To Cam’s surprise, sitting cross-legged in Christy’s living room, drinking wine with her girlfriends, felt like the most normal thing in the world. It felt as if it hadn’t been over a decade since they’d had a sleepover, or even all been in the same room with each other.

“So.” Cam poured another glass of wine in Drew’s glass and passed Amber the bottle. “You’ve heard all about my drama.”

“Well, not all of it.” Drew grinned. She’d made a few comments that indicated she was still waiting for an answer about what was going on with Evan, but Cam wasn’t ready to talk about it, so just as she had been doing, she ignored the comment.

“I think we should hear about someone else.” Cam purposely didn’t meet Drew’s gaze. “Amber? Have you made partner yet?”

Amber was the most career driven out of all of them and always had been. Since Cam could remember, Amber had her sights set on a high-powered law career and she’d never wavered from her plan, going right into an undergraduate degree, and then straight to law school. She’d always been top of her class and it didn’t surprise anyone when she landed the job of her dreams at a top law firm in San Francisco.

“Not yet,” Amber said. “But soon. In fact, I’ve been putting in a ton of extra hours lately because the partners are looking at everyone really closely and there’s an opportunity to make partner coming up. I know they’re going to pick me. I mean, how can they not? I live and breathe McLean, Paterson, and Dewitt. The spot is mine.”

“Sounds like soon it will be McLean, Paterson, Dewitt, and Monroe.” Christy held up her glass of sparkling water to toast. “That’s so great, Amber. I know you’ve been wanting this forever.”

“I have.” She clinked glasses with Christy and each of the other women in turn. “And it’s so close now, I can almost feel it. You know what I mean?”

Cam shrugged. She’d never wanted anything that much. Well, at least not a career. “I’m happy for you, Amber. I mean, if you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

“And I am.” She leaned back and crossed her long, lean legs. She was still every bit as striking as she’d been as a teenager. The years hadn’t touched her as far as her model-thin body and long, dark hair went. She was still gorgeous enough to be a model. But when she looked close, Cam could see the strain around her friend’s eyes. She looked tired, although Cam would never say it.

“Are you happy happy?” Christy grinned. “Is there anyone special in your life? Come on, I’m an old married woman and I need to live vicariously through you.”

There was something laced under Christy’s words, but Cam couldn’t put her finger on it. Christy and Mark had always been an affectionate couple. Even in high school, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other and were often the source of teasing, although secretly, they all thought Christy and Mark were the very definition of relationship goals.

“I hate to disappoint you, Christy.” Amber shrugged and drank deeply. “I’m not seeing anyone right now.”

“Right now?” Drew prodded. “Does that mean you were seeing someone?”

Amber shook her head. “No. There’s no time.”

“There’s always time for sex.” Once again, there was something in Christy’s voice. Cam examined her friend, but didn’t say anything. “Please don’t tell me that as the only one of us who’s single you aren’t taking advantage of that status.”

Amber shrugged again, and looked into her glass. “I’m not. Really, there’s no time for a relationship or…anything else,” she said pointedly to Christy. “My career comes first. It always has. You know that.”

“I know,” Christy said. “But I just thought…well, don’t you get lonely?”

Amber laughed. “No way.” She reached around her back and dug into her leather laptop case that was never far from her. “Remember these?” She held up a romance novel, the kind that came out monthly in the grocery store with the sexy man chest on the cover.

Drew squealed and lunged for the book. “You’re still reading these?”

When they were in high school, Amber had discovered a stash of romance books under her mom’s bed and devoured them. To her delight, the stack was consistently replenished as her mom bought new titles every month. She’d shared them with the rest of the girls, but none of the others had been quite as obsessed with them as Amber. It didn’t take long for the books to become a permanent fixture in Amber’s presence. Mixed in along with all the textbooks she always had her head buried in were always at least a few romance novels. The sexier, the better as far as Amber was concerned.

