This couldn’t be happening to her, Kari thought.

Gage Reynolds had just walked back into her life. Right in the middle of a bank robbery…With a robber’s gun pressed to her temple!

Eight years ago, Gage was her beloved, a young deputy, tall and handsome in his khaki uniform. He was still good-looking enough to make an angel want to sin. And now he was the sheriff of Possum Landing, judging by the badge on his shirt.

His dark eyes gleamed with interest at what he saw. “You know,” he casually told the gunman, “that’s Kari Asbury. The one who got away.” He continued easily. “Eight years ago, that pretty lady there left me standing at the altar.”

The bank robber glared at her. “That wasn’t very nice. You want me to shoot her, Sheriff?”

Gage shrugged. “That’s mighty neighborly of you…but I think I’d rather deal with her in my own way.”

Kari gasped. Obviously, coming back to placid Possum Landing was going to be a whole lot more complicated than she’d thought….

Dear Reader,

A rewarding part of any woman’s life is talking with friends about important issues. Because of this, we’ve developed the Readers’ Ring, a book club that facilitates discussions of love, life and family. Of course, you’ll find all of these topics wrapped up in each Silhouette Special Edition novel! Our featured author for this month’s Readers’ Ring is newcomer Elissa Ambrose. Journey of the Heart (#1506) is a poignant story of true love and survival when the odds are against you. This is a five-tissue story you won’t be able to put down!

Susan Mallery delights us with another tale from her HOMETOWN HEARTBREAKERS series. Good Husband Material (#1501) begins with two star-crossed lovers and an ill-fated wedding. Years later, they realize their love is as strong as ever! Don’t wait to pick up Cattleman’s Honor (#1502), the second book in Pamela Toth’s WINCHESTER BRIDES series. In this book, a divorced single mom comes to Colorado to start a new life—and winds up falling into the arms of a rugged rancher. What a way to go!

Victoria Pade begins her new series, BABY TIMES THREE, with a heartfelt look at unexpected romance, in Her Baby Secret (#1503)—in which an independent woman wants to have a child, and after a night of wicked passion with a handsome businessman, her wish comes true! You’ll see that there’s more than one way to start a family in Christine Flynn’s Suddenly Family (#1504), in which two single parents who are wary of love find it—with each other! And you’ll want to learn the facts in What a Woman Wants (#1505), by Tori Carrington. In this tantalizing tale, a beautiful widow discovers she’s pregnant with her late husband’s best friend’s baby!

As you can see, we have nights of passion, reunion romances, babies and heart-thumping emotion packed into each of these special stories from Silhouette Special Edition.

Happy reading!

Karen Taylor Richman

Senior Editor

Good Husband Material

Susan Mallery

www.millsandboon.co.uk

SUSAN MALLERY

is the bestselling author of nearly fifty books for Harlequin and Silhouette Books. She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her handsome prince of a husband and her two adorable-but-not-bright cats.

Dear Reader,

What is it about old friends? It doesn’t seem to matter how much time passes or what changes there have been in our lives—being with old friends renews the spirit, while reminding us of where we used to be and how far we’ve come.

Some of my book characters are like old friends—scary but true. ? One of my most successful series at Silhouette Special Edition features the Haynes family—four brothers, a half sister and a close friend. Over the course of six books, they each met their perfect match, fell in love and reaffirmed the bonds of family and marriage. I hated to say goodbye to them. Almost as soon as I finished the last book, I had the idea of going back to them someday.

That day is here. Welcome to my HOMETOWN HEARTBREAKERS, part two. If you are new to the series, don’t worry. These books stand alone. If you are a fan of HOMETOWN HEARTBREAKERS, then I hope you will enjoy visiting old friends, while making new ones.

Two sets of brothers are about to have their worlds changed forever. They will find out they are not who they thought they were and begin a journey of self-discovery that will lead to love and a family they knew nothing about. Like the other Haynes men, these men respect the rules of the land and risk their lives to enforce them. They are heroes in the truest sense of the word.

These books are special to me, and I hope you will find the stories touch your heart, as well.

Best,

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter One

Kari Asbury fully expected to have trouble cashing her out-of-state check, she just didn’t think she would have to put her life on the line to do it.

It wasn’t just that the check was drawn from a bank in big, bad New York City; it was that her driver’s license was also from that East Coast state. Ida Mae Montel would want to know why a girl born and raised in Possum Landing, Texas, would willingly run off to a place like that…a place with Yankees. And if a girl had to do such a thing, why on earth would she give up her Texas driver’s license? Didn’t everyone want to be from the Lone Star State?

No doubt Sue Ellen Boudine, the bank manager, would mosey on over to examine the check, all the while holding it like it was attached to a poisonous snake. They’d make a few calls (probably to friends, letting them know that Kari was back in town and with a New York driver’s license, of all things), they’d hem and haw, and sigh heavily. Then they’d give Kari the money. Oh, but first they’d try to talk her into opening an account right there at the First Bank of Possum Landing.

Kari hesitated in front of the double glass doors, trying to figure out if she really needed the cash that badly. Maybe it would be better to pay the service fee and get the money out of the ATM machine. Then she reminded herself that the quicker everyone realized she’d returned to town for a very temporary visit, the quicker all the questions would be asked and answered. Then maybe she could have a little peace. Maybe.

There was the added thrill of finding out if Ida Mae still wore her hair in a beehive. How much hair spray did that upswept style require? Kari knew for a fact that Ida Mae only had her hair done once a week, yet it looked exactly the same on day seven as it did on day one.

Still smiling at the memory of Ida Mae’s coiffure, she pulled open the door and stepped inside. She paused just past the threshold and waited for the shrieks of welcome and the group hug that would follow.

Nothing happened.

Kari frowned. She glanced around at the bank—established in 1892—taking in the tall, narrow windows, the real wood counters and stylish paneling. Ida Mae was in her regular spot—the first position on the left—as befitted the head teller. But the older woman wasn’t talking. She wasn’t even smiling. Her small eyes widened with something that looked like panic, and she made an odd gesture with her hand.

Before Kari could figure out what it meant, something hard and cold pressed against her cheek.

“Well, lookee here. We got us another customer, boys. At least this one’s young and pretty. What my mama used to call a tall drink of water. That’s something.”

Kari’s heart stopped. It might be nearly ninety in the shade outside, but here in the bank it felt closer to absolute zero.

Slowly, very slowly, she turned toward the man, who was holding a gun. He was short, stocky and wearing a ski mask. What on earth was going on?

“We’re robbin’ the bank,” the man said, as if he could read her mind.

His astuteness startled her, until she realized his deduction wasn’t much of a stretch.

She quickly glanced around. There were four of them, counting the man holding a gun on her. Two kept all the customers and most of the employees together at the far end of the bank, while the last one was behind the counter, putting money that Ida Mae handed him into a bag.

“You go ahead and set your purse on the floor,” the man in front of her said. “Then start walking toward the other ladies. Do what you’re told and no one will get hurt.”

Kari flexed her hands slightly. Her chest tightened, and it was nearly impossible to speak. “I, uh, I don’t have a purse.”

She didn’t. She’d come into the bank with a check and her driver’s license. Both were in the back pocket of her shorts.

The robber stared at her for a couple of seconds, then nodded. “Seems you don’t. Now head on over there.”

This couldn’t be happening, Kari thought, even as she headed for the cluster of other customers huddled by the far end of the counter.

She was halfway to the safety of that crowd when the rear door of the bank opened.

“Well, hell,” a low voice drawled. “One of us has bad timing, boys. You think it’s you or me?”

Several women screamed. One of the masked men by the crowd grabbed an older woman and held the gun to her head. “Stay back,” he yelled. “Stay back or the old lady dies.”

Kari didn’t have time to react. The man who had first held a gun to her jerked her arm to drag her back to him. She felt the pressure of the pistol against her cheek again. He wrapped one wiry arm around her neck, keeping her securely in place.

“Seems to me we’ve got a problem,” the man holding her said. “So, Sheriff, why don’t you just back out real slow and no one will get hurt.”

