THE STARLIGHT HILL COMPLETE COLLECTION: 1-8

by Bell, Heatherly

Gen was still staring, cupcake in one hand, frosting knife in mid-air. “Never got around to it. Oh, sugar.”

  “Sorry, Gen, but I was a mess.”

  Riley had spent more time deployed than he’d spent with her during their short marriage, but oh the times he’d been home. She’d lived and breathed for those reunions. The rest of the time? Yeah, okay, she’d been lonely but then she’d met Nikki and everything had changed. They’d had so much in common. Same age, both youngest in a family of girls. For a while, Sophia thought she’d be all right but then even that had blown up in her face. What had happened to Nikki was so tragic. Sophia hadn’t thought of her in a long time.

  And Riley’s last deployment had been the end. He’d made his choice and it hadn’t been her.

  “Anyway,” Gen said, rising to put another plate of cupcakes on the counter. “Shouldn’t you at least file for divorce now? I mean, there’s no need for anyone else to know you’ve only just now filed. Riley won’t tell them.”

  Interesting that most everyone in her family thought what she’d avoided for so long was already done. “I should. I have the papers at home in my desk drawer. Just need to sign them.”

  “If you don’t, you better think fast as to what you’ll tell your daddy once he comes back home. He doesn’t like Riley much, and I’m guessing he’ll try to march you down to the lawyer himself if he finds out.”

  “You’re right.” Sperm bank or Riley? She honestly wasn’t sure which Daddy-o would hate more.

  “On the other hand.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You could just see where this goes, especially while your daddy is away. What can it hurt? See if there’s, you know, any tiny ember of a spark left there.”

  Sophia cleared her throat. Best not to tell Gen the spark was still more of an electrical fire. “You think so?”

  Gen put a hand on her heart. “You know I’m a romantic. I can’t help thinking, after all this time, what if there’s still something there? Lord, listen to me. I can’t believe I’m saying this. Don’t tell Wallace I’m encouraging you to go back to the man who broke your little ole heart.”

  “I won’t.”

  “But seriously, what if you tried dating him for a while?”

  “Are you out of your mind?” The physical part with Riley, the connection, was obviously still there. It always had been. But trust? She’d never trust him with her heart again. Period.

  “Wallace and I have a standing date every Thursday night.”

  “That’s different.” Sophia wrinkled her nose. “He might still be my husband but that’s only on paper. I hate Riley.”

  Gen raised a brow. “Hate is a strong word.”

  “Yeah, well, he deserves it.” As much as she’d once loved Riley was about how much she now hated him. Her hatred had grown over the years, like a cozy blanket sewn over her heart, every thread insuring she wouldn’t ever again feel that soul-ripping pain.

  “It can’t be easy for him, taking the police chief job.”

  “Why not? He’s great at ordering people around.”

  “For one thing, no one really seemed to want him for the job,” Gen said.

  “Why wouldn’t they? It isn’t like Bert is so hard to replace.”

  “Bert was a fixture around town, and Riley is young and from out of the area. I heard from Ophelia that no one had much confidence in him other than her. She really pushed hard for him, said that we need someone young to lead the town’s police force. And I’m sure the history with his sister can’t help his reputation.”

  “That’s not fair. Riley’s never done drugs.”

  “I understand, but you know how people talk. Is she still not doing well?”

  Not if the other night was any indication. Lucy had a long way to go. Riley would probably force her into another rehab at some point, she’d be clean for a while, and come home. Then the whole process would start all over again. Why couldn’t he see it wasn’t working?

  “She’s using again.”

  “He’s tried so hard to talk sense into that girl.”

  It was one thing for Sophia’s hormones to overrule her brain, but another thing to feel sympathy for Riley. He’d never been the type to elicit much of that from her or anyone else. He was confident, strong and powerful. It was in the way he carried himself and the message he choreographed to the world: I’ve got this. Don’t need your help, thanks. But the way Gen talked, Riley wasn’t all that welcome in town and that bothered her more than she wanted to admit. He had every right to work wherever he wanted to.

