Web of Dreams (Casteel 5)

beautiful and nice as you, Leigh," he said. We were

holding hands again. For a moment I couldn't speak.

Even though we were i the tent and surrounded by

hundreds and hundreds of people, I again felt as though there was no one around us, before I knew what was happening, he leaned forward and kissed me

quickly on the lips.

"Sorry," he said. "I got so excited, I . . I . .

couldn't help myself," he stuttered.

"It's all right." I turned back to the show, but

my heart was pounding so hard, I thought it could be

heard above the laughter and clamor around us. Luke

said nothing, but every once in a while, we looked at

each other and smiled.

It wasn't until after the final act of this show

ended that I thought about the time. I looked at my

watch and screamed.

"Luke, look at the time! I'm going to miss my

train!"

"Don't worry," he said, but his face was twisted

with concern. We tried making our way out quickly,

but the crowd was large and people were bunched up

at all the exits. Frustrated, we waited our turn. As

soon as we emerged, we hurried across the grounds to

the work tent. Luke shot in and out with my suitcase

and teddy bear in hand. Then we got into his pickup

truck.

It didn't start. He tried it again and again. He

pounded the dashboard angrily and got out to lift the hood and fiddle with the engine. It took a while, but finally, he got it started and we were off to the station. Neither of us spoke very much; we were both thinking too hard about the time and the ride. Because the show had broken at the circus, there was a lot of traffic and quite a backup on the highway. Luke was constantly losing his temper and then apologizing. I tried calming him down. He did his best to weave in and out of lanes, but it took us nearly twice as long to

return to the station as it had to come from it. When we pulled into the parking lot, I had less

than five minutes. Luke couldn't find a place to park;

all the spaces seemed taken. Finally, he just stopped