The sheriff in question gave a sigh of the long-suffering. “I wish I could do that. But I can’t. Want to know why?”

Kari felt as if she’d slipped into an alternative universe. This couldn’t be happening to her. One second she’d been too scared to breathe, and the next, Gage Reynolds had walked back into her life. Right in the middle of a holdup.

Eight years ago he’d been a young deputy, tall and handsome in his khaki uniform. He was still good-looking enough to make an angel want to sin. He was also the sheriff, if the gleaming badge on his shirt pocket was to be believed. But for a man of the law, he didn’t seem all that interested in the robbery going on right in front of him.

He took off his dust-colored cowboy hat and slapped it against his thigh. His dark hair gleamed, as did the interest in his eyes.

“Don’t make me kill her,” the gunman said, his tone low and controlled.

“You know who you’ve got there, son?” Gage asked casually, almost as if he hadn’t figured out what was going on in the bank. “That’s Kari Asbury.”

“Back off, Sheriff.”

The robber pressed the gun in a little deeper. Kari winced. Gage didn’t seem to notice.

“She’s the one who got away.”

Kari could smell the criminal’s sweat. She was willing to bet he hadn’t planned on a hostage situation, and the fact he might be in over his head didn’t make her breathe any easier. What on earth was Gage going on about?

“That’s right,” Gage continued, setting his hat on a table and stretching. “Eight years ago, that pretty lady there left me standing at the altar.”

Despite the gun jammed into her cheek, Kari spluttered with indignation. “I did not leave you standing at the altar. We weren’t even engaged.”

“Maybe. But you knew I was gonna ask, and you took off. That’s practically the same thing. Don’t you think?”

He asked the last question of the robber, who actually considered before replying.

“If you hadn’t really proposed, then she didn’t leave you at the altar.”

“Fair enough, but she did stand me up for the prom.”

Kari couldn’t believe it. Except for her grandmother’s funeral seven years ago, she hadn’t seen Gage since the afternoon of her high school prom. While she’d known that Possum Landing was small enough that they would eventually run into each other again, this wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind.

“It was complicated,” she said, unable to believe she was being forced to defend herself in front of bank robbers.

“Did you or did you not skip town without warning? You left nothing but a note, Kari. You played with my heart like it was a football.”

The bank robber glared at her. “That wasn’t very nice.”

She glared right back. “I was eighteen years old, okay? I apologized in the note.”

“I’ve never gotten over it,” Gage said, emotional pain oozing from every pore. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a package of gum. “You see before you a broken man.”

Kari resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She didn’t know what Gage’s game was, but she wished he would play it with someone else.

Her confusion turned to outrage when Gage took a stick of gum for himself, then offered the pack to the bank robber. Next they would be going out for a beer together.

Gage watched the anger flash in Kari’s eyes. If she could have spit fire, he would be a scorched stick figure right about now. In different circumstances, Gage might have worried the issue, but not now.

The gunman shook off the gum, but that wasn’t important. The gesture had been made and well received. Gage had established rapport.

“She went on up to New York City,” Gage continued, tucking the gum package back into his breast pocket. “Wanted to be a fashion model.”

The robber studied Kari, then shrugged. “She’s pretty enough, but if she’s back, then she didn’t make it.”

Gage sighed heavily again. “I guess not. All that pain and suffering for nothing.”

Kari stiffened at his words, but didn’t try to break away. Gage willed her to cooperate for just a few more seconds. While every instinct in his body screamed at him to jerk her free of the gunman, he forced himself to stay relaxed and focused. There were more people to protect than just Kari. Between the bank employees and the customers there were fifteen innocent citizens within the old walls. Fifteen unprepared folk and four men with guns. Gage didn’t like the odds.

Using his peripheral vision, he checked on the progress of the tactical team circling around the building. Just another minute or two and they would be in place.

“You want me to shoot her?” the gunman asked.

Kari gasped. Her big blue eyes widened even more, and the color drained from her face.

Gage chewed his gum for a second, then shrugged. “You know, that’s mighty neighborly of you, but I think I’d rather deal with her in my own way, in my own time.”

The team was nearly in place. Gage’s heart was about to jump out of his chest, but he gave no outward sign. Another few seconds, he thought. Another—

“Hey, look!”

One of the robbers near the back turned suddenly. Everyone looked. A tactical team member dropped out of sight a moment too late. The gunman holding Kari snarled in rage.

“Dammit all to hell and back.”

But that’s all he got to say.

Gage lunged forward. He jerked Kari free, yelled at her to get down on the floor, then planted a booted foot firmly in the robber’s midsection.

The bad guy gave a yelp of dismay as all the air rushed out of his lungs and he fell flat on his ass. He scooted a couple of feet backward, but by the time he sucked in a breath, two armed tactical team members had guns on him.

But they weren’t as quick to capture the man by Ida Mae. A gunshot exploded.

Gage reacted without thinking. He turned and threw himself over Kari, covering her body with his. A half-dozen or so rounds were fired. He pulled out his sidearm, looking for targets, and kept his free arm over Kari’s face.

“Don’t move,” he growled in her ear.

“I can’t,” she gasped back.

After what felt like a lifetime, but was probably just seconds, a man called out. “I give, I give. You shot me.”

There were muffled sounds, then a steady voice yelled, “Clear.”

Five more “clear”s followed. Gage rolled off Kari and glanced around to check on the town folk. Everyone was fine—even Ida Mae, who had kicked the wounded gunman after she climbed to her feet. The leader of the tactical team walked over and stared down at Gage. He was covered in black from head to toe, with a visor over his face and enough firepower to take Cuba.

“I can’t figure out if you were a damn fool or especially brave for walking in on a bank robbery in progress,” the man said.

Gage sat up and grinned. “Someone had to do it, and I figured none of your boys was going to volunteer. Plus we know these were small-town criminals. They’re used to seeing someone like me around. One of you all dressed in the Darth Vader clothes would have scared ’em into acting like fools. Someone could have gotten killed.”

The man nodded. “If you ever get tired of small-town life, you’d be a fine addition to our team.”

Gage didn’t even consider his offer. “I’m flattered,” he said easily, “but I’m right where I want to be.”

The man nodded and walked off.

“You knew they were there.”

He turned and saw Kari staring at him. She still lay on the ground. Her once long blond hair had been cut short and stylish. Makeup accentuated her already big, beautiful blue eyes. Time had sculpted her face into something even more lovely than he remembered.

“The tactical team?” he asked. “Sure. They were circling the building.”

“So I wasn’t in danger?”

“Kari, a criminal was holding a gun to your head. I wouldn’t say that ever qualifies as safe.”

She smiled then. A slow, sexy smile that he still remembered. Lordy but she’d been a looker back then. Time hadn’t changed that.

He suddenly became aware of the adrenaline pouring through his body. And the fact that he hadn’t had sex in far too long. Eight years ago, he and Kari had never gotten around to that particular pleasure. He wondered if she would be more open to the experience now.

He got to his feet. If she was back in Possum Landing for any length of time, he would be sure to find out.

“Welcome back,” he said, and held out his hand to help her up.

She placed her fingers against his palm. “Jeez, Gage, if you wanted to find a unique way to welcome me home, couldn’t you just have held a parade?”

“You can go now, Ms. Asbury,” the wiry detective said nearly four hours later.

Kari sighed in relief. She’d given her statement, been questioned, been fed and watered, and now she was finally free to head home. As far as she could tell, there were only a couple of problems. The first was that her heart refused to return to normal. Every time she thought about what had happened in the bank, her chest felt as if it were filled with thundering horse hooves. The second problem was that she had walked to the bank, a scant mile or so from her house, but the sheriff’s station was clear on the other side of town. It was summer in the middle of Texas, which meant billion-degree heat and humidity to match.

“Do you think I could have a ride home?” she asked. “Or is Willy still running a cab around these parts?”

The detective gave her a once-over, then grinned. “Wish I could take you home myself. Unfortunately I have more work to do. I’ll get one of the deputies to take you.”

