So … no.

Sophie was not for him.

Who cared if those plump lips of hers just begged to be kissed? Who cared that her curves still had the power to cause him to squirm? Who cared if he couldn’t seem to banish her from his mind … or his dreams?

Because he was dreaming of her. The other night he’d relived the first time they’d met and the first time they’d made love. It had been so real, he’d been unable to shake the feeling that his subconscious was trying to tell him something.

No.

He couldn’t go there.

He had to forget about her.

There were plenty of other sexy, beautiful and intelligent women out there. He did not have to get entangled with someone who would cause him only grief. He could do this. He could forget about Sophie. It was mind over matter, just as everything was.

Decision made.

Dillon would shove sexy Sophie out of his mind.

Permanently.

* * *

The Crandall Lake Chronicles: Small town, big hearts

Oh, Baby!

Patricia Kay

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Formerly writing as Trisha Alexander, PATRICIA KAY is a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than forty-eight novels of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives in Houston, Texas. To learn more about her, visit her website at www.patriciakay.com.

This book is dedicated, with much love, to my three sisters: Gerri Paulicivic, Marge Ford and Norma Johnson. And to my sisters-in-law, who are equally wonderful: Susan Kay Ardale, Beverly Kay, A. Kay Kay and Theresa Kay.

I am so lucky to have all of you in my life.

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Excerpt

Copyright

Chapter One

Crandall Lake, Texas—early October

Sophie Marlowe sneaked a glance at the clock. Eleven thirty-five. Twenty-five minutes until her lunch break. Suppressing a sigh, she turned her attention back to the student sitting in front of her desk. “What are you going to do, Kaitlyn?”

The unhappy senior shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“They’re going to have to be told sometime. It would be best if you just tell them now while you still have options.”

The girl nodded, her eyes bleak. “They’re gonna kill me.”

Sophie smiled wryly. “I know your parents. They are lovely, rational people. They won’t kill you.”

“But they’ll be so disappointed,” Kaitlyn muttered.

“I’m sure they will, but they love you. They’ll get over it.” Yet even as Sophie said the rote words, she knew that some parents didn’t get over it easily. When your daughter was smart, got great grades and was on track to attend one of the best universities in Texas, it was hard to discover said daughter wasn’t as smart as you’d thought. That, in fact, she was pregnant and already a couple of months along.

“I wish...” Kaitlyn began.

“I know. You wish this hadn’t happened.”

Two fat tears rolled down Kaitlyn’s cheeks. “Billy’s being so mean to me.”

Now Sophie did sigh. She wasn’t surprised that the father of the baby wasn’t thrilled by his girlfriend’s pregnancy. Honestly. What in the world were these kids thinking? That was the problem. They weren’t thinking. The thinking began after the damage was done, and by then, it was too late. “Would you like me to be with you when you talk to your parents?” As Crandall Lake High School’s guidance counselor, Sophie wasn’t required to do more than listen to and advise students of available resources, but she couldn’t help feeling sorry for the girl in her office. Kaitlyn Lowe was a good kid. In fact, she was one of the last kids Sophie thought would be in this position.

“Would you?”

The raw fear in Kaitlyn’s blue eyes reminded Sophie that the girl was only seventeen. Only a year older than Joy. The thought of Joy, her younger half sister and legal ward, whose parents had died two years earlier, gave Sophie further pause. If it were Joy sitting here now, scared and feeling so alone, wouldn’t Sophie want someone to befriend her, too? “Yes,” she said softly. “I will.”

“Oh, Miss Marlowe, thank you. Wh-when do you want to do it?”

Sophie had book club tonight, but tomorrow was free. “Why don’t I come by tomorrow night? Say about seven-thirty? Will you be through with dinner by then?”

Kaitlyn nodded, then bit her bottom lip.

Later, as Sophie ate her tuna sandwich and apple in the teachers’ lounge, she thought about how hard it was to be a teenager. She was certainly glad those days were long behind her. And she was enormously grateful that Joy had lived up to her name and was a joy to raise. The girl had never given Sophie one moment of trouble, thank the Lord.

She looked up at the noisy entrance of two of her colleagues—Ann McPherson, a chemistry teacher, and Cindy Bloom, who taught computer science and keyboarding.

“Oh God,” Cindy said, fanning herself, “be still, my heart!”

“Yeah,” Ann said. “He’s gorgeous, isn’t he? And I’m sure he knows it.”

“Of course he knows it!” Cindy said, laughing. “I mean, he’s dated some of the most beautiful women in the world.”

Sophie kept her expression blank, even though she instantly knew the two women were discussing Dillon Burke, former pro quarterback for the Los Angeles Lions, who had moved back to his hometown of Crandall Lake in June and was now the new varsity football coach at the high school. The very same Dillon Burke with whom she, Sophie, had once been wildly in love.

And who she was now avoiding at all costs.

Our relationship took place a long time ago, she reminded herself for about the hundredth time since she’d heard he’d come back to town. He’s no longer even a blip on your radar screen. And if she’d had any doubts that this was so, the fact that he hadn’t made any effort at all to see her or talk to her would have made that fact abundantly clear.

Unfortunately, the nonblip had gotten nonstop publicity and attention ever since he hit town. Sophie would have had to be blind not to notice he was even better-looking now than he’d been as a senior in high school. Tall, with black hair and piercing blue eyes and a body to die for, he had set many a heart aflutter in the past thirteen years.

But not mine! I’m so over him.

Sophie was just grateful that most of her colleagues had never known she and Dillon were once an item. And the few who had known must feel the way Sophie felt now: that the relationship between her as a sixteen-year-old sophomore and Dillon, as a senior and the star quarterback of Crandall High’s Cougars, was nothing more than a teenage fling long forgotten by everyone.

“It won’t be any different here,” Ann was saying. “I noticed Nicole was all over him at the fair Saturday.”

Cindy grimaced. “She makes me sick.”

They were discussing Nicole Blanchard, the French teacher. New this year, she’d been a topic of speculation from the first day of school—leggy, blond and gorgeous. Every man who came into her orbit fell under her spell. Sophie figured Dillon Burke would be no different.

“Yeah, well, he didn’t seem to be unhappy about the attention.” Finally noticing Sophie, Ann said, “Hey, Sophie, how’s it going?”

“Okay. How about you?” Finishing her sandwich, Sophie started on her apple.

“Well, I’m tired from the weekend. Other than that, things are great.”

They continued with meaningless chitchat for a few more minutes, and then Sophie said, “I think I’ll take a walk. See you guys later.” She pitched her apple core into the trash, stood and dusted off her jeans, then waved goodbye.

Outside, even though it was already the first week of October and should be cooling off by now, the temperature today was supposed to reach eighty-five. Sophie had lived in Texas her entire life, but she’d never become used to the heat. Maybe it was her redheaded complexion, but the only time of the year she truly enjoyed living in the area was in the winter. She’d often thought she’d be happier in a northern state somewhere and had even toyed with applying to schools in Michigan, Ohio or Pennsylvania. She’d fantasized about settling in a bigger city, somewhere she might have a better chance of meeting the kind of guy she still hoped to one day find.

