never seen Leslie with a woman. She’d seen her with Mike, hundreds of times.

At football games, at dances, on the beach.

Mike had touched Leslie as if she were his too, but Dev had never

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RADCLY fFE

believed it. Leslie had always held herself apart, always saved what was so

essentially Leslie for the moments when she and Dev were alone together.

Tonight was different. Tonight, a woman stood by Leslie’s side and the truth

was apparent. Leslie was with who she should be with, and Dev was not the

one she had chosen. As Dev watched, the copper-haired woman inclined her

head and kissed Leslie. The tie that had bound Dev to Leslie all her life snapped

with the fragile grace of a simple kiss.

As if Leslie felt it too, she pulled her head away and half turned in Dev’s

direction. Dev knew Leslie couldn’t see her across the crowded ß oor, in near

darkness, but for just an instant, she felt their eyes meet.

She whispered, Goodbye, Leslie, and this time, she meant it.

Dev strode from the boathouse, veering off at the end of the concrete ramp

toward the shore. A faint breeze came off the lake and she tilted her head up to

cool the sweat on her face.

“Dev!”

Dev looked over her shoulder and saw Leslie hurrying along the sand toward

her.

“Go back inside, Les,” Dev said, walking away.

“I can’t.”

Leslie’s voice was barely a whisper carried on the wind, but the pain was so

clear that Dev felt it in her heart. She stopped to face her.

“You don’t belong out here with me, Les.”

Leslie’s anguished face was so vulnerable in the moonlight that Dev ached to

hold her, but her anger was greater than her grief. Leslie stepped close to Dev

and touched her Þ ngertips ever so gently to Dev’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t

mean for you to see that.”

“Why not?” Dev caught Leslie’s hand and jerked it away, more roughly than she

intended. “She’s your lover. Go back inside.”

“I know things have been crazy this summer, but—”

“This summer?” Dev laughed harshly. “No, what’s been crazy is everything up

until this summer.”

“I don’t…I don’t understand.” Leslie didn’t understand anything.

She didn’t understand why, when she’d looked up to see Dev watching Rachel

kiss her, everything inside of her had grown cold. Why the entire room had

disappeared until all she could see was Dev’s face and the pain in her eyes.

Why she’d made a feeble excuse about needing to check on her father and had

run out into the night after Dev. But she couldn’t just let her walk away. Could

she?

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WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

“I’ve been in love with you all my life,” Dev said, “and it wasn’t until this summer

that I realized I was just holding on to a dream that had died a long time ago.”

Dev shook with bitterness and anger. “You walked away, Leslie. You made a

life, disappeared from mine, and I still couldn’t let you go. Now that’s crazy.”

“Dev,” Leslie said desperately. “It’s not that I didn’t care.”

“I loved you,” Dev said, her voice breaking. “Oh, God, I loved you with my

whole soul.” She turned her face away, refusing to let Leslie see the tears that

streaked her cheeks, but her body trembled as the next words tore their way

out from deep inside her. “And you left me.”

“Oh my God,” Leslie whispered, crying herself. “You don’t know how it killed

me to lose you.”

Dev’s head snapped around, her body rigid. “No. I don’t know.

Because you were gone.” Her hands tightened into Þ sts at her side.

“And you’re still gone. Go back to your lover.”

“But I love y—”

“No! Don’t say that. Don’t!” Dev gripped Leslie’s shoulders and shook her

hard enough to make her gasp. “I’m done dreaming.”

Leslie cried out and Dev realized her Þ ngers had to be bruising Leslie’s

shoulders. She pulled her hands away as if they burned and stumbled back a

step. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m all right.”

Dev shook her head. “I’m sorry for all of it.” Then she escaped into the dark,

leaving the dream to fade away on the hot summer air.

Leslie called her name, but Dev didn’t stop. Running, her legs cramping and her

breath little more than a sob by the time she reached her cabin, she still took the

stairs two at a time. Inside, she quickly scooped up her keys. Then she was

racing down the path to the parking lot. She wasn’t spending the night in the

cabin with Leslie and her lover next door. She didn’t trust herself to see them

together again. Right now she was numb, but she didn’t know how long it would

last. And her anger was even more frightening than the pain.

