Chapter One
The invitation sat on Alec McKennaâs desk for a solid month, mixed with the junk mail and slick catalogs, before he opened the cream-colored envelope and withdrew the printed cardstock. He skimmed the top line: Youâre invited to the ten-year reunion of James Madison High School. Then he took a step to the rightâ
And dropped the envelope into the trash.
His cousin Riley stepped over and fished the paper out of the circular bin. âHey, this is tonight. Youâre not going to go?â
âItâs a reunion. For high school. I can think of a thousand other things Iâd rather do.â
âSo can most red-blooded American males,â Riley said, chuckling. He had the same dark hair and blue eyes as the rest of the McKenna men. In fact, when Alec and Riley were younger, theyâd been confused for twins. Even as adults, the close resemblance remained between the cousins. âBut werenât you voted most popular, or most desirable, or something equally embarrassing?â
âSomething like that.â He waved it off. âAnyway, itâs all ancient history.â
âAll of it?â Riley arched a brow. âWhat about Leah Andrews?â
Even after all these years, the name still sent a shock wave rippling through Alec. He hadnât seen Leah since their graduation day, though heâd thought about her once or twice. Okay, a hundred times. He could still remember exactly how sheâd lookedâblond hair loose around her shoulders, shapely body swaying with each stepâas sheâd walked away from him.
That was how their relationship had ended. Tassles to the opposite side, caps tossed in the air, and then, just like that, Leah was gone. Heâd thought they had their future mapped outâor at least the next four years of itâbut Leah had thrown a detour into that road map. Sheâd left that day, not for their planned destination of college together in New York, but instead to California, to her father. Sheâd asked him to go with her, but at the idea of hospitals and doctorsâ offices and instant responsibility, Alec had balked.
He hadnât even realized what that decision had cost him until it was too late.
But it was all for the best. He hadnât been the kind of guy who settled down, planted a garden in the backyard and had the neighbors over for a barbecue on Labor Day. Even now, he lived his life unfettered, free to come and go, whenever and wherever he wanted, though that lifestyle felt increasingly empty. And Leah, well, she was the kind of woman who made family ties into an art form.
Still, he felt guilty about how he had ended their relationship. If he had known then what he knew now, heâd have handled it differently.
âLeah and I were over years ago,â Alec said. âHell, I donât even know where she is anymore.â
âAccording to this,â Riley dangled the invitation, âsheâs heading the reunion committee. So you know where sheâll be tonight. You should go, at least to find out what happened to her.â He held out the cream-colored cardstock to his cousin.
Alec took the invitation. His gaze dropped to the bottom, to a list of familiar names, but only one leaped out at him, as if it had been printed in bold:
Leah Andrews.
The other women on the committee had their pasts in parentheses: Michelle (Wilson) Klein, Heather (Sloan) Bertram. But Leahâs name was the same now as it had been ten years ago. Did that mean sheâd never married? Or that sheâd kept her maiden name? And why did he still care?
He laid the invitation on the desk. âWell, Iâm still not interested.â
âThink of what youâll be missing,â Riley said.
âJust a lot of people who probably havenât changed much in a decade,â Alec said.
He had changed, though, especially in the past couple of months. Heâd become responsibleâa fact that surprised even Alec sometimes. Heâd probably still be the selfish commitment-phobe that heâd been in high school if it hadnât been for his fatherâs accident. The crash was a culmination of a life of bad choices, and it had spurred a wake-up call for Alec. Heâd realized that night that he needed a change, and, as if reading Alecâs mind, his great-aunt, Rileyâs grandmother, contacted him the next day and offered him just that opportunity. Mary McKenna had always been more of a mother to Alec than his own, and he found himself saying yes to a new job and a whole stack of responsibilities. All of a sudden, his days had been filled with purpose, something he hadnât even realized heâd needed until he had it. Now, instead of looking for the next party, Alec looked for the next opportunity to expand McKenna Media. âMaybe some people have changed.â
âSome sure did, cuz,â Riley said with a grin, giving Alec an easy slug in the shoulder. âAnyway, Iâll catch up with you later. Iâve got a date at the diner.â The grin widened into the kind of smile worn by a man who had fallen for a woman. Over the past few weeks, Riley had done nothing but talk about Stace, who worked at the Morning Glory diner in downtown Boston, and who had clearly stolen Rileyâs heart.