Stealing His Heart_ a Sweet Con - Delaney Cameron

8/17/2019 Stealing His Heart_ a Sweet Con - Delaney Cameron

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Stealing His

Heart:A Sweet

ContemporaryRomance

(Finding Love,Book 2)

byDelaney Cameron


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©2016 Delaney Cameron

Photo courtesy of : Olesya Kuznetsova

Used under license fromShutterstock.com

All rights reserved. No part of this e-

book can be reproduced, distributed, or

ransmitted without the written

permission of the author.

This book is fiction and its characters are

purely a manifestation of the imagination

of the author. Any resemblance to actual

persons, living or dead, places, andevents is entirely coincidental. (28)

Other books by Delaney Cameron:


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Team Mom: A Sweet Contemporary

Romance (Finding Love, Book 1)

Dream of Me: A Sweet Contemporary

RomanceFinding Allie: A Sweet Regency

Romance Novella

For updates or to sign up for my

newsletter, please go to:delaneycameron.weebly.com

http://delaneycameron.weebly.com/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010U6XHRGhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y6SL7SGhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015M4PPXK


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Dedication

To Ryan: thank you for showing methat an illness doesn’t have to define who

you are.


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rologueMatt smiled at the animated conversatio

being tossed around among the various

members of Ian’s family. This

experience was so different from his

own. His father hadn’t been aroundenough to count on, and his mother died

when he was a teenager. The only family

he had was Eric, and they hadn’t seen

each other in months.His older brother had crowned a

fantastic career as a college pitcher by

getting drafted. He was currently playing

with his minor league team in Vero

Beach, Florida. Matt had joined the

army out of high school. He’d been at Ft

Benning for the past eleven months, and


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was due to be shipped to Iraq in a few

weeks.

Sensing movement around him, Matt

ooked up guiltily, hoping no one hadnoticed his preoccupation. Several men

were leaving the deck, presumably to

build a bonfire. Tonight’s celebration

was in honor of Katie’s birthday, the

oldest of Ian’s three sisters. She was

also the girl Ian had been trying to set

him up with since they came home oneave.

It hadn’t been easy, but so far Matt

had managed to avoid his friend’s

scheming. In his mind, there wasn’t anypoint in getting involved with someone

right before he left the country. His

glance went to the far end of the deck


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where Ian had cornered his girlfriend

Faith. No need to worry about him for a

while. Smiling faintly, he stood up and

walked over to an oversized cooler sitting outside the door leading into the

house.

Childish laughter, carried by a sultry

summer evening breeze, reached his

ears. It was a stark reminder of how

quickly time was slipping away. Where

would he be this time next year? Heifted the lid of the cooler and surveyed

he contents before plunging his hand

nto the melting ice. After finding what

he wanted, he wiped the dripping can onhis shirt.

“Don’t you know soda is bad for

ou?”


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A quick glance over his shoulder

confirmed that he hadn’t imagined the

high-pitched voice. A young girl was

standing behind him, hands on her hipsand head tilted to the side. “I do know,

but I thought that since this is a party, I

could have one.”

“That’s your second. You drank one

before dinner.”

Matt popped open the lid and took a

drink. “How do you know?”“I was watching you.”

“Why were you watching me?” he

asked as he resumed his seat. This was

aken as an invitation to sit on the arm ofhis chair.

“I wanted to see what all the fuss is

about.”


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“All the fuss about what?”

“About you. Katie and her friends

haven’t stopped talking about you since

got here. I wanted to see you for myself.”

“And now that you have, what do

ou think?”

Her tip-tilted nose twitched slightly.

“Oh, you’re nice enough, I guess; but

our eyes don’t remind me of melted

chocolate. Natalie says the silliest thingsometimes.”

Matt choked on a laugh. “Who’s

atalie?”

“One of Katie’s friends. Let’s notalk about them anymore. I want to know

why you look sad.”

“I didn’t realize I was looking sad.”


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She tapped her chin with her finger

several times. “You’re not now, but you

were earlier.”

“Hmm. I’ll have to remember tosmile more.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He stared down at her in surprise.

She was a persistent little thing.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“My mom says it isn’t good to keep

hings inside. You need to let it out.” His mother had said something

similar. He wished he’d taken more

ime to talk to her when she’d been

alive. “I’ll keep that in mind.”She leaned toward him and lowered

her voice. “You should go talk to Katie.

Then maybe you won’t be sad.”


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Had Ian put her up to this? It was

definitely something he’d do. “I’d

rather stay here with you.”

Her blue eyes widened. “Why? I’mnot that interesting.”

“Who told you that?”

There was the merest hint of a shrug

“It’s kind of obvious when no one wants

o talk to you.”

“I’m talking to you.”

A small hand came to rest on hisarm.

“You’re nice. If I was older, I

wouldn’t mind being your girlfriend.”

Matt tugged on one of the pigtailshanging over her shoulder. “Should I

come back when you’re all grown up?”

“I’m only twelve. You’d have to


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wait a long time.”

“Girls like you are worth the wait. I

hink they got the fire started. We should

probably head that way.”She stood up and reached for his

hand. “Can I sit with you while we make

s’mores?”

“If you want to.”

The sound of voices behind them

caused her steps to quicken. “We need to

hurry. Once the little kids get here, therewon’t be anything left.”

Matt hid a smile. “I haven’t had

s’mores since my one and only Boy

Scout camp.” He’d lasted exactly twodays before the troop leaders called his

mother to come get him. Looking back

now, he couldn’t blame them for wanting


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him gone. In forty-eight hours, he got a

fish hook stuck in his arm that required a

rip to the ER, fell out of a tree, and

bloodied the nose of the kid who’ddared to make fun of a girl he liked. Tha

ast one had been the only part of the

rip he enjoyed.

“I like my marshmallow almost burn

because then it’s crispy on the outside

and all melted on the inside.”

“Me, too,” he agreed with a grin.Once they reached the picnic table

set up some distance from the blazing

fire, she thrust two sticks and a bag of

marshmallows at him while she grabbeda box of graham crackers and handful of

Hershey bars.

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry


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about running out of anything,” he

murmured as he followed her to a

wooden bench nearby.

A half hour later, the combination ofa heavy meal and a too-sweet dessert

were having their inevitable effect on

Matt. His stomach was in full protest.

That obviously wasn’t the case for his

companion. In something like awe, he

watched her stuff another gooey

marshmallow in her mouth. “How manyof those have you eaten?”

She looked up at him. “Four. Or is it

five? I’m not really sure. When are you

going to do it?”“Do what?” he asked, wishing he’d

stopped at one. He’d have to hit the gym

early tomorrow to undo today’s


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ndulgences.

“Go talk to Katie.”

“I never said I was going to talk to

her. I hardly know her.”A shrewd look entered her face.

“That’s the point of taking a walk.”

“How do you know so much about

his?” he asked suspiciously.

“I read some of my mom’s old

romance books. They were hidden in the

attic.” She stopped to lick her stickyfingers. When that didn’t work, she

wiped them on her shorts.

“You can’t believe all that stuff you

read in books.”She rolled her eyes. “I know that, bu

ou have to be alone with a girl to kiss

her.”


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Matt sat up abruptly. “Who said

anything about kissing her?”

“You have to. She’ll be expecting

t.”“Now you’re scaring me.”

“Look, Katie’s walking toward the

house, and she’s by herself. It couldn’t

be better.”

“You’re starting to sound like Ian.”

Her mouth turned down. “Ian’s

eaving soon. Are you going away, too?”“Yes.” He moved the bag of

marshmallows out of reach. “You’re

going to make yourself sick.”

“How long will you be gone?”“Long enough for you to forget all

about me.”

