It was as if they belonged together

Tanya watched for a brief moment, unnoticed by man or child, as Jack knelt, his head close to her daughter’s. This was the sort of snapshot she’d once pictured for her family album. Of all the things she wanted to give Annie, a complete family with a loving father was the one thing that had eluded her.

Jack might not be Annie’s father, but at this moment he certainly looked the part. An expression of solicitude transformed the intimidating, powerful man into a knight-errant whose strength lay in his gentleness.

The boy who had taught her everything about love had grown into a man who embodied every woman’s fantasy.

He was a man who had once known her—both her body and her mind—better than anyone.

MILLS & BOON

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Dear Reader,

I love stories about going home again—reconnecting with the past, repairing old hurts and rediscovering forgotten joys. I clip stories from newspapers about long-lost lovers who find each other again, and I tear up when I read about these reunions.

So it was a great pleasure for me to write Tanya and Jack’s story. Crested Butte, a place with a magic all its own, seemed the perfect place to bring together a former Hollywood actress and the guy she left behind. Of course, Tanya and Jack each have obstacles to surmount on the way to true love. I hope you’ll enjoy their story.

I love to hear from readers. You can e-mail me at cindi@cindimyers.com or write to me in care of Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9, Canada. Online, find me at www.CindiMyers.com or at www.myspace.com/CindiMyers.

Happy reading,

Cindi Myers

The Daddy Audition
Cindi Myers

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cindi Myers’s one attempt at acting ended with her being sent to help paint scenery. Now she prefers to enjoy watching others perform. An avid skier, reader, knitter and cook, she lives in the mountains of Colorado with her husband and spoiled dogs.

To all the volunteers who give their talent

to community theater groups

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

“Places, everyone. We need to run through this scene one more time.”

Ignoring the groans of her fellow cast members, Tanya Bledso stood downstage and waited for everyone to resume their positions. Dust motes danced in the beam from the single spotlight, and up close the floorboards were badly scuffed and worn—a far cry from the Hollywood soundstages she’d called home for ten years. If some of her former colleagues could see her now they’d either cringe or laugh, but she tried not to think of that. She’d come home to Crested Butte, Colorado, to make a fresh start, and if that meant shepherding a bunch of locals through an amateur production, so be it. At least she was still doing what she loved, if not on the scale she’d once aspired to.

“Is this how they do things in Hollywood?” her best friend, Angela Krizova, asked as she draped her ample figure across a chaise longue and picked up a fan to waft in front of her face. “Work you till you drop?”

“There’s no such thing as a short day on the set,” Tanya said. “Actors work hard.”

“Yeah, but those guys are getting paid.” The male lead in the production, town councilman Oscar Renfield, struck a pose at center stage. “We’re all volunteer amateurs.”

“You can’t get much more amateur than your performance, Oscar,” the man in charge of lighting, Bill Freeman, called from the shadows.

Oscar waited for the laughter to die. “Yeah, well, we’re all second-string compared to Tanya,” he said with a genial smile at their director.

Tanya joined Oscar at center stage. Everyone had been so kind since her return, pretending she’d been a big star, though she had only a few commercials and four years on a soap opera to show for her so-called career. It was only through luck—aided, she suspected, by a few called-in favors to her parents—that she’d landed this position as director of the Crested Butte Center for the Arts and the Mountain Theatre, which made it all the more important that she do a good job here. “Come on, everyone,” she said. “One more time and that’s it. I promise.”

With only minor grumbling, the rest of the company shuffled into place. Tanya checked her script for Angela’s line. “How do I know I can trust you, Steve?” Angela said. “It didn’t work out for us the last time.”

The rear door of the theater slammed against the back wall and a man stood behind a large scrim. “Where do you want this?” he asked, his voice booming in the empty darkness. Not waiting for an answer, he maneuvered the scrim, which depicted the exterior of an oldtimey saloon, up the aisle. He stopped at the foot of the stage and leaned into the opening for the saloon’s swinging doors. “I’ve got three more of these in the truck, and I need to know where to put them.”

At the first sound of his voice, Tanya thought her ears were playing tricks on her, but when the stage lights hit the man’s face, she knew her instincts had been right. He was older now, with the solid arms and shoulders of a man instead of the boy of her memory, but Jack Crenshaw’s thick, dark hair still fell across his forehead in a careless wave, and his intense blue eyes could pierce right through a person. As a teen, he’d had the kind of looks that made every female between the ages of six and sixty give him a second glance; now Tanya found herself standing more erect and putting a hand up to smooth her hair.

The movement drew his attention and for an eternity of a moment their eyes locked, and she felt her heart plummet somewhere near her stomach. She’d successfully avoided Jack until now for this very reason. Seeing him again reminded her too much of what she’d been like at eighteen—so young and full of such big dreams and easy emotions.

A slow, seductive smile formed on his lips and her knees turned to jelly. “Well, if it isn’t the Hollywood princess,” he said.

She flinched at the coolness in his voice, but willed herself not to show it. Yes, they’d parted on awkward terms all those years ago, but surely he’d forgiven her by now. After all, they’d both been practically children then. Something else must be eating him. Maybe he didn’t like theater in general, or maybe this was his idea of a joke. “Hello, Jack,” she said.

His gaze wandered over her, frankly checking her out. The hardness in his expression made her flinch. So many things about Crested Butte had changed in her absence; she hadn’t wanted to believe Jack would be one of them.

“I take it you’re in charge around here,” he said, with as much emotion as if he’d been talking to a stranger on a loading dock. “Where do you want these scrims?”

She blinked. Yes, Jack had definitely changed, and like so many things in her hometown, not for the better. “The scrims are stored backstage,” she said, nodding toward the wings.

“Maybe you’d like to show me where.” The invitation was delivered with the same lazy smile, but with all the hospitality of a threat.

“I’ll go.” Barbie Fenton, Angela’s understudy, said before Tanya could regain her equilibrium. Barbie hurried to the edge of the stage. “I’ll meet you around back,” she said.

“We need to run through this scene,” Tanya protested.

“You don’t really need me,” Barbie said, and rushed backstage before Tanya could say more.

Tanya turned back to her script, hiding her annoyance and confusion. What was up with Jack? True, he hadn’t bothered to look her up since her return to Crested Butte a few months earlier, but she’d told herself it was merely because he was busy. Or maybe, like her, he needed a little time to get used to the idea of the two of them living near each other again. They were adults now, so the old relationship they had didn’t fit. They needed time to figure out what their new roles would be.

Laughter, deep and masculine, came from behind stage, and Tanya froze as remembered desire seared her. Ten years had passed since she’d heard him laugh and her body responded as if it was yesterday. Further proof how pitiful her social life in Hollywood had been, that even seven years of marriage hadn’t cooled the heat Jack had once kindled in her.

“I’m not asking you to trust me, Roxanne, I’m asking you to work with me a little bit.” Oscar read his line. “It’s in our best interest to cooperate.”

“That’s the wrong line,” Angela said.

“I didn’t like the one that was written,” Oscar said. “This one is better.”

The actors’ squabble pulled Tanya out of her daze. “What?” She flipped through the script, trying to hide her confusion.

“The correct line is ‘I’ll make it worth your while,’” Angela said. “‘It’s in our best interest to cooperate’ sounds like something a banker would say.”

