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  “Mmm,” she agreed. “But your Maserati doesn’t make me near as dizzy.”

  “My dad’s Maserati,” he corrected. “I have a very unimpressive, very beat-up old pickup.”

  “Hmm, a truck,” she said noncommittally. And after a silence she asked, “How is your dad?”

  Vance looked over at the small group of kids kicking a ball in the field beyond the playground equipment. “He’s doing very well, actually. He’s getting married again. In fact,” he said, and then laughed. “He’s having a baby.”

  Piper bit her bottom lip and beamed up at him. He would have missed it if he hadn’t taken a quick look back at her. He got caught up in the warmth of her expression and couldn’t tear his gaze away. He felt himself lick his lips.

  “You sure grew up pretty,” he said quietly, longing to run a finger over her soft, round cheek. He turned his head and pushed at the ground with his feet, moving the swing back and letting it fall forward. “I never forgot what you did for me here, Piper. I want you to know that. Every day, you’d be waitin’ on me with your soothing smile. It gave me the feeling that eventually everything was going to be all right.”

  “And is it?” she asked. “Is everything all right?”

  An unbidden smile took hold of his mouth. “Well, at the moment, I can’t think of a thing that isn’t just about perfect.”

  Piper blushed. Blushed the prettiest color Vance had ever seen, and it radiated as if somehow she’d been lit up on the inside. Her baby blue eyes twinkled just the same as he remembered. The freckles scattered across her nose seemed to fit his memory too. Her round cheeks were exactly the way he’d always pictured, but her lips…her lips he had trouble reconciling. Because those lips, those luscious, plump, raspberry pink lips had grown full and succulent and were a distraction he wouldn’t have known about in fourth grade.

  He was staring at her lips when his world fell out from under him.

  “I thought about you a lot when I lost my mom,” she was saying. “I was a grown woman when she passed from ovarian cancer, and yet it hurt so much to have her gone. I didn’t need her fixin’ my lunches or to be there when I got home from school. I didn’t need her to wash my clothes or help me with my homework. I didn’t need her to do anything at all. But I needed her to be. Just be…here for me. Just to know I had that support. That love.”

  Vance was struggling to catch her words. Trying hard to understand exactly what she was saying. He searched her face for clarity.

  “So when she died and I felt that pain, that depth of agony that no one can relate to unless they themselves have experienced it, I thought of you. I finally understood just how bad it really was for you.”

  “What?” Vance could only whisper.

  “That’s when I Googled your name.”

  “Your mother passed away? Piper. I wish…I should have been there for you.”

  “You were.”

  He stared at her, confusion swamping him.

  “One week after my mother’s funeral, I walked into The Charlie Horse intent on blowing off some steam. The first person I saw was you.”

  “Oh, God.” Vance panicked. The events of the entire night fell sickeningly into place.

  “I knew it was you because I had seen your picture on the Internet. Your official Henderson Police Department photo came up. I dislike cops, by the way.”

  “What the—?” Vance felt like his head was going to explode. “What do you mean you don’t like cops?” he shouted as he scrambled out of the swing. “And if you knew who I was, why the hell didn’t you tell me who you were?”

  “I was planning to. At some point. It all just seemed to be going so nicely that I didn’t want to break the flow. Besides, you kept looking over at me and I guess I thought maybe you recognized me too.”

  “I didn’t. I swear I didn’t know it was you.” He took a breath and let his face fall into his hands. “Holy shit,” he said, scrubbing at his eyes. “Why didn’t I know?”

  “Vance, it’s all right.”

  He started pacing in front of her, running a hand through his hair.

  “It’s my fault,” Piper claimed, standing up from the swing. “It was wrong of me not to have told you who I was. I’m so sorry about that.”

  “Piper, just…just…stop talking. Please.” He stood with his hands on his hips staring at the ground. “I…I….” He closed his eyes briefly and took a long breath. “Please don’t let another apology come out of your mouth.” He looked at her intently, willing her to understand. “I’m going to repeat that, just so we’re clear. I don’t want…no, I can’t have you apologizing to me. Because what I need to tell you—in order to clear up all this history between us—is something that you had no control over. And I know that.”

  Vance rubbed a fist over his forehead and began to second-guess himself. “I probably shouldn’t—oh hell. You were my lifeline in fourth grade, all right? To this day, I’m pretty sure I would not have survived without you. I owe you more for your kindness back then, than I could ever repay. So…there is nothing I wouldn’t forgive you.”

  Piper nodded her head but rolled her hand in a hurry-up gesture. “I feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

  Vance looked her in the eye, feeling his whole body succumb to the truth. “I spent every day that summer after fourth grade waiting to see you again.”

  Piper’s breath hitched.

  “You were the only one who gave me relief.”

  “Vance,” she breathed.

  “Once school started, it took me a good four days to find out that your family had moved out of town. Probably took me another few days to understand exactly what that meant. That you were gone.”

  “And not coming back,” she whispered.

  “Just like my mom.”

  ***

  The little boy that Piper had loved madly twenty years ago was standing right there—in front of her—as if time had never passed. The same eyes, the same hair, the same sadness. Only this time, she was the cause—inadvertently.

