got the career,” Thalia said a bit lamely, thinking that was the least important item on her wish list. “Considering how the marriage ended, I’m grateful we didn’t have children.” She gritted her teeth, then burst out, “I really hate failure! Now it’s start-over time and I’m not looking forward to it.”
“But you’re home,” Emily reasoned. “It’ll be easy, much easier than starting over in California. It’ll be like old times.” She frowned. “And you’re nodding your head no because…?”
“I’m only here temporarily, or didn’t Mother mention that? My company has merged with a larger company and—”
Emily interrupted with a dismissive groan. “Insurance, I understand?” She wrinkled her nose with distaste.
“An honorable endeavor,” Thalia pointed out.
“And certainly serious.” Emily’s blue eyes gleamed with mischief.
Thalia made a face. “Can I finish what I started to say? The two companies are merging. As a result, I’ve taken leave during the transition. When Mother heard, she insisted I come home. Otherwise, I would have stayed out there and…and…”
“And what? Doesn’t sound as if all those ands would have been much fun.”
“I have friends,” Thalia said defensively, “and fun is not the point of life. I could certainly have kept busy. But since I hadn’t been home in so long, I decided to come to make Mother happy.” She grinned. “And if you won’t tell anyone, I’ll even admit that I wanted to renew acquaintances with old friends.”
“Who’ve you seen so far?”
“You. You were my best friend, after all.”
Emily looked smug. “What a nice thing to say.” A dimple appeared at the corner of her mouth. “Flattering, too. I thought you might have gone to see Lucas first.” She dragged it out. “Lu-cas.”
Thalia hoped her cheeks weren’t too red. “Certainly not. Why would I go see Luke Dalton?”
“Because you’re on the rebound and interested in old flames as well as old friends?”
“I am not on the rebound and Lucas is not an old flame.”
“You wanted him to be your first flame,” Emily teased. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about him?” Her eyes widened. “You did know he’s back in Shepherd’s Pass and in practice with Doc Miller?”
“Mother…might have mentioned it.”
“Oh, really. Did she also mention that he’s even better looking than he was before?”
“You’ve got to be kidding. I didn’t think that was possible.”
“There!” Emily sounded delighted. “That’s my old pal, Thalia. I’m glad you’re home! We’re going to have so much fun that you’ll never leave.”
The bell above the front door tinkled and Emily frowned. “Drat. I’ll have to see who that is.” She rose. “Maybe whoever it is will leave without buying anything—and come back later, of course.”
Thalia relaxed back against the cushions to wait. It was wonderful seeing Emily again, but she felt as out of place here as she had in California. Emily belonged because she had never left. Her grandmother had owned this store for decades. When she’d retired two or three years ago and moved to warmer climes, she’d left her favorite granddaughter in charge.
It was no surprise that Emily had taken hold with such enthusiasm. A whiz with a sewing machine since childhood, she was doing what she loved. Thalia, by contrast, was doing something valuable, but she didn’t love it.
Sighing, she looked down at her conservative brown skirt and beige silk blouse. She should have worn jeans and mountain boots. In her California clothes, she even looked like a foreigner, no matter how nicely everyone treated her. All she wanted to do was blend in, make her mother happy, and flee back to the coast at the earliest opportunity.
She heard footsteps but didn’t turn. “That didn’t take long,” she said. “Was it anyone I know?”
Hands covered her eyes and a deeply masculine voice said in her ear, “That all depends on the meaning of the word know.”
She caught her breath, then covered his hands with hers and tried without success to drag them away from her eyes. “Luke! Turn me loose!”
“Shoot,” he said, promptly releasing her. “You guessed. How’s it goin’, Thalia?”
Leaning her head back, she looked up into his smiling face. Even upside down, he looked wonderful, especially with that lock of sun-bleached hair spilling over his forehead.
“It’s going fine,” she said. Looking at him this way made her dizzy. She straightened selfconsciously. “I see you haven’t changed one bit, Lucas Dalton.”
“Why would I want to change?” He rounded the settee and took a seat across from her in the wicker chair.
“I don’t know.” Emily was right. He was better looking than before: more mature, his rangy frame nicely filled out. Thalia cleared her throat. “I just thought that now you’re all grown-up and a doggy doctor, you might be more…serious.” She’d also expected that sexy gleam in his eyes would be gone, which it wasn’t.
He laughed incredulously. “Boy, that hurts. I am serious. I always was serious. I just never saw the point of wearing it like a hair shirt.”
“Meaning I did?” She bolted upright.
“If the hair shirt fits—”
Emily’s voice sailed into the middle of the blossoming fray. “Thalia, isn’t it great that Luke dropped by? He said he saw us through the window and wanted to say hi. Don’t beat up on him, okay?”
“I certainly wouldn’t do that,” Thalia said, as cool as if she hadn’t once, many years ago, wrapped herself in a plastic shower curtain and sprung out from behind a door to seduce him.
Emily offered him a cup of coffee, which he accepted with a smile of thanks. But his attention was clearly on Thalia. “How long will you be here?”
“A month, maybe two.”
“We’ll have to get together.” He gave her a coaxing smile that melted her like a birthday candle.
“Whatever,” she said noncommittally.
“That’s a great idea,” Emily said eagerly. “There’s a bunch of us who get together now and again at the Watering Hole. Next time I’ll give you both a call.”
“Sounds great,” Luke said.
“I don’t think so,” Thalia said.
Emily frowned. “Why not? You know most everyone already, so what’s your problem?”
“I’m not too crazy about bars,” Thalia admitted. “For one thing, I don’t drink all that
