She stood up and gathered Miki into her arms. “We should get going. We want to enjoy the rest of the day outside before the evening gets cool.”
“You do that.” Anna stood with her hands on her hips. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
Head held high, Lily walked out of the café. The tears clogging her heart did not spill over into her eyes until she turned the corner. She swiped them away with one hand as Peter Greenwich called her name. Fixing a smile on her face, she turned around.
The old man held out the paper bag with the cupcake. She had forgotten it in her hasty retreat from the café. “Don’t want to miss out on dessert,” he said with a kindly smile.
“Thank you,” Lily said stiffly.
Peter’s smile gentled as he set the bag in her hand. “I’m sorry about what happened to you. Lots of folks are. It’s just that we’re sorry for the pastor and the missus too. It’s hard to get our heads thinking straight when we can’t get our hearts lined up right. Folks will come around. Just give it time.”
“Anna said that pastor sold his house. Do you know where they moved to?”
Peter nodded. “They’re on Woodworth Avenue, number 31, I think. Just east of the cemetery, if you know where that is?”
“I’ll find it on the map.” She glanced at Miki, who was chewing, with the blissful unconcern of a two-year-old, on her cupcake. Pink crumbs scattered over Miki’s dress. “And Michael. What does he do now?”
Peter touched a finger to the side of his nose. “Still swims most days, I reckon. He coaches the high school and college swim teams. I think he also teaches at the community center.”
At least Michael had not quit swimming completely, Lily thought. If he had, her sacrifice would have been entirely for nothing. “Thank you, Mr. Greenwich.”
His smile creased his face. “No problem at all. Welcome home, Lily. It’s good you’re back.”
Chapter 4
Michael knew Lily had returned to town a week earlier, but he had not seen her, which he took to be a good sign. Portsmouth was a small town, but it was at least 21,000 people big. It was perfectly possible for two people who didn’t want to see the other to stay out of each other’s way.
It was impossible, however, to avoid the buzz of gossip around her return.
Molly Marshall, who had apparently seen Lily the day she arrived, had ungraciously conceded that Lily looked stunning—as lovely as ever with her beautiful features, cornflower blue eyes, and golden blond hair. Mrs. Marshall had also suggested that Lily’s supposedly near-fatal wounds were probably exaggerated. She certainly hadn’t displayed any visible signs of injury. Lily had also introduced herself and her daughter, Miki, as Heralds. Wasn’t that rude? It was such a terrible slight to the Falconers. To top it off, Lily had seemed utterly unrepentant and uncaring of the distress her presence must surely inflict on the pastor and the missus.
Molly Marshall had wagged her finger in Michael’s face; that wicked Lily Herald was going to make trouble, no doubt about it.
Michael didn’t doubt it for a second, but Lily was less of a problem than the open floodgates on the gossip channels. Everyone seemed determined to share with him his or her latest Lily encounter. Invariably, the key facts came down to Lily’s polite and cool manner, her dark-haired and green-eyed daughter, who looked nothing like her, and the fact that Lily was as beautiful as ever. Everyone warned Michael against losing his heart to her. Again.
He held back the grimace, nodded politely, and wished the old cats would mind their own business. He had lost his heart to Lily once before, and it hadn’t ended well. Life was too short to make the same damn mistake twice.
Stifling a sigh, he walked into the community center office and checked the swim instructor roster. He was scheduled for a private lesson at 3:30 p.m.; Todd, the community center coordinator, had scribbled Michelle H. on the whiteboard next to his name. Stifling a sigh, Michael rolled his shoulders, which ached from his strenuous workout that morning with the college swim team. He walked into the changing rooms where he stripped down to his swim shorts and a swim shirt, before heading to the indoor pool to meet his student.
A gray-haired woman, holding a little girl by the hand, was waiting for him. “Hello, I’m Nancy Jessen. And this is Michelle.”
Michael knelt down. “Hello, Michelle. I’m Michael. Do you like playing in the water?”