“Books are good,” Christy insisted. “But it’s not the same. You really don’t want to date anyone?”

Amber shook her head, but Cam was sure she noticed the slightest bit of hesitation in her. “Nope. It’s career first,” she said. “Besides, you know I’m not the only single one here anymore.” Amber deftly shifted the focus of the conversation back to Cam, who immediately jumped up from the floor.

“Oh, I don’t think so. I don’t think you can consider me single. It’s not the same thing.” She moved to the shelf on the other side of the room and grabbed another bottle of wine and the corkscrew. “I’m not even officially divorced yet.”

“But you will be soon,” Amber said with an evil grin. “And then you can be the one these two look to for their illicit love affair fix.”

Cam burst out laughing. “I hardly think that as a mother of a teenage girl I’ll be having any kind of love affair. At least not any time soon.”

“What about Evan?” It was Drew who asked. Of course it was. “What’s going on there, Cam?”

“Yeah, Cam.”

“Spill,” Christy joined in. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

Cam spun around so quickly she almost spilled the wine. “How does he look at me?”

“Aha!” Drew jabbed a finger at her and laughed. “I knew there was something there.”

Of course there was something there. It was Evan. Her first love. Maybe her only real love. Sure, she’d loved Ryan. But it was different. So different. And seeing Evan again after all the time that had passed felt so…natural. And completely foreign all at the same time.

“He’s a good guy.” The words sounded lame and completely inadequate even to her own ears. “He’s changed a lot. But so have I. And I’m not looking for anything. Not right now. I mean, I have way too much going on with everything. I can’t even begin to think about a new relationship. I really need to focus on myself and Morgan right now. I just can’t deal with any of that right now.”

“But it’s not completely off the table?” Drew asked directly.

“No.” A small smile crossed Cam’s lips. “It’s definitely not completely off the table.”

“Oh! I knew it! I knew there was something going on between you two. It’s just a matter of time before…” Christy made a kissing sound and Cam threw a pillow at her.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourselves.” The laugh on Cam’s lips faded and she stared into her wine. “Don’t forget he left me once. A girl doesn’t just forget something like that.”

Christy scooted over to her and put her arm around Cam’s shoulders. “That was a long time ago.”

“It was.” She looked up into her friend’s eyes. “But I still don’t know why he left like that. I thought everything was perfect. We were going to get married and be together forever and then…”

He’d left. The pain in her chest was still as raw as it was all of those years ago.

“He’s never said anything?” Cam only shook her head to Amber’s question. “Well.” Amber slapped her hand on her thigh. “I think it’s way past time you asked him, don’t you?”

Evan’s shift had been slow, but that wasn’t unusual in Timber Creek. Even for a Friday night. Just a few routine traffic stops, a report of a domestic disturbance, and a regular visit to the End of the Road, where he’d been relieved to see that Cam wasn’t working. As far as he could tell, Tommy hadn’t been lying when he said Cam would primarily be working the day shifts. Evan knew the day shift probably didn’t pay as well, but he was relieved that she was staying away from the rough bar during the night hours.

The urge to protect her had never gone away. If anything, he reflected, it had only grown stronger with the passing years, especially now that she was back in town.

He leaned his head back against the seat of his cruiser and closed his eyes for a moment.

Having dinner with her the other night had been something he’d never even let himself daydream about over the years. It had always been easier to tell himself he’d never see her, let alone have a date with her.

But he had.

And it had been…different. But familiar all at the same time. More importantly, she hadn’t closed him out the way she had been doing. Maybe after all the time that had passed, they finally stood a chance to be together. He wasn’t going to pretend that it wasn’t what he wanted.

Not for a minute.

Bored, and needing to move, Evan put his car into gear and steered it through the quiet streets of Timber Creek. He contemplated stopping into the Log and Jam to grab a coffee and have a chat with Ben, but having a cop sitting at the bar wasn’t usually good for business, so instead, he went to the Stop n’ Shop gas station and bought one of their famously tar-like substances that they passed off as coffee.