Kari smiled her thanks. When she was alone, she glanced out of the glass-enclosed office. Just looking around, she told herself. She wasn’t actually looking for someone specific. Certainly not Gage.

But like a bee heading for the sweetest flower, she found herself settling her gaze on him. He was across the large office, still in a glass room of his own, chatting with some members of the federal tactical team. Were they trying to talk him into leaving Possum Landing to join them? Kari shook her head. She might have been gone for eight years, but some things never changed. Gage Reynolds would no more leave Possum Landing than NASA would send Ida Mae up in the next space shuttle.

She watched as Gage spoke and the other men laughed. Time had honed him into a hard man, she thought. Hard in a good way—with thick muscles and a steady set to his face. Despite the fact that she’d been there when it happened, she couldn’t believe that he’d actually walked into a bank robbery. On purpose! He’d been calm and cool and he’d about made her crazy.

The detective strolled back into the office. “Ms. Asbury, if you’ll wait by the front desk, the deputy will be with you in a couple of minutes.”

She smiled her thanks and followed him out to the waiting area. Ida Mae sat there, her hands folded primly on her lap. When she saw Kari, her wrinkled face broke out into a welcoming smile.

“Kari.”

The older woman rose and held out her arms. Kari moved forward and accepted the hug. Everything about it was familiar—Ida Mae’s bony arms, her beehive hairdo with not a hair out of place, the scent of the gardenia perfume she always wore.

“You’re looking fine, child,” Ida Mae said as she released Kari and sank back onto the bench.

Kari settled next to her. “You haven’t changed a bit,” she said, then patted her hand. “Are you all right?”

Ida Mae touched her chest. “I thought I was gonna have a heart attack right there in the middle of the bank. I couldn’t believe my own eyes when those boys pulled guns on us. Then you walked in and it was like seeing a ghost. And then Gage strolled in. Wasn’t he brave?”

“Absolutely,” Kari agreed. She wasn’t sure she could have knowingly walked in on a bank robbery, regardless of who was at risk. But Gage had always believed in doing what was right.

Ida Mae gave her a knowing look. “He’s still a handsome devil, too, don’t you think? Is he taller than when you left?”

Kari wanted to roll her eyes, but figured she was getting a little old for that particular response. Fortunately, Ida Mae was on a tear and didn’t require an answer.

“No one knew you were coming back,” the older woman said. “Of course, we knew you’d have to eventually, what with you still owning your grandma’s house and all. I can tell you, tongues wagged when you left town all those years ago. Poor Gage. You about broke his heart. Of course, you were young and you had to follow your dreams. It’s just too bad that your dreams didn’t include him.”

Kari didn’t know what to say. Her heart had been broken, too, but she didn’t want to get into that. The past was the past. At least, that’s what she told herself, even though she didn’t actually believe it.

Ida Mae smiled. “It’s good that you’re back.”

Kari sighed softly. “Ida Mae, I’m not back. I’m just here for the summer.” Then she was going to shake the dust from this small town off her shoes and never look back.

“Uh-huh.” Ida Mae didn’t look convinced.

Fortunately the deputy arrived just then. Kari asked Ida Mae if she needed a ride home, as well.

“No, no. My Nelson is probably waiting out front for me. I called him just before you walked out.”

Led by the deputy, they headed out the front door and down the three steps to the sidewalk. By the time she saw that Nelson was indeed waiting for his wife, Kari had broken out into a sweat and was having trouble breathing in the heat.

“Little Kari Asbury,” Nelson said as he approached. He grinned at her as he mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. “You’re all grown up.”

Kari smiled.

“Didn’t she turn out pretty?” Ida Mae said fondly. “But then, you were always a lovely girl. You should have entered the Miss Texas pageant. You could have gone far with a title like that.”

Kari smiled weakly. “It was very nice to see you both,” she said politely, then headed toward the squad car that the deputy had pulled around.

“Gage has had a couple of close calls,” Nelson called after her, “but no one’s gotten him down the aisle.”

Kari waved by way of response. She wasn’t going to touch that particular topic.

“Good to have you back,” Nelson yelled louder.

This one Kari couldn’t resist. She turned toward the older man and shook her head. “I’m not back.”

Nelson only waved.

“Just perfect,” she muttered as she climbed into the car with the deputy. He’d told her his name, but she’d already forgotten it. Probably because he looked so impossibly young. She was only twenty-six, but next to this guy she felt ancient.

She gave him her address and leaned back against the seat, breathing in the air-conditioned coolness. There were a thousand and one details to occupy her mind, yet instead of dealing with them, she found herself remembering the first time she’d met Gage. She’d been all of seventeen and he’d been twenty-three. At the time, he’d seemed so much older and more mature.

“I know this is a crazy question,” she said, glancing at the young man next to her. “But how old are you?”

He was blond, with blue eyes and pale cheeks. He gave her a startled glance. “Twenty-three.”

“Oh.”

The same age Gage had been eight years ago. That didn’t seem possible. If Gage had been as young as this guy, Kari shouldn’t have had any trouble standing up to him. Why had she found it so incredibly difficult to share her feelings while they’d been dating? Why had the thought of telling him the truth terrified her?

There wasn’t an easy answer to the question, and before she could come up with a hard one, they arrived at her house.

Kari thanked the deputy and stepped out into the late afternoon. In front of her stood the old house where she’d grown up. It had been built in the forties, and had a wide porch and gabled windows. Different colored versions of the same house sat all along the street, including the home next door. She glanced at it, wondering when she would have her next run-in with her neighbor. As if returning to Possum Landing for the summer wasn’t complicated enough, Gage Reynolds now lived next door.

Kari walked inside her grandmother’s house and stood in the main parlor. Never a living room, she thought with a smile. It was a parlor, where people “set” when it wasn’t nice enough to settle on the front porch. She remembered countless hours spent listening to her grandmother’s friends talking about everything from who was pregnant to who was cheating on whom.

She’d arrived after dark last night. She hadn’t turned on many lights after she’d come in, and somehow she’d convinced herself that the house was different. Only now, she saw it wasn’t.

The old sofas were the same, as was the horsehair chair her grandmother had inherited from her grandmother. Kari had always hated that piece—it was both slick and uncomfortable. Now she touched the antique and felt the memories wash over her.

Maybe it was the result of all the emotions from the robbery, maybe it was just the reality of being home. Either way, she suddenly sensed the ghosts in the house. At least they were friendly, she told herself as she moved into the old kitchen. Her grandmother had always loved her.

Kari looked at the pecan cabinets and the stove and oven unit that had to be at least thirty years old. If she expected to get a decent price for the old place, she would have to do some serious updating. That was the reason she’d come home for the summer, after all.

A restlessness filled her. She hurried upstairs and changed out of her clothes. After showering, she slipped on a cotton dress and padded back downstairs barefoot. She toured the house, almost as if she were waiting for something to happen.

And then it did.

There was a knock on the door. She didn’t have to answer it to know who had come calling. Her stomach lurched and her heart took up that thundering hoof dance again. She drew in a deep breath and reached for the handle.

Chapter Two

Gage stood on Kari’s front porch. She didn’t bother pretending to be surprised. Her time with him in the bank had been too rushed and too emotionally charged for her to notice much about his appearance…and how he might have changed. But now that they were in a more normal situation, she could take the time to appreciate how he’d filled out in the years she’d been away.

He looked taller than she remembered. Or maybe he was just bigger. Regardless, he was very much a man now. Still too good-looking for her peace of mind. He appealed to her, but, then, he always had.

“If you’re inviting me to attend another bank robbery,” she said with a smile, “I’m going to have to pass.”

Gage grinned and held up both hands. “No more crime…not if I can prevent it.” He leaned against the door frame. “The reason I stopped by was to make sure that you were all right after all the excitement today. Plus, I knew you’d want to thank me for saving your life by inviting me to dinner.”

She tilted her head as she considered him. “What if my husband objects?”

He didn’t even have the grace to look the least bit worried. “You’re not married. Ida Mae keeps track of these things, and she would have told me.”