“I won’t forget you.”


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“That’s what they all say.”

She stood up, sticky hands on her

hips, remnants of marshmallow and

chocolate stuck to her cheeks. “Well, I’mnot them.”

“No, you’re not,” he agreed slowly.

“Like I said earlier, you’re a girl worth

waiting for.”


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Chapter One

ine years later…As Darcy waited offstage for her cue,

she wondered how she’d let herself get

alked into this. She’d just finished a

summer internship followed by a franticday of packing up the contents of her

apartment. Filling in for one of the

actresses in her sister’s play wasn’t

what she’d envisioned doing within day

of her return to St. Marys. Instead of

soaking up rays on the beach, she’d been

stuck learning lines and helping Casonscour thrift stores for props.

With a shake of her head, she

returned her attention to the stage. If she

could get through the next half hour, this


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particular ordeal would be behind her.

She wiped a bead of moisture from her

face and tried to ignore the urge to rip

off the itchy red wig resting on her headThankfully, she only appeared in a few

scenes, but this final one involved

getting up close and personal with a man

she’d met exactly two times. Gerard wa

personable and good-looking, but that

didn’t make it any easier to kiss him.

Cason had complained about her efforts in that direction after the dress

rehearsal the night before. You should

have seen your face, Darcy. You looked

as if he was trying to bite you. You act ike you’ve never been kissed before.

What would her sister say if she

admitted that she hadn’t? More to the


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point, what girl in her right mind would

want her first kiss to be from a stranger

n a play?

The pealing of a bell penetrated her houghts. Her head snapped up in time to

see a hand waving frantically from the

opposite side of the stage. Great! She

missed her cue. Cason was going to kil

her. With a burst of movement that

would certainly bring censure later, she

stepped out of the shadows anddelivered the first of her lines in a voice

she hoped could be heard beyond the

hird row.

Several minutes elapsed before sheceased to be aware of the pounding in

her chest and felt reasonably certain she

wasn’t going to faint. Her hands were


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slightly damp, but nothing short of

getting this scene out of the way was

ikely to cure that.

Gerard was moving toward her witha smile that should have settled the

ension in her stomach instead of making

t worse. He clasped her hands - the

ones that were definitely still sweaty -

and raised them to his lips. Darcy tried

not to squirm as his goatee tickled her

skin. She closed her mind off toeverything but the man in front of her,

silently applauding his acting ability and

shamefully aware of how little help she

was giving him. It couldn’t be enjoyablo work with a statue, which is what

arcy looked and felt like.

As he led her to the couch, she felt a


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sudden urge to laugh. Gerard was about

o say the words most women dream of

hearing. Instead of being scared, she

should take a moment to enjoy theexperience. This was probably the

closest she’d ever get to hearing a man

ell her that he loved her.

* * * * *

Matt’s chin fell forward to his chest, the

olting action snapping his eyes open an

bringing with it the realization that he’dfallen asleep. Again. He peered down a

his watch, trying to read the dial withou

appearing to do so. How much longer

could this play possibly last? Thiswasn’t a Broadway show; it was

amateur theater.

This date didn’t rank as his worst,


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but it was definitely in the top three.

Dinner had been an epic failure. It was

mpossible to make conversation with a

person whose only verbal offeringswere ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘that’s so funny’.

t least his steak had been good. The

drive to the opera house had been no

better. By the time the lights dimmed in

he auditorium, he’d run out of things to

say.

This is what he got for listening toa twenty year old. Jonathan was too

focused on what a female looked like

rather than what kind of person she was

Something Matt had been guilty of at thaage, too. He’d quickly found out that

appearance is a poor indication of

compatibility.


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The girl he took to prom came to

mind. She had the face of an angel, but

man, did she get mad when he forgot

her birthday. She wrote the date inshaving cream on the hood of his car. I

was still there when he sold it several

ears later. A chuckle escaped him,

drawing an annoyed glance from Vera as

well as the elderly woman seated on his

other side. Not to worry; after tonight,

neither of them would have to see himagain.

He murmured an apology and told

himself to behave. His problem was

he’d been with one person too long. Hedidn’t want to start over with someone

else. A twinge of guilt went through him

t didn’t seem right to be with one girl


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and be thinking about another – even if

he girl in question had made no

attempt to hide her boredom with his

company.Frustrated and trying not to show it,

he lifted his eyes back to the stage. The

cute red-head he’d noticed earlier was

making another appearance. She must be

new at this; the poor girl had that deer

n-the-headlights look. Not that he

blamed her. He couldn’t imagine beingon a stage in front of an audience.

* * * * *

Gerard was reaching the end of his

monologue. Darcy hoped she didn’t lookas scared as she felt. Her glance moved

o the left of his face and settled on the

back of the brown patchwork sofa. She


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noticed a darker spot in the fabric that

seemed to be moving. How could that

be? Blinking her eyes, she looked again

and her body stiffened. The dark spotwasn’t a spot at all. It was a huge,

brown spider, and all eight legs were

heading her way. What was she going to

do? At the rate the thing was moving, it

would be upon her in seconds.

The pressure on her fingers

ncreased. Her glance flew to Gerard’sface. Oh, no! She was supposed to be

saying something. What was it? Her

eyes darted between the spider, which

seemed to have increased its speed, andher impatient companion.

Gerard got tired of waiting for a

response that clearly wasn’t coming and


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pulled Darcy into his arms. The spider,

startled by the movement, shifted

downward, landing on her shoulder.

From there instinct and panic took over.othing else mattered except putting as

much distance as possible between her

and the spider. A scream loud enough to

be heard by the people waiting in the

obby erupted from her throat as she

umped up from the couch and swiped

frantically at the sleeve of her dress.“Is it gone, Gerard? Is that awful

spider gone?” she shrieked.

After a moment of stunned silence,

he audience roared with laughter.Darcy’s cheeks flooded with color.

ot only had she embarrassed herself,

but she’d turned what was supposed to


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be a touching scene into a farce. Cason

would never forgive her.

In this she was right. In the so-called

green room (which was actuallyellow), Cason fumed and fussed about

never being able to hold up her head in

public. Darcy waited until she ran out of

breath before apologizing again. She

also pointed out that it would be her and

not Cason who would draw all the

attention.This comment did little to pacify her

sister. All Darcy could do was hope tha

her faux pas would be quickly forgotten

* * * * *Matt pulled into the parking lot of the

apartment building where Vera lived. An

evening that had grown progressively


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more uncomfortable was almost over.

He got out and walked her to the door,

his mind already thinking ahead to the

next day.“Would you like to come in for a

while? It’s not that late.”

It was, however, too late to save

his evening. “I really should be going.

have to work tomorrow.”

“I had a great time. Too bad that girl

had to ruin the play by freaking out overa spider.”

This probably wasn’t the right time

o tell Vera that the spider incident had

been the most exciting moment of theirdate. “Maybe she’s allergic to spider

bites.”

She shrugged, and another awkward


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pause followed. What was she waiting

on? And then it dawned on him. She

couldn’t be serious. They hadn’t

exchanged fifty words the entire night.e wasn’t going to make things worse

by pretending to feelings he didn’t

have.

Matt held out his hand, and she took

t after a moment’s hesitation. “Thanks

for a nice evening, Vera. Enjoy the rest

of your weekend.”“You, too.”

Back in his car, he exhaled a long,

exasperated breath. “Well, that went

about as well as I expected. Maybe Ishould stick to something I’m good at –

ike fishing.”

By the time he got home, his usual


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good humor had risen to the surface.

He’d known this wasn’t going to be

easy. Sarah might not be with him

physically, but she was with him inevery other way.

