Page 7 of Only One I Ever Wanted

The kid darted across the linoleum floor to the hall without a word.

“He’s pretty shy,” Sully said quietly.

“He looks a lot like you. Well, save for the eyes.”

He gave me a tight smile. “No denying the Murdock genes there, hey?”

“Not at all.”

The silence between us made me want to babble to fill it, but I just followed him to the door.

“Guess I’ll see you soon, Sully. It was good to see you.”

He nodded. “Glad to see you too, Nora.”

I closed the door after them and leaned back against it. Not at all what I expected today.

I knew moving home would have some awkward moments, but Sullivan Murdock hadn’t been the first reunion on my list.

And why did he have to look so damn good?

Chapter3

Sullivan

Danny was damnquiet on the way home, his attention directed out the window.

“Thanks for coming with me, buddy.”

“It’s cool. I liked her chair. Can I get one?” He glanced my way.

That was the first time he’d ever asked me for anything. “Not sure we can fit that big chair in your room, but we can probably put one in the living room if you wanted.”

Not that it went with my living room stuff. Then again, it was the same living room set-up since I’d bought the house ten years ago as a fixer-upper. Money was tight, but maybe making the house fit both of us would help drag Danny out of his shell.

He smiled and nodded. “Cool.”

Not exactly how I figured today was going to go.

Nora-freaking-Baker.

Booker’sNora.

She’d always been his from freshman year on into what I thought was eternity. The prettiest girl in our class,of courseBooker had gone for her. We’d ribbed him a bit for going for one of the smart girls instead of a cheerleader, but with baseball on the brain, my best friend hadn’t cared about that part.

I also had a feeling he’d charmed his way into tutoring, at first. Being on the high school teams required a minimum GPA and Booker had never cared about class.

Damn.

I hadn’t thought about Booker in a long time, either.

Once he’d left for college, we’d drifted apart. We didn’t have much in common with him being on a major league baseball team like the Rockets. Los Angeles and Indigo Valley couldn’t be any more different if it tried.

I had seen a few photos over the years of him and Nora at charity benefits.

Nora, always so quietly gorgeous at his side. Booker stole the spotlight, no matter where he was. Nora had always been happy to be behind the scenes, cheering him on.

I wonder when that had changed.

---