It was a nice night, so instead of getting back into his car, Evan leaned against the hood and pulled an envelope out of his breast pocket. The letter had arrived yesterday, but superstitious and worried about the contents, he’d put off opening it.

“No time like the present.” He sighed and tore open the top. He pulled the paper out and held it, expecting the worst. Evan had sent off the application form almost six months ago. He’d almost forgotten about it.

Almost.

It wasn’t something he’d told anyone about. Only a handful of people even knew that Evan had applied for college. It was such a long shot, as far as Evan was concerned, that there was no point getting anyone’s hopes up, especially his. He wasn’t even sure that it was something he could do. School wouldn’t be cheap, and taking out a student loan and managing mortgage payments probably wouldn’t go well. Besides, he really did love his job. Even so, more and more, Evan was thinking that there were other things he could and should be doing with his life. Bigger things that could have more meaning.

He took a deep breath and was about to unfold the paper when his radio crackled to life.

“Go ahead, Gladys.”

“I hope you’re not too busy, Evan.” He could practically hear the laughter in the woman’s voice on the other end. They both knew there wasn’t much going on, and they both liked it that way.

“I’m sure I can spare a few minutes for whatever you’ve got for me, Gladys.”

“Well, how about a drive out to the Sinclairs’ place.”

“Again?” Evan sighed and stuffed his unopened letter back into the envelope and back into his pocket. It would have to wait until later. “They out of town again?”

“I’m starting to think they should either give us a copy of their travel schedule or hire a babysitter for that kid of theirs.”

Evan laughed. “He’s not a bad kid.”

“Tell that to his neighbors. I’ve had two noise complaints already.”

“I’m on it, Gladys,” Evan said into his radio. “And you’re right, it wouldn’t hurt to have a talk with Scotty and Ash next week. They either don’t know about these parties, or just don’t care.”

“I’ll withhold sharing my opinion with you on that.”

Evan shook his head and climbed back into his cruiser. He knew the way to the Sinclairs’ place all too well. Their teenage son, Jason, was starting to become a familiar face for his late-night weekend shifts due to his parties that were becoming a bit too frequent.

The Sinclair property was on the edge of town in a newer development where the heavily treed lots gave the illusion of being secluded, but in reality, there were neighbors right on the other side of those trees. And according to Jason’s neighbors at least, the trees did nothing to deaden the sound of teenagers partying.

Evan expected to see a lot of cars in the driveway the way he normally did, but there were only a few.

Maybe Gladys was wrong. There certainly didn’t seem to be a party going on.

But the moment he stepped from the car, the blast of the music hit him. He shook his head and made his way to the front door.

The Sinclairs’ house was built for parties, with a beautifully landscaped backyard complete with fire pit and hot tub, and, of course, outdoor sound system. He shook his head with a laugh. If he were a teenage Jason, he could see that it would be very hard to resist the temptation to have regular parties there. He rapped on the door.

No answer.

Not surprised, he knocked again and rang the bell.

Still no answer.

It wasn’t the first time. Evan had told Jason more than once that the neighbors would likely be a whole lot happier with him if he kept the music down, or at the very least, kept his little get-togethers—Jason refused to call them parties—inside where they wouldn’t bother anyone.

But the kid didn’t listen. Not that he would have at that age either. Evan wouldn’t listen to much of anything when he was a kid. Except that one time, when not only did he hear the one thing that would change the entire direction of his life, but he listened.

It had always been his hope that one day he might have the same type of impact on a kid just like him.

Somehow, he didn’t think it was going to be Jason Sinclair. At least not on that particular night.

Evan left the porch and followed the pathway to the backyard. Just as he’d expected, the party was taking place outside.

But what he hadn’t expected was the number of kids. Instead of the usual twenty to thirty, there were only a handful. First glance told him they were paired off in couples.

Perfect. It was that kind of party.

