the edges, growing more colorless as time passed, like a photograph fading away. Now he was flung back eleven years to a sizzling summer night when his emotions had run so hot he’d practically incinerated on the spot. She was the girl he’d wanted beyond all reason, the girl who gave him a feeling of worth for the first time in his life. Then came the night everything fell apart, leaving him broken and aching inside. It was a lesson he’d never forgotten.
An enormous brindle-coated Great Dane sat on the floor beside Shannon, nervously alert. Just then there was a loud clap of thunder, and he leaped up and scurried under the table. Shannon just stroked her foot along his side as she continued to look at the menu.
It didn’t surprise Luke to see a dog in the café, not when Rainbow Valley advertised itself as the most pet-friendly town in America. And it didn’t surprise him that the dog was with Shannon. There were animal lovers, and then there was Shannon North. But it wasn’t excessive puppy-petting that set her apart. She had no bleeding heart to get in the way of common sense. Just a deeply ingrained belief that every creature that walked the earth deserved a break.
“She’s the friend I’m meeting for lunch,” Mrs. Kaufman said.
Luke snapped out of his trance. “She lives here now?”
“She took over for me at the shelter two years ago.”
Luke couldn’t believe it. He’d thought surely she lived hundreds of miles away, taking advantage of all the opportunities she’d had that he could never have hoped for. Yet here she was having lunch at Rosie’s as if time had stood still.
“She went to the University of Texas,” Rita said. “Got her accounting degree and moved to Houston. I stole her away from a public accounting firm. Their loss.”
So Shannon had done everything she said she was going to do—college, professional degree, high-powered job, only to move back to Rainbow Valley. Her life in Houston had to have been a good one, way better than what this dinky little town could offer. So why in the world would she want to come back here?
A possible answer came with his next heartbeat. For a man, maybe?
“And no, she’s not married,” Rita said, as if she’d read his mind.
Just then Shannon closed her menu and turned toward the door, and Luke knew the exact moment she saw him. Her eyes widened, recognition lighting her face. For a split second, he imagined her smiling. Waving. Something. But just as quickly, she turned her attention back to her menu, studying it as if she didn’t already have it memorized.
So many times during the past several years, Luke wondered what it would be like if he ever saw Shannon again. In his heart, though, he knew. She would ignore him as if she hadn’t even seen him. Still, her instantaneous dismissal felt like a knife right to his heart, and for a moment the pain was as sharp as it had been all those years ago.
He brushed it aside, telling himself he’d put this place behind him. Put her behind him. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t tempted to walk right across this café and slide into the booth beside her, just so he could watch her flustered face as she tried to reconcile her eleven-year-old memory with the flesh-and-blood man sitting beside her.
“Why don’t you join us for lunch?” Mrs. Kaufman said.
Luke nearly choked. Was she serious? “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“I’m pretty good at reading body language,” he said, nodding in Shannon’s direction. “She’s hoping I’ll turn around and walk right out of here.”
“Oh, no. I don’t think—”
“Oh, yes, ma’am. And as much as I appreciate the invitation, I’m going to do just that.”
“I should have told you earlier,” Mrs. Kaufman said. “She sends her condolences.”
“Oh, yeah? So why didn’t she deliver them in person?”
Mrs. Kaufman paused. “It’s not my place to answer that. I’m just passing on the message.”
“Then you can consider it passed on,” Luke said. “Good-bye, Mrs. Kaufman. And thanks again. For everything.”
Before she could say another word, he left the café. The rain was letting up, but it still dripped from the brim of his hat as he hurried to his truck. He had one last stop to make before leaving town—the real estate office. It was time to find out what he needed to do to get his father’s property sold so once he left this place again, he’d