by Loree Lough
Liam didn’t respond. Instead, he exhaled a long sigh. “You still mad at me for getting that court order?”
When he realized how quickly she was going through the insurance settlement from her accident, Liam had seen a lawyer to gain control of her money. She’d fought him at every turn, because his actions would put a stop to her street drugs. He’d won, and she’d despised him for it. In hindsight, Lillie felt nothing but gratitude.
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me at first. But time, and sobriety, helped me see that if you hadn’t done it, I would only have wasted every dime. So no, I’m not mad. In fact, I’m relieved that you did it. You quite literally saved my life.”
Another deep sigh, and then, “You don’t know how pleased I am to hear that. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make. But that’s all history now, thank God, and I’m glad we got it out of the way before we reached the inn.” He squeezed her hand. “I can have things reversed now, if you want me to.”
Lillie believed she’d kicked the habit for good. But she’d heard too many horror stories of people who assumed the same thing, only to fall back into old habits.
“Let’s just leave things as they are for now,” she said. “I’ve paid everyone back, except for you and Mom and...” And Jase. “And it isn’t like I need the money for a world cruise or anything.”
That, at least, produced a genuine laugh.
“So, how long before you’ll call him?” her dad asked.
Lillie had to give him credit. He’d heard that little hesitation in her voice and knew exactly what it meant.
“I don’t know.” Of all the confrontations, that one scared her most.
“The longer you wait, the harder it’ll be.”
“He doesn’t know I’m back, so there’s no rush.”
The look on her dad’s face told her otherwise.
“But how could he know? I didn’t know myself until a week ago, when I made the plans and called you guys.”
“He... Jase sort of stayed in touch.”
“Sort of?”
“Every time he calls or stops by, he says it’s just because he wants to make sure we’re okay. But we weren’t born yesterday. We know he only wants a Lillie update. He’s dating someone. This one seems nice enough.”
This one? There had been others? Of course he wouldn’t have put his life on hold, waiting for her to come back...
“You...you met them...these women Jase dated?”
“Not exactly. Ran into him at the movies once, at a restaurant another time. And there were a couple of chance meetings at the ice cream stand. I’ll give him this: he sure knows how to pick the purty ones!” Liam chuckled. “No surprise there, when he started out with a beauty like you.”
Again, her father cut loose with the ear-piercing whistle. Her heart ached at the thought of Jase with someone else, but she had only herself to blame. If she hadn’t single-handedly destroyed their relationship, they’d be married, might even have a child by now. “Some of the people you’ve hurt will move on,” the rehab psychologists had said. “You need to let them. Wish them well, and do the same, yourself.”
Easier said than done, Lillie thought.
“Well, great.” He didn’t know it, but Jase had spared her the challenge of working hard to earn back his trust. “I’m happy for him.”
“You’re happy for him? Really?”
“Don’t sound so shocked, Dad. Jase is a good man, and deserves the best that life has to give.” And God knows that isn’t me.
“I give it another month,” her dad said. “Two, tops.”
“Why? I thought you said she seemed nice.”
“Oh, she’s all right, if you’re into leggy blondes. It’s just that this thing Jase has going with—Whitney’s her name—let’s just say she’s all wrong for him. You know your mother’s talent for reading people? Well, she says it’s healthy for Jase to sow some wild oats before he finally settles down. And I agree with her.”
A twinge of guilt shot through her, because it didn’t bother her one bit, hearing that this...this Whitney was all wrong for Jase. If you had an ounce of decency in you, you’d want him to be happy.
“What do you mean, she’s all wrong for him?”
Liam shrugged. “She isn’t you.” He turned into the inn’s drive. “So of course it won’t last.”
Another eddy of guilt swirled through her. And right behind it, a glimmer of hope.
Because oh, how she wanted her dad to be right!
CHAPTER TWO
“IT’S SO SWEET of you to do this for me, Jason.” Whitney giggled. “You’ve been so sweet about chauffeuring me around that I don’t feel the slightest bit helpless.”
“Helpless? You?” Jase laughed. Somehow, she’d managed to keep her sweet and sensitive side intact, even while working with the associates and partners at a high-powered law office. Everyone in his life knew how much he disliked being called Jason, yet Whitney had never referred to him any other way.
“You really don’t mind spending your entire day helping me run errands?”
She’d asked, and given him ample opportunity to say no. Wouldn’t be right to hold her feet over the fire now, just because boredom had him counting all the things he could be doing instead.
“I know what it’s like when your car is in the shop.” Not exactly an answer to her question, but it beat hurting her feelings with the truth.
“I can’t believe all this traffic! It’s three in the afternoon. On a Thursday. Why aren’t people at work?”
“We aren’t,” Jase said, chuckling.
“No. No we aren’t, are we. And I’m one hundred percent grateful that you took the day off, just for me!”
Her good-natured disposition was refreshing, especially compared with other women he’d dated: the librarian, who couldn’t talk about anything but books; the boutique owner, who tried—and failed—to dress him like a Gatsby character; the PE teacher who ate nothing but nuts and grains...and expected him to follow suit; and the pièce de résistance, the cellist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, who thought he’d appreciate sitting in her living room...while she practiced her portion of Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon in D Major.”
