to think about that…about the confidences that might have been shared.
Gage studied her face. “You’ve changed.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant the comment in a good way or a bad way. “It’s been a long time.”
“I never thought you’d come back.”
It was the second time in less than three hours that someone had mentioned her being back. “I’m not back,” she clarified. “At least, not for anything permanent.”
Gage didn’t look surprised by her statement, nor did he seem to take issue with her defensive tone. “So why are you suddenly here? It’s been seven years since your grandmother died.”
Her temper faded as quickly as it had flared. She sighed. “I want to fix up the house so I can sell it. I’m just here for the summer while I do that.”
He nodded without saying anything. She had the uncomfortable sense of having been judged and found wanting. Which wasn’t fair. Gage wasn’t the type of man to judge people without just cause. So her need to squirm in her seat had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her own state of mind.
Rather than deal with personal inadequacies that were probably better left unexplored in public, she changed the subject. “I can’t believe there was a bank robbery right here in Possum Landing. It’s going to be the talk of the town for weeks.”
“Probably. But it wasn’t that much of a surprise.”
“I can’t believe that. Things couldn’t have changed that much.”
He nodded. “We’re still just a bump in the road, with plenty of small-town problems, but nothing even close to big-city crime. These boys were working their way across the state, robbing hometown banks. I’d been keeping track of their progress, figuring they’d get here sooner or later. Four days ago, the feds came calling. They wanted to set up a sting. I didn’t have a problem with that. We talked to everyone at the bank, marked a drawer full of money, then waited for the hit to take place.”
Kari couldn’t believe it. “All that excitement right here, and I was in the thick of it.”
Gage narrowed his eyes. “As you saw, things got out of hand. I don’t know if those robbers got lazy or cocky, but this time, they decided to hold up the bank while there were still customers inside. Previously they’d waited until just before the doors were locked for the day, to go in.”
“So you weren’t expecting to deal with a hostage situation?”
“No one was. The feds wanted to wait it out, but those were my people inside. Someone had to do something.”
She turned that thought over in her mind. “So you just waltzed inside to distract them?”
“It seemed like the easiest way to get the job done. Plus, I wanted to be there to make sure no one went crazy and got shot. At least, no one from here. I don’t much care about the criminals.”
Of course. In Gage’s mind, they had brought the situation upon themselves. He wouldn’t take responsibility for their coming to Possum Landing to hold up a bank in the first place.
“I have to agree with the federal officer,” she said. “I don’t know if you were brave or stupid.”
He smiled. “You could probably make a case for either point of view.” He took another drink of his beer. “You know that I wasn’t really mad at you. I was trying to distract that one guy so he didn’t take you hostage.”
She shivered at the memory of the gun held to her head. “It took me a few minutes to catch on to what you were doing.”
But that didn’t stop her from wondering how much of what he had said was true. Did Gage really think she was the one who got away?
Did she want to be?
Once she easily would have said yes. Back before she’d left town, Gage had been her entire world. She would have thrown herself in front of a moving train if he’d asked. She’d loved him with all the crazy devotion a teenager was capable of. That had been the trouble—she’d loved him too much. When she’d figured out there were problems, she hadn’t known how to deal with them. So she’d run. When he hadn’t come after her, he’d confirmed her greatest fear in the world…that he hadn’t loved her at all.
They spent all of dinner talking about mutual friends. Gage brought her up to date on various weddings, divorces and births.
“I can’t believe Sally has twins,” Kari said, as they moved to the porch and sat on the wooden swing.
“Two girls. I told Bob he has his work cut out for him once they become teenagers.”
“Fortunately that’s a long way off.”
Kari set her glass of wine on the dusty, peeling table beside the swing and leaned back to look up at the sky. It might be after dark, but it was still plenty hot and humid. She could feel her dress sticking to her skin. Her head felt funny—fuzzy, heavy and more than a little out of sync. No doubt it was due to the combination of the fear she’d experienced earlier in the day and a little too much wine with dinner. She didn’t normally allow herself more than half a glass on special occasions, but tonight she and Gage had nearly split the bottle.
Gage stretched out his long legs. He didn’t seem bothered by the wine. No doubt his additional body mass helped, not to mention the fact that he wouldn’t have spent the past several years trying to maintain an unnaturally thin body.
“Tell me about life in New York,” he said.
“There isn’t much to tell,” she admitted, wondering if she should be pleased or worried that he’d finally asked her a vaguely personal question. “When I arrived, I found out that small-town girls who had been told they were pretty enough to be a model were spilling out of every modeling agency within a thirty-mile radius. The competition was tough and the odds of making it into the big time were close to zero.”
“You did okay.”
She glanced at him, not sure if he was assuming or if he actually knew. “After the first year or so, I got work. Eventually I made enough to support myself and pay for college. As of last month, I have teaching credentials, which is what I always wanted.”
Gage glanced at her. “You’re still too skinny to be a PE teacher.”
She laughed. “I know. I sure won’t miss all those years of dieting. I’m proud to tell you that I’ve worked my way up from a size two to a six. My goal is to be a size ten and even eat chocolate now and then.”
He swept his gaze over her. She half expected a comment on her body, but instead he only asked, “So what kind of teacher are you?”
“Math at the middle-school level,” she said.
“A lot of those boys are going to have a crush on you.”
“They’ll get over it.”
“I don’t know. I still get a hankering for Ms. Rosens. She taught eighth grade social studies. I
