Then There Was You

by Miranda Liasson

  * * *

  In a small town like Angel Falls, the fireworks display didn’t last that long. Thank God, because Sara had a splitting headache. Julia was tired and whiny, her small hand literally stuck to Sara’s like syrup on a pancake, and Michael had fallen asleep, his head wobbling a little on Gabby’s shoulder. Kaitlyn had taken off with Steve to have a big relationship talk, so Sara and Gabby headed with the kids toward home.

  “Remind me of why we decided to walk again?” Gabby asked, adjusting Michael’s dead-to-the-world weight in her arms.

  Sara peeled her hand carefully away from Julia’s. It made a sound like a zipper unzipping. “Oh my gosh, Julia, here, sweetie, stick to Aunt Gabby for a bit while I take Michael.” She chuckled, but Julia just responded with an “I’m tired” and rubbed her eyes, getting more sticky stuff on her face, which was already coated with a sparkly layer of cotton candy sugar.

  Sara traded glances with Gabby. She saw the glint of desperation plain as day. Gabby pointed to the picnic bench on the far edge of the park, which stood on the grass a few feet ahead. It would be their last pit stop before hauling the kids another half a mile home. Which wasn’t that much, but it now seemed as impossible as a trip on foot across the Sahara with no water.

  “Why is it children weigh twice as much when asleep than awake?” Gabby said as they sat. A soft snore emanated from Julia, whose mouth had dropped open in a soft little O.

  Sara laughed. “I don’t know, but I’m sorry I’ve been such a pill tonight.”

  Gabby patted her on the knee. “I forgive you. If it’s any consolation, Colton kept looking over at you.”

  Sara shook her head. “I doubt Colton was looking at me when he had Everly to ogle.”

  “Oh my God, Sara. That man wants to do you, and you drove him into the arms of that horrible woman.”

  Sara rolled her eyes. “I didn’t drive him into anybody’s arms. I mean, it took him less than twenty-four hours to find someone else! Who does that?”

  “An angry alpha male? Who maybe wanted to make you a little jealous? Or who wanted to try and forget you, but of course he can’t because he’s fallen deeply in love with you. Or maybe he’s always been.”

  “My God, Gabby, you should write romance novels. Really.”

  “I’m just saying, I personally wouldn’t write him off just because you’re scared.”

  “I’m not scared!”

  “Come on, Sara. I mean, if that were me, I’d be a little nervous too of someone whose nickname is the Revolver.”

  “I’ve only been with Tagg.”

  “Having only been with one person isn’t the problem here. The trouble is, he wasn’t the right person. And you’ve hinted to me before that maybe the sex with Tagg wasn’t that great. A man like Colton has got to know what he’s doing in bed. Maybe it would be…you know, a little fun to find out?”

  “Gabby!” She looked down to check that the little ones were still asleep.

  Her sister raised her brows in a Well, I’m just sayin’ expression.

  Sex with Tagg had been pleasantly predictable at its best…and, to be honest, generally lacking. She’d always covered up those feelings, thinking that that was the way it went when you were with someone for a long time, or blamed it on her own lack of experience. Thought that maybe if she tried new things, read Cosmo more, whatever, the sex would be better. After all, that’s who she was at her core. Try Harder Sara. Out to please. Out to win everyone’s approval.

  “Thank you for being my sister,” Sara said. “And I’m sorry everything’s been about me lately. I was shocked when you announced your engagement. I felt bad. Like I’d been so wrapped up in my own troubles, I never even saw that coming.”

  “You didn’t see it coming because I didn’t see it coming. It had nothing to do with the fact that you just moved, started a new job, and are understandably stressed.”

  Sara picked her words carefully. “Are you happy with him?”

  Gabby sighed and adjusted Julia’s head on her shoulder. “What’s happiness? If happiness is having a family one day, then yes, I’m happy, because I want that more than anything.”

  Oh God, that was not the right answer. “Gabby, you’re young. You’re talking like this is your last shot at marriage and a family.”

