alone wasn’t enough to fill the space. He stared awhile longer, watching the traffic pass, the people walk by, the dogs chase each other. Then the sun began to drop lower in the sky, washing the street with gold.
Alec turned away from the window to the desk. He reached for the invitation, intending to toss it once and for all. Then his thumb traced over the letters at the bottom, and his mind reached back a decade into the past. To a pretty girl with a wide smile and soft eyes, to laughter that sounded like music and days when it seemed the sun could shine forever. Funny, he thought, how his memory colored everything with a pastel brush, when he knew the reality was far less colorful.
Leah Andrews.
He stood in his empty apartment while the traffic roared by outside and debated, turning the invitation over and over. Put the past behind him, or see if there was still a connection. And, maybe, a way to make amends….
***
Leah Andrews stood inside the ballroom doors, reviewing her list for the thousandth time. Decorations hung: check. Food on the buffet table: check. DJ in place: check.
The ballroom at the Marriott had been transformed into a blast from the past. Hip-hop and emo had just been coming into vogue ten years ago, and Leah had combined those trends by hanging faux bling around the room, tempered by black linens. She’d displayed band posters and added oversize blowups of select photos from the yearbook, a visual collage of memories and greatest moments. There were shots of the choir singing at the annual music festival, the football team celebrating their victory at the state finals, couples dancing at prom. To Leah, those days seemed a thousand years in the past, but maybe that was just because she felt like she’d lived a thousand years in the past decade. Things were finally looking up, though, and so, for the first time in ten years, Leah was making plans for her future.
“No wonder they made you the head of the committee,” Michelle said as she slipped into place beside Leah. The former cheerleader still had the trim figure of her youth, even after having two kids. She’d been one of Leah’s links back to life in Boston, and it had been nice to serve on the committee together and catch up with an old friend. “You are List Queen.”
Leah laughed. “I just like to be organized. I hate to forget anything.”
Michelle peeked over Leah’s shoulder at the clipboard in her hands. “‘Lemon slices for drinks. Extra toilet paper for restrooms. One carnation per vase.’ Okay, I think you need a twelve-step program.”
“It’s called making sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed. Nothing wrong with that.” Leah breathed easier with her lists and her check boxes. They gave her a sense of comfort, let her know she was on track. She’d always been like that, even back in high school. She was the one who never missed an assignment, never forgot an appointment.
“There is something wrong with it,” Michelle said, her green eyes kind and soft, “if those I’s and T’s come at the expense of a personal life. How many hours did you spend planning this thing, anyway?”
“Enough to make sure it all goes off without a hitch.” Leah dropped her gaze to the list again. It was easier to do that than to contemplate the weekends and evenings she had spent on the reunion, shouldering most of the responsibility herself instead of letting other members of the committee do the job. She’d let those to-do lists fill the long nights between work and sleep, because it was easier than thinking about her life plan, or lack thereof. A lot easier.
“Hon, it’s okay to take the next leap, you know.”
Leah shrugged. “I know.”
The DJ cued up the first song, and pressed Play. Hits from their teen years began streaming through the sound system. Michelle gave Leah a one-armed hug. “Look at tonight as a do-over. A restart. You had to put your post–high school life on hold for ten years. Pretend tonight is graduation all over again and you’re ready to go off on your big life adventure.”
Graduation. She remembered two things about that afternoon—the phone call that had changed Leah’s life, and Alec McKenna. She’d gotten up that morning excited to start their life together in New York. Before the day was out, she’d said goodbye to Alec and hopped a plane to California. By the time things had settled with her father in California, Alec had left for college, and she’d told herself she was glad that they were over. It was better that way.
“Oh, my God. Look who just walked in.”
Leah followed Michelle’s gaze, and just like that, the bottom dropped out of her perfectly organized, checklisted world. Because Alec McKenna had stepped into the ballroom. He stood in the doorway, tall, dark and even more handsome than she remembered, with that familiar lock of dark brown hair dusting across his brow and the confident stance that said he was a man who was sure of his place in the world. He hadn’t RSVP’d—the masochist in her had checked—and she hadn’t expected that he would attend, much less be one of the first to arrive.
“Remember, do-over,” Michelle whispered. Then she gave Leah a nudge in Alec’s direction.
Leah stumbled forward, but detoured for the punch bowl before she compounded her biggest mistake with another one. Alec McKenna was part of the past, and he was going to stay there. She was finally moving forward, and falling for him again was not part of the plan.
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