Michelle gave him a cool, narrow-eyed look and nodded slowly. The stubborn set of her mouth was offset by the interest in her sea-green eyes. A mop of dark hair, curling at the ends, gave her an impish expression. Her pink bathing suit featured one of Disney’s princesses. Michael didn’t know which; he had never been able to keep them straight.
He grinned at her. “I’m glad you like playing in water. I do too. We’re going to have lots of fun.” He glanced at the woman, probably Michelle’s grandmother. “If you’d like to have a seat over there—” He gestured at a low but comfortable bench. “You’ll be able to watch the class.”
Michelle was reckless—she jumped without invitation into the water—but she had apparently had a swimming teacher before him because she knew how to turn on her back to float without his prompting. Her impulsiveness was balanced by her willingness to learn, and by the end of the half-hour session, he had her paddling, unassisted, a short distance to the edge of the swimming pool.
Distance and style would come with time and practice, but Michelle had made remarkable progress at her first lesson. “You did great.” He picked her up under the arms and set her on the side of the pool.
A tiny smile, the first he had seen, curved her lips. “Was I awesome?” she asked shyly.
“What?”
Her voice was stronger. “My mommy says I swim well.” Her firm tone and the glare in her eyes dared him to disagree with her.
Michael’s eyebrows shot up. Charmed into a chuckle, he laughed. “Yes, you did awesome. Now, let’s get you back to your family.”
Michelle scrambled to her feet and ran toward Nancy. “You see me, Nana?”
“Of course, I did.” Nancy wrapped a large towel around Michelle and picked her up off the floor. “Now, let’s go get you dried off and changed while your mommy talks to your swim teacher.” Her eyes flicked to someone standing behind Michael.
He turned around, a ready smile on his face, for Michelle’s mother.
The smile froze when his gaze fell on Lily Herald.
“Hello, Michael.”
Her warm, melodious alto jolted him from his shock. “Lily. I…” His mind stayed blank. Moving on autopilot, he extended his hand to her.
An amused smile tugged at her lips as they shook hands like perfect strangers.
He stared at her, drinking in her presence like a man who hadn’t realized he was dying of thirst until he stumbled into an oasis. A single word whispered through the confused tangle of his thoughts. Angel. With her delicate features and the secretive half-smile, she could have been a Renaissance artist’s impression of a heaven-sent angel. Above the slash of her high cheekbones, brilliant blue eyes looked straight into his heart.
This angel, however, was flesh and blood. Her teal turtleneck and fitted denim jeans clung to her slim body, hugging every curve and emphasizing the endless length of her legs. Those legs had once wrapped around him, her body soft and yielding, her arms open.
He swallowed hard and yanked his attention back to her face, but it was no safer than staring at the rest of her. Her hair was loose around her face, longer than she had worn it as a teenager. The length added maturity and tempered the fragile innocence of her appearance. Were the golden strands as silky as he remembered?
Something clawed at his gut.
He prayed it wasn’t lust.
Her faint smile widened slightly. “How are you?”
“I…I’m doing fine. I teach swim classes here, and coach the high school and college teams.” Somehow, he had the feeling he was not telling her anything she didn’t already know. The gossip grapevine probably worked
both ways. No doubt she was as tired hearing about him as he was of hearing about her.
A muscle twitched in his cheek. Liar.
Their shared past was way in the past; for God’s sake, she was his ex-sister-in-law. He groped for a conversation thread that wouldn’t lead into an emotional minefield. “I’d heard you were back in town. Are you staying for the whole summer?”
“Possibly. I’ve not decided yet.”
“What will it depend on?” Damn it. He shouldn’t have said that. The last thing he wanted was to give Lily the impression he cared or worse, that he was still interested in her.
That damn muscle in his cheek twitched again. Liar. Liar. He was suddenly aware that his swim pants would not conceal his rising erection. He turned away and busied himself with picking up the toys scattered around the pool.
“Michael?”
Only Lily could make a question sound like a statement and a demand at the same time. He shook his head as he turned back around to face her. “Don’t bother. It’s not my business.”