Evan hadn’t been noticed yet, so he took a moment to scan the yard, looking for the host. The kids were all about Morgan’s age and the question crossed his mind if she’d ever be at a party like this one. It wasn’t totally off base. After all, Timber Creek was a small town, and just as when he’d been a kid, there wasn’t much to do to stay entertained. Of course, if he ever found Morgan in this situation, he’d—

What? He’d what? It’s not as if Morgan were his daughter. It wasn’t his job to tell her what she should and should not be doing. It was his job to break up parties, regardless of who was attending.

And that’s exactly what he was going to do.

With a sigh, Evan locked onto the boy who was in the hot tub. Jason Sinclair. He might as well go directly to the source. Of course Jason had a female companion, but it wasn’t until he got closer that the kid moved to the side and Evan could see the back of a female head. A head that looked very much like Morgan’s.

Before Evan had time to fully process what he was doing, he’d closed the distance between him and the hot tub and had both hands on Jason’s arms. “Get your hands off her.” With a strength that should have been impressive, he hauled the kid out of the hot tub and spun him around.

Jason took one look at the enraged cop in front of him, and the cocky look slid right off his face. “Officer Anderson? I…you…we were just—”

“You need to…” The words died on Evan’s lips as he glanced to the girl in the hot tub.

It wasn’t Morgan.

He released his grip a little and let that fact sink in. It wasn’t Morgan. Evan took a breath. He needed to pull himself together. “I’m getting more than a little tired of paying you visits, Jason.”

“I’m sorry, Officer Anderson. I didn’t realize the music was so loud.” Behind him, the girl who wasn’t Morgan was climbing out of the hot tub and wrapping herself in a towel.

“We weren’t doing anything wrong, Officer.” The girl, who he now recognized as Jess Johnson, Morgan’s friend, came to stand next to Jason. She handed him a towel, which he took the second Evan let him go. “We were just hanging out.”

“I’ve had a number of noise complaints, Jason.” Evan focused on the boy because it was the only way he could calm the temper that had exploded inside him at the idea that some teenage boy had his hands all over Morgan. “Turn it down. Now.”

Jason, with Jess in tow, ran off to turn the stereo down. Evan took a deep breath and began making his rounds, checking for alcohol or drugs. Either the kids had seen him coming, or they really weren’t doing anything wrong as Jess had insisted because he found nothing more than a few bottles of beer, which he made a show of pouring out. He turned toward the fire pit that was set back into the yard at a distance. He could make out the silhouettes of a couple by the flames. They obviously hadn’t noticed the commotion or the fact that the music had stopped.

Evan made his way across the grass and once again, heat flared through his veins at what he saw.

Morgan couldn’t believe her luck. Sure, she hadn’t been thrilled that her dad had bailed on her. Not at first anyway. But later, when they took Jess’s little brother’s old bikes out of her garage and snuck out to Jason Sinclair’s house, it had all been worth it.

Jess was right. Trent was totally into her.

It was clear from the moment they got there that it was a couples party. There were a few other kids from school who Morgan only vaguely knew, Jason of course, and Trent. But they were all couples. Except for her and Trent.

“At least not yet,” Jess had whispered to her before taking off with Jason to go to the hot tub.

She wanted to call after her friend not to ditch her, but she didn’t want to look like a total loser. Besides, Trent had already noticed her and had waved at her. She stood at the door like a moron for a minute before finally working up the courage to walk into the kitchen where Trent was getting some drinks out of the fridge.

“Hey,” he said. “I’m glad you made it.”

“Yeah. I didn’t think I was going to, but…” She didn’t want to talk about her dad. “It worked out,” she finished with a shrug.

“Cool.” He reached into the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer. “Want one?”

Morgan had never had a beer before, and she didn’t particularly want one now, but something about the way Trent held it out to her changed her mind.

“Sure.”

He nodded and smiled and Morgan was absolutely sure her heart was going to explode in her chest. He was so cute and maybe Jess was right. Maybe he was into her. “You’ve never been to Jason’s before, right?”