“Figures.” She stepped back to allow him inside. Gage moved into the front room while she closed the door behind him. “What makes you think I’ve had time to go to the grocery store?” she asked.

“If you haven’t, I have a couple of steaks in the freezer. I could get those out.”

She shook her head. “Actually, I did my shopping this morning. That’s the reason I ran out of cash and had to go get more at the bank.” She frowned. “Come to think of it, I never did cash that check.”

“You can do it tomorrow.”

“I guess I’ll have to.”

She led the way into the kitchen. Having him here was strange, she thought. An odd blending of past and present. How many times had he come over for dinner eight years ago? Her grandmother had always welcomed him at their table. Kari had been so in love that she’d been thrilled he’d wanted to spend mealtimes with her. Of course, she’d been young enough to be excited even if all he wanted was for her to keep him company while he washed his car. All she’d needed to be happy was a few hours in Gage’s presence. Life had been a whole lot simpler in those days.

He leaned against a counter and sniffed. “That smells mighty good. And familiar.”

“Grandmother’s sauce recipe. I put it in the slow cooker this morning, right after I got back from the grocery store. I also got out the old bread maker, but as it’s been gathering dust forever, I can’t promise it’ll all work.”

His dark gaze settled on her. “It works just fine.”

His words made her break out in goose bumps, which was crazy. He was a smooth-talking good-ol’ boy from Possum Landing. She lived in New York City. No way Gage Reynolds should be able to get to her. And he didn’t. Not really.

“Did you get all the paperwork wrapped up, or whatever it was you had to do after the robbery?” she asked as she checked on the pasta sauce.

“Everything is tied up in a neat package.” He crossed to the kitchen table and picked up the bottle of wine she’d left there.

“Kari Asbury, is this liquor? Have you brought the devil’s brew into our saintly dry county?”

She glanced up and chuckled. “You know it. I remembered there weren’t any liquor sales allowed around here and figured I had better bring my own. I stopped on my way over from the airport.”

“I’m shocked. Completely shocked.”

She grinned. “So you probably don’t want to know that there’s beer in the refrigerator.”

“Not at all.” He opened the door and pulled out a bottle. When he offered it to her, she shook her head.

“I’ll wait for wine with dinner.”

He opened the drawer with the bottle opener in it on the first try. Gage moved around with the ease of someone familiar with the place. But then, he had been. He’d moved in next door, the spring before her senior year. She remembered watching him carry in boxes and pieces of furniture. Her grandmother had told her who he was—the new deputy. Gage Reynolds. He’d been in the army and had traveled the world. To her seventeen-year-old eyes, a young man of twenty-three had seemed impossibly grown-up and mature. When they’d started dating that fall, he’d seemed a man of the world and she’d been—

“Are we still neighbors?” she asked, turning back to face him.

“I’m still next door.”

She thought of Ida Mae’s comment that Gage had never made it to the altar. Somehow he’d managed to not get caught. Looking at him now, his khaki uniform emphasizing the breadth of his shoulders and the muscles in his legs, she wondered how the lovely ladies of Possum Landing had managed to keep from trapping him.

Not her business, she reminded herself. She checked the timer on the bread machine and saw there was still fifteen minutes to go, plus cooling time.

“Let’s go into the parlor,” she said. “We’ll be more comfortable.”

He nodded and led the way.

As she followed him, she found her gaze drifting lower, to his rear. She nearly stumbled in shock. What on earth was wrong with her? She didn’t ever stare at men’s butts. Nothing about them had ever seemed overly interesting. Until now.

She sighed. Obviously, living next door to Gage was going to be more complicated than she’d realized.

He settled into a wing chair, while she took the sofa. Gage drank some of his beer, then put the bottle on a crocheted coaster and leaned back. He should have looked awkward and out of place in this fussy, feminine room, but he didn’t. Perhaps because he’d always been comfortable anywhere.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“That you look at home in my grandmother’s house.”

“I spent a lot of time here,” he reminded her. “Even after you left, she and I stayed close.”

She didn’t want to think about that…about the confidences that might have been shared.

Gage studied her face. “You’ve changed.”

She wasn’t sure if he meant the comment in a good way or a bad way. “It’s been a long time.”

“I never thought you’d come back.”

It was the second time in less than three hours that someone had mentioned her being back. “I’m not back,” she clarified. “At least, not for anything permanent.”

Gage didn’t look surprised by her statement, nor did he seem to take issue with her defensive tone. “So why are you suddenly here? It’s been seven years since your grandmother died.”

Her temper faded as quickly as it had flared. She sighed. “I want to fix up the house so I can sell it. I’m just here for the summer while I do that.”

He nodded without saying anything. She had the uncomfortable sense of having been judged and found wanting. Which wasn’t fair. Gage wasn’t the type of man to judge people without just cause. So her need to squirm in her seat had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her own state of mind.

Rather than deal with personal inadequacies that were probably better left unexplored in public, she changed the subject. “I can’t believe there was a bank robbery right here in Possum Landing. It’s going to be the talk of the town for weeks.”

“Probably. But it wasn’t that much of a surprise.”

“I can’t believe that. Things couldn’t have changed that much.”

He nodded. “We’re still just a bump in the road, with plenty of small-town problems, but nothing even close to big-city crime. These boys were working their way across the state, robbing hometown banks. I’d been keeping track of their progress, figuring they’d get here sooner or later. Four days ago, the feds came calling. They wanted to set up a sting. I didn’t have a problem with that. We talked to everyone at the bank, marked a drawer full of money, then waited for the hit to take place.”

Kari couldn’t believe it. “All that excitement right here, and I was in the thick of it.”

Gage narrowed his eyes. “As you saw, things got out of hand. I don’t know if those robbers got lazy or cocky, but this time, they decided to hold up the bank while there were still customers inside. Previously they’d waited until just before the doors were locked for the day, to go in.”

“So you weren’t expecting to deal with a hostage situation?”

“No one was. The feds wanted to wait it out, but those were my people inside. Someone had to do something.”

She turned that thought over in her mind. “So you just waltzed inside to distract them?”

“It seemed like the easiest way to get the job done. Plus, I wanted to be there to make sure no one went crazy and got shot. At least, no one from here. I don’t much care about the criminals.”

Of course. In Gage’s mind, they had brought the situation upon themselves. He wouldn’t take responsibility for their coming to Possum Landing to hold up a bank in the first place.

“I have to agree with the federal officer,” she said. “I don’t know if you were brave or stupid.”

He smiled. “You could probably make a case for either point of view.” He took another drink of his beer. “You know that I wasn’t really mad at you. I was trying to distract that one guy so he didn’t take you hostage.”

She shivered at the memory of the gun held to her head. “It took me a few minutes to catch on to what you were doing.”

But that didn’t stop her from wondering how much of what he had said was true. Did Gage really think she was the one who got away?

Did she want to be?

Once she easily would have said yes. Back before she’d left town, Gage had been her entire world. She would have thrown herself in front of a moving train if he’d asked. She’d loved him with all the crazy devotion a teenager was capable of. That had been the trouble—she’d loved him too much. When she’d figured out there were problems, she hadn’t known how to deal with them. So she’d run. When he hadn’t come after her, he’d confirmed her greatest fear in the world…that he hadn’t loved her at all.

They spent all of dinner talking about mutual friends. Gage brought her up to date on various weddings, divorces and births.

“I can’t believe Sally has twins,” Kari said, as they moved to the porch and sat on the wooden swing.

“Two girls. I told Bob he has his work cut out for him once they become teenagers.”

“Fortunately that’s a long way off.”

Kari set her glass of wine on the dusty, peeling table beside the swing and leaned back to look up at the sky. It might be after dark, but it was still plenty hot and humid. She could feel her dress sticking to her skin. Her head felt funny—fuzzy, heavy and more than a little out of sync. No doubt it was due to the combination of the fear she’d experienced earlier in the day and a little too much wine with dinner. She didn’t normally allow herself more than half a glass on special occasions, but tonight she and Gage had nearly split the bottle.

