Harlequin Special Edition October 2015, Box Set 1 of 2

by Christine Rimmer

  Precisely at one—not that she was surprised he was on time—Mac rang her doorbell. She grabbed a clutch, checked her reflection one final time, then took a deep breath and opened the door. “I’m ready.”

  But was she? For one last date with Mac? And then a goodbye?

  “You look...amazing,” he said. “Breathtaking.”

  Heat crept into her cheeks. “Thank you.” He looked good, too, wearing khakis and a white button-down shirt he’d paired with a dark pink tie. Desire surged within her, but she tamped it down. This was just a date, nothing more. One afternoon together.

  Mac took her hand as they headed down the stairs. She curled her fingers around his, the feeling bittersweet. He was leaving after this and she was clearly a masochist for agreeing to go to this wedding. Seeing him all day, knowing he was going to be gone in the morning, and that she was going to be left behind with a broken heart to run a business she didn’t want to run—

  Yes, masochist described her perfectly.

  He strode down her walkway, then pulled open the passenger’s side door of a restored crimson-red Thunderbird. The car glistened in the sunlight, as perfect as the day it had rolled off the assembly line. “I thought this would be better than my motorcycle.”

  “It’s a gorgeous car.” She settled into the leather seat and buckled her seat belt. “It’s in perfect condition, too.”

  “It’s my brother Luke’s latest project. Like he doesn’t have his hands full already, raising a kid and planning a wedding.” Mac shook his head, then turned to her with a grin on his face. “So do me a favor when we get to the wedding and tell him I bumped it in a parking lot.”

  She laughed. She loved how these brothers teased each other. She’d never had that growing up, and wondered if Mac knew how lucky he was to have so many great brothers. “You wouldn’t do that to your brother, would you?”

  “Hell, yes. They both tease me enough. It’s about time I gave back a little of what I got.” He put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. The engine purred like a contented cat. “Let Luke sweat it for a second, then I’ll tell him I made it all up.”

  “Deal.” She cast a curious glance at Mac as they drove. “You seem different today. More...relaxed.”

  “Had a hell of a morning. But a good one.” He told her about his half brother coming over to the house, the awkward beginning to that, then the conversation with his father about the car lot. The mending of old wounds, the start of new relationships. “Jack invited Colton to the wedding, and I think he’s going to come. Uncle Tank and the cousins will be there, too, so it won’t be a total shock for everyone to meet Colton. My mother was the one who surprised me the most, though.”

  “How so?”

  “She forgave my dad. Welcomed Colton with a hug. I’m not saying it wasn’t hard for her, because you could see in her face that it was, but she took the high road.” Mac turned right, then switched lanes to avoid a puttering sedan in the right lane. “I asked her later why she did that, and she said, when you have something that has worked for thirty-five years, why throw it away over one broken piece? You fix what’s wrong and you move on.” Mac shook his head and smiled. “That’s always been my mother’s philosophy. Fix what doesn’t work, and move on.”

  That was a good philosophy, Savannah thought. But one that sounded easier to say than to implement. So much seemed broken in Savannah’s life right now, that she wasn’t sure where to start to fix it or how to move on. “She sounds like an amazing woman.”

  “She is.” Mac covered Savannah’s hand with his own. Again, he was touching her, and she wondered if she was reading his signals wrong, or if it was simply that his good mood extended to a little hand-holding. “My mother’s going to love you. So just be prepared. She’ll probably invite you to Sunday dinner, which is the final stamp of approval for the Barlow family.”

  “That would be nice,” Savannah said, then tugged her hand out of Mac’s and twined her fingers together. She couldn’t keep pretending everything was okay, because it hurt too much. And she couldn’t keep letting him touch her, because it made her heart ache. “But you’ll be gone Sunday, so there wouldn’t really be much point in going, would there?”

  The truth sat in the small interior of the old car, reminding them both that this trip to the wedding was a sort of undefined thing, not really a date, not really a goodbye. Just a masochist-for-the-day thing.