“It’ll be so nice, having my watch back again.”
Whitney giggled, a pleasant enough sound, but it didn’t begin to compare with Lillie’s musical laughter. Jase flinched inwardly. It had been months since he’d had a positive thought about Lillie. Better clear your head, fool...
“I rarely wear mine anymore,” he said, steering into the right lane.
“I must seem like a dinosaur. Everyone but me uses their cell phones these days.”
“Yeah, but when you want to know what time it is, all you have to do is glance at your wrist. The rest of us have to find our phones.” Whitney was one of the most pulled-together women he’d had the pleasure of knowing. So why did she feel the need to defend herself all the time?
Because you’re doing something to make her feel that way. What, he couldn’t say.
“At least this stop kills two birds with one stone.” Whitney unbuckled her seat belt. “You know, since the Flower Basket is right next door to St. John’s Jewelers.”
In the rearview mirror, he saw a red SUV. He’d parked beside it enough times to recognize it as Lillie’s dad’s. Liam had probably decided to grab a bouquet for Amelia as an early Mother’s Day gift. Jase backed into a space directly across from the shop’s entrance as Whitney said, “I can’t decide whether to get Patsy a green plant or a spray of roses.”
Her best friend, who’d been at Johns Hopkins for nearly a week.
“I’m sure Patsy will be happy with either.”
And that was when he noticed someone in Liam’s passenger seat.
Not just someone.
Lillie.
His heart beat a little harder.
“I’m thinking a plant—” Whitney continued, one hand on the door lever “—so she can take it home with her. Which, unless she spikes a fever or something, should be in a day or two.”
“Yeah. Mmm-hmm. Right,” he muttered, watching as father and daughter exited the car.
The shop was cute—as flower shops went—and small. No way could he avoid running into Lillie in there. Or introducing her to Whitney. She’d been gone more than a year, no note, no call, not even a text message. For all he knew, she’d moved on, too. So why did he dread seeing her after all this time? And why was his heart beating double-time now?
“Wouldn’t it be better to take care of your watch battery first? You know, so the plant won’t sit in the hot car and, uh, wilt?”
That giggle again. And then Whitney placed her hand atop his on the gearshift. “It’s May, Jason, and seventy degrees, not ninety.”
“Yeah, but the sun is beating down like it thinks it’s August. Only takes ten minutes for the truck’s interior to reach one hundred degrees on a day like this.”
She wasn’t buying it. If he didn’t do something quick, he’d find himself in the Flower Basket, introducing his could-be fiancée to his ex-fiancée.
Whitney made a habit of putting her cell phone into his console’s cup holder, and he used it to his advantage. In one swift move, he backhanded it to the floor.
“Aw, man, sorry, Whit.”
She frowned—or as close to a frown as the always-pleasant Whitney got—and leaning forward, said, “No harm done, Jason. The floor is carpeted.”
For safe measure, he reached for it, too. But instead of retrieving it, he batted it under the passenger seat.
“Aw, man. I’m such a klutz!”
While she bent down, patting the floor mat in search of her phone, Jase looked up...
...and saw Lillie.
And his heart beat like a parade drum.
Her long auburn waves were chin-length now, and in place of her customary jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, she’d worn a gauzy calf-length skirt that billowed with every puff of the wind. She had on matching yellow shoes that looked like ballet slippers and a puffy-sleeved blouse with ruffles at the wrists. She still walked like a woman who knew where she was going, head up and arms swinging slightly. Marilyn Monroe–style sunglasses hid big eyes that couldn’t decide if they were brown or green, and if he knew Lillie, she’d applied a hint of shadow and just enough mascara to showcase those long lashes.
“There,” Whitney announced, “got it. Finally!”
He half ran to her side of the pickup and opened the passenger door. “First stop, jewelry store?” Taking her hand, he helped her to the pavement.
Grinning, she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “All right, Jason, whatever you think best.”
With any luck, Lillie hadn’t seen the kiss.
With a little more luck, he’d figure out where that crazy thought had come from. Lillie was a part of his past. It had taken a while, but his life was on track again, and Jase aimed to keep it that way.
“Thank you,” Whitney said.
“For what?”
“For helping me figure out what to get you for your birthday.” She shouldered her purse and smiled up at him.
It took a conscious effort not to look into the flower shop, where by now Lillie and her dad were searching out just the right gift for Amelia.
“My birthday isn’t until July.”
“Oh, I’m not waiting that long. This old buggy of yours needs running boards. I’m five foot six, and I feel so short getting in and out of it.”
“Ah. So my birthday present is really for you,” he teased.
Lashes fluttering, Whitney said, “Can I help it if that’s the way you choose to look at it?”
He followed her into the shop and breathed a sigh of relief when she marched straight up to the counter. Maybe he could talk Whitney into going to the florist in the Columbia Mall, too. That could work, especially if he suggested they grab a bite to eat while they were there.
