by Lori Wilde
Judith looked doubtful. “Some people don’t change over time.”
He shrugged. Brett had changed. And Tyler knew he had too. Years ago, he would never have agreed to help Brett expand his family’s horse farm. But now the idea held infinite appeal to him.
“Where did you leave things?” his mother asked.
Realizing the two women weren’t going to stop staring at him until he answered all their questions, he said, “Mom, just so you know, I’m not interested in Annie. But before I left the store, I teased her about taking both her and Courtney to dinner sometime. She said no. Quite loudly.”
Both Dolores and his mother laughed. Then Judith said, “I’ll call Annie’s mother and see what she thinks.”
Tyler hurried to chew the bite of pie he’d just put in his mouth. When he finally could talk, he said, “Don’t do that. It was a joke. I was teasing Annie.”
His mother shook her head, her dangling silver earrings rattling. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. I bet Fran will love it.”
Things were rapidly getting out of control. “No, Mom. Annie will get mad.”
“Not if her mother says we should do it. And not if we bring dinner.” After making this pronouncement, her mother smiled like a cat who’d just discovered a canary. “I’ll arrange everything.”
Tyler sighed. He hadn’t seen this coming. He needed to kill any matchmaking ideas his mother had. He’d just gotten home, and he had a lot of things to sort out. Sure, he would like to smooth things over with Annie and her family, but that was it. He’d never get involved with Annie again because one thing hadn’t changed over the years—Annie had been a forever-type girl, and now she was a forever-type woman.
And he’d never be a forever-type man.
**
She’d thought he’d been kidding. How could he not have been kidding? Even Tyler Nelson, with his giant-sized ego, had to know a brush-off when one hit him smack between the eyes. At least, she’d hoped so.
So when her doorbell rang on Wednesday night, she’d expected to see her mother on the doorstep. After all, they’d made plans for a nice family dinner.
Instead, Tyler stood on her front porch with a bottle of wine in one hand and a bottle of apple juice in the other. Even more surprising was that his mother stood next to him. Judith Nelson smiled at Annie as if they’d been friends for years.
“Hi, Annie,” Tyler said.
Annie narrowed her eyes. “Why are you here?”
With a chuckle, Tyler motioned toward the woman with him. “Hello to you, too. Annie, you remember Mom, right?”
Good manners forced her to greet the older woman. Then she turned her attention back to Tyler. “Why are you here?”
“Let me start by saying I’m sorry. This was not my idea. Your mother invited us,” he said. “She heard about my joke in the grocery store and suggested we make it actually happen. I thought she’d talk it over with you first.”
As much as Annie would like to tell him that her mother would never do such a thing, she realized that was a lie. Fran Lee definitely would do something like this.
“Where’s Courtney?” Tyler asked before Annie could say anything.
Annie returned Judith’s smile and then turned to Tyler. “I told you not to come.”
“Which is exactly what I said to your mother,” he pointed out. “Do you want to call her and tell her I did what she wanted but you kicked me out?”
Annie narrowed her eyes. “I can’t kick you out if I never let you in.”
He hooted a laugh. “So true.”
Inside, Courtney must have heard his voice because she started yelling, “Man Man” at the top of her voice.
Good grief.
“Fine. Come in.” She pushed the door open.
Tyler flashed her a quick grin, then nudged past her into the living room. “Your mother really did insist. If it makes you feel any better, you can say I’m here to have dinner with Courtney. I’ll even sit next to Courtney’s high chair and feed her. You can eat dinner with my mom and your parents.”
Annie wanted to be mad at him, but how could she? She knew her mother well enough to know this was her idea. Tyler and his mother had simply gone along with Fran Palmer’s plan. Like everyone always did.
Tyler glanced around the room. “I see your mom and dad haven’t arrived yet.”
“They should be here soon.” She followed Tyler and Judith into the living room. The older woman looked so out of place in Annie’s small house. With her expensive dress and purse, she looked like someone who’d wandered into Annie’s house by mistake.