She shook her head, even though they both knew she hadn’t.

“Let me show you around.” Trent took her hand as though it were the most normal thing in the world and led her through the kitchen first into the living room, and then out the sliding doors onto the most amazing back deck. There were a few more kids she recognized from classes, and a few she’d met. But it was definitely not like any party she’d ever been to before.

“This is so nice,” Morgan said before she could think about how stupid it sounded. “I mean, this deck is huge and the backyard…well, it’s…never mind.”

She blushed and was glad for the dim lighting outside so Trent couldn’t see how embarrassed she was.

“No,” he said. “I totally agree with you. This deck is huge. His backyard is killer. You should see my yard—it’s nothing like this.”

“Ha.” Morgan laughed. “I don’t even have a yard.” It was the first time she’d ever laughed about her living situation. Usually she tried not to bring it up at all because it was completely mortifying to live over an auto shop.

“That’s right,” Trent said. “But I bet you have a super cool apartment.”

She stared at him with an open mouth. He wasn’t making fun of her. “You think it would be cool to live over Junky’s?”

Trent nodded and grinned. “Totally. All the access to cars and stuff. It would rock.”

She laughed again and instantly felt relaxed with him. “I suppose if you’re into cars and all that stuff,” she said. “But yeah, it’s not really that bad. My mom’s tried really hard to fix it up.”

It was the first time she’d actually considered the fact that her mom had been trying her best to make her feel at home over Junky’s. The thought had come out of nowhere and she shook it off. The last thing she wanted to do was think of her mom with Trent standing next to her.

“Hey.” Trent leaned in, so she could hear him clearly over the music. “Do you want to go throw some logs on that fire? I can’t believe no one is sitting out there.” He pointed out into the yard where a neglected bonfire was burning down.

Growing up in the city, Morgan hadn’t spent much time camping or around bonfires or anything like that, but standing there with Trent, the idea was appealing. Very appealing. “For sure.”

With the music from the party as a backdrop, it felt as if Morgan and Trent were in their own little world next to the fire. Trent put a pile of logs on, and used a poker to stoke up the flames until the bonfire was once again roaring. With the heat coming off the logs, it wasn’t remotely chilly, but Trent sat close enough that their knees touched.

“Here.” Trent took her still unopened beer bottle out of her hand and with a swift turn, popped the top off and handed it back to her.

She’d never tasted beer before. The few times where friends back in Portland had experimented with alcohol, it was usually wine coolers or hard iced teas they’d found in their mom’s fridges. It was bitter and sour on her lips, but she did her best not to make a face.

But Trent noticed anyway. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s not really for everyone. I can get you something else if you like?”

“No!” Morgan shot her hand out over her mouth. “I mean, no. Thanks. I’m good.”

He grinned and slid even closer to her. “It’s nice sitting here with you like this.”

She nodded, unable to control the smile that she knew dominated her face. “It is.”

“I really like you, Morgan.” He ran a hand through his hair and it flopped over his eye. “I’m glad you moved to town. Things were boring before you got here.”

“And they’re more exciting now?”

“They could be.” He leaned in then until he was only inches away from her.

Was he seriously going to kiss her?

Morgan was sure he would be able to hear her heart beating. Or worse, that she would pass out and fall off the log bench she was perched on.

But when his lips touched hers, she forgot all of those things because there was no room for thinking. It was over almost before it began, and when Trent pulled away, it took her a moment to catch her breath.

Heat raced through her.

“I hope it’s okay that I kissed you?”

Unable to properly form a word, Morgan nodded. Finally, she muttered, “Yes.”

“Can I do it again?”

Morgan didn’t have time to answer him before his hand cupped her cheek and pulled her gently toward his lips. This time, the kiss was a little deeper, more intense. The noise of the party completely faded away until it was just the two of them and the crackling of the logs on the fire.

