Chapter One #2
Before she could respond, a chubby young woman with improbably red hair ran up to gush at them. “It’s so fun to see you both together again,” she said, her words bubbling over with enthusiasm. “I still remember the night you were crowned Homecoming King and Queen.”
Kimberly was prepared to set her straight when Jed took the woman’s hand and kissed it. “Darla Thomas—right? You were a year behind us. So nice to see you.”
Jed’s greeting stunned the poor female. Her eyes rounded even as her pale skin reddened with a blush of gigantic proportions. Kimberly couldn’t really blame her. Having Jed focus his considerable sex appeal at such close range was like detonating a bomb in an old-fashioned phone booth.
Even Kimberly felt the heat.
Before she could take advantage of the interruption to escape, Jed snagged her wrist and tucked her against his side. “I hope you’ll excuse us, Darla, but Kimberly and I have some catching up to do.”
His wicked wink gave the other woman entirely the wrong impression. Darla backed away, nodding and giggling. “Of course. No problem.”
When the poor girl scuttled out of earshot, Kimberly glared at him. “Are you nuts? Darla is the biggest gossip in town.” Or one of them anyway. In Royal, news traveled at the speed of light.
“What’s to gossip about?” he asked.
“Don’t be obtuse. You deliberately gave her the wrong impression.”
“I said nothing but the truth.”
“We don’t have anything to say to each other as far as I can tell.”
“You owe me closure.” His gaze was no longer charming. If anything, the dark look in his eyes was a threat. “As soon as we handle that, you won’t ever have to speak to me again.”
“Closure?” She parroted the word, not sure what he meant or what he wanted.
“Conversation. A meal. A couple of dances. That last paragraph in our story you cheated us out of reading.”
She searched his face, looking for sincerity.
Inevitably, she had wondered a million times if she had done the right thing in breaking up with him.
But surely Jed had moved on quickly. He’d been an eighteen-year-old boy heading off to university.
Any anger and hurt he felt at her defection would have been short-lived.
“Fine.” She shrugged. “If it’s that important to you. But why now?”
The blue eyes warmed, and his rigid jaw relaxed enough to smile...a genuine smile. “It is important, Kimberly. Thank you. And as for why now? Well, why not now? You’re here...I’m here... The time is right.”
* * *
Jed might have won the skirmish, but even after Kimberly’s consent she managed to avoid him for the next forty-five minutes. She pretended to be busy, but he had a feeling she was inventing tasks in order to stay as far away from him as possible.
He used the time to mix and mingle, greeting old friends who now lived out of town and exchanging jokes and conversation with men and women he had known for most of his life.
Royal was a great place to live and raise a family.
As content and successful as he was in Dallas, he couldn’t deny the pull of home.
The faces were familiar: Craig Richardson had been a senior when Jed was a freshman. Megan Maguire, who managed the local animal shelter, was as cute and friendly as ever. Even Keaton Holt was here tonight, and Keaton was not much of a party animal.
After meeting his social obligations, Jed scoped out the seating choices carefully. Most of the tables were arranged for eight, but there were a few smaller ones set up for four. As they registered, guests had been urged to take pre-prepared place cards and put them where they wanted to sit.
Once most people were seated and Kimberly still hovered near the chafing dishes, Jed wandered over to the entrance and spotted the name tags of a couple who hadn’t shown up yet. Chances were they’d had to cancel.
Casually, he picked up place cards for himself and for Kimberly and then snagged the ones for the missing duo, as well. He seated himself at one of the two remaining quad tables, set out all the name cards and waited.
Finally, Kimberly was forced to acknowledge him. With a grimace and a halfhearted wave, she summoned him to the serving line. The two of them filled their plates. Jed led his reluctant date to the empty table.
Kimberly balked when she saw they were sitting alone. “We can find space at one of the bigger tables,” she said. “I’m sure you’d like to visit with your friends.”
He put a gentle hand on the small of her back and urged her forward. “You’re the only one I want to talk to. Sit down, Kimberly.”
The band played unobtrusively during the meal. Conversation filled the room except for the island of silence where Jed and Kimberly sat. She attacked her chicken cordon bleu as if she hadn’t eaten in weeks, and never once did she take her eyes off her food.
But her deliberate attempt not to look at Jed gave him plenty of time to observe her.
It was disconcerting to realize that the pull of attraction was still alive and well.
There were many women in attendance tonight.
But the only one with the power to make Jed ache for the past was this vibrant, sexy female who had once been the focus of his nightly dreams.
He allowed her to finish, surmising that she couldn’t avoid looking at him forever. At last, however, both of their plates were empty, and they had polished off dessert, as well. During the meal, Kimberly downed three glasses of wine to his two, betraying her unease.
His temper began to simmer. “You used to be a lot chattier,” he said, provoking her deliberately. “As I recall, you had plenty to say on the subject of us.”
She sat back in her chair, her big brown eyes stormy with emotion. “The past is the past, Jed. I’m not sure what you want from me.”
Draining his coffee cup, he fought to keep his response civil. “An explanation would be nice. Something more than a Dear John letter with the ink still wet. Maybe you wanted to break up with me all along, but you were too cowardly to do it. I’ve always wondered about your motives.”