• 199 •

• 200 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

As Leslie threaded her way through the waning crowd toward Rachel, she gave

silent thanks for the dim lighting. She didn’t want Rachel to know she’d been

crying. How would she ever be able to explain what had just happened? She

never talked about her past with Rachel. Rachel didn’t know anything about

Dev, or Mike, or what had happened. Rachel would think she’d had some kind

of a breakdown if she told her she was crying over a teenage love affair that she

hadn’t even realized was happening at the time. Except her tears had been for

more than the loss of that innocent love. She was losing Dev, and she couldn’t

think about that right now. Not with Rachel here, and her shoulders still burning

where Dev had gripped her. She needed some space from both of them, to

think her way through what had happened.

Once she was home, back on familiar ground, she’d make sense of it all.

Taking a deep breath, Leslie edged up to Rachel. “I’m back. Did I miss

anything?”

“Nothing that looked quite as entertaining as what I have planned for you,”

Rachel murmured, kissing Leslie lightly below the ear. “Have we made enough

of an appearance that we can sneak out?”

“I’m sorry, you must be tired,” Leslie said. “Of course, let’s go.”

“Thank you, darling.”

Once outside, Leslie took Rachel’s hand to lead her along the path.

Rachel stopped her in a moonless spot and nuzzled her neck.

“Did I mention I’ve been desperate for you for days?”

“Do you know that bears can smell pheromones?” Leslie asked lightly, edging

away.

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RADCLY fFE

Rachel laughed. “Then get me home, darling, or we’ll be in real danger.”

Leslie had left the porch light on in her cabin, and she had no difÞ culty leading

them to it. She searched the trees around Dev’s cabin for any sign of her, but

there was only darkness and an eerie sense of emptiness. Leslie couldn’t help

but remember the last time Dev had left a party at the boathouse hurt and angry.

That night she’d nearly died.

But Dev was an adult now, and sober, and Leslie wanted desperately to believe

that she hadn’t hurt Dev that badly again. Leslie forced her attention back to

Rachel as they climbed the stairs to the cabin.

“I can certainly see how staying here for any length of time would be relaxing,”

Rachel said wryly as she walked in.

“What do you mean?”

“It barely feels as if we’re in the twenty-Þ rst century. I half expect to Þ nd you

handing me a candle and directing me to the outhouse.”

Leslie laughed and turned on a table lamp. “Voilà. All the modern

conveniences.”

Rachel turned in a small circle, eyebrows raised as she surveyed the living room.

“Internet? Cable?”

“Ah, no cable. Wireless if the wind blows in the right direction.”

“Well,” Rachel’s voice dropped as she took Leslie’s hand and pulled her into

her arms, “we’ll have to Þ nd something else to occupy our time.”

Rachel moved so quickly, Leslie had no time to anticipate the kiss.

They’d made love countless times and the pressure of Rachel’s mouth, the

possessive sweep of her hands down Leslie’s back to cup her hips, the

demanding thrust of her tongue were all so familiar. Rachel was a skillful lover,

and Leslie’s body responded automatically, accustomed to the knowing touch.

When her mind caught up to her body, she tensed, feeling unexpectedly uneasy.

“Wait a minute, Rach,” Leslie said, pulling back from the embrace.

“I don’t want to get carried away out here. Let’s go in the bedroom.”

“Why,” Rachel murmured, nipping her way down Leslie’s neck to the base of

her throat. She insinuated one hand between them and skimmed her Þ ngertips

over Leslie’s breast. “There’s no one to see.”

Leslie gasped involuntarily as her nipple tightened instantly.

“Mmm, I love exciting you.” Rachel ß icked open the top button of Leslie’s

blouse and slid her hand beneath it, her Þ ngertips gliding under

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WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

the edge of Leslie’s satin bra. “You have wonderful breasts, darling. So

responsive.”

Rachel tugged Leslie’s nipple as she massaged her breast in Þ rm, sensuous

circles.

“Oh God,” Leslie whispered, closing her eyes as tendrils of pleasure snaked