  Mac moved his hand to the steering wheel. They stopped at a light, and Mac didn’t say anything until it turned green and the car inched forward. “What if I didn’t leave Sunday?”

  She held her breath while she watched the houses of Stone Gap pass in a blur. “What are you saying, Mac?”

  “That maybe I’d like to move my operation down here. Spend some more time with my family.” He shrugged. “Get to know Colton. Rebuild things with my dad.”

  Once again, he hadn’t mentioned her. Or anything between them. She swallowed hard and forced a smile to her face. “That would be great, I’m sure. For you and your family.”

  Not for her. Because if he moved to Stone Gap, she’d have to see him all the time, knowing that there was nothing between them. Nothing but one unforgettable afternoon, and a few tender moments. Moments that clearly mattered more to her than they ever had to him.

  The curse of a small town was how close everything was. They had already reached the church parking lot, and that effectively ended the conversation. Maybe that was a good thing, because Savannah didn’t want to hear again that the only reason Mac was staying was related to his business and family.

  They got out of the car and walked inside the cozy church. Pink ribbon scalloped between the rows and twin tall vases of white flowers flanked the altar. There was an excited hum in the air among the guests, an anticipation of the special day to come.

  Mac slipped a hand under her elbow and led her down the aisle, then up to a tall, beautiful woman with dark hair and warm eyes. “Savannah, I want you to meet my mother, Della. Mama, this is Savannah.”

  “Oh, my, you are so beautiful!” Della drew her into a warm hug. It was an instant connection, as if she had known Della all her life. “So nice to meet you.”

  Savannah liked her immediately. Della had a welcoming smile, and an easy way of talking. “It’s wonderful to meet you, too. Mac has raved about you.”

  “That’s because he’s my favorite.” Della placed a palm on Mac’s cheek and gave him a wink. He shook his head and chuckled. “At least, he is when it’s just him.”

  “That’s a standing joke with me and my brothers,” Mac explained. “We’re all convinced we’re each the favorite. But she tells us all the same thing.”

  “That way you’re all nice to your mother all the time.” She smiled at him with clear love for her oldest son. “Now shoo, Mac, and leave me here with Savannah. Jack is pacing up a storm in the back there, so go calm him down.”

  A moment later, Mac was in the back of the church with the rest of the groomsmen, and Savannah was sitting in a pew. She recognized a few people from town and chatted with them and Mac’s mother while she waited for the wedding to start. She liked Mac’s mother—liked his entire family, in fact. She would miss them when Mac was gone.

  True to her word, Della invited Savannah to Sunday dinner, but Savannah demurred. She didn’t have the heart to tell Della—or the strength to say it out loud—that this was just a one-day thing, and then Mac would be out of her life.

  At exactly two, Jack stood at the front of the church, flanked by his brothers. All of them wearing the same khakis, white shirt and pink ties. Jack’s face was tight with nerves, his hands clasped in front of him. The organ music started, the people in the church rose and the back doors opened. Savannah turned and saw Meri pause for a second before she started down the aisle. The former beauty queen was resplendent in a simple white sheath that skimmed a
long her lithe frame. She had her blond hair partially up, and covered with a veil that trailed along the back of the dress. She clutched a bouquet of white daisies, tied with a thick pink ribbon.

  As Meri made her way down the aisle, Savannah swiveled her attention back to Jack. His eyes were wide and the smile on his face could have lit up the moon. Love was etched on every inch of his face.

  Her gaze skipped over to Mac, expecting to see him standing there stoic and calm, the quintessential best man, but instead, he was looking at Savannah. She couldn’t read the look in his eyes, didn’t want to speculate, because a part of her wanted so badly to see that same bright light of love on Mac’s face. Instead, she turned away and focused only on the bride and groom.

