“Do you go to these friendly little happy hours?”
He shrugged. “Once in a while.” That roguish gleam was back. “But if you’re going, I’ll make a point of being there.”
His response startled her and she looked quickly away. Why was he coming on so strong? He hadn’t been interested in her when she was interested in him; now that she wanted nothing more than to avoid all emotional entanglements, he wanted to hit on her?
Not in this lifetime. With lips pressed tightly together, she listened idly to the comfortable banter between Em and Luke. How were her cats? Fine. How was the Benson dog that had been stomped by a horse last week? Also fine, or would be soon. How was business? Fine—
Thalia stood abruptly. “I think I’d better be going,” she said. “Mom’s expecting me and it’s going on six now.”
“Don’t go yet.” Emily looked genuinely disappointed. “We really haven’t had a chance to talk.”
No, because Luke had horned in. “There’ll be time.”
“Hey, I’m sorry.” Luke rose, too. “I barged right in here, I was so happy to see Thalia again.” But he didn’t offer to leave, just looked expectantly at Thalia.
“I close at six,” Emily said. “If you’ll just hang around, we could have dinner or something. Call your mom. She’ll understand.”
Luke added hopefully, “That sounds good.”
Thalia wasn’t falling into that trap. Let the two of them go to dinner together. “I hate to beg off, but can we do it another night? Mom’s really expecting me.”
Emily pouted. “Oh, all right. But I don’t like it.”
“I’ll call tomorrow.” Thalia squeezed her friend’s hand and turned for the door. “Nice seeing you, Luke.”
“Really? Then you’ll be happy to learn I’m going home with you.”
She stopped so suddenly that he stepped on her heels. “What?”
“I’m going to follow you home in my car.” He looked quite pleased with himself.
She frowned. “I don’t recall inviting you.”
“Like I need an invitation?” he scoffed. “Your mom’s always glad to see me. Besides, her Border collie is under the weather. You can just consider it a house call.”
“Darn it, Luke.” She glared at him. “You’re crowding me.”
“Really?” His amber eyes widened with disbelief. “I’m just doing my job, Thalia. The health of your mom’s dog is important to me. But if you don’t want me following you…”
“I don’t.” Feeling guilty but refusing to yield, she met his gaze.
“Okay, then I’ll meet you there.” He dipped his chin to Emily. “Have a nice evening.” Turning, he walked away whistling.
Thalia stood there, listening to Emily’s giggle and feeling dumb as a rock.
2
SHEPHERD’S PASS HAD GROWN in the years Thalia had been away. Her mother’s home and property used to be at the edge of town, with nothing between it and the mountains. Now it was necessary to drive through an upscale planned community of new homes—Shangri-la, according to the signs—to even get there.
Nice homes, she thought, navigating slowly along curving landscaped streets. Decent-sized lots, too, at least by California standards, where a postage-stamp-sized property was often labeled an “estate.” Where were all these people coming from? Would life in this formerly slow paced community be forever altered?
Speaking of altered—
A car stood at the curb next to her mother’s driveway. Luke leaned out an open window of the red Jeep Cherokee to wave. Surely he didn’t intend to hang around and taunt her while she was home. If he did, she just might have to alter her plans and go back to California early, even if it meant ignoring her mother’s pleas.
She no longer wanted a thing from Luke Dalton, and most definitely not what she’d wanted before. She’d been young and foolish then. Now, she was…well, not old at twenty-seven but certainly seasoned. There was nothing left for him to teach her.
She shivered at the possibility she might be wrong.
Parking her mother’s old pickup truck in the driveway, she climbed out and waited for him to join her. No complications, she reminded herself. She was a serious person with a serious life and a serious plan for leading it. She was not interested in a quick tumble with every good-looking man she met—check that.
She might be interested; what woman in her right mind wouldn’t be? But she wouldn’t act on that interest, no way, no how. She was not a woman who’d consider a cheap affair, no matter how attractive—
Oh, my. Luke gave new meaning to the word attractive. Tall and lean and lithe, he strode toward her, the lowering sun striking blond sparks off his brown hair. When he grinned, even white teeth flashed.
“You waited for me,” he said.
She shook herself free of her imagination. “I didn’t. I—”
I—nothing; she had waited and he hadn’t even had to ask. Spinning around, she led the way up the steps of the big old Victorian house. Flinging open the door, she indicated with a wave that he should enter first.
You’d think a serious person like Thalia would have a serious mother. Instead, she had Lorraine, who now looked up from the free weights she was swinging with abandon, a broad smile of welcome on her crimson lips.
“YOU BROUGHT LUKE HOME with you,” Lorraine exclaimed with pleasure. “That’s wonderful!”
Luke didn’t think Thalia considered it all that wonderful. He looked from mother to daughter, trying to suppress the smile that tugged at his lips. Lorraine must have been a trial to Thalia her entire life, but he’d have given anything to have a mother with hair like Lucille Ball’s and a bawdy humor that made him grin just thinking about it.
At the moment, Lorraine was working with barbells. A black headband held back a tumble of red-gold curls and her ample figure was barely constrained by a black leotard and tights. Her cheeks glowed; she looked healthy and happy.
Thalia kissed her mother’s proffered cheek. “I didn’t bring Luke home, Mother, he brought himself.”
Lorraine put the barbells on the floor. “Regardless of how he got here, I’m glad to see him. I’ve got a cookie jar just stuffed full of those chocolate chip cookies he and John used to gobble up.” She turned toward the kitchen, waving them to follow. “Come along, kids. Mother Lorraine will spoil your suppers for you.”
As she’d been doing as long as Luke could remember. It used to piss his own mother off something awful when he’d pick at his food after a visit to the Myers house. Still would.
Thalia was dragging her feet. “I