* * * * *

Darcy frowned as she read the note

aped to her bathroom mirror. Left the

script in the kitchen. You’re playing

Sylvia. The first rehearsal isn’t for ten

days. Plenty of time for you to learnour lines.

Cason must truly be desperate. It had

only been a week since that disastrous

scene with the spider. No amount of ersuasion was going to get Darcy to

accept another part. Ripping the note

nto pieces, she undressed and stepped


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nto the shower.

The cooling of the water told her it

was time to get out. There would be no

sitting around the house today. She’dagreed to go to a craft show with her

mother to help sell the canned pickles

and blackberry jam they’d spent the last

four days making. Downstairs in the

kitchen, she poured coffee and

halfheartedly flipped through the script

ying on the table.“This is worse than the other one,”

Darcy said to the empty room. “Sylvia i

madly in love with her best friend’s

boyfriend. Doesn’t she have any pride?She needs to go find her own man.”

“What are you talking about?”

She swung around to greet her


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mother. “This play Cason wants me to b

n. It reads like a teenager’s diary.” She

urned a few more pages. “Like this

scene, for instance. This Sylvia personets a guy who’s engaged to someone

else kiss her. Not only is she boring, but

she’s also the world’s worst best

friend.”

“It sounds like a typical romantic

drama to me. The audience will love it.”

“That doesn’t say much for theaudience.”

Her mother removed a tray of

cupcakes from the refrigerator. “You

should do the play. It will get you out ofhe house. Who knows? You might meet

someone.”

Meeting someone wasn’t the


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roblem. Getting them to stick around

was where things went downhill. Darcy

shook her head. “There are more

enjoyable reasons to get out of the houseHow long before we need to leave?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Then I better get going.” She gulped

down the rest of her too-hot coffee and

put her cup in the sink. Back in her room

she quickly changed into shorts and a t-

shirt. Now she knew why Cason hadn’t bothered to deliver the news in person.

She hadn’t wanted to be there when

arcy looked through the script. Well,

her sneaky sister could just forget it. Shedidn’t need any help finding things to do

* * * * *

Matt grabbed a towel from the plastic


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bag in the cooler and wiped his face and

neck. At this rate, he was losing water

faster than he could take it in. His glance

swept over the neatly mowed lawn andstopped at the tall hedge still waiting to

be trimmed. Had he really chosen to

have a landscape business in Georgia

where the late summer temperatures

hovered in the nineties? Not even the

breeze coming off the ocean made any

difference in this kind of heat.Eric usually did all the trimming, bu

his brother had something more

mportant to do today. Matt’s sister-in-

aw Julie had gone into labor a fewhours ago.

As he poured gas into the trimmer, a

beach ball bounced off the cab of his


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ruck and rolled into the grass. Matt

capped the gasoline can and walked

over to retrieve it. A little girl’s voice

could be heard on the other side of theprivacy fence separating the two yards.

“Mommy, my ball is gone.”

“It’s not gone, darling. I’ll get it.”

A faint smile touched Matt’s lips as

he picked up the ball. He was reminded

of the time he and Eric were tossing a

football around in the backyard. All itook was one errant pass to break an

expensive bay window. Their mother

had been less than pleased when she

was confronted by an angry next door neighbor. Neither of them had been able

o sit down for a week after that episode

He followed the fence to where it


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formed a right angle. As he turned the

corner, the gate opened and out walked a

woman. Blonde hair spilled from the

straw hat on her head. She could havebeen anywhere between twenty-five and

hirty-five. When their eyes met, she

smiled.

He returned her smile and held out

he ball. “I think this is what you’re

ooking for.”

“Yes, it is. Thank you.” She reachedo take it from him.

“No problem.” He pointed to her

head. “You’re well equipped for the

heat. I accidently left my hat at homeoday. Big mistake! It’s hot enough out

here to scramble eggs on the pavement.”

A giggle erupted from behind the


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gate followed by a freckled face

surrounded by bright red hair. “That’s

silly.”

“Silly?” Matt asked in mock horror,putting his hands on his hips. “Are you

calling me silly?”

The little girl laughed again. “He’s

funny, isn’t he, Mommy.”

The woman lightly touched the girl’s

head. “It’s not polite to call someone

silly. Thank the nice man for getting yourball.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome, but just call me

Matt. Sir makes me feel old.”“Stella, take the ball and wait for me

n the house.” After the girl ran off, the

woman looked back at Matt. “We just


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moved in a few days ago. I’ve been

ooking for a lawn service. Are you

aking new customers?”

“Sure am. Does Friday work for ou?”

“That would be great. How do I pay

ou? I may not be home when you

come.”

“I take cash or checks. If you’re not

home, I’ll leave an invoice in your

mailbox.”“Checks? You’re very trusting.”

Matt shrugged. “I’ve found that most

people can be trusted.” He pulled his

phone out of his pocket. “Can I get your name so I can add you to the schedule?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s Cason Finnegan.

“Thank you, Cason. I’ll be here next


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Friday.

Matt returned to his trimming. This

was the third new account this month. H

and Eric were quickly reaching the poinwhere they might have to hire a second

crew to handle their growing customer

base. Business had really picked up in

he last two years – more than either of

hem expected. Matt gave all the credit

for that to his brother.

Gibson Landscape Company wouldnever have been more than an idea in

Matt’s head if Eric hadn’t supplied the

capital to buy the equipment. His

celebrity status as a former major leaguebaseball player hadn’t hurt either. The

name Eric Gibson was marketing gold.

Their success had allowed Matt to


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build his dream house. It had been

hrilling to watch the blueprints he and

Sarah poured over for months become a

reality. It had been agonizing to live inhe house without her. Almost as bad as

osing Sarah was the knowledge that he

hadn’t seen it coming. He thought he

knew her as well as he knew himself.

Shouldn’t he have noticed that

something was wrong?

* * * * *Pine Needle Park was alive with

activity. Artisans from St. Marys as wel

as the surrounding communities were

energetically setting up booths in thegrassy area ringed by the pine trees after

which the park was named. As she flung

a white cloth over the oblong table,


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Darcy wished she’d remembered to

bring an umbrella. It was already warm

and would only get more so as the day

wore on. Lifting a heavy cardboard boxoff the ground, she began arranging

Mason jars in neat rows.

Her mother joined her a few minutes

ater, carrying a clear plastic container

of cookies. “I hope I brought enough

baked goods,” she said.

Darcy glanced pointedly at a secondbox on the ground. “Are you serious? W

must have twelve dozen cookies and hal

hat many cupcakes.”

“I don’t like to run out. Whatever Idon’t sell, I can freeze.”

“Since we’ve established that we

have enough, can I have one? I didn’t


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have time to eat breakfast.”

Her mother lifted the lid a few

nches, allowing Darcy to slip her hand

nside. “Going without breakfast isn’thealthy. This is what I was afraid of

when you decided to go away to college

t’s important to eat regularly and get

enough sleep. In my day, daughters only

eft home when they got married.”

“Aren’t you glad times have

changed? You might have been stuck with me forever.”

Her mother made a sound between a

sigh and a grunt. “The girls of today are

oo worried about finding themselvesand having a career. Independence is

great, but it can be carried too far. That

business degree you’re working so hard


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o get won’t keep you warm on a cold,

winter night.”

Wasn’t that the truth? And it wasn’t

ike Darcy didn’t want someone in her ife. No one seemed to understand how

difficult it was for her to have a

relationship. “I wish we’d brought som

milk to go with the cookies.”

“You’ll have to make do with

emonade. Let’s go get the rest of the

stuff.”Darcy followed her mother to the

silver van parked underneath a towering

ive oak tree. She pulled on a swath of

moss dangling from the gnarledbranches. “Remember when we gathered

all that Spanish moss to make wreaths

and ended up covered with chigger


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bites.”

