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But lately he’d become increasingly aware of one tiny little hole in a life filled with professional satisfaction and hometown approval. That lack came under the heading of feminine companionship.
He hadn’t given more than a passing thought to romance since his return, although he had known a lot of women when he got here and had met more since. None had attracted him the way he wanted to be attracted, so he hadn’t bothered to pursue any of them beyond a casual date or two.
But he was plenty bothered now. Thinking about Thalia Myers Mitchell brought back memories eleven long years old—memories of “doing the right thing,” or more precisely, not doing the wrong thing.
Yes, she’d been a mere sixteen to his almost twenty-one. On the other hand, she’d picked him to relieve her of her virginity, a rational decision made with her usual thoroughness. He should have been flattered—hell, he had been flattered. And attracted. And confused. And at the last minute, responsible.
He knew he’d hurt her feelings when he turned her down, as he finally had to do out of deference to her youth and inexperience—and a little bit of deference to her brother, John. John and Luke had been best buds all through school and Luke didn’t want their friendship to come to blows. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could lick the guy.
So he’d done what he knew was the right thing, although it hadn’t been easy. Nor did it get easier with time. He and Thalia were never comfortable around each other again; the encounter had left them with unfinished business, as far as he was concerned. She probably felt the same, he mused, doodling all over the manila folder. Now that age was no longer an issue between them, why shouldn’t he think about making up for lost time?
The door flew open and Cindy entered, a concerned frown on her face. “Are you okay?” she asked bluntly. “I’ve been knocking on that door for five minutes—okay, two minutes, but it seemed longer. I was beginning to think you’d sneaked out the back way with Doc.”
“I might as well. I can’t seem to concentrate on this stuff.” He pushed the files away and glanced at his wristwatch. “Maybe if I had something to eat—”
“You mean you haven’t had lunch yet?” Cindy, a motherly type with several grown kids, tsked-tsked. “Honestly, Luke, you and Doc are cut from the same cloth. Why don’t I go next door to the Paper Sack and grab you a sandwich, okay? I was coming to tell you that Mrs. Bushmiller just canceled Trixi’s appointment, so unless something else comes up, you should be able to get out of here by five today.”
“Okay, but—”
“No buts. It’s almost three o’clock and Jimmy Morton’s dog needs shots at three-fifteen, remember? I’ll be back in a flash with a ham and cheese on rye. Don’t argue!”
He didn’t.
AT A LITTLE AFTER FIVE that day, Thalia Mitchell paused in front of the large glass windows of the Sew Bee It Craft and Fabric Shoppe, next door to the Paper Sack on the main drag of Shepherd’s Pass, Colorado. Just inside, where he’d have a view of passersby, a big striped cat basked in the sun on a carpeted shelf attached to the window ledge. Behind him was a sewing machine always set up and at the ready. Pins and fabric scraps covered a cutting table littered with mats and rotary cutters, and brightly flowered fabrics draped a dressmaker’s dummy.
Some things never changed, she thought. Tapping her fingertips lightly against the glass, she managed to attract the cat’s attention. He looked up with an annoyed scowl, then closed insolent amber eyes.
Thalia couldn’t help smiling. It was wonderful to be home in the Colorado mountains on this gorgeous September day—and a little strange, too. She’d been gone such a long time, since high school, actually. Once she’d departed for college she’d never really come back for more than a few weeks at a time.
She’d spent the past several years in Southern California, which was a far cry from Colorado any way you sliced it. With a sigh, she pushed open the heavy glass door and entered the cozy shop, a tinkling bell announcing her arrival.
Several browsing customers glanced at her with brief curiosity. The young woman rearranging items on the back wall looked around with a smile and promptly dropped several bolts of fabric.
“Thalia!”
“Emily!”
The two met in the middle of the store, between the buttons and the cash register. They hugged, they squealed, they hugged again. Finally Thalia drew back.
“What a welcome!”
“I’ve missed you,” Emily said. “I’m so glad you’re here. I saw your mom a day or two ago and she told me—”
“Emily, dear.” One of the shopping ladies had made her choice. “Can you ring these notions up for me?”
“Sure, Mrs. Adams.” Emily walked behind the counter and began tapping at the cash register keys. “You remember Thalia Myers, don’t you?”
“Mitchell now.” Thalia smiled at the woman. “Nice to see you, Mrs. Adams.”