Gage stretched out his long legs. He didn’t seem bothered by the wine. No doubt his additional body mass helped, not to mention the fact that he wouldn’t have spent the past several years trying to maintain an unnaturally thin body.

“Tell me about life in New York,” he said.

“There isn’t much to tell,” she admitted, wondering if she should be pleased or worried that he’d finally asked her a vaguely personal question. “When I arrived, I found out that small-town girls who had been told they were pretty enough to be a model were spilling out of every modeling agency within a thirty-mile radius. The competition was tough and the odds of making it into the big time were close to zero.”

“You did okay.”

She glanced at him, not sure if he was assuming or if he actually knew. “After the first year or so, I got work. Eventually I made enough to support myself and pay for college. As of last month, I have teaching credentials, which is what I always wanted.”

Gage glanced at her. “You’re still too skinny to be a PE teacher.”

She laughed. “I know. I sure won’t miss all those years of dieting. I’m proud to tell you that I’ve worked my way up from a size two to a six. My goal is to be a size ten and even eat chocolate now and then.”

He swept his gaze over her. She half expected a comment on her body, but instead he only asked, “So what kind of teacher are you?”

“Math at the middle-school level,” she said.

“A lot of those boys are going to have a crush on you.”

“They’ll get over it.”

“I don’t know. I still get a hankering for Ms. Rosens. She taught eighth grade social studies. I don’t think I’d bothered to notice girls before. Then she walked into the room and I was a goner. She married the high school football coach. It took me a year to get over it.”

She laughed.

They rocked in silence for a few minutes. Life was so normal here, Kari thought, enjoying the quiet of the evening. Instead of sirens and tire screeches, there were only the calls of the night critters. All around Possum Landing people would be out on their porches, enjoying the stars and visiting with neighbors. No one would worry about half a glass of wine causing facial puffiness, or being too bloated for a lingerie shoot. No one would lose a job for gaining three pounds.

This was normal, she reminded herself. She’d nearly been gone long enough to forget what that was like.

“Why teaching?” Gage asked unexpectedly.

“It’s what I always wanted.”

“After the modeling.”

“Right.”

She didn’t want to go there—not now. Maybe later they would rehash their past and hurl accusations at each other, but not tonight.

“Where are you applying?”

“To schools around Texas. There are a couple of openings in the Dallas area and in Abilene. I have some interviews scheduled. That’s why this seemed like the perfect time to come back and fix up the house. Then I can move on.”

She paused, expecting him to respond. But he didn’t.

Which was just as well, because she suddenly found that sitting next to him on the old swing where he’d kissed her for the first time was more difficult than she would have thought. Her chest felt tight and her skin tingled all over.

It was just the wine, she told herself. Or it was the old memories, swimming around them like so many ghosts. The past was a powerful influence. No doubt she would need a little time to get used to being back in Possum Landing.

“Did you apply locally?” Gage asked.

“No.”

She waited, but he didn’t ask why.

“Enough about me,” she said, shifting in her seat and angling toward him. “What about your life? Last I heard, you were still a deputy. When did you run for sheriff?”

“Last year. I wasn’t sure I’d make it my first time out, but I did.”

She wasn’t surprised. Gage had always been good at his job and well liked by the community. “So you got what you always wanted.”

“Uh-huh.” He glanced at her. “I was always real clear about my goals. I grew up here. I’m a fifth-generation resident of Possum Landing. I knew I wanted to see the world, then come back home and make my life here. So I did.”

She admired his ability to know what he wanted and go after it. She had never been quite that focused. There had been the occasional powerful distraction. One of them was sitting right next to her.

“I’m glad you’re where you want to be,” she said. Then, because she wasn’t always as bright as she looked, she said, “But you never married.”

Gage smiled. “There have been a few close calls.”

“You always were a favorite with the ladies.”

His smile faded. “I never gave you cause to worry when we were together. I didn’t fool around on you, Kari.”

“I never thought you did.” She shrugged. “But there were plenty of women eager to see if they could capture your attention. The fact that you and I were going out didn’t seem to impress them.”

“It impressed me.”

His voice seemed to scrape along her skin like a rough caress. She shivered slightly.

“Yes, well, I…” Her voice trailed off. So much for being sophisticated, she thought wryly. Yup, her time in the big city had sure polished her.

“It’s getting late,” Gage said.

He rose, and she wasn’t sure if she was sad or relieved that he was going. Part of her didn’t want the evening to end, but another part of her was grateful that she wouldn’t have another chance to say something stupid. As much as she’d grown and matured, she’d never quite been able to kick that particular habit.

She stood as well, noticing again how tall he was. Especially in his worn cowboy boots. Barefoot, he only had four inches on her. Now she had to tilt her head slightly to meet his gaze.

The look in his eyes nearly took her breath away. There was a combination of confidence and fire that made her insides sort of melt and her breathing turn ragged.

What on earth was wrong with her? She couldn’t possibly be feeling anything like anticipation. That would be crazy. That would be—

“You’re still the prettiest girl in Possum Landing,” he said as he took a step toward her.

She suddenly felt overwhelmed by the Texas heat. “I, um, I’m not really a girl anymore.”

He smiled a slow, easy, “I’m in charge here and don’t you forget it” kind of smile that didn’t do anything positive for her equilibrium. She seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

“I know,” he murmured as he put his hand on the back of her neck and drew her close. “Did I mention I like your hair short?”

She opened her mouth to answer. Big mistake. Or not, depending on one’s point of view.

Because just at that moment, he lowered his mouth to hers. She didn’t have time to prepare…which was probably a good thing. Because the second his lips touched hers, protesting seemed like a really silly idea—when Gage could kiss this good.

Kari wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing that was so special. Sure there was soft, firm pressure and plenty of passion. As if the night wasn’t warm enough, they were generating enough heat between them to boil water on contact. But there was something else, some chemistry that left her desperate and longing. Something that urged her to wrap her arms around him so that when he pulled her close, they were touching everywhere it mattered.

He moved his mouth against hers, then lightly licked her lower lip. Pleasure shot through her like lightning. She clutched at his strong shoulders, savoring the hardness of his body against hers, liking the feel of his hands on her hips and his chest flattening her breasts.

Her head tilted slightly, as did his, in preparation for the kiss to deepen. Because there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that they were taking this to the next level.

So when he stroked her lower lip again, she parted her mouth for him. And when he slowly eased his tongue inside, she was ready and very willing to dance this particular dance.

He tasted sweet and sexy. He was a man who enjoyed women and knew enough to make sure they enjoyed him. Kari had a hazy recollection of her first kiss with Gage, when he’d been so sure and she’d felt like a dolt. Right up until he’d touched his tongue to hers and she’d melted like butter on a hot griddle.

Now that same trickling sensation started deep inside. Her body was more than ready for a trip down memory lane. She wasn’t so sure the rest of her could play catch-up that fast…even if the passion threatened to overwhelm her.

He moved his hand up from her hips to her sides, then around to her back, moving higher and higher until he cupped her head. He slid his fingers into her short hair and softly whispered her name.

She continued to hold on to him because the alternative was to fall on her rear end right there on the porch. When he broke the kiss and began to nibble along the line of her jaw, she didn’t care where she fell as long as he caught her. And when he sucked on her earlobe, every cell in her body screamed out that sex with Gage Reynolds would be a perfect homecoming.

Fortunately, the choice wasn’t hers. Just when she was starting to think they were wearing too many layers, he stepped back. His eyes were bright, his mouth damp with their kisses. She was pleased to see that his breathing was a tad too fast and that parts of him were not as…modest as they had been a few moments before.

They stared at each other. Kari didn’t know what to say. Finding out that Gage kissed better than she remembered meant one of three things: her memory was faulty, he’d been practicing while she’d been gone, or the chemistry between them was more powerful than it had been eight years ago. She wasn’t sure which she wanted it to be.

He didn’t speak, either. Instead, he leaned close, gave her one last hot, hard kiss, and walked down the porch steps, into the night.