But then her mother and Joy’s dad, Josh—Sophie’s stepdad—were killed in the plane crash, and Sophie became Joy’s legal guardian. All thoughts of moving away had been shelved. Keeping Joy’s life as close to normal as possible became Sophie’s number-one priority...and always would be until Joy was out of college and able to take care of herself.

Sophie was so caught up in her thoughts that as she rounded the corner on her way to the side entrance of the school, which was closest to her office, she collided with someone coming the other way.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, looking up.

“Sorry,” he said, looking down.

Hazel’s eyes locked with blue eyes, and for one long moment, Sophie didn’t breathe.

“Well, well, well,” Dillon Burke said, a smile playing around his mouth. “If it isn’t Sophie Marlowe. I was beginning to think you were a figment of my imagination.”

Sophie’s traitorous heart skipped alarmingly as she tried to think of something clever to say. “Hello, Dillon” was all she could manage.

He grinned. “Hello, Sophie.”

“I, um, was on my way back to my office.” Oh, great. Was that the best she could do?

“So I see.”

He was still smiling, and his eyes—oh, those eyes!—were giving her a thorough once-over.

“I, uh, heard you were back.” Dear Lord. Now she sounded like an idiot. I heard you were back. No, duh.

He made a face. “You and everyone else in Texas.”

“That’s what happens when you’re famous.”

“Famous.” He made the word sound like a curse.

“You hadn’t seemed to mind the attention in the past.”

“Past being the operative word.”

Sophie pointedly looked at her watch. “Well, it’s nice seeing you again, Dillon. But I need to get back to work.”

Giving her a little bow to go along with his sexy smile, he said, drawling a little to sho his Texas roots, “Good to see you, too, Sophie. And by the way, you’re lookin’ good.” His gaze moved to her butt. “I can remember when jeans that fit like yours were outlawed.”

Sophie could feel the blush heating her face.

She could also feel his eyes watching her as she made her escape through the side door.

Thank God no one had seen their encounter. Because Sophie was sure if anyone had, they’d have immediately known she was not immune to the charms of Dillon Burke, no matter how many times she told herself she was.

* * *

Man, she was one sexy woman. Dillon couldn’t get over how good Sophie looked. Nor could he get over how much seeing her had affected him. This wasn’t the first time he’d had a glimpse of her, but it was their first close encounter. The first time he’d been able to see those beautiful gold-flecked eyes, that smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, the way her full lower lip looked ready and ripe....

Damn. Best not to go there.

She’d been avoiding him. Truth to tell, he’d been avoiding her, too. Not that he had anything to regret where she was concerned. He’d been up front with her from the beginning. He’d made her no promises. She’d always known he was going off to college when he graduated.

And he did. Pretty much without a backward glance. Oh, he’d thought about Sophie. He couldn’t help thinking about her. They’d been a pretty steady item for nearly a year, and he’d fallen hard for her. It had taken him months, years actually, to stop comparing other women to her. And if he was being completely honest, he’d never really stopped. No matter who he was with, somehow he always had Sophie in the back of his mind as his gold standard.

Had anyone else ever measured up?

Tessa, maybe, for a while at least. Until she got greedy.

And Leeann until she let slip one day that she had no interest in kids. Never wanted any. Had made sure she’d never have any. That had been the end of Leeann. That had been the end of models, period.

Nowadays, he wasn’t sure he wanted any kind of involvement with women. Just handling all the problems that went along with raising an eighteen-year-old boy was enough to keep him hopping. Dillon sighed, thinking of his nephew, Aidan. Aidan’s father, a career marine who had been Dillon’s oldest brother, had been killed in Afghanistan five years ago, and his mother had died of colon cancer in January. Since then, Aidan had been Dillon’s responsibility.

Under normal circumstances, everything might have worked out fine, because Aidan—recent evidence to the contrary—was a good kid. But the trauma of losing his last parent and having to move from everything familiar to a town thousands of miles from the only home he’d ever known right before his senior year, and having to get used to an uncle he had barely seen in the past ten years, had proved to be Aidan’s undoing.

In fact, Dillon wasn’t sure the two of them were going to make it. No matter what rules Dillon laid down, Aidan simply ignored them. If he was told to be in no later than midnight on the weekends, he would show up at one...or later.

Punishment seemed to have no effect. Dillon had tried withholding spending money, taking away the car keys, grounding Aidan completely—nothing worked. Aidan seemed determined to push the boundaries to the limit, and nothing Dillon did or said made any difference to him.

Intellectually, Dillon knew that Aidan was acting out because it was the only way he could feel in control of at least some part of his life. But knowing what was causing the bad behavior didn’t make it any easier to deal with.

If only Dillon had someone to talk to. He’d actually considered confiding in Sophie. After all, she was the guidance counselor at Crandall Lake High School. Who better to talk to? But every time he had considered approaching her, he got cold feet. Getting cold feet over talking to a woman was a new experience for Dillon. And it wasn’t a feeling he liked.

By now Dillon had reached his own office, down the hall from the gym and across from the boys’ locker room. Inside he saw his assistant coach, Brian Penner, waiting. Time to stop thinking about Aidan and start thinking about Friday night’s game.

“Hey, Dillon, we need to talk,” Brian said, his affable face sporting a worried frown.

“What’s up?” Dillon said, dropping the load of files he’d carried from the main office onto his already-littered desk.

“It’s Jimmy.”

Crap. Jimmy Ferguson was the Cougars’ quarterback. Right now he was sidelined with a knee injury, and even though the knee was healing nicely and Jimmy should be able to play again by the end of the month, the kid wasn’t handling his inactivity well. He’d caused one problem after another in the past few weeks, and Dillon was seriously considering banishing him from the locker room as well as the field.

“You know what the problem is,” Brian said.

“Yeah.” If the team hadn’t been doing well during Ferguson’s forced absence, things would probably be fine—at least as far as Jimmy was concerned. However, the team was doing well. In fact, they’d won their last two games, mostly because their backup quarterback, Devon Washington, had performed spectacularly. Dillon knew Jimmy was worried he’d lose his starting spot if things continued to go well while he was sidelined.

“We need to do something,” Brian said, plopping down on a corner of Dillon’s desk.

Dillon sank into his leather armchair and sighed. “I know. I just hate to make an example of him. It’s hard enough for the kid right now.”

“Yeah, but if the other guys see him getting away with this crap, that’s not good, either.”

“I know.” Jeez, Dillon was beginning to wonder if he was cut out for this coaching gig. Or for the fatherhood gig he’d found himself in. And yet what choice did he have? It was important to establish a stable home for Aidan and it was just as important to establish some kind of stable career for himself. He was damned if he wanted to become one of those ex-jocks who tried to become actors or spent their days pitching products nobody needed. And he had no interest in spending his days in a monkey suit and tie, either. He sighed again. “I’ll talk to him, Brian. I’ll make it clear he’s on notice, and if he keeps causing trouble, he’ll be kicked off the team for good.”

Brian nodded. His still-worried expression mirrored Dillon’s own misgivings. Because Dillon knew removing Jimmy Ferguson—the cosseted and spoiled only son of Crandall Lake’s mayor—from the varsity football squad in his senior year would cause a huge uproar in the community. And Dillon had enough strife in his life right now.

* * *

Joy Ferrelli yawned, then glanced longingly out the window. If only she’d been able to skip school today the way Aidan had wanted her to. Any one of her friends could’ve gotten away with it, but they didn’t have older sisters teaching here as she did. No way Joy could skip school without Sophie finding out about it.

