Art of Love (Pride Oregon #19)

Prologue

T en-year-old Dylan itched to blurt out the answer to her teacher’s riddle. But she’d already been scolded by Mrs. Pepper twice that morning in class and didn’t want to chance another time. Instead, she waved her hand in the air and waited as her teacher called on four other students first.

“You’re a clock!” she shouted when Mrs. Pepper finally called her name.

“Yes, Dylan, you are correct.”

Mrs. Pepper didn’t look pleased that she’d guessed correctly.

Dylan always guessed correctly. She couldn’t help it that her brain solved puzzles better than anyone else’s. Even her dad, who was a veterinarian, asked her for help when he was stumped by his word puzzles.

Today’s riddle had been super easy, and she was surprised that none of the other kids got the answer right.

Then again, most of the kids in her class were staring out the window, counting the seconds until recess or lunchtime, the one part of the school day that she hated, mainly because she spent those times alone.

Up until last year, she’d spent that time with Lucy McDonald, her very best and only friend.

Lucy’s home life had been bad.

She was the middle child out of three and the only girl. Her older brother, Tom, was a few years older than them in school and was somewhat of a bully. Kenny, her younger brother, was a grade below them and was pretty awesome.

Since Dylan was an only child, she often pretended that Kenny was her brother instead of Lucy’s.

It was obvious, at least to Dylan, that Lucy’s dad was abusive to his entire family, even Lucy.

She’d never witnessed it firsthand, but there were signs, and everyone in town gossiped about it.

Her mother, Emma, was always jumpy and apologizing for everything, and the kids were sometimes covered in bruises.

No kids were ever invited over to their trailer, and when Dylan asked if Lucy could come to her place, she’d been told no.

Then, a couple years ago, Mrs. McDonald had packed up the kids and moved into her mother’s goat farm just outside of town.

A while after that, Mr. McDonald was arrested and Lucy was back at school full time. But she had changed. She had made friends with Jennifer and Stephanie, two of the most popular girls in their class, and Dylan had been left friendless again.

Dylan had gotten much luckier in the parent department. Well, her mother had died long before Dylan could even remember her, but her dad made up for her lack of a mother. He was the best person on the planet.

Whatever she had asked for, her dad had given it to her. He was kind, patient, smart, and, to her ten-year-old mind, handsome enough to win any woman over.

But the longer it was just her and him, the clearer it became that no matter how much she wanted a new mom, none would come. Just like a new friend.

She glanced back at where Lucy was sitting, whispering and giggling with Jennifer, and felt her stomach drop when their eyes moved towards her and they burst out laughing again.

Maybe not having a mom to dress her in girlie clothes or braid her hair was one of the reasons she always got picked on. She was a tomboy through and through. She didn’t even own a dress, let alone anything with flowers or rainbows on it, like Lucy and Jennifer were wearing.

Dylan’s light brown hair was always like a mouse’s nest, wild and often falling in her face. She usually had dirt under her fingernails and always had stains on her worn jeans.

She didn’t own anything other than tennis shoes and didn’t care for the sandals that most girls in her class were always wearing.

Besides, most of the time, Lucy and Jennifer talked about boys. She knew from the books that she read that it was far too early for girls their age to like boys, so she guessed that they were faking it to be popular.

She would never fake anything. It was stupid.

That afternoon, as she walked home, she wondered why the other kids avoided her. Why was Lucy not her friend any longer?

It couldn’t be just the clothes. Could it?

Dylan had stuck by Lucy’s side when she’d show up at school bruised, afraid, and behind in her homework.

Dylan had helped her catch up. They’d spent recess time studying for the spelling test or math test Lucy hadn’t known about because she’d missed school.

Dylan had even let her copy some of her homework.

Just the notebook stuff, nothing too much.

So what made Dylan Roselyn Beck so unlikeable?

Whatever it was, she was determined to find out and fix it.

After all, life was the biggest mystery there was to solve, and she knew that, whatever the answer was, she’d get to the bottom of it.

Not by pretending to be someone she wasn’t, but by being the best Dylan she could be.

In the end, it had taken Dylan a few years to find herself and decide who she would become. When she did, she no longer cared about making friends or being popular. Instead, she lived to find answers. To? Well, everything, of course.

Shortly after graduation, she moved out of her small hometown and only came back a handful of times in the next few years. She traveled all over the States and did what she loved—finding answers.