Even fifteen years after writing that diary entry, the words in it were still true. I still thought that any woman who was with Xander Craig was the luckiest woman in the world. And last night that woman had been me.

Me! This time it was me standing next to him in the dark garden. Pressing my body against his. Closing my eyes and receiving his kiss. It had been as amazing as I’d always imagined. Even better, actually.

If my school-aged self had known that someday it would be me out there, I probably would’ve dropped dead of shock right then and there. I’m glad I didn’t because just as I’d always suspected, kissing Xander was the experience of a lifetime.

And I was determined to make sure it wasn’t a once in a lifetime experience. No, I intended to kiss Xander as much as humanly possible until he had to leave at the end of the summer.

A mischievous thought entered my mind. The fact that Mrs. Craig’s house was always so hot gave me the perfect excuse to wear something skimpy when I went over there today. Hey, it wasn’t my fault that it was hot. And I was fairly certain Xander wasn’t going to object to my choice of clothing. I’d seen the way his eyes were drawn to my dress last night. I liked it when he looked at me like that.

I showered, fixed my hair, and put on some cut-off jeans shorts. Very short jeans shorts. My legs and thighs were my best feature, so why not show them off? And then I put on a halter top that tied at my back and my neck. I’d wear a tee shirt over it until I Left the house, though. I wasn’t an idiot.

It turned out lucky I had the shirt on because my mom was in the living room watching TV. She asked if I wanted breakfast, but I wasn’t hungry. I was too eager to see Xander again. He’d been up working since dawn. For once, I hadn’t been spying, but the sound of hammering and sawing had penetrated my window anyway.

He’d be hot and thirsty by now, and that gave me an idea. I found a big glass pitcher and took a can of lemonade concentrate out of the freezer. “Mom, do we have any cookies?”

“I made some snickerdoodles. I’ll get them for you.”

“it’s okay, just tell me where—” But she was already here, taking a tin down from a shelf in the pantry.

“How was your date last night, sweetie?”

To stall, I opened the fridge and looked around. Should I admit it was a date? I hadn’t been sure in the beginning. But it had sure ended like one. God, that man could kiss. But I didn’t want my mom to know any of that. “We’re friends, mom. We talked about his photography. And about Mrs. Craig.”

If I’d thought that mentioning our dearly departed neighbor would distract my mom, I was wrong. “He’s a nice man, but he’s just so much older than you.”

“By about eight years,” I said, closing the fridge. “Mrs. Craig was forty years older than me and she was my friend.”

“You know that’s not the same.” Mom was arranging cookies on a white plate, so at least I was able to escape her sharp gaze. “Just… be careful. He’s not going to be here forever, you know.”

“I know.” That knowledge was constantly lurking around the back of my mind. But he was here now. And so was I. There was nothing to keep us from enjoying each other’s company.

Or so I thought. But a few minutes later, after I’d shed the extra tee shirt and headed over to his house wearing my halter top and jeans shorts, I was less sure. Because when I knocked on the door with my tray of cookies and lemonade, a woman opened it.

A pretty woman.

A woman in her mid-twenties with shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and vivid green eyes.

“Hi,” she said, and I was too startled to say anything back. “Xander, you’ve got company.”

She stepped back and ushered me in. Into the house I had a key for. Into a house I knew far better than she. Who was she to allow me inside?

Though I suppose the bigger question was who was she.

Xander appeared wearing khaki pants and a thin white undershirt. He was sweating slightly, and I hoped to God it was from some kind of exertion that didn’t involve the redhead.

“Morning!” Xander’s voice was cheerful, not guilty. And his eyes swept up and down the length of my body a few times before they landed on my face. But I still wanted to know who the hell the woman was. And why she was here.

Lulu trotted up as I carried the tray into the kitchen. I bent to pick her up as Xander and his friend arrived. I needed the sweet little dog by my side if Xander was going to tell me something that would hurt me. As if seeing him here with a woman mere hours after he’d kissed me wasn’t bad enough.

“Rachel, do you know Trish?” I shook my head, and he continued. “She’s…“ he turned to her. “What is it, a second cousin?”

“Something like that,” she said with a smile. “Second cousin once removed by marriage or something. My parents could probably explain it to you better. I saw you at the funeral.”

Second cousin by marriage. That meant they weren’t blood relatives nor were they closely related. Trish looked to be in her late twenties—in other words, much closer to Xander’s age than I was.

I tried to recall if I’d seen her at the service, but there had been a lot of people there. “Nice to meet you.” Holding the dog gave me an excuse not to offer her my hand. I’d reserve judgement on her until I knew why she was here.

“You too. Xander told me how much of a help you were with his mom.”

I didn’t know what to say to that since I still didn’t know who she was, so I set Lulu down and refreshed her water dish.

While I was doing that, Xander got out some glasses and poured us each a glass of lemonade. “See? I told you that Rachel was taking good care of me.” He handed us each a glass and then drained his.

“Sounds like the best kind of neighbor to have.” Trish smiled at me, but I couldn’t quite muster one in return. Is that how Xander thought of me? As just a neighbor?

“So, I’ve been telling Trish about my plans for the place.” Xander took a huge bite out of one of the cookies my mom made.

“Frankly, it all sounds wonderful,” Trish gushed. “I had a few suggestions, but mostly his ideas sound great.”

All right, this was really starting to worry me. Why was Xander telling all his plans to this woman? Why was she even here? Had she known him when he was in high school? Had she kept up with him all these years?

Trish looked at me with a polite smile on her face, and suddenly I felt extremely underdressed in my short shorts and halter top. She was wearing a white scoop-neck blouse and gray slacks. Next to her, I felt like a little kid in play clothes.

She broke a cookie in half and picked up one of the pieces. “I’ll be sure to tell everyone that the neighbors around here are very kind.”

What? Now I was really confused as I watched her nibble delicately on the cookie.

Suddenly, Xander looked from me, to Trish, and then back again. He frowned as he stared at my face. “You know that Trish is a realtor, don’t you, Rachel? She’s going to list the house when the time comes.”

A realtor! That explained why Xander told her all his plans for this place. And why she was here in the first place.

My posture relaxed as I reached for a cookie. Trish asked me some questions about the neighborhood, and I answered them as best as I could. It was a bit hard to because of Xander.

He was barely trying to hide the huge smirk on his face. Evidently he’d figured out that I’d been jealous and it was amusing him to no end.

I should’ve been mad at him or embarrassed. And I was both, but only a little. Mostly, I was just relieved.

He wasn’t with her.

Which meant there was still a chance he could be with me.