Page 2 of After You

“I’m calm.” He was always calm. He was driven. He was confident. He was determined. But he was always calm andcool.

“You’re not calm. You look like you want to shake her, or throw her over your shoulder. And really, neither is a good choice.”

Kyle felt Derek’s observation and the truth of the situation hit him directly in the chest.

Hannah was here. Here. At home. In Sapphire Falls. For the first time in three years. For the first time since they’d broken up. And yeah, there had definitely been a moment of mine that had ripped through him at seeing the words Hannah’shere.

“I just want to talk to her,” he said, trying like hell to sound calm andcool.

“Not tonight. Not first thing like this,” Derek said. “You knew you were going to see her in a couple of weeks. Just stick with theplan.”

The plan. Two of Kyle’s favorite words. He loved plans. He lived by plans. A plan implied preparation and control. Two of his other favorite words.

He shoved a hand through his hair. He had not been prepared for Hannah being back in Sapphire Falls.

No, that wasn’t true. He’d known for almost a month that Hannah was going to be back in town. And even if he hadn’t been certain to run into her because of Alice’s medical care, he would have seen her anyway. It was Sapphire Falls. You couldn’t order extra bacon on your cheeseburger around here without people knowing and having an opinion aboutit.

But what the hell was she doing here now? Alice’s surgery was still two weeksaway.

He’d known that she would be accompanying Alice to her appointments with him, but he’d thought he had time to get ready for that. Damn, he’d had no idea he would react like this to the news she was officially back in town. In the flesh. Within driving distance.

He’d thought he was prepared. But seeing Hannah and here in the same sentence had sent a need coursing through him that he never could have prepared for. He was definitely not in control of his emotions right now. And that was absolutely notokay.

It shouldn’t surprise him, he supposed, that Hannah was the one thing, the one person, who could really shake him up. But it did. Because for ten years, Hannah had been the most stable, reliable thing in his life. It was one of the things he’d loved best abouther.

“You have to pull yourself together,” Derek said, obviously reading Kyle’s agitation.

It had to be surprising to the other man. Kyle simply did not get agitated. But Derek must have sensed that it was a big deal, because he rarely passed up a chance to give a friend a hardtime.

“And you have to keep yourself pulled together. If you look like this, you’re going to upset Alice,” Dereksaid.

Kyle blew out a breath. “I didn’t realize how I would feel knowing she was home. I thought I could handleit.”

Derek nodded. “You will handle it. You know she’s here now. You can get your shit together before you seeher.”

Fuck, he hoped so. He felt like he’d just downed a couple of energy drinks, just knowing she was in the next room. He just wasn’t sure if it was good energy orbad.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah. Okay, you’re right. I’ll pull it together for Alice. But no promises that I won’t get Hannah alone for a few minutes at some point,” hesaid.

Derek cocked an eyebrow. “And what would you be doing for those few minutes alone with Hannah?”

Kyle frowned at him. “Not whatever you’re thinking.” He couldn’t touch her. Couldn’t kiss her. The fact he even thought those things was annoying. “Yelling. Chewing her out. Probably some swearing.”

Derek nodded. “Fair enough. But watch it. Alice is thrilled Hannah’s back, and you better not do anything that might upset Hannah to the point that Alice might notice.”

Alice McIntire was five feet two inches, one hundred and five pounds of pure sweetness, topped with bright white hair. She never forgot a name, had never met a person she couldn’t charm within five minutes, had an uncanny ability to know what people needed—a hug, a scolding, advice, a nonjudgmental ear…or a cookie. She also had a laugh that could make anyone smile. Getting on her good side was as easy as saying “good morning”. And getting on her bad side was extremely difficult. But possible. And involved messing with her family. Particularly her one and only granddaughter.

Alice had everyone in the town of Sapphire Falls wrapped around her little finger, and while she didn’t abuse the power, she was able to get pretty much anyone to do pretty much anything she wanted.

“Hannah was the one who upset me,” Kyle pointed out. “She was the one who broke things off. Notme.”

“Right, but Alice doesn't know that. Because you have been protecting Hannah.”

“No,” Kyle said, stubbornly shaking his head. “I've been protecting the town and her parents and Alice. She was upset enough by Hannah’s decision to stay in Seattle.”

Hannah had broken promises to everyone, and while her staying on the West Coast instead of coming home had messed up a lot of things, Kyle had known that if he was upset, it would have made it worse for everyone else. So he’d powered through his own heartbreak, put on a smile, and assured everyone that it was a great decision, and he was behind Hannah and her “amazing professional opportunity” all theway.

“Alice doesn't need to know all the details.”

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