I’ve finished up my edits on Match Me Again. I won’t lie…this rewrite was a BEAR! Something always slightly bothered me about Tanner and Lauren’s relationship in Twister and Textbooks, but in this rewrite I finally found the problems and solved them! This is now almost twice the size of the original story, with brand new motivations, scenes, and even an additional chapter!
With edits out of the way, I am taking a break to enjoy the holidays with my family. But first, I thought I’d give you a SNEAK PEEK of chapter one!
DISCLAIMER: WordPress does not love it when I copy and paste from Scrivener. 🙂 It deletes paragraph breaks, italics, etc. I try to fix them, but I’m sure I missed some. 🙂 Any formatting errors will be fixed in the published version of this story. It is also going through its final proofread at the moment, so minor errors may be present that will also be fixed in the published story.
CHAPTER ONE
Lauren should have called in sick to work today. What were the odds that, out of all the rookie reporters at Tulsa One, she would end up covering the state science competition?
She held her smile for the last shot, grasping the microphone so tightly that her hand ached as she stared straight into the camera and fought the urge to run. Where was a good tornado to chase when she needed one?
Her tailored suit jacket stuck to her back, the heat still stifling in mid August despite the air conditioner working overtime. The muggy convention center ballroom overflowed with laughing teenagers and their proud parents. Individual conversations pulled at her concentration, and she fought to block them out. Lauren Reynolds, Tulsa One News, didn’t notice those things, even if plain old Lauren did.
Beside her, a teenage boy with shaggy brown hair shifted from foot to foot, threatening to blow her concentration more than the entire crowd combined. A first place trophy hid most of his torso, and a lopsided grin revealed metal braces with florescent blue bands. But it wasn’t his constant fidgeting that distracted her. It was how much he reminded her of another boy, who’d worn an almost identical smile after winning his own senior year.
Lauren’s breathing quicken at the memory, and she fought to keep her brow from creasing as the camera continued to roll. She wouldn’t let being here get to her. This would be the best human interest piece the station had ever seen. If she wanted so much as a prayer of landing the roving reporter spot next year, she needed to impress her boss, Doyle.
“And cut,” Shannon said from behind the camera, her voice rough and raspy. The red light underneath the lens blinked off, and she lowered the heavy equipment from where it rested on one shoulder.
Lauren let the microphone drop. Finally, she could escape this dark pit of unwelcome memories.
She turned to the boy, extending a hand even though what she really wanted to do was bolt. It wasn’t his fault he reminded her of someone else.
“Congratulations again,” she said. “The spot should air on the ten o’clock news tonight.”
“Thank you.” He shifted his trophy to one hand, then gave hers a firm shake. The action was so completely Tanner that it had her heart slamming against her ribcage. Lauren had been so proud of his win, and still in shock that such a funny, intelligent senior had chosen her, a mere sophomore, as his girlfriend. Life had seemed perfect. Back then, it had never occurred to her that they might not be together forever.
Then a tornado launched her parents’ car into a tree, killing them instantly, and Lauren’s entire world came crashing down around her. Tanner had tried to forcibly repair that world, creating a fissure in their relationship wider than the Grand Canyon.
The boy raced over to parents who enveloped him in a hug. Even his walk reminded her of Tanner—a little unsure and clumsy, like someone who had grown too fast and wasn’t used to his new body.
Guilt coated Lauren’s tongue, thick and bitter. She’d been here a month, and was no closer to apologizing for the past than she had been while a student at the University of Washington in Seattle. When she’d received the job offer from Tulsa One, exhilaration had battled with fear. The possibility of covering storms in Tornado Alley was a dream come true, but finally facing her past felt like a nightmare.
But four years was long enough to run. She was no longer a scared eighteen-year-old paralyzed with grief. One of these days, she’d actually make the hour-long drive to Sunset Plains, instead of turning back halfway there like she’d done half a dozen times in the month since her move to Oklahoma. Odds were Tanner didn’t even live there anymore, but she had to try to find him and apologize.
“You did great,” Shannon said, breaking Lauren out of her thoughts.
“Thanks.” Lauren shoved her microphone in the duffel bag of equipment, more than ready to get out of here. Her entire body hummed with the need to chase a storm. Tonight’s weather forecast was promising. Tornado season was typically ended in Oklahoma right about now, but the weather patterns had been unusual this year and meteorologists predicted at least a few more tornadoes through September.
“This piece should turn out halfway decent,” Shannon said. “At least it wasn’t another slice of bread toasted to look like Woodie Guthrie, right?”
Lauren laughed. Last week had been slow for news, and Doyle had picked them to cover that particularly bizarre tale. It hadn’t been easy to keep a straight face while filming the piece. “Yeah, I guess that’s something.
She lifted her hair off her neck, desperate for a breeze, while Shannon lovingly packed up her camera. Could she possibly move any slower? Lauren jealously eyed Shannon’s frayed boyfriend shorts, white tank, and frizzy auburn hair pulled back in a messy bun. Shannon looked cool and refreshed, whereas Lauren knew she was sporting more than a healthy glisten. She’d forgotten how hot Oklahoma summers could be.