She couldn’t have said how long they were kissing, but as far as Morgan was concerned, it could have gone on forever. And it might have, too, if it hadn’t been for the deep, booming voice that startled them apart.

“Excuse me.”

Trent pulled away from her and jumped up before Morgan even realized what was happening. Her fingers floated to her lips and reluctantly she looked up into the face of…

“Evan?”

“That’s Officer Anderson, Morgan.” He didn’t smile. “I’m on duty.” His eyes flicked to the beer bottles laying discarded on the ground. “And by the looks of things, it’s a good thing I am.”

“No, Officer. This isn’t what it looks like.” Trent took a step forward, but when Evan turned to face him, he froze in place.

“It looks like you’re drinking underage and about to take advantage of a young girl.”

“What?” Morgan cried and jumped up. “No! That’s not at all what happened.”

Evan didn’t turn around but took another step toward Trent. “You aren’t twenty-one, are you, son?”

Trent shook his head.

“But you are a junior and Morgan here is a freshman.”

“No.” Trent shook his head, and his eyes widened. “Nothing was happening here, Officer. Really. I mean, we were drinking. Well, not really. I mean—”

“Evan.” When he still wouldn’t turn around, Morgan grabbed at his sleeve. What was actually happening? She’d never seen Evan mad. They’d been working together for weeks and he’d always been friendly and joking. Of course, she’d never had a reason to make him mad. Not even when he took her in for shoplifting had she seen him look like this. “Trent didn’t do anything wrong. Listen to me, please.”

Slowly, Evan turned around and stared at her as if he were looking at her for the first time.

“He wasn’t taking advantage of me. I promise,” she said quickly. “And I only had a sip of the beer, really. I didn’t like it. And it’s not like—”

He silenced her by lifting his finger and turned again to stare wordlessly at Trent.

It felt like an eternity, but finally he turned back to Morgan. “Let’s go,” he said. “I’m taking you home.” He started walking away before Morgan could say anything. She looked to Trent for help, but he only shrugged, looking as startled as she felt. “Now, Morgan,” Evan called without turning around.

“I’ll call you,” Trent whispered before she could go running behind Evan like a chastised child.

Morgan refused to sit in the front seat of Evan’s cruiser, so together with Jess, who’d changed quickly back into her clothes, she sat in the backseat like a criminal for the second time since moving to Timber Creek.

Now that they were away from the party, Morgan was feeling a little braver. “You can’t take me home.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “My mom is at Christy’s for the night and I’m sleeping at Jess’s.”

He seemed to think about it for a minute before saying, “Fine. I’ll take you to Jess’s.”

Morgan and Jess exchanged a glance, and Morgan knew exactly what her friend was thinking. “You’re not going to tell our parents, right?” She glanced at Jess quickly. “I mean, it’s not like we were doing anything wrong.”

Evan was quiet for a few minutes and Morgan was beginning to think he hadn’t heard her. Finally he said, “No. Not this time.”

Like there would be a next time. But Morgan didn’t think it was wise to say that. Satisfied, she sat back in her seat and waited until they pulled up to Jess’s dark house. The second Evan opened the back door, Jess slid out. Morgan followed quickly, but Evan stopped her before she could escape into the house.

“I don’t like to see you like that, Morgan.”

She stared at the officer who’d come to feel a little bit like a friend in their time working together. She was confused by this new version of Evan. He was acting as if he were her father. But he wasn’t her father and even if he was, her dad never behaved like he had. “Like what?” She crossed her arms. She knew she should scale back the attitude but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Like a teenager? Like I was having fun instead of doing community service all the time? God forbid.”

“That’s not what I meant, Morgan.” He almost looked sad and Morgan almost felt bad. Almost. “I just meant that I don’t want to see you get into a situation you can’t handle.”

“I can handle myself just fine.” She turned away from him, ready to storm up the pathway, but before she left, she spun around one more time. “And it’s none of your business anyway. You’re not my dad.”