LITMIR.BIZ

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Hannah Poole was easily seventy-five. Her eyes—shining with glee—were razor-sharp and her nose was practically twitching with interest. If there was a gossip train in Royal, then Miss Hannah was the engineer. There wasn’t a thing that went on in town that she didn’t know about.

      “Hello, Miss Hannah,” Amanda said, tugging at Nathan’s hand to stop him. “It’s nice to see you.”

      “I’m sure it is, honey,” she said as her gaze locked briefly on their joined hands. “Going somewhere, are you?”

      “Yes, ma’am, we sure are,” Nathan answered, then surprised Amanda by letting go of her hand only long enough to snake one arm around her waist, steering her toward the car. “And if we don’t hurry we’ll be late.”

      “Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you,” the woman said thoughtfully, eyes gleaming. “I’ve got to get on home, myself. You two young people have fun, now. Good to see the two of you back together again.”

      “Oh, we’re not—” Amanda began.

      “Thank you, Miss Hannah,” Nathan said over her. “You have a good evening.”

      He got Amanda settled, stalked around to the driver’s side and climbed in.

      “Of course she had to get home,” Amanda said, watching as Hannah Poole scurried down the sidewalk. Her feet, clad in sensible brown shoes, moved faster than Amanda had ever known them to go.

      “What she meant was, she had to get on the phone and tell everyone who wasn’t in town tonight that she saw the two of us together.”

      “Yep.”

      She turned her head to stare at him. “Doesn’t that bother you?”

      “Yep.” He fired up the engine, checked traffic, then pulled out onto Main Street.

      “That’s it? Just ‘yep’?” Amanda’s gaze locked on him. In the old days, Nathan would have been rigidly furious to be the center of attention. This Nathan was a stranger. Mysterious. Intriguing. “Who are you and what have you done with Nathan?”

      His lips quirked briefly. “What am I supposed to do? Shoot Miss Hannah? Throw her into a jail cell to keep her off the phone?” He shook his head and turned left. “Nope. No way to stop her or anyone else from talking.”

      “Did you have a temper transplant?”

      Unexpectedly, he glanced at her and grinned. “No, but not a bad idea.”

      She was charmed. How could she not be? Not only was this Nathan—the man she’d been in love with since she was fourteen years old—but tonight he was…different. More relaxed. More…approachable.

      Which could be risky, her mind warned. Logically, she should pay attention to that warning. Unfortunately, her body was too busy celebrating Nathan’s nearness to worry about possible future problems. And that was a whole different problem. She was supposed to be weaning herself from the allure of Nathan and now he’d made it that much more difficult.

      Amanda settled back in the car seat, kept her gaze locked on the street in front of them and tried to stifle the sensations already building inside her.

      It wasn’t easy.

      “So where are we going?”

      “You still like surprises?” he asked.

      “Yes …”

      “Then sit back. Won’t take but a minute to get there.”

      That narrowed down the choices. Even if he was taking her to Claire’s restaurant, it was clear on the other side of town. But he wasn’t headed in that direction, anyway. They’d only driven a mile or so, when Nathan pulled into a familiar parking lot.

      “The TCC?” she asked.

      “Problem with that?”

      “No.” She looked at the building that had been a part of town life since long before she was born. Built in the 1900s, it was a huge, rambling, one-story building constructed of dark stone and wood with a tall, slate roof.

      She’d been inside a couple of times before—not as a guest, but as a server when her father had catered meetings. She knew the ceilings were high, the furniture and floors were dark and old-world style and the ambiance was loaded with testosterone. Sure, they were allowing female members now, but not many and not without a battle that had made the Alamo look like a playground tussle.

      “I’ve just never—” She caught herself and shrugged. “I’m just…surprised, I guess.”

      “Why?” Nathan shut off the engine and looked at her. “The dining room’s been open to women for years.”

      “True, but you never took me there before.”

      “Yeah,” he said, “there’s a lot of things I didn’t do that maybe I should have.”

      She didn’t even know what to say to that. Did he have the same kind of regrets she had for the way things had ended between them? Nathan was a master at hiding what he was feeling so unless he came right out and said so, she might never know for sure.

      “Maybe that’s true of both of us.” She offered a truce and was pleased to see his smile in response.

      “Could be you’re right. But for now, let’s just say I’m a changed man.” He got out of the car and as he walked around the hood to come to her side, Amanda found herself hoping he hadn’t changed too much.

      Over dinner, she realized that she had forgotten just how charming Nathan could be. His gaze fixed on hers, he led their conversation to happier times. To the years before they’d split up in such a crash of emotions.

      All around them, the clink of silver against china and the tinkle of crystal became no more than quiet background noise. The people, the servers, seemed to fade away. She had even stopped noticing the hunting trophies on the walls. With Nathan’s full attention on her, it was impossible to be aware of anything else.

      The dark paneled walls, the soft lighting and the flickering candles on the tables all made for a romantic setting that Amanda wasn’t sure how to interpret. She hadn’t expected romance, yet it seemed Nathan was determined to give it to her. Why?

      And why couldn’t she just enjoy it while it lasted?

      They talked about old times, without touching on the painful parts. They talked about what each of them had been doing over the last seven years and slowly, began to work into…what? A friendship? No. That was too pale a word for the connection that hummed between them, whether they were acknowledging it or not.

      Of course, because they were in a small town where they knew everyone, their dinner wasn’t completely private. Several people paused at their table to say hello and Amanda watched as Nathan became what he was: the sheriff. A man respected and trusted by everyone in town, he answered questions patiently and promised a couple of people to look into their problems. He carried power easily and she realized that the last several years had made a difference. He wasn’t the young, arrogant man she’d known back then. Oh, he was still cocky, that came across just fine, but there was an underlying thread of patience that the old Nathan had lacked.

      It wasn’t just him that had changed. The years had left their mark on both of them. They weren’t the same people they had been seven years before. And maybe, if faced with the same situation today, they’d each react differently.

      Not that it would change anything now, but she couldn’t help wondering how things might have been if only they had trusted each other more. Talked to each other, rather than reacting to the pain of the moment.

      When they finished their meal, Amanda took a moment to glance around at the elegant dining room, filled with TCC members and their guests. No doubt every one of them would be spreading the word about this dinner she and Nathan had shared—but at the moment, she just didn’t care.

      Seated

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