  “Let’s get real, Sara. I’m twenty-nine, I have a job I dislike, and time is ticking away. I know Malcolm’s not perfect, but he’s smart, adventurous, and he’s got a great job. Not to mention he’s cute. Sometimes we don’t get exactly what we want. We have to make do, or we miss out entirely.”

  “It’s not like you to compromise for something so important. You’re the romantic of the family.”

  “Maybe for once I’m a realist.”

  She tapped her sister’s shin with her foot. “Don’t settle, Gabs. I almost did. If Tagg hadn’t been stupid, who knows how long I would’ve kept telling myself I loved him, trying to make it work, despite knowing in my gut there had to be more? I thought Tagg leaving me was awful, but now I see it in an entirely different light. It’s a second chance for me.”

  A second chance with Colton. Which she’d blown.

  Suddenly Sara began to laugh.

  “What?” Gabby asked. “What is it?”

  “We are never going to be able to carry these kids home. I mean…look at them.” Michael was asleep with his cheek on Sara’s shoulder, drooling, bless his heart. Julia was snoring, her head leaning back wantonly on Gabby’s arm.

  “I suppose we could call Joe and Evie to come get us,” Gabby said. She nodded in the direction of the road over Sara’s shoulder. “Or…we could just get into Colton’s cop car.”

  “Colton’s…” Sara turned to see a car drive slowly down the road and stop directly in front of the park bench. Colton rolled down the passenger window and leaned over the seat. “Care for a ride home?” he asked. No one else appeared to be with him, including pretty buxom females who were cute and bubbly. Thank God.

  “Yes!” Gabby said without compunction. She didn’t even acknowledge Sara’s glare. Fine. They were desperate. She’d take the ride.

  Colton lifted Julia and carried her to the car, handing her to Gabby once she climbed into the back seat. Then he came back for Michael. “I’ve got him, thanks,” Sara said, struggling to get up from the bench with a sleeping three-year-old who suddenly appeared to weigh as much as a sleeping elephant. Colton reached over and took Michael anyway, flashing Sara a don’t-be-stupid glare.

  “We don’t have car seats,” Sara announced from the back seat once they were all settled in.

  She found her gaze level with Colton’s in the rearview mirror. “Oh, you’re right, Doc. Maybe you two should walk then.”

  “Now, Sara,” Gabby said quickly, “it’s only a few blocks, and Colton will drive really carefully, right, Colton? And we’re so grateful for the ride, aren’t we?” Sara felt a smack on her thigh. “Aren’t we, Sara?”

  “Yes, fine, Gabby, we’re grateful. Very grateful.”

  “That’s what I like to hear, ladies,” he said, pulling away from the curb. Sara didn’t miss his grin in the mirror. “I promise I’ll drive carefully.”

  They drove the short distance to Evie’s with Gabby chatting exuberantly with Colton about cotton candy, the kids’ antics, and the people she’d seen at the park. Which was fine with Sara, who couldn’t wait to get out of the car. Evie and Joe met them in the driveway and carried their sticky sleeping angels to their beds.

  When Colton offered to drive Gabby and Sara to Nonna’s, Gabby wouldn’t let Sara protest. As soon as they got out of the police cruiser, Gabby yawned loudly and stretched. “Those kids really wore me out, man oh man. Think I’ll go in and check on Nonna. And Sara, you can just, you know, take as long as you want. Even all night, if you know what I mean. I’ve got things covered.”

  Gabby gave her a wink, jogged up the porch steps, and disappeared through the screen door before Sara could murder her.

  She was ready to bolt up the sta
irs herself when Colton’s hand on her arm held her back.

  “It’s a nice night,” he said, his gaze steady and calm, his touch soft but insistent. “How about we take a walk?”

  She scanned his eyes. He was looking at her in a way that seared clear through her like a lightning bolt, burning her to ash.

  Why was she angry with him, again? Oh, Everly. But deep inside, she knew Everly posed no threat. The threat she worried about was much closer than Everly and her new boobs. It was inside Sara’s own heart.

  Colton seemed to have an uncanny ability to see her inside and out, X-ray vision kind of seeing. He constantly called her out on all her noise: her drive for perfection, going a million miles an hour, and trying so hard to achieve. Somehow she sensed that with him it might be OK to just be.

