Page 95 of Hometown Girl

She didn’t even know how to answer that. Renovating an old farm was hardly in her ten-year plan. She was supposed to domore. Didn’t he get what that meant?

Drew’s stare, a little too intent, rattled the cage around her heart.

“You know, for a guy who doesn’t say much, you sure have some smart things to say.”

He hitched two fingers underneath her chin and flashed that lazy grin she’d come to crave. “You can’t corner the market on guilt, you know. We’ve all done things we regret.”

A quiet beat passed between them. “So what’s your story?”

He pulled his hand away and wrapped it around the disposable coffee cup. Something in him shifted.

Perhaps they were more alike than she’d thought.

“Ah, well, that’s a story for another day.” He swallowed his last swig of coffee, then stood and threw the cup in the tall metal garbage can behind them.

She sat, unmoving, feeling like she’d said too much. She didn’t make a habit of unloading her regrets on people—especially strangers—but there was something safe about Drew. Or at least there had been until he’d reciprocated nothing.

Maybe opening up to him had simply been another in a long line of bad choices.

Chapter Twenty-Four

So she was human.

Drew had started to wonder.

Listening to Beth unload the baggage she’d been carrying around had been a sort of therapy for him. Somehow, knowing he wasn’t the only one with massive regret weighing him down had done him good.

It would probably do her good too, to know that she wasn’t alone, but he just couldn’t go there. Not yet. Probably not ever.

Not only had he kept the truth from her, but the truth was awful. Working didn’t dull the pain of it anymore, not the way it used to. What would he do if he couldn’t find a way to keep the thoughts at bay?

He’d spent hours in Harold’s hidden room. He’d read and reread every scrap of paper the old man had collected over the years.

Nothing but nightmares came.

Now, standing in the seats outside the band shell, waiting for Beth, he wondered if it was time to get back to his real life. Back to Colorado, where at least he wouldn’t be faced with the memory of Jess every time he walked outside.

“Do you have time to walk around for a little while?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t stepping out of line. Somehow he didn’t feel right about leaving her alone.

She looked genuinely surprised he’d asked.

She finished off her coffee and threw her cup away. “Sure.” She ran her fingers through her hair, shaking it out behind her and just about driving him nuts in the process.

If he wasn’t careful, he could fall in love with this girl. And that couldn’t happen. He needed to stay focused—if happily ever after was not in the cards for Jess, it wasn’t for him.

“Do you think less of me now?” she asked, avoiding his gaze.

He grabbed her arm and stopped. “Beth, no.”

She wouldn’t look at him.

“I’m glad you told me.”

Finally, he had her eyes—she looked like she wanted to say something, but apparently thought better of it.

“I mean it,” he said.

She gave one quick nod and started walking again.

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