Hope and a group of other seniors waiting there. Hope wrapped her arm around his waist, giving him an inviting grin. “Hey, handsome.”
Cruz smiled. Hope was definitely interested, and she’d probably run a few seconds ago just to pique his interest. Teenage girls liked games like that. Meredith was too grounded to play games like that, but he couldn’t keep comparing everyone to Meredith. Hope’s kiss had given him plenty to be interested in. He found his gaze searching the party for Meredith, and a sharp sting of disappointment came as he didn’t see her.
He forced himself to be present and focus on Hope cuddled close while his friends bragged about how they were going to take down Great Falls in the preseason football game next week. Hope was here, she was interested, and her kiss had rocked him to his toes. Meredith needed to not top every girl in his mind. Cruz had more willpower than any person he knew, working hard at every sport he tried, pushing his mom’s demeaning comments out of his mind, and learning from his dad how to maintain their huge resort. He could force himself to only think of Meredith as one of his close and long-time friends. Maybe.
Chapter One
Twelve Years Later
Meredith took a deep breath, hung up her apron, and walked out the door of her empty ice cream shop. She loved One More Scoop and had worked hard for years, building her business from the ground up. Her parents and Granny had been huge supporters, but Meredith had done it all. From getting a loan from the bank to importing the perfect ice cream from Tillamook, Oregon, to their remote Montana valley. She’d also perfected her homemade waffle cones, brownies, cookies, and hot fudge, butterscotch, and caramel sauces.
Her usually packed shop was empty because everyone else in town was currently outside watching Cruz Chadwick perform on Mystical Lake. The golden boy was home to show off for his most loyal fans. Meredith’s face twisted in a scowl. No, that wasn’t true. Cruz’s most loyal fans were all the groupies who followed him around. Those beautiful girls were just hoping for a hug, kiss, or selfie with the wakeboarding and snow-skiing champion. She’d always known Cruz was too big of a star to be contained in their little valley, but it didn’t stop her from wishing he’d come back and finally notice her.
Nobody knew, not even Cruz’s sister, Catalina, who begged Meredith all the time to date him, that Meredith was in love with Cruz. She’d loved him for years. Their one stolen kiss in high school, where he thought he was kissing her friend Hope, was something she dreamt about far too often. Maybe Granny knew the truth, and she probably conspired with her best friend who happened to be Cruz and Cat’s Grams. They’d left her alone about Cruz for the past couple of years, probably both recognizing that he’d never settle down, especially not with Meredith.
Shading her eyes, she followed the cheers down toward the lakeside. A few boats dotted the lake, floating aimlessly as they watched the action. A red boat with a camera crew followed the turquoise blue MasterCraft boat pulling Cruz. Meredith held in the sigh of longing as she watched him. He did backward flips, forward flips, side flips, double flips, three-sixties, and tricks where he looked like Superman. His body was tanned, lean, fit, and perfect. His dark hair was the perfect length with just a little bit of wave that made him look like a surfer. His grin was big enough to see from the shoreline. He was incredible.
She oohed, ahhed, and clapped like a Cruz groupie along with the rest of the crowd. She couldn’t help but notice the out-of-towners down at the edge of the dock in string bikinis going nuts over Cruz. Did they follow him around? Were they staying at the resort or one of the cabins that rented as VRBOs? Was it just coincidence they were here? Fighting away the squirm of jealousy in her gut, she was about to force herself to back away and go wait in her shop for customers. They would have to eventually get bored of the show and come back to the shop. Who was she kidding? How could someone tire of watching Cruz Chadwick?
She felt someone staring at her, and a dart of trepidation rushed through her. A few weeks ago, she and her friends, Iris and Cat, had been kidnapped