  Moments later, the wedding was over. Della was drying her tears; Bobby was pretending he hadn’t cried. The guests made their way out of the church and across the street to a park that had been decorated for the reception. Lights had been strung between the trees, some tucked into hanging mason jars with flowers weaving in and around the power cords, making them seem as if they were part of the landscape. Long white tables were decorated with simple bud vases holding bright pink and white flowers. Wooden chairs flanked the tables, topped with big pink ribbon bows that trailed along the grass. A dance floor had been set up by the gazebo, which held a local three-piece band Savannah had heard before and really enjoyed. It was elegant and simple and perfect. For a second, Savannah wished this was her wedding.

  Then she remembered she was here only as a guest of Mac’s, not as his fianceé or his bride or anything more than...a friend, she supposed. No need to get wrapped up in any romantic fantasies.

  But when the band launched into “At Last,” and the bridal party began walking in, her heart leaped at the sight of Mac. Damn, he really was a handsome man. And when he smiled...she could hardly form a coherent thought.

  He broke away from his brothers and crossed to her. Her heart stuttered in her chest, and for a second she forgot to breathe. “Did I tell you that you look incredible?”

  She laughed. “Yes, several times.”

  “That’s because you are so stunningly beautiful, I forget what I’ve said.” He put out a hand. “Want to dance?”

  She nodded, and he took her hand, then pulled her to the dance floor, where they mingled with Jack and Meri, Luke and Peyton, and their parents. Mac put his arm around her waist, clasped her opposite hand, then deftly waltzed her around the floor. The music flowed like a river between them, and their steps matched with little effort, as if she’d been born to dance with him. She caught the dark, deep scent of his cologne, and fought the urge to nestle her cheek against his. The heat from his body warmed hers, and the familiar stirrings of desire ran through her veins. She wanted this song to last forever, to stay exactly where she was, in Mac’s arms.

  God, what was wrong with her? This wasn’t anything more than a simple dance. It didn’t foreshadow anything longer than the three minutes the band played.

  “How’d you get so good at dancing?” she asked, because if she didn’t make some kind of conversation, she knew she was going to kiss his neck, kiss his lips...and that would lead to her wanting to do much, much more. “I don’t think the Boy Scouts offered that as a badge.”

  He chuckled. “No, they didn’t. When I was in college I enrolled in dance lessons for a couple months. Figured it was a good way to meet girls, then sweep them off their feet.”

  “And did it work?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, then took her hand and spun her out and back into his chest. He leaned down until his cheek was beside hers. She inhaled the tempting scent of his cologne and closed her eyes for a moment. “Is it working?”

  Hell, yes, it was. Everything he did worked on her, as if she was under a permanent Mac spell. “Are you trying to sweep me off my feet?”

  He turned her back into his arms. She fitted against his chest, smooth and easy, like she had always been in that warm, inviting space. “Yes, I am.”

  Mac Barlow, the king of mixed messages. Damn him. Why couldn’t he just come out and say what he was feeling? She stopped dancing and stepped back. “What is this about, Mac? Because last I checked, we were not a thing. We were a one-time mistake and nothing more.”

  “You think what happened at the beach house was a mistake?”

  Before she could answer him, the song ended and the other dancers began to disperse. Just as Savannah was about to speak, a burly man came up behind Mac and wrapped him in a bear hug. “How’s my favorite nephew?”

  Mac turned around. “Uncle Tank! Good to see you.”

  “You, too.”

  Mac made the introductions, but Savannah barely listened. She was still mulling what had happened on the dance floor. Either way, a relationship with Mac wasn’t possible. She lived here, worked here, and Mac’s life was hundreds of miles away in Boston. He’d said maybe he would stay in Stone Gap, but none of that was definite, and right now, Savannah just wanted a clear, defined path. No more of his muddled messages.

  Tank grinned at Mac. “Now, where’s that crabby brother of mine?”

  “Standing with Colton.” Mac pointed across the dance floor, where his father stood beside a tall man who looked a lot like Mac, but had lighter hair.

