20th high-school reunion. Back in the town where dreams seemed possible and the future bright, where Kate's old crush Sam still lives with his seemingly perfect life.
When Kate’s family was in a devastating car crash, she took custody of her little brother at age twenty and focused on giving him the best life he could possibly have in a wheelchair. Eighteen years later, he encourages her to put herself first for once and have fun at the reunion.
Sam is waiting until after the reunion to announce his divorce publicly, but seeing Kate again rouses feelings long buried and he wants her no matter how much it complicates the weekend. She makes him feel alive for the first time in years, he’s missed their closeness from the past, and his mom loves her like a daughter.
Kate finds Sam even more gorgeous and sexy than twenty years ago, but he’s still technically married and she lives in Nashville. No matter how amazing their connection is, a relationship would never work. Why couldn’t he have shown up to that reunion fat and bald?
This story is intended for readers 18 and over due to adult language, sexual content, and adult situations.
Sweet Reunion - Book #1 - Smashwords | Goodreads | Paperback | Barnes and Noble | Apple |
When finding your true love comes after a bit of heartbreak.
Flavors - like life - need balance. Nearly every cookie or cake recipe includes a pinch of salt. The finest dark chocolate rides the line between bitter and buttery sweetness.
So it is with The Bittersweet Series. Each book will start with the word Sweet.
Chapter One
20th
high school reunion. Back in the town
where dreams seemed possible and the future bright. Where Sam still lived.
Our history was
typical—friends in high school, one of us harboring a secret crush (me). We e-mailed a while through college, but then
distance and schedules and all the normal things drifted us apart. No dramatic ending, no goodbye…just the
silence of moving on.
It sucked.
I still missed
him. Sometimes. When life got quiet for a moment and I had
nothing to do but think and remember.
The Civic Center
Sam and his wife
had sat at the other end of the long pew.
His mother sent me the wedding announcement when it happened. The couple had been married for ten years.
You think you’ve
moved on from things in your youth, then something like that arrives, and nope.
I could watch Sam
in profile from here and he hadn’t spotted me, yet. He was even more handsome than I remembered,
maturity chiseling all the baby fat away into sculptured perfection. He could’ve been a model. Had a scout ever approached him?
The class
president went through the schedule of the weekend, then wanted to lead us
through our school song. Sam looked my
way for the first time and our eyes met.
He still recognized my singing voice after all this time. Butterflies from my teens awoke and fluttered
in my belly. So wrong, Kate, he’s married.
Stupid hormones.
But his eyes were
so intense. Had he always been so
focused?
I smiled and
nodded and he nodded back.
Then orientation
was over and people filtered out of the building.
“Kate.”
I turned and
waited. “Hey, Sam.” The years had been good to him. He still had an athletic build and no gray
hair.
“This is
Mandy.” His wife shook my hand. “Kate and I were friends.”
“We’re heading
over to the Farmer’s Market. Want to join us?” Mandy asked. She was cute, with a friendly, wholesome
face.
“Uh, sure.” It wasn’t far from here, and held every
Saturday into the afternoon. Some things
never changed. “Heard you had kids.”
“Two,” he said. He smiled for the first time at mention of
them.
Mandy reached in
her purse for the photos and stuck the book in my face. “Aren’t they adorable? Candace has her
daddy’s eyes. And that’s Jordan
“Congratulations.” A toddler and an infant.
They’d started
kids late. Sam had big career dreams
back in high school.
“Jordan
So he’d kept my
demo. Not many copies ever existed. “Not the first baby I’ve sung to sleep. Even
my brother and sister.”
“How is your
family?” Sam asked. He didn’t
remember. That hurt.
“Been on my own
since age twenty.” When all my dreams
came crashing down. “My dad and sister
died.”
His eyes sparked
to life with regret. “I’m sorry, Kate. I
meant to ask about your brother.”
I shrugged. “Mother might as well be, too. Is what it
is.”
We entered the
market and Mandy grabbed a basket. “Hon,
we need carrots.” She led the way to the
vegetables section.
We strolled behind
her. “What about you? Did you get
married?” he asked.
I laughed. “Who would ever propose to me?” He didn’t know how absurd that question
was. “Sorry, bad inside joke.”
His brow furrowed
in confusion. I wasn’t this random or
unfiltered in high school.
Was I?
He started
choosing carrots.
Mandy took the
bunch out of his hands and picked up another.
“No, silly, they should look like this.”
“She usually does
the grocery shopping,” he said nearly monotone.
“Is there someone
special in your life, Kate?” she asked.
She’d been ahead of us when he asked me.
“A guy. Sixteen
years. It’s complicated.”