Sophie would have a cow if she knew about Joy and Aidan. That was the biggest reason for keeping their relationship a secret, but it wasn’t the only one. Truth was, Joy didn’t want to share what she had with Aidan. She didn’t want her girlfriends teasing her about him or asking her questions or giving her advice.

She especially didn’t want them guessing, although she was afraid they probably had guessed. Megan, her BFF, had hinted as much the other day, but Joy had managed to squirm out of a direct answer. That probably wouldn’t be the case much longer, especially because it was getting harder and harder to disguise the way Joy felt about Aidan.

She thought about last night. The way she’d sneaked out of her room after Sophie went to bed. The way Aidan was waiting for her at the corner of the street. The way they could barely wait to get to the lake before making love. And it was making love. Joy refused to even think of their relationship and the sex between them any other way. What they did was romantic and wonderful...and, and...beautiful. She guessed that was why she didn’t want anyone else to know. Because even Megan might snicker and give her sly looks and say something that would belittle what she had with Aidan. No, Joy couldn’t bear that.

Joy sighed, remembering how Aidan always made her feel. And how much she loved him.

“Miss Ferrelli, would it be too much to ask you to answer my question?”

Joy blinked. “Huh?”

“That’s what I thought,” Mr. Gardner said, frowning. “You didn’t even hear the question.” He shook his head, obviously disgusted. “If this class is that boring, maybe you’d like to drop it and take something more to your liking.”

Joy swallowed. American history was a required subject for sophomores. She couldn’t drop it, and old sour-face Gardner knew it. “Sorry, Mr. Gardner. I—I didn’t sleep well last night. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Hmmph. See that it doesn’t.” He gave her his fish-eyed stare. “Or you’ll find yourself in detention.”

For a while, Joy forced herself to pay attention, even though she’d much rather have relived the night before. Where was Aiden now? she wondered. Had he skipped out? Had he gone out to the lake? Was he sitting in the sun, smoking a little weed?

That was another thing that would cause Sophie to have a fit, Joy thought, squirming inside. If her sister’d had any clue Joy was smoking pot once in a while, she’d... Joy didn’t know what she’d do. Probably ground Joy for the rest of her life. Plus, she’d be so disappointed. Joy could imagine the look Sophie would get on her face. And even though Joy was totally in love with Aiden and didn’t really see anything wrong with having some weed now and then—after all, what was the big deal, anyway?—she loved Sophie, and she didn’t want her to get upset.

So quit, then. Tell Aiden the truth. That you don’t like him smoking weed and you’re not going to do it with him anymore.

“Miss Ferrelli! I told you earlier if you were bored, you could leave this class. I’m sending a note to the office. Report to Mrs. Woodsen immediately.”

Joy’s heart lodged somewhere in her throat. She couldn’t believe she’d drifted into another daydream. Face flaming—how she hated the way she blushed so easily—she hastily gathered her books and mumbled, “Sorry, Mr. Gardner. Sorry.”

“That’s what you said the last time.” He didn’t look up from his cell phone where he was texting the office.

Joy swallowed. Oh God. Now she was in for it. On top of the detention she’d almost certainly get, Sophie was bound to punish her. And Friday night was homecoming. Joy had been planning to actually tell Sophie she had been invited to go by Aiden, kind of test the waters. Now she’d be lucky if Sophie let her go anywhere this weekend, let alone on a date with a senior boy.

You’ve totally screwed up.

Joy just hoped her sister was in a good mood tonight. Maybe the fact that Joy had never caused Sophie any problems before would make a difference. Maybe Sophie would be in a forgiving mood and Joy would get away with no more than a talking-to.

Sighing heavily, Joy headed for the office and whatever fate awaited her.

Chapter Two

“You what?” Sophie said, staring at Joy.

Joy grimaced. “I got sent to the office because I wasn’t paying attention in history class.”

“I don’t believe it. You of all people. Why, I thought you loved history.”

“I do love history. What I don’t love is old sourpuss Gardner.”

“Don’t call him that. It’s disrespectful.” Sophie kept her expression neutral, even though privately she had called Philip Gardner worse. He was more than a sourpuss. He was downright nasty.

“I’m sorry. But he’s so mean.”

“No excuses, Joy. You weren’t paying attention in class, and Mr. Gardner was perfectly justified in sending you to the office. So, what happened there?”

“Mrs. Woodson gave me a week’s detention.”

“Good.” Connie Woodson was the assistant principal.

Joy hung her head. “I’m sorry, Sophie. I really am. It won’t happen again.”

Sophie suppressed a smile. She knew why Joy was so apologetic. She didn’t want to be punished by Sophie, too. “You’re not going to escape punishment because you’ve apologized, you know.”

Joy bit her bottom lip. Her eyes, the same soft blue as their mother’s, never failed to elicit tenderness and sympathy in Sophie, although she fought to conceal it.

“I should ground you,” Sophie said.

“Please don’t. Not now.”

Sophie knew exactly why Joy had said not now. Homecoming was Saturday night. And Joy wanted to go. Of course she did. All her friends would be going. Weakening, Sophie said, “Well...if you promise...”

“I do! I promise! I’ll pay so much attention in all my classes, I’ll bring home straight A’s this semester.”

Sophie chuckled. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, sweetie.”

Joy gave her a sheepish grin. “I’ll make you proud, Sophie.”

Sophie sighed. “Oh, all right. I won’t ground you...this time. But see this doesn’t happen again.”

“It won’t.”

“So you have a date for homecoming? Is that why you’re so eager to go?” Sophie picked up the mail, which Joy had placed on the gate-legged table in the entryway of the home that had belonged to Joy’s parents.

“Um, sort of...”

Sophie idly leafed through the advertisements and credit card offers. When would these banks quit sending her this stuff? She never responded. Suddenly realizing that Joy was standing there quietly, Sophie looked up. “Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. What did you say?”

“Um, I said I did kind of have a date.”

“Oh? Who with?”

“Um, Aidan Burke?”

Sophie blinked. Aidan Burke? Dillon Burke’s nephew? Alarm bells began ringing in her brain. She opened her mouth, then closed it, not sure what to say. Her first instinct had been to say over my dead body, but she knew she would have to justify an answer like that, and what could she say? I don’t want you seeing anyone even remotely connected to Dillon Burke. The Burke men are bad news. Really bad news. Sighing again, she met Joy’s hopeful gaze. “How old is this Aidan Burke?”

Joy’s expression became hesitant. “He’s a senior,” she said softly.

“Yes, that’s what I thought.” Oh God. Is history repeating itself? “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to date a senior, Joy.”

“Why? He’s really nice, Sophie. You’d like him.”

Sophie could just imagine. She’d seen Dillon’s nephew from a distance. He was a good-looking kid. In fact, he reminded her of Dillon when he was a kid. No. This would never do. “You are too young to date a senior. And when did you meet him, anyway?”

“At the pool. This summer.”

“I see.” She studied Joy for a moment, but Joy evaded her gaze. “Have you already gone out with him?” At first, Sophie wasn’t sure Joy was going to answer her. But then she looked up.

“We’ve never had a date.”

There was something about Joy’s answer that bothered Sophie, but she certainly wasn’t going to accuse her sister of lying to her. Was she lying?

