to discuss Mrs. Ashton’s birthday. Why don’t you come with me, Mom?”
Her mother hesitated in her work, then slowly turned toward Beth. When their gazes locked the bright sheen of tears in her mother’s eyes startled Beth. Helen McCormick never cried. She was too strong. The only time in her entire life that Beth had ever seen her cry was after her father’s funeral.
“Please, let me help,” Beth urged gently. “Whatever is wrong can’t possibly be that bad.”
“No matter what happens,” her mother said, her voice trembling, “you remember that I love you more than anything in this world.”
“Mother—”
Helen shook her head. “Run along.” She resumed her potato peeling. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
FEELING SORELY out of sorts, Zach settled into the driver’s seat of his car and drove around to the McCormick’s home. Mayor Chadwick had mentioned inviting Beth to this dinner meeting. Since her car was still here it seemed reasonable that she hadn’t left yet. It also seemed reasonable for them to ride together. No point in driving two vehicles. It was definitely more economical to ride together, he concluded. And the time would give them a chance to discuss what was going on between their mothers.
As if either one of those excuses was his real motivation.
The truth was, he wanted to have a few minutes alone with her. It was that simple, and at the same time too complicated for him to understand completely.
Shutting off the engine, he pushed that admission away. It wouldn’t be neighborly of him not to ask her if she wanted a ride. Zach smiled as he got out of the car and started for the door. That’s right. This wasn’t the city. People still went out of their way to help their neighbor down here. His gesture wouldn’t be perceived as anything else. He certainly didn’t want Beth to get the wrong idea.
Not that he had the right idea. He had no clue what was going on inside his head. His emotions were in a turmoil—as much from his mother’s odd behavior as from his own. The whole situation was confusing. The one thing he was clear on was that his mother needed him, and he had to put all else aside. Especially these crazy urges where Beth was concerned.
Zach paused at the cottage’s weathered door. He studied the arched portal, and then the ivy covered rock that surrounded it. The place had always seemed magical to him. Beth’s father had been a wizard with plants and flowers. Her mother was always stirring something in a big pot and making the best cookies in the world. And Beth…well she was like the fairy princess who lived in the cottage. Who rehearsed her pirouettes in the moonlight and somehow appeared wherever he was by daylight. Whether he was practicing football or writing a history paper, she was there asking questions, trying to help, distracting him, making him laugh. Making him love her.
You do not want to go there, he reminded himself.
Shaking off the past, Zach raised his fist to knock at the same time the door opened.
Beth made a little sound of surprise and pressed her hand to her throat. “Oh. Hello, Zach,” she said in that throaty voice that reminded him all too much of just how grown-up little Beth was now.
Unable to check the impulse, his gaze immediately swept the rest of her and his heart rate reacted accordingly. The dress was a soft yellow, not too short, just a few inches above the knee, not exactly form-fitting, but not loose either. The neck didn’t scoop nearly low enough. All in all it was just a plain dress designed for comfort. But it was perfect and sexy as hell on her. The color contrasted the fresh, healthy glow of her skin. The lack of makeup and the fall of her silky hair around her smooth cheeks made her look twenty-one instead of thirty-one.
Beth McCormick was beautiful.
He experienced the sudden, almost overpowering, urge to touch her. He immediately tucked his hands into his trouser pockets, nipping the impulse to reach out to her in the bud before it blossomed and embarrassed them both.
“Chadwick told me he’d called you,” Zach said, thrusting his emotions to the back of his mind much the same way he did in the courtroom or in a tense negotiation. “I thought we could ride together.”
Those dark eyes widened and she looked on the verge of turning him down. In fact, he decided, on further consideration of her expression, she looked stricken.
“Come on, Beth,” he coaxed. “I don’t bite. It’s only a ride into town.”
She still didn’t look convinced. Irritation trickled through him, dominating the good sense he’d intended to maintain in her presence. What was the deal here? What did she think he was? The big bad wolf? She never used to be afraid of him. Maybe she was still mad at him for turning her down all those years ago. If she only knew just how much he’d wanted to…
“I planned to drive myself,” she announced, squaring her shoulders and looking straight at him now with no fear or reservation.
He let go a put-upon sigh. It didn’t have to be this way. “Look.” He searched her eyes, determined to sway her decision. “Let’s not make this about the past. We’re both adults now.”
Something shifted in her dark eyes. Some barely perceptible something he couldn’t quite read.
“You’re right,” she said, stepping across the threshold and into the tiny space between him and the door. She closed it behind her and stared directly into his eyes, her own glittering with annoyance she made no effort to conceal now. “I’m glad you finally noticed.”
With that crisp remark, she sidestepped and brushed past him, the brief contact making his body tighten, and leaving the vaguest scent of roses.
Perplexed, Zach did an about-face, angled his head and watched her stride toward his car. Those long legs covered the distance in no time at all, but not quickly enough to prevent the gentle sway of her hips from doing strange things to his ability to breathe.
Oh, yes. She was definitely all grown up now.
But she was still Beth, and he had to remember that. She wasn’t like the women he usually dated. Beth was a forever kind of girl. He frowned at the thought of the ex-husband he’d never even officially met. But Zach didn’t have to meet him to know he didn’t like him. Anyone who had hurt Beth was his enemy.
Zach clenched his jaw and strode to the car where Beth waited. No matter how much he was attracted to her, he would never, ever take advantage of her. Beth meant too much to him. Even if a misguided need for revenge or an urge to prove she could seduce him started her thinking along those lines, he would not allow it to happen. He almost laughed at that. Wishful thinking on his part. There was no denying what he still felt. But…he would protect her just like he always had.
He would protect her from him.
“A PARADE?” Beth repeated, certain she couldn’t have heard the mayor right. Mrs. Ashton’s birthday celebration was turning into a three-ring circus.
“Yes,” Chadwick enthused. “Why Ms. Colleen is our most distinguished citizen. This momentous occasion simply demands that we pull out all the stops.”
“We want to make an official presentation, too,” Harve Baker, deputy mayor, added. “Like the keys to the city, only better.”
“You’re
