She tossed her napkin on the table.
Mitch caught her wrist before she could get up. “Past history, Carolyn. We all have regrets.”
“Regrets? That’s what you call it? Let go!”
“Not unless you give me equal time.”
She held her breath, afraid he could feel the pulse in her wrist. “Please let go of me.” His fingers loosened enough for her to slip free.
His mouth curved tenderly. “Please don’t run.” He managed to sum up his life in less than two minutes. After a minor football injury put him on the bench, he quit college and joined the Marine Corps. “Maybe Charlie got the idea from me. Neither one of us knew what we wanted out of life other than more. I got tired of drinking beer, chasing girls, and playing football.” He thought joining a cause would give his life purpose. It did, for a while. “I was in the jungle when Charlie was killed in Hue. I did two tours of duty before getting out, then went back to college. I finished at Ohio State with a business degree, then found a good job in Miami.” When his father and stepmother were killed in a car accident in Key West, he inherited their home in Vero Beach. “I sold in a seller’s market, invested the money, and took off on my motorcycle to see America.”
Carolyn relaxed enough to eat. “What brought you back to California?”
He studied her for a long moment as though debating with himself before answering. “I’m a Californian at heart. Every place else seemed a little too tame. Healdsburg reminded me of Paxtown twenty years ago. I bought a ranch house on twenty acres in Alexander Valley, planted a vineyard, and went to work for a wealth management firm.” He laughed. “They were impressed with my portfolio.” The day he came to Paxtown, he went to visit Charlie’s grave. He talked about Charlie after that, the fun they’d had riding bikes, hiking the foothills, playing football, cruising Main, and honking at girls. He made Carolyn laugh, something she hadn’t done in a long time.
His gaze caressed her face. She tried to ignore the strong attraction. He smiled as though he knew exactly what she was feeling. Heart hammering, she glanced at her wristwatch. Gasping, she pushed her chair back. “I have an appointment.” She grabbed her purse. “I’m sorry to eat and run, Mitch. Thank you for the lunch and for the journey back in time to more innocent days.”
“Wait.” He signed the check hastily and rose. “I’ll walk you to your car.” He took her hand as they went out the door. “How about dinner and a movie this evening?”
She pulled her hand free. “I can’t.”
“May Flower Dawn is welcome to come along.”
She fumbled the key into her car door. “It’s been nice, Mitch, but . . .”
Mitch turned her around. “Look at me, Carolyn.” She saw the strength in his face, the confident man he had become. Again, she felt the jolt of attraction between them.
“You asked what brought me back to California. You did. I’ve been in love with you since I was fifteen.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “You were eleven. Charlie didn’t know then. He figured it out when you were in ninth grade. I dropped a class just so I could be in a study hall with you.”
“Mitch . . .”
He slid his fingers into her hair, his eyes never leaving hers. “The thing is, I never got over you. I left for Ohio figuring that was it, I’d never see you again. And then I decided to come back and find out what happened to you.” When he leaned down, she thought he meant to kiss her. She caught her breath. He stopped just short. “Just dinner. Okay? That’s all I’m asking for right now.” His breath caressed her face. “Say yes.”
“Yes.”
“Thank God.” His hand slid down her neck, across her shoulder, and away. When he smiled, his eyes lit up and glowed with warmth. “Let’s go someplace quiet where we can talk.”
“Why don’t you come to my place, and I’ll fix dinner?” The moment the words escaped her lips, she couldn’t believe she’d suggested it. What was she thinking? Worse, what might he think?
“Perfect. What time?”
Short of withdrawing the invitation, what could she say now? “Six thirty?”
He opened her car door. “I’ll be there.”
She made it to her appointment on time. When she drove out to pick up May Flower Dawn, Mom asked if she wanted a cup of tea before going home. Her mother looked surprised and pleased when she said yes. Carolyn had always had trouble talking with her mother, but today she felt like giving it a try. They sat in the living room while May Flower Dawn picked up her Barbies and put them back in her room. She never touched the dolls Carolyn bought.