  “Well, I’ll be,” Tank said. “Miracles never cease to happen, do they?” Tank clapped Mac on the shoulder, then thumbed toward Bobby. “I’m going to go see your dad. I don’t know why we stopped talking years ago, but I figure it’s about time we started again. I’m not getting any younger, and he’s not getting any handsomer.”

  Mac laughed, then said goodbye to his uncle, who crossed to Mac’s father and Colton. He watched for a second as Bobby and Tank talked. Tank, in his usual burly, over-the-top style, reached out and drew Bobby into a one-armed hug and gave him a knuckle rub on the head. That was all it took to end the years apart.

  “Brothers never change,” Mac said. Then he turned back to Savannah. “Sorry about that.” He put out his hands. “Want to dance again?”

  She wanted nothing more than to step into his arms and be swept away. But her heart knew this wasn’t going to last, and being here with him was as painful as severing a limb. She couldn’t put on a happy face anymore, not when her heart was breaking. “No, Mac. I can’t.”

  She walked off the dance floor and over to one of the tables. It wasn’t time to eat yet, so most of the guests were still milling about. Savannah would have given anything for an excuse not to talk to Mac right now, not while her head and her heart were on this rollercoaster.

  Mac pulled out the chair beside her. “We can sit if you’re tired—”

  “I mean I can’t keep pretending that we have...something between us,” she said, the pent-up words bursting from her in a rapid stream. “Because we don’t. I thought we did, and when we made love, I thought we had something really special, but I was fooling myself.”

  Mac sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “What do you want from me, Savannah? I’m trying here.”

  “I know you are. But it’s not enough. I want that.” She pointed to Jack and Meri, their faces close together as they danced. Love practically radiated from their pores, filled every inch of space between them. “I want someone whose face lights up like the sun when he looks at me. Someone who isn’t afraid to risk everything for the slim chance of finding that kind of happiness. I want it all, Mac, and I won’t settle for less.”

  “Savannah—”

  She put up a hand. “Please, don’t say anything. I’m just going to go. I have work to do, and...I’m sorry. Give Jack and Meri my apologies.”

  Then she turned on her heel and fled the ball like Cinderella at midnight. Except there was no prince coming after her, and no fairy godmother to grant her heart’s desire. Just a rotting pumpkin stuffed with realities that she’d waited too long to face.

>   * * *

  Mac stayed at the wedding for another hour, pretending to be social, but his mind lingered on Savannah. He watched his brothers with the women they loved, and jealousy ran through him like a fiery river. They had taken the leap, risked their hearts, changed their lives, and this was where they got—

  Blissfully happy.

  Whereas he was standing here alone with a mental plan to ride back to Boston tomorrow, back to the work he thought had made him happy. But that was all it was—work, not a life.

  He looked around the wedding. Meri was laughing at something Peyton had said, the two women watching the men they loved out of the corner of their eyes. Colton was sitting at a table with several of the cousins, engaged in some deep conversation about something sports related, given the snippets Mac could overhear. His mother, father and Uncle Tank surrounded the punch bowl, laughing and talking as if no time had passed between them. This was his family, for all its warts and imperfections, and he loved them. A part of him didn’t want to leave for Boston at all in the morning. He thought again about what he had said to Savannah in the car.

  What if I didn’t leave?

  What if he did stay? Moved his business here, like he’d mentioned. It would be harder to operate from Stone Gap, because they would be so far from the central hubs where most of the corporate world operated, but it wouldn’t be impossible.

  The bigger problem was this growing sense of dissatisfaction in Mac’s chest. He didn’t want to go back to Boston, because he didn’t want to go back to the status quo. He thought of the businesses he had yet to sell, the few he’d been keeping on the backburner, ostensibly as part of a bigger package to sell when combined with Hillstrand Solar. Maybe there was another option, one that would give him a renewed purpose, a bigger challenge. An idea that had been percolating in his head all week, spurred by something Savannah had said, began to coalesce.