The Long Way Home

“A hundred other girls in town turned their backs on him after what happened,” Maureen said flatly.

Yes. Yes, they had. “But I didn’t,” Natalie said softly. “I was loyal to you, remember?” Maybe because Natalie was the only person in town who knew the truth about how Bruce had felt and what he’d done after the accident that had killed his best friend. “I saw what this town did to you, and I stayed by your side. I talked to you after all your cheerleader and student council friends turned their backs.”

“You must really want my business.” Maureen’s voice was hard and bitter.

It’s not her fault. Maureen had been a sheltered kid who’d gone through a tough year that had changed her life. But the most important thing was that Maureen had overcome the trauma. She was a functioning member of the community. From her father, Natalie knew Maureen had built herself up from a single mom with few prospects into a successful real estate agent specializing in the million-dollar beach homes along the waterfront. It must not have been easy to compete at that level, and was certainly not a job for the fainthearted.

Natalie, especially, could respect that.

“It’s not that I want your business,” Natalie said. “Take your business wherever you please, as far as I’m concerned. What I came for is to let you know I’m back, and I’m not leaving. This is my town, too, and I love it. I...think I can do good here, if you’ll let me help.”

Maureen shifted in her seat and stared at her. Twirling the tape measure between her fingers, over and over, as if she was taking Natalie’s measure.

Natalie stood straighter. Go ahead. I’m not the same shy kid who left town after high school. I’m a whole new person now and I want you to know it.

“All right.” Maureen lowered the tape measure. “My brother is coming home at the end of next month for my wedding. It will help me if you stop by and say hello to him. I think he’d like to see a friendly face.”

“I...he’s coming home?” Natalie raised her gaze and blinked into Maureen’s eyes.

This, she had never expected.

“If it goes well with him and you’re able to help,” Maureen said, “then I’ll consider bringing some business to your firm.”

For a moment Natalie couldn’t speak. Had she heard this right? “I would like that very much.”

She should be happy. She had almost won.

And yet...

Her hands began to shake.

The one night she had spent with Bruce was his last one in town. He’d never spoken to anyone other than his family again. Nobody knew why. Not even Natalie. It was a complete mystery to her, because Bruce had told her his plans that night, and they certainly hadn’t been to simply disappear.

He had meant to help before he left. Everybody had loved and relied on Bruce Cole, once upon a time. He’d been the natural leader of the kids their age, the center of all that had been fun and good. And then he had left town and suddenly, everybody hated him. It became cool to blame him, and his younger sister—who’d really had nothing to do with any of it—had suffered the brunt of the fallout.

What would he say when he saw Natalie? What would she say?

“Bruce Cole made sure he kept his plum spot at the U.S. Naval Academy,” she’d heard people grumble. That was the perception—that when it came down to it, Bruce Cole was a heartless bastard. A guy who used people for his own ends and then escaped the consequences of his actions.

But Natalie knew he hadn’t been involved in the accident. And back then, when she should have spoken up, she’d kept silent instead. To save herself from getting into trouble.

How many people got the chance to fix their mistakes?

“I...would love to see your brother when he comes home,” she breathed.

Her hands shook harder now. Maureen stared. Natalie was afraid Maureen could see how much she was affected by Bruce’s memory, still in an awed state of mixed puppy-love and sympathy that was...silly, really. She was an attorney, for heaven’s sake. The daughter of the man who’d been hired, once upon a time, to depose Bruce for a lawsuit in civil court.

Maureen bent and picked up the bridal veil her mother had brought, and placed it on her head. With the delicate white lace softening her face, covering the harsh lines her bitterness had given her, Natalie could see the beautiful, innocent girl Maureen had been, back when Bruce had been home to protect her.

Maureen spoke again, but the words were muffled and Natalie couldn’t see her lips behind the veil.

“May I?” Natalie asked. She gently lifted the veil. “This is antique, isn’t it? Does it belong to someone in your family?”

“It was my nana’s.” Maureen’s lips quivered. “She died a year ago.” Then she shook her head. But her tough mask had slipped, and for a moment, Maureen had looked like the vulnerable teen Natalie remembered.

“Will you be my bridesmaid?” Maureen blurted.

“I...” What?

Maureen’s determination had come back, the fighting attitude that made her such a good salesperson. “Here’s what I need you to do,” she said crisply. “You said you wanted to help me, right? Well, this is the help I need.”

She abruptly stood and stalked to the front of the church, and Natalie had no choice but to follow her. They stopped in front of the altar.

Maureen pointed. “Jim—my fiancе—will be standing there. You remember Jimmy Hannaford?”

“Yes.” He was a former classmate of theirs, a skinny, quiet kid who liked computers and reading science fiction. “James was in all my math classes.”

“Yeah, well, he runs Wallis Point PC now. If you want your computer fixed, Jimmy is your guy. His office is two blocks over from your father’s law firm.”

Natalie nodded, but Maureen kept talking. “Jim will have four groomsmen—his best friend and my twin brothers. Bruce is the fourth groomsman, and he’ll be standing here.”

Natalie stared at the spot Maureen had indicated, and could easily see tall, good-looking Bruce Cole standing there dressed in a black tux and white tie. With his dark hair and his dark eyes, he would be heart-stopping.

She swallowed, missing half of what Maureen was saying.

“...then, on my side—” Maureen pointed to the left of the altar “—I have Jim’s sister and my two sisters-in-law as attendants. Plus you.” She suddenly turned to Natalie, and Natalie blinked at the undisguised pleading in her eyes. “If you’ll do it. If you’ll stand up for me.”

Maureen clutched the veil in her fist, and Natalie felt her heart go out to this hard, hurt woman who didn’t have a best friend or a sister of her own to stand up for her on her special day.

Just like me, Natalie thought. Just like me.

“I’m honored you asked me,” she said.

“So will you do it?” Maureen stared hard at Natalie. “Bruce will be paired with you in the wedding party, first for the chapel ceremony, and then for the reception afterward. I won’t have much time to spend with him, so I’d be depending on you to make him feel comfortable.”

Natalie looked again to the spot where Bruce would stand. Then to where she would stand, across from him. They would walk down the aisle together, and later, dance at the reception with the rest of the bridal party.

“Where...where is the reception?” Natalie asked, cringing inwardly because she was sure she knew the answer. Where else did locals host their parties?

Maureen’s eyes narrowed. “The Grand Beachfront Hotel,” she snapped. “Is that okay with you?”

Bruce wasn’t going to like it at all.

“It’s fine with me,” Natalie said. But her knees were shaking and her tongue felt tied. Why had she regressed to a shy, awkward teenager? Maybe she wasn’t up for this task.

“Bruce is single, by the way,” Maureen said. “He’s not bringing a date, so you don’t have to worry about any awkwardness there.”

Lovely. Natalie should say no. She should run away. This could be an absolute disaster.