If We Never Met (Whisper Lake #5) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,31

starting to look, so that's good to know. I can zero in on better locations."

"I'm not in a hurry. I'd like to find something soon, but I want it to be the right place for me. In the meantime, I'm happy to stay at the inn. Lizzie does a great job taking care of me."

"She's the best."

"Yes." He gave her a thoughtful look. "I feel like we've gotten off on the wrong foot. Have I done something to offend you, Keira?"

She was taken aback by his direct words. "No."

"I know you're concerned about my relationship with your mother, but you really don't have to worry. I care about Ruth, and I would never do anything to hurt her. I know she's had a rough time, and I understand your sense of protectiveness. In fact, I admire the sacrifices you've made for your mother."

"I did what any daughter would do."

"It sounds like you went above and beyond, giving up your life in New York to be here with her and then changing careers to keep her real-estate business afloat so that she would still be able to earn money."

She appreciated his words, or maybe they were her mom's words, but she still needed to keep her guard up. Mark was very smooth. He knew the right things to say. "My mom is the one who fought her way back to health, but??he's not all the way back. She has trouble with her memories. Sometimes the right word escapes her. She occasionally confuses faces."

"I haven't noticed any of that. She seems very sharp to me."

"Well, you've only been here a few days." She felt compelled to remind him how short their reunion had actually been.

"That's true. I'm looking forward to getting to know everything about her. I feel so lucky to have found her again. When I saw the job opening in Whisper Lake, the town name jumped out at me. I was fairly certain that's where your mom had ended up, but we hadn't been in touch in years. I wasn't sure she was still here. When I arrived, I told one of the therapists at the clinic that I'd gone to school with your mother, and she knew her. She told me where to find her."

"Who was that?"

"Her name is Nancy. Nancy Rodriguez."

She knew Nancy Rodriguez. She'd been one of her mother's therapists after the accident. "Nancy was very helpful in furthering my mother's recovery."

"She's an excellent therapist, from what I've been told. Anyway, that's how I showed up at your door last week. I know I took you by surprise. I guess I wanted to see the look on your mom's face. She didn't recognize me at first, but then she saw the photo, and she looked into my eyes, and it all came back."

She remembered that moment as well as he did, but while it had made him happy, it had made her suspicious. "My mom said you went out in high school."

"Yes. We dated for a couple of months our senior year, but it came to an end at graduation. We were going in different directions. My parents were moving to California, and I had gotten accepted to UC Santa Barbara. She was going to stay in Denver for school."

"But it wasn't just because you were moving. My mom told me you cheated on her."

Surprise filled his gaze. "Really? She said that?"

"She did."

"That's not what happened. She actually kissed someone else and then apologized for it. I was a very proud seventeen-year-old, so I didn't accept her apology. I was an idiot. After that, I started seeing another girl, but your mom was the one who strayed. Looking back, I can see why it happened. We were both late bloomers, and we weren't ready to be exclusive."

"Hmm, I guess she doesn't remember it the same way." It was entirely possible her mother had mixed it up in her mind. Or maybe Mark was just trying to make himself look better. "When did you meet your wife?"

"She's my ex-wife. We've been divorced for fifteen years. We met at a trade show when we were in our early thirties. She was a pharmaceutical rep. I was working in health care as well. We got married very quickly and then spent about six years trying to have a baby. Eventually, we had my son, Richard. He's twenty-four now."

"What broke you up?"

He hesitated. "A lot of things, many of them extremely painful. We needed to split up and move on from