LITMIR.BIZ

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two kids later, it was the smartest move I ever made—even if it means that my kids will have to go to public school.”

      “Thankfully not something I have to worry about.”

      “Never say never,” Gord warned.

      But Jack wasn’t worried. He was thirty-seven years old and happy to be on his own. And while he dated—albeit a lot less frequently than he had in the past—he always said goodbye without any regrets. The sole exception was the one unforgettable weekend he’d spent in Chicago with Kelly Cooper.

      Yeah, he had a boatload of regrets where she was concerned. He regretted walking into The Four Brothers pub for a drink—and not walking right back out again when he realized the gorgeous bartender who’d snared his attention was none other than the girl who’d lived next door when they were kids.

      He regretted giving in to the irresistible urge to taste the sassy mouth that had tormented him for more years than he wanted to admit; he regretted succumbing to the need to explore every inch of her soft, silky skin with his hands and his lips; he regretted losing himself—over and over again—in her warm, willing body. Mostly he regretted ever letting her go.

      “Speaking of family,” Gord said, drawing Jack’s attention back to the present, “I should get home to Sheila and the boys.”

      He started to call for the waitress, but Jack shook his head. “You go ahead. I’ve got the bill.”

      “Thanks.” Gord slid out of the booth, offered his hand. “I’ll bring your client’s case forward for a plea on Wednesday, when Judge Parrish is sitting.”

      “I appreciate it,” he said, confident in the knowledge that Judge Parrish had never overruled a joint recommendation.

      After his colleague was gone, Jack sat alone, nursing a second beer. He was grateful for Gord’s cooperation with Travis’s case—and annoyed that just the mention of Chicago had brought memories of Kelly Cooper to the forefront of his mind.

      Not that those memories were ever very far away, especially not since his brother had informed him that she was coming home.

      He didn’t understand why she was the one woman he couldn’t forget. They’d spent one unforgettable weekend together, but neither of them had mentioned the possibility of anything more. So when Kelly called a few months later—shortly after Sara had decided she’d been too hasty in ending their engagement—he’d been completely caught off guard. Just the sound of her voice had the memories flooding back and desire stirring. Then Sara had walked into the room and pointed to her watch, and he’d admitted to Kelly that he had an appointment with a wedding planner. After a brief moment of awkward silence, Kelly had offered a quick congratulations and an even quicker goodbye.

      Six months later, he’d married Sara. About two years after that, Kelly married some guy out in Seattle. Now they were both divorced, and despite all the years that had passed, he hadn’t forgotten about her. For some inexplicable reason, memories of one long ago weekend still stirred his blood more effectively than most of the flesh-and-blood women he’d dated in recent years.

      Maybe it was because he still felt guilty about the fact that he’d slept with the girl who had been his brother’s best friend since childhood. Yeah, it was the guilt, he assured himself.

      Because Jack refused to consider that he might have had feelings for Kelly that ever went any deeper than that.

      The knots in Kelly’s stomach tightened as the plane touched down on the runway.

      This was it—there was definitely no going back now.

      Not that she wanted to go back. Although she’d made the decision to move back to Pinehurst quickly, it hadn’t been impulsively. Which made her realize she’d been thinking about it for a lot longer than she’d been ready to acknowledge. Because no matter where else she might have lived, Pinehurst was still home.

      She’d had such grand plans when she’d moved to Seattle. A new city, a new job, a new husband. Even when she and Malcolm had gone their separate ways, she hadn’t wanted to leave Seattle. Of course, Malcolm’s mom—the only grandmother Ava had ever known—had still been a big part of their lives. Kelly knew she wouldn’t have made it through those first few years without her former mother-in-law, and when Beverley Scott had passed away, she’d been at a loss. Not only because Bev had willingly stepped in whenever Kelly needed someone to watch her little girl, but because the older woman had been Kelly’s best friend in Washington.

      Now it was time for a fresh start again. After more than a dozen years on the West Coast, she had no regrets about leaving. But she wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t regret coming home.

      The plane pulled up at the gate, and the knots multiplied.

      Okay, she was more than a little nervous, but she reminded herself that she was doing this for Ava. This decision, like every other decision she’d made since she’d learned that she was pregnant, had been focused on what was best for her daughter. Even if Ava didn’t agree.

      And the words she spoke, as they made their way off the plane, confirmed that she didn’t. “I can’t believe you made me leave Seattle to come here,” Ava grumbled.

      Kelly hadn’t expected that her daughter would be overjoyed by her decision, but she had hoped that she would have accepted it by now. “You know, if you weren’t so determined to hate it, you might actually like it here,” she told her.

      “I doubt it.”

      She didn’t argue. The choice had been made and their new life was about to begin, so all she said was “Grab your suitcase.”

      They’d packed only what they needed for a few days, with the rest of their clothes and household items being shipped.

      Ava hauled the bag off of the conveyor belt. “How are we getting to Pinecone?”

      “Pinehurst,” she corrected automatically. “And Uncle Luke said he would pick us up and take us to our new place.”

      “When are we getting a car?”

      “Before August fifteenth,” Kelly assured her, because that was the date she was scheduled to start her new job as an in-house accountant at Richmond Pharmaceuticals.

      Ava rolled her eyes. With the purple streaks she’d added to her hair during her last sleepover at Rachel’s house and the gloomy expression on her face, she looked too much like a typical sullen teenager—and she was still only twelve. As much as Kelly desperately hoped this move would help turn things around with Ava, she knew that any change would take time.

      “I’ll probably start looking tomorrow,” she said, hoping to appease her daughter. “I just wasn’t keen on picking up a rental and then driving to Pinehurst after spending all day on airplanes.”

      “How far is Pinetree?”

      “About an hour from here,” she said, not bothering to correct her on the name of the town again. Instead, she grabbed the handle of her own suitcase. “Let’s go find Uncle Luke.”

      Kelly headed out of the baggage claim area, then stopped so abruptly Ava plowed right into the back of her.

      “Geez, Mom,” her daughter grumbled.

      Kelly didn’t—couldn’t—respond.

      Because standing at the car rental counter, where Lukas said he would be waiting, was his brother, Jackson, instead.

      “Mom?” Ava prompted, sounding genuinely concerned. “What’s wrong?”

      Kelly had to remind herself to breathe, and she exhaled slowly. “Nothing’s wrong,” she lied, not wanting to alarm her daughter. “I just lost my train of thought for a moment.”

      “Well, put brake lights on next time,” Ava suggested. Then, after looking around, “I don’t see Uncle Luke anywhere.”

      “Apparently there’s been a change of

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