“Thanks to your motor mouth, Nana wouldn’t let me go with Jacob to homecoming. Doubly painful, since I’d just bought my dress. It was beautiful, by the way. When we found you bleeding on the side of the road we were on our way home from the boutique.” She shook her head, remembering the pain of humiliation, of how the dress had hung in the closet for weeks, mocking her, until Nana finally donated it to charity just before graduation. “I sat at home, watching Nana knit caps for the homeless shelter while everyone else went to have fun.”
“Not everyone. I didn’t go,” Riley admitted quietly. “I worked bagging groceries down at Bryer’s that night, instead.”
“No way. Angel Fall High’s star quarterback bagging groceries on prom night?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”
“Why does that surprise you?”
“I suppose it doesn’t. Not really. Nothing about you surprises me…except seeing you standing here in my shop.” Jami blew out a breath of frustration. “Serves you right, missing the biggest dance of our high school days. Jacob never asked me out again after that. We were finished.”
“You were finished way before that. You just didn’t know it yet.” Riley wagged a finger at her. “If you’d overheard him showboating about you in the locker room after football practice, you wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with him. It was disgusting, even by guy standards.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“He would and he did.”
“Well, at least breaking it off would have been my decision.”
“He was a jerk. You should have gone to homecoming with me .”
“You didn’t ask.” Jami’s heart skittered as she straightened the book he’d just replaced. The thought of Riley and the dance…well, she attributed the flutter in her belly to the fact that she’d skipped lunch and was on her way to working right through dinner, as well. The two of them had always been like oil and water, tofu and Big Macs. While she attended church and Sunday school with Nana, he rolled houses in town and wandered the woods looking for trouble. They would never work together. It was a train wreck straight out of the station. That’s why she’d avoided him all those years, why she’d accepted Jacob’s first request for a date. She shifted gears, and fast. “What are you doing here, Riley? What do you want? I thought you left for San Diego.”
“I’ve been back nearly two years, building my architectural business. I like it here. How about you?”
“I like it here, too, and I’ve come home to stay.” She turned from him as her cheeks flamed and swept a hand over the small display of brochures that highlighted the book discussion group she planned to host. Holding her voice steady was a struggle. He turned her insides to a gloppy mess of gelatin. “Hence this shop…it’s always been my dream.”
“Pretty lofty dream.” His lips pursed into the “come at me” grin that had earned him a month’s worth of days in detention. “Have any others tucked up your sleeve?”
“Maybe…do you really care?” For a distraction, she did a quick sweep of the floor, searching for the spider. Nowhere in sight…must have managed a clean getaway. She prayed they didn’t meet up later in a dark corner of the stockroom.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” Riley stepped over to the magazines, plucked one full of cabin designs, and thumbed through it. “I thought I saw you moving into Heart’s Haven yesterday—cottage seven.”
“That’s right, but how did you know?”
“I’m in cottage eight—right next door.”
“No way.”
“Yes, way.” He folded the magazine and slipped it into his back pocket. “Put it on my tab. Nice digs here at this shop, by the way. Too bad you’ve poured so much time into a project that’s most likely not going to last.”
****
“What?” Jami raked a hand through honey-blonde hair that kissed her shoulders. Eyes, blue as
“Not everyone. I didn’t go,” Riley admitted quietly. “I worked bagging groceries down at Bryer’s that night, instead.”
“No way. Angel Fall High’s star quarterback bagging groceries on prom night?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”
“Why does that surprise you?”
“I suppose it doesn’t. Not really. Nothing about you surprises me…except seeing you standing here in my shop.” Jami blew out a breath of frustration. “Serves you right, missing the biggest dance of our high school days. Jacob never asked me out again after that. We were finished.”
“You were finished way before that. You just didn’t know it yet.” Riley wagged a finger at her. “If you’d overheard him showboating about you in the locker room after football practice, you wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with him. It was disgusting, even by guy standards.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“He would and he did.”
“Well, at least breaking it off would have been my decision.”
“He was a jerk. You should have gone to homecoming with me .”
“You didn’t ask.” Jami’s heart skittered as she straightened the book he’d just replaced. The thought of Riley and the dance…well, she attributed the flutter in her belly to the fact that she’d skipped lunch and was on her way to working right through dinner, as well. The two of them had always been like oil and water, tofu and Big Macs. While she attended church and Sunday school with Nana, he rolled houses in town and wandered the woods looking for trouble. They would never work together. It was a train wreck straight out of the station. That’s why she’d avoided him all those years, why she’d accepted Jacob’s first request for a date. She shifted gears, and fast. “What are you doing here, Riley? What do you want? I thought you left for San Diego.”
“I’ve been back nearly two years, building my architectural business. I like it here. How about you?”
“I like it here, too, and I’ve come home to stay.” She turned from him as her cheeks flamed and swept a hand over the small display of brochures that highlighted the book discussion group she planned to host. Holding her voice steady was a struggle. He turned her insides to a gloppy mess of gelatin. “Hence this shop…it’s always been my dream.”
“Pretty lofty dream.” His lips pursed into the “come at me” grin that had earned him a month’s worth of days in detention. “Have any others tucked up your sleeve?”
“Maybe…do you really care?” For a distraction, she did a quick sweep of the floor, searching for the spider. Nowhere in sight…must have managed a clean getaway. She prayed they didn’t meet up later in a dark corner of the stockroom.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” Riley stepped over to the magazines, plucked one full of cabin designs, and thumbed through it. “I thought I saw you moving into Heart’s Haven yesterday—cottage seven.”
“That’s right, but how did you know?”
“I’m in cottage eight—right next door.”
“No way.”
“Yes, way.” He folded the magazine and slipped it into his back pocket. “Put it on my tab. Nice digs here at this shop, by the way. Too bad you’ve poured so much time into a project that’s most likely not going to last.”
****
“What?” Jami raked a hand through honey-blonde hair that kissed her shoulders. Eyes, blue as
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