Black Friday - By Alex Kava Page 0,1

anymore. Next to Dixon, Patrick was her best friend. Her mom didn't think it was normal for Rebecca to have boys as best friends.

"Are you having sex with these boys?" her mom wanted to know. Then when Rebecca told her "absolutely not," her mom seemed even more perplexed.

"You're not a lesbian, are you?" her mom had asked and quickly added, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

In the last three years Rebecca had watched her mom and dad yell their way through a divorce. Her dad immediately married the coworker he claimed to have just met. Her mother reciprocated with her own stream of men. After watching the two of them, Rebecca had long ago made the decision to concentrate on her future, to use their love life catastrophes as inspiration. Her future was her escape and she wouldn't allow someone, dysfunctional parents or a boyfriend, to screw that up for her.

Besides, her love for animals, especially dogs, was the one thing Rebecca knew without question. Taking care of them, healing them would save her. She looked to it as her salvation from an otherwise dreary, miserable life. She knew veterinary school would be a long haul, but she was willing to put in the tough hours. Maybe someday have her own clinic. That and a pack of dogs, a couple of horses, some cats, too. Her mom wouldn't even let her have a small dog in their post-divorce condo. It was just as well. Not having someone she was obligated to, had made it easier to leave for college and live on campus. Same theory went for not having someone to hold her back, distract her from her dream.

When her mom asked if she was coming home for Thanksgiving, Rebecca's first inclination was to blurt out that she didn't have a home. But her mom wouldn't have understood. And she certainly wouldn't have allowed Rebecca to travel halfway across the country with Dixon and Patrick, so Rebecca lied.

No, not really a lie.

She simply told her mom that her dad had asked her to spend Thanksgiving with his new family. That was actually true. He had asked her to join them on their extravagant Thanksgiving trip to Jamaica. It wasn't Rebecca's fault that her mom hadn't checked it out, that she would rather swallow fire than talk to her ex-husband.

By the time Rebecca made her way back to the table, Patrick had gotten a Cinnabon for each of them. From the look on Dixon's face she knew Patrick was making him wait for her.

Add dependable and courteous to that list.

It made Rebecca smile just as Andy Williams started singing, "I'll be Home for Christmas." The mall must have the same Christmas CD collection that Dixon owned.

Dixon was singing the words to "I'll be Home for Christmas" as she set down his Red Bull and coffees for her and Patrick.

She barely sat down and he bit off a mouthful of cinnamon roll while popping the tab on his drink. Her friend was charming and talented and witty and totally oblivious to anyone else when he was obsessed. Which was the reason they were here at the mall on the day after Thanksgiving. His latest obsession involved the red backpack at his feet.

"Chad and Tyler are already here."

He waved at them across the food court but they even didn't look his way. Typical, but Rebecca didn't point out to Dixon that the two jocks still treated him like an elementary school tag-along. The four of them had gone to school together up until Rebecca's mom dragged her away to Connecticut. Dixon chose West Haven for college partly to be with Rebecca but as soon as he came home to Minnesota, Chad and Tyler could draw him into their escapades with a simple phone call.

Rebecca noticed they both carried red backpacks identical to Dixon's. What did he get himself into this time? She pulled off her coat and let it hang over the back of her chair. She usually stayed away from Dixon's adventures. She wiped at her bangs that were pasted to her forehead and stretched her back expecting it to ache from the tattooed man's elbow.

"We agreed to start on the third floor and work our way down."

"What exactly is it you guys are doing?" Patrick asked.

Rebecca wanted to kick him under the table. Dixon took on causes like they were T-shirts with slogans that he changed every other week. Most likely this was Chad and Tyler's idea. Dixon read Vince