Rev Girl by Leigh Hutton Page B

the kitchen. Without even lowering her voice, she said, ‘And we don’t need to have a chat about the birds and the bees, now, do we?’
    Oh, God! ‘No, Mom!’ Clover shot her mother her evilest glare. ‘And just for the record, Dallas really was just dropping me home that night!’ She held her look, before hurrying back to him.
    â€˜So Clover tells me you’re a bit of a hockey player?’ Ernie asked.
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜You’ll have to come play here sometime. The girls and I love having a game on the pond at this time of year.’
    Dallas smiled. ‘I’d be honoured.’
    Clover studied Ernie’s face. His eyes had lost a sliver of their abrasiveness, were even starting to soften. Time to quit while they were ahead. Her plan had rocked so far. ‘Well, see you guys later!’ she said, taking Dallas by the hand. ‘Everybody’s waiting.’
    â€˜Have fun,’ Leslie said. ‘And home by … ’
    â€˜I’ll probably just sleep over at Sera’s,’ Clover said.
    â€˜No, you won’t,’ Ernie said. ‘You can go out with your friends, but you’ll be home by curfew.’
    Clover paused for a moment, considering his words. Did he know what she used to get up to at Sera’s house? Surely not, he was still letting her go out. ‘Okay,’ Clover said. ‘I’ll be home by eleven-thirty.’
    â€˜Yes, curfew,’ Leslie said.
    Ernie’s eyes flickered, like he acknowledged, even appreciated, the challenge. ‘Nice try. You know it’s ten. But I will give you an extra ten minutes for the effort.’

TEN

    Dallas accepted Leslie’s invitation to have Christmas Eve dinner with the Kassedy’s.
    Clover ran from her room when she heard the sound of Dallas’s truck pulling up in front of the house.
    Jasmine beat her to the door, again.
    â€˜Not this time,’ Clover said, and body-slammed her sister. ‘Now-let-go!’ Clover reefed hard on Jasmine’s hands, which were equal in size to hers and especially strong from reining in hot-blooded horses.
    Jasmine didn’t budge.
    â€˜Argh!’ Clover screamed loudly and stamped her foot in a childish display of temper she knew she would regret.
    â€˜Girls!’ Leslie appeared from the powder room, Clover noticed that she had pulled her hair into a ponytail and taken off her apron. ‘That’s enough. Jasmine. Why don’t you go tell your father to take the sticks down to the ice for our hockey game, and turn the lights on?’
    Jasmine whined, punched her sister on the arm, then stomped off towards the stairs.
    Clover smoothed a hand over her hair as the door opened.
    Dallas smiled, kissed Clover on the cheek and pulled her into a hug. ‘Hey sexy,’ he whispered.
    A shudder of excitement built in her stomach, ready to race through her. But she held it back, out of fear. Being grounded had helped to stall things with Dallas. To keep out of his bed. Now they’d been together for over two months, it was like the expectation for them to be doing it kicked in to top gear. She was delighted to be free, and dizzy with excitement about the coming week and what she had planned. But it felt just as nerve-wracking as being on the start line of a big race.
    Leslie surged forward. ‘Dallas, dear, so good to see you again!’
    Dallas let go of Clover and held out a box of chocolates. ‘These are for you and Mr. Kassedy.’
    Clover rolled her eyes as her mother beamed.
    â€˜Please, no more presents for us!’ Leslie gave him a hug, blushing slightly, before breaking away and heading for the living room. ‘Dinner will be ready in an hour. Roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, all the trimmings! Best Christmas Eve dinner I’ve ever made.’
    â€˜Sounds great, Mrs. Kassedy,’ Dallas said.
    Leslie smiled at him from the living room, then took a few steps and glanced out the front