A Cold Creek Reunion by RaeAnne Thayne

shocked.
    She frowned. “Because of her Down syndrome. Many people do.”
    “Then you shouldn’t waste your time with them. Down syndrome or not, she’s about the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. You should have seen her work the belt sander, all serious and determined, chewing on her lip in concentration—just like you used to do when you were studying.”
    “Don’t.”
    He blinked, startled at her low, vehement tone. “Don’t what?”
    “Try to charm me by acting all sweet and concerned. It might work on your average bimbo down at the Bandito, but I’m not that stupid.”
    Where did that come from? “Are you kidding? You’re about the smartest person I know. I never thought you were stupid.”
    “That makes one of us,” she muttered, then looked as if she regretted the words.
    More than anything, he wanted to go back in time ten years and make things right again with her. He had hurt her by closing her out of his pain, trying to deal with the grief and guilt in his own way.
    But then, she had hurt him, too. If only she had given him a little more time and trusted that he would work things through, he would have figured everything out eventually. Instead, she had gone away to Spain and met her jerk of a husband—and had two of the cutest kids he had ever met.
    “Laura—” he began, not sure what he intended to say, but she shook her head briskly.
    “I’m sorry my children bothered you. I won’t let it happen again.”
    “I told you, I don’t mind them.”
    “I mind. I don’t want them getting attached to you when you’ll be in their lives for only a brief moment.”
    He hadn’t even known her kids a week ago. So why did the idea of not seeing them again make his chest ache? Uneasy with the reaction, he gave her a long look.
    “For someone who claims not to hate me, you do a pretty good impression of it. You don’t even want me around your kids, like I’ll contaminate them somehow.”
    “You’re exaggerating. You’re virtually a stranger to me after all this time. I don’t hate you. I feel nothing at all for you. Less than nothing.”
    He moved closer to her, inhaling the springtime scent of her shampoo. “Liar.”
    The single word was a low hush in the room and he saw her shiver as if he had trailed his finger down her cheek.
    She started to take a step back, then checked the motion. “Oh, get over yourself,” she snapped. “Yes, you broke my heart. I was young and foolish enough to think you meant what you said, that you loved me and wanted forever with me. We were supposed to take vows about being with each other in good times and bad, but you wouldn’t share the bad with me. Instead, you started drinking and hanging out at the Bandito and pretending nothing was wrong. I was devastated. I won’t make a secret of that. I thought I wouldn’t survive the pain.”
    “I’m sorry,” he said.
    She made a dismissive gesture. “I should really thank you, Taft. If not for that heartbreak, I would have been only a weak, silly girl who would probably have become a weak, silly woman. Instead, I became stronger. I took my broken heart and turned it into a grand adventure in Europe, where I matured and experienced the world a little bit instead of just Pine Gulch, and now I have two beautiful children to show for it.”
    “Why did you give up on us so easily?”
    Her mouth tightened with anger. “You know, you’re right. I should have gone ahead with the wedding and then just waited around wringing my hands until you decided to pull your head out of whatever crevice you jammed it into. Although from the sound of it, I might still have been waiting, ten years later.”
    “I’m sorry for hurting you,” he said, wishing again that he could go back and change everything. “More sorry than I can ever say.”
    “Ten years too late,” she said tersely. “I told you, it doesn’t matter.”
    “It obviously does or you wouldn’t bristle like a porcupine every time you’re near me.”
    “I