A Timeless Romance Anthology: Spring Vacation Collection by Annette Lyon, Sarah M. Eden, Heather B. Moore, Josi S. Kilpack, Heather Justesen, Aubrey Mace

him a glimmer of light. Maybe she’d help him. The glimmer grew. Maybe Tess’s sister would help. He waited for her to go on, almost unable to breathe. When she didn’t say more, he finally squeezed one word through his tight throat.
    “Hope?”
    “I’m thinking. Okay, here’s the deal. But before I say anything, I have to say that I still think you’re a total turd.”
    “I deserve that.”
    “Glad you agree. You deserve worse.”
    “Is she back?” James sat up eagerly, ready to slide on a pair of sneakers and race to their place. 
    “No, but I know where she is. Or, at least, where she’s headed.”
    His heart leapt in his chest. “Where?”
    “Don’t try calling her anymore; she won’t answer.”
    “Hope, I need to make this right. I didn’t realize what a jerk I’d been for so long, but I’ll die without her.”
    Hope snorted. “Don’t be melodramatic.”
    “Fine. I’ll live, but I’ll be miserable. I feel like someone scooped my heart out of my chest. I need Tess. I love her. I really, really do, and I’m going to make this right.” As he said the words, he knew he’d never spoken anything more true. His voice lowered to a whisper. “I’ll do anything to get her back.”
    “Such as?”
    James’s gaze sketched over to his desk, where he’d studied so hard for so long. On one corner sat a letter, the one officially inviting him to be an intern in New York. He picked it up and scanned the text, hesitating for only half a second. “I’ll give up the internship. I’ll work for a smaller firm with better hours, and maybe someday I can start my own law firm on my own terms.”
    “Wait. You’d seriously give all that up?” Hope’s voice went up sharply in disbelief.
    “Of course.” He deliberately folded the letter into fourths and shoved it into his pocket, not wanting to see it again. He should destroy the thing in the garbage disposal. Too bad he wasn’t a redneck; he could have used it for target practice if he’d been the gun type.
    “Wow,” Hope said with awe in her voice. “You really do love her.”
    He did—but hadn’t realized how much until tonight. James had to swallow against the knot of emotion in his throat before he could answer. “Yeah,” he said, his voice raw. “I do.”
    He loved everything about Tess. Her compassion for others. The way she always noticed when someone else needed something—and was prepared to help with that very thing. The way she always wore lipstick, even if she didn’t have time to do her hair or the rest of her makeup. The same shade of peach lipstick. The little mole on her chin—her beauty mark. Her laughter. The way her hand fit perfectly in his. The way she could use the camera to capture the most ethereal, dazzling images. And so much more. He’d need a lifetime to learn all the lovable things about Tess. He wanted to have decades together to learn it all. 
    “Fine. I’ll give you some information. Not a lot, but something.”
    “Thank you!” James said, now pacing the room with the energy of anticipation. “Anything. I’ll guard the information with my life, and I won’t hurt your sister. I swear it.”
    “Good thing,” Hope said. “Or I’ll have your head on a platter.”
     

Chapter Four
     
    Earlier that evening, Tess had assumed she’d be up all night, but for an entirely different reason—that she’d be kept awake by excitement, rather than anger and a few cans of Red Bull as she drove. As the car hummed into the night, she remembered an odd dream from about a week before. In it, she was running toward the ocean, but it receded, farther and farther away from her, no matter how hard and fast she worked to reach it. On the horizon, James sat in a boat. Somehow she knew he was smiling as he was carried away by the current, but he urged her—quite merrily—to keep on running. Reaching James was crucial. Why, she didn’t know, but it made sense in dream logic.
    Only now, as Tess glanced at the half moon in