“Have you heard from Mitch?” Mom sipped her tea.
“He called the office and asked to see a house.”
“Is he planning to move back to Paxtown?”
“No. It was a hijacking.”
Her mother laughed. “I guess he’s not a man to take no for an answer.” A frown flickered across her face, and Carolyn wondered what she might be thinking. She didn’t want to give her mother any wrong ideas.
“We talked a lot about Charlie. I asked him over for dinner this evening.”
“Why don’t you let Dawn spend the night here?”
“I wouldn’t want to give Mitch the wrong idea.”
Setting her cup down, her mother looked at her. “I’m sure his intentions are honorable, Carolyn. If not, you can say no.”
Carolyn couldn’t help but laugh. “Honorable. I don’t know what that means these days.”
Her mother frowned, clearly troubled. “He was Charlie’s best friend, Carolyn. He misses your brother. He probably just wants a quiet evening to talk with someone who loved him as much as he did.”
If only that was all there was to it. She didn’t want to say too much and have her mother speculating on what they might do, other than talk about Charlie.
Mom chuckled as she sipped her tea again. “Dawn was just telling me a while ago she’d like to ride the bus to school just once. If she stayed overnight, she could ride to school tomorrow.”
“I don’t know, Mom.”
“Please!” May Flower Dawn spoke up from the foyer.
Her daughter seldom asked for anything from her. How could Carolyn say no?
* * *
Home and alone, Carolyn decided to call the whole evening off. She phoned the Paxtown Hotel and asked to be put through to Mitch’s room. The telephone rang ten times before the clerk came back on the line and said he was sorry, but Mr. Hastings seemed to be out for the afternoon. In a panic, Carolyn rummaged through her refrigerator, wondering what to fix for dinner. She threw together a meat loaf, put two potatoes in to bake, and made a tossed salad. She’d just finished setting the table when she heard a motorcycle out front. Her pulse rocketed. Her heart would have gone into orbit if it hadn’t been encased in her chest.
The doorbell rang. Swiping the perspiration from her palms, Carolyn fixed a smile on her face and opened the door. “Hi, Mitch. Come on in.” Her voice sounded so chipper, so high school. Mitch looked entirely too handsome in a black leather bomber jacket, casual blue henley shirt, black leather belt, Levi’s, and boots. He held a bottle of red wine in one hand and a bouquet of lilies in the other. Swallowing hard, she opened the door wider and waved him in. “Can I take your coat?”
“Better take the wine and flowers first.”
She blushed. “Of course.”
As soon as his hands were free, Mitch stripped off his jacket, tossed it on the sofa, and followed her into the kitchen. “Something smells good.”
“Does it?” She rattled off the menu. “Sorry. Nothing fancy.”
“Got a corkscrew? I’ll open the wine.”
She fingered through her utensil drawer until she found a can opener that included one. “Here you go.” His fingers brushed hers, and she dropped it. “Sorry.” She stooped to pick it up and put it on the counter. Did he have to watch her like that? Her heart kept knocking wildly. She arranged the lilies in a vase and took it back into the dining room. She took a wineglass from the built-
in china cabinet and put it on the table.
“Only one glass?”
“I’m a recovering alcoholic. An ex-pothead.”
He grimaced. “Sorry.”
“I’ll try not to drool while you enjoy it.” She tried to make it sound like a joke, but the words came out flat. “Dinner won’t be ready for another forty-five minutes. Why don’t we sit in the living room?” She waved toward the sofa, where he’d tossed his jacket. Mitch sat and watched her. Tense, she picked up his leather jacket and then wondered what to do with it. She should hang it up, but she didn’t have a hall tree. She thought of her bedroom and discarded that idea. Giving up, she folded it over the sofa again.
