I Cross My Heart

She backed up several steps. Considering the uneven dirt in the front yard, she navigated well on those über-high heels. She must be used to them.

“I guess you think I’m a lunatic for trying to burn this recliner,” she said.

“No, actually, I don’t. I know something about being so furious that you have to find a good target for your anger.”

“That about sums up my little stunt, but now it seems pretty juvenile.”

“Not at all. I think it had flair.” He pointed the extinguisher at the recliner. Slowly circling it, he layered on the foam. At last he was satisfied. “That should do it.” He glanced over and noticed her tiny smile. She had a full, prettily shaped mouth. She’d probably clean up real good. “Feeling any better?”

“I am, actually.”

“Excellent.” He cleared his throat. “So you’re the daughter?”

She nodded.

“I thought so. But I’ve gone and forgotten your first name. I was a few years ahead of you in school.”

“You wouldn’t have remembered me, anyway. I was an awkward nerd back then. A certified late bloomer.” Her smile widened a little. “I remember you, though, Nash Bledsoe. You were quite the heartthrob.”

To his dismay, he felt heat rising from his collar. “I don’t know about that. Anyway, is your last name still Grace, or something else, now?” If she was married, he didn’t think much of a husband who’d send her off to deal with this situation by herself.

“My last name is still Grace.” She gazed at him thoughtfully. “I take it you haven’t heard anything about my career, then?”

“Sorry, I haven’t. Emmett just said you’d become a city girl.”

“Well, that’s humbling. But then, I lost touch with everyone back here, and my folks weren’t much for socializing, or bragging, for that matter.”

“About what?”

“I’m a bestselling author. My latest book hit number one on all the lists.”

His stomach clenched. But no, it couldn’t be. Coin-cidences like this didn’t happen in real life. “What do you write?”

“Motivational books. Self-help, is how most people refer to them.”

His throat went dry and his heart began to pound. “You’re Bethany Grace?” The name came out as a hoarse croak.

“So you have heard of me!” She looked pleased.

“Oh, yeah.” He felt light-headed. “I’ve heard of you. Your books made my life a living hell.”

2

BETHANY GASPED. SHE’D had many reactions to her books in the three years since she’d first hit the bestseller charts, but no one had ever said anything that awful. Nash wasn’t kidding, either. His blue eyes had iced over and his expression had turned to granite.

She’d just been thinking what a good-looking guy he’d turned into, and a kind one, at that. She’d found herself admiring the strong line of his jaw and the sensual curve of his lower lip. Because she’d outgrown her nerdy phase, she’d felt capable of flirting a little with the likes of Nash Bledsoe, if he wasn’t attached.

But instead she’d discovered that her cheerful and positive message had created such fury in him that he’d barely been able to speak her name. To know that her books had done that made her physically ill. She hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday, which was probably good, because she had nothing in her rolling stomach that could come back up.

His bitter words had sucked most of the air from her lungs, too, but she finally managed to draw in enough to ask a question. “How did my books do that?”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I’d rather not get into it.”

“Please, don’t hit me with something like that and refuse to tell me why! No one’s ever…I’ve never had anyone tell me…” She took a shaky breath. “You look as if you hate me.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face and gazed up at the sky. “Bethany Grace.” He chuckled, but the sound had no humor in it. Then he looked at her again. “My ex-wife loves your books.”

From the way he said it, Bethany knew that wasn’t a good thing. “Okay.”

He studied her for long enough that she became very aware of how sweaty and dirty she was. And how foolish this stunt of hers must look to him, now that he knew she was the author of bestsellers such as Living with Grace and her current chart-topper, Grace Personified. She’d always been proud of her success, but given this situation, she should have kept her mouth shut. Today was the wrong time for her to be in the glare of a spotlight that would reveal her flaws.

Too late. “I suppose you’re wondering if I’m a hypocrite.”

“It crossed my mind. I can’t figure out why a woman who tells everyone that happiness is a choice would set fire to her daddy’s recliner. That doesn’t seem like a particularly cheerful move, to me.” He was obviously enjoying pointing that out.

She flushed. “It wasn’t. I’m not proud of my reaction. It was unworthy of me to do that.”

His expression underwent a subtle change, as if that admission had soaked up some of his anger. “But oh, so very human.”

“You don’t have to sound so smug when you say that.”

This time his chuckle was a little less caustic. “Yeah, I do. Whether you know it or not, you owe me a bit of smugness.”

“What happened?”

He hesitated.

“Please. Your statement will eat at me if you don’t explain where it came from.”

He blew out a breath. “Okay. Short version. My inlaws were convinced that I’d only married Lindsay for her money. I think they finally convinced Lindsay, too, because she developed an attitude. She made it plain that a poor boy like me was lucky to be there.”

“Ouch.”

“I realize now her parents started the sabotage early and gradually turned up the heat, the way you cook a frog without the frog even noticing. I became more and more irritable. Then Lindsay found your books and felt free to remind me that Happiness Is a Choice.”

She was appalled. “That’s not how my books are supposed to be read. You can’t undermine someone’s confidence and then berate them for not being happy enough.”

“Tell that to Lindsay and her folks.”

“I will if you’d like me to. I resent that they—”

“I didn’t mean that literally. Don’t waste your time on them. But I have to admit, seeing you in the middle of a meltdown helps. Even the sainted Bethany Grace has a bad day once in a while.”

“Sainted? I never claimed to be perfect!”

“Lindsay thinks you are. As opposed to me, a person riddled with problems.”

“That’s ridiculous. We all have problems. I’ve admitted that in everything I’ve written.” Then she had a thought. “Did you ever read one of my books?”