Kari was left staring after him. Restlessness seized her, making her want to follow him and…and…

She sucked in a breath before slowly turning and heading back into the house. Obviously, coming back to Possum Landing was going to be a whole lot more complicated than she’d first realized.

Chapter Three

Gage ambled toward the offices of the Possum Landing Gazette the following morning. Under normal circumstances, he would have put off this meeting for as long as possible. But ever since the previous evening, he hadn’t been able to concentrate on his work, so he figured this was a better use of his time than staring out the window and remembering.

He’d always known that Kari would come back to Possum Landing one day. He’d felt it in his bones. From time to time he’d considered what his reaction to that event would be, assuming he would be little more than mildly interested in how she’d changed and only slightly curious as to her future plans. He hadn’t thought there would still be any chemistry between them. He wasn’t sure if that made him a fool, or an optimist.

The chemistry was there in spades. As were a lot of old feelings he didn’t want to acknowledge. Being around her made him remember what it was like to want her…and not just in bed. There had been a time when he’d longed to spend his whole life with her, making babies and creating a past they could both be proud of. Instead, she’d gone away and he’d found contentment in his present life. While the kiss the previous evening had shown him that parts of him were still very interested in the woman she’d become, the rest of him couldn’t afford to be.

Kari was a beautiful woman. Wanting her in bed made sense. Expecting anything else would take him down a road he refused to travel. He’d been there once and he hadn’t liked the destination.

So, for however long she stayed in Possum Landing, he would be a good neighbor and enjoy her company. If that led to something between the sheets, that was just fine with him. He hadn’t had much interest in the fairer sex these past few months. Instead, a restlessness had seized him, making him want something he couldn’t define. If nothing else, Kari could prove to be a welcome distraction.

Gage entered the newspaper office and nodded at the receptionist. “I know my way,” he called as he headed down a long corridor. “I’d be obliged if you’d tell Daisy I’m here.”

The woman picked up the phone to call back to the reporter. Gage pulled off his cowboy hat and slapped it against his thigh.

He didn’t much want to be here, but experience had taught him that it was safer to show up for interviews than to allow Daisy to come to him. This way, he was in charge and could head out when he felt the need to escape. He’d figured out that by leaning against the conference room chairs just so, he could activate the test button on his pager. It went off, and he could glance down at the screen and pretend something had come up, forcing him to leave. He was also sure to seem real regretful about having to head out unexpectedly. He was just as sure to ignore Daisy’s not-so-subtle hints that they should get together sometime soon.

Daisy was a fine figure of a woman. A petite redhead with big green eyes and a mouth that promised three kinds of heaven if a man were only to ask. They’d been in the same class in high school but had never dated. Newly divorced, Daisy was more than willing to reacquaint herself with Gage. He appreciated the compliment and couldn’t for the life of him figure out why he wasn’t interested. But he wasn’t. As he’d yet to decide on an easy way to let her down, he did the next best thing and avoided anything personal.

He wove his way through the half dozen or so desks in the main room of the newspaper office. Daisy was in the back, by a window. She looked up and smiled as Gage approached. Her long, red hair had been piled on her head in a mass of sexy curls. The sleeveless blouse she wore dipped low enough to prove that her cleavage was God-given and not the result of padding. Her smile more than welcomed…it offered. Gage smiled in return, all the while monitoring parts south. Over the years he’d found that part of him was a fairly good judge of his interest in a woman. As had occurred every other time he’d been in Daisy’s company, there wasn’t even a hint of a stirring. No matter how much Daisy might wish the contrary, as far as he was concerned, there wasn’t any future for them.

“Gage,” she murmured as he approached. “You’re looking fine this morning. Being a hero seems to agree with you.”

“Daisy,” he said with a smile. “If you’re going to write anything about me being a hero in your article, I’m not going to cooperate. I was doing my job—nothing more.”

She sighed and tilted her head. “Brave and modest. Two of my favorite qualities in a man.” She batted her long lashes at him. “I have a call to make. Why don’t you wait for me in the conference room, and I’ll join you there.”

“Sure thing.”

He spoke easily, even though the last place he wanted Daisy to send him was that back room with no windows and only one door. Yesterday, facing four armed bank robbers hadn’t done much but increase his heart rate. But the thought of being trapped in a small place with Daisy on the hunt made his insides shrivel up and play dead.

Still, there was no escaping the inevitable. And he always had his handy-dandy test button escape route.

He walked down the hallway that led to the conference room and stepped inside. But instead of finding it empty, he saw someone else waiting. A tall, slender someone with short blond hair and the prettiest blue eyes this side of the Mississippi.

“Morning, Kari,” he said as he stepped into the room.

She glanced up from the list she’d been making, frowned in confusion, then smiled. “Gage. What are you doing here?”

“Waiting on Daisy. She’s going to interview me about yesterday’s bank robbery.” He hesitated before taking a seat.

Some decisions were harder than others and this was one of them. Did he want to sit next to her so he could catch the occasional whiff of her soft perfume, or sit across from her so he could look at her lovely face? He decided to enjoy the view, and pulled out the chair directly opposite hers.

“What brings you to the newspaper this morning?” he asked as he set his hat on the table.

Kari’s mouth twisted slightly. “Daisy called and asked to interview me about the bank robbery. I wonder why she wanted us to come at the same time.”

Gage had a couple of ideas, but figured this wasn’t the time to go into them. Instead he studied Kari, who seemed to be trying not to look at him. Was that because of last night? Their kiss? The heat they’d ignited had kept him up half the night. He might not have much of a reaction to Daisy, but being around Kari proved that he could be intrigued in about a tenth of a second under the right circumstances.

This morning she wore a white summery dress that emphasized her slender shape. He eyed her short hair, which fluttered around her ears.

“What?” she said, watching him watch her. She touched her hair. “I know—it’s short.”

“I said I liked it.”

“I wasn’t sure if you were lying,” she admitted with a smile. “I always figured you were more of a long hair kind of a guy.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Actually, I try to be flexible. If it looks nice, I like it.”

He continued to take in her features, noting changes and similarities.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

He grinned. He was thinking that he would very much like to take her to bed. Once they’d shared several hours of one of life’s greatest pleasures, he would like to get to know the woman she’d become while she’d been gone. Not that he was going to say that to her. From time to time, circumstances forced a man to tell little white lies.

“I was wondering how much work you’re planning on doing at your grandmother’s house.”

Kari blinked at Gage. She’d expected him to say a lot of things, but not that. He’d been looking at her as if he were the big bad wolf and she were lunch. But in the kind of way that made her body heat up and her heart rate slip into overdrive.

So, she’d been thinking about last night’s kiss and he’d been mulling over paint chips and siding. Obviously her ability to read Gage and handle herself with grace and style hadn’t improved at all in the time she’d been gone.

“I’m still figuring that out,” she said. “The biweekly cleaning service kept the house livable, but it’s still old and out of date. I could redo the whole place, but that doesn’t make sense. I have a limit to both my time and money, so I’m going to have to prioritize.”

He nodded thoughtfully.

My, oh my, but he still looked good, she thought, as she had yesterday. And the pleasure she took in seeing him hadn’t worn off yet. She wondered if it would. By the end of summer, would he be little more than just some good-looking guy who happened to live next door? Could she possibly get that lucky?

Before she could answer her own question, Daisy breezed into the conference room. From her low-cut blouse to the red lipstick emphasizing her full lips, she was a walking, breathing pinup girl. Kari felt bony and string-bean–like in comparison.

“Thanks so much for coming,” she said as she closed the door, then took the seat next to Gage. “I’m writing a follow-up article for the paper and I thought it would be fun to interview you both together. I hope you don’t mind.”

Kari shook her head and tried not to notice how close Daisy sat to Gage. The other woman brushed her arm against his and smiled at him in a way that had Kari thinking they were way more than friends.

But that didn’t make sense. Gage wasn’t the kind of man to be involved with one woman and kiss another. Which meant Gage and Daisy had once been a couple or that they were still in the flirting stage. Either concept gave her the willies.