Her mother nodded as she rummaged

around in the back of the van. “How can

forget? We spent the next week withcortisone cream smeared all over our

arms and legs. Can you get that box of

elly? I’ll get the cupcakes and the

emonade.”

Darcy felt her phone vibrate. It was

most likely Alison. Her friend was still

walking on air because her boyfriend had finally proposed. “I’ll get it right

after I check this text. You better get

back to the booth. I’ll be right behind

ou.”“Don’t be long. You know I can’t

make change without writing it out on

paper.”


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Darcy pulled out her phone and

glanced at the screen. It wasn’t Alison. I

was the pharmacy. In the rush of coming

home, she almost ran out of medicine.Thankfully, she’d been able to get her

prescription transferred here. As much

as she hated taking pills, she knew the

consequences if she didn’t. Grabbing the

box of jelly, she closed the rear door of

he van and hurried after her mother.

* * * * *Matt stood by his brother’s side, both of

hem looking at the sleeping baby visibl

hrough the window of the newborn

nursery. “I’m glad she looks like Julie.One of you running around is more than

enough.”

Eric nodded. “You can’t be more


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relieved than me. I’m scared to death to

ake her home. She looks so small and

fragile, and I don’t know the first thing

about babies.”“What did you do? Sleep through all

hose childbirth classes?”

“There’s a big difference between

doing all that stuff to a doll and having t

do it for a real baby. What if I do

something wrong?”

“You won’t be taking care of Nerinaalone. Julie is going home with you,

oo.” Matt started to laugh. “Remember

when I went with her to one of those

classes because you were out of town.She got so angry; I didn’t think she’d

ever forgive me.”

“What did you expect? You told the


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class you were her boyfriend.”

“I didn’t think anyone would actuall

believe it.”

“Don’t get me started on the subjectof what people will believe. I lived in

he public eye for too long.”

“At least that’s slowed down a little

Marrying Julie has lessened your appeal

at least with the female portion of the

population.”

“Marrying Julie is the best thinghat’s ever happened to me. Today is the

second best thing.”

“Which makes winning the World

Series a distant third. Some of your fansmight think you’ve gone too far.”

“I’ll tell you something, Matt. I

didn’t think I could love Julie any more


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han I do, but watching what she went

hrough to have Nerina gave me a whole

new appreciation for her. Men have it

easy.”“Don’t let Julie or any other female

hear you say that.”

“Just wait; you’ll see what I mean

when your time comes.”

Matt stepped back from the window

his dark eyes shadowed. “I thought my

ime had come. I was days away fromasking Sarah to marry me, and she tells

me she doesn’t love me anymore. I’m

still trying to process that.”

“All you can do is take one day at aime. There’s no quick fix. Love is

enacious. It slips into your heart and

akes over.”


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“You’re telling me. Why couldn’t

Sarah have taken my love with her when

she left? It’s not doing me any good. It’s

been five months and three dates thatwere memorable for all the wrong

reasons. When your divorce was final, I

couldn’t understand why you wanted to

be left alone. You kept telling me you

weren’t ready. I thought that if you went

out occasionally it would help you get

over Sydney more quickly. Now I knowhat it’s not as simple as filling that void

with another person.”

Eric nodded. “It only takes a few

seconds for your heart to break; it canake weeks, months, and even years for

o heal. The process is different for

everyone. The only advice I can give


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ou is stay busy. It sounds obvious, but i

helps. I know you love Sarah; but

believe me, it’s better that she told you

before rather than after you gotmarried.”

“I know you’re right. Here I am

complaining when you had it so much

worse. At least Sarah didn’t announce

her decision on a talk show.”

A flash of distaste passed over

Eric’s face. “Exactly. Getting over someone is difficult enough without it

being discussed on the nightly news.”

“All of that is behind you. You’ve

got Julie now.”“There’s a Julie for you, too. The

right girl is out there waiting for you to

sweep her off her feet.”


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Matt sent him a skeptical glance. “So

Sarah wasn’t the right girl? I wish you’d

said something sooner.”

Eric grinned, but refused to take thisobvious bait. “Julie’s parents will be

here tomorrow.”

“You’re going to have a houseful. It’

a good thing you’ve got a big house.”

“Yeah, and one more won’t hurt, so

don’t start making excuses for why you

can’t come over.”“That means I have to shave and get

a haircut.”

“Only if you want them to recognize

ou.”Matt looked at his watch. “I better

get over to Pine Needle Park. I promised

our wife I’d pick up her birdhouses.”


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“I didn’t think there was a power on

earth that could get you to a craft show.”

“I didn’t either, but have you ever

ried to refuse to do something Julieasked? It’s impossible.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. I

don’t even fight it anymore.”

“Smart man. See ya later.”

* * * * *

Matt groaned audibly when he saw the

number of booths lining the perimeter ofhe park. How was he supposed to find

he birdhouse man in this mass of

confusion? If that wasn’t enough to mak

him want to turn and run back to theruck, there wasn’t a male under fifty in

sight. He felt like one of those fish stuck

n a glass bowl at the pet store.


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Crowds weren’t his thing at the best

of times. He couldn’t always pivot fast

enough to get out of the way of a running

child, a kid on a skateboard, or a womanpushing a stroller. All three of those

hazards were present today.

Taking a deep breath, he dove into

he fray. The first booth was selling

knitted doilies. Behind the table sat his

high school science teacher. She still

ooked as stern and unbending as ever.“Matt Gibson! Is that you, dear?”

Dear? That wasn’t what she’d

called him when she caught him putting

a ‘For Sale’ sign in her front yard.“Hey, there, Mrs. Bannerman. How are

ou?”

“I’m fine. What brings you here


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oday? Picking up something for your

wife?”

He was picking up something for

another man’s wife. It was a depressinghought. “I’m looking for the man who

makes birdhouses. Do you know where

he is?”

Her wrinkled face broke into a

smile. “Mrs. Higgleston will know. He’

her son-in-law. She’s over by the hot

dog cart.” His piano teacher was still alive?

Mrs. Higgleston had to be in her

eighties. The last time she’d seen Matt,

he’d been a skinny fifteen-year-old withacne. Would she even remember him?

“Thank you, Mrs. Bannerman.”

By the time he made his way through


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he throng, Mrs. Higgleston had bought

her hot dog and moved on. He tracked

her down in front of a table selling

cookies, cupcakes and something inMason jars. Not wanting to interrupt the

animated conversation she was having

with a man wearing an enormous

cowboy hat, Matt stationed himself clos

by and tried to blend in.

To his left, a little boy straddling a

bicycle that looked too big for him wasalking to an attractive young woman on

he other side of the table. The way the

child’s eyes kept straying to the spread

of treats brought a grin to Matt’s face.“Are those chocolate chip cookies?”

he boy finally asked, pointing to the

ones closest to him.


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“Sure are. I’ve also got oatmeal

raisin.”

“Do they have nuts in them?”

“No nuts.”“I’ll take a chocolate chip cookie

and some lemonade.”

“Good choice.”

A small hand grabbed a plastic cup

and filled it with the pale yellow drink.

Then the woman wrapped not one, but

wo cookies in a napkin. A handful of change was offered and refused. After

he boy ran off, she reached into her

pocket, took out a few wrinkled dollar

bills and pushed them through theopening in the plastic lid of a large tin

can.

“You may have started something


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ou’re going to regret,” Matt told her as

he stepped into the gap left by the boy.

She glanced his way, her eyes

widening enough for him to notice thathey were somewhere between dark blu

and gray. A strange expression passed

briefly over her face. “You’re probably

right. Can I get you something?”