“Nice to see you, dear. I’ll tell Angeline you’re back.”
Emily made change and thanked the woman with a smile before turning eagerly to Thalia. “You’ve got to tell me everything! It’s been years since we had a good—”
“Bye-bye, Emily.” Another woman waved from the front of the store. “I don’t see what I’m after so I’ll drop by again next week.”
“Fine, Mrs. Weller. See you then. Remember, I can special-order anything you want.” Emily came out from behind the counter, grabbed Thalia’s hand and drew her over to the small sitting area near the coffee service. “Gosh, Thalia, you look wonderful.”
Thalia didn’t feel wonderful. Next to Emily with her long black hair and sparkling blue eyes, her lace-frosted denim dress with all its hand-crafted details, Thalia felt brittle and…and foreign.
But she just said, “Thank you. So do you. And in answer to your question, I’m fine.” Bored with life, but fine.
Emily’s smooth face creased in a frown. “I hate to ask but…the divorce…?”
“Wasn’t as bad as it might have been.” Thalia accepted the foam cup of coffee Emily offered. “Don and I parted amicably. Even so…”
“Yes, even so.” Emily sat down on the wicker footstool. “Poor Thalia.”
Thalia frowned. “Why poor me?”
“I know you, Thalia. I’m sure you take the divorce as a personal failure.”
“It is a personal failure.”
Emily pursed her lips. “Of course, it isn’t. The marriage was obviously a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes, but that doesn’t mean they’ve failed.”
Thalia had to smile at that one. “Em, you’ve always had the most convoluted reasoning. You should have been a lawyer.”
“God forbid!” Emily looked honestly appalled. “I can’t abide lawyers. The thing is, I know you, Thalia Myers Mitchell. You do take everything too seriously.”
“Few things are more serious than a marriage.”
“Oh, piffle!” Emily wrinkled her nose. “Don’t forget, I knew you when.”
“That’s for sure.” Thalia had to grin. “But I was just a kid then.”
“Are you saying you’ve changed?”
“Well…” After serious consideration, Thalia added, “No.”
“Last I heard, you wanted a serious husband, two serious children and a serious career. At least, that’s what you kept saying.”
“I got the career,” Thalia said a bit lamely, thinking that was the least important item on her wish list. “Considering how the marriage ended, I’m grateful we didn’t have children.” She gritted her teeth, then burst out, “I really hate failure! Now it’s start-over time and I’m not looking forward to it.”
“But you’re home,” Emily reasoned. “It’ll be easy, much easier than starting over in California. It’ll be like old times.” She frowned. “And you’re nodding your head no because…?”
“I’m only here temporarily, or didn’t Mother mention that? My company has merged with a larger company and—”
Emily interrupted with a dismissive groan. “Insurance, I understand?” She wrinkled her nose with distaste.
“An honorable endeavor,” Thalia pointed out.
“And certainly serious.” Emily’s blue eyes gleamed with mischief.
Thalia made a face. “Can I finish what I started to say? The two companies are merging. As a result, I’ve taken leave during the transition. When Mother heard, she insisted I come home. Otherwise, I would have stayed out there and…and…”
“And what? Doesn’t sound as if all those ands would have been much fun.”
“I have friends,” Thalia said defensively, “and fun is not the point of life. I could certainly have kept busy. But since I hadn’t been home in so long, I decided to come to make Mother happy.” She grinned. “And if you won’t tell anyone, I’ll even admit that I wanted to renew acquaintances with old friends.”
“Who’ve you seen so far?”
“You. You were my best friend, after all.”
Emily looked smug. “What a nice thing to say.” A dimple appeared at the corner of her mouth. “Flattering, too. I thought you might have gone to see Lucas first.” She dragged it out. “Lu-cas.”
Thalia hoped her cheeks weren’t too red. “Certainly not. Why would I go see Luke Dalton?”
“Because you’re on the rebound and interested in old flames as well as old friends?”
“I am not on the rebound and Lucas is not an old flame.”
“You wanted him to be your first flame,” Emily teased. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about him?” Her eyes widened. “You did know he’s back in Shepherd’s Pass and in practice with Doc Miller?”
“Mother…might have mentioned it.”
“Oh, really. Did she also mention that he’s even better looking than he was before?”
“You’ve got to be kidding. I didn’t think that was possible.”
“There!” Emily sounded delighted. “That’s my old pal, Thalia. I’m glad you’re home! We’re going to have so much fun that you’ll never leave.”