“But I am a banker,” Oscar protested.

“Your character isn’t,” Tanya reminded him. “Read the line as written.”

“I’d just as soon trust a grizzly,” Angela said.

“I’m a lot more cuddly,” Oscar responded with a leer. “Or don’t you remember?”

Tanya made it to the end of the run-through, then hurried backstage, hoping to intercept Jack and talk to him. She should have looked him up long before now. Maybe he was upset about that. Fine. She was big enough to apologize. The important thing was there was no reason the two of them couldn’t be friends again.

She needed something familiar in a town that had changed so much in her decade away. During her brief visits to her family she hadn’t registered that the sleepy mining village she’d left behind had blossomed into a bustling tourist attraction. The mountainsides had filled with ranks of condominiums, and the main street had spruced up with brightly painted shops, restaurants and bars into which tourists and locals alike crowded every night of the week.

She hurried around a stack of old scenery and skidded to a halt when she heard the low murmur of voices. Before her, in the dusty glow of an overhead bulb, Barbie stood with her back to the saloon scrim, Jack leaning over her. As Tanya watched, he reached up and tucked a stray lock of hair behind Barbie’s ear, an intimate gesture that left Tanya dry-mouthed and embarrassed. She quickly turned away, her cheeks hot. What had she been thinking, running after him that way, as if no time at all had passed since they’d last spoken?

As if a man like Jack had spent the past ten years waiting for her to walk back into his life.

JACK HEARD A NOISE and looked up in time to see Tanya disappearing into the darkness. Sighing, he gave Barbie a smile of apology and said, “I’d better go see what the boss lady wants.”

Barbie made a face. “Just because she acted in Hollywood for a few years, everybody thinks she’s such hot stuff,” she said. “But if she was all that, why didn’t she stay there?”

Why didn’t she? he thought. He’d heard through the rumor mill that Tanya Bledso was back in town, but having successfully avoided seeing her for weeks, he’d let down his guard. Curiosity over what Tanya was like now had gotten the better of him. The theater had been the obvious place to find her. She’d practically grown up here. He could still remember watching her, at seventeen years old, as she’d wowed everyone with her portrayal of Laurey in Oklahoma!

And then she’d practically laughed at the idea of remaining in town after graduation and had caught the first bus headed west. She’d had big plans for fame that didn’t include a small-town construction hand like him.

“Jack? Are you okay?” Barbie tapped his shoulder.

He blinked at her. “What?”

“You had this funny look on your face. Like you don’t feel so hot.”

“No, I’m fine.” He straightened and forced a smile. “I’ll catch you later, Barb. Take care.”

Then he hurried toward the front of the auditorium, where he found Tanya sorting a stack of scripts. “Hey,” he called.

She whirled, cheeks flushed, the scripts clutched to her chest like a shield. “Oh, hi, Jack,” she said, composing her features into a mask of coolness. “You surprised me.”

“Not as much as you surprised me, showing up back here.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the end of the first row of seats. “The last time I saw you, you said you were done with this place forever.”

She turned away and began shuffling the scripts once more. “I’ve grown up some since then. I have a daughter now and I realized this is a good place to raise a child.”

Leave it to Tanya to keep catching him off guard. She had a daughter? The idea of a miniature version of her did funny things to his insides. “I didn’t know that,” he said. “What does her father do?”

“He’s an actor.” She stacked the scripts on a table in an alcove beside the stage and turned to face him. “We’re not married anymore. I’m living with my parents until I can get on my feet again. Anything else you’d like to know?”

Yeah. What happened to the sweet girl I used to know? He didn’t see much of her in this polished woman with her artfully streaked hair, silk blouse, designer jeans and brittle demeanor. “How long are you staying this time?” he asked instead.

“Forever,” she said. “This is my home now. It’s where I want to raise my daughter.”

“It’s changed a little since you lived here last,” he said.

Her expression clouded. “Yes, it has,” she said. “I’d like to find the person responsible for all those condos spoiling the view.”

“That would be me,” he said, with a sense of grim satisfaction.

She stared. “You?”

“Yes, me.” He straightened. “I built most of those condos, and made a good profit doing it, too.” He might have stayed behind while she went off to the big city, but he’d made a success of himself in spite of that limitation.

Her expression darkened. “What did you want to do something stupid like that for?” she demanded. “This was a beautiful place and people like you have almost ruined it.”

“People like me? You’re one to talk, considering you couldn’t wait to get away from here ten years ago.”

They glared at each other, the only sound the creaking of a timber as the old building settled and the soft sigh of her breathing. The intensity of his anger caught Jack off guard. That night ten years ago, when she’d told him she was leaving, he’d been too stunned to say much to her. The anger had come after she was gone, but he’d believed he was long past feeling anything for her.

She was the first to look away. “This is stupid,” she said. She took a deep breath and held out her hand. “Let’s try again. Hi, Jack. It’s good to see you again. Thank you for helping with the scenery.”

Her hand in his was as soft as silk, the nails long and tapered and painted pale pink. He caught a whiff of a floral perfume, and fought the urge to pull her closer, to see if she tasted as good as his memory recalled, if her lips were as sweet as he remembered. “You’re welcome,” he said instead, releasing his hold on her and taking a step back. He had to get out of here before he said—or did—something he’d later regret. “I’d better go now.”

“Our next rehearsal is Tuesday,” she said. “I hope I’ll see you there.” As if to prove she really was a great actress, she even sounded as if she meant it, though Jack doubted she did. Whatever the two of them had in common had died a long time ago—right about the time she’d gotten on that bus and made it clear Crested Butte had nothing to offer her. The question now wasn’t so much why she’d returned, but how long she’d hang around before restlessness and her desire for fame drove her on to the next territory to conquer.

Meanwhile, he’d stay right here, building those condos she hated, living in the one place that would always be home for him.

TANYA SAGGED against the table that held the scripts and stared out at the empty theater. Only seconds before, Jack had sauntered away, taking her ability to think clearly with him. She’d been so determined to play it cool, to approach things casually as an old friend. But five minutes alone with him and she’d completely blown it.

It didn’t help that the moment he’d tucked that lock of hair behind Barbie’s ear, Tanya had felt a visceral reaction in her gut, as if the past ten years had never happened and she was still Jack’s steady girl, the female half of the Sweethearts of the Class of 1999. Some part of her personality she didn’t even know had existed had taken one look at Jack and Barbie and screeched, What is she doing with my man?

But of course he wasn’t her man, and he hadn’t been for years. Her early feelings for him had been sweet and uncomplicated first love. Later, she’d learned the real thing was much more complex and fraught with potential problems.

She relaxed a little as understanding dawned. She’d reacted to Jack not because she was still in love with him, but because he represented a simpler, more innocent time in her life to which she longed to return. After struggling to make it big in a town that didn’t give two beans about her, she’d come back to Crested Butte hoping to be a part of a close-knit community once more, and to regain the peace that had been lacking in her life too long.

The door at the back of the theater burst open and a little girl with long blond hair pounded up the aisle. “Mom!” she shouted, pelting toward Tanya’s outstretched arms. “Emma has a new dog, Joe-Joe. He’s a weenie dog and his ears are so long he almost steps on them when he walks.”

“He sounds cute.” Tanya smoothed her daughter’s hair and smiled at Angela, who was making her way up the aisle at a more sedate pace.

