Don't Let Go by Nona Raines Page A

through her.
    She remembered. His senior prom. The kiss. The honeysuckle bush.
    She broke the gaze and pushed the memories away. It was a long time ago. They’d been kids.
    Bobo must have felt ignored. He whined and jumped up to get Eric’s attention.
    “No,” he told the dog firmly. “Sit.”
    Bobo obeyed, which was a marvel. Annalee shook her head in amazement. “He never does what I tell him.”
    Eric grinned and took Bobo’s leash. “Let me walk you both home.”
    As they walked, she couldn’t resist giving him covert glances. “Dee didn’t mention you were coming to town.” Delayna McIntyre was Eric’s older sister and Annalee’s best friend.
    He gave her that grin she remembered so well—half cocky, half self-deprecating. “An unexpected visit. I wanted to stay in a hotel, but Dee raised a ruckus. Insisted I park at her house.”
    “I’m sure. How long are you staying?”
    “Oh, a few days, maybe more. It depends.” The smile he gave her made her want to ask Depends on what?
    But she chickened out and stuck to ordinary topics. “And they can spare you from the job that long?”
    “Oh, sure. I’ve got days coming.”
    “There are a lot more exciting places to spend a few days off.”
    He shrugged. “It’s always good to be home. Some of my favorite people live here.” The glint in his eyes sent a quiver through her. Warmth rose in her cheeks.
    She looked away to hide her flush. “Dee says you’re having all kinds of success at Stillwell-Hayes.” Eric was an engineer. He lived and worked in Albany, which was about an hour’s drive from their hometown of Tiptree, New York.
    Eric shook his head with a rueful smile. “My sister really should stop boring people with my exploits.”
    “She’s proud of you.” Though Annalee could take no credit for his success, she was proud of him, too.
    He tilted his head. “Why are you smiling?”
    She cleared the thickness from her throat. Heat crept into her cheeks. “Am I? Just glad to see you, I guess. You look good.”
    As they strolled through the park, Annalee wished the walk home was a longer one.
    Bobo continued to surprise by walking at Eric’s side, every once in a while looking up at him with a doggy grin, his tongue lolling.
    “Good boy, Bobo.” Catch them being good . It worked for children, why not for dogs?
    “Hey, we guys aren’t hard to figure,” Eric said. “Feed us, praise us, rub our bellies once in a while, and we’re yours for life.”
    Annalee smirked. “I don’t think my ex ever got the message.” Crap. Why had she brought him up?
    The tone instantly turned from silly to serious. “Yeah. I heard about your divorce.”
    Her chest tightened, but she kept her voice even. “Ah. It was a long time coming.”
    Eric’s eyes narrowed, and his lips flattened to a thin line. “I should say I’m sorry, but the truth is, I’m not. I never liked the guy. Never thought he was good enough for you.”
    His bluntness made her laugh but at the same time comforted her. The demise of her marriage began with Denny thinking she wasn’t good enough.
    She’d married Denny Donovan right after graduating college. She became a teacher, and Denny worked with his father in automotive sales. He’d been successful—so successful, in fact, it went to his head. That’s when the lies started—the credit card statements he could never explain, the late nights “entertaining business associates,” the phone calls he always had to take in another room.
    She tasted the bitterness that always filled her whenever her ex-husband intruded on her thoughts. Don’t go there .
    Eric’s voice pulled her from thoughts of her past. Of her failed marriage. “Dee says you don’t go by Donovan anymore.”
    She gave him a tight little smile. “That’s right. I’m Annalee Mondello again. Right back where I started.”
    “No, you’re not. You’re light years away from the girl I took to my senior prom.”
    “Oh.” She could hardly recall the girl