but had no offers.”
“Where’s she going?”
“She’s got a brother in North Carolina. She’s going there to be near him.”
“Doesn’t she have children? I mean eighty-three is a hard age to pick up and move.”
Renee shook her head. “She had a son. He was killed in Vietnam.”
“So she’s selling you the house?”
She’s letting me rent it with an option to buy.”
“That was lucky.”
Renee nodded. “There are some legal papers I have to sign tomorrow.”
Renee’s cell phone rang and the photo of the caller appeared. Renee stared at it.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?”
Renee said nothing. The ringing continued, causing a high-pitched whine in her ears. A sound she hadn’t heard in years. It couldn’t be coming from the phone, but pinging back and forth inside her brain.
“Renee, are you all right?” Dana asked. “Who’s on the phone?”
Renee lifted the small device and held it up. Dana drew in a mouthful of air.
Carter’s photo stared back at her.
Renee hit Reject to stop the ringing. It rang three more times before she and Dana left the restaurant and returned to the town house.
As they stepped in the door, the ringing began again.
“You’re going to have to answer it sometime. Obviously, the man is persistent,” Dana said. “And it could be something important.”
A hundred thoughts flashed through Renee’s mind, but she couldn’t pin any of them down. Why was he calling still? Why hadn’t she deleted his photo from her cell phone? She hadn’t seen it in three years, hadn’t thought of it. It just stayed there, like some specter waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Renee pulled her phone out of her purse. She didn’t hear Dana leave the room, but as she inspected the phone, Renee noticed she was alone. The phone continued its insistent ring. Renee continued to stare at it. Her finger hovered above the reject button. Then she quickly pushed Accept. She wouldn’t let him intimidate her any longer.
“Carter,” she said, using her happiest smile, one she did not feel.
“You deliberately deceived me about where you were staying,” he began without a hello.
“I did,” she admitted. She heard him swallow. He obviously wasn’t expecting her to admit the truth.
“Why?”
“It’s a privacy thing. I didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“I disturb you?”
She saw the shadow of a smile on his lips.
“Not in the way you’re thinking,” Renee told him. “And you canceled our meeting today. So we’re even.”
“I had to cancel the meeting. My father is in the hospital. I had to come out to the Hamptons.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry. Is he going to be all right?”
“They’re still doing some tests, but you know my dad. He’s a powerhouse. And he’s not as bad as my mother made me believe.”
Renee knew Joseph and Emily Hampshire—Joseph had run the magazine empire for years. He was a fair man and loved by his employees. She liked him a lot. His wife, Emily, was a fashion designer, and she could be excitable. Having a sick husband qualified as a good reason.
“Please let him know he’s in my thoughts,” Renee said.
“He’ll like that. He always liked you,” Carter said. “When I get back, I want to reschedule our meeting.”
“Carter, we had a chance three years ago. You chose to end it. I’ve moved on with my life, and I suggest you do the same.”
“I didn’t call you to rekindle a love affair.”
Renee took a deep breath. She felt a knife slip into her heart. They hadn’t had an affair, and the love had only been on her side. “Then why are you calling?”
“We talked about a position at Hampshire last night. You were supposed to give me an answer tonight.”
“I respectfully decline,” she said.
“Respectfully?” he questioned. “Are we going to be that formal?”
“It’s considered good manners to be formal with people you’ve just met. Remember, we are strangers.”
“Oh, right. We’re strangers. So, if we are strangers, then why don’t we act like we just met and we can discuss my offer like adults?”
“We’ve already discussed it, and I’m happy with my current position.”
“I hear you have a house.”
Renee gulped. How could he know that? She hadn’t even told Blair.
“I guess that means you’re moving back to the city permanently.”
Did she hear hope in his voice? Did she want to hear it? Renee mentally shook herself. Carter didn’t want her, only her expertise in the bridal industry.
“I’ll be working and living here. But, like I said, I’m keeping the position I have. And how did you know?”
“So, you’re not leaving town as you said.”
“No,” she answered. And you didn’t tell me how you knew.”
“My mother told me.”
“Your mother?” Renee frowned.
He nodded. “My mother designs for Lealia Sauvageau. She and her husband own the house next to the one you bought.”
“I recognize Lealia Sauvageau’s name,” Renee said. “What does she got to do with this?”
“She’d ordered a gown from my mother and would no longer need it since she and her husband have sold their house and are moving. In the course of conversation, Lealia told my mom that the house next to them was being rented by a bridal magazine owner.”
“And you naturally thought I was the only owner of a bridal magazine in town?”
“Naturally,” he replied. “Especially since you’re the only one coming from Princeton.”
Renee closed her eyes.
“Small world,” she said flatly.
“Isn’t