“I met Heather and Emma as I was leaving and offered to see that Annie made it safely to you,” Angela said. Heather Allison babysat for Tanya on Thursday evenings while Tanya was at rehearsals. On Tuesdays Tanya’s mom watched her granddaughter.

“Thanks.”

“Mom, can I look at the posters in the lobby?” Annie asked.

“All right. But don’t go anywhere else.” Tanya smiled as Annie skipped back up the aisle and burst through the door. She had Tanya’s strawberry-blond hair and blue eyes, but her father Stuart’s high cheekbones and boundless energy. The girl never walked if she could run, determined to absorb everything life had to offer at full speed.

“Was that Jack Crenshaw I saw leaving just now?” Angela asked when the two women were alone.

“Maybe.” Tanya began sorting scripts again, ignoring the pointed look from her friend.

Angela sat in the auditorium’s front row. “I heard a rumor you and he were pretty hot stuff in high school,” she persisted.

“We dated,” Tanya said evenly.

“Uh-huh. I don’t know what he was like back then, but right now he’s one very fine man. Definitely a hot property in these parts. Are you going to pick up where you left off?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We were just kids.”

“They say first loves revisited can be very sweet.”

Tanya snorted. “Who says that?”

“Someone did, I’m sure.” Angela sat back, legs stretched before her. “So how about it? Are there any sparks still there?”

“None,” Tanya lied. If she’d felt a twinge or two of attraction, it only proved she was a normal, functioning woman.

“Do you think he’s still interested in you?” Angela asked.

“No! When I walked in on him backstage, he was practically drooling over Barbie.”

“She’s just a kid, and she flirts with anything in pants.” Angela made a dismissive gesture. “A man like Jack needs a real woman to keep him happy.”

“Well, I’m not interested in being the woman to do it. Besides, he told me he’s responsible for all these condos that are a blight on the town.” She made a face.

When she’d moved away, Tanya had been too focused on the future to think much about the town she was leaving behind. But over the years, as the disappointments of her failed marriage and faltering career had piled up, she’d looked back on Crested Butte with increasing fondness. In her memories, it was the perfect small town—a safe, beautiful place where the ugliness of the rest of the world wasn’t allowed. Even her annual visits to her parents hadn’t spoiled this image. She’d turned a blind eye to anything that marred the ideal she cherished. The Crested Butte of her memories was a wonderful place to be—the one perfect thing in her life.

Angela laughed. “Yes, Jack’s company built a lot of condos, which means he’s loaded. One more reason he’s considered such a catch.”

“I’m not fishing.” In the year since her divorce, Tanya had been too busy looking after Annie and trying to keep body and soul together to worry about a relationship.

“I thought you came back home to settle down,” Angela said.

“I came back home because I didn’t have any choice.” After her marriage had ended, she’d thought she could pick up where she’d left off. Only this time, instead of settling for work in commercials and soap operas, she was going to focus on movies and realize her dream of being a true star.

But the three years she’d taken off to raise Annie and nurture Stuart’s fragile ego meant she’d been forgotten by anyone who mattered. There was a whole new crop of directors and casting agents, not to mention new competition. None of them cared that she’d won raves in high school for her roles onstage, or that the Gunnison County paper once said she was bound to succeed in Hollywood.

Broke and discouraged, she’d accepted her parents’ invitation to come home. “As anxious as I was to leave this town, I realized it was the perfect place to raise Annie,” she said, dropping into the seat next to Angela. “I only wish it was more like I remembered. There are so many new buildings and people. So many changes.”

“I’m one of those new people and I’m not so bad,” Angela said. “And look how much the theater has grown. Some of it because of people who live in those very condos you hate.”

“I know.” It wasn’t so much the growth that upset her but the fantasies she’d had of slipping back into her old life so easily. She still struggled to reconcile her nostalgic picture of the town with reality—one more dream destroyed. Crested Butte had always been the one place where she mattered and it didn’t feel that way anymore. She wasn’t as invisible and friendless as she’d been in California, but she’d never expected to have to struggle to fit in here.

“You ought to go out with Jack if you get a chance,” Angela said. “He has a reputation as someone who knows how to show a woman a good time.”

Tanya made a face. “I don’t want a man with a reputation.” When she was ready to be with a man again, it was nice to know her instincts were still there, but she wanted someone dependable and kind, not an arrogant show-off like her ex, and not a man who knew all her secret dreams—and how badly she’d failed to realize any of them.

“Mom, can we stop on the way home for ice cream?” Annie flew down the aisle and skidded to a stop in front of the two women.

“I think Grandma has some ice cream in the freezer,” Tanya said. “If we ask nicely, I’ll bet she’ll share with us.” She stood. “We’d better go. It’s getting late.”

Angela followed them up the aisle to the lobby. “See you Tuesday, if not before,” she called. Tanya knelt to help Annie zip the denim jacket she wore. Even in June the nights were much cooler here in the mountains than they’d been in California.

“I can’t wait until it snows,” Annie said, squirming out of her mother’s reach. “Grandpa said he’d take me sledding after school.”

Tanya smiled, remembering the hours she’d spent on the local sledding hill as a child. Swallowing her pride and moving back in with her parents had been difficult in many ways, but at times like this she was sure she’d done the right thing. Despite all the changes, some of the good things she remembered from her childhood remained, and she wanted Annie to experience them all, to have the kind of memories that had seen Tanya through tough times in California. So what if she was never going to be the local darling again? Annie was the reason she’d come home to Crested Butte—the only reason she needed.

Chapter Two

The offices of Crenshaw Construction occupied a soaring cedar-and-glass A-frame in Crested Butte South. The building was less than a year old, and every time Jack entered it, he felt a surge of pride and satisfaction.

When he’d joined his dad in the family business shortly after graduating from college, it had been a small concern specializing in remodels and the occasional new home build. Now it was a multimillion-dollar concern, one of the leading builders in the area.

Jack had been at work for more than an hour Friday morning when his father strolled in and settled his big frame into a chair across his son’s desk.

Jack’s dog, a golden retriever mix aptly named Nugget, trotted from his favorite spot beneath the open window to greet the older man and was rewarded with a scratch behind the ears. Jack had adopted the dog six months before and the pup had the run of the office, though he spent most of his time close by Jack. “Did you get those scrims over to the theater last night?” Andy Crenshaw asked in an accent that betrayed his Minnesota roots. Though he’d officially retired last year as president of the company, he still maintained an office in the building and spent a few hours a week there, helping out as needed. The rest of his time was devoted to fly-fishing in the summer, skiing in the winter and traveling with Jack’s mom, Carrie.

“I dropped them off on my way home last night,” Jack said.

“You work too late,” Andy said.

“There’s a lot to do, Dad.” The exchange was an oft-repeated one between them, with all the comfortable familiarity of a pair of worn boots. Next, his dad would remark that Jack needed a haircut, or that he was letting the construction hands get away with too much by allowing them to stop work an hour early on Fridays.

But Andy didn’t stick to the script this morning. “You should never let a job get so big it takes over your life,” he said. “That’s why I kept things small when you and your sister were kids. I wanted to be home to have dinner as a family and to coach your softball teams and be in the stands at your basketball games.”

