manager and…”
“And dozens of gorgeous models and actresses falling all over him.”
“Can you blame them?” A perky blonde lowered her voice to a whisper. “Did you see that article about him in Celebrity?”
A woman whose dark hair was streaked with gray nodded. “You mean the one showing him on the deck of that mansion he bought in Malibu? They said he never grants interviews. He jogs before the sun comes up. He works all night, sleeps all day, and keeps his private life extremely private. He looked like the dark, brooding hero of every one of his books. I thought I’d die.”
The others sighed their agreement.
“Guess where he went as soon as he checked in?” Libby lowered her voice, even though everyone in the room knew the answer to that except Emily.
Emily shrugged. “I can’t imagine.”
“To the Daisy Diner. You know who works there, don’t you?”
Emily didn’t need to respond. In a town as small as Devil’s Cove, everyone knew where everyone worked. And it was no secret that Carrie Lester, an old classmate, had been working there for years.
Emily kept her tone steady. “That’s really nice. Jason and Carrie’s brother, Cory, were best friends.”
Libby gave a short laugh. “Maybe Cory wasn’t his only best friend. You know…” She looked around at the others for confirmation. “…I’ve always thought Carrie’s little girl had eyes like a certain bestselling author and playboy who was once known as the bad boy of Devil’s Cove.”
“I think we’d better get those balloons up and head home.” Emily’s throat felt so tight, she could hardly get the words out.
“Okay.” Libby shrugged. “Emily’s right. We’d better move it if we want to look glamorous for the cocktail party tonight. And now that we’ve got Jason Cooper in our midst, we have to look our best. Connie, help Marge get those balloons in place.”
When the others walked away, Emily let out a long, slow breath.
Jason Cooper. Here in Devil’s Cove.
She hadn’t seen him since she was eighteen. He’d left town the day after graduation, without a word to anyone. Like Libby, there were many who thought it was because Carrie Lester was carrying his baby. Emily had never believed that. Not then. Not now. Still, it hurt to know that in all the time they’d been apart, he’d never made a single attempt to contact her. And now, after all this time, it was Carrie he went to see.
She shrugged it off. She’d worked hard to put Jason Cooper out of her mind. And she’d succeeded. Now he was nothing more than a bittersweet memory of earlier, innocent times.
“What about that banner?” Emily started toward the stage. There was no way she was going to stand idly by and pick at old wounds. “Can somebody give me a hand putting this up?”
She caught hold of a ladder and began to climb. This was what she needed. Nothing like good hard physical work to keep the mind from going into overdrive.
“Jason.” Carrie Lester sloshed coffee over the rim of the cup she was carrying. She hissed a breath and folded a paper napkin in the saucer before handing it to Teddy Morton, one of her regulars. Then she rounded the counter and paused to study the darkly handsome man who stood framed in the doorway. “You look…” She shook her head. “…different…successful.”
“Is that the best you can do?” He arched a brow before striding toward the sister of his best friend and kissing her cheek. “You look as pretty as ever.”
“Yeah. Right.” She touched a hand to her cheek. “Men get better as they get older. Women just get older.”
He tugged on a lock of hair the color of platinum. “What’re you now? Twenty-seven? Twenty-eight? How can you call that old?”
“I’ve got a ten-year-old kid. There are days when that makes me feel really ancient.” She indicated an empty booth. “You want to sit and I’ll get you some coffee?”
“I’d rather sit at the counter. That way you can talk to me while you work.” He settled himself on a stool and waited while she poured him a cup of black coffee.
“What time did you get in, Jason?”
“An hour ago.” He sipped. Paused.
Carrie leaned her elbows on the counter and lowered her voice, knowing the regulars were watching and listening. After all, it wasn’t every day the Daisy Diner entertained a celebrity. “I couldn’t believe it when Mrs. B. announced that she was retiring.” She gave a self-conscious laugh. “I know you’re not going to believe this, after all the trouble I gave her when we were in school, but I was hoping she’d be around to teach Jenny.”
“Yeah. I know what you mean. She was the toughest old bird I’ve ever met. But she was the only adult in this town who ever cared about me.”
“Yeah. She really liked you, Jason.”
He managed a smile. “By the way, how’s your mom, Carrie?”
“Fine. Still working for the Osborns. She gives me a hand with Jenny on the weekends if I have to pull a double shift.” She walked away to wait on a customer. Minutes later she returned to continue the conversation as though there had been no interruption. “She keeps talking about retiring, but she just can’t do it yet.” She picked up the coffeepot and topped off his cup, then moved along the counter, filling others.
After ringing up several payments she returned. “You want something to eat?”
He shook his head. “I ate at the Harbor House. They make the best grilled salmon in the world.”
Carrie grinned. “You ought to try my grilled cheese. With bread-and-butter pickles. And for dessert, a hot fudge sundae with a sprinkling of peanuts.”
He grinned. “Nothing ever changes around Devil’s Cove.”
Carrie’s look grew thoughtful. She leaned closer. “I wish I’d had the courage to leave like you did, Jason.”
“You still can, Carrie.”
“No, I can’t. It’s too late for me.”
“It’s never too late.”
She huffed out a breath. “Now you sound like Mrs. B.”
“Do I?” He frowned. “I don’t know why that should surprise me. She colored every decision I’ve ever made. Even years after I left here, I could hear her voice in my head.”
“Is that why you came for the tribute?”
Before he could answer she excused herself to wait on another customer. Jason sat staring into his coffee and thinking about the question. He’d told himself a hundred times that he was coming here because of his old teacher who had made such a difference in his life. He owed it to her to be here. Hell, he owed her everything. She’d been his refuge from a nightmare life with a father who was a drunk and a bully, and a mother who was terrified to