“Sophie, I just wish you’d meet him...”

“I’m sorry, Joy, but I’ve made up my mind. You cannot go to homecoming with him. You can dance with him if he asks you, but you cannot go with him or allow him to bring you home.”

Joy’s face crumpled. “This is so unfair. You...you don’t even know him!”

“Joy,” Sophie said quietly, “you knew what my reaction was going to be before you even told me about him.” When Joy just stared at her, Sophie added, “We agreed last year, when you first began dating, that you would stick to boys in your age bracket.”

“But that was before I’d met Aidan. Please, Sophie, just give him a chance. Let him come over and talk to you. I know you’ll change your mind if you meet him.”

Sophie shook her head. If Aidan had even one quarter of the charm his uncle had, she would be putty in his hands. “No, honey. It’s out of the question. When you’re older and in college, you can make your own choices about who you date. While you’re here, and I’m in charge, the rules will stand.”

Joy gave her one last beseeching look, then walked away dejectedly. Sophie sighed. Please, God, give me the strength to get her safely through high school.

An hour later, dinner on the table, Sophie called upstairs to tell Joy it was time to eat. Hearing nothing in return, she called louder. When there was still no response, she climbed the stairs and knocked on Joy’s bedroom door before opening it, all ready to deliver a reprimand. Her mouth instead fell open. The room was empty.

“Joy?” Sophie walked in, then checked the adjoining bathroom. Joy wasn’t there. Where was she? Sophie looked at Joy’s nightstand where her charger lay. Joy’s cell phone, which was always connected to the charger when Joy was in the room, wasn’t there, either.

Her niece had sneaked out.

Somehow Joy had come down the stairs noiselessly, opened the front door and left without making any noise or saying a word to Sophie.

Sophie’s heart sped up. She was furious. In fact, she couldn’t believe Joy had defied her like this. Worse, she couldn’t think what she was going to do about it. Trouble was, she herself was only twenty-nine. She was too close to being a kid herself not to remember what it felt like to have a crush on an older, drop-dead-handsome boy. To think you’d die if he didn’t ask you out. Maybe she’d made a terrible mistake. By telling Joy she couldn’t go to homecoming with Aidan Burke, had she inadvertently pushed the girl right into his arms?

Sighing, Sophie moped downstairs. Picking up her own cell phone, she texted Joy.

Where R U? Pls come hm. Lets talk.

When ten minutes had gone by with no answer, she realized Joy either had her phone shut off or was simply going to ignore her. She probably figured Sophie wasn’t going to relent on homecoming anyway, so what difference did it make? All Sophie could do was wait, and try to figure out what she was going to do now.

* * *

The house was dark when Aidan dropped Joy off. But Sophie’s bedroom faced the backyard, so even if her light was still on, Joy wouldn’t have been able to see it.

Joy silently let herself in, glad there was no dog to make noise, even though she’d been begging Sophie for months to let her get a Lab. Sophie had finally relented, saying they could pick out a Lab puppy for Christmas. Joy made a face. She guessed she’d probably blown that, too, with her disappearing act tonight.

Why had she sneaked out? She still wasn’t sure. All she knew was that when Sophie had so stubbornly refused to allow her to go to homecoming with Aidan, she was so angry she just wanted to show Sophie she couldn’t control everything in Joy’s life.

You’ve blown it. Totally blown it. Now she probably won’t let you go to homecoming at all.

Joy was still thinking dark thoughts when she reached the top of the stairs—thankfully, not making any noise while doing it—so she wasn’t fully prepared for Sophie’s sudden appearance in the hallway.

“Where have you been?” Sophie demanded.

Joy swallowed. “I was upset. I—I had to get away...to think.”

“To think.”

“Yes.” Joy straightened, abruptly deciding she would brazen this out. She was in the doghouse anyway. Might as well show some backbone.

Sophie sighed heavily. “Joy,” she began.

“I know, I know. You’re mad at me. I don’t blame you.”

“I’m more than mad, Joy. I’m disappointed. I didn’t know where you were or what you were doing. I even bailed out on my book club tonight because I was so worried about you. I’ve been sitting and waiting all night. I know you were out with that boy, otherwise I might have been tempted to call the police and have them look for you. The least you could have done was answer my text, let me know you were safe. I don’t think I deserve this kind of treatment from you. Do you?”

All Joy’s defiance disappeared. Instead she just felt miserable. Because her sister was right. Sophie didn’t deserve this kind of treatment. She was a wonderful person. A wonderful sister. And she’d never been anything but fair and kind and loving to Joy. In fact, Joy wasn’t sure she would have survived losing her parents if not for Sophie. Tears stinging her eyes, Joy shook her head. “No,” she whispered.

“Then why did you do it?”

Joy shrugged. A tear rolled down her cheek. “I—I don’t know. I’m sorry, Sophie. I really am. I—deserve whatever punishment you want to give me.”

Sophie nodded. She reached out and squeezed Joy’s shoulder. “Look, we’re both tired and upset. We won’t make any decisions tonight. And we both have to be up early tomorrow. So we’ll talk tomorrow night, okay?”

“Okay.” Joy was grateful for the reprieve, but she was savvy enough to know that just because she’d been given some time before she had to face the music didn’t mean Sophie was going to go easy on her.

* * *

Thank God it was Friday, Sophie thought as she drove to work. The week had been brutal, especially Wednesday night and last night. Thinking about last night, she hoped she’d done some good, at least for Kaitlyn, the senior who was pregnant. The meeting with Kaitlyn and her parents hadn’t been easy, but at least their beautiful, college-bound daughter was in one piece. By the time Sophie had left for home, the family was in the midst of trying to make the best decision about how to go forward. The one thing all three had agreed upon was that Kaitlyn would still head off to UT next fall. Whether she would give her child up for adoption or go another direction was still up in the air.

Sophie was grateful it wasn’t her decision to make. The decision she had made earlier, before going over to the Macpherson home, was still bothering her. She’d taken pity on Joy and hadn’t forbidden her to go to homecoming, especially when Joy had meekly agreed she would attend with Megan, Jenna and Bethany, her three best friends—all of whom were going stag. Sophie had almost insisted upon picking Joy up when the evening was over, but she’d instead decided to give Joy another chance at trust.

“You’re absolutely not to go home with Aidan Burke. You will stay with your friends and leave with your friends. Understood?”

She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake, but the die was cast. And if she had made a mistake, and Joy disobeyed her, then that would be it. She wouldn’t trust Joy again.

Driving into the teachers’ parking lot, Sophie saw a tall, dark-haired figure getting out of a black Toyota Tundra truck. Her heart skipped as she realized it was Dillon. Parking as far from his truck as it was possible, she waited until he was halfway to the entrance of the school before exiting her little Prius. She felt unsettled enough today without having to contend with another meeting with Dillon.

By the time she entered the school, he was long gone, and she headed for her office. This was one of the days she was very grateful to be the guidance counselor and entitled to a private office—minuscule as it was—rather than a teacher who could only escape into the teachers’ lounge, where there was never any privacy.

The moment she entered her office, she saw the note. It was propped against her keyboard, and the handwriting on the envelope was unmistakably Principal Gordon Pearson’s.

“Oh, great,” she mumbled. “What now?”

