Chapter One
Gianna stared out at the water from the deck of her new home. Vista Falls was everything she hoped it would be. Quiet. Serene. Her teenage daughters disdainfully referred to it as “Mayberry” from a long-ago TV series they were too young to remember. But for her it represented the life she’d left behind forhim. A sweet life, pure and filled with promise.
“Hey,” her fifteen-year-old daughter said, flopping on the lounge chair, facing the water. “I called for you when I came in. Didn’t you hear me?”
“No, sorry.” She smiled as she turned to face her daughter, who shared so many of her father’s features it sometimes pained Gianna to look at her. “How was school?”
“Okay, I guess,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “It sure ain’t L.A. though. The kids here are lame. Their idea of a good time is watching their football team get wrecked on a Friday night, then going for a burger.”
“There are worse things,” Gianna murmured, knowing full well her daughter wouldn’t agree.
It was the kind of innocent fun Gianna hoped her daughter would appreciate in a few months. Their life in L.A. was a whirlwind of parties, shopping, and boys. And Gianna was determined to haul them off the roller coaster and teach them something about the small-town values she’d learned growing up. Her ex used to scoff at her for trying to teach the girls to value people above possessions, claiming they’d figure it out the hard way. The way he had.
“Where’s your sister? Didn’t she come home with you?”
“She’s trying out for the volleyball team.” Keegan laughed. “Can you believe that? The volleyball team? Since when does she do sports? She’s just about the most uncoordinated person I know.”
Ramsey was a year younger than her sister and trying desperately to step out of her famous father and popular big sister’s shadow.
“Good for her,” Gianna said, sitting on the end of the lounge chair next to her daughter’s. “She’s stepping out of her comfort zone. You should think about doing the same.”
“What do you call this?” Keegan asked, throwing her arms up in the air. “This is so far out of my comfort zone I may as well be living on another planet. I still don’t get why we couldn’t stay with Dad at least until the school year ended.”
Gianna took a deep breath, repeating her manta about staying calm and being patient. “You couldn’t stay with your father because he’s never home. He’s always on the road.”
At twenty, Gunnar and his band had set the world on fire with their music. In their thirties, they cemented their place as rock legends. Now, at forty, they still showed no signs of slowing down. And Gianna had grown weary of being the other woman in his life, second to his love of music.
“He wants to come out and see us,” Keegan said, looking at her mom out of the corner of her eye, as though she were preparing for a fight. “It’s our birthday next month and he doesn’t want to miss it.”
Gianna wanted to remind her it wouldn’t be the first time he hadn’t been around to wish his daughters a happy birthday. More often than not, his greeting came by way of a big fat check and a phone call, like that would make up for never being there.
“You know I’d never try to stop you from seeing him,” Gianna said, faking a smile. “But where would he stay? It’s not like there are any swanky hotels in Vista Falls. As far as I know, there’s just that inn—”
“Why couldn’t he stay here? With us?” Keegan asked, leaning forward. “We have an extra bedroom.”
“Your grandmother said something about visiting around the same time.” Not that she’d ever consent to letting her ex sleep under her roof. He wasn’t even her ex-husband. They’d never married. They just lived together… because he didn’tdomarriage. “So we wouldn’t have the room.”
Keegan narrowed her eyes. “You know what I think? I think you’re afraid to be alone with him.”
“Pardon me?” Gianna asked, certain her blue eyes were bugging out her head.
“You heard me. I think that’s the reason you moved too, to get away from him. I think it was making you crazy, having to see him all the time. You said you wanted to move on with your life, start dating again, but couldn’t you have done that there? God knows there’s more men to choose from in L.A. than there are here.”
“Not the kind of men I want to date,” she argued, wishing she could deny her daughter’s claim. Keegan was right. She’d always have a thing for Gunnar Williams, but she was tired of letting that damnable attraction stand in the way of her happiness.
“I think he misses us,” Keegan said quietly. “All of us. He’s been calling me and Ramsey a lot more lately. And he’s been asking about you too.”
Even though they hadn’t lived under the same roof for almost a year, her daughters still believed they were a family and who was she to quash that myth? They’d never been a family. Because Gunnar didn’t want them to be. He wanted to be single. Free.
He didn’t mind having Gianna to come home to and he loved his daughters, but not enough to make a real, life-long commitment to their mother. Eventually, Gianna got tired of waiting and moved out while he was on tour. She left him a note letting him know she needed more than he could give her… and that was the end of their story.
He’d showed up on her parents’ doorstep when he got back to town, begging her to change her mind, claiming he didn’t want to live without her, but talk was cheap and Gianna was tired of listening to his lies.
“I know you love him,” Gianna said, reaching for her daughter’s hand. “But I don’t. Not anymore. Truth be told, I haven’t for some time. And we’re not getting back together. Ever.” Her tone softened at her daughter’s petulant expression. She had her father’s hazel eyes, caramel skin, and raging temper, making her impossible to deal with when she made up her mind about something.
“But he still loves you. I know he does, Mom. He hasn’t been the same since you left him.”
“He hasn’t been the same?” She chuckled. “According to the tabloids, he’s been exactly the same. Still partying like a teenager—”