But she was smiling and seemed delighted to be here, so manners compelled Annie to say, “Judith, why don’t you have a seat?”
Judith sat on the blue sofa facing the playpen where Courtney was excitedly bouncing. “She’s so cute.”
Annie glanced at her daughter. Courtney definitely was cute, and she was obviously thrilled her beloved Man Man was here. “Thank you.”
Tyler grinned, obviously knowing he’d won this war. “While we wait, why don’t we catch up on old times.”
Annie would rather be covered in honey and plopped on an ant hill. “Let’s not.”
The tension in the room must have made Judith uncomfortable. She glanced at her son. “Is there a problem with us being here?”
At the moment, Judith looked so sad that Annie couldn’t stop herself from saying, “No, there’s no problem. Of course you’re welcome.”
At the hesitation in the other woman’s voice, Annie turned and looked at her. She saw a woman who’d changed over the years. Gone was the regal attitude Judith used to have. In its place was a milder, more considerate demeanor. Twice in recent months, Judith had stopped to talk to Annie in the grocery store. Each time, she’d been nice. Not just to Annie, but to everyone. Maybe people really could change, or maybe time had just mellowed Judith Nelson.
Annie shot Tyler a meaningful look and said, “It would be nice to know who else is coming.”
Tyler shrugged. “Beats me. I’m just one chess piece in your mother’s game.”
Before Annie could answer, Courtney let out another holler and put her arms up in the air.
“Up, Man Man.”
Tyler picked her up and gave her a hug. “Hey there, gorgeous.” Courtney rewarded him with a sloppy kiss on his cheek. He turned to his mother. “Have you met Courtney yet?”
Judith leaned forward and patted Courtney’s arm, a wide smile on her face. She glanced at Annie. “You’re so lucky to have her.”
Annie nodded, wondering at what point she’d lost control of her life. But she knew. It had happened in the grocery store. Up until that point, she’d been fine. But the second she’d stepped through those automatic doors, she must have crossed into crazy town.
Tyler put Courtney on his hip and grinned at Annie. “I promised your mother I would bring the food for this dinner.”
What the . . . why would Tyler have to bring the food?
“Why? I thought Mom was bringing the food,” she said.
He shook his head. “Nope. I volunteered. She’d told me that Mom and I had to come to dinner. Let me clarify. She’d insisted we come. I offered to check with you first, but I was told absolutely not. So, sensing a possible devious plot afoot, I said I would bring the food.”
He set Courtney back in the playpen. She fussed a little, but he told her, “Stay calm. I’ll be right back.”
Almost as if she’d understood him, Courtney smiled and sat in the playpen.
Would wonders never cease?
Before Annie could say anything to Tyler, he walked out the front door. After he’d disappeared, Judith smiled at her. “I hope you don’t mind. Tyler didn’t want you to go to any trouble, so he made the sauce at home, and he’s brought pasta to cook here. Let him do everything. He’s a very good cook, and he said you told him spaghetti was your daughter’s favorite food.”
“It is,” she said absently. This spontaneous party planned by her mother w
as a crazy idea, not to mention annoying. She didn’t want to spend time with Tyler, and her mother should have known that. She wasn’t mad at him, but it was a little awkward. They didn’t know each other anymore, and their past history made things more than a little uncomfortable.
Yet here he was, courtesy of her mom. She didn’t believe for a second that her mother didn’t have a doozy of a scheme. What she couldn’t understand, though, was why Tyler had gone along with it. It didn’t make sense. He didn’t want a date. He’d brought along his own mother. What on earth was he up to?
When Tyler returned from getting a huge bag of food from his car, Annie was ready to ask him a few well-chosen questions, but her family arrived at that moment. Her mother, father, and brother, Brett, laughed and joked with Tyler as if he were some prodigal son who’d finally returned home.
