fragrance that rivaled the perfume counter of an exclusive boutique.
No wonder Kate had wanted to add the Merrick place to the tour. Even in its neglected state, there was something appealing about the structure. A simplicity that reflected a time when life had been the same way.
Grace hopped down from the wide plank seat and looped B.C.’s reins around the weathered pole of an old clothesline. She waded through the tall grass and circled the cabin, on the lookout for potential hazards to curious children and petticoats.
As she rounded the corner, her gaze drifted to a narrow opening between two poplar trees. And even though it wasn’t part of her scheduled tour, Grace was drawn down a path that only existed in her memory.
As the wooded area opened to a small clearing along the shoreline, she stopped dead in her tracks.
A man stood on the rock, hands in his pockets, facing the lake.
Apparently she wasn’t the only one who ignored the No Trespassing signs.
Mayor Dodd had warned everyone to prepare for an influx of visitors. Not only had people in the community invited their family and friends to attend the celebration, but Grace’s friend, Jenna, had also mentioned it in the weekly column she wrote for the online edition of Twin City Trends magazine.
As if he sensed Grace’s presence, the stranger turned around to face her, his face shadowed under the brim of a ball cap.
“Sorry.” She took a step back. “I didn’t realize anyone was here—”
“Grace?”
Her breath stuck in her throat.
Either her mind was playing tricks on her...or Cole Merrick was back in Mirror Lake.
* * *
Twelve years disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Cole was seventeen years old again, about to torch a textbook and sprinkle the ashes over the water, when a girl had stumbled into view. Eyes the color of dark chocolate had widened with astonishment when she’d spotted him.
Almost identical to the expression Cole saw on her face now.
Well, he was feeling a little shell-shocked, too, by this unexpected blast from the past.
Grace Eversea. The last person Cole had expected to see.
He automatically took a step toward her.
Grace took another step back.
Cole frowned. He hadn’t changed that much over the years. A few crow’s feet fanning out from his eyes—ones he held Bettina and Travis and Sean, his twin brothers, directly responsible for—but other than that...no tattoos. No piercings. The reflection in the mirror remained pretty much the same.
“It’s me.” He yanked off his cap. “Cole.”
“I know.”
I know?
Those two words might have made Cole feel a little better. If Grace hadn’t tossed a quick look over her shoulder like she was searching for an escape route.
“It’s...been a long time.” Because there’s nothing like stating the obvious, is there, buddy?
“Yes, it has.” Grace finally smiled, but it wasn’t the one Cole remembered. The one that had made him feel like he could conquer the world. This one was distant. Polite. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
It sounded almost like an accusation.
“Kate wrote to me,” Cole explained. “About Mirror Lake’s birthday celebration.”
And if everything went the way he hoped, in twenty-four hours he would be celebrating something else. Phase two of the expansion project for Painted Skies, his private air charter service.
“She mentioned that. Today.” Grace sighed. And glanced over her shoulder again.
Cole took advantage of the momentary silence to study her. At seventeen, Grace had cared more about books than shoes. Other girls their age knew how to flirt; Grace knew how to listen. She’d taught him how to skip rocks and hunt for literary symbolism buried in obscure passages of Shakespeare. A failing grade following his father’s death had sentenced Cole to six weeks of summer school, and Grace had saved him from a D in English Lit.
Who was he kidding?
She’d saved him from a lot of things.
Cole had never known anyone quite like her.
But if the wary expression on Grace’s face was anything to go by, she didn’t feel the same way. The conversation was beginning to feel like an awkward blind date instead of an unexpected reunion between two people who had once been friends.
Close friends.
In fact...Grace happened to be standing in the exact spot where Cole had kissed her for the first time. Right underneath that silver birch...
He heard her quick intake of breath and yanked his wayward thoughts back in line.
Grace pivoted away from him. “It was...nice...to see you again, but I have to get back.”
“Hold on.” The words slipped out before Cole could stop them. “I’ll walk with you.”
He hopped down from the rock and caught up to Grace as she reached the clearing. Her figure was still as slender as the reeds that hemmed the shoreline, but faded Levi’s hugged curves that hadn’t been there in high school.
They fell into step together, but Grace kept her gaze fixed straight ahead. The mane of glossy, sable brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of Grace’s neck, giving Cole an unobstructed view of her delicate profile.
Her steps quickened as the house came into view, as if she couldn’t wait to be on her way.
Cole, on the other hand, suddenly wanted to know more about her.
“Would you like to come inside for a few minutes?”
Grace looked shocked by the impulsive invitation, and Cole mentally smacked himself upside the head. Grace wasn’t the teenaged girl who’d turned his world upside down—and his heart inside out.
Not to mention there was probably someone who would be tempted to punch his lights out for asking.
“I can’t. I have to get B.C. home,” she murmured. “She gets cranky if she doesn’t get her oats at a certain time.”
For the first time, Cole noticed the enormous draft horse hitched to an old-fashioned buckboard.
The mare’s head swung around, and she whinnied a greeting.
Cole grinned.
At least someone looked happy to see him.
Chapter