  Unfortunately, inadvertently or not, harm had been done. The logical lawyer side of Piper’s brain saw her family's move for what it was to Vance.

  Lousy timing.

  A double whammy.

  A crying shame.

  But the emotional side of Piper—the little girl that loved him and never wanted to cause him pain—that side of Piper was knocked out cold.

  Bloody.

  Beaten.

  Lying splattered all over the playground.

  She was pretty sure it was her emotional side Vance was reacting to when he uttered a curse and dragged her into his arms just as her legs started to wobble.

  “Oh, baby doll,” he whispered. The warm concern in his voice swam through her internal hysteria, soothing her distress. One strong arm supported her weight when her legs would not, while a large hand tucked her head close against his chest. He was so much stronger than that little boy she’d loved. Strong physically because she felt like a rag doll with the ease he’d managed to secure her against him. And emotionally because he was taking complete control of the situation. As her brain wrapped around that, her distress abated little by little. She came to understand that he’d been devastated but not destroyed by the events of his past.

  “I’m okay,” she said, sniffling, testing out the strength returning to her legs. Then she licked her lips and said it again, against his chest. “I’m okay.” Her hands came up and pressed flat against his pectoral muscles…strong and solid, like he proved to be on the inside.

  She knew Vance didn’t want her to apologize. That she had heard loud and clear. But she needed to say something. She tucked her head and wiped at her nose with her hand, then brushed under her eyes with the base of her palms. She took a deep breath and tried to gather her scattered thoughts.

  “I’m okay,” she said again, pulling back a little bit, wanting to remain in the circle of his arms. “I really am. I just…truthfully, as much as I hated moving and
as much as I missed you for so very long, I never…ever once imagined how our move had affected you.”

  “You were ten.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, we were ten.” As if that made us immune to heartache, she thought, stepping back from his embrace and shaking her hands out as she went. She turned her back to him and tried to rub off any smeared mascara that might be under her eyes.

  Vance came up behind her and put his chin on the top of her head. “And now we’re old,” he grumbled.

  That made her laugh. She turned and saw his sad smile. Then he put his hand under her chin and ran his thumb under her eye. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  She shook her head adamantly. “Thank God, you did. I would never have connected those dots and…wow…that’s a lot of desertion for a little boy to handle.”

  “I know you didn’t desert me.”

  “That’s exactly what I did. Whether I had any choice in the matter or not, and no matter that we were just kids, you were left by someone you….”

  “Loved,” he supplied.

  “And trusted,” she whispered. No wonder he never recognized me. I’m lucky he didn’t suppress me from his memory entirely.

  Vance nodded several times. “It’s good that you know. I need you to know so that you’ll understand two things about that night at The Charlie Horse. First, I know what it feels like to be deserted. So, having…deserted you, after your mother had just died….” He closed his eyes, unable to speak.

  “It wasn’t like that,” she assured him. “I didn’t feel abandoned.”

  “Really? We spent forty-five minutes on the dance floor, shared several mind-blowing kisses, your hands were all over my body and out of nowhere, for no apparent reason, I turned around and left. If you didn’t feel abandoned, what did you feel?”

  She stared at him for a couple of heartbeats. Then surrendered the truth. “Heartbroken.”

  Vance’s hands fell to his sides. “Oh,” he said gently. “I’m so sorry.”

  Piper came and took his hand, reminiscent of exactly what she’d done in fourth grade, and walked the two of them over to a picnic table. They sat down facing each other. “You said there were two things. Two things you wanted me to understand about that night at The Charlie Horse.”

  He was looking down at the table. At his finger rubbing back and forth over the wood. “I…ah.” He turned his head and looked far afield. He had planned to tell her about their kiss. Try to explain to her exactly how good it felt. Tell her how it had conjured up her memory and the memory of his mother. Explain to her what that had done to him and why he ran.

  “Can you….” he said, turning his attention back to her. “Can you stay for dinner? I’d like my father and grandmother to meet you.”

  “I…of course! Of course. I would love to meet them. It’s just,” she said, blinking those big, blue eyes, “I’d like a chance to freshen up first. I want to be at my best when I meet your Mighty Abuela.”

  Vance laughed. “My Mighty Abuela? Is that what we called her?”

  “I don’t remember what we called her. I just know we feared her. And that she fed you turtle soup.”

  “Well, she’s mellowed a bit since then,” he said as they stood and started toward the car. “She only bites the heads off of turtles once or twice a week these days.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Do you speak Spanish?” Vance asked Piper as he drove them away from the elementary school.

  “No. Why do you ask?”

  Vance’s cell phone was already at his ear when he grinned at her and started talking. “Abuela, si no te importa, me gustaría invitar a alguien especial para cenar con nosotros esta noche. Sí, es una mujer muy hermosa. ¿Quieres que yo lleve algo? Vale. Por favor, le dices a papá que saque un buen vino. Se va a arreglar un poco aquí en casa. En breve llegamos a tu casa. Nos vemos en media hora. Gracias.”

  “That is really unfair,” Piper complained.

  “I know.” He grinned.

