Page 9 of Chance

She let out a long breath, then shrugged. “Fine, I’ll play my card then. Marissa told me you were going to marry Trinity.” She glanced at his finger. “Why didn’t you marry her?”

He sputtered out a laugh. “That is not the reason you’re here. That was the topic we were talking about. Plus, I don’t owe you an explanation.”

She shrugged. “True.”

“And,” he said, his face turning somber, “Marissa told me you guys talked. She told me what she told you and she also told me about Brian. Your serious boyfriend. The one who couldn’t come with you to your grandma’s funeral. What’s that about?”

Kelly was caught off guard by his accusatory look. “Marissa told you that?” She looked down at her crackers and then took another bite, digesting this information. Chance had talked about her with Marissa. Why had she never thought about that? Of course he would talk to her. That’s what happened in a small town. Hadn’t she and Marissa done the same thing?

She squeezed her eyes shut. If only he didn’t know about Brian.

“Kel, what’s going on?”

Irritated, she flashed her eyes open. He spoke as if they were still familiar with each other, as if no time had gone by. “You can’t call me that? I’m not ‘Kel’ to you anymore. You have to talk behind my back?”

He snorted. “Seems like you’re being defensive. Where is Brian?” Now he crossed his arms like he was interrogating her.

She shook her head, ticked off. “You know, you acted like a cop even in high school. But you see, this isn’t Cross Creek, and you’re not my sheriff.”

He let out a disbelieving laugh. “You always acted like this when you didn’t want to answer. Don’t you remember your grandma always telling you that you are too sassy for your own good?”

“Don’t talk about Grandma,” she said, jabbing a finger toward his face.

“I think I can talk about your grandma more than you can. I saw her nearly every day. I checked in on her. I checked in on her after your grandpa passed away. You didn’t.”

His words stabbed a deep place in the center of her chest. He was right. Grandma had told her that he checked in on her. She deflated. “You’re right. Thank you for always checking in on her.”

“I wanted to. I loved her.” His tone softened too, and he sighed. “I shouldn’t have made you feel guilty.’”

She was defenseless against this guy, so she focused on the present. “Why do you look like that? Your hair and everything?” Her memory caught up, and she snapped her fingers. “You were the guy from last night. You were standing on the pier, watching me.”

His eyes widened. “Because I thought that was you. But I knew that couldn’t be you, because you were in Oxford, running your gallery, right?”

“I was. Until two weeks ago.” She didn’t know why, but she knew she could trust him.

He squinted. “What are you doing here? Vacationing? Is your boyfriend somewhere?”

She looked down and nibbled on another cracker. She was grateful that her stomach was settling down. She decided to just tell him the truth. “We broke things off. It’s been a couple weeks. He took it hard.” She left out the whole stalking and psycho thing.

For a long time, Chance said nothing, only surveyed her. “But you’re worried he’s looking for you?”

She only shrugged.

His brows knit together. “Hmm.”

She took the time to examine him as well. “You look so different with blond hair. With the sides shaved and the long hair on top, you look like a beach guy. I wouldn’t have recognized you if you hadn’t said my name.”

He grunted and then pulled his visor off and ran a hand through his hair.

Attraction sizzled through her, which was ridiculous. She couldn’t be attracted to Chance Cross after all these years. Of course, she had always been attracted to him, ever since she’d met him. Well, strike that. They’d been best friends since she was eight and had moved to Cross Creek to live with her grandparents. Truthfully, she hadn’t thought of him as more than a friend until he’d kissed her when they were fifteen.

“Kel, you still haven’t told me what are you doing here?” He leaned in, putting his arms down on the table and taking a sip of her water without asking.

If anyone else did that, including Brian, she would tell them never to do it again. She didn’t like sharing water or anything. But this was Chance Cross, and they had always done stuff like that. It sparked a memory of them even swapping gum at times.

He glared at her. “What are you thinking about?”

She couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I was just thinking about how we used to share gum when we were in junior high. Remember Mr. Matthew’s class?”

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