Worry pinched at the back of Jack’s neck. Why was his dad bringing this up now? “I always appreciated that,” he said. His parents had been his biggest supporters, encouraging him to believe he was capable of anything. A nagging thought pricked at him. “Dad, you don’t think I expanded the business because I didn’t think you did enough, do you?”

“No, no! I know you did it because it’s what comes natural for you.” Andy smiled, deep creases forming at the corners of his mouth and eyes from years spent working out of doors. “Everything you’ve ever done, you’ve worked hard to be the best, whether it was basketball or construction. I’m proud of you, son, but I’d like to see you with more in your life than work.”

“I have more in my life, Dad. I have plenty of friends. And I have Nugget.” At the mention of his name, the dog fanned the air with his luxurious tail.

“I’m talking family.” Andy leaned forward, his bright blue eyes fixed on his son. “If you had a wife and kids to come home to, you wouldn’t be so interested in always working late.” He sat back. “Not that I’m pressuring you or anything—just making an observation.”

“Dad, what brought this on?” Jack asked. Andy wasn’t inclined to make impromptu lectures on serious subjects.

Andy looked sheepish. “Aww, Maggie Calloway’s youngest is pregnant with Maggie’s fourth grandchild, and your mother is getting antsy. She asked me to put a bug in your ear.”

Jack laughed, relieved that the explanation was a familiar one. “Tell Mom I’m sufficiently bugged. And she shouldn’t worry. I plan on getting married one day—when the right woman comes along.”

Andy nodded, and his gaze shifted to the view of the mountains afforded by the expanse of glass to their right. “See anybody you know at the theater last night?” he asked.

The tension immediately returned to Jack’s shoulders. Apparently the impending arrival of another grandchild for his mom’s best friend wasn’t the only trigger for this conversation. “Tanya was there,” he said.

“I hear she’s doing a good job with the theater and the Arts Center,” Andy said. “Folks say we were lucky to get someone with her experience.”

Tanya’s stint in Hollywood had certainly given her some impressive acting credentials, though from what he could see, her time out there had changed her in other ways he didn’t view as favorably. The brittle, sophisticated woman who had confronted him last night wasn’t the sweet, laughing girl he remembered.

“I always liked Tanya,” his dad continued. “I was glad to hear she’d come back to town.”

“Enough, Dad. Tanya and I are not going to get back together.”

“Who said anything about the two of you getting back together?” His dad tried but failed to master an innocent look. “The two of you were good friends at one time. There’s nothing wrong with renewing an old friendship.”

He and Tanya had been a lot more than friends. Tanya had practically been part of the Crenshaw family. In fact, everyone had assumed she would be part of the family as soon as a wedding could be arranged. Everyone, apparently, except Tanya herself.

“Let’s change the subject, okay?” Jack said. “What do you have planned for today?”

“I thought I’d help the boys get that booth set up for the Humane Society for their fund-raiser tomorrow,” he said.

Jack nodded. Weeks ago, his dad had volunteered them to donate construction of a booth to house the Humane Society’s display for a festival. Andy had drilled into Jack the importance of giving back to the community. Jack also suspected these projects were yet another effort to encourage him to circulate among eligible females. “That’s great, Dad. I appreciate your help.”

Andy rose from his chair. “Do me a favor, son. Take off early tonight and go out and have some fun.”

“Don’t worry, Dad.” He kept a smile on his face until his father left the room, then he let out a breath and collapsed back in his chair. Fun. He had half a dozen major projects under way, bids to prepare for a new condo development, and a leak to fix in his roof, and his dad was concerned he wasn’t having enough fun. Well, there was a time and a place for fun and Jack didn’t think this was it.

Unbidden, his mind flashed an image of Tanya standing before him last night—arms folded, lips pursed, tension radiating from her like mist from a pond on a frosty morning. She hadn’t looked as if she was enjoying life much at that moment, either.

The two of them had had a lot of fun at one time. He recalled one evening, not long before graduation. Her parents had driven to California with her brother, Ian, who was reporting to Marine boot camp, leaving Tanya home alone with the family dog for protection and company. Tanya had invited Jack to spend the night with her, a wholly illicit and thrilling invitation. They’d sat in the hot tub under a soft fall of late spring snow, then made love in her bedroom by the light of a full moon pouring through the window.

He shook himself out of his reverie. Not one month after that magical night, Tanya had gone off to Hollywood to live her dream. He’d stayed home and worked hard to rebuild his.

And now she was back. Her dream had apparently changed. He told himself he didn’t care, but the fact that he was brooding over it proved he did. Memories of the girl she’d been and curiosity about the woman she was distracted him from mundane paperwork.

So what did he do now? Did he go back to avoiding her? Did he confront her about what had happened between them years ago? Or did he risk making a fool of himself and seek her out again, to see if there was any spark left in their old flame?

“MOMMY, I REALLY WANT to get a puppy!” Annie tugged on Tanya’s hand as they made their way Saturday morning past refreshment booths and games of chance at the Gunnison County Humane Society’s Summer Festival.

“Annie, we’ve talked about this before,” Tanya said. “Grandma and Grandpa already have a dog. It wouldn’t be fair to Misty to bring another dog into her house.”

“But Misty’s old,” Annie said. “I want a puppy. And I bet Misty would like a puppy.”

“No, sweetheart. No puppies.”

“We can at least look, can’t we?”

Tanya thought “just looking” at the cute, cuddly puppies the Humane Society had for adoption was a very bad idea. She was as susceptible as the next person to the allure of furry fuzz balls, but having to depend on her parents for a place to live was bad enough without introducing anything else into the already crowded house.

But it was too late for her protests to have any effect on Annie. The little girl had already spotted the large wooden booth with the banner that proclaimed Adoptions: Take Home a New Best Friend Today.

Annie let go of her mother’s hand and raced to the booth, where she almost collided with Angela and her boyfriend, Bryan Perry, who was the assistant manager of the Elevation Hotel. “Whoa! Annie, Fo-Fanny, where are you headed in such a rush?” Angela asked.

“I came to see the puppies.” Annie flashed a shy smile at Bryan. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re thinking about adopting a dog,” Bryan said. He nodded to Tanya as she joined them.

“Bryan wants a big dog he can take hiking,” Angela said. “While I’d like something small and fluffy that could be a mascot for my shop.” Angela ran the Chocolate Moose, a candy shop on Elk Avenue.

“I’m telling you, a chocolate lab would be the perfect dog,” Bryan said. “You could name him Cocoa or Hershey.”

“I was thinking of a little bichon,” Angela said. “I could call it Sugar.”

Bryan looked nauseated at the idea. “It doesn’t have to be a chocolate lab,” he said, “but please—we have to get something I’m not ashamed to take out with the guys. It has to be a dog that can get dirty.”

Angela laughed and slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. “Maybe instead of us choosing the dog, we’ll let it choose us,” she said.

“I want a puppy,” Annie said, “but Mama won’t let me have one.”

“Oh?” Angela’s eyes met Tanya’s.

“I’m sure Angela will let you play with her puppy all you want,” Tanya said. She stroked the top of Annie’s head. As a baby, Annie had been practically bald; Stuart had made fun of the little hair bands and ribbons Tanya had insisted the baby wear. Even then, strangers had sometimes mistaken her for a boy. No chance of that now—pink was Annie’s favorite color, and she never met a ruffle she didn’t like.