He picked up one of the jars. “Are

hese sweet pickles?”

“They are, but the official name isbread and butter pickles.”

“Did you make them?”

Slim fingers with pale pink nails

pushed a few loose strands of wavy,dark blonde hair behind her ear. It was

hen he noticed the scar running down

he side of her neck.


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“Only if you count holding the

funnel, putting on the lids and making the

abels.”

“I think we can count that. I’ll takewo jars.”

“That’ll be three dollars.”

Matt removed a ten-dollar bill from

his wallet and handed it to her. “Keep

he change for your lemonade fund.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she

protested, her eyes not quite meeting hisShe must have noticed his leg. He

knew that seeing it made some people

uncomfortable. “I want to.” He glanced

around. “Now, where did she go? Shewas right here.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Mrs. Higgleston. For an elderly


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ady, she moves fast.”

The girl stood on tiptoe and looked

around. “She’s over by the pies.”

“Then I better hurry before sheeaves again. Thanks for the pickles.”

She smiled at him, just as she’d done

o the little boy. “You’re welcome. I

hope you like them.”

He felt a flicker of recognition stron

enough to make him wonder if they’d

met before. The next moment the feelingwas gone, leaving him staring at her

foolishly. He hurriedly grabbed the

Mason jars and turned away. He didn’t

have time for this. He needed to find his former piano teacher, pick up the

birdhouses for Julie, and get out of

here.


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* * * * *

Darcy’s glance lingered on the dark hair

and broad shoulders before dropping to

he shiny, black prosthesis extendingfrom just above his knee into his running

shoe. Dismay mixed with the shock

radiating through her. The last time she’d

seen him, he hadn’t been missing part of

his leg.

He hadn’t recognized her. But then

again, why would he? Their one andonly meeting wouldn’t have meant much

o him. It shouldn’t have meant anything

o her, either. But it had. She’d never

orgotten the young man with kind eyeswho told her she was a girl worth

waiting for. What had been just words to

him had stolen her heart. For years, she


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dreamed of the day he’d come back to

find her grown up and so beautiful that

he’d fall instantly in love with her.

As she got older, the image shecarried in her mind blurred, but it never

completely disappeared. It was always

here in the shadows of her

consciousness. The boys in her classes

didn’t stand a chance when compared to

a hero whose likeness and persona had

been rendered perfect by the passage of ime. Who could compete with a guy

who possessed no flaws?

By the time she reached high school

her practical side had convinced her romantic side to stop living in the past.

She couldn’t keep waiting on something

hat was never going to happen. It was


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ime to grow up. The silly infatuation

she’d been nursing for so long had to

end.

Until a few minutes ago, she wouldhave said she’d been successful in

putting that incident behind her. But does

he heart truly forget? Or does it lock

away those memories until the person

comes along who has the key? A wistfu

smile touched Darcy’s lips. It didn’t

matter what the answer was because it was too late. Three years too late.

The accident that sent her careening

over an embankment changed everything

Although she walked out of the hospitala week later, the head trauma she

suffered left her with recurrent seizures.

The official diagnosis was epilepsy; a


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word that on its own strikes fear and

distaste in most people. There were few

aspects of her life that weren’t impacted

Everyone - even her family - began toreat her differently.

It didn’t take long for word to get ou

at the small college she attended in north

Georgia. When she walked into class,

every eye in the room watched her as if

she might suddenly morph into an alien.

Her social life came to a screeching haltGuys didn’t want to be bothered with a

girl who could be fine one minute and

unresponsive the next. Darcy slowly

accepted the truth: she wasn’t datingmaterial anymore. Worse than that, she

wasn’t sure she was marriage material

either. No matter how she looked at it,


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she was a liability.

Her mother’s words broke into her

houghts.

“Darcy, I can’t find my phone. It’snot in my pocket or my purse. Your dad

s going to be so upset if I lose another

phone.”

“You didn’t lose it. I remember

seeing it in the cup holder in the van. I’l

go get it.”

“Oh, did you? That’s a relief.”“I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

After retrieving her mother’s phone,

she noticed Thad - the little boy to who

she’d given the cookies and lemonade -sitting cross-legged next to his bike on

he far side of the parking lot. His

attention was fixed on the metal chain


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dangling loosely below the pedal.

“Need some help?” she asked.

His head turned in her direction,

streaks of tears making a path down hisgrimy face. “Can you fix it?”

Darcy crouched down beside him. “

can try. Let me see if I remember how

his works.”

As she slid the chain back on the

smaller ring attached to the rear wheel,

her fingers collected a coating of tackygrease. Hoping she could get it off

before she rejoined her mother, she tried

o loop the chain over the larger ring.

There wasn’t enough slack to gocompletely around. What was she doing

wrong? Blowing out a frustrated breath,

she absently wiped her fingers across


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her forehead. Great! Now there was

rease on her face, too.

“You make pickles and repair

bicycles. I’m impressed.”The deep voice caused her to jerk

slightly. Why did it have to be him? She

was a sweaty, greasy mess. Darcy

slowly turned around. “Don’t be. I

obviously don’t know what I’m doing.”

“I’ll be glad to take a look for you.”

Thinking of his leg, she said, “That’sokay. I can figure it out.”

She might as well have stayed silent

He lowered his six-foot-plus self to the

ground. Darcy belatedly scooted over,but not before his shoulder brushed hers

A pleasant tingle slid down her arm. Ge

a grip, Darcy. You’re twenty-one, not


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sixteen.

“Now, let’s see what the problem

s.”

When he reached for the chain, shenoticed the tan lines on his sculpted

arms. He obviously spent time outside.

What kind of work could he do?

While she was speculating on his

possible career, he slid the chain over

he top of the larger ring and pushed

forward on the pedal. To her amazementhe links clicked into place, allowing

him to align the rest of it around the ring

That had been too easy.

“You’re all set,” he said, looking atThad.

“Thanks, mister.”

“You’re welcome.” After Thad


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nto her palm and then his own. “Since

we’ve reached the sharing soap stage,

we should probably introduce ourselves

’m Matt Gibson.”“Darcy Withers.” She braved

another glance at his face. It was the

same and yet different. His features had

matured, acquiring character where

hey’d only been boyishly handsome

before. “Are you related to Eric

Gibson?”Matt nodded as he handed her some

paper towels. “I’m his much less famou

ounger brother. Are you a baseball

fan?”“Not really. My dad is, though. I’ve

heard him talk about Eric. Does your

brother still live here?”


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“Sure does. I saw him this morning.

He became a father a few hours ago.”

“Oh, how nice! And you became an

uncle.”“Yep. Having a baby around is going

o take getting used to.”

That sounded like he didn’t have

children of his own. What about a wife

“I remember when my sister had my

niece. Everything revolved around the

baby’s schedule.”“They also require a houseful of

special furniture and gadgets not to

mention the inevitable baby-proofing. I

ost count of how many electrical outletsEric and I covered with those plastic

caps.” He tossed the towels back into

he truck. “So, Darcy Withers, what do


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ou do when you’re not selling pickles

and helping little boys with their

bicycles?”

“Until recently, I was a student atBrownley College majoring in

economics. Unfortunately, the powers-

hat-be decided they don’t want to offer

hat degree any longer. So, I came home

’m going to take a semester off while I

decide what I want to do.”

He gestured toward the park. “Howmuch longer do you have to stay?”

“Until we run out of stuff to sell or

five-thirty whichever comes first.”

“That reminds me. I left my pickleswith Mrs. Higgleston. She’s going to

hink I bailed on her. I came out here to

make a call because I couldn’t hear


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myself think in there.”

“And I’ve been keeping you from

doing that. If you want, I’ll tell Mrs.