  “I know how angry you were with him,” Gen said. “But there’s something I never told you about. Riley used to email me every few months or so to ask how you were doing. For years.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “He asked me not to.”

  “So you just listened to him. How does he get everyone to do what he says? That’s what I’d like to know!”

  “I also didn’t want to say anything to upset you. After you started doing so well, moving on and everything.”

  Oh yes, and she’d done so well with the moving on!

  “Let it go! Let it go!” Lindsey came barreling into the kitchen, pulling Emily and Brandon behind her like train cars.

  Milo ran towards them apparently eager to play too, and knocked Brandon down, collapsing the train’s caboose.

  “Ow, Mommy!” Brandon said from the ground, but started giggling when Milo licked the boy’s cheeks, smelling some remnant of frosting left behind.

  Gen tried to pry Milo off Brandon, which made the girls sing even louder. “Let it go!”

  Sophia, laughing so hard she thought she might pee her pants, helped Gen. Sophia succeeded in pulling Milo away from Brandon, and Gen picked her giggling son up off the floor.

  “Just another day at the Turlock household.” Gen laughed and kissed Brandon’s forehead. “Never a dull moment.”

  Sophia just watched as Gen sat Brandon on the counter near the sink and used a paper towel to clean his cheeks, then kissed each one as he giggled. Emily and Lindsey joined hands and started skipping through the kitchen, narrowly avoiding Milo, who couldn’t help but chase them.

  This, right here, was all she’d ever wanted. A big family with the man she adored.

  Years ago, Riley had denied her even that.

  7

  Early the next week, Riley listened to Ed, owner of the only hardware store in town, piss and moan about the new city parking regulations introduced at the last city council meeting. Listening was a strong word, actually. Nodding in appropriate spots was much more like it. But it didn’t help that he could use a pair of toothpicks to pry open his eyes right about now. He hadn’t fared well in the sleep department since he’d seen Sophia on the weekend. She’d been about as worked up as he’d ever seen her before. Riled up the way he’d always liked her. But just when he thought maybe he’d be able to make love to his wife for the first time in years, she’d pulled the plug.

  He probably deserved that.

  “Are you listening to me?” Ed said.

  “Sure.” He cleared his throat. “My door is always open.”

  “What the hell do I care about your damned door?” He stood up. “This town is going to hell in a hand basket, ever since you got here!”

  Riley tried a tight smile. He’d been here less than two weeks, but he was a convenient scapegoat for the changes the mayor had been pushing to bring to town for years, to hear her tell it. His non-response was enough for Ed to stomp out of the office. Grateful for a moment to remove the pick from his brain, Riley shut his door. His door might be metaphorically always open but damned if it would always be physically opened. He needed a minute.

  His plans were the ones that hadn’t been implemented, none of which had a damn thing to do with parking regulations. He had plans for a youth outreach program, for one, in conjunction with the police department. Ophelia was behind him one hundred percent, and they had a meeting with the high school administrators la
ter in the week.

  Since he had patrol tonight, he’d have a short time to grab some dinner before his shift began at eight. Maybe he’d drop by Giancarlo’s and apologize to Sophia. But for what, exactly? She’d been the one to grab him in a kiss that threatened to suck him dry, and then walk out. All he’d done was spill his guts, which pissed him off to no end. He’d told himself, hell, he’d told her he wouldn’t rush things. So what had he done? The first inkling that Sophia had another man in her sights and he’d folded.

  Not what he’d planned. Maybe he’d better skip Giancarlo’s and leave well enough for now. He was tired of saying the wrong thing.

  The cold hard truth wasn’t always the way to go, he’d learned the hard way. Such as the stupid-ass military wife comment. True comment or not, he was an idiot. She didn’t need to hear it, not from him. More than anyone, he’d been aware how hard she’d tried but it wasn’t easy to have a marriage when one of you was gone ninety percent of the time. When the divorce statistics for young enlisted men were as high as eighty percent. Something he should have considered sooner, had he been making decisions with his brain instead of his heart.