Daisy set her notebook on the table in front of her but didn’t open it. She leaned toward Kari. “Wasn’t that something? I mean, a bank robbery right here in PL.”

Kari blinked. “PL?”

“Possum Landing. Nothing exciting ever happens here.” She smiled at Gage. “At least, nothing in public. I thought it was so amazing. And, Gage, throwing yourself in front of the bullets. That was amazing, too. And brave.”

He grunted.

With a speed that left Kari scrambling, Daisy turned to her and changed the subject. “So, you’re back. After all those years in New York. What was it like there?”

“Interesting,” Kari said cautiously, not sure what this had to do with the holdup the previous day. “Different from here.”

“Isn’t everywhere,” Daisy said with a laugh. “I’ve spent time in the city, but I have to tell you, I’m a small-town girl at heart. PL is an amazing place and has everything I could ever want.”

She spoke earnestly, focusing all her attention on Gage for several seconds before swinging it back on Kari.

“What’s it like seeing Gage again after all these years?”

Kari blinked. “I’m, uh, not sure what that has to do with the bank robbery.”

“I would have thought it was obvious. Your former fiancé risks his life for you. He protects you from the hail of gunfire. You can’t tell me you didn’t think it was romantic. Don’t you think it was the perfect homecoming? I mean, now that you’re back.”

Kari risked a glance at Gage, but he looked as confused as she felt. What on earth was Daisy’s point with all this? As Kari didn’t want anything she said taken out of context and printed for the whole town to see, she tried to think before she spoke.

“First of all,” she said slowly, “Gage and I were never engaged. We dated. Second, I’m not back. Not permanently.”

“Uh-huh.” Daisy opened her notebook and scribbled a few lines. “Gage, what were you thinking when you walked into the bank?”

“That I should have followed my mama’s advice and studied to be an engineer.”

Kari smiled slightly and felt herself relax. Trust Gage to ease the tension in the room. But before she could savor her newfound peace, Daisy broke into peals of laughter, tossing her pen on the table and clutching Gage’s arm.

“Aren’t you a hoot?” she said, beaming at him. “I’ve always enjoyed your humor.”

The expression on her face said she had enjoyed other things, as well, but Kari didn’t want to dwell on that. She tried to ignore the couple across the table. Daisy wasn’t having any of that. She turned her attention back to Kari and gave her a look of friendly concern.

“I’m so pleased to hear you say that you’re not staying for the long haul. You and Gage had something special once, but I’ve found that old flames never light up as brightly the second time around. They seem to fizzle and just fade away.”

Kari smiled through clenched teeth. “Well, bless your heart for being so concerned.”

Daisy beamed back.

They completed the interview fairly quickly, now that Daisy had gotten her message across. Obviously she’d called Kari and Gage in together to see them in the same room, and to warn Kari off. Like Kari was interested in starting up something with an ex-boyfriend.

Small-town life, Kari thought grimly. How could she have forgotten the downside of everyone knowing everyone else?

Daisy continued to coo over Gage and he continued to ignore her advances. Despite being incredibly uncomfortable, Kari couldn’t help wondering about the state of their real relationship and vowed to ask Gage the next time she felt brave. In the meantime, she would do her best to avoid Daisy.

People in big cities thought nothing happened in small towns, she thought as she finally made her escape. People in big cities were wrong.

“You spoil me, Mama,” Gage said a few nights later as he cleared the table at his mother’s house.

Edie Reynolds, an attractive, dark-haired woman in her late fifties, smiled. “I’m not sure cooking dinner for you once a week constitutes spoiling, Gage. Besides, I need to be sure you’re getting a balanced meal at least once in a while.”

He began scraping plates and loading the dishwasher. “I’m a little too old to be eating pizza every night,” he teased. “Just last week I had a vegetable with my steak.”

“Good for you.”

He winked at her as he worked. His mother shook her head, then picked up her glass of wine. “I’m still very angry with you. What were you thinking when you burst in on those bank robbers?” She held up her free hand. “Don’t bother telling me you weren’t thinking. I’ve already figured that out.”

“I was doing my job. Several citizens were in danger and I had to protect them.”

She set her glass down, her mouth twisting. “I guess this means your father and I did too good a job teaching you about responsibility.”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Probably not,” she admitted.

The phone rang. His mother sighed. “Betty Sue from the hospital auxiliary has been calling me every twenty minutes about our fund-raiser. I’m amazed we got through dinner without her interrupting. This will just take a second.” She picked up the receiver on the counter and spoke in a cheerful tone.

“Hello? Why, Betty Sue, what a surprise. No, no, we’d just finished eating. Uh-huh. Sure.”

Edie headed for the living room. “If you want to rearrange the placement of the booths, you’re going to have to clear it with the committee. I know they told you to run things, but…”

Gage grinned as he tuned out the conversation. His mother’s charity work was as much a part of her as her White Diamonds perfume.

He finished with the dishes and rinsed the dishcloth before wiping down the counters. Every now and then his mother protested that he didn’t need to help after dinner, but he never listened. He figured she’d done more than her share of work while he and his brother Quinn were growing up. Loading the dishwasher hardly began to pay her back.

He finished with his chores and leaned against the counter, waiting for her to finish her conversation with Betty Sue. The kitchen had been remodeled about seven years ago, but the basic structure was still the same. The old house was crammed full of memories. Gage had lived here from the time he was born until he’d left to join the army.

Of course, every part of Possum Landing had memories. It was one of the things he liked about the town—he belonged here. He could trace his family back five generations on his father’s side. There were dozens of old pictures in the main hallway—photos of Reynolds at the turn of the previous century, when Possum Landing had been just a brash, new cow town.

His mother returned to the kitchen and set the phone back on its base. “That woman is doing her best to make me insane. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I actually voted for her to run the fund-raiser. I must have been experiencing a black out or something.”

He laughed. “You’ll survive. How’s the bathroom sink?”

“The leak is fixed. Don’t fret, Gage. There aren’t any chores for you this week.”

She led the way back into the living room, where they sat on opposite ends of the recovered sofa. Edie had replaced the ugly floral pattern with narrow-striped fabric.

“I don’t invite you over just to get free labor,” she said.

“I know, Mama, but I’m happy to help.”

She nodded. “Will you be all right when John takes over that sort of chore?”

His mother had never been one to walk around a problem—if she saw trouble, she headed right for it. He leaned forward and lightly touched the back of her hand.

“I’ve told you before, I’m pleased about John. Daddy’s been gone five years. You’re getting a second chance to be happy.”

She didn’t look convinced.

“I’m telling the truth.”

He was. The loss of his father had been a blow to both of them. Edie had spent the first year in a daze. Finally she’d pulled herself together and had tried to get on with her life. A part-time job she’d taken for something to do rather than because she needed the money had helped. As had her friends. Nearly a year before, she’d met John, a retired contractor.

Gage was willing to admit that he’d been a bit put off by the thought of his mother dating, but he’d quickly come around. John was a solid man who treated Edie as if she were a princess. Gage couldn’t have picked better for his mother himself.

“You’ll still come to dinner, won’t you? Once we’re married?”

“I promise.”

He’d been coming to dinner once a week ever since he’d returned to Possum Landing after being in the army. Like many things in his life, it was a tradition.

His mother’s dark gaze sharpened a little and he braced himself. Sure enough, she went right for the most interesting topic.

“I heard Kari Asbury is back in town.”

“Subtle, Mama.” He grinned. “According to Kari, she’s not back, she’s here for a short period of time while she fixes up her grandmother’s house and sells it.”

Edie frowned. “And then what? Is she going back to New York? She’s a lovely girl, but isn’t she getting a little old to be a fashion model?”

“She’s going to be a teacher. She has her credentials and is applying for jobs in different parts of Texas.”

“Not Possum Landing?”

“Not as far as I can tell.”

“Are you all right with that?”

“Sure.”

“If you’re lying to me, I’m not averse to getting out the old switch.”

He grinned. “You’d have to catch me first. I’m still a fast runner, Mama.”

