I patted her shoulder. “Do you understand the meaning of ground rules, darling girl?”
“Fine.” She sighed. “Go ahead.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “When I was at the reunion last month, I . . . met someone. Or rather, I renewed my acquaintance with someone I knew back in high school. He’s a wonderful guy, and it turns out that he lives in Burton?—”
“That little town where your cousin’s daughter lives?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “Anyway, a couple of weekends ago, I drove to Burton to see—him.”
“Wait.” Charlie held up a hand. “You’re not going to tell us his name.”
“Well . . .” I hesitated. “I guess it doesn’t matter. His name is Nash.”
“Nash Sampson? That nice boy in your class who won the physics award?” Peg smiled. “I remember him. He was a cutie.”
I was more than a little surprised that Peg remembered him. Nash and Ryan hadn’t exactly run in the same crowds.
“So Mom, what happened with this—Nash? Did you—” She broke off. “I mean, did you have a good time?”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Nice save, sweetie. And yes, we had a very nice time. We had dinner at a cool spot outside town, and Nash’s house is absolutely the most incredible one I’ve ever seen.”
Both women were quiet, watching me expectantly. I shrugged.
“So there you go.”
“No, that’s not athere you go, Mom. You told us a tiny bit about the guy you met, about seeing him again—which I can’t believe you didn’t tell either of us that you were going away overnight—but none of that explains why you’ve been so . . . moody.”
“I think I told you that I’m not going to say more than I want,” I reminded my daughter. “Maybe that’s all I want to share.”
“I hope not, because now I’m crazy curious. I want to know more.” Charlie bounced a little. “C’mon, Momma. Answer just a few questions.”
I skewered her with a mock stern glare. “Maybe. I’ll take your questions under consideration.”
“Okay. How did you know this guy in high school? Were you friends?”
I paused. “Yes, we were friends. Nash was—we had a lot in common. Not many of the people I hung out with cared about academics, but Nash and I were in honor classes together. He was—he was always very nice to me, especially at a very difficult time.”
Peg met my eyes, and I knew she had a pretty good idea what I meant. I remembered one weepy night late in my pregnancy when I’d sobbed out the story of Nash’s sweet proposal, though I’d never used his name.
“Oh.” Charlie studied me. “And what happened during your weekend in Burton that upset you so much?”
“Oh . . . it was nothing.” I smoothed out the material of my jeans over my legs. “Nash didn’t do anything. It was all me.”
Peg tilted her head. “Do you want to tell us about it, Peyton?”
“Maybe.” I clasped my hands. “I wouldn’t have wanted to talk about it a week ago but . . . now it’s different.”
“Oooooh, different.” Charlie hugged her legs to her chest. “Do tell, Momma.”
“Well, we did have a great time in Burton. But then right before I left to come home, Nash talked about the future, and I . . . I kind of freaked out. I told him that I couldn’t change my life just because he’s in love with me.”
Both women gaped at me. “He’sin lovewith you?” squealed Charlie in a very un-Charlie-like way. “Why didn’t you say that before? And why did you freak out?”
“Because I was scared,” I confessed. “Because I don’t know what will happen if I let myself believe that I can have a second chance.”
“What did Nash say to that?” Peg asked.
“He was hurt. And probably a little mad at me. So then I just took off to come home, and I realized that I’d made a giant mistake. I thought I’d ruined everything with him.”