The bell above the front door tinkled and Emily frowned. “Drat. I’ll have to see who that is.” She rose. “Maybe whoever it is will leave without buying anything—and come back later, of course.”
Thalia relaxed back against the cushions to wait. It was wonderful seeing Emily again, but she felt as out of place here as she had in California. Emily belonged because she had never left. Her grandmother had owned this store for decades. When she’d retired two or three years ago and moved to warmer climes, she’d left her favorite granddaughter in charge.
It was no surprise that Emily had taken hold with such enthusiasm. A whiz with a sewing machine since childhood, she was doing what she loved. Thalia, by contrast, was doing something valuable, but she didn’t love it.
Sighing, she looked down at her conservative brown skirt and beige silk blouse. She should have worn jeans and mountain boots. In her California clothes, she even looked like a foreigner, no matter how nicely everyone treated her. All she wanted to do was blend in, make her mother happy, and flee back to the coast at the earliest opportunity.
She heard footsteps but didn’t turn. “That didn’t take long,” she said. “Was it anyone I know?”
Hands covered her eyes and a deeply masculine voice said in her ear, “That all depends on the meaning of the word know.”
She caught her breath, then covered his hands with hers and tried without success to drag them away from her eyes. “Luke! Turn me loose!”
“Shoot,” he said, promptly releasing her. “You guessed. How’s it goin’, Thalia?”
Leaning her head back, she looked up into his smiling face. Even upside down, he looked wonderful, especially with that lock of sun-bleached hair spilling over his forehead.
“It’s going fine,” she said. Looking at him this way made her dizzy. She straightened selfconsciously. “I see you haven’t changed one bit, Lucas Dalton.”
“Why would I want to change?” He rounded the settee and took a seat across from her in the wicker chair.
“I don’t know.” Emily was right. He was better looking than before: more mature, his rangy frame nicely filled out. Thalia cleared her throat. “I just thought that now you’re all grown-up and a doggy doctor, you might be more…serious.” She’d also expected that sexy gleam in his eyes would be gone, which it wasn’t.
He laughed incredulously. “Boy, that hurts. I am serious. I always was serious. I just never saw the point of wearing it like a hair shirt.”
“Meaning I did?” She bolted upright.
“If the hair shirt fits—”
Emily’s voice sailed into the middle of the blossoming fray. “Thalia, isn’t it great that Luke dropped by? He said he saw us through the window and wanted to say hi. Don’t beat up on him, okay?”
“I certainly wouldn’t do that,” Thalia said, as cool as if she hadn’t once, many years ago, wrapped herself in a plastic shower curtain and sprung out from behind a door to seduce him.
Emily offered him a cup of coffee, which he accepted with a smile of thanks. But his attention was clearly on Thalia. “How long will you be here?”
“A month, maybe two.”
“We’ll have to get together.” He gave her a coaxing smile that melted her like a birthday candle.
“Whatever,” she said noncommittally.
“That’s a great idea,” Emily said eagerly. “There’s a bunch of us who get together now and again at the Watering Hole. Next time I’ll give you both a call.”
“Sounds great,” Luke said.
“I don’t think so,” Thalia said.
Emily frowned. “Why not? You know most everyone already, so what’s your problem?”
“I’m not too crazy about bars,” Thalia admitted. “For one thing, I don’t drink all that much.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “Like I do? Look, it’s just a friendly little happy-hour get-together.”
Thalia cast an oblique glance at Luke. “Do you go to these friendly little happy hours?”
He shrugged. “Once in a while.” That roguish gleam was back. “But if you’re going, I’ll make a point of being there.”
His response startled her and she looked quickly away. Why was he coming on so strong? He hadn’t been interested in her when she was interested in him; now that she wanted nothing more than to avoid all emotional entanglements, he wanted to hit on her?
Not in this lifetime. With lips pressed tightly together, she listened idly to the comfortable banter between Em and Luke. How were her cats? Fine. How was the Benson dog that had been stomped by a horse last week? Also fine, or would be soon. How was business? Fine—
Thalia stood abruptly. “I think I’d better be going,” she said. “Mom’s expecting me and it’s going on six now.”
“Don’t go yet.” Emily looked genuinely disappointed. “We really haven’t had a chance to talk.”
No, because Luke had horned in. “There’ll be time.”