Her face softened with affection. “Just be careful, Gage. There was a time when she broke your heart. I would hate to see that happen again.”

“It won’t,” he said confidently. A man was allowed to be a fool for a woman once in a lifetime, but not twice. “We’ll always be friends. We have too much past between us to avoid that. We’re neighbors, so I’ll be seeing her, but it won’t amount to anything significant.”

It was only a white lie, he thought cheerfully. Because getting Kari into bed was definitely his goal. And if things were as hot between them as he guessed they would be, the event would certainly qualify as “significant.” But that wasn’t something he wanted to share with his mother.

“You heard from Quinn lately?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Not since that one letter a month ago.” She sighed. “I worry about that boy.”

Gage didn’t think there was any point in mentioning that Quinn was thirty and a trained military operative. “Boy” hadn’t described him in years.

“He should be getting leave in the next few months.”

“I’m hoping he’ll make time to come to the wedding. I don’t know if he will, though.”

Gage wasn’t sure, either. He and Quinn had once been close, but time and circumstances had changed things. They’d both headed into the military after high school, but unlike Gage, Quinn had stayed in. He’d gone into Special Forces, then joined a secret group that worked around the world wherever there was trouble.

Despite being from the same family as Gage, Quinn had never fit in. Mostly because their father had made his life a living hell.

As always, the thought made Gage uncomfortable. He’d never understood why he’d been the golden boy of the family and Quinn had been the unwelcome stranger. He also didn’t know why he was thinking so much about the past lately.

Maybe it was Kari returning and stirring it up. Maybe now was a good time to ask a question that should have been asked long ago.

“Why didn’t Daddy like Quinn?”

Edie stiffened slightly. “What are you saying, Gage? Your father loved you two boys equally. He was a good father.”

Gage stared at her, wondering why she was lying. Why avoid the obvious?

“The old farmer’s market opened last week. I’m going to head over there this weekend and see if I can get some berries. Maybe I’ll bake a pie for next time.”

The change of subject was both obvious and awkward. Gage hesitated a second before giving in and saying that he always enjoyed her pies.

But as they chatted about the summer heat and who was vacationing where, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there were secrets hiding just below the surface. Had they always been there and he had never noticed?

Twenty minutes later, he hugged his mother goodbye, then picked up the trash bag from the kitchen and carried it out as he did every time he left. He put it in the large container by the garage and waved before stepping into his truck.

His mother waved back, then returned to the house.

Gage watched the closed back door for a while before starting the truck and heading home. What had happened tonight? Was something different, or was he making something out of nothing?

He slowly drove the familiar streets of Possum Landing. The signal by the railroad tracks had already started its slow flashing for the night. Those downtown would stay on until midnight, but on the outskirts of town they went to flashing at eight.

Unease settled at the base of his spine, making him want to turn around and demand answers from his mother. The problem was, he wasn’t sure what the questions were supposed to be.

Maybe instead of answers, he needed a woman. It had been a long time and his need hadn’t gone away. There were, he supposed, several women he could call on. They would invite him inside for dessert…and breakfast. He paused at the stop sign. No doubt Daisy would do the happy dance if he turned his attention in her direction. Of course, she would want a whole lot more than breakfast. Daisy was a woman in search of a happy ending. Gage was sure it was possible—just not with him.

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, then swore and headed home. None of those welcoming beds appealed to him tonight. They hadn’t in a long time. He’d reached that place in his life where the idea of variety only made him tired. He wanted the familiar. He wanted to settle down, get married and have a half-dozen kids. So why couldn’t he make it happen? Why hadn’t he fallen in love and popped the question? Why hadn’t he—

He turned into his driveway, his headlights sweeping the front of the house next door. Someone sat on the top step, shielding her eyes from the flash of light. A familiar someone who made parts of him stand up at attention without even trying.

Been there, done that, he told himself as he killed the engine and stepped out into the quiet of the night. But that didn’t stop him from heading toward her, crossing his lawn and then hers.

Anticipation filled him. He wondered how she liked her eggs.

Chapter Four

Kari watched as Gage approached. He moved with the liquid grace of a man comfortable in his own skin. He was what people called “a man’s man,” which made the most female part of her flutter. How ironic. She’d spent nearly eight years surrounded by some of the most handsome, appealing male models New York had to offer—a good percentage of whom had not been gay—and she’d never once felt herself melt just by watching them move. What was it about Gage that got to her? Was she just a sucker for a man in uniform, or was it something specific about him?

“So, how was your date?” she asked to distract herself from the liquid heat easing through her belly. “You’re back early, so I’m going to guess the ever-delightful Daisy is playing hard to get.”

She thought about mentioning her surprise that Daisy would let Gage leave without visiting the promised land, but was afraid the comment would come out sounding catty.

He settled next to her on the front step and rested his forearms on his knees. “You always were a nosy thing back when you were in high school. I see that hasn’t changed.”

“Not for a second.” She grinned.

He glanced at her and gave her an answering smile that made her heart do a triple flip.

“I had dinner with my mother,” he said. “I do it every week.”

“Oh.”

She tried to think of a witty comeback but couldn’t. The admission didn’t surprise her. Gage had always been good to the women in his life…his mother, her grandmother. She remembered reading an article somewhere, something about paying attention to how a man treats his mother because it’s a good indication of how he’ll treat his wife. Not that she was planning on marrying Gage Reynolds. Still, it was nice to reconfirm that he was one of the good guys.

“How is your mom?” she asked.

“Good. She had a rough time after my dad died. They’d been together for so long, I’m not sure she thought she could make it without him. Eventually she got it together. Last year she started dating again. She met a guy named John. They’re engaged.”

Kari straightened. “Wow. That’s great.” Then she remembered how close Gage had been to his father. “Are you okay with it?”

He nodded. “Sure. John is one of the good guys.”

Takes one to know one, Kari thought. “When’s the wedding?”

“This fall. He’s a retired contractor. He has a lot of family up in Dallas. That’s where he is this week. One of his granddaughters is having a birthday, and he wanted to be there for the party.”

“They say people who have one successful marriage can have another.”

Gage stared up at the night. “I believe that’s true. My folks loved each other. There were plenty of fights and difficult times, but on the whole, they were in love. From what John has said about his late wife, they had a strong marriage, too. I figure the two of them are going to do just fine.”

“I’d like to see your mother again. I always liked her.”

“She’s working up at the hardware store. It’s a part-time job to get her out of the house. You should head on up and say hi.”

“I will.”

When Kari and Gage had been dating, Edie had welcomed her with open arms. Kari didn’t know if the woman had done that with all Gage’s girlfriends, but she liked to think she and Edie had been especially close. Of course, Edie wouldn’t have been thrilled about her dumping Gage via a note and running away.

“Is she still mad at me for what I did?”

He glanced at her, laughter lurking in his dark eyes. “She seems to have recovered.”

“Okay. Then, I’ll pop over and congratulate her on the upcoming nuptials. I think it’s great that she’s found someone. No one should be alone.”

As soon as the words fell from her mouth, she wanted to call them back. Obviously, both she and Gage were alone. She knew her circumstances—but what were his? He was the kind of man who had always attracted women, so the choice to be single must have been his. Why?

She was about to ask, when he beat her to the punch.

“So, why aren’t you married, Kari?”

Before she could answer, he shrugged. “Never mind. I forgot. You weren’t interested in home and hearth. You had things to do and places to be.”

She bristled. “That’s not true. Of course I want to get married and have kids. I’ve always wanted that.”

“Just not with me?”

He didn’t look at her as he spoke, and she didn’t know what he was thinking.

“Just not on your timetable,” she told him. She sighed. “Eight years ago, you were right on track with your life. You had seen the world and were ready to settle down. I was a senior in high school with a lot of unrealized dreams. I was young and hopeful, and as much as I cared about you, I was terrified by your life plan. You seemed so much older—so sure of yourself. Everything you said was reasonable, yet it felt wrong for me at the time. I didn’t want to be like my mother and grandmother, marrying out of high school, having kids right away. I wanted my chance to see the world and live my dreams.”

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