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At the moment, pink and white blossoms covered every branch of every tree, their scent unmistakable. In a few months, the flowers would yield to heavy, sweet fruit covered in velvety skins.

Brit passed the clearly deserted house and headed into the hills on the back side of the property. By the time he made it to the highest point, the view spread for miles.

Laney felt uneasy. “Aren’t we trespassing?”

Brit opened his door and got out. “We’re not hurting anything. No one’s around.”

“I’m not wearing the right shoes for tramping in the woods,” she pointed out.

He came to her door and leaned his elbows in the open window, grinning. “I’ll piggyback you, Laney. I haven’t lost my touch.”

“And where are we going?” she asked, trying to pretend she was calm when she was anything but.

“While you were getting ready this morning, I grabbed our old quilt out of the guest closet. I could use a nap. Let’s enjoy the afternoon.”

She managed not to gape at him.Theirquilt? When she peeked into the back seat to see what he was talking about, he was right. It was an old quilt her grandmother had made decades ago. She and Brit had spent many a lazy summer afternoon on that quilt. By the creek. In the woods. Even at the drive-in theater in the back of his truck.

Although Laney had two of her granny’s heirloom quilts tucked away in her cedar chest, this was the one she treasured for entirely different reasons.

“Okay then,” she said, trying to seem blasé about spending the afternoon with a renowned heartthrob. Not that she really cared about Brit’s fame. She was uncertain about the situation for a whole different reason. Why had he sought her out?

Riding piggyback in a dress meant that Brit’s big warm hands ended up supporting her bare thighs. Fortunately, there was no one to see when a blush covered every inch of her face. She clutched the quilt in one arm and held on with the other. Brit’s easy strength was on display as he strode through the woods. Laney was no lightweight, but he carried her easily.

When he found the spot he wanted, he let her slide off his back.

“This will do,” he said. He flipped out the large quilt and smoothed it over the leaf-strewn ground. “Take off your shoes,” he said. “Get comfortable.”

Laney hesitated, not because she was opposed to the idea, but because this whole thing was getting far too cozy. She should have felt awkward around Brit. He was practically a stranger, wasn’t he?

Yet as she kicked off her sandals and stretched out beside him, something about the moment echoed a hundred other times they had done this exact thing. The guy she had known in high school didn’t dress as well. And he’d been a tad skinnier, his limbs as pale as hers. But Brit hadn’t changed at heart.

Or so she hoped.

She didn’t want to think that fame and fortune had gone to his head.

When they were both on their backs, staring up through the sun-dappled treetops, Brit linked his hand with hers. “Will you be insulted if I take a nap?” he asked. His voice was rough with fatigue.

“Not at all.” She suspected that today’s emotional wringer had been as taxing for Brit as the jet lag. Maybe more so.

“Thanks, Laney...”

When he sighed and shifted moments later, she knew he was still awake. “Are you happy?” she asked. “In Hollywood, I mean.”

His silence was so long, she wondered if she had offended him.

Finally, he sighed. “Yes. Mostly, I guess.”

“What does that mean?”

“I miss Blossom Branch sometimes, and I didn’t think I would. All I ever wanted was to get out of this one-horse town. But once I lived somewhere else, I began to see what I had sacrificed. I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be successful. I wanted to be comfortable enough not to have to worry about paying the bills every month.”

“But?”

He turned his head to face her. His green eyes picked up the color in the foliage overhead. His lips twisted in a self-derisive smile. “I thought when I landed this most recent role, it would change my life.”

“And it did. You’re an international star now.”

“Then why do I feel like the same guy inside? And why do I feel like I left the most important part of me here in Blossom Branch?”

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