A quick scan of the note simply told her he wanted to see her, immediately if not sooner. She sighed.

Dumping her tote containing the files she’d taken home, she straightened her layered tees, checked her hair to make sure it was as neat as she could make it and headed for Pearson’s office.

“What’s up?” she said to Janie, the principal’s secretary.

“Oh, just a homecoming emergency,” Janie said. “He’ll tell you all about it.”

Sophie frowned. Homecoming emergency? She couldn’t imagine what that might be.

She didn’t have to wonder long. She’d no sooner entered Principal Pearson’s office than he said, “I hope you don’t have plans for tomorrow night, Sophie. I need you to chaperone the homecoming dance. Jackie Farrow’s mother took a turn for the worse, and she’s flying to Denver this afternoon.”

Jackie, a freshman math teacher, was one of the four teachers who’d drawn chaperone duty this time. And if Sophie wasn’t mistaken, Dillon Burke was also a chaperone. Oh Lord. The last place Sophie wanted to be was a dance—with him. And from her experiences chaperoning school functions, she knew all the teachers would be seated together. There would be no way to avoid him.

For one second, she thought about fudging, saying she did have plans, important plans she couldn’t change, but she knew that wasn’t a good idea. The principal would expect her to elaborate, and she wasn’t a good liar. She always stammered...or blushed...or both. She’d give herself away in an instant.

So she smothered a sigh, said, “No, I don’t have plans” and agreed that she would fill in for Jackie.

Well, she thought philosophically as she walked back to her own office, at least now she could keep tabs on Joy. Heck, she might even take advantage of having to be in Dillon’s company by quizzing him about his nephew. See what she could find out about the boy.

That decided, she only had one other serious problem.

What in the world would she wear tomorrow night?

* * *

Dillon took a quick shower after the game—which Crandall Lake had won by ten points—and changed into the clothes he’d brought to wear to the homecoming dance. He wasn’t thrilled about chaperoning, but when he’d tried to get out of it, Principal Pearson had been quick to let him know he had to take a turn just like everyone else on the faculty.

“It wouldn’t be fair for me to let you off the hook,” Pearson had said. “Would look like I think you’re better than the others, and that isn’t the way things work around here.”

Dillon knew the man was right. He tried to operate the same way with his team. Yes, some of the players were much more talented and vital to the team, but there was no way he was going to act as if that were the case. The worst possible thing a coach could do for the morale of his team was play favorites.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to chaperone tonight’s dance, he told himself as he headed for the ballroom where the dance would take place. It might even be fun, like reliving his own high school days.

When he arrived—later than the other chaperones since he’d had to shower and change clothes after the game—he saw the other three were already seated at their assigned table.

Oh, hell. He hadn’t known Nicole Blanchard was also chaperoning tonight. The woman had been driving him crazy ever since the beginning of the school year. She followed him around, flirted shamelessly and seemed to think he welcomed it. No matter what he said or did, she didn’t take the hint that he wasn’t interested. She was pretty enough, but he’d only had to be in her company for one day before he knew she was bad news. If he paid her the least bit of attention, she would have them engaged and married. He’d been avoiding her as much as possible, but that would be tough to do tonight.

Then he noticed who was sitting across the table from Nicole.

Sophie.

Their eyes met and held for a brief moment; then she abruptly stood, said something to the others and walked away. He stood there, watching her. She looked amazing. Her black dress was short and formfitting, hugging that shapely bottom of hers in a way that left nothing to the imagination. And those legs! There ought to be a law against spike heels for someone who had legs like hers.

Maybe he wasn’t sorry, after all, that he was one of the four teachers working tonight.

* * *

Sophie knew it was cowardly of her, but the moment she spied Dillon walking toward their table, she’d had to get out of there, at least long enough to get her emotions—not to mention her hormones!—under some kind of control. So she’d quickly excused herself and headed for the ladies’ room. While there she ran a comb through her hair—which she wore loose tonight—freshened her lipstick and given herself a fast pep talk.

You’re a grown-up, not to mention a high school counselor. If you can handle hundreds of teenagers, you can certainly handle one Dillon Burke. He’s not that irresistible.

Despite the lecture, she was still not quite prepared to face him, so she decided that while there, she might as well take care of business. She had no sooner locked herself into the end stall than several giggling girls entered the room.

“God, he’s hot, isn’t he?” one of them said.

“Yeah, but lot of good it does us,” another commented.

“I don’t know what Joy Ferrelli has that we don’t,” the first one said, “but Aidan hasn’t even looked at another girl since he got to town!”

Sophie froze. She couldn’t identify any of the voices.

“I know. From the moment he met her that day at the pool. She’s putting out. She has to be.”

“Well, if she is, Marlowe’s gonna find out sooner or later, and then watch out.”

Putting out? Were they serious? Had the relationship between Joy and Dillon’s nephew gone that far? Surely it couldn’t have. Why, Sophie hadn’t even known about it until the other day. How could those kids possibly have become so involved without Sophie knowing? Crandall Lake was a small town. Sophie had thought she would immediately know if Joy was doing anything she shouldn’t be doing. She’d certainly never thought allowing Joy to lifeguard at the city pool would cause problems. Why hadn’t Joy mentioned meeting Aidan before now?

You know why. She knew how you’d react. If not for the fact that she wanted to come to the dance with him tonight, she probably still wouldn’t have mentioned him.

It seemed to take forever for the girls to finish their business in the ladies’ room and leave. When the door finally closed after them, Sophie escaped the confines of her stall, washed her hands and tried to calm herself before going out to face the others. It wasn’t bad enough she had to contend with Dillon tonight. Now she had more to worry about with Joy. Please, God. Those girls are just jealous. Don’t let it be true. She’s only sixteen!

As she walked back to the teachers’ table, she scanned the large ballroom, looking for her sister. It wasn’t easy to spot Joy, because the DJ had put on a thumping dance anthem, and hundreds of kids were on the dance floor. But Sophie finally spied her sister, in the corner farthest from the teachers’ table. And sure enough, she was with Aidan Burke. They weren’t doing anything, just standing side by side, but something about the way Joy leaned into him, and the way his head tilted down so he could look into her eyes, made Sophie’s heart sink.

She recognized the way they were together, because it was so similar to the way she, Sophie, had been with Dillon. Those girls were probably right. Joy and Aidan were intimate.

Oh God, Sophie thought. I need help dealing with this.

One thing she knew for sure. She should never have given in to Joy about tonight. She should have put her foot down and made her sister stay home. But would that have done any good? For all Sophie knew, Aidan Burke would have stayed away from the dance, too. In fact, he could have gone over to Sophie’s house and spent the entire evening there, alone with Joy, and Sophie wouldn’t have been the wiser.

No, it was better to have the two of them here, where Sophie could at least see them. And as she’d planned earlier, she would find out as much as she could from Dillon about his nephew.

Then tomorrow, she would corner Joy and they would have it out. What Sophie would do from that point on, she hadn’t a clue.

Chapter Three

“We thought you fell in,” Nicole Blanchard said as Sophie returned to their table.

The fourth chaperone, Kevin Rafferty, who taught trig and calculus to juniors and seniors, grinned at Sophie.