“All you people lingering on the outside of the booth, come in here and see what you’re missing.” A woman’s voice on the PA startled them. Tanya looked over and saw a petite woman with a cap of platinum hair waving at them.

“Casey, are you trying to embarrass us into adopting a pet?” Angela called.

“Hey, whatever works.” Casey Overbridge held up a ball of brown fluff. “These guys need homes.”

“Ohh! Let me hold it!” Annie ran forward, and by the time Tanya and the others had followed her into the booth, she had two puppies snuggled under her chin.

Tanya watched in dismay, anticipating the meltdown that was almost guaranteed when she tried to separate the pups from her daughter. Just then, something wet and icy cold touched her hand. She flinched, and looked to see a large, shaggy white dog grinning up at her.

“That’s Marshmallow,” Casey said. “The pups’ mom. She’s up for adoption, too.”

“Oh, Bryan!” Angela dropped to her knees beside the white mutt. “Isn’t she sweet?”

“She’s certainly big.” Bryan patted the dog’s side. “What kind is she?”

“Maybe part sheepdog or Great Pyrenees?” Casey shrugged. “All mutt. But very sweet. She’s only two and very healthy.”

“Marshmallow would be a good name for a candy-shop dog,” Angela said.

“I thought you wanted something small.” Bryan eyed the animal skeptically.

“But you wanted something big. You could take her hiking.”

“She’s white. And all that curly hair…”

“White dogs clean up great. And I’ll bet she loves the snow…”

Tanya drifted away from the debate to the other side of the pen, where Annie now sat with four puppies squirming around her. Tanya thought of her mother’s prized Persian rug, and of the dark green ultrasuede sofa. How would they look with a nice coating of dog hair—or worse? Her parents’ old dog, Misty, spent most of her days lying in the sun on a dog bed at the foot of the stairs. The old girl wouldn’t appreciate an annoying young interloper interrupting her naps.

“I didn’t know you were thinking of adopting a dog.” Austin Davies, a member of the Mountain Theatre Group, joined Tanya at the edge of the booth.

“Hello, Austin. I’m not.”

“Are you sure? I’d say your little girl definitely has her heart set on a dog.”

One of the puppies was enthusiastically licking Annie’s cheek with a little pink tongue while the girl giggled with glee. Tanya watched the exchange with a sinking feeling. Once more she’d get to play the heavy, with no partner to back her up. Then again, if she had a nickel for every time she’d cursed Stuart for his neglect of her and his daughter, she’d be able to afford a pricey home and all the dogs Annie wanted.

Tanya sighed and stepped over the low barrier into the pen with the puppies and Annie. “It’s time to go, Annie,” she said.

“Mommy, can’t we take him home, please?” Annie clutched a brown-and-white ball of fluff to her chest and gave her mother a beseeching look.

Annie knelt until she was eye level with her daughter. “It’s a beautiful puppy,” she said. “In fact, it’s so cute I know someone will adopt him and give him a wonderful home. But we can’t do that. It wouldn’t be fair to Misty or to Grandma and Grandpa.”

Tears welled in Annie’s blue eyes. “I don’t want someone else to adopt it,” she said. “It loves me!” The last word rose in a wail. Heads turned and Tanya felt her cheeks heat, even as she struggled to remain calm.

“Sweetheart, I promise as soon as we move to our own place—somewhere that allows dogs—we’ll adopt a puppy.”

“But I want this puppy—now!”

Feeling lower than a snake, Tanya managed to pry the squirming dog from her daughter’s death grip and deposit it back with its brothers and sisters. Annie’s protest rose above the noise of the rock band warming up next door and silenced all conversation around them. “Mommy, why do you always have to be so mean!” the little girl wailed.

“Annie, that is enough. I told you we couldn’t have a dog and that’s all there is to it.”

“You never let me have anything I want!” With surprising strength for such a petite child, Annie jerked from Tanya’s arms and vaulted over the low barrier that separated the pen from the crowds.

“Annie, wait!” Tanya cried. “Come back here.”

But the little girl had already disappeared into the milling crowd.

SATURDAY MORNING, Jack dropped Nugget off at the office, then headed into downtown Crested Butte and the Humane Society Festival. The young dog was still skittish in crowds, but Jack felt he needed to make an appearance at the fund-raiser before he set to work on the bid for the condo project. He’d make sure his crew had done a good job on the Humane Society booth, and later he’d point out to his dad that he hadn’t spent the entire weekend working.

The festival activities filled the parking lot of the Chamber of Commerce and continued down the streets on either side. Tourists mingled with locals among booths sponsored by local businesses, individual craftspeople and community groups. A stage had been set up for the entertainment that was scheduled throughout the day.

Jack maneuvered around a clown on stilts, a face painter and a woman leading a llama, working his way toward the large booth Crenshaw Construction had built to house the Humane Society volunteers and some of the animals available for adoption.

“Jack, my man, you’re just the dude I’m looking for.”

A lanky figure with blond dreadlocks brought Jack up short. A glittering electric guitar hung from a strap around the man’s neck. “Zephyr!” Jack shook the hand of the local rocker, talk-show host and all-around Crested Butte character. “Are you performing for the benefit?”

“We’re supposed to go on in fifteen minutes, but whoever put together the stage didn’t leave enough room for all our equipment.” Zephyr frowned at Jack. “Dude, tell me you weren’t responsible.”

“I didn’t build the stage,” Jack said. “What can I do to help?”

“Bryan and I borrowed a flatbed trailer from Max and maneuvered it up next to the stage,” Zephyr said. “We found some old boards to form a bridge to connect the two areas, but we need someone who’s better at construction than we are to put the thing together.”

“Do you have any tools?” Jack asked.

“Yeah. I’ve been enclosing part of my girlfriend’s back porch, so I hauled everything over from there.”

Jack followed Zephyr through the crowd where he found Bryan Perry and Max Overbridge, who owned a snowboard and bicycle shop, wrestling with a collection of plywood and two-by-fours. “I brought an expert to help us out,” Zephyr said.

Jack surveyed the mess in front of him. “Do you have a saw?” he asked.

“Sure.” Zephyr produced a rusting handsaw.

“What about a drill?” Jack asked.

“I’ve got that.” Max held up a small cordless one.

“What do you need us to do?” Bryan asked.

“Hold on, guys,” Jack said. “I’ve got some better tools in my truck. I’ll be right back.”

So much for taking the morning off. He started toward the lot where he’d left his truck, but hadn’t gone far before a blur of pink and yellow shot from the crowd and collided with his legs.

“Whoa there. Are you okay?” He looked down at the little girl who sat in a heap at his feet. She wore her bright blond hair in pigtails, and her pink short overalls had a row of dancing kittens across the chest.

She turned tear-filled eyes up to him. “My mommy won’t let me have a puppy and it’s not fair!” she wailed.

Jack looked around for some sign of a wayward mom, but saw nothing but a few strangers who looked at the girl with sympathy—and at Jack as if he was responsible for her tears. He dropped to one knee and awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Don’t cry,” he said. “Who is your mommy?”

“She’s the meanest mommy in the whole world!”

“I don’t believe it,” Jack said. The little girl had obviously been dressed with care, and she looked clean and healthy.

She snuffled and glared at him. “She is, too, the meanest,” she said. “She knows how much I want a puppy and she won’t let me have one.”