The furrow was
still there. “I’m glad you’re not
alone,” Sam said.
“Wouldn’t say
that.”
He blinked. “Sorry?”
“I hate him a
little. Like I said, it’s complicated.”
And nothing I
wanted to get into with a past crush and his perfect family. I searched for anything remotely interesting
to divert my attention to.
Mandy loaded his
arms as the basket got heavy. I lingered
back as the wife took his attention. My
phone buzzed.
Sonya. Is
everyone fat and bald?
I’m strolling the farmer’s market with my
gorgeous high school crush and his lovely wife. Kill me now. I included the pistol emoji.
Sam? Water-polo-team-photo-in-the-yearbook
Sam?
The one and only. He is neither fat nor bald.
Why are you torturing yourself?
I couldn’t think of a polite reason to bail.
“Kate, do you like
strawberries?” Mandy asked. She was
holding a flat with multiple little green plastic baskets.
“Uh, sure, yeah.”
“Take one for your
room. The motels around here don’t serve breakfast.”
“I’m staying with
Jane,” I said.
Sam’s eyes went to
me. “Mom didn’t mention that.”
“We’ve been
friends a long time.” Jane had been my
piano teacher.
Sam’s mom did her
best to help me start a music career.
Wasn’t her fault I had to stop before it ever really began, and she’d
never judged the choices I had to make to survive.
Mandy finished
shopping. “Sam, we need to pick up the
kids.”
“Right.” He looked back to me. “See you tonight.” He gazed at me like he had something else to
say, then turned to follow his wife.
“Yep.”
We all had to head
in the same direction, but I let them outpace me.
Damn him for still
being beautiful. Twenty years, and my
heart still lurched at the sight of him and his puppy-dog eyes. And broad shoulders. Tight ass.
His confident walk. The presence
he radiated that said I’ve got this and
you’re safe with me.
Twenty years and I
felt like a teenager again. I shouldn’t
have come.
Back to the
parking lot, and escape.
I drove to Jane’s
house. She still resided in the family
farmhouse, one of the few domestic buildings in town older than the ‘60s. The city was quite small until a county boom
in the ‘70s brought new streets and new families. Before that, it was all ranches and farm
land.
We exchanged
e-mails fairly often, but this was the first time seeing each other since I
left California
She opened the
screen door when my car stopped in the driveway. “Kate Carson, get your skinny ass over here.”
Grinning, I
stepped out of the car, popping the trunk.
Jane enveloped me in a good-mom hug.
“Hi, Mama.” I leaned back to look
at her. “Violet, huh?”
“School’s out for
summer, so my hair can be any shade I want. Why has it taken so long for you to
come see me?”
“You know
why.” I got my luggage out of the back
and closed the lid.
She grunted. “Get inside. You’re obviously not eating
enough.”
Shaking my head, I
followed the force of nature. Mama Jane,
as all her close students called her, was five-foot-nothing but a commanding
presence by sheer force of will.
She looked good
for being in her sixties now.
Same piano in the
front parlor. Same roast chicken dinner
in the oven. Or lunch, considering the
time. “Put your things in the guest room.
Door’s open. Then wash your hands and sit at the table. Don’t dawdle!”
“Yes, ma’am.” I hurried up the stairs.
Entering the guest
room was like stepping back in time. Always
known this room as the spare, the Pink Room.
Cream wallpaper with pink rosebuds, sheer pink curtains, pink gingham bedspread…the
décor had been set up for Sam’s grandmother and apparently never changed. I stepped into the bathroom—but this
had. The shower had a clear glass door
and the sink faucet was new. It was also
a walk-in shower now instead of a tub, with tiles that looked like pale gray
marble. I washed my hands as instructed
and hurried back downstairs.
Sat at the table
since she never let guests help in the kitchen.
Side dishes were
already here and she was carving the chicken.
“How have you been, Kate?”
“Getting by.”
“Single?”
“It’s
complicated.”
A snort. She brought the platter of chicken to the
table and sat. “Why didn’t my son ever
date you?”
“He never asked.” I’d always been in the friend zone, to the
pain of my innocent heart.
She piled dark
meat on my plate while I reached for the green beans (fresh from her
garden). “No, he was a bit of an idiot
back then.”
“All boys are.”
“You met Mandy?”
“Yep.”
“The kids?” Jane sat at the table.
“No. She showed me
photos, though.”
“I’m sure she did.
Cutest grandkids in town.”
I smiled. “I think all grandparents say that.”
“But I’m actually
right. Look at my son. More handsome than his father, and he was devastating.”
“How are you
dealing with this big house alone?” He
passed two years ago. Aneurysm in his sleep.