His relief was short-lived, thanks to the sudden nerve-racking thought that Liam might want to buy jewelry for Amelia, to go along with the flowers...and Lillie might go into the jewelry story with him.
More determined than ever to talk Whitney into going straight to the mall, he leaned into the display case behind him. Whitney was asking for a new watch battery. She didn’t use her hands, like Lillie always had. Once, he’d asked if some Italian blood coursed through the Rourke clan. She’d responded with a thick-brogued, “Yer ears must be on upside down, Jase Yeager! M’bloodline is pure green, I tell you!” And he’d grasped her wrists, pulled her close and kissed—
“What are you smiling about?” Whitney asked.
Standing up straight, he crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Told you it’d take longer than ten minutes to change your battery.”
“The woman isn’t sure it is the battery.” She glanced toward the doorway that led to the repair shop. “I hope they’re wrong. My grandparents gave it to me when I graduated from the U of M. I’d hate to think it’s irreparable.”
The University of Maryland was his alma mater, too. He’d started on a degree in communications. His dad had pointed out that it would limit his choices in the job market, though, and as usual, the old man had been right. The BA in business had been instrumental in helping him organize and grow his mother’s company.
“I’m sure they can fix it.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
Standing close beside him, she rested her hip against his as she continued staring at the narrow doorway, arms and ankles crossed, just like his. Whitney had always been accommodating. No matter what he suggested, from restaurants to movies, from ballgames to staying home and watching old movies, she’d been agreeable. She was pretty. Hardworking and smart. He liked her. But...why couldn’t he feel something more for her, something deeper?
She took his hand and aimed his forefinger at a bracelet, glittering under the bright overhead lights.
“Isn’t that just gorgeous!”
She’d been hinting that their relationship had passed from “just dating” to serious. But not nearly serious enough for diamonds, he thought.
Jase grinned at her. “I suppose...if you’re into glitz and glam.”
She moved farther down the display case, pointing out earrings, pendants and anklets that matched the bracelet. When she maneuvered toward the rings, Jase pretended to scratch an itch beside his nose as an excuse to let go of her hand, because she’d zeroed in on a square-cut solitaire, nearly identical to the one in his sock drawer. The one he’d given Lillie shortly after her release from physical therapy. The one she’d returned after he called her on the carpet for taking the guys’ money.
Whitney continued examining the glass cases until she reached the presentation of men’s watches. “This one is nice, isn’t it?”
He nodded, though he’d barely seen it. Jase was too busy remembering the night he gave the ring to Lillie...the week after her release from the PT facility and two weeks before her twenty-sixth birthday. They’d just finished a close-harmony rendition of an Eagles tune when he asked the audience to share in some good news...and held up the tiny blue velvet box.
Lillie’s big eyes had grown round and wide as she stood, grinning and blinking under the spotlight. Then she’d grabbed the mic and faced the band. “I think he’s trying to tell us we’re doing ‘Blue Velvet’ next.”
Jase smiled at the memory.
Whitney rapped on the glass counter. “Jason? Would you ever wear a man’s bracelet, like this one?”
“Nah,” he managed, his mind still fogged by the fond memory...
Whistles and applause had filled Three-Eyed Joe’s pub. “Quit beatin’ around the bush,” the Muzikalees’ drummer said into hi
s mic.
“Ned’s right,” Spence agreed, playing a run on his guitar. “Pop the question why don’t you, so we can get back to work!”
“What about a necklace?” Whitney wanted to know.
“Nah,” he repeated, “I’m not much into trinkets.” He tried to focus on the thick gold chain, but what he saw was Lillie, opening the little box, smiling past glittering tears as she handed him the ring and waited for him to put it on her finger.
“Yes,” she’d said matter-of-factly. Then, more emphatically, “Yes.” And standing on tiptoe, she’d nearly knocked him over with a powerful Lillie hug.
When he kissed her, a patron yelled, “Atta boy, Jase! Atta boy!” And he’d barely heard the applause because—
“Have you ever considered wearing an earring?”
Jase shook his head, hoping to rid himself of those memories.
“Well? Would you?”
“Me? A pierced ear? Like a pirate?” He forced a laugh. “Have you met me?”
Whitney laughed, too, then exhaled a feminine groan. “You are the most difficult man to buy a gift for!”
“You know I’m not big on gifts.” He pulled her into a light hug. “Besides, a little bird told me I’m getting running boards this year.”
She blushed prettily and would have kissed him if the clerk hadn’t said “Ms. Hendricks?”
Whitney went to the counter, and while she and the jeweler discussed the watch, Jase faced Route 40. Cars, trucks and motorcycles bulleted past. Then he noticed that his passenger window was down. Not partway, but all the way. Whitney must have accidentally hit the button while searching for her phone. “Payback,” he murmured, and stepped up beside her.
“I left the truck window open and it looks like rain. Be right back,” he told her. And without waiting for a reply, Jase palmed his keys and made his way to the parking lot...
...and crashed into Lillie, crushing a long-stemmed flower between them.
“Jase?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
He felt like an idiot when he replied, “Lillie...”
“Dad and I were just picking up a few things for Mom.”