  There was a rap on his door. “Someone here to see you, Chief.” Claire cracked the door and spoke in her official tone of voice. Usually this meant someone of significance had dropped in without an appointment, like the mayor or a city councilmember.

  “Come in,” Riley said, and sat up straighter.

  The man who walked through his door was someone of significance, all right, though Riley hadn’t expected to see him here. He’d have figured Scott Turlock would come by to see him at home, or anywhere else where he might be able to cold-cock him without too many repercussions.

  Interestingly enough, he didn’t look pissed. Riley was well acquainted with Scott’s pissed off look, as he’d seen it on his wedding day to Sophia, Scott being just one of many who thought they were rushing things having known each other only four weeks. Of course, Riley wouldn’t listen to anyone at the time. Neither would Sophia, but they’d all counted on him to do the right thing. The smart thing. At the age of twenty-one when he’d just met the love of his life and was about to ship out without her.

  Yeah, screw that. It hadn’t happened.

  “Turlock.” Riley nodded in the direction of the seat on the other side of his desk.

  “Lieutenant Turlock,” Scott corrected with a sharp nod.

  “Oh yeah, I heard.”

  “Nice to see you, Sarge.”

  Riley cleared his throat. “That’s chief now.”

  Scott scowled. “Yeah.”

  “What can I do for you?” Riley imagined Scott was here on personal business, taking care of his little sister like any good sheepdog, but for now he’d treat him like any other public servant.

  Scott finally took a seat. “So yeah, welcome to town and all that shit.”

  They were going to play it like that. “Thanks. Glad to be here.”

  “Yeah? Glad to be living next door to your ex-wife?”

  That hadn’t taken him long. “Actually, Sophia’s not my ex-wife.”

  “You forget. I was at the wedding.”

  “How could I forget? It wouldn’t have happened if your family had their way.”

  “I expected you to know that Sophia wasn’t ready for a military lifestyle.”

  “And you got to be right about that. I made a mistake. Is that what you want to hear?”

  “I appreciate you owning up to it.”

  “She wanted to be with me. That’s the part you all forget.”

  “And we don’t always get to have what we want. Do we?”

  Riley’s jaw clamped tight. “Remind me how that goes again? I think I know what it’s like not to have what I want.”

  “I don’t blame you entirely. We all know what Sophia’s like when she gets an idea in her head. She thought she loved you, and no one could talk her into waiting.”

  Thought she loved you. Even if it had been a mistake, he still couldn’t bring himself to regret the time they’d had together, limited though it had been. “That was then, this is now.”

  “A little late.”

  Actually, Riley would leave that to Sophia. It wasn’t too late for him, and as far as he was concerned, no one but Sophia could make that decision. He took a deep breath. “Don’t see how, when we’re not divorced.”

  “No shit.”

  Riley leaned back in his chair. “You didn’t know.”

  “How the hell did that happen? You refuse to sign the divorce papers?”

  “What divorce papers?”

  Scott groaned. “Never mind. You just answered my question. Damn, this won’t be fun for either of you when her father gets back to town.”

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “So why are you here, really?”

  “I did my time, got out. This job became available and I took it.”

  “Cut the crap. You could have had a job anywhere in the country with your background. You could have re-enlisted. Anything.”

  “Fine. There was the attraction that my wife lives here.”

  Scott snorted. “You want her back?”

  Riley lifted a shoulder. He hated to spill his guts. Self-preservation still ran deep through his veins. “If she’ll have me.”

  Scott squinted, studying Riley. “You mean it.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Honestly? We all thought you were done with Sophia.”

  “Far from it.”

  This conversation had reached an end. Riley respected Scott a great deal for his service, and for the way he’d always looked out for Sophia. But the rest of this was between him and Sophia. If she hadn’t shared with them how she’d slowly unraveled right before his eyes after what had happened with Nikki, then it wasn’t his place to tell her family.

