If only she could whoosh away memories of Aaron as easily once she returned to New York.
But that wasn’t going to happen, no matter what Lauren thought.
And truth be told, her sister’s good-intentioned reassurance that memories of her trip in general would fade after she left didn’t comfort her. Despite all the years she’d been gone, Hope Harbor still felt like home. More than New York ever had, though she’d lived there longer than she’d lived in Oregon.
In fact, now that she was back, the whole notion of leaving wasn’t all that appealing.
But her life and her career were in the Big Apple, and there was no way to change that in the immediate future.
Or at least none she could see.
A ray of sun peeked through the clouds, and her lips flexed. Typical Hope Harbor. Raining one minute, sunny the next—or sometimes both at the same time.
It was magical.
Charley had said that about Hope Harbor once too. Back when she was waiting to hear whether she’d been accepted at the San Francisco Ballet School. According to him, a special magic in herhometown often helped dreams come true. As hers had on the day twenty-plus years ago when she’d gotten the happy news that had launched her on the road to New York.
So if that special magic was still around, perhaps she’d be given a few insights about how to handle the handsome lumberman with the beguiling little daughter who’d captured her fancy ... and was fast encroaching on her heart.
22
It was hot in Texas.
Much hotter than in Hope Harbor.
Martin swiped the back of his hand across his forehead and cranked up the air in his rental car.
But the heat blazing through the windshield on this Saturday morning wasn’t the only reason he was sweating.
Just like the day he’d gone to visit Diane at Anna Williams’s place, he was flying blind. Hopeful but clueless about the reception he’d get at the off-campus studio apartment Lucas now called home.
The truth was, after years of sporadic, tense contact, it was very possible his son would either shut the door in his face or tell him to take a hike, despite the long trek he’d made for this in-person visit.
“Your destination is on the right.”
At the voice from his phone, he slowed. Pulled up in front of a nondescript apartment building in a neighborhood that seemed a bit ...tiredwould be a generous term.
Martin let out a slow breath.
What a contrast to the house in Hope Harbor with the pool andocean view and expansive grounds that he’d built for his family after he’d gotten the mill back on the road to solid financial footing.
A house he now occupied alone.
The fact that his wife preferred to live in a one-room annex and his son in an apartment building with peeling paint was compelling evidence he was the cause of their departure. He was the only common denominator.
But maybe today he could start to make amends for his past transgressions with his son.
He turned off the engine, slid from behind the wheel into the blast-furnace that Austin called summer, and locked the door. There wasn’t much to steal in the car, but this neighborhood didn’t appear to be the sort of place where you should take a chance.
He walked to the entrance, pulse picking up, dread dogging his steps.
What if Lucas refused to talk to him, despite his long trip?
It was the same question that had looped through his mind since he’d decided to book his plane ticket.
Texting or calling to alert him of his visit, however, could have backfired. It was easier to cut someone off electronically than in person.
Besides, while it would be more awkward to apologize and plead his case face-to-face, it was the right way to handle this.