Sophie smiled, determined not to let Nicole get under her skin tonight, even though the woman was hard to take, even on a good day. The trouble was, she was clueless. Her attempts at humor always fell short, and she never seemed to take a hint. Sophie noticed how now that Dillon was there and seated between Nicole and Sophie’s empty seat, Nicole had scooted her chair closer to him. She wasn’t even subtle.

“Did you miss me?” Sophie said mildly, taking her own seat. She noticed someone had put a drink in front of her. “What’s this?” She raised the plastic glass and sniffed.

“Lemonade,” Dillon said. “Other than canned drinks, that’s all there is.”

“Yeah,” Kevin said, sighing. “Sure could use a beer.”

Sophie was thinking she sure could use a margarita, but there was zero tolerance for any kind of drug, including alcohol, anywhere near a school function. Once, one of the teachers had smuggled a flask to a dance he was chaperoning and spiked his soft drink with it. Someone had seen him do it and reported him. The guy was nearly fired on the spot. Since then, there’d never been another incident.

“Thanks,” Sophie said, finally looking at Dillon. Her stupid heart skittered as their eyes met once again. What was it about this man that just a glance could reduce her to jelly? Okay, so he was gorgeous and sexy. He looked especially good tonight in a white, open-necked shirt, a dark sport coat and khaki pants. And he wore some kind of woodsy cologne that Sophie loved. But still...lots of guys were hot-looking and dressed well. Normally Sophie had no problem resisting their charms. Dillon, though, was another story. Always had been another story. But she was determined he would never know the effect he still had on her. Nor would anyone else in her world.

Turning to Nicole, Sophie said, “I love your dress, Nicole. You look great.”

“Thanks.” Nicole smiled archly, all but batting her eyelashes at Dillon. Any other woman would have reciprocated the compliment, but not Nicole.

To his credit, Dillon ignored her. Instead he gave Sophie a once-over and said, “Someone else at this table looks great, too.”

Sophie knew she was blushing, but thank goodness it was too dark in the ballroom for anyone else to see the telltale stain. “Thank you,” she managed. “I’d say we all clean up well.”

Just then, the DJ switched to a slow, romantic ballad. Not losing any time, Kevin turned toward Nicole to ask if she’d like to dance. Sophie looked at Nicole and could see by her expression that she was uncertain about whether to say yes or no, but vanity won out and she smiled, saying, “I’d love to.”

Once the two of them went to the dance floor, Dillon said, “I guess that’s our cue.” He scooted his chair back and reached for her hand.

“I don’t think—”

“You can’t say no. That would be rude.” That sexy smile of his hovered around his mouth. “Didn’t your mother teach you that?”

Sophie sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was dance with Dillon. It was hard enough pretending she wasn’t interested in him. Dancing to a slow song, feeling his body up against hers, would make it nearly impossible. Even now, just allowing him to help her up, she felt her heart beating too fast and too hard.

Sophie held herself as rigidly as she could manage, trying to put some distance between them as he drew her into his arms.

“Relax,” he murmured, pulling her closer. “I don’t bite.”

“I know that. It’s just that I—I wanted to talk.”

“What about?”

“Your nephew.”

“Aidan?” He frowned, moving back a little. “What about him?”

“It appears he and my sister, Joy, have been seeing each other.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Actually, it is.”

“Why?” Another frown and he seemed to hesitate before speaking. “He’s not a bad kid.”

Something about his lukewarm response told Sophie that Dillon had his own reservations. “That may be,” she said carefully, “but he’s a senior and Joy is only a sophomore. He’s too old for her.”

Dillon drew her imperceptibly closer. “Like I was too old for you?” he whispered in her ear.

Sophie’s entire body reacted. To disguise what she was feeling, she immediately pulled away from him. If it wouldn’t have called unwanted attention to them, she would have marched straight off the floor, forcing him to follow her if he wanted to continue the conversation. “You were too old for me. But that’s not the point. Joy is very vulnerable. She’s lost her parents, Dillon. She doesn’t need any more loss in her life.”

“Aidan’s just as vulnerable,” he said. “He’s also lost his parents. And he’s having a hard time adjusting to life here in Crandall Lake. At least Joy is still living in her hometown. Aidan had to give up everything. Can’t you cut him a break?”

Sophie’s tender heart wanted to relent, because she did feel bad for the boy. “I wish I could, but Joy’s welfare is my top priority, and I think she’d be much better off if she and Aidan are not permitted to date.”

“You sure you’re not projecting what happened with us onto your sister?”

Sophie stiffened. Of course she was. How could she not be affected by her own mistakes? “Our situation has nothing to do with my decision regarding Joy. She and I had an agreement about her not dating older boys since she reached dating age.”

“Okay, okay. I get it. And I don’t want to argue with you.” Now he pulled her closer still, murmuring into her ear, “I always did like dancing with you.”

Thankfully, at that moment, the music stopped, and Sophie could pull away and leave the dance floor without making a scene. But as she and Dillon approached their table, she saw that Joy and Aidan were also heading in their direction.

“Sophie!” Joy called. “Wait up.”

Sophie stopped, and so did Dillon. Although Sophie’s mind was churning, she couldn’t help feeling a surge of pride over how pretty Joy looked in her blue dress that matched the school colors of blue and gold in her corsage. And even though Sophie was totally against Joy having any ongoing relationship with Dillon’s nephew, she had to admit, if only to herself, that Joy and Aidan made a really cute couple. Aidan was tall like his uncle and had the same striking blue eyes. His hair was lighter, though, and Sophie figured the brown/gold color came from his mother. As the two kids came closer, Sophie saw the look of uncertainty on Aidan’s face, and once again, she felt an unwanted sympathy for the young man.

“Sophie, I wanted you to meet Aidan,” Joy said, giving Dillon a shy smile before pulling Aidan forward.

As Sophie shook the boy’s hand, she was acutely aware of Dillon beside her, of Nicole Blanchard staring at them, and probably giving her the evil eye, and most of all, of the naked longing in Joy’s eyes and the tense set of Aidan’s shoulders.

In that moment, Sophie knew, without a doubt, that her worst fears were true. Joy and Aidan’s relationship had gone a lot further than Joy had let on. The question was, how far, and was it too late for Sophie to do anything about it?

* * *

Aidan hadn’t wanted to come over to meet Sophie. But Joy had talked him into it, saying she was sure once Sophie knew him, her objections to their dating would vanish.

“I don’t want to keep sneaking around,” Joy told him. “I hate lying to her.”

“Then don’t,” Aidan had answered.

“Maybe you can get away with that with your uncle, but I can’t. Anyway, it makes me feel awful to lie to her. She’s my sister, Aidan. She’s all I’ve got. And...she’s been good to me.” She’d swallowed. “Please? For me?”

So here they stood, and Joy tried to telegraph, with her eyes, how much she wanted Sophie to like Aidan. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if Sophie continued to forbid her to see him. She couldn’t give Aidan up. She loved him. It was as simple as that. Sophie might think someone Joy’s age couldn’t possibly know what love was, but she was wrong. Maybe she’d never been in love when she was in high school, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

I’m going to marry Aidan someday.

“I haven’t seen you dancing tonight,” Dillon said.

Aidan shrugged. “I’m not very good at it.”

“I’m not, either. Doesn’t stop me,” Dillon persisted. “You need to try new things.”

