Page 22 of The Summer House

“I don’t want to be connected to him,” she said, even as she had a bad feeling Cassie might be right. Why else would she, Mandy, have jumped into bed so quickly and easily? Why else would she now be so upset?

“I’m not sure you get a choice in the matter. But now that you know what the problem is, you can start to fix it.”

Mandy didn’t like the sound of that. Could she really have been stuck on her ex for all these years? “I’ll have to think about it.”

“Fine by me.”

Mandy shifted the receiver to the other ear. “You forgot to say that he was a complete jerk and was never grateful enough that he was lucky enough to have been married to me.”

Cassie laughed again. “That, too.”

They talked for a few more minutes. When Mandy hung up, she felt marginally better…and marginally worse.

Connected to Rick? Was it possible? Surely time would have severed all the ties they had.

Yesterday Mandy would have staked her life on that fact, but now she wasn’t so sure. Still restless, she walked into the kitchen and started cleaning already clean counters. She needed physical activity to release her pent-up energy. Maybe she should take a long walk on the beach. That would be a whole lot more fun than cleaning.

She put down her sponge, rinsed her hands, then headed upstairs to the bedroom she was using for her visit. The master suite had its own bath, while the other two bedrooms shared a Jack-and-Jill-style bathroom.

Mandy slipped out of her dress and pulled on shorts and a T-shirt. It took her a couple of minutes to brush her hair and secure it in a ponytail. After reapplying sunscreen, she grabbed a hat, a pair of flat sandals and hurried back down the stairs.

As her feet hit the main level, she heard a voice in the back of her head.

You haven’t changed at all. You still run when things get tough.

Rick’s words echoed, making her come to a stop.

She didn’t, she wanted to protest. There were times to stay and fight and times for a sensible retreat. That’s what had happened this afternoon. A sensible retreat. Nothing more. But of course he wouldn’t see it that way. He would see it the way he wanted—so that he looked good and she was the bad guy. In fact—

A knock on the front door made her freeze in place. No one she knew should be showing up here. Her father had left for a few weeks in the south of France. Several of her teacher friends were traveling with their families. The others were busy with summer jobs or—

Mandy slapped the hat against her bare thigh. Why was she hesitating? There was only one person who would come calling here. As her car was parked right in front of the house, it was unlikely that he was going away anytime soon.

She sucked in a breath, then walked to the door and pulled it open.

Rick stood there. Like her, he’d changed into shorts and a T-shirt. He was tall, tanned and not smiling. Nor could she see his eyes. Dark glasses hid them from view.

Her heart fluttered, her stomach started that pesky roller-coaster movement again and a blush flared on her cheeks.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

He removed his sunglasses, allowing her to see emotions flickering through his blue eyes. Not that she could read any of them.

“I know Cassie’s last name. With that information and a general idea of where the house was located, it wasn’t difficult.”

She nodded. Rick had always been a whiz on a computer.

She stepped back to allow him in, then closed the door and followed him into the living room. He glanced around. When he motioned to the sofa, she nodded again, taking a seat across from him in an old club chair.

To her mind, Cassie’s summer home had always been a wonderful place to visit. A block from the ocean, the sunny patio with the BBQ and comfortable furniture had made this pretty darned close to paradise. Right up until she’d seen Rick’s place. By comparison, the beach house was barely an upgraded double-wide.

Perspective, she thought, trying to find the humor in the situation. Life was all about perspective.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” Rick said, setting his sunglasses on the worn coffee table between them and resting his forearms on his thighs. “Seeing each other after all these years was enough of a shock without throwing anything else into the mix. I guess the chemistry got the better of us.” He gave her a slight smile. “I was never a fan of chemistry.”

“It certainly seems to have gotten us into trouble,” she said with a shrug. While she appreciated his apology, she wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by it. Was he sorry they’d made love? Or for what happened afterward? Not that she was feeling brave enough to ask at the moment.

“I’m sorry, too,” she said, and made a vague gesture.

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