God,God, William had aged well. Lucy Campbell’s whole body had tingled when he touched her arm, but damned if she was goingthereagain. All these years later, and his presence still managed to override all her brain circuits dedicated to reason. The ones that turned her into a stammering lunatic, high on lusty intoxication, were still on alert.
Sure, it was only a broken window. And a bruised knee. With a side of throwing-herself-on-the-ground embarrassment. The years melted away, the clock struck twelve, her coach fizzled into a pumpkin, and she turned back into the mess-of-a-girl Lulu. On cue, her stomach somersaulted and begged for a bag of potato chips. She ignored the plea.
True to his word, Chief Lawson had arranged for a replacement window. It had taken hours, and she was exhausted.
She clicked on the speakerphone and drove away from the gas station.
Her best friend Katie chirped at her. “Lulu, where the hell are you?”
“A kid threw a rock at my car. I had to get my window fixed.”
“Omigosh, are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Are you at the house yet?”
“Nope, headed there now.”
“Okay, I’m glad I caught you before you got there.”
Best friends since they were roommates in college, Katie Edwards was the only person in the world Lucy trusted. Katie had left Confluence two weeks ago when she received a promotion to Denver. She arranged for Lucy’s transfer to KDVX, the local television station, and promised the house she’d arranged for Lucy would be perfect.
Lucy was done taking handouts from her parents. Done with relying on them. They had the best intentions. Wanted her to realize her dreams without the struggle, but she was ready to do things on her own. They’d encouraged her to rent a luxury three-bedroom condo on their dime. She’d decided to rent a place she could afford instead—baby steps to releasing herself from their grip.
“Listen, promise me you’ll give the place a chance,” Katie continued.
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s a place to live,” Lucy said.
“It’s just not your usualhouse. But the people are great.”
Confluence was the next step in her fledgling career in broadcast journalism. The minute she stepped into her first journalism class, a spark had lit inside her. She was born to expose the truth. She never stayed in one market too long, and she loved that part of the business. Always moving. Always able to pick up and move onto the next opportunity.
“You’ll never guess who I saw.” Heck, she couldn’t even believe she’d seen William again after all of these years.
“Who?”
“William. The guy from Florida.”
“Get. Ouuut.” Katie’s words were filled with disbelief. “Did he remember you?”
“Nope.” And why would he? The last time she saw William, she’d been a gawky, overweight seventeen-year-old with horrible acne, braces, and thick eyebrows. He’d known Lulu Campbell, intern on theBeach Nightsreality show.
Eight years had been plenty of time for her to transform into a swan. She now sported clear skin, straight teeth, and two well-groomed brows.
“Did he grow warts all over and turn into a toad?”
“Not even a little bit of a toad.”
“Damn.”
The same golden eagle eyes and crumpled L.L. Bean charm had melted her like an ice cream cone dropped on a hot sidewalk. Rich brown hair trimmed short but long enough to have a smidge fall to his forehead. He was tall, at least six foot, likely more. Two delicious dimples popped when he smiled, and crinkles fanned from the sides of his eyes. Those hadn’t been there all those years ago when she’d crushed on him in Florida.
In her summer internship with that film company, she pretty much did all the jobs that no one else wanted to do and ran errands for the cast and crew. Which, at the time, included William.
He disappeared one day, and she never saw him again…until today. What the heck was he doing in a small town like Confluence, anyway? “It’s good he didn’t remember. I can’t be known as Lulu.”
No. Now she was Lucy. She had worked hard to shed her former self. She wouldn’t go back to the girl she had been.