She just looked at him. It was that look he had always dreaded receiving from her—the quiet, anticipating expression that implied he already knew the answer. But he didn’t know the answer. What possible reason could she have for returning to town?
Didn’t she know there was nothing left in Portsmouth for her?
“Mommy, Mommy!” Accompanied by Nancy, Michelle returned from the changing room dressed in a light-blue dress that Michael could only describe as a ball gown. She raced to her mother. Her little sneakers thudded on the tiles.
“No running on wet surfaces, Miki,” Lily said. “You know better.”
“I was awesome,” Miki announced with a smile that was equal parts arrogant and cheeky.
Her smile was nothing like Lily’s, but it was familiar, something both his head and his heart instinctively recognized. Kinship tugged at the vicinity of Michael’s chest. That beautiful, energetic little girl was his niece, and he hadn’t even recognized her.
He glanced at Nancy, who stood by the entrance to the pool. “I take it Nana doesn’t stand for ‘my maternal grandmother’ the way it does in most families.”
“Nana is nanny,” Lily said. “Nancy has helped me care for Miki since the day she was born.”
“Convenient,” Michael snapped the word out. Giving in to his anger was easier than acknowledging the inconvenient blast of desire. “Why did you try to pass Michelle—Miki—off as Nancy’s granddaughter? Did you think that if you showed up here with Miki, and used her real name, I might have refused to teach her?”
“Michelle is Miki’s real name. Besides, what Miki and I call Nancy isn’t really relevant. We didn’t do it to deceive you.”
“So why didn’t you bring Miki in for her swimming lesson, huh?” He stalked up to Lily with no more than an intention of wagging his finger in her face, but Lily wrapped her arms protectively around Miki and pulled her back.
A chill tore through Michael. Had she really thought he would hit her or Miki?
He covered his shock with a scowl. “If you want to talk, don’t come to me under false pretenses. We did that whole dog-and-pony-show three years ago.”
Her face paled, but she straightened and her chin lifted up.
In spite of his anger, Michael almost smiled. Lily hadn’t lost any of her inner fire. As for Miki, he gave the little girl another steady look. In spite of her brash arrogance, or perhaps because of it, the kid was cute. My niece. The tight knot in the middle of his chest eased. Mom and Dad would love to see Miki.
Had Lily returned to Portsmouth to introduce Miki to his parents? Surely it couldn’t be as innocuous as that. She had changed Miki’s name from Michelle Falconer to Michelle Herald. She was obviously determined to wipe out all traces of her former connection with the Falconers.
What then? Revenge?
The muscles around his jaw tightened. Instead of the dazzling and carefree Lily he had once known, he saw a traumatized woman who had actually thought he would attack her and her child.
He wasn’t ready for the claw of pain that closed around his heart. How could she possibly think that of him?
Had she changed, or had he?
Lily fought to hold on to her practiced expression of polished indifference.
She had known that meeting Michael again would be difficult and had put it off for an entire week. In fact, she had not planned on seeing him after Miki’s swim class, but the pleasure of watching Michael’s comfortable and playful interaction with Miki had changed her mind.
Now, she knew she should have just stuck with the original plan.
Too late now.
She stared at him and tried to ignore her racing heartbeat.
During Miki’s class, she had watched him from the viewing room outside the enclosed indoor pool. His flashing smile dug dimples in his cheeks as he grinned at her daughter. His swim shirt and shorts showcased his swimmer’s body—broad shoulders, sharply defined abs, and long, leanly muscled arms and legs. He had grown his hair out, though—gone was the crew cut of his college days—and the new style looked better on him. It softened the chiseled edges of his features; it made him look less forbidding, more approachable.
Except there was nothing approachable about the way he glared at her now.
Up close, subtle changes reminded her Michael was not the same young man she had left behind. Thin lines of strain around his eyes and mouth made him seem older than twenty-five. He looked tired, too, and—judging from the set of his eyes and the furrow in his brow—angry.