She sat in one of the wing chairs, back stiff, hands clasped in her lap. “So. What shall we talk about?”
“You want to tell me why you’re so nervous?”
“I’ve never invited a man over for dinner before.” She smoothed her skirt over her knees. “You want to talk about Charlie?”
“Is May Flower Dawn going to join us?”
“Nope. She’s spending the night with my parents.” She felt her face flame up to her hairline as she considered how he might take that news. “It wasn’t my idea.”
His mouth tipped ruefully. “I’m sure it wasn’t. I’ll bet it was you calling my room this afternoon, trying to call the whole evening off.”
So he had been there. “Why didn’t you answer?”
“Why do you think?”
The look in his eyes didn’t give her any room for speculation. Her mind flashed images of other men who had wanted her. Dock popped into her head, first. As she fled thoughts of him, Ash emerged from the pit, beautiful, charismatic, and on a power trip. More pain. More shame. How many others had she slept with who wanted her body, but cared as little about her as they did about the weather? She’d become the wasteland after the hurricane, the refuse washed up onshore, the broken trees, the crushed houses. And now, Mitch Hastings, Charlie’s best friend, sat on a secondhand sofa in her living room, eyes full of a consuming fire, asking her what she thought.
She put her hands on the arms of the chair and pushed herself up. “I’m not much of a hostess. I didn’t even think to offer you something to drink. I have Coke, 7UP, iced tea, lemonade, well water. Or you can start on the wine you brought.”
“Nothing, thanks.”
She sank into the chair again. Now what? She sought desperately for something to say. She dredged down into the darkness and came up empty. Thankfully, Mitch came to her rescue.
“You mentioned Charlie. We wrote letters back and forth after we left high school, kept up the correspondence when he went into the military. He wrote about you.”
“I’ll bet.”
“He loved you, Carolyn. He worried about you.”
She pressed her back against the chair and lifted one shoulder. “His dumb, screwed-up sister gone hippy.” More cause for grief. “Mom and Dad said I made him ashamed.”
“He never told me he was ashamed of you. He said you were trying to stop the war. He said you wanted to be his savior. He worried about your relationship with Rachel Altman. She seemed to have a lot of influence on you.”
She bristled. “Charlie only met her once.”
“Yeah, and it was that one meeting that made him worry. Apparently, she came into his bedroom in the middle of the night.”
She blushed. “I know. She told me after the fact.”
“He beat himself up over what happened. He said she was totally screwed up, and he took advantage.”
Carolyn gave a soft laugh. “I think it was the other way around, Mitch.”
“Whatever the case, Charlie liked her. A lot. He said there was something about her . . .”
“Chel sang a siren song.” Like Janis Joplin, her idol, who died of a drug overdose less than a year after she did.
“They exchanged letters. He planned to look her up when he came home.”
“Did he?” And now both of them were dead. She wanted Mitch to get things straight. “No one can blame Chel for the things I did, Mitch. Some people are born into a mess. Some people find ways to mess up their own lives. It’s the one thing at which I’ve always excelled.”
“You put your life back together, Carolyn. That takes courage.”
Mitch deftly turned the conversation to other things, managing to make the mundane interesting. She asked about his travels. He talked about riding cross-country on his Harley, interesting people he’d met in diners and campgrounds, sights he’d seen. Carolyn relaxed and enjoyed listening to him. When the timer went off, she put the food on the table. She poured him a glass of wine and set the bottle down before taking her seat across from him. He asked if it would be all right if he said grace. Surprised, she said please, and when he finished, she asked when he’d become a Christian.
“Always have been, just never went to your church.” He’d attended Sunday services all across the country, checking out different denominations. “Thing about knowing the Lord is you have friends and family everywhere. You recognize them when you meet them.”