Higgleston what you’re doing.”“That would be great,” he said,

reaching for his phone. “Thanks, Darcy.”

As she turned away, she resisted the

urge to look back at him. In a way, she

wished she hadn’t seen Matt again. It

hadn’t been easy, but she’d come to

erms with the way her life was now.She didn’t need or want a reminder of

how much she lost when she veered off

he road to avoid an oncoming car.

* * * * *Matt watched Darcy until she

disappeared into the crowd. Something

strange was going on. He liked to think


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he was a rational person - as rational as

someone who’d fought in a war and

survived a catastrophic injury could be

but maybe he was losing grip on reality.Maybe losing Sarah had been his tipping

point.

Those talk show psychologists

would have a field day with him. He

could just hear their analysis. Mr.

Gibson’s traumatic experiences in the

military combined with his recent breakup have resulted in his present

search for familiarity. This is why he

ersists in thinking that he and a

woman he just met are alreadyacquainted.

Whatever the explanation for this

strange phenomenon, it wasn’t going


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away. If anything, this feeling that Darcy

wasn’t a stranger was getting stronger. I

he didn’t figure it out soon, he was going

o go crazy. And if he didn’t call Eric, hwas never going to get home.

A few seconds later, his brother’s

voice sounded in his ear. “Having fun?”

“Yes and no. Is your wife available?

need to ask her a question.”

“She’s feeding Nerina. Tell me what

ou need to know, and I’ll ask her.”“The man sold out of acorn

birdhouses before I got here. He can

make more, but they won’t be ready for

wo weeks. Is that okay or should I lookfor something else?” Matt heard the

murmur of voices and then Eric was

back.


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“She said to order the acorns.”

“Will do. Anything else you need me

o do other than picking up your mail and

aking care of Delilah?”“I can’t think of anything.”

“In that case, I’ll see you later.”

When Matt walked by Darcy’s table

she was busy with a customer. After he

ordered Julie’s birdhouses and retrieved

his pickles, he looked in that direction

again on his way to the truck. She wasn’here. Maybe that was for the best.

e’d spent too much time thinking

about someone he’d probably never see

again. Never mind the fact that hecouldn’t explain why he was so drawn

o her in the first place.

After getting the much-needed


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haircut, he stopped by the grocery store.

All he had at home was a few protein

bars, a package of Oreo cookies and a

gallon of milk. A reminiscent smilecrossed his face. Well, that wasn’t

exactly right; he’d just acquired two

ars of pickles. Grabbing a shopping

cart, he headed to the produce section.

The first person he saw was Sarah.

She must have come from work because

she was still in scrubs, her long hair oosely arranged in a bun. Memories

sliced through his tired brain of burying

his face in its silky softness. A familiar

ache burned in the region of his chest.She hadn’t seen him yet. If he moved

now, he could avoid this confrontation.

Unfortunately, the rest of his body


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refused to obey. The few months he’d

gone without so much as a glimpse of th

woman who haunted his dreams and

most of his waking moments had beenmiserably long. Any pleasure he derived

from seeing her was dimmed by the

knowledge that she didn’t love him.

Her last words returned to him with

painful clarity. We can still be friends. I

she’d suddenly jumped up from the

couch and slapped him, he couldn’t havebeen more shocked. Did she have any

dea what she was asking? He shouldn’t

have to explain why such a thing was

mpossible. She should know that they’dshared too much to revert to the

mpersonal nature of friendship.

He was on the point of turning away


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when someone else stepped into the

scene. Holding his breath, Matt waited

o see if the man was merely another

customer looking for watermelon or someone who would render this

nightmare complete. When the man’s ar

snaked around Sarah’s waist and his

head bent to kiss her, Matt actually

swayed as if someone had punched him

n the stomach. Part of him wanted to

eave before they saw him, and the otherwanted to rip the guy’s arm out of its

socket. He knew neither of those wants

had a chance of happening.

Through a haze of pain and anger, hesaw Sarah’s head turn in his direction.

The happiness in her face faded, telling

him that she was as dismayed by this


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unexpected meeting as he. He nodded,

hoping she would understand his wish to

avoid conversation, or worse, an

ntroduction to the man who’d taken hisplace.

A man with two good legs.

The thought was out before he could

stop it. Had he really sunk this low?

Such sentiments were beneath him and

unfair to Sarah. At no time in their

relationship had she ever had a problemwith his injury. It was okay to be upset

about seeing her kiss someone else; it

wasn’t okay to indulge in ridiculous

conjecture and self-pity.A long, ragged breath forced its way

out of his lungs when she dipped her

head slightly and walked away.


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The emptiness of his pantry was a

minor concern. Matt had lost any desire

for food. It was ironic that a man who’d

spent time in a warzone where every daycarried the potential to be his last could

get so upset about something that in the

scheme of things was trivial. Even so, h

wasn’t going to risk running into them

again as he made his way through the

store.

As he replaced the empty cart andreturned to the truck, he forced himself

o face the unpalatable truth. Sarah had

moved on. She wasn’t coming back to

him. Was this the impetus he needed toinally put her behind him?


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Chapter Two

Darcy closed the front door of Cason’shouse with a guilty feeling of relief.

She’d much rather take Stella to the park

han watch her sister obsess over how to

arrange furniture in the living room.Glancing at her mother, she said, “Let’s

get out of here before she changes her

mind.”

“Tim has the patience of a saint.”

“I know. I would have locked her in

he attic already.”

Stella giggled and took the handDarcy held out to her. “Did you bring the

bubbles, Aunt Darcy?”

“Got them right here in my

backpack.”


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“Can we get on the swings first?”

Darcy waited until the threesome ha

safely crossed the street before she

answered. “Of course. You’re going toike living so close to the park. I

remember coming to Lakeside to watch

my cousins play softball. It didn’t have

he huge playground back then.”

“Mommy said you and Grammy are

coming over to stay with me this week

while Stacy’s on vacation.” Here was yet another complication

of epilepsy. Darcy couldn’t babysit

Stella without another person there. It

was a good thing she’d shelved anydreams of having children. A mother

who required her own sitter was a

handicap no matter how one looked at


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t. “That’s right. I’ve got some fun things

planned for us to do.”

“What kinds of things?”

“Oh, like visiting the zoo, going tostory time at the library, and spending an

afternoon on the beach.”

Stella jumped up and down. “Can

we get ice cream?”

“I think we can fit that into our

schedule.” Darcy guided her group

across the parking lot, through the gateand up the hill to where the playground

sat overlooking several baseball fields.

“Okay, first things first. Sunscreen.”

Going over to one of the benches, shedelved into the front pouch of the

backpack and retrieved a slim, pink can

Once she’d sprayed Stella and herself,


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she offered it to her mother.

“No, thanks, dear. I’m not planning

o get in the sun. I’m going to sit in the

shade and finish this chapter.”“Sounds good. We’re off to the

swings.”

Over the next hour, adults and kids

rickled in from the parking lot. The

sound of childish voices and playful

giggles brought a smile to Darcy’s face

as she obeyed Stella’s pleas to bepushed higher. If only she could go back

o a time when all she had to worry

about was what to wear to school the

next day.“Can we blow bubbles now, Aunt

Darcy?”

The question jerked her back to the


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present. “Sure. We need to find

somewhere less crowded. Let’s go to

hat grassy area behind the baseball

field.”When told about the next activity, he

mother again demurred, hardly removing

her eyes from the book in her hand. “You

wo go ahead. Just stay where I can see

ou.”

Darcy followed Stella’s erratic

progress down the sloping hill. Theyrics to “Apples and Bananas” floated

back to her on the breeze. She and

Cason had driven their parents crazy

singing that silly song on car trips.Once she deemed they were far

enough away from everyone else, she

uncapped two neon orange bottles and


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handed one to Stella. “Let’s see who can

blow the most bubbles in five minutes.”