She could handle all those emotions from Michael. In fact, she had expected them.
What she couldn’t handle was the unexpected gentleness of his expression when he looked at Miki. It made her throat clog up.
Michael looked at her. “When you were married, why didn’t you let Raphael bring Miki back to visit?”
She arched an eyebrow. “Was that what he told you?”
“He said you didn’t want to visit Portsmouth, and you wouldn’t let Miki accompany him.”
“Raphael lied.”
Surprise flashed over Michael’s face.
Lily chuckled, a bitter sound. Michael had always looked up to Raphael. Why would he choose to believe her over his brother? She held out her hand. “Come, Miki. Let’s go.” Lily marched Miki to the exit and looked over her shoulder. Her blue eyes met Michael’s green ones. “Her next lesson is on Thursday, if you think you’re brave enough to take her on.”
Lily turned away, but not before she had the pleasure of seeing Michael’s jaw drop. She had thrown down the gauntlet.
She prayed he cared enough to accept the challenge.
Chapter 5
Thursday rolled around far sooner than Michael would have liked. Lily’s parting shot was like a slap to the face. Of course he would teach Miki; he would not be cowed out of his responsibilities. What he hadn’t yet figured out was what and how to tell his parents. If they knew he was teaching Miki, they would want to see their first and only grandchild, but Lily’s attitude had left him cold. He couldn’t put his parents through that.
He stared down at the slice of pizza on his plate. It was one of Pepe’s everything-but-the-kitchen-sink specials. The surface of the pizza was so covered with toppings that it was impossible to find slivers of the cheese that lay beneath the toppings.
Michael’s attention zeroed in on a tiny fried anchovy peeking out from under a slice of pepperoni.
Lily hated anchovies.
He scowled the thought away.
Anna’s voice yanked him back into the moment. “You look a thousand miles away.”
“Sorry.” He looked up and smiled at her across the table. Lunch dates with Anna were rare since she had her own café to run, but that day, her sister, Katie, had offered to manage the lunch shift so that Anna could get away for a date.
“Are you wondering if you can afford the calories loaded in that pizza?” she teased. “Trust me, you can.” She patted his six-pack ab
domen.
Michael laughed.
Anna reached for her slice. “I’m not sure I can, but I’m going to indulge anyway. It’s been a nerve-grinding week.”
“Really?”
She grimaced. “The entire week, it’s been ‘Lily this…’ and ‘Lily that…’” She shook her head, her dark hair swaying. “She’s the only thing people are talking about. It’s impossible to get away from her even if you don’t see her.”
Michael’s lip twisted into a crooked half-smile. Yeah, he could identify with that.
“She always did make ripples,” Anna said. “You remember when she first came to town—was it ten years ago?”
Nine, Michael corrected mentally. He had been sixteen, and Raphael, a junior in college, had been home for summer vacation. He and his brother had been hanging out portside, as they often did at the end of the day, when a spectacular black and silver yacht passed by, with Lizzie emblazoned on the side.
He had immediately noticed the young woman standing at the bow. The simplicity of her pale blue sundress deferred all the attention to her beauty. With the sun behind her, accentuating the glow of her blond hair, she could have been an angel.
Her gaze shifted toward Michael, and she raised a hand to wave to him.
He waved back, and a moment later, found himself swallowing salt water.
What the—?
Treading water, he looked up at his brother, who was still standing on the dock. “What did you do that for?”
Raphael snorted. “Seems to me you were going to make a fool of yourself, so I decided to help you along.”
Michael cast Raphael a furious glare and then glanced at the passing yacht. The girl was laughing, but there did not seem to be any malice in her posture. In fact, she blew him a kiss, as if in sympathy, and pointed up the river.
Soaked and chilled, Michael hauled himself out of the water. He glanced at Raphael, who was staring in the direction of the boat. Raphael’s jawline appeared taut, and there was an intent look in his narrowed eyes.
Ensnared: A Love Letters Novel Page 3
