Larger Than Life by Alison Kent (read the beginning after the end novel .txt) 📕

out of the cab and past his father. And then he turned back and growled. The tailgate rang with metallic fury from the slam of his open palm.

The palm with which he brought down footballs at the end of Hail Mary passes. Yancey cringed. "Spencer, son. Listen to me."

"No, Dad. You listen to me. Candy's the best thing that's ever happened in my life. I'm not going to give her up just because you don't like her."

"This has nothing to do with my feelings for her. It's about my feelings for you. She's the best thing in your life now, yes, but that's because you haven't had a chance to live. Once you're away from here and at school, you'll understand that she's nothing—"

Spencer swung. Yancey barely managed to duck the boy's fist. He stumbled back against his car, off balance, and Spencer shoved past and jumped back into his cab. He put the truck in reverse and spun backwards off the shoulder, grinding gears as he searched for first and gunning the truck down the road when he did.

Well, that didn't go so well, Yancey mused, dragging both hands tiredly down his face. Jeanne would tell him he had the finesse of an elephant herd when what he really had was a love for his son that was too profound and powerful to put into words.

He'd always wondered how different things might have been had the circumstances of Spencer's conception and birth not been what they were. Or if Jeanne hadn't been adamant that they have no more kids. It wasn't being a parent, she'd insisted, but being pregnant again that she wouldn't be able to bear.

A part of Yancey understood, a part of him never would. But it was her body, not his, her decision, and he loved her too much to ever tell her what it would have meant to him to have another child.

What he'd done instead was show her the type of man he was by being the best husband and father he knew how to be. And if a part of him spent years longing for more, well... Nothing mattered now but seeing his son never suffered the same sort of regrets of always wondering over might-have-beens.

♥ Scanned by Coral ♥

Six

Liberty hadn't ridden in a car with leather seats since leaving California. She'd forgotten how sweet they smelled, how warm and rich. Unless what she was smelling was Holden Wagner's cologne or aftershave or whatever it was. God, but she felt so stupid at times. No, not stupid. Ignorant of the world.

She'd only been sixteen when she'd been dragged halfway across the country for her spiritual good. She hadn't been old enough to go clubbing or anything yet. Yeah, so she made straight A's in school and had scored over fifteen hundred on her SATs. It didn't matter.

Even with grants and scholarships, her parents would never let her go away to school. Look at what had happened when all she'd done was get a job twenty miles away. Okay, it was more than that, what with the Jase thing and all. But having the sheriff come after her was way embarrassing.

"Your parents will be glad to find out you're okay," Holden said, watching the road and never looking over.

She liked his voice. It was kinder than she'd thought it would be. And she liked the way he sat in the car's seat. The way he slouched back—one wrist on the steering wheel, his hand on the gearshift knob, his knees spread open—was kinda sexy and hot. "I don't know why they thought anything was wrong. They moved us here so I'd be sheltered and safe."

"Well, this time I imagine it's because Jase Bremmer is missing, too."

She didn't want to think about Jase. The gunshots. His screams. The guy with the long dreads sending her away. She knew she was being sort of selfish, but deep down she also knew that Jase had never really loved her, that she had never really loved him. And, yeah. She was pretty freaked out not knowing what had happened to him. Or what would happen to her.

It had been fun to have the fantasy of a future with him away from E.T., but that wasn't ever going to happen. She wasn't ever going to have the life she wanted. Her parents wouldn't let her work, so she didn't have money. They wouldn't let her go to school, which meant no education. She was stuck. Stuck, stuck, stuck. And now she'd never feel safe; she'd always be looking over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry about Jase. I wish I knew what happened or could help the sheriff more. And I probably should've talked to him sooner, but I Was just too scared. Getting the job was the only thing I could think of to do. I just felt safe at the Barn with no one but Candy and Neva knowing I was there."

That much was the truth. Plus, she liked Candy's designs. The pieces were mega cool. And in case the Barn really did help some girls, she wasn't going to bust them by saying she'd gone there to escape when the job made more sense.

"Not that it's my place to tell you what to do," Holden advised softly, "but you probably should have let your parents know where you were and what you were doing. That you were okay."

She twisted in her seat enough to face him. "First off, no car. No way to get back without begging a ride and, trust me, no one goes to Earnestine. Second, no phone. We've lived there a year now, and they still haven't had a line installed. It's torture. Maybe now they'll at least get that much done, though I'll still be on foot until I'm eighty."

Holden glanced over. She couldn't see his eyes behind the cool lenses he wore, but she did like the way he smiled. It wasn't fatherly at all. It was more like the