Waking Hours Read Online Free PDF Page B

known better than to tell Beth about it. As shocked and overwhelmed as Dani had been, first being nominated for homecoming queen and then actually winning the title, she’d been even more overwhelmed the night she was actually crowned. She’d pretended she thought it was all a big joke, but she wasn’t immune to the teenage need for peer approval and the craving for popularity. She’d been flattered to the point of blushing when she heard her name called, but that wasn’t it either. She’d held herself together as she took the stage, stood next to Tommy, and leaned forward, nodding her head so that the assistant principal could fasten the tiara to Dani’s prom-do. She’d taken the floor to dance the traditional Homecoming King and Queen dance with Tommy when, thrilled and embarrassed, she’d let him take her in his arms, and she’d looked him in the eyes, and seen him smiling at her from ear to ear, and she could have sworn that something . . .
    Passed between them.
    Something physical and tangible. It was as if she’d been suddenly filled with a certain knowledge that this boy, this man, who held her in his arms, who all the other girls thought was so perfect, was, in fact . . . perfect . . . but only for her and no one else. Even odder than that was the sense, the surety, there was no denying it, that Tommy Gunderson felt the same way about her.
    And then she’d panicked, broken away from his embrace, waved to the crowd, and told her dates—she’d come with two of her girlfriends—that she wanted to go home because she was feeling hypoglycemic. She didn’t even know what hypoglycemic meant, but she needed an excuse to leave, because it was all too much too soon and the future she had in mind for herself was only going to happen if she got as far away as possible from Tommy Gunderson immediately.
    The only person she’d ever told was her sister, who then, of course, was able to torment her about it for the rest of her life.
    “Oh, shut up,” Dani said. “What are you doing today?”
    “Well,” Beth said, “first I spent the morning very carefully combing the girls’ hair because we got an e-mail blast from school saying they had a kid with head lice. Now I’m on my way to a barn call. Red Gate Farm.”
    Beth had been a full-time large animal veterinarian before giving birth to her girls. Now she worked part-time, trying to maintain her client list and be a mom at the same time.
    “Mad cow?” Dani asked.
    “Mad horse,” Beth said. “Except they’re not mad—just slightly annoyed. The owner thinks they’re allergic to hay. They can’t stop sneezing.”
    “Horses allergic to hay?” Dani stepped back into the elevator. “That can’t be good.”
    “Better than fish being allergic to water, I suppose,” Beth said. “Say hi to Tommy for me.”
    Dani pressed the down button and rode the elevator to the basement. She recognized Tommy immediately, even with his back to her—partly because he was dressed in the same basic outfit he’d worn in high school. A pair of black sweatpants and a black-and-gold hooded East Salem High sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off and curling at the elbows, with a black down vest over the sweatshirt. Broad shoulders, muscled calves and thighs, powerful arms, a bodybuilder’s build.
    Why are you looking at his thighs? Be professional .
    It had been awhile since she had read any stories about Tommy Gunderson in the tabloids. She preferred to remember the Tommy she’d known in high school, the golden boy, All-State as a wrestler in the 198-pound division and a high school All-American in football. He was the boy no girl could resist. His hair then had been a kind of Bon Jovi shag/mullet. It was more sensible now, still long enough to hang over his ears and the same light brown it had been back when her own hair was not exactly the expertly highlighted light auburn it was now.
    The police officer talking to Tommy cocked his fist behind his ear, opened his hand, and