Stella dunked the wand into the

bottle, raised it to her lips and blew sohard she sprayed Darcy’s face and t-shir

with the clear, sticky liquid. “Sorry,

Aunt Darcy.”

Darcy laughed as she wiped her

cheeks. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Try again

and pretend you’re blowing out candles

on your birthday cake.”The little girl nodded and then

shifted to the side to look at something

beyond Darcy. “Look! There’s that silly

man again.”“What man?” Darcy asked as she

swung around quickly. About fifteen fee

away, Matt was strolling in their


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direction, a disturbing smile on his

handsome face, and a small dog trotting

behind him. Her heart did a queer jump

when their eyes met. Flustered by her reaction, she said the first thing that

came into her head. “You got a haircut.”

“You don’t have to sound so

regretful. It’ll grow back.” He turned to

Stella. “I told you to call me Matt.”

She stepped closer and bent down to

examine his prosthesis. “What happenedo your leg?”

Darcy glanced at him anxiously.

Would he be offended by the question?

“You mean this?” He indicated thebandage adorning the muscular calf of

his good leg. “I cut myself shaving this

morning.”


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Stella screeched with laughter. “Not

hat leg. The other one.”

“Oh, the other one. Why didn’t you

say so? I was in an accident, and thedoctor decided it would be better if he

ust gave me a new leg.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Not anymore.”

“Aunt Darcy was in a car accident

once. I heard Mommy and Daddy talking

about it.” Darcy hoped he wouldn’t ask for

details. The last thing she wanted to do

was get into a discussion about

accidents.He met her glance briefly and then

ndicated the small dog sitting next to hi

feet. “In all this excitement, I forgot to


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ntroduce you to Delilah. She actually

belongs to my brother, but he’s a little

busy right now so she’s staying with

me.”“Delilah? That’s a funny name for a

dog,” Stella pointed out.

“I know. My brother has a strange

sense of humor.”

By this time, Darcy had recovered

sufficiently from the shock of seeing

Matt again to realize something. “Howdo you two know each other?”

“I was called into action yesterday

morning to retrieve a beach ball.” When

she continued to look confused, heexplained, “I was mowing the yard next

door to Stella’s house when this huge

object came flying over the fence. If I


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hadn’t been paying attention, it might

have knocked me out.”

“It couldn’t have,” Stella protested.

“It only has air in it.”Matt wagged a finger in her

direction. “I was trying to make the

rescue sound more exciting.”

“Mommy says you’re going to mow

our yard, too.”

“That’s right. I’ll be coming to your

house every Friday.”Which meant Darcy would probably

see him again. It was ridiculous to feel

so happy about it. The whole situation

was impossible. The more she wasaround Matt, the more she would want to

be around him. And the greater chance

hat he might remember who she was.


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ot that it was some big secret or

would even matter to him. She just

referred him not to know. No use

digging up the past now.Stella had abandoned the bubbles

and was trying to entice the dog into her

ap. “Can you bring Delilah with you on

Friday? Aunt Darcy and I could watch

her for you.”

“I wish I could, but I’ll be gone all

day. That’s too long for her to be awayfrom home.” Matt picked up the bottle o

bubbles and blew some in Darcy’s

direction. “I used to love doing this.

When my brother got married, his wifedidn’t want to do the throwing rice or

birdseed thing; instead, they had

everyone blow bubbles as they left the


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her routine’s been changed. Animals

don’t like change.”

Matt nodded slowly. “I don’t like

change, either.”“Sometimes change is good;

sometimes it’s less good.”

“Eric ruined Delilah by carrying her

around all the time. The only way I

could get her to go to sleep last night

was to hold her, like Stella’s doing

now.” How many guys would go to such

engths to comfort a pet? “You’re

getting practice for when you keep your

niece.”“Oh, no. I’m not ready for that. I’d

be a nervous wreck.”

Darcy slowly rose to her feet. “I wa


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he same way when Stella was born, but

hat scared feeling gradually goes

away.”

“Hopefully, it will be that way for me, too.”

“Is Matt short for Matthew?”

“I get asked that a lot. It’s actually

short for Matterson. You’ve got a unique

name, too.”

“My mother’s a Jane Austen fan.”

His heavy brows lifted. “Who’s JaneAusten?”

“You must not have paid attention in

our English lit classes. She lived in the

1800s and wrote romantic novels. Myname comes from one of the male

characters in Pride and Prejudice. Mr.

Darcy.”


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He grinned teasingly. “You don’t

ook like a boy to me.”

“I’ve often wondered exactly what

my mother was thinking when she namedme. How long have you been mowing

ards?”

“About three years now. Eric usually

helps me, but he’s taking off this week

because of the baby.”

“Did you play baseball, too?”

“Just little league. Once I got older, switched to football.”

“Oh, I love football, especially

college football.”

“Let me see if I can guess what teamou root for.” He narrowed his eyes and

rubbed his chin. “I’ll make the most

obvious choice and go with the Georgia


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Bulldogs.”

She shook her head. “Try again.”

“You crossed the border. You’re a

Crimson Tide fan.”“Here’s a hint. My team isn’t in the

SEC.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “I

hought I was dealing with a serious

college football fan here. Everyone

knows the only real football is played in

he SEC.”“Those words would start a riot at

my house. My dad played football at

Clemson, and Cason’s husband

graduated from there.”“Well, at least you’ve got the right

mascot. We’re both Tigers.”

“Oh, no. I’m dealing with an Auburn


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fan. You guys are the worst.”

He shook his head sadly. “Now

hat’s just hurtful. I bet if you watched a

few games with me you’d be singing adifferent tune.”

Darcy ignored the stirring of the sill

butterflies in her stomach. “We’d

probably end up fighting all day.”

“Or really liking each other, but then

again, I’m already well on the way to

hat already.”His words disarmed her completely

making it difficult to maintain the

detachment she reserved for occasions

ike this. Both regret and relief flowedhrough her when she heard her mother

calling to her from the playground.

“Darcy, honey, don’t you think we


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ought to be getting back to Cason’s

house? It’s almost lunchtime.”

She cupped her hands over her

mouth and yelled, “Be right there.”Turning back to Matt, she said, “It’s that

ime, I guess.”

“I need to think about leaving, too.

Eric is bringing Julie and Nerina home

oday, and I’ve been invited to dinner.”

Darcy gathered the bottles of

bubbles and dropped them into her backpack. “Nerina? There’s another

unusual name. I don’t think I’ve ever

heard it before.”

“It’s my mother’s name.” Hecrouched down next to Stella. “Thank

ou for taking such good care of

Delilah.”


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She reluctantly handed him the dog.

“Maybe when Aunt Darcy brings me

here again, you can come with Delilah.”

“I’d like that.” He ruffled her hair and stood up. His glance went to Darcy.

“The pickles were really good. Is there

any way I could get more?”

“Of course. The pantry at home is

overflowing with them. How many jars

do you want?”

“Would four be too many?”“Ten wouldn’t be too many. My

mother is an ambitious gardener. She

must have had at least fifty cucumber

plants and all of them produced well.’ll leave your pickles at Cason’s house

You can pick them up on Friday.”

“Thanks; that would be great.”


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* * * * *

As he retraced his steps to the truck,

Matt realized with some surprise that hi

headache was gone. Was that the result of the Advil he’d taken or spending

ime with Darcy and Stella? His glance

swung to Delilah; her short legs were

doing their best to keep up with his long

strides. “I’m not the only one who had a

good time, am I?” he asked as he

scooped the dog into his arms. “Youwere milking it for all you’re worth.”