  “Just don’t—don’t hurt her, man. She’s had enough loss in her life. When she lost you, it didn’t look like we’d ever be able to put her back together again. Now look at her. She’s running the restaurant like she always planned to do and she has a good life.”

  “Is she happy?”

  “Hell, I don’t know. She seems happy. It won’t be easy, getting her back. Pretty sure I saw your photo being used for darts once. Just sayin’.”

  “No doubt. But we both have our versions of how everything blew up, and I’d bet mine is a little different from hers.”

  “That’s usually how it is.”

  “You don’t need to worry. If anyone gets hurt, I guarantee it won’t be her. I’d stake my life on it.” He met Scott’s eyes. “Satisfied?”

  “For now.”

  8

  The first time Sophia ever laid her eyes on Riley Jacobs, she ran to hide in the ladies’ room.

  “I thought you didn’t have to go.” Melanie, Sophia’s new roommate, stood in front of the mirror fluffing her long blonde ringlet curls.

  “I don’t. I’ll just hang in here with you for a minute.” Sophia turned on the faucet and washed her hands. Best to keep busy, as Mama always used to say.

  “Ah, jeez. What is it? Did you see any family out there?”

  “No.”

  Sophia hadn’t wanted to celebrate her freedom from Berkeley University in Starlight Hill, not that there were many places to celebrate there anyway. But the whole subject of dropping out of school was still a sensitive one to her family. And in a town the size of hers, practically everyone was ‘family.’ She’d considered the San Francisco night life on Saturday night, but she and Melanie had finally settled on Henry’s. Only thirty minutes from Starlight Hill, it still seemed far away enough and safe enough.

  Until she’d walked in and seen him.

  She’d managed to catch the attention of a man who made her feel like her whole body was on fire. Not a comfortable feeling. Thus, the ladies’ room. And washing hands, a comfortable and safe routine.

  “Well, c’mon,” Melanie finished fluffing. “You have some drinking to do. I’m your designated driver, so ta
ke full advantage of me.”

  Oh right, drinking. That was what young people did when they wanted to cut loose and get wild and crazy. She’d been a college girl. She understood. Problem was, she’d never thought of it as a big deal. Her parents had been old school Italian Europeans who let her and her two sisters drink red wine at the dinner table from the age of ten. It was not a big deal, simply a drink with dinner and nothing to get excited about. Living in wine country and owning a family restaurant, her parents had trained her to distinguish wine properties, not drink so much she’d wastefully throw it all up.

  The minute she went through the hallway into the bar area, she sensed him staring at her again. Sophia used Melanie as a sort of shield, walking around the bar, while she tried to get a good look at the guy. She wanted a second where she could check him out without him noticing, but no matter what she did this guy was dialed into her every move even when he was simply standing next to his friend taking a pull of his beer.

  Did she want him to catch her checking him out? Um, no. But yet it happened. When he’d caught her staring, he’d simply grinned and winked.

  “Dang, look at that guy.” Melanie elbowed Sophia. “I think he just winked at me. Holy crap, he’s hot. He screams hot, wild sex.”

  Melanie was right about the hotness factor once Sophia got a good long look at him. He wore black jeans and a worn navy blue t-shirt. Big combat books and close- cropped hair. Military guy, she’d bet her life on it. It would make a lot more sense for this guy to go for Melanie, who’d been Starlight Hill’s homecoming queen and now worked as a dental hygienist in town. Her teeth were perfect, her hair was perfect, and so were her long slim legs. Sophia was an idiot to go anywhere with her, but they’d been friends since junior high school and it couldn’t be helped.

  Now Sophia could hardly believe the fact that it seemed as though this guy wasn’t interested in Melanie at all. His laser focus seemed to be on Sophia alone which didn’t make sense. Being short (the Italian in her) with an okay figure had done nothing to earn her homecoming queen status. Even if Melanie insisted Sophia had a great ass, a compliment which would have been better coming from anyone else.