Joy wished Aidan’s uncle would stop criticizing Aidan. She knew he hated it. He’d told her Dillon thought he knew everything because he’d been a “hotshot” quarterback. Aidan shrugged again, then turned to Sophie. “Nice meeting you, Ms. Marlowe.” Ignoring his uncle, he said, “Let’s go get something to drink, Joy.”

Joy looked at Sophie. On her sister’s face she saw empathy, but she also saw something else. Concern. Joy knew immediately that Sophie’s mind hadn’t changed. Joy’s heart sank, and it was all she could do to keep a smile on her face and say a nonchalant “See you later” as she and Aidan walked away.

“I hate him,” Aidan muttered.

“Oh, Aidan, don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true. I wish—” Abruptly, he cut off whatever he’d been going to say.

Joy sighed as they approached the drink table. She knew what Aidan wished. He wished he could turn the clock back. He wished his parents were still alive. That he hadn’t had to move to a place where he knew no one and didn’t feel as if he belonged. And yet she knew he cared about her, that he was happy when they were together. She squeezed his hand to let him know she understood.

He glanced down. Grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean...”

“I know.”

While he was getting their drinks, Joy made a vow. No matter what Sophie said, no matter what rules she tried to implement, no matter what anyone else thought, nothing and no one was going to stop her from being with Aidan.

We belong together. And that’s that.

* * *

Dillon stared after the kids. Damn. He knew, without anyone telling him, that Aidan and Sophie’s sister, Joy, were past the point of casual dating. Maybe Sophie hadn’t seen it or sensed it, but Dillon knew, just from their body language that those two kids were together in every sense of the word. Probably looking for every opportunity to be together, the way he and Sophie used to do. He smothered a sigh. Sophie. If not for her and what she’d said to him earlier, Dillon probably wouldn’t have cared what the kids did. In fact, he might have been glad, because maybe having someone like the very pretty Joy as his girlfriend would have gone a long way toward making his nephew happier to be in Crandall Lake. And anything that made Aidan happier and easier to handle made Dillon happier.

But how could he be happy when he knew how Sophie felt? Sure enough, when his glance met hers again as they were sitting back down at their table, he saw the worry in her eyes and the way she kept looking in the direction Aidan and Joy had gone.

He reached over and squeezed her hand under the table, then leaned toward her and said softly, “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Aidan. See what I can do.”

Her eyes met his again. “You promise?”

He nodded.

“Thank you.”

He wished they were alone somewhere. He wished he could tell her how things were with Aidan. How even if he did talk to Aidan, he doubted it would do any good. But how could he? They weren’t alone. And even if they had been, he wasn’t sure he wanted to confess that he was doing a piss-poor job of being a parent-replacement for his nephew. Hell, being with Sophie again, even as briefly as they’d been the other day and tonight, made him more self-conscience of his image than ever before. Even more so than when he was in front of millions of fans. The last thing he wanted was for her to see him in anything but a favorable light.

That realization didn’t even surprise him.

Hadn’t he known, the minute he’d looked into those gorgeous eyes of hers on Wednesday, that whatever it was that had drawn him to her when they were kids was even stronger now that they were adults? And that he seemed to be just as powerless to resist it as he had been then?

* * *

Sophie had a hard time falling asleep, and when she finally did, she dreamed of Dillon. The first time he ever spoke to her had been at the end of a pep rally the afternoon of a big game against Eagle Hills. She’d been a cheerleader and was wearing her uniform. He’d grinned at her as he passed on his way to the locker room.

All he’d said was, “Lookin’ good, Marlowe,” but those three words had told her he not only knew who she was but had remembered her name. Her heart had done crazy leapfrog things as she watched him walk away. He was the cutest, coolest, sexiest boy she’d ever seen.

That night, at the community center—there was always a dance on Friday and Saturday nights—he’d asked her to dance. She’d nearly fainted with delight as he took her hand and pulled her into his arms. And when he’d whispered in her ear that he’d like to take her home, she wasn’t sure she could walk off the dance floor without help.

They’d gone to the lake afterward. That was where all the kids went to make out. When he’d kissed her, Sophie’s head felt as if it was going to explode. And when his hand had moved from her waist to her breast, she very nearly did faint. Every nerve in her body came alive, and from that moment on, she was his.

The next morning, memories of her dream lingering, she knew her sister wasn’t the only one in this house who was in danger of making a monumental mistake. She also knew she couldn’t put off talking to Joy. Trouble was, Sophie hated confrontation.

She wished Beth, who’d been her BFF since they were kindergartners together, was home so she could run all this by her first. But Beth was on her honeymoon in Italy, and Sophie had vowed she would not yield to the temptation of calling Beth unless blood was involved.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Beth had said when Sophie made the promise as they hugged goodbye after Beth had tossed her wedding bouquet. “You can call or text. Mark won’t mind.”

But Sophie knew Mark would mind, and Sophie didn’t blame him. A honeymoon should be sacred. No man wanted his new bride thinking about anyone other than him. Time enough for real life when the newlyweds got back home.

No, Sophie was on her own. And since there was no one else she trusted enough to confide in, she would have to handle this problem with Joy by herself.

And I can’t put it off, either. Sighing, she got up from the kitchen table where she’d been drinking coffee and reading the news on her iPad. It was almost ten, and Joy was still asleep. Sophie had heard her sister come in at one o’clock the night before, right on time for her curfew, which Sophie had extended for the homecoming dance.

Deciding Joy had slept long enough, Sophie walked upstairs and softly knocked at Joy’s bedroom door. When there was no acknowledgment, Sophie knocked harder. Still hearing nothing, she opened the door and peered in. “Joy? Time to get up.”

“Huh? Wha? Wh-what time is it?”

“After ten.”

“Wh-why do I have to get up?” Joy pulled the cotton coverlet she used over her head.

Normally Sophie would have relented, because Joy was good about getting up on time and rarely gave Sophie problems in the morning, so Sophie gave her some slack on the weekends. But today wasn’t a normal day, at least not in Sophie’s mind. Today was the day she had to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that Joy did nothing stupid, nothing that would get in the way of the future she deserved, and more important, nothing that would break her heart down the line.

“We need to talk,” Sophie said firmly, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to Joy. “Get up and wash your face and do whatever else you need to do, then come downstairs and have some breakfast and we’ll talk, okay?”

Joy just looked at her. And from the expression on her face, Sophie knew Joy had a pretty good idea of what the subject of their talk would be. Sophie also knew Joy wanted to protest, but to her credit, she only sighed.

“Okay,” she said.

Sophie’s heart melted a little as she gazed down at the sister she loved so much, the sister who almost felt like her daughter. But even as she wanted to lean over and kiss Joy’s cheek and say not to worry, she knew she couldn’t give in to the understanding and sympathy she felt. It’s for her own good. She’ll thank me someday. Sophie squeezed Joy’s shoulder and got up. “Would you like to have pancakes today?” she said brightly.

“Sure,” Joy said.

“All right. See you downstairs.”

Fifteen minutes later, barefoot and dressed in denim cutoffs and a faded One Direction T-shirt, her long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, Joy entered the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she took out the carton of skim milk and poured herself a glass. She drank it leaning against the kitchen counter.

Sophie smiled at her and ladled batter into the frying pan. She’d already put syrup and butter on the table. “Want to put two plates out?”