“Maybe she has a good reason,” Jack said. “Maybe where you live doesn’t allow dogs.”

“We live with my grandma and grandpa and they already have a dog.” The little girl stuck out her lower lip. “But Misty’s old. I want a puppy.”

“Then maybe your grandma and grandpa don’t want another dog. Sometimes we have to take other people’s feelings into consideration.”

“My grandma and grandpa love me. They let me have anything I want. If they knew I wanted a puppy they’d let me have one.”

Jack felt a stab of sympathy for the unknown mother who had to deal with this kind of childhood logic. “I’m sure your mother loves you, too,” he said. Though where was her mother now? “What’s your name?” he added.

“Annie. What’s your name?”

“I’m Jack. Jack Crenshaw.” Should he insist she call him Mr. Crenshaw? The idea made him feel old. He stood and offered Annie his hand. “Why don’t we go find your mother now?”

“Will you ask her if I can have a puppy?”

“I think you need to listen to your mother. If she tells you you can’t have a puppy, maybe you need to wait.”

Annie stuck out her lower lip, and Jack sensed tears threatening. “I tell you what,” he said. “I have a young dog. Maybe your mom would let you visit and play with it.” He crossed his fingers that this would be all right with Mom. He could always ask his secretary to supervise a brief playdate in the meadow behind his office. Nugget would love it.

“Anne Marie Olney! What do you think you’re doing?”

Jack looked up and caught his breath at the sight of Tanya striding toward him. Her long hair billowing around her, her cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling with anger, she resembled a painting he’d once seen of one of the Furies, or some other avenging goddess. With a jolt he realized the girl he’d always thought of as pretty had grown into a very beautiful woman.

“Hello, Tanya,” he said, keeping his expression even, revealing none of the inner turmoil the sight of her caused.

“What are you doing with my little girl?” Her voice was even, but her eyes were fixed on his hand holding Annie’s.

He let go of the child, guilt heating his face, though he knew he’d done nothing wrong. “I found her wandering in the crowd.” He looked down at Annie. Her tears had dried, but if looks could kill, Tanya would be seriously wounded right now. “She seems upset.”

The guilt card was in Tanya’s hand now. “She wants a p-u-p-p-y,” she said. “That’s really not possible right now.”

“Mom, you’re spelling!” Annie protested. “I’m not a baby. I know you’re talking about the puppy.”

Tanya knelt in front of her daughter. She smoothed back Annie’s hair, then took a tissue from her purse and began cleaning her face. She moved with all the efficiency of an experienced mother, but also with great tenderness. That gentleness, combined with the way her jeans stretched across her shapely thighs and the wavy fall of her hair across her shoulders, made Jack feel a little unsteady. The stuck-up city woman he’d written off last night had morphed into this embodiment of everything feminine—sensuous and nurturing and amazingly alluring.

“It’s really not fair that you can’t have a puppy.” Tanya spoke to her daughter in a low, reassuring tone. “It’s not fair that you had to leave California and move here and live with your grandparents, either, but that’s how things are right now.”

Annie sniffed. “I don’t mind living here with Grandma and Granddaddy. I like it here.”

“They love having you live with them. They love you very much. We all do. And one day, I promise you we’ll have a dog. But not right now.” She turned to Jack.

“Thanks for finding her. I didn’t mean to snap at you just now—I was a little upset when she ran away and I lost sight of her in the crowd.”

“I understand.” He admired the way she’d handled a tough situation, but hesitated to say so. He didn’t want her to think he was trying to flatter his way back into her life. Not that she’d welcome him anyway. After all, he’d had the audacity to make something of himself by building the condos she so despised.

A voice over the loudspeaker saved him from having to say anything. “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s have a big round of applause for local favorites, Moose Juice.”

Zephyr, who’d donned a rhinestone-studded leather jacket over his ripped jeans and T-shirt, strode to center stage and strummed a rapid-fire series of loud guitar chords. “Here’s a new song I wrote in honor of the Humane Society fund-raiser—‘I’m stayin’ home with my dog because he thinks I’m a better person than you do.’”

Bryan spotted Jack standing with Tanya and joined them. “I thought you were going to get some tools to help us,” he said.

“Sorry. I got sort of sidetracked.”

Bryan glanced at Tanya and grinned. “I understand completely.”

“It was Annie,” Jack protested. “She ran into me and…”

“Shh! I’m trying to hear the song,” Tanya chided.

Jack leaned closer to Bryan and spoke in a whisper. “What did you do about the stage?”

“We just laid the boards up there. It’ll be okay.”

Jack eyed the makeshift plywood bridge between the small stage and the borrowed flatbed trailer. The board dipped in the middle where someone had affixed a microphone stand with crisscrossing layers of duct tape. “It’ll probably be okay if nobody stands on it,” he said.

But his words were drowned out by the chorus—something about a woman treating a man like a dog.

He glanced at Tanya. Annie had stopped crying and now snuggled in Tanya’s arms. Tanya balanced her daughter on one jutted hip, seemingly intent on the music.

As Jack was about to turn away, she looked over and he stared into the same blue eyes that had taught him everything about the joy and pain of first true love. But there was more in this gaze than memories. The woman that looked at him now had known pain of her own. She’d done and seen things about which he had no clue.

He saw no bitterness in her now, though he thought he recognized regret, and maybe a bit of the hope that had so fired her spirit when they were younger.

He felt the impact of that gaze deep in his chest. He knew he couldn’t let Tanya walk away from him again, not before he’d had a chance to solve the mystery of what had really happened between them. Had she gone to Hollywood to flee him and the life he offered here, as he’d once decided, or had she been searching for something there she could find nowhere else?

More important, had she found whatever it was she’d been looking for?

He started toward her, intending to suggest they find somewhere to talk quietly, but just as he reached her, the song reached its climax. Zephyr leaped into the air and came crashing down on—and through—the plywood bridge.

Chapter Three

While the crowd rushed forward to pull Zephyr from the wreckage of splintered boards and equipment, Tanya decided this would be a good time to make her escape. Annie had momentarily forgotten about the puppy and Jack was distracted by all the commotion.

She’d panicked earlier when Annie had disappeared into the crowd. In the crush of people attending the festival, Tanya had quickly lost sight of her daughter. Visions of Annie running unheeded into traffic or being stolen away by some pervert had crowded Tanya’s mind. She’d reminded herself this was Crested Butte, Colorado, not downtown Los Angeles, and Annie was perfectly safe.

But such reassurances had done little to quell her rising fear. Crested Butte wasn’t the same sleepy place it had been when she was a child; the world had discovered the town, so who knew what dangers had followed?

Only when she’d spotted Annie with Jack had she relaxed. Her first reaction upon seeing them together had been relief that Annie wasn’t with a stranger. Annoyance soon followed. Why had Annie run to Jack of all people?

Then, as Tanya drew closer to Jack, unexpected longing and regret had washed over her. She’d watched for a brief moment, unnoticed by man or child, as he crouched, his head close to the little girl’s. This was the sort of snapshot she’d once pictured for her family album. Of all the things she wanted to give Annie, a complete family with a loving father was the one wish that had eluded her.

Jack might not be Annie’s father, but at this moment he certainly looked the part. An expression of gentle solicitude transformed the intimidating, powerful man of Thursday evening into a knight errant whose strength lay in his gentleness. The boy who had taught her everything about love had become a man who embodied every woman’s fantasy—he had good looks, brains, a close family and a successful business.