During the next few minutes, Annie decided they were all up to something. It wasn’t just Tyler; her family didn’t act like this. Sure they laughed and joked, but they didn’t smile such inane smiles.
And everyone was constantly smiling at one another. It drove Annie nuts. For starters, her father and brother had vowed years ago to have nothing further to do with the Nelson family. Yet here they both were, visiting with Tyler while he stirred spaghetti in her kitchen. Meanwhile, at her tiny kitchen table, her mother and Judith chatted like two teenagers who’d been best friends for years. Annie wanted to demand that they tell her where they’d hidden her real family.
In the middle of it all was Courtney. One person after another scooped her up and gave her hugs and kisses. Little Courtney was in her element—being adored by a room full of grown-ups who intended to feed her spaghetti. For a two-year-old, life couldn’t get any better.
When the laughter in the kitchen got too loud, Annie went out to the living room and flopped down in her favorite chair. It wasn’t like anyone would miss her in her own house. They had invaded, and she was no longer needed.
“Want to talk about it?”
She tipped her head back and glanced at Tyler. “Why are you doing this to me?”
He came to the side of her chair and crouched so that he was eye level with her. Gently, he brushed a loose strand of hair from her cheek. “I’m not doing anything to you, Annie.”
His soft voice ran over her like warm water. “Yes, you are. You’re up to something.”
He hesitated for a second, then shook his head slowly, the expression in his eyes one of sadness. And there was something else, some indefinable emotion she didn’t recognize. “Your mother arranged this. Since I haven’t seen your folks in years, it seemed like a nice idea.”
No wonder this man was a terror in the courtroom. He had such a convincing voice, it was easy to believe everything he said. But Annie knew it didn’t take much to make that sincere tone of his change.
“I’m trying to decide whether I believe you,” Annie admitted.
Tyler frowned. “I understand. Things didn’t end well between us, and I know it was my fault. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about the past.”
Annie sat up straight in her chair. Talking about the past bothered her. She wasn’t still mad or hurt. Their wedding fiasco happened a long time ago. But things felt awkward and strange between them now.
Plus, she was finding it almost impossible to have Tyler this close to her, looking so handsome and being so kind.
“Will you accept my apology?” he asked.
He was making an effort, so she would too. “Yes. Apology accepted.”
“So are you mad?” he asked.
She tipped her head slightly and studied his handsome face. “About the past or about tonight?”
Instead of being insulted, Tyler chuckled. “Either.”
She started to say yes, she was mad. But she wasn’t. Not really. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling.
“No. I’m not mad about the past,” she admitted. “I am aggravated about this evening, but not at you. My mother shouldn’t have done this without talking to me. Still, I realize this dinner might be a good idea. If both of us are going to live in Falling Star, we should put the past behind us.”
He nodded. “Absolutely. See even Man Man can be nice if given a chance.”
Despite herself, Annie laughed. “You should try to teach her your name.”
He nodded. “Absolutely. I will try during dinner. I tried teaching her to say spaghetti, but she pretty much just sputtered at me.”
“Spaghetti is a tough word,” Annie pointed out.
“For all of us,” he noted.
Again, Annie laughed. She’d forgotten how much she’d liked being around Tyler. He was funny and kind, and she knew he meant well.
“We can work on that, too,” she said.
Tyler ran one hand through his hair, then studied her as if she were a piece of unexpected evidence brought into the courtroom. “Feel up to facing the kitchen crowd again?”
She nodded and stood. “But let’s agree—we need to stop my mother and your mother from any more sneakiness.”
“You bet.”
He gave her that trademark crooked grin again. He truly was insane. “What did you do for fun while I was gone?”
“I made do,” she told him.
Tyler gazed at her, his brown eyes twinkling with humor. For a moment, she felt the same awareness pass between them, like an electric current holding them together. The feeling startled her since she hadn’t felt it in years. But even now, after all this time, she still was attracted to the man.