“I’m not alone. I
have visitors all the time.” She shook a
fork at me. “Nor am I too old to care
for this place.”
“Would never imply
it.”
She grinned. “You were always one of my favorite
students.”
“Not in the
beginning.”
She laughed. “Well, you sucked.”
“Others were
worse. My fingers were just slow.” Mmm,
I hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in forever.
“Is Sam happy?”
He was so reserved
now.
He’d barely
smiled. It was also weird to not be
greeted with a hug. He was demonstrative
back in high school. But a good
handshake was important in lawyerdom and his wife was right there…
She shrugged. “Far as I know. Good job, good family, helps
his community. Neighbors like him.”
“Good. It sucked
when we lost touch and I always wondered, so thanks for sharing tidbits here
and there.”
“Well, I hope you
get to catch up at this reunion. What’s the schedule again?”
“Big party tonight
and a picnic tomorrow. Anyone with family is encouraged to bring them to the
latter.”
“So much fuss for
an anniversary.” She shook her head.
“The class
president chick was always big on events. We had to have the best prom, the
biggest fundraiser, so this weekend is no surprise.”
“Debbie the
caterer?”
I nodded. “That’s the one.” I couldn’t get enough of the mashed
potatoes. Like fifty-percent butter and
cream. “Is Mandy a local?”
“She went to the
other high school. They met at Sam’s firm.”
My eyes
widened. “She worked for him?”
Jane shook her
head. “Different department. She’s a
nice girl.”
“But? I hear a
‘but’.”
A wave of her
hand. “Never mind. It’s not my place to
say.”
“Since when do we
hold back?”
Jane sighed. “She’s a fine daughter-in-law, don’t get me
wrong, and a good mother. She just…wasn’t the person I expected him to marry.
Sam was a go-getter, you know, and that part of him has faded to the
background.”
“You think he
settled.”
Eyes to the side,
she searched for the way to tell it.
“Settling isn’t the right word. I guess I’ve been surprised by his life
journey. I didn’t expect him to raise a family here in the ‘burbs.”
“Well, he did get
hired here after college.”
“But first
companies are usually a temporary position.”
She waved it off. “Don’t mind me.
There’s nothing wrong with him.”
No…never was. I did remember his young big-city dreams,
though.
“Can I interest
you in some pie?”
My stomach
gurgled. You don’t get a vote.
“Beyond tempting, but I have to save room for tonight. And fit into my
dress.”
“If I can’t
convince you…” She started clearing the
table.
“Don’t give me
that look, Queen of Carbs. I have to resist until later.”
She chuckled. “You know where I keep it.”
Jane wouldn’t let
me help with the dishes, either, so I went up to the guest room to unpack.
My dress was on
top to minimize wrinkles and I hung it on the closet door first. When I tried it on at the store, my first
thought was wanting Sam to see it, something that shamed me since he was a
married man.
Married men were
off limits.
Set out the rest
of what I needed tonight, put my toiletries in the bathroom, and stretched out
for a nap. It’d been an early flight to
get here.
My phone
buzzed. Sonya again. What
happened? You stopped responding.
They needed to pick up the kids and I went
to check into my room. Just finished lunch.
Did you bring the dress?
I brought the dress.
Then find a single guy and use it to get
laid. This weekend is about you.
You said that before I left, and I’m not
interested in a hook-up with an old classmate.
Why not? You won’t see them again. Until the
30th reunion, ha.
I’m turning my phone off now.
Ah, come on. I’m only being a good BFF and
looking out for you.
I love you for thinking of me, but leave my
vagina out of this.
LOL. Give me all the dirt tomorrow.
I promise. And did turn my phone off.
I had two hours
until I needed to start getting ready, so I set my travel alarm and lay down.
And dreamed about
Sam for the first time since I was a teenager.
The alarm
buzzed—thought I set it on the beep—and I rolled out of bed. Blurry-eyed, I stripped out of my wrinkled
clothes and turned the shower on.
Should’ve washed my eye makeup off before falling asleep. Used a cleansing wipe on my face while I
waited for it to heat.
Jane must’ve
upgraded the water heater, for it didn’t take long for steam to rise. Stepped in and—ah, bliss. Firm water pressure
dissolved the stiffness in my shoulders from sleeping in my clothes. Running my hands over my legs, they were
still smooth from the morning’s shave, so I skipped ahead to my hair, and once
the conditioner was in, my body.
Eyes closed, back
to the door.
Creamy bubbles
felt good on my skin. Not saying my
fingers lingered on my breasts or clit.
Also not saying Sam’s face came to mind as I did.
A pair of strong
hands squeezed my shoulders and I groaned.
“If I’m dreaming, don’t wake me up.”
I was spun around
and kissed.
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