“Sure.”

It only took a couple of minutes for the first batch of pancakes to be ready. Sophie put them on a waiting platter, covered it with foil to keep the pancakes warm, then put a second batch on to cook. Once there were enough pancakes to feed both of them, she turned off the stove, moved the hot frying pan to a cool burner and joined her sister at the table.

Since it was obvious Joy wasn’t going to ask any questions about what Sophie might want to talk about, Sophie waited until they’d both eaten a couple of pancakes before saying, “I’m glad I got a chance to meet Aidan last night.”

Joy, who had been hunched over her plate, looked up. Sophie’s heart pinched at the hopeful light in the girl’s eyes.

“I told you he was nice,” Joy said.

“He does seem very nice.”

“So it’s okay if I date him.”

“That’s not what I said.” Earlier Sophie had fixed herself another cup of coffee and she drank some.

“Why not, if you like him?”

Sophie sighed. “Joy, you know why not. He’s too old for you. That fact didn’t magically change because I met him and he seems like a nice boy. He’s still too old.” And troubled.

Myriad emotions played across Joy’s face. “That’s not fair!”

Sophie wished she could tell Joy she understood perfectly, that she’d felt exactly the same way when she was Joy’s age and wildly in love with Dillon. Could she? She wouldn’t have to tell Joy who the boy had been, but she could share some of what she’d gone through.

Tears welled in Joy’s eyes as they stared at each other. Sophie battled the desire to comfort her, to give in, to make her sister happy. “I know you don’t think I understand, but I do. You have to trust me on this. You’re too young to be seriously dating to begin with, and Aidan is too old for you. Honey, he’ll be going off to college next year. And then what?”

Sophie reached across the table to take Joy’s hand, but Joy snatched it away. She pushed her chair back. Her face looked like thunderclouds. “He’s less than two years older than me! You’re just using his age as an excuse because you think you know everything and I don’t know anything! So what if he’s going away to college next year? What difference does that make? He’s here now! And...and I really like him. And he likes me! I—I can’t wait till I’m eighteen and I can make my own decisions!”

“Joy...”

“Sometimes I hate you!”

And before Sophie could say another word, Joy had jumped up and run from the room. Sophie sank back in her chair and listened to Joy pounding up the stairs, followed by the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut.

“Well, that went well,” Sophie muttered as she debated what to do. Should she go after Joy? Maybe tell her about Dillon and what had happened between them? Without mentioning any names, of course. She thought back to the heartbreak she’d felt when Dillon left Crandall Lake...and her...and gone off to college. She’d cried for days, weeks. She hadn’t wanted to go anywhere or do anything. She’d haunted the mailbox, thinking Dillon would surely write to her. But he didn’t. She’d almost broken down and called him, but at the last minute she came to her senses and ignored the urge. It took her a long time to regain some kind of normality, because for months she’d felt as if the world were crashing down on her. Which was probably exactly the way her sister felt right now.

Sophie sighed for probably the tenth time that morning.

Would it do any good to tell Joy any of this?

Would it have stopped you from seeing Dillon if Mom had warned you off him? Sophie’s mother hadn’t because she’d been too preoccupied with a new husband, a three-year-old Joy and a full-time job as an office manager.

But even if she had realized what was going on with Sophie and Dillon and said something, Sophie had to be honest with herself. It wouldn’t have made a difference. Nothing in the world would have kept Sophie away from Dillon. Certainly not what some adult had said. When you fall in love with someone the way Sophie had fallen in love with Dillon, nothing anyone said would have mattered.

Face it. It’s obvious things have progressed with Joy and Aidan to the point where she won’t hear you. She’ll continue to sneak around and see Aidan the way she’s been doing.

Sophie sighed again as she got up from the table and cleared the breakfast remains. The only thing she could do now was make sure that when Joy did see Aidan, she saw him here at the house, where Sophie had some control over what they did.

Sophie knew her plan was a Band-Aid when what she needed was major surgery, but until she came up with something better, it would have to do.

Chapter Four

As Halloween approached, the weather had finally begun to feel like autumn, with cool nights and mild days. In this part of Texas, the leaves hadn’t yet turned—that wouldn’t happen for another month or so—but it still felt like fall.

Normally Joy loved this time of year. But the atmosphere at home—the way Sophie constantly watched her—had taken some of the pleasure out of it. And yet how could Joy complain? Sophie, for some mysterious reason Joy couldn’t fathom, had relented and Joy was at least allowed to see Aidan. Sophie had consented to him coming over twice a week, just as long as she was there and Joy and Aidan did not go upstairs to Joy’s bedroom, which limited them to the living room or dining room that had been converted into an art studio for Joy. Sophie watched them so closely that they hadn’t been able to make love more than twice that month, and both times had been hurried affairs—once in his car and once at school, in a storage closet near the gym—where Joy had been terrified of being caught.

But there was something else nagging at Joy. Something she’d been trying to ignore. Something she’d been pretending didn’t exist—the undeniable fact that she’d missed two periods. Since she was twelve and had begun her menstrual cycle, she’d been pretty much like clockwork. Every twenty-seven days her period started and it lasted five days. Joy kept track on her iPhone calendar.

Joy told herself she wasn’t actually worried. Not really. Aidan always used condoms, so there was no way she could be pregnant. Well, he had almost always used them. There was that one time they did it in the pool, early in the morning, when no one else was there.

Her face heated as she thought about how sexy that was, how he’d been all upset about something and come to seek her out before the pool opened and found her alone setting everything up that morning. She’d never forget Aidan’s anger and frustration toward his uncle and how he’d started kissing her and how, underwater, he’d pushed her bathing suit aside and shoved himself into her. Even now, thinking about how it had felt to do it in the water, she felt all shivery and tingling down there. Because the sex was unplanned, neither of them had a condom. Neither of them even thought about a condom. Joy had just wanted to comfort him and make him feel better.

And then, once it had happened, it was so wonderful she wished they never had to use condoms again. She’d even thought about getting on the pill, but that would have meant asking Sophie, because Joy couldn’t imagine how she could do it without Sophie’s knowledge and permission. Not in a town as small as Crandall Lake. And certainly not if she wanted to keep living with Sophie.

When had the pool sex happened? Joy bit her bottom lip and thought back. It wasn’t in June, because she’d only met Aidan in June. July. It was in July, after the Fourth, but before Aidan’s birthday on the twentieth, when he’d turned eighteen.

She swallowed. Oh God. Could she be pregnant? She closed her eyes, and her heart thudded. No. No. God wouldn’t do that to her, would He?

“Senorita Ferrelli. Senorita Ferrelli!”

Joy’s eyes flew open, and she nearly jumped out of her seat.

“If you’re bored with this class, maybe you’d rather go visit the principal’s office instead.” The speaker was Mrs. Perez, the Spanish teacher. Her dark eyes, normally friendly, pinned Joy.

“Lo siento, señora.”

Mrs. Perez nodded, but she gave Joy a thoughtful look, almost as if she knew exactly what Joy had been thinking about.

For the rest of the class, Joy tried hard to concentrate because she really liked Mrs. Perez and she liked Spanish, but that thought...that frightening thought...that unbelievable thought...that maybe...just maybe...the one time she and Aidan had had unprotected sex had left her pregnant...would not go away.

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