Touch of Fondness (Stay in Touch) First Chapter Sampler

Chapter One

If there was one thing Brielle wasn't going to miss about college, it was the soggy, tepid tater tots the cafeteria in Bryant Hall offered students on Breakfast-for-Lunch-and-Dinner Saturdays.

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm going to miss everything, even these undercooked globs of potato.

"Are you crying? Bri, are you actually crying?" Lilac laughed like she was the only one in on the joke. Pembroke hastily scooped her compact out of her clutch and dabbed some more foundation on her cheeks to cover her own trail of tears and Gavin blew his nose on his scratchy cafeteria napkin.

Brielle smiled despite the miniature Niagara Falls taking up residence on her face and chomped on another tater, savoring its terribleness for good measure. "Just because some of us are made of stone doesn't mean the rest of us aren't going to miss this place."

Lilac lightly touched the tips of her fingers to her collarbone with one hand and held the other hand above her like a Shakespearean actor. "A college is but four walls and a roof, my dear." She grinned. "Albeit four very expensive walls and a roof, but walls and a roof nonetheless. No graduation is going to take away what this place meant to you." She tapped her left breast. "You'll always find it here."

Gavin cocked his head and flashed his best come-hither grin. "In your ginormous boob?"

"Har har." Lilac slapped him on the shoulder and picked up her fork again, pushing her tater tots to the side of her tray. They crumbled into an unappealing mess in the corner of one of the squares. "I don't know," she said, staring at her food instead of eating it. "I think it's about time we move on. Crappy French toast and tater tots served on a divided tray? What are we, middle schoolers or soon-to-be-independent adults?"

Brielle took a sip of her orange juice. "Says the soon-to-be elementary school teacher." She tapped her tray. "Get used to these."

Lilac shrugged. "Maybe someday. Maybe not. I don't have to anytime soon."

"What do you mean?" asked Pembroke. She'd been especially quiet today, not that being quiet was especially odd for Pembroke. "Aren't you going to be teaching at Jacobson Primary this fall?"

"Nope." Lilac popped a mouthful of egg into her mouth.

"Shut up," said Gavin. He nudged her. "Are you serious?"

"Would I joke about something like that?" Lilac smiled sweetly, then laughed. "Don't answer that."

"When were you going to tell us?" Brielle was somehow both surprised and not surprised at all at this piece of information. Lilac always did things in the most dramatic way possible. Why not make the last meal they shared before their parents arrived all about her?

She took a deep breath. This was not how she wanted to remember today. Sometimes she wondered if Lilac was her enemy or one of her best friends. But that was just part of the territory that came with being friends with Lilac. And besides, it wasn't like they were going to be able to see each other much after graduation anyway. Or so Brielle had thought. Last she knew, Lilac was moving to a suburb outside of Minneapolis and putting her early education degree to good use. Honestly, what on earth was the point of all of that hard work Lilac had put into getting licensed in another state if she wasn't going to go through with it? She even had her apartment picked out, was interviewing prospective roommates, had made the deposit... No, no. Brielle cradled her forehead. She wasn't going to do this. Not today.

"Don't have a conniption over it." Lilac obviously saw something in Brielle's countenance that made her train of thought more apparent than she'd intended. Lilac shrugged. "Something better came along."