She didn’t know about church, but she’d found the same rapport in AA meetings. People cared. They didn’t use the Christian jargon, but had their own lingo and simple slogans to get through each day. First things first. Think! Easy does it. Let go and let God. She’d felt Jesus’ presence there. No one looked down at her from the pulpit or told her she wasn’t welcome. She could say, “My name is Carolyn and I’m an alcoholic” and hear “Welcome, Carolyn,” instead of being shown the door and told not to come back until she had proof of repentance. She would have crashed and burned long ago if she hadn’t found a meeting close by.
Mitch ate as though he enjoyed the food. “What was it like in Haight-Ashbury?”
She told him about the pot and alcohol, the constant parties, the confusion and angst. She told him about Woodstock and the long, frightening drive home with Chel still half out of her mind in the backseat. She told him about Ash and his brand of enlightenment, though she left out the drug-induced sexual exploits, the rapes. Some things should be shared only with God and her dead brother.
“Were you in love with him?”
What she’d felt for Ash couldn’t be called love. “No. I saw him for who he really was the day Chel died. In a way, her death freed me.”
“But you’re still not free of all of it, are you?” His eyes filled with compassion. “You’re still carrying a truckload of guilt and shame.”
She stood and started clearing the table. Mitch helped. He insisted on washing the dishes. She dried and put things away. She thought he would leave then, but he said he’d love a cup of coffee. She apologized for not making a dessert. She’d forgotten. She didn’t even have ice cream or store-bought cookies to offer.
He grinned. “We could always go for a ride on my Harley. There’s a Baskin-Robbins in Walnut Creek.”
She thought of sitting behind him on that powerful bike, her body pressed against his, her arms wrapped around his waist, holding on tight. “I don’t think so.”
She filled two mugs and carried them back into the living room. She asked him more questions about his travels, about the churches he’d visited, the pastors. He laughed. “Oh, there were a few who took one look at my Harley and black leather jacket and tried to bar the door, but for the most part, I felt welcome.” He glanced at the mantel clock. “It’s getting late. I’d better go.”
She stood, amazed at how quickly five hours had passed. Would he think her too forward if she asked him over again? “When do you head back to Healdsburg?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Oh.” She felt the prick of tears, the sting of loss. “Well, it’s been wonderful seeing you, Mitch.”
“Thanks for dinner. It’s been a great evening.” Smiling at her, Mitch shrugged into his black leather jacket. “I’m coming back, Carolyn.”
Relieved, she walked him to the door, remembering what he’d said about never getting over her. Even if that ha
d changed, at least she knew she had a friend.
Mitch put his hand on the doorknob, started to turn it, and then let it go. He turned toward her. He looked uncertain. “Would you mind if I did something I’ve been dreaming about for years?”
“What?”
“Kiss you.”
She caught her breath, but didn’t move. He raised his hand tentatively, giving her the opportunity to say no. He cupped her cheek and bent down slowly, still giving her time to decide. She held her breath. When his mouth touched hers, sensation flooded her body. He raised his head and looked into her eyes. “Nice.”
He kissed her again. She stepped close, her hands slipping inside his leather jacket. He let out a soft groan, and his arms came around her, fitting her to him. She didn’t have to wonder if he was affected. Her body went hot.
She didn’t know how long they stood there, bodies straining to get closer, but she didn’t want him to stop.
Finally Mitch put a few inches between them. “Better than any fantasy I’ve ever had.” He gave a hoarse laugh and kissed her below the ear. “Nice to know your heart’s beating as fast as mine.” His breath sent tingles down her spine. When his hands moved over her back, she instinctively arched against him. He set her away from him. “I need to get out of here.” He opened the door this time.
“Mitch . . .” She didn’t have to say any more.
“If I stay, I won’t stop. And then you’ll wonder. I don’t want you questioning yourself or having any regrets after we’re married.” He went out.
She stepped out onto the porch. “What did you say?”
“You heard me.” He grinned at her as he pulled on his helmet. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” He swung his leg over and kick-started the motorcycle.
He’d already kick-started her heart; it roared more loudly than his Harley.