  They pulled into the long length of garage disguised as a stable and Piper stood up in the passenger seat before they came to a stop. She raised her sunglasses and took in the surroundings. “There sure is some kind of horsepower in here. Wow.” She looked over the Corvette, the Trans Am, the Rolls Royce, and the rest of his father's fleet and gawked. “You are crazy rich,” she said, exiting the Maserati and taking her briefcase from Vance.

  “My dad is crazy rich. And generous enough to let me play with his toys.”

  “How do you choose?” Piper wondered, walking down the length of the garage and taking a good look at all the autos. “Why did you choose the Maserati today?” she asked as Vance tugged at her hand to get her to leave the garage and head up the stone path.

  “It draws a lot of attention.”

  “Good choice,” she said with a laugh.

  Each step up the hill revealed more windows sprawled across the back of the house to their right. Vance watched her process it all. The house, the lawns, the beautifully landscaped pool and Jacuzzi that lay beyond their feet as they came to stand on the stone patio. Piper looked toward the triangular wood and glass pool house on their left. “Did you have all of this when I knew you?”

  “We had the land and my dad had the vision. We had a nice house back then, but nothing like this.”

  “It’s breathtaking.”

  Seeing it through Piper’s eyes, Vance agreed. He nodded, leading her over to his pool house.

  “I’ve lived here since I came home from college,” he said, opening the door and leading the way into the well-appointed living area. He stood to the side, watching her take in the large flat screen TV, the sectional sofa, the huge ottoman, end tables, and lamps all in shades of blue and tan. From where they stood, she'd be able to see his small kitchen and table in the back. “At that time, my dad would be gone all week on business, so it was a way to be here for my grandmother and still have my own space. Abuela and Dad have done their best to pretend I live on the other side of town. But fortunately, I’m always welcome across the pool.”

  Vance motioned her toward the open double doors of his bedroom. “The bathroom is in there. If you need anything, check underneath the cabinet. If it’s not there, I’ll run next door to see if I can find it.”

  “Wow,” was all Piper said when she walked into his bedroom. “Wow,” he heard her exclaim again when she opened the door to the bath.

  Vance smiled. It felt good to wow Piper.

  He sat down on the couch and checked his phone for messages. No one knew he’d gone to Raleigh to see Piper. Hell, he hadn't known he was going until he was halfway out of town. There were plenty of messages from Pinks and Duncan. While he read through them, the idle part of his brain started to wonder about his father’s reaction to this unprecedented act of bringing a woman home to dinner.

  He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to find Piper standing in the doorway holding girly supplies. “So, who is she?” she asked.

  “Who is who?”

  “Whoever is spending the night here on a regular basis?”

  Vance looked down at his phone, continuing to scroll through messages as he said, “I haven’t had a steady girlfriend since college. And I don’t think that lasted a semester.”

  “Well, then what is all this?”

  Vance brought his head up and started to pay attention. He noticed a curling iron, a bag of fancy toiletries, an electric toothbrush, and he especially noticed the Costco-sized box of condoms. “I’m not a monk,” he said slowly.

  “So…you’re not a monk, but you haven’t had a steady girlfriend since college?”

  Trouble was brewing. He felt it. And like a dumbass, he allowed his mouth to hang open while he nodded his head.

  Piper took a long look at the box of condoms, probably noting the variety of textures and flavors along with the fact that they were almost gone. “What? Are you like a man-whore or something?”

  Vance fell back against the cushions in shock, rubbin
g a hand over his mouth trying to hide his embarrassed amusement. How the hell was he supposed to answer that?

  Piper stomped her foot. “Vance Evans, that is disgusting!” She looked at everything she was holding and grimaced. “Ick.” She turned, curls flying, and took off toward the bathroom. He sprung off the couch to follow, getting there in time to witness her shoving all the stuff back under the sink and slamming the door of the cabinet.

  “Piper,” he started.

  “What?” she snapped, looking up at him.

  God, she is cute.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve led a misspent youth.” He tried not to grin, but the expression on her face was so perturbed he couldn’t help it. “Listen, if it helps at all, I am truly trying to change my ways.”

  “Right,” she muttered, digging into her briefcase and pulling out a small cosmetics bag and her purse.

  “I am. My buddy, Brooks, will tell you. The only girl I’m involved with now is his girlfriend, Lolly. And that’s so I can learn to appreciate women for…other things. You know, be friends.”

  “That is such bullshit.”

  “What?” He feigned shock. “Piper Beaumont, how does an ugly cuss word like that come out of a pretty little girl like you?”

  “I know worse,” she said, scrubbing her face with a fresh washcloth.

  “Look, I don’t want to start throwing blame around, but if you’d just told me who you were five years ago, my reputation with the ladies would be less than half of what it is today.”

  She stopped and stared at his reflection in the mirror. “Is that true?” she asked. “Would you have stayed—that night? If you had known it was me?”

  Vance let out a long breath as he tucked his hands into his pockets to keep himself from pulling her to him. “Piper, I’ve been looking for you since the last day of fourth grade. If I had known it was you in my arms that night, I can’t imagine that anything could have dragged me away. In fact….”

  When he didn’t finish, Piper prompted, “In fact?”