“You were leaving. I was staying. That was motive enough.”
“I don’t think so. All you said in that patronizing note was that long-distance relationships never work, and you were setting me free. But I think you lied to me. And I want to know why. I’m a grown man now. I’ve moved on. But the kid I used to be took it hard.”
“You’re right,” she said quietly, her gaze reflecting the misery he’d felt that morning he’d loaded his pickup and stopped by her house to say goodbye. “It was more than that.”
“Tell me, Kimberly.” He put his hand over hers on the table. “Please.”
She went still when he touched her. Had she felt the zing of heat as skin met skin? At one time they had been the world to each other, completely attuned to mood and emotion.
Gently, he rubbed the back of her hand, his fingers running up and down over the delicate bones. Her manicure was immaculate, a pale, pearly pink like the inside of a seashell. For a vivid, heart-stopping moment, he flashed back to the memory of those feminine hands on his body.
He cleared his throat. “Why did you lie to me, Kimberly?”
Her head moved from side to side in a vehement negative. “I told you...it wasn’t a lie. Maybe it wasn’t the whole truth, either.”
“Then I want it all,” he said. He’d spent weeks and months and years wondering why he had never again met a woman who moved him like this one. Or why the first girl he had ever slept with hadn’t cared enough to hang on to him.
“You were a Farrell, a wealthy, privileged young man on the cusp of a bright future. I loved you too much to hold you back. My grandmother was my responsibility. There was no one else to care for her but me. And I knew if I tried to explain all that to you, you would argue with me. I couldn’t bear it. ”
“I offered to buy you a bus ticket once a month to come visit me.”
“And I said no. That would only have made things worse. It hurt like hell to send you away, but I knew I couldn’t survive a long, slow unraveling of what we had. You were my first love, Jed. My first lover. I wanted to keep that memory bright and beautiful. So I cut you loose.”
“I called you every day for two damned weeks.”
“I know. I hated hearing the phone ring. It tore me up inside. But I knew that in time things would get better.”
“And did they?”
It was a sucker-punch of a question. He knew she had been engaged three or four years ago.
And it had ended badly. Sometimes the grapevine was actually helpful.
Should he admit that hearing about her aborted love affair had almost convinced him to come home and try again?
But he’d been snowed under at work, and involved in a relationship of his own. So the moment had passed.
Kimberly lifted her chin. “I didn’t pine away if that’s what you’re asking. And I’m sure you had plenty of female company along the way.”
“Jealous, Kimmie?” The affectionate nickname slipped out.
She sniffed, her expression haughty. “You flatter yourself. I’ve had my share of relationships over the years.”
“I’m sure you have.” He didn’t want to think about it.
“What’s gotten into you, Jed?”
He wasn’t sure he could have explained even if he tried. It was a hell of a blow to his ego to admit he’d never been able to get her out of his mind. And his heart. So instead, he changed the subject. “Let’s dance,” he said brusquely.
“Why?”
Her suspicion of his motives was probably well-founded. But at least on the dance floor he could hold her. “For old times’ sake.”
Satisfaction flooded his gut when Kimberly allowed him to draw her to her feet without protest. But on her face he saw both mistrust and apprehension. The battle wasn’t over.
He wasn’t much for country music. Or any music, for that matter. He was tone deaf and preferred the beauty of silence. That and the sounds of nature. The whinnying of a horse. The raw cry of an eagle.
But even he could appreciate the band tonight.
It was a group of local boys who had curried fame and favor by writing and playing their own music—most of it love songs.
Instead of line dancing and boot stomping, Jed was able to enjoy tucking Kimberly against his shoulder and moving slowly to a melody that made him yearn for a simpler time.
As a high school kid, nothing much had mattered except for sports and grades and Kimberly Fanning. Not necessarily in that order. If the team won...if he pulled an A on a history paper...if Kimmie smiled at him during lunch...all was right with his world.
Right up until the day she stomped on his heart.
Caught in a tantalizing time warp, he ran his hand down her back. She felt right in his arms. The passage of years was immaterial. Though he had come here tonight to get an honest answer out of Kimberly, the truth was far more complicated.
The two of them had dated for a year and a half. They had laughed together, danced together, watched movies together and on three separate, memorable occasions in the spring right before graduation, they had slept together.
Even now he could see the look in her eyes the moment he took her innocence.
Kimmie had been radiant. Utterly serene.
He hadn’t had to coax. She had been as enthralled in the physical pull as he was.
And though he had been fumbling and awkward and quick off the mark, Kimberly made him feel like a king.
He shook his head slightly, caught in the cobwebby remnants of the past. She was just a girl. That’s all. And in the interim, he’d dated dozens of women. Slept with a handful.
There was no reason at all for him to feel such a rush of excitement at holding her again.
With a sigh, she rested her head on his collarbone. The simple intimacy of the gesture rocked him. Couples came and went on the dance floor. He and Kimberly danced on.
Her breasts were full and warm against his chest. He held her close, far too close for propriety. It was inevitable that she recognized his arousal. He didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or sanguine about it. Because she sure as hell wasn’t pulling away.
“Come up to my room,” he urged. “I want to be alone with you.”