LITMIR.BIZ

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could tell that he was determined. A lot had changed, but she’d seen that expression on his face enough times to recognize it. Every time she’d tried to talk him out of some hare-brained scheme.

      However, she could be just as stubborn as he was. She wasn’t going to let anything stand between her and her escape hatch out of this town.

      Not even Gage Harper. Maybe especially not Gage Harper.

       2

      THE TOWN WAS CRAZY. That was all there was to it. All around him chaos reigned. Although, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise since he’d grown up in Sweetheart, where Valentine’s Day was sacred, and folks started celebrating a week in advance. Twelve years away had managed to blunt Gage’s memories.

      He now recalled why he never visited at this time of year.

      A group of men, most of them town-council members, were yelling at each other from the top of several ladders. “No, yours needs to go down on the right, Hank.”

      “I said up, Billy! You got cotton stuck in your ears again?”

      Gage had mixed emotions when it came to the red banners with the white-and-pink cupids being hung on all the lampposts down Main. As a child, he’d thought the cupids looked like big blobs of cotton candy. His daddy, the mayor, had not been amused when at six he announced his opinion at the dinner table with the entire council present … and started a heated discussion about the need to update town decorations.

      On the other hand, he’d used the excitement surrounding this week to snag more than one kiss beneath those banners. And why did that thought bring up an image of Hope Rawlings? She’d definitely never been one of those girls. Not that he hadn’t wanted her to be….

      “Gage, great to have you home,” Billy Carstairs yelled as he passed between two of the men. “Boy, what happened to your face? That’s not from … what happened, is it?”

      As Billy looked down at him from ten feet in the air, his grip on the lamppost slipped. The banner he was holding swung precariously and Billy wobbled. The sight of him grasping the post, his cheek pressed so tightly against the metal that he vaguely resembled a smushed bulldog, might have been amusing if Gage hadn’t been worried he was about to have to catch the man—all two hundred and fifty pounds of him.

      “No, sir,” he answered, sighing in relief when Billy regained his balance.

      All around him people turned, not to watch the averted disaster, but to look at him. It was a sensation Gage just couldn’t get used to. His neck permanently crawled from being watched. He was only a few weeks removed from an environment where that feeling usually heralded a burst of flying bullets. He’d learned to listen to those internal warnings that told him danger was coming so that he could prepare.

      In Sweetheart danger tended to involve overprotective daddies with shotguns, women with wedding bells and babies on the brain and a potential shortage of beer on Saturdays during college football season. Now that could start a nasty riot.

      Just one more thing he’d had to adjust to upon returning stateside.

      Everyone he passed smiled and greeted him by name. Half the people he didn’t even think he knew. Pride shone out of every pair of eyes. A far cry from the frowns that had followed in his wake during his teenage years.

      The men probably hoped he’d stop to chat. Maybe offer a hand so they could casually ask him the question everyone wanted to know. What happened? Every single one of them wanted details. Or thought they did. What they really wanted was some romanticized view of what he’d been through. The drama. The rescue. The Hollywood version where everyone survived and no one had permanent scars. They didn’t want the truth.

      Which was fine with him since he wasn’t willing to give anyone that. Although he had to admit this pedestal they’d set him up on chafed. It was lonely up here with nothing but his guilt for company.

      He had no idea where he was going, but he’d needed out of the house before his mama made that disappointed, exasperated sound in the back of her throat one more time. She’d taken one look at his face and shaken her head, working out her frustration on the waffle batter she’d whipped up just for him.

      Gage almost wished she’d yelled at him the way she would have when he was younger. At least then he could have gotten it over with and moved on. Instead, she went straight from the waffles to scrambled eggs and then French toast, all the while making that damned noise. He hadn’t eaten this much breakfast since basic training when he’d been burning calories faster than he could shovel them in.

      The sign for his sister’s sweet shop, Sugar & Spice, loomed ahead. Maybe he’d stop in and see her. Although, Lexi was just as likely to chastise him and try to feed him as their mother was. But at least it gave him a purpose. He wasn’t used to twiddling his thumbs while everyone else around him worked.

      A bell tinkled when he opened the door. The scent of chocolate assailed him as his sister called, “Be right out.”

      “Take your time, Lex,” he hollered back, letting her know it was only him and not a customer.

      He was perusing the baked goods, truffles, fudge and caramel apples lined up neatly behind the long glass counter when the bell chimed again. Gage glanced up at the young guy who entered. He didn’t look familiar, but then judging by his age, if he was local he probably would’ve been thirteen or fourteen when Gage left so that shouldn’t surprise him.

      Everyone had changed. Including his sister who was coming out of the back, wiping her hands on a red-and-white-checkered towel tucked into the waistband of her matching apron. He’d seen her over the years so her gradual growth into the beautiful woman before him hadn’t completely blindsided him. But it had been at least a year since he’d last seen her. Her hair was longer. Maybe a little lighter. She’d lost another few pounds, something he didn’t think she’d needed to do, but convincing Lexi of that was like talking to one of the lampposts outside.

      “Gage,” she said, smiling and rushing around the counter to give him a huge hug. She was always like that, exuberant and affectionate with the people who mattered to her. Sometimes he worried about that. She left herself so wide-open…. But she was a big girl and had managed fine without his meddling for a while now.

      Pulling back, she held him at arm’s length. A frown pulled at the edges of her wide mouth. Growing up she’d been all big eyes and mouth, both features overwhelming even her slightly pudgy face. Now she’d grown into the features, giving her an edge of uniqueness. She’d never be classified as typically beautiful, but in his mind she was better—even if he was slightly biased.

      “You’re here two days and you’ve already found trouble. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I would have thought you’d had enough of that for a little while.”

      Gage grasped one of her bouncy curls and tugged. Her hand shot to her scalp as her head tilted into the torture. But she was laughing as she said, “Ow, don’t make me tell Mom.”

      “Oh, she knows. I got waffles, scrambled eggs, pumpkin muffins and French toast as punishment.”

      Lexi scowled. “How the heck is that punishment? Sounds like she did everything but kill the fatted calf.”

      “Don’t worry, that’s for dinner tonight. Please say you’re coming because if I have to endure any more of the fawning I think I’m going to scream.”

      Lexi had moved out of their parents’ house years ago into a cute little cottage on the lake. Because this was one of her busiest seasons, he’d only seen her briefly his first night home. Gage definitely could have used her as a buffer against their mother’s ebullient praise and their father’s silent, watchful gaze. He almost wished his dad would say something already—like how he’d screwed up once again.

      “It’ll cost you,” she said, grinning evilly, spinning away from him to the customer waiting patiently at the other end of the counter.

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