He was a man who had once known her—both her body and her mind—better than anyone.

But those days were long past. Her time in Hollywood had taught her that fantasy wasn’t real. She’d returned to Crested Butte determined to focus on what was genuine and important—family and security and the kind of life she’d once abandoned, but that now seemed the most valuable thing in the world.

“Jack said I could come play with his puppy,” Annie said.

“His puppy?” Tanya blinked at her daughter. “Jack has a puppy?”

“Yes. And he said I could come play with it. Can I, Mom? Please?”

Unprepared to be on the losing side of yet another argument with her daughter, yet equally unwilling to agree to a situation that might involve being alone with Jack, even with her daughter and his dog as de facto chaperones, Tanya hedged. “We’ll see,” she said.

She didn’t trust her emotions right now where Jack was concerned. She’d left town determined to make a name for herself in Hollywood—to make everyone, and most of all, herself—proud of her. She’d wanted more than the little world her hometown had been able to offer her and had had to do a lot of maturing to see how precious that world really was.

Here she was now, home, if not with her tail tucked between her legs, certainly with a lot of tarnish on the golden-girl image she’d lived with most of her growing-up years. It had been tough enough admitting to her parents that she’d failed to realize her dreams; the thought of explaining herself to Jack was too much to bear.

BY THE TIME JACK had helped deliver Zephyr into the hands of the Gunnison County paramedics and pitched in to clean up the mess, it was well past noon. He snagged an extra-large chicken burrito from the Teocali Tamale booth and took it back to his office. He ate at his desk while he reviewed the specs for the condo project, but he had trouble keeping his mind on his work. Columns of figures kept morphing into the image of a certain shapely blonde.

Maybe a walk would clear his head. He lifted Nugget’s leash from its hook by the door, and the dog bounded to him, eager for an outing. Jack thought again of Annie and her desire for a puppy. Would she tell her mother about his offer to let her visit Nugget? Would Tanya want to take him up on that offer or would she avoid him?

He set out on a popular hiking and biking trail into the foothills, pausing from time to time to let out the leash to allow Nugget to wade the creek or stick his snout down a ground squirrel hole. Jack suspected if an actual ground squirrel were to appear, Nugget would flee in terror.

He drew in a deep breath of clean mountain air and felt the tension ease from his shoulders. The fields around him were a riot of color—scarlet paintbrush, deep violet bluebells, yellow daisies and dozens of other flowers he couldn’t name. The spectacular display brought tourists from around the country to explore the trails in the area on foot or by bicycle; Jack felt privileged to get to enjoy the sight every day.

The world was full of people who were searching for a place like Crested Butte, a place with beautiful scenery, friendly people and plenty to do in any season of the year. He had never understood why Tanya had wanted to leave. Here in Crested Butte, she’d had a loving family, lots of close friends and the local version of fame. From childhood she’d been involved in the theater group and she’d starred in some of its most-loved productions.

And she’d had him, a man who’d loved her.

Obviously that hadn’t been enough. That knowledge, even more than the reality of her leaving, had cut deep. “I have the chance to be a real star,” she’d told him. “Why would you want to deprive me of that?”

He’d never meant to deprive her of anything. In fact, he would have given up the only life he knew and followed her to Hollywood and stayed with her.

But she’d never asked.

Nugget barked excitedly and tugged on the leash. An enormous white dog bounded toward them, dragging a man and woman along behind. As they drew closer, Jack recognized Bryan and Angela. “Her name’s Marshmallow,” Angela explained as Bryan reined the beast to a halt. “We just adopted her.”

“Nice dog.” Jack rubbed the fuzzy head. “How’s Zephyr?”

“He sprained his ankle, but he’s going to be fine,” Bryan said.

“Thank you for the scrims you did for the Red Lady’s Revenge,” Angela said. “They’re really beautiful.”

“No problem,” Jack said.

“Would you be interested in doing some more volunteering with the theater?” she asked. “We could use a guy with your skills.”

“I have skills,” Bryan said.

She gave him a heated smile. “Construction skills.”

“I hadn’t thought about it much,” Jack said. “I don’t know if I’d have time.”

“Think about it,” Angela said as Marshmallow yanked Bryan forward once more.

Jack continued up the trail, Angela’s suggestion reverberating in his head. Volunteering at the theater would mean spending more time with Tanya, not a wise move while his feelings for her were so unsettled. The pull of attraction between them after so many years had caught him off guard. He needed to figure out how to deal with that before he went any further.

ANNIE WASTED NO TIME telling her grandmother about the puppies at the festival. “Mama says I can’t have one, but since you’re her mother, if you say I can have one, she has to listen to you, right?” she asked with a winning smile.

Ruth Bledso arched one eyebrow and met Tanya’s gaze. “I always thought you were a brilliant child, dear, but she may have you beat.”

Tanya put a hand on her daughter’s shoulders. She’d learned early on that she had to stay on her toes to counter Annie’s reasoning. “I explained that Misty wouldn’t appreciate a younger dog invading her territory,” she said.

Ruth nodded. “Oh, no. She wouldn’t like that a bit.”

Hearing her name—and given that everyone had gathered in the kitchen—Misty trotted in to join them. A scattering of white hairs around her muzzle and eyes were the only hints of her age. Everything else about her said, “I’m just a puppy, eager for a treat.”

“Misty’s a nice dog.” Annie enveloped the golden retriever in a hug. “I don’t think she’d mind another dog at all. She’d probably appreciate someone she could talk to in her own language.” Misty swept the air with her tail and lavished doggy kisses on her young admirer.

Tanya had to admit Misty was a very easygoing dog. Her father had brought the pup home shortly after Tanya left for California. According to him, the pet had helped to fill the emptiness in her parents’ house and in their hearts, as well.

“I also reminded Annie that puppies are a lot of hard work,” Tanya said. “They need a lot of space and can be destructive to nice furniture and carpets.”

“That is true.” Ruth looked relieved.

“I’m sure glad nobody felt that way about me when I was a baby,” Annie said.

“You wouldn’t have peed on my carpet or chewed the furniture,” Ruth said.

“My puppy wouldn’t, either,” Annie protested. “I wouldn’t let it.”

“Your mother said no, so you need to listen to her,” Ruth said. “No puppy for now.”

Annie stuck her lip out in a pout, but knew better than to say anything more. “Come on, Misty. Let’s go to my room. I’ll read you a story.”

“Thanks for coming to the defense of my carpets,” Ruth said when the two women were alone.

“We’ve imposed upon you and Dad enough,” Tanya said. “I couldn’t see adding a pet into the mix.”

“You know we’re happy to help you,” Ruth said. “Especially if it means having you close to home again.”

Tanya took an apple from a bowl on the table and turned it over and over in her hand. When she was growing up, her family had picked bushels of apples from local orchards every fall and enjoyed them into the winter. Those were the kind of memories she hoped to make with Annie—memories that included a family dog. “I told Annie when the two of us have our own place we can get a pet,” she said.

“I have everyone I know keeping an eye open for a suitable rental for you,” Ruth said. “Ian put your name on a waiting list at the duplexes where he lives.” Tanya’s brother had a roommate to share costs in the complex in CB South.