A loud noise from the kitchen caused Tyler to turn his head for a moment. At this close range, it was difficult for Annie to ignore how good-looking he was. That was the unfair part—that even after all these years he still possessed so much appeal. It just wasn’t right.
When Tyler turned his head back toward her, he winked. “I think we’d better hurry before we’re interrupted.”
Annie frowned, not liking that statement one bit. “What do you mean?”
Tyler’s expression reminded her of the look that crossed Courtney’s face whenever the toddler had something bad planned. Annie tried to take a step back to gain some distance from him, but her move didn’t help because Tyler moved forward.
“Tyler, what are you doing?” she asked.
She’d barely gotten the words out when Tyler asked, “May I hug you?”
She frowned, surprised by his question. “What?”
“I’d like to hug you because we’re old friends who have agreed to forget the past,” he said. “We need to move on, for both our sakes.”
His sincerity got to her, and she agreed with him. They needed to move on. So without giving herself time to think, she moved forward, and he hugged her. The hug was friendly, a nice hug, not the kind he’d given her when they’d been dating.
But feelings still overwhelmed her, and the hug caught her unawares. For a moment, she hesitated. Then she hugged him back.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve this craziness,” she muttered.
Tyler loosened his arms so he could look at her face. “Lived a good life?”
As much as she hated to admit it, he still had a way of making her feel like she was the only woman in the world that mattered.
But she knew better than to get sucked in, so she started to move out of the circle of his arms. She turned her head at the same moment he turned his, and for a heartbeat, their faces were close. Too close. The air seemed to escape her lungs in a whoosh, and before rational thought could enter her mind, Annie did something even she couldn’t believe.
She kissed him.
Chapter Three
Her action surprised Annie so much, it took a moment for her to realize what she’d done. Then, just as she was about to move away, he kissed her back, and the warmth of his kiss held her in place. Tyler had always been a great kisser, and the years had just improved on perfection.
Tyler’s hands rested lightly on either side of her waist. It had been far too long since she’d been kissed. Without
really intending to, she raised one hand and placed it along the side of his face. For one short moment, life was as it used to be. She was young and in love and—
The cry from the kitchen made her jerk her head back. She stared at Tyler for a breathless second, then she moved away from him and headed toward the kitchen to see what was wrong with Courtney. She found her daughter sitting on Judith’s lap, big tears running down her small face.
Annie could only hope she didn’t look as guilty as she felt. Her face was warm, but she prayed she wasn’t blushing. The last thing she wanted was for the people in this room to suspect what had just happened.
“What’s wrong?” Annie asked, keeping her voice as steady as possible. Thankfully, Tyler hadn’t followed her, so she had time to restore her shaky composure.
“Nothing. Courtney wanted to go near the hot stove, and we wouldn’t let her,” her mother said.
“Oh.” Annie shifted her balance from one leg to the other. Now that she was in the crowded kitchen with everyone else, she felt self-conscious. What was wrong with her? She was as crazy as the rest of them. She never should have kissed Tyler.
Had she lost her mind?
“Where’s Tyler?” her father asked.
Annie blinked at him. “Tyler?”
He laughed and dropped his arm around her shoulders. “You know. Young man. Good-looking. He went to find you.”
Oh, he’d found her all right. “He’s in the living room.” Everyone in the kitchen was looking at her with expressions varying from mild interest to downright skepticism. “He and I were talking,” she said lamely.
Herb Lee grinned. “Okay. If that’s what you say.”
Annie moved away from her father and avoided looking at him. “That’s what we were doing.” She bent and scooped Courtney off Judith’s lap, thankful for the distraction the child offered.
“I need to change her before dinner,” she said as she left the kitchen and entered the living room.
She was about to release a pent-up sigh when she ran smack into Tyler. He reached out and caught her with his hands, steadying her. Since Annie held Courtney in her arms, she was trapped.