloped her as she stood watching the first stars begin to prick pinholes in the night sky. Lauren sighed. It had been so long since she had been somewhere where she could see the stars. Almost reluctantly, she drew herself back inside and stepped back from the window. She undressed, slipped into her pajamas, and climbed into bed.
    Lying there in the deepening twilight, Lauren was restless. She felt vaguely upset, unsettled, even a little irritated. She felt like something had happened, or was about to happen, and she didn’t know what it was. She tried to read the paperback mystery she had brought with her, but it didn’t hold her interest. She stared at the ceiling, listening to the frogs in the pond at the bottom of the meadow, until she finally fell into a fitful sleep.
    She was walking through a long tunnel. It was very dark. She knew she was looking for the light at the end, but it kept elusively evading her. The path was narrow, and she felt as though the sides of the tunnel were closing in on her. She walked on, her heart pounding. Finally, she could make out a light in the distance. She started to run for it, but it grew dark again, and the tunnel more narrow. She called out but could not understand her own words.
    Suddenly, a man appeared before her. She could see the strong shape of his body. He held out his hand. “Take it!” he commanded.
    “I can’t,” she said, recoiling from him, back, back into the tunnel.
    “Take it!” he said again. He frightened her, but the tunnel frightened her more. This time, she took the hand. It was warm and drew her in close.
    Now she could see. The man was naked. He leaned forward, kissing her. She could feel the