Maybe she should have become a professional storm chaser instead of a journalist. No one had cared what she wore during her summers working with the crew. But she’d always planned on being a news reporter, and her parents had enthusiastically supported that goal. Despite abandoning every other reminder of her past, Lauren had stubbornly clung to that one tenuous connection, her anchor in the midst of the hurricane.
Shannon finally zipped the tote bag closed and slung it over her shoulder. Lauren quickly picked up her own bag and wove through the crowd, eager to escape this building filled with unwelcome reminders. Tanner had kissed her breathless in that alcove. She’d held his hand as they walked through those doors. Each of the sweet memories had been tainted by their last three weeks together, and the shame that had clung to her like a shadow for four years.
Lauren burst through the doors, immediately feeling her muscles relax. She peered up at the sky, but no funnel cloud was in sight and no sirens wailed a warning. Just an overcast sky that barely even hinted at rain. She hoped the forecast was right and the storm was on its way. Didn’t Tulsa know that she hadn’t moved back for clear skies?
Shannon exited the building and raised an eyebrow, the doors swinging shut behind her. “Where’s the fire?”
Lauren raised an eyebrow, pretending to be confused. “What do you mean?”
“You seem awfully eager to get away from here.”
“Just dying of heat stroke,” Lauren said, keeping her voice light. “Hey, Doyle said a thunderstorm’s supposed to hit tonight. Maybe the station will let us tag along for practice.”
“Okay,” Shannon said easily. She popped open the van’s back doors and they both placed their bags inside.
“I’ll ask Doyle when we get back,” Lauren said. If they were really lucky, a funnel would form, and they’d catch the vortex on camera.
Lauren climbed into the passenger seat of the van, eager to get back to the station. She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through emails while Shannon cursed their way through the afternoon rush hour traffic. Lauren deleted the emails containing coupons she wouldn’t use before opening the daily digest from The Sunset Plains Chronicle. The newspaper was her daily dose of home.
She’d subscribed shortly after leaving, and each piece of information was bittersweet. She hadn’t been there when her best friend from high school, Vanessa, got married and had her first baby.
Didn’t get to hear the town gossips titter when Cassidy, Tanner’s little sister, got engaged to a famous movie star. But there hadn’t been a single piece of news about Tanner in four years. Lauren had searched for information about him online with no luck—he’d never been the type to spend much time on social media.
The lack of news was both a relief and a source of stress. No news meant she had no idea what he was up to, but it also meant he probably wasn’t engaged, married, or a father. She knew it was unfair to hope he was still single, but a tiny part of her heart had never fully let go.
A photo appeared at the top of the email, the familiar face making Lauren suck in a breath. She stared at the headline, her heart suddenly beating painfully in her chest.
Obituary for Dana Olson.
What had happened? Mrs. Olson couldn’t have been more than fifty. She’d been Lauren’s favorite high school teacher and her mother’s best friend. Lauren could still see Mrs. Olson’s neat all-caps handwriting filling the whiteboard as she lectured on weather systems. Could still hear her clear voice singing Amazing Grace with the church choir at Lauren’s parents’ funeral.
She’d met Tanner in Mrs. Olson’s classroom. Fallen in love with him there as they connected over their mutual love of meteorology.
Lauren clicked on the link with a shaking finger and quickly scanned the article. Breast cancer. They hadn’t caught it until it was too late. Tears filled her eyes and she blinked, forcing them back.
Shannon glanced over at Lauren, her own eyes filled with concern. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Lauren quickly swiped her cheeks, avoiding Shannon’s gaze. The smell of coffee and cigarettes sharpened as the singing from the radio came back into focus. Lauren glanced again at her phone.
She couldn’t believe Mrs. Olson was really gone.
“I’m okay,” Lauren said. She held up her phone. “Just reading the paper from my hometown. One of my high school teachers passed away yesterday.”
“Oh, Laur. I’m so sorry. Were the two of you close?”
Close—such an undefinable word. In high school, Lauren would have said certainly. “I guess so. Mrs. Olson always encouraged me to pursue meteorology.” In fact, when the principal refused to allow Lauren, still only a sophomore, into the honors earth science class, Mrs. Olson had argued until Lauren was granted special permission to take it early. She might never have fallen in love with Tanner if not for that. They’d been assigned as lab partners in that class. Lauren massaged her temples, and the music blaring from the radio ricocheted around her brain.
“Talia, turn down the volume,” Shannon instructed the car’s automated system, as though sensing Lauren’s need for quiet. The radio lowered until it was barely background noise. “So Mrs. Olson was like a mentor?”
“More like an aunt. She and my mom were best friends.” Mrs. Olson had called Lauren daily after the funeral—at least until Lauren had her cell phone disconnected. She’d felt so broken. In a matter of weeks, she had lost both of her parents and graduated from high school. The only thing she’d known to do was run. By the time she realized she’d made a mistake, two years had passed. It had seemed ridiculous to try and reclaim her old life after so long. Who would even want her back?
“I’m so sorry,” Shannon said.