  He took her hand as they walked down the tree-lined street. The moon was a bright crescent, and the sky looked like some magical fairies had tossed a bucket of glitter all over a backdrop of black velvet. It was one of those warm, wonderful midsummer nights when you didn’t even need a sweater. Golden lights from inside the century-old houses made everything look picture-book perfect, and Colton strolled along as calmly as if they were old friends out for a walk.

  Maybe she wasn’t ready for this, for him, for any man. The past year had been so full of pain. The rejection she’d felt last summer at being passed over for someone who’d appeared on a whim still hurt. It made her question everything about herself, who she thought she was, what she thought she wanted, where she even belonged in the world. Being back home had just added to the unsettled feeling, since working with her dad seemed like a temporary stop along the way.

  But Colton, he belonged somewhere, all right. As perfect a fit as a puzzle piece. He had that magic kind of personality that attracted people—he always had. Everyone loved him. He was woven into the fabric of their town, while she would always be the outsider looking in.

  “I always like to imagine when I’m doing my rounds and I see lights on in a house, a family is tucked in for the night,” Colton said. “It makes me feel…”

  She laughed, thankful to be dragged from her maudlin musings. “Like a voyeur?”

  “Ha ha,” he said. “I was going to say peaceful.”

  “When I was younger and I was walking home at night, I always looked into lit-up houses and imagined a family sitting around a table, the kids doing homework, the mom and dad supervising. Sort of like the fantasy family I was missing after my mom died.”

  He gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze. “I know the feeling.”

  Sara stopped on the sidewalk and faced Colton. He was so handsome, standing there in the glow of a nearby streetlight, the shadows highlighting his defined cheekbones, his strong jaw.

  Was it possible that the two of them could be much more alike than different? Each of them had grown up missing a parent and longing to belong to a “normal” family, if there was really any such thing. They’d both ended up back here in Angel Falls for reasons not of their own choosing.

  Sara took a deep breath. “Colton. I told you I wanted to be friends because you scare me to death.”

  “Yeah, I tend to have that effect on people,” he said, chuckling a little, but she could tell it was a nervous laugh.

  “I’ve been with one guy my whole life. I’m not ready for a relationship. I—”

  He cut her off. “I don’t care about any of that. I don’t care about the past anymore, not our past or your past with Tagg. It’s time to take a new course. For both of us.”

  Colton tugged her hand up very slowly to his mouth. His warm, masculine grip encased it as he slowly kissed her knuckles, one by one. A simple and easy gesture, but her pulse was doing the Indy 500 thing and it was making her dizzy.

  “I’m sorry I brought Everly tonight,” Colt said. “I was angry at you. Look, Sara, I don’t want anyone but you. I can’t eat or sleep, and all I do is think about how you’d feel in my arms. God knows why, because you’re a real pain in the—”

  She put a finger over his full lips. “Stop while you’re ahead, big guy.” Couldn’t eat? Couldn’t sleep? How she’d feel in his arms? Oh, wow. He’d had her at Let’s take a walk.

  His mouth curled up in the slightest smile. Then he kissed her finger.

  The silly yet touching gesture melted her. He lowered her hand slowly from his mouth. The heat and fire of his gaze raised goose bumps up and down her arms despite the warm evening. “I want you, Sara. Every second of every—”

  Sara cut him off, wrapping her arms around his neck and cutting off his words with her lips. He circled his big arms around her and kissed her back, deeply and urgently, pressing his body against hers. He wanted her. She could feel it down to her marrow, in the way he held her, tightly and possessively, the thorough way his lips moved over hers.

  “How about we go back to my place and sit on my balcony?” he asked.

  She crinkled up her nose. “That might sound a little like a line.”

  He stroked her cheek, and her knees almost caved. “It is a line,” he said, his lips twitching. “But come anyway.”

  She sucked in a breath. Was he asking her to…Well, yes. Yes, he was. It wasn’t like she’d never been propositioned before, but it had always been by semidrunk guys in bars. Usually with Tagg nearby to fend them off.

