“He was a deputy, but it obviously wasn’t Cole. The officer was way too young, but there was an uncanny resemblance. At least to me. Mom didn’t say anything, but maybe she didn’t see it.” I shifted in the chair, knowing I probably shouldn’t ask what I was getting ready to. “Do you . . . do you know if he’s still around?”
“He stayed in college, but I didn’t have any classes with him after econ. And he did ask about you often and was pretty persistent, but . . . you also know how that went down.” Miranda knocked a braid off her cheek. “I haven’t seen him in years. I’m pretty sure he’s not a deputy any longer, at least not around here.”
“Oh.” A weird twisting motion lit up my chest. It felt like disappointment. Which made no freaking sense. Not like I came home expecting to rekindle a decade-old romance. Cole was probably long gone from here, married with a boatload of kids. At least he deserved that, a happily ever after. He was a good guy; the best kind.
Miranda eyed me intently like she’d done a hundred times, seeing right through me. “Do you still have his number? Probably the same. People don’t change their numbers.”
“I don’t have his number. When I changed mine, I dumped all the contacts,” I admitted, a little bit ashamed by that little factoid. “And even if I did, I so would not call him.”
“Chicken.”
I chuckled. “Come on, calling him after ten years would be super weird.”
“You could just check out Facebook and see if he has an account.” Miranda paused, lips curling up at the corners. “You so have checked it out to see if he has an account, haven’t you?”
Heat splashed across my cheeks. “Maybe I have.”
Miranda waited.
“Okay. Fine. Whatever. I did a while ago. Never could find one.”
“Interesting,” Miranda murmured.
Not really. Kind of just sad and a bit pathetic.
Miranda stayed for a little while longer, leaving when dinner service was about to get started. I had just enough time to change into a pair of denim jeans. The flip-flops and sweater remained, and I’d taken a few extra minutes to let my hair down, run a brush through the waves and slather some lipstick on.
All the guests were in attendance for dinner, so we were constantly on the move. When the last guest packed up, it was close to eight, and all I could think about was face-planting onto my bed. Hopefully I’d actually sleep for longer than four hours.
With all the dishes cleared from the tables and the linens changed, I was replacing the tea candles on the table with new unlit ones when Mom returned to the dining room.
“Did you get a chance to grab something to eat?” she asked.
“Yes,” I answered with a soft laugh. Mom. Always mothering. “I grabbed some chicken. Sort of feared for my life when James caught me.”
“He’s a little rough around the edges. You remember that.” Taking two of the small candles from me, she placed them in the glass holder. “But he’s a damn good cook and I love when . . .”
When she trailed off, I looked over at her as I placed the last candle on the table near the fireplace. The expression on Mom’s face was odd. Like she was caught between wanting to pass out and do a happy dance. And I’d seen her do a happy dance before. Knees up. Arms out. It was something else.
Her gaze was fixed on something beyond my shoulders as she said, “Oh my word . . .”
Brows snapping together, I turned around and everything—everything—stopped. The entire world ground to a halt. My heart skipped a beat, possibly even stopped. For real. I lifted a hand, pressing the heel of my palm into the center of my chest.
A ghost from my past stood in front of me.
It was Cole Landis.
Chapter 5
There was a good chance I might be hallucinating. Perhaps I’d tripped over a chair leg, fallen and hit my head on the river-stone fireplace. That seemed more possible than Cole actually standing in front of me.
But I hadn’t smacked my head off of anything.
He really was there, and it was unbelievable, and oh my sweet Jesus, the years had been extraordinarily kind to him.
I was struck by his rugged attractiveness.
Gone was the boyish handsomeness that had clung to his face the last time I’d seen him. In its place were sharper cheekbones and blue eyes even more piercing behind thick lashes. The proud, arrogant line of his nose was slightly crooked now, as if it had been broken at some point. Those lips of his . . . oh sweet Lord, those lips were still full. The hard line of his jaw was covered with stubble, adding to the roughness of his striking face. His light brown hair was buzzed into a messy fade, a little longer than I remembered.
He was . . . more, uh, defined.
His biceps stretched the worn cotton of the red flannel shirt he wore. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing powerful forearms. The flannel was unbuttoned and underneath was a crisp white shirt. His waist was trim and it took no leap of imagination to know that underneath the plain shirt was anything other than plain.
“It’s really you,” he stated.
My world stopped for a second time. His voice. Oh my God, his voice had deepened and it was rougher, raspier, but it was his voice.
“I didn’t believe it.” Cole stepped forward, and every muscle in my body locked up. “Part of me didn’t even want to believe it in case he was wrong, but he wasn’t. It’s you.”
All I could do was stare as my heart slammed in my chest as if it was trying to beat its way out of me. I knew I needed to get my tongue to work, but I was shocked into silence.
Unfortunately, Mom wasn’t.
“Well, this is a surprise,” she said, announcing the obvious. “Isn’t it, Sasha?”
I nodded slowly as Cole stared at me with those pale eyes. My throat dried. I really needed to say something, but I was thinking of my nightmare the night before, of the last time I saw him.
“I would’ve called the inn first.” Cole’s gaze flickered to Mom briefly before settling on me with an intensity that caused my entire body to flush hot. It had always been like that. He had such power in a single stare. Could send you running in the opposite direction or draw you right in like a magnet. “But I figured not calling was a better avenue to take.”
Sucking in a sharp breath, I got what he was saying. He’d thought that if I knew he was coming, I wouldn’t have been here, and the sad thing was, I couldn’t say if that was the truth or not. Realizing that snapped me out of my stupor. “How did you know I was back?”
Cole’s eyes widened slightly and those full, expressive lips parted, and it appeared he was the one now struck quiet.
“Well.” Mom cleared her throat. “I’m going to go . . . do stuff,” she said, and then pivoted around, hastily slipping through the pocket door.
Neither of us moved.
Alone and together for the first time in a decade, we stared at one another. The last time we’d seen each other, he’d kissed me. He’d called me babe and said he would be waiting for me. I never called. Never made it home to do so.
It was Cole who spoke first. “Derek told me you were home.”