Lauren locked the phone’s screen and shoved it back in her purse. She wouldn’t cry. All choices had consequences, and Lauren had to live with hers. “I haven’t seen her in years. I guess the obituary just caught me off guard.”
“Are you going to attend the funeral?” Shannon asked. “Sunset Plains isn’t far from here.”
Lauren chewed on her lip, the pull toward home like a physical yank. She ached to see the pinks and golds of a sunset brush the tall grasses of her family home. Longed to watch the lightning bugs flicker in the trees.
She’d missed Sunset Plains from the moment she left. It wasn’t just the town she longed for, but the people. She wanted to giggle over boys with Vanessa in the lunchroom. Kiss Tanner behind the bleachers during a football game. Stay up too late making posters advertising the school dance with the rest of the student council members. Eat dinner with her parents after a long day.
She wanted to go back in time. But rewinding the clock was impossible.
“Do you think I should go?” Lauren asked.
Shannon shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
That was because Lauren hadn’t told Shannon all the dirty details about how she’d disappeared in the middle of the night, like some kind of criminal fleeing punishment. It was that guilt that made Lauren turn the car around before actually reaching Sunset Plains, every single time.
As though sensing her indecision, Shannon said, “You should go.”
Lauren thrummed her fingers against her leg, the low hum of the radio and blaring horns of passing cars creating a melody for her jumbled thoughts. She knew she needed to go home, but for a funeral? That seemed like a lot to try and process all at once. The obituary said the viewing would take place at the same mortuary that her parents’ had been held in—not surprising, since it was the only one in town. Mrs. Olson’s service would be held the following day at the same church. Stepping foot inside those buildings would be like ripping out her own heart. Last time she’d had Tanner’s support, but this time she’d be alone.
And what if Tanner came to the funeral, too? If he lived close by, no doubt he’d make the effort to attend. Mrs. Olson had meant a lot to him, too.
No. Going back like this would be too hard. Her stomach churned at the thought of setting foot in that funeral home for the viewing. Of sitting in a church pew while the choir sang a hymn. No doubt Amazing Grace would be on the program.
“Mrs. Olson is gone,” Lauren said. “She won’t know if I’m there or not.”
Shannon glanced over, one eyebrow raised. “Yeah, but that’s not really the point, is it?”
Dang. Lauren hated it when Shannon was right. “I’m just not sure now is a good time. What about work?”
Shannon rolled her eyes. “We work four days a week.”
All true, but Lauren hung around the station a lot on her days off, hoping for a story. “Yeah, but what if a storm—”
“No one’s going to begrudge you attending a funeral,” Shannon cut in. “It’s one day, Lauren. Chances are you’ll miss out on nothing.”
She knew Shannon was right. But Lauren wasn’t ready for the onslaught of pain returning would bring to the surface. Every inch of that town had brimmed with raw memories in the weeks after her parents’ deaths.
Lauren had been desperate for a fresh start. But Tanner had insisted they should stick to the plans they’d made before everything changed. He wanted to stay in Sunset Plains through the summer, then leave for Texas in the fall. He’d repeatedly told her she was in no condition to make life-altering decisions. And he’d been right. But Lauren could no sooner have stay for three more months than cut off her own arm. All of her pleadings for change had fallen on deaf ears. So she’d left without him.
“I don’t know,” Lauren said.
Shannon shot her another glance. “It sounds like you don’t want to go home.”
“That’s not it.” Lauren sighed, gazing out the window. She could finally see the studio in the distance, but it would take them at least another ten minutes to traverse the three blocks. “It’s complicated.”
“Home always is,” Shannon said. “Look, do you want to say goodbye to Mrs. Olson?”
Lauren hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay then. And you said she was your mom’s best friend, right? So don’t you think your mom would want you to go?”
Lauren remembered her mother and Mrs. Olson standing in the church foyer in their Sunday best, laughing over something only the two of them understood. But the image was soon replaced with another, more grim memory of two gleaming caskets poised on taut green belts above gaping holes.
She hadn’t returned to the cemetery since the funeral. Did anyone take flowers to her parents’ graves, or did they stand empty and alone?
Mrs. Olson had probably taken flowers. And Shannon was right—Mom would want Lauren to go. She’d say people were the most important thing in the world, and Lauren shouldn’t let her fears get in the way of paying her respects. She’d already done that once, and still lived daily with the consequences.
“I should go,” Lauren said quietly.
“You should go,” Shannon agreed.
Maybe visiting Sunset Plains could be cleansing, like a summer thunderstorm. Tanner probably wasn’t even there—a town of five thousand didn’t exactly boast many job opportunities for meteorologists. But she could get his contact information from his parents and decide where to go from there. He’d hear through the grapevine that she was back in town, paving the way for her to apologize.
Home. In four years, she hadn’t spent time anywhere that deserved that title.
Home. A chance to finally set things right.
Sunset Plains was calling her back.
Don’t forget to preorder Match Me Again so it’ll be delivered to your kindle on January 9th. This is a pretty big day for me…my 4th year publishing anniversary AND my birthday! I can’t wait to share this book with you!
PREORDER NOW!