  She glanced up at him, past the spinning, heady feeling, past her heart throbbing in her throat and every nerve standing on end. Once she saw the way he looked back at her, tenderly and calmly, her panic halted. He had a way of quieting her soul at the same time he filled her with anticipation and excitement, which seemed impossible but was the only way she could describe his effect on her.

  “OK,” she whispered, smiling. She gave him her hand and let him lead the way.

  Chapter 14

  Colton led the way up the stairs and into his apartment, where he managed, a little shakily, to turn on a lamp. Around him stood his token bachelor living room, comprised of a leather couch, a La-Z-Boy, and a bunch of electronics along one wall.

  “Nice TV,” Sara said stiffly, looking around. She’d turned quiet during the last block, and dead silent on the way up the stairs.

  “Thanks.” God, he hadn’t been this nervous since he had to read aloud in front of the class in third grade. He must really be losing his touch if he was thinking about that when he had a beautiful woman in his apartment.

  Not just any beautiful woman. One who challenged him, and who brought out the best and the worst in him. A woman he could not stop wanting.

  “I mean, there are no wires,” she continued. “Some people have all those tangled wires.” She made jumbled-up motions with her hands. “Not you though, nope. Tidy as can be.”

  “Do you want a drink?” he asked. His voice sounded a little higher than usual, their normal conversation having been replaced by Sara’s waxing poetic about the quality of his TV setup. Her hands were shaking a little. He wanted to tell her his were too, but feared that would make her even more nervous.

  She cleared her throat. “Water would be nice. I’ll get it myself. I need to wash my hands.” She held up her palms, which had a few blue streaks of cotton candy on them. He’d been thinking more in terms of a good, stiff shot of Jack Daniel’s.

  She walked into his kitchen and turned on the water while he poured a glass of ice water from the fridge and handed it to her.

  “Thanks,” she said politely, taking a few sips. “Are you nervous?” she asked over the top of the glass.

  They were finally alone in a place where they could do something about it, and he could not blow this. Nervous? More like completely off the bell curve. “No,” he said.

  Sara, usually ready with some kind of retort designed to make his blood pressure skyrocket, was oddly silent. That was one thing about getting into it with her: they always had something to say. Getting along was a lot harder. He placed his hand lightly over hers, which was oddly cold. That little sign of cold, clammy vulnerability, plus the fact that she alt
ernated between jittery small talk and complete silence, made him feel strangely tender.

  “Red, I—” He wanted to tell her not to worry, but he faltered. Up close, he was drawn to all the multicolored flecks in her pretty green eyes—some dark, some honey colored—a beautiful unique mixture that took his breath—and his words—away.

  “I—saw you giving money to those boys tonight,” she said, filling in his awkward silence. “That was…sweet.”

  He looked down, not wanting to discuss how “sweet” he was. “Look,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “don’t make me out to be a hero. If I can do little things to help, I try to do them. Mainly because growing up, I understood what it was like—not to have stuff. Not to have fun.”

  She placed a hand over his chest. “You’re very kindhearted.”

  “I’m a small-town cop just doing my job.” Why were they talking about his job when he wanted to be kissing her?

  “I heard all those people who came up to you in line. Pulling down Christmas trees for elderly ladies and talking to kids and keeping an eye on people’s houses when they’re gone.”

  “Like I said, it’s my job.”

  She shook her head. “It’s more than that. Everyone in this town loves you. You look out for people—just like you look out for your family.”

  He sighed. Gently he took her glass and set it down. Then he lifted her up and set her on the counter next to the stove, stepping carefully between her legs.

  She swallowed. He leaned his hands on the countertop beside her, caging her in. “How do I get you to stop talking?” he asked, biting back a smile.

  Gingerly she reached out and patted one of his biceps, as if she were examining it. Another avoidance technique, not a good sign. He massaged her shoulders. Yep, tense as a live wire. That made him back up a little and gesture toward the living room. “Come on. Let’s watch TV. You can check out my sound system.”

  She laughed at that. But when he turned to go, she tugged on his sleeve, keeping him in place. “It’s the over-ten-year thing,” she blurted. “With Tagg. And no one else. Particularly the no one else part. Whereas you, on the other hand—”