Fighting Fate Read Online Free Page A

torment for as long as she could stand. Finally, she’d had enough. With Aaron gone, being in Crawford had become too painful. That was why she’d decided to move back to Laurel.
    Brynn had been happy to see her go. Sarah was sure then that the slashed tires, the graffiti on her garage door, the hateful messages on her answering machine…they had all been Brynn’s effort to get her to leave town.
    It had seemed like providence that the school district in Laurel was hiring so many new teachers. If they hadn’t been, her back-up plan had been to sub in the district until she did get hired. Thanks to her grandmother, she could’ve padded her paltry subbing income with her inheritance. Fortunately, it hadn’t come to that.
    She had nearly two months of summer vacation left before she started her new job. She had thought those months would be quiet, peaceful and uneventful. She had thought she would be able to use that time to emotionally regroup. So far, it didn’t seem like that was likely to happen.
    “Something is wrong with this picture,” Gretchen said. She paused to take a sip of her drink. “It’s happy hour. And you do not look happy.” Her gaze suddenly shifted from Sarah and her concerned expression was traded in for a smirk. “Maybe that will cheer you up.”
    Gretchen motioned toward the center of the bar with her chin. Sarah followed the line of her movement.
    Cole? Again ? Where had he come from?! She was sure he hadn’t been there when they arrived. At the very least, she was sure his Harley hadn’t been in the parking lot. He was strutting toward the bar, wallet in hand. He glanced down as he weaved his way around the tables scattered across the floor. He pulled out some cash as he reached the man behind the counter.
    “I can’t believe this,” Sarah grumbled. “I’ve only been in Laurel three days and I’ve seen Cole two times. And the first night doesn’t really count because I didn’t get here until after dark and I went straight to Mom and Dad’s.”
    Gretchen looked far too happy for Sarah’s liking. “What a coincidence! Maybe the universe is trying to tell you something.”
    “What?” Sarah moaned. “That I deserve to be punished?”
    “No! Now stop that!” Gretchen said as she tossed an olive at her sister. Sarah deflected it and it bounced across the table.
    Against her will, her eyes drifted up to the bar. Gretchen didn’t tease her about it. Instead, she mirrored the action.
    “Oh my,” Gretchen whispered. “Check him out. Motorcycle boots, black leather jacket, snug jeans that fit him like nobody’s business. That windblown hair. Did you see that hair? It’s the kind of hair that leaves you wanting to run your fingers through it. That man is—”
    “A cliché,” Sarah grumped as she interrupted Gretchen’s bizarre monologue. Her sister’s words sounded almost rehearsed, yet she said them with feeling. “He’s nothing but a living, breathing cliché.”
    “Of bad boy hotness,” Gretchen interrupted right back.
    Sarah knew she should say something to that. Refute it somehow, but words—and apparently all coherent thought—were evading her at the moment. Worse yet, for a reason she didn’t quite understand, her sister sounded like she was a walking, talking advertisement for the trouble that was otherwise known as Cole Montgomery.
    “I’m right. You know I am,” Gretchen gloated. “He looks good and you know it.”
    “Oh just…shut up,” Sarah grumbled.
    “Classy, Sarah. Really,” Gretchen said with a wry smile. She noted how her sister was scowling at Cole’s backside. “Come on. What did you expect? Of course he’s dressed like that. It’s a typical outfit. It’s not like he’d be out on a Harley wearing sneakers, sweats and a trench coat.”
    Sarah wanted to tell her sister to stop checking the man out. She couldn’t because she really didn’t feel justified. Not when she was doing the exact same thing.
    “I’ll bet he has a tattoo.