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Scout barked, wagging her tail, running back and forth between the two of us as if she wanted to hurry the conversation along so we could play fetch in the snow.
“Scout, huh?” Annie asked. “Isn’t that kind of on the nose, considering your name?”
“Yeah, well, I thought it was funny.” She would have too. At one time, anyway. Back when we geeked out on things like books. Was she still a nerd under all that gorgeousness?
“Is it really you?” I remained on the top step of the stairs leading up to the cabin’s porch, staring at her. She looked exactly as she did on the screen. The camera showed every flaw, and as far as I could see, Annie Armstrong didn’t have any. On my television or standing right in front of me.
“I had a little time off and figured it was time to come home. Twenty years is too much.”
I stepped onto the porch and inched over to her until I stood close enough to count her freckles one by one. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Do you mind? Me showing up like this? I mean, it’s been a while since we connected.”
“Mind? Of course not. But aren’t you a little fancy for this place now?” I asked, keeping it light. “Given you’re a movie star and all?”
“Aren’tyoua little fancy for this place now that you’re a billionaire?” She grinned, and my stomach fluttered. She was stunning. Same smile as when we were kids, only her teeth were perfectly straight and white now.
“I’m not technically a billionaire.” I flushed, embarrassed. I’d hated having the details of my deal public knowledge. God hated a braggart.
She opened her arms. “Come on, give your old friend a hug.”
I did so, taking in the sweet scent of her hair, the puff of herjacket between us preventing close contact. The last time I saw her, we’d hugged goodbye and promised to write every week. She’d been a tiny little thing. Pink ballet shoes in her backpack squeezed next to her schoolbooks for after-school classes. She’d worked so hard at it, even though that teacher had occasionally made her cry.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?” I asked, drawing away, even though I would have preferred to hold her forever.
“I wanted it to be a surprise. Plus, I wasn’t sure how your mother would feel.”
“She’ll be thrilled to see you.” Would she? Annie was a walking reminder of what could have destroyed all our lives. Of the betrayal of the two people she’d trusted the most. Her best friend and her husband.
“She already came by,” Annie said. “It was wonderful to see her looking so well.”
“She watches everything you’re in,” I said. “We all do.”
Her eyes glistened. “That’s really sweet.”
“We’re your biggest fans. Like we always were.”
She swiped at the corner of her left eye with the back of her hand. “You all used to come to my recitals. Took up an entire row. Do you remember that?”
An image of her on the small stage at the stuffy studio came to me. The rooms had been above the barbershop. Walls of mirrors. During recitals, the teacher had set up folding chairs. Five rows of five chairs each, on either side of the aisle. “I remember at least one.”
“They all blend together for me too.” Her hand jerked, landing on the sleeve of my jacket. “I’m sorry we lost touch. Probably my fault.”
“Bound to happen.” I shrugged. “Teenagers aren’t exactly known for letter writing. We got busy.”
“Sad but true. But I never stopped thinking about you—wondering how all of you were doing. I guess I needed space from my old life.”
“Yep, that’s understandable.”
She hesitated, fiddling with the zipper of her jacket. “Did you retire here? Is that true, or just a story made up in the press?”
“Yeah, it’s true. How did you know that, though?”
“I read about you in theWall Street Journal. It was weird—the article about your deal with Seamark just caught my eye one day. I smiled and smiled when I read about what you’d done. Building a company from scratch and selling it for a gazillion dollars was exactly how I imagined things going for you.”
I laughed. “Not a gazillion. But enough to move back here permanently.” She’d kept tabs on me? Just as I had her. I warmed at the thought of her reading that article. “I had a house built on the other side of the trees there.” I gestured toward the woods that obscured the view to my house. “It’s private but still close to my family.”
“I figured you’d get out of here and never come back,” Annie said.
