Pursuit (Through Time 1)

She made it down the stairs of their Colonial styled-home and then remembered the keys were in the kitchen. She peeked into the kitchen. Her mother wasn’t there—nor was her stepfather, who was probably tinkering around in the garage. Rave scooped up her keys from the tray on the desk near the fridge and was out the door and nearly to her pale green Saturn parked out front when she heard her mother call her name.

“Rave—honey … wait!” Her mother ran towards her.

Ravena couldn’t stop the impatient tone as it escaped her lips. “Yes, Mom.” But she loved her, so she stopped and turned, glanced archly at her, and sighed. It struck her that no one would guess the petite, green-eyed redhead staring authoritatively at her was her mother.

Rave had her father’s gold hair and his dark, multi-shaded gray eyes, and although she was not tall, she was in her stocking feet, five feet five inches and towered over her mother’s five foot one.

Her mother gave her back the challenge with a raised brow that said it all. Rave laughed and hugged her before holding her shoulders. “Don’t worry.”

“Where are you going?” She looked her over and sighed. “Wait, let me guess: to see Todd.”

Ravena frowned. “I know you don’t like him, but I don’t have time now to argue in his defense.”

“No, it is more than a simple matter of liking or disliking the young man. It is that I don’t think he is the right man for you. He is still a boy … and, Rave, that will never do for you—you need a man.”

“And what sort of man are we talking about?” Ravena teased.

“This is serious. You will know when you meet him, and it isn’t Todd, who is more interested in himself and his needs than yours.”

“You don’t really know him.”

“I do know him. I watch from the outside and know him very well.” Her mother sighed. “However, perhaps it is as my Tom says. He feels the same way as I do about Todd, but he doesn’t want to be drawn into this. He says sometimes we each have to learn from our own mistakes.”

Tom was her mother’s husband. Her parents had been divorced since she was two, having married only because her mother had found herself pregnant. Her stepfather had come into their lives when Rave was ten. He was a good guy, and she had grown to love him over the years.

Affection flooded her, and she smiled in spite of her impatience. “Tom is right, Mom. I need experiences—good and bad.” She had never called him anything but ‘Tom’ because although she did in fact love her stepfather, she felt she had only one dad.

“Look, baby, I don’t want you hurt …”

“Like you?” Rave again arched her brow.

“Don’t be annoying to win a point. You know your father didn’t hurt me. He and I were never in love … not really. And we certainly weren’t made for each other. He was who he was … and I was so different. We were friends—we still are. But I have this awful feeling that Todd will hurt you.”

Ravena saw the look of helplessness in her mother’s eyes and touched her cheek. “I am old enough to know what I am doing.”

“We all say that at your age … ”

Irritation swept over Ravena’s face, and she grimaced at her mother before she walked away with a wave of her hand. “Don’t wait up.” She jumped into her car and did not look back as she pulled away from the curb.

Guilt suddenly flooded through her. She shouldn’t have left her mother like that. But what could she do? She would make it up to her tomorrow. Besides, she was a college grad. She was twenty-one. She was all grown up.

Over the years Ravena had heard her mother refer to her marriage to her father, Daniel MacAllister, as a mistake, and she hated hearing that. It negated all the good.

She was so much more her father’s child than her mother’s. An odd thing to admit even to herself but so true.

For the hundredth time she thought about changing her plans once more and just heading off to Scotland for the summer—maybe making a side trip and visiting with her grandmother, her father’s Canadian Indian mother, first.

She took a long gulp of air and bolstered herself. Todd was a great guy. She was doing the right thing—wasn’t she? He had committed himself to her in so many ways. He talked about the future. It was what she wanted, wasn’t it—a normal future? Did she want a future with him? Was she making the same mistake her mother had made—settling for someone who made her comfortable? Because to date, he damn well did not make her feel … passionate! The sorry truth was that no one ever had … yet.

Well, that would change tonight—wouldn’t it? She turned the corner, pulled into the lot adjacent to Todd’s apartment house complex, and parked. Princeton was a charming university town, and students were everywhere. Two acquaintances waved to her as she got out of her car and headed for t

he building.

She reached his door, key in hand, and hesitated. She had never used the key before. She was here unannounced. Should she use the key? Don’t be silly—he gave it to me to use. She put the key in the lock, opened the door, and stepped into the small, sparsely furnished living room.

She froze.

Todd and her best friend, Meg, were on the small shag rug on the living room floor, grunting and going at it with wild abandon.