“I appreciate everyone’s help,” Tanya said. “Maybe something will turn up soon.”

“It’s not because we’re anxious to get rid of you, of course, but because I know how much you want your own home.”

“After dealing with real estate prices in Los Angeles, I thought it would be easy to find an affordable place in Crested Butte,” Tanya said. When she was a child, plenty of old miners’ cottages and rustic cabins were available for less than the price of a new car today. “I knew prices had risen some, but I was astonished how much. The only places available are either renovated second homes or pricey condos.”

“Crested Butte isn’t the secret it once was,” Ruth said. “Everything is more expensive now. After he got out of the Marines, Ian searched for five months before he found his place.”

“I hate it.” Tanya set the apple aside. “Why did the people who live here let this happen?”

“It’s easy to romanticize the old days,” Ruth said. “But people forget about the lack of jobs and services back then. All the new residents and tourists have brought in a lot of money and jobs. Everybody is better off now.”

“I saw what focusing on money and progress did to people in L.A.,” Tanya said. “The people I knew there were constantly changing their looks and their jobs, even their friends, always searching for something bigger and better. All that…that shallowness made me realize how much I missed the stability and security of a place like Crested Butte.”

“New people and buildings don’t mean the heart and soul of this town has changed,” Ruth said.

“It feels like it has. Hardly anything looks the same as I remember. And there are so many people here that I don’t know.” Maybe it was unrealistic to expect the town wouldn’t have changed at all, but the longer she’d lived in L.A., the more fixed her image of Crested Butte had become as the perfect place. Its transformation into the picture-postcard village tourists raved about had left her feeling lost, as if there was nothing remaining that she could truly count on.

“There are a lot of people here you do know,” her mother pointed out. “And a lot of new friends, like Angela and some of the others from the theater.”

“I know.” Tanya nodded. “I guess I’m just out of sorts today.” Seeing Jack again this morning—a smiling, kinder Jack than the one she’d tangled with at the theater—had set her emotions spinning. He was one of the good memories she’d associated with the town, but like everything else, he’d changed, too, enough that he was almost a stranger to her now.

“All your life, you’ve been so certain of how things ought to be,” her mother said. “I don’t know where your perfectionist streak comes from, and I always worried it would lead to disappointment.”

Tanya stiffened. “I’m not a perfectionist,” she said.

Ruth smiled. “I remember when you were just a little girl, about Annie’s age, and you came home from school in tears. You were crying so hard you were practically hysterical. It took me forever to figure out what was wrong.”

“What was wrong?”

“You’d drawn a picture in class and the teacher selected some student artwork to put on the bulletin board for parents’ night, and your picture wasn’t one of the ones she chose.”

Tanya remembered how hard she’d worked on her drawing, sure hers would be picked for the bulletin board. She’d even imagined herself showing the picture to her mom and dad, who would be so proud.

“I tried to tell you it didn’t matter if your picture wasn’t displayed,” Ruth said. “I put it on the refrigerator, but you were almost inconsolable.”

“I’d been looking forward to showing off for you,” Tanya said.

“You were the same way if you got a B on a test instead of an A,” Ruth continued. “Or on the rare occasions when you didn’t get a part in a play you wanted.”

Her mother made her sound so uptight and neurotic. “I wasn’t that bad,” Tanya said.

“You got better as you got older. At least better at hiding your feelings, but you were always a perfectionist.”

“I don’t think Annie has any perfectionist tendencies,” Tanya said. Though she’d been upset about not being allowed to have a puppy, Annie had given in semigraciously.

“She’s a happy child,” Ruth said, “because she knows she’s loved.”

“I knew I was loved.”

“You knew it, but I’m not sure you always believed it.” Ruth looked thoughtful. “I always had the feeling you were trying to prove yourself, even though we loved you no matter what you did. You did do one thing to perfection, though.”

“What’s that?”

Ruth smiled. “You gave us the perfect granddaughter.” She leaned over and took Tanya’s hand. “I’m so glad you came back here to live so that we could watch her grow up and be a part of both your lives again. Seeing you only a few times a year was never enough.”

“You were never not a part of my life.”

“I know, but it’s nicer now that you’re close again. I can’t explain how special it is to watch you with your daughter—to see what a good mom you are. I’m so proud of you, hon.”

Tanya blinked back the tears that burned her eyes. “You really think I’m a good mom?” she asked. She’d made so many mistakes.

“You’re the best.”

Tanya squeezed her mother’s hand. “I had a good teacher.”

“No, you did this on your own. Anyone watching can see that Annie is the most important thing in the world to you. No one can teach that kind of love.”

Annie was the most important thing in Tanya’s life; important enough that she’d erased her entire vision for her future to make a better life for her daughter here in the town where she’d enjoyed such a wonderful childhood.

But Tanya had doubts about her ability to give her daughter the childhood she’d wanted. She was a single mom with a demanding job and not even a house of her own to live in. The town wasn’t the same. Maybe Tanya had moved here looking for something that didn’t exist anymore.

Annie skipped into the kitchen, minus Misty, who had probably retreated to her bed for an afternoon nap. “If I can’t have a puppy, can I at least visit that man’s puppy?” she asked.

“What man?” Ruth asked.

“Mr. Jack,” Annie said.

Ruth looked at Tanya. “Jack who?”

“Jack Crenshaw. Annie literally ran into him at the fair. I guess he was trying to calm her down by telling her she could come visit his puppy.”

Only the hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth betrayed Ruth’s keen interest in Tanya’s former flame. “Jack’s done very well for himself,” she said.

“So I hear. Building all those new condos.” The ones she couldn’t afford to move into. The ones that spoiled her view every day.

“Don’t hold that against him,” Ruth said.

Tanya shrugged.

“When can we go see Mr. Jack and his puppy?” Annie asked.

“I don’t know how to get in touch with him,” Tanya said.

“His number’s right here.” Ruth opened a drawer and took out the slim Crested Butte phone book. Tanya almost smiled. Everyone she knew in L.A. would have looked it up online.

“Um, thanks,” she mumbled as she accepted the book. It was less than an inch thick.

She found the number for Crenshaw Construction, aware of her mother and daughter watching. “He’s not likely to be in on a Saturday afternoon,” she said.

“From what I hear, he works all the time,” Ruth said. “But if he’s not there, you can leave a message.”

One ring, two rings…Tanya held her breath, trying to calm nerves that were jumpy at the prospect of talking to Jack. Which made no sense, considering they’d managed a perfectly civil conversation this morning.

On the fourth ring, a voice came on the line—not Jack’s but a woman’s. “Hello, you’ve reached Crenshaw Construction. Your call is important to us, so please leave a message…”

“Oh, uh, hello,” Tanya stammered. “I’m trying to reach Jack Crenshaw. Would you please ask him to call Tanya Bledso.” She gave her number and hung up.

“I guess that was his secretary on the answering machine,” she said.

“Probably,” her mother said. “He’s president of the company now, did you know? His father still keeps his hand in, but he turned most everything over to Jack last year and is enjoying retirement.”

“Great.” So Jack had made a big success of himself, while she might as well have a big F for failure stamped on her forehead. Not that she had to let Jack see it.

She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. She was still an actress, after all. She could play the part of Hollywood glamour girl even if in reality some of the shine had worn off the glitz.

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