It had been convenient to blame his

malaise on staying up too late watching

elevision. The more likely culprit washe twenty or so times he’d relived those

harrowing moments in the grocery store

he day before. The hot shower he’d


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aken had removed the sleepiness, but

hadn’t improved his mood. Neither had

he discovery that he’d run through his

pathetic supply of food.This had given him an excuse to get

out of the house. Grabbing Delilah, he’d

hit the first restaurant he came to. After

several chicken biscuits and a large

coffee laced with sugar, he’d felt

marginally better. He hadn’t, however,

relished the idea of going back homewhere every room reminded him that he

was alone.

It was at this point that he decided to

go to the park. Delilah would enjoyrunning around, and he could check the

progress of the new sod he’d put down

on one of the practice fields. That


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decision turned out to be a good one.

During the short time he talked with

Darcy and Stella, he’d managed to forge

about the woman he lost and the newman in her life.

The ringing of his phone interrupted

his thoughts. It was his best friend’s

widow. The friend he lost the same day

he lost his leg.

“Hey, Faith. How’s it going?”

“Hi, Matt. I hate to bother you, but’ve got a flat tire. This is terrible

iming, too. I start a new job tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be right

over.”Thirty minutes later, the tire had bee

changed, and he was standing in Faith’s

iny kitchen. Delilah was investigating


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he laundry room, looking for something

o destroy.

“I haven’t seen you in a while.

How’s life been treating you?” sheasked, handing him a glass of tea.

“Thanks,” he said as he took a drink

t was hard to believe Ian wouldn’t

walk into the room at any moment. Life

was so unfair sometimes. “Business is

booming. My personal life is another

story. Sarah broke up with me.”“Oh, Matt, I’m sorry to hear that. Th

ast time we talked you were looking at

engagement rings.”

He took another long swallow of tea“That was just wishful thinking on my

part. What’s this about a new job? I

hought you were happy teaching at the


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ech school.”

“The problem was one of the other

eachers. He wouldn’t take no for an

answer.”His face darkened with anger. “Did

he say anything inappropriate or touch

ou?”

Her eyes fell from his. “He made

me…uncomfortable. He’d follow me to

my car, that sort of thing.”

“You should have told me. There areways to take care of that.”

“The last thing you need is to get

nvolved in something like that. Anyway

t was time for a change. I got a jobeaching at Coastal Georgia in

Brunswick. It’s better pay and shorter

hours.”


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“It’s also a longer drive.”

“I only have to be on campus three

days a week and none of my classes are

at night.”He put his empty glass on the

counter. “That was my next question. I’m

glad you won’t be driving back after

dark.”

Faith laughed. “I made sure of that.

Katie stopped by the other day. She’s

expecting baby number two.”“Ian tried so hard to get me

nterested in her. Given the fact that I’m

still single, I probably should have taken

his advice.”“Katie has no sense of humor. You’d

have spent most of your time apologizin

for saying the wrong thing.”


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He threw his arm around her

shoulders. “You know me too well,

Faith. It’s scary sometimes.”

“I can’t help but know you. We grewup in the same neighborhood.”

“You adored me until I made the

mistake of introducing you to Ian.”

Faith poked her finger in his chest.

“You didn’t put up much of a fight to

keep me.”

No, he hadn’t. He’d had other hings on his mind. His mother was

dying of cancer. “We were more like

brother and sister.”

“I like to think we still are. Thanksfor fixing my tire.”

“No problem. You can call on me

anytime. Good luck with the new job.”


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* * * * *

Darcy knew her mother’s silence during

he walk back to Cason’s house was

merely temporary. As soon as they werealone, the interrogation into the subject

of Matt would commence. Her mother

needed little incentive to launch into a

full-scale investigation more suited to

solving a crime than discussing her

daughter’s adventures with the opposite

sex.Events soon proved her right. They

barely made it to the stop sign at the end

of Cason’s street before the floodgates

opened.“Wasn’t that the man from the craft

show?”

It could hardly be anyone else.


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There weren’t that many men in St.

arys walking around with a

rosthetic leg. “Yes, it was.”

“He’s even better looking without alhat stuff on his face. Did you ever see

such soulful eyes?”

Soulful eyes? Oh, brother. “I didn’t

notice.” What she had noticed was how

hey twinkled with humor and made her

eel things she didn’t want to feel.

Her mother went on. “It’s a shameabout his leg. I wonder what happened

o him.”

“He told Stella he was in an

accident.”“Was it a car accident?”

“He didn’t say, and I don’t know him

well enough to ask.”


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“What do you know him well enough

o talk about?”

“College football, mostly.”

Her mother nodded. “That’s a start.Did you find out his name?”

A half dozen questions in less than

wenty seconds. That must be some kind

of record. “Matt Gibson. He’s that

famous baseball player’s brother.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know Eric

Gibson had a brother. Matt must keep aow profile. That’s not necessarily a bad

hing. Did he ask for your number or

anything?”

She bit down on her lip to keep fromaughing. Her mother obviously held a

exaggerated view of Darcy’s

attractions. “No. For all I know, he’s


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married.”

“I doubt he’s married. He wasn’t

wearing a ring.”

Darcy turned in the seat to look ather mother. “You couldn’t have seen tha

from where you were sitting.”

“No, but I was close enough

esterday.”

“Why am I surprised by this? I

should know by now that I’m dealing

with a professional.”“It’s called being practical. There’s

no use getting excited about him if he’s

married.”

Again Darcy had a difficult timekeeping a straight face. “Were you

excited about him? I think that’s

something Dad would be interested in


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knowing.”

“Excited for you, darling. You can’t

ell me you weren’t affected. I saw the

way your eyes followed him when heeft our table.”

Was there anything this woman

didn’t notice? “I was looking at his leg.

hadn’t noticed the prosthesis before.”

“You weren’t looking at his leg

oday.”

“How long were you watching us?”“Long enough.”

“If that’s the case, I’m surprised you

were so eager to get me away from the

park.”Her mother waved at one of the

neighbors. “That’s all part of the

strategy. It will pique his interest.”


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If so, it will be short lived. “Mom,

do you hear yourself? There is no

strategy.”

“Do you know what he does for aiving?”

“He owns a landscape company.”

She didn’t add that Cason had hired him

o do her yard. No one could say she

hadn’t learned anything from that

auditing class last semester. Just answer

he question. Don’t anticipate or elaborate.

“Hmm. Maybe I should think about

getting him to take care of our yard. You

father isn’t getting any younger.”“You’re joking, right? Dad is only

fifty-four and runs two miles every

morning. He’s in better shape than all of


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us put together.”

Her mother pulled the van in the

driveway and waited for the garage doo

o open. “I need to finish that dress for Stella. It’s only a week ‘til school starts

and she wants to wear it on the first

day.”

Darcy seized on this new topic of

conversation as she unbuckled her

seatbelt and reached for her backpack.

“I’ve been asked to French braid her hair. Apparently, Cason can’t do it

right.”

“What time do we have to be there i

he morning?”“Seven-thirty.”

“I’ll get up early and make some

apple bran muffins to take with us. The


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ast time I was over there for breakfast,

all Cason had was pop-tarts and frozen

pancakes. Can you imagine?”

Knowing no answer was expected,Darcy followed her mother into the

house. She might have been successful i

redirecting her mother’s attention away

from Matt, but she’d failed miserably

with herself. She spent the remainder of

he day alternating between fear and

hope that he’d been serious aboutpossibly watching football together. Not

hat she could accept, but it would be

nice to be asked.

* * * * *The next morning Matt pulled up to the

garages adjacent to Eric’s h

Stealing His Heart_ a Sweet Con - Delaney Cameron

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