the steps. She couldn’t let him leave like this. She needed to say something—anything—to get back on even footing. “I was going through the final guest list for the wedding earlier, and I realized that I still haven’t gotten your RSVP. You got my invitation, right?”
Colin paused on the second to last step. “I must have forgotten to mail it back.”
“But you’re coming, right?”
“Sure,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll be there.”
“Should I put you down for two?”
He glanced back at her. It was dark now and the faint porch light cast shadows over his rugged face. “Two what?”
“Two people. You’re bringing someone, right?”
His gaze shifted away again. “Yeah,” he said, walking down the last step. “I’m bringing someone.”
Becca stood in the doorway, watching him walk down the sidewalk to his truck. When he got in, and the engine revved, she watched him pull away until he turned onto Main Street, and his truck disappeared around the corner. She stood there for a long time, staring out at the darkness, until she felt the strangest sensation, like pieces of metal brushing against her wrist.
She glanced down, and felt the familiar tug of regret when she saw that her wrist was bare. She had lost her mother’s charm bracelet years ago. She’d been helping her father move his boat back into the marina after he’d gotten some work done on it, and it had fallen into the water.
She’d gone in after it, searching for hours to recover the bracelet that her mother had worn every day until she’d died, and that Becca had worn every day since. But she hadn’t been able to find it, and it had never washed up on the shore as she’d hoped it would in the days and weeks that had followed.
Looking back out at the dark street, she reached up, wrapping her fingers around the single mourning dove—the one charm that had fallen off a few weeks before she’d lost the bracelet, the one piece of her mother she still had left.
She turned, but just before she shut the door, she could swear she could hear it, just the faintest sound of the charms clinking together over the wind.
H e hadn’t forgotten to mail back the RSVP, Colin thought as he walked from his apartment in downtown Annapolis to his father’s office the next morning. Becca’s wedding invitation had been sitting in a drawer in his desk for months now. When he’d first opened it, his initial reaction had been to find a reason to be out of town that weekend. The thought of sitting through a wedding, any wedding, had stirred up too many memories of everything he’d lost.
Now, he didn’t want to go for an entirely different reason.
He was starting to feel something for Becca, something that went way beyond physical attraction, and he was pretty sure those feelings weren’t one sided. He’d seen the look in her eyes when they’d been in her kitchen, when he’d caught her necklace in his hand and she’d been close enough for him to bend down and seal his lips over hers. He had known, without a doubt, that she’d wanted him to kiss her. And he would have, if it hadn’t been for the flash of pain that had cut through those eyes when he’d asked her who she was mourning.
He didn’t know what that was all about. But he would find out.
The woman had layers, a lot more than he’d realized, and every time he peeled one back, he wanted to know more.
Closing in on the Maryland State House from one of the side streets that spiraled out through the historic downtown, he watched the crunch of morning rush hour traffic inch around State Circle. He wanted to spend some time with Becca, to get to know her, to see where this—whatever this was—might go. But her wedding was less than three weeks away. And despite the fact that her fiancé was so obviously wrong for her, something was holding her to him. There was a connection there, a strong one, and he needed to know what it was.
A good operator always had
Colin paused on the second to last step. “I must have forgotten to mail it back.”
“But you’re coming, right?”
“Sure,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll be there.”
“Should I put you down for two?”
He glanced back at her. It was dark now and the faint porch light cast shadows over his rugged face. “Two what?”
“Two people. You’re bringing someone, right?”
His gaze shifted away again. “Yeah,” he said, walking down the last step. “I’m bringing someone.”
Becca stood in the doorway, watching him walk down the sidewalk to his truck. When he got in, and the engine revved, she watched him pull away until he turned onto Main Street, and his truck disappeared around the corner. She stood there for a long time, staring out at the darkness, until she felt the strangest sensation, like pieces of metal brushing against her wrist.
She glanced down, and felt the familiar tug of regret when she saw that her wrist was bare. She had lost her mother’s charm bracelet years ago. She’d been helping her father move his boat back into the marina after he’d gotten some work done on it, and it had fallen into the water.
She’d gone in after it, searching for hours to recover the bracelet that her mother had worn every day until she’d died, and that Becca had worn every day since. But she hadn’t been able to find it, and it had never washed up on the shore as she’d hoped it would in the days and weeks that had followed.
Looking back out at the dark street, she reached up, wrapping her fingers around the single mourning dove—the one charm that had fallen off a few weeks before she’d lost the bracelet, the one piece of her mother she still had left.
She turned, but just before she shut the door, she could swear she could hear it, just the faintest sound of the charms clinking together over the wind.
H e hadn’t forgotten to mail back the RSVP, Colin thought as he walked from his apartment in downtown Annapolis to his father’s office the next morning. Becca’s wedding invitation had been sitting in a drawer in his desk for months now. When he’d first opened it, his initial reaction had been to find a reason to be out of town that weekend. The thought of sitting through a wedding, any wedding, had stirred up too many memories of everything he’d lost.
Now, he didn’t want to go for an entirely different reason.
He was starting to feel something for Becca, something that went way beyond physical attraction, and he was pretty sure those feelings weren’t one sided. He’d seen the look in her eyes when they’d been in her kitchen, when he’d caught her necklace in his hand and she’d been close enough for him to bend down and seal his lips over hers. He had known, without a doubt, that she’d wanted him to kiss her. And he would have, if it hadn’t been for the flash of pain that had cut through those eyes when he’d asked her who she was mourning.
He didn’t know what that was all about. But he would find out.
The woman had layers, a lot more than he’d realized, and every time he peeled one back, he wanted to know more.
Closing in on the Maryland State House from one of the side streets that spiraled out through the historic downtown, he watched the crunch of morning rush hour traffic inch around State Circle. He wanted to spend some time with Becca, to get to know her, to see where this—whatever this was—might go. But her wedding was less than three weeks away. And despite the fact that her fiancé was so obviously wrong for her, something was holding her to him. There was a connection there, a strong one, and he needed to know what it was.
A good operator always had
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