Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,16

ghosts from the past.

Maybe Mia hoped Raleigh would stop by, especially now that she knew that was his car she’d seen the night they arrived. She’d watched him walk to his car after he left the attorney’s office, his fingers at his temples. While her father pressed Shatke to draw up the papers for Raleigh to sign over his inheritance to her, Mia had slipped out to get a drink of water and gone right to the front window.

Raleigh had looked shocked at the meeting, clearly not expecting Nancy to leave him half of the house. Or say the things she’d said about him. But why, why would he offer to sign over that much money? Mia didn’t understand. That money could change his life. Was he still trying to atone for the accident?

Mia turned back to the house, fully lit inside, warm and welcoming. “Well, Grandma, you wanted me to get closure. That’s what I’m going to do. Because my parents stole my letter to Raleigh. It galls me. No, forget that. It pisses me off. All these years I thought he was too hurt or angry to respond. I’ve been beating myself up for hanging up.”

She was in the rental car forty minutes later, having applied makeup, brushed her wind-tossed hair, and tried on a dozen outfits…pretty much everything she’d brought.

All chosen with seeing Raleigh in mind, her conscience taunted.

No point in denying it. Mia had the roof down, the convertible a counterpoint to the grief and guilt with which she’d been wrestling. Her heart started hammering even before she spotted the garage. The inside lights were on. A midnight-blue classic muscle car was parked out front. Just like the old days.

Except this was nothing like the old days. So much had happened since then. They’d grown up. Changed. Heck, he could be married, for all she knew. Engaged. Seeing someone, at the least.

The thought dinged her heart even as she told herself that it was for the best. It would make things easier, for sure. Put her memories where they belonged: in the past. She was here for business, after all, not reminiscing. Still, so much crammed into her brain, words that wanted to be said. Apologies, thank-yous.

I loved you so much.

God, no, not that. They’d never exchanged those words. She suspected they weren’t words he used or heard much, as rarely as she did. With summer coming to an end, along with their romance, it seemed pointless to declare something so monumental. Once, she thought he might say it. He’d been looking at her so deeply, his mouth open, and he’d said, “Mia, I love…” He’d cleared his throat. “I loved being with you this summer. I wish it wouldn’t end.”

She’d tried to come up with ways that it didn’t have to end. He could move to Minnesota. She’d spend her senior year down here with Nancy. That last idea had been a heart-thumper. Of course, she knew her parents would forbid it, especially since they knew that she would be staying because of Raleigh. They didn’t know she’d been sneaking out, but they did know she was seeing him.

She pulled into the parking lot, keeping her headlights from sweeping into the open bay of the garage. She wanted to walk in as she’d done that first time, to watch him work without his knowing. But as her sandals scraped across the asphalt she saw him standing at the opening. With the light behind him, his expression was in silhouette. She hoped it was the one he’d worn at the memorial, a hint of a smile and a lot of curiosity. Maybe he’d already turned down the music, because she only heard a low rock-and-roll bass line in the background. Maybe he’d outgrown the blaring music.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” she said, squinting as she stepped into the brightly lit garage. She stopped, seeing him in the light, and felt the full impact of being this close to him again.

Shirtless. A smear of grease across his cheek. Hair tousled. The thin blue fabric of his mechanic’s pants showcased muscular thighs, then grew baggier as they went down to his scuffed boots. He was taller and more filled in than he’d been at nineteen, his shoulders now broad, his chest contoured.

She raised her eyes to his face again, realizing that she’d been gawking. “You’ve changed,” she managed, because she couldn’t exactly ignore the fact.

“So have you.” The corner of his mouth lifted, a smile that didn’t