Long-Lost Mom

The girl stared down at the last photo of herself, the one where she was decked out in painter’s attire, grinning broadly as she painted her room a somewhat sickening shade of yellow-green. Completely unaware of how much every part of her—her laugh, her carefree attitude, her easy affection—all reminded Stone of Jenna.

“She is coming back,” Sara whispered. “I just know it.” She met her dad’s worried expression and hugged him hard. “Well, she is.”

Holding her close, Stone stared over her head at the calendar.

Ten years.

He was far from the frightened twenty-year-old left with no family and an infant he didn’t know how to care for. As a result, he’d long ago hardened his heart to the memory of the wild needy Jenna who’d so completely stolen his affections. He’d long ago moved on. Yet in spite of all his lingering rage, he’d forgiven her for what she’d done to him. Or so he told himself.

But as he kissed the top of Sara’s head, he had to admit the truth to himself.

He hadn’t forgiven Jenna for what she’d done to their daughter. Hadn’t even come close.

* * *

Jenna’s chest hurt. It had nothing to do with any lingering injuries and everything to do with the sight in front of her.

She sat on a tier of stands in the gymnasium of the school watching a basketball game.

Sara—it was really her this time, not some cruel dream her mind had conjured up to tease her—was playing basketball with all her little ten-year-old heart. Her tongue was squeezed between her teeth, her eyes narrowed in fierce concentration as she dribbled—okay, tripped—over the ball.

Her daughter. It had to be. Jenna had seen no pictures over the years. How could she have when she’d so completely disappeared no one could have found her even if they’d been looking? And she wasn’t hopeful or foolish enough to think that anyone had been looking.

“Go, Sara!” came a chorus of cries from the crowd gathered around Jenna.

Sara. Her name really was Sara.

Which meant Stone had kept his fervent promise that day in the hospital, when Jenna had named their baby before vanishing.

She was incredible, with beautiful long dark hair, bright laughing blue eyes and a sweet infectious laugh. A perfect little replica of Stone. Jenna’s heart squeezed as her arms crossed over herself in a mime of the hug she yearned to give her child.

Looking at her, Jenna couldn’t remember why she’d stayed away. None of the reasons she’d thought so important all those years seemed to matter now.

Tears welled in her eyes, but Jenna ruthlessly blinked them back. She had no right to cry, none at all. But Lord, it hurt. She’d never wanted anything as much as she wanted her little girl.

“That’s it, Sara,” someone shouted. “Run, run!”

It was an achingly familiar voice that made Jenna’s heart all but stop. Stone, his hands cupped over his mouth, was giving directions to his team, and God, he looked good. When she’d seen him the day before at the beach, she hadn’t been fully prepared for the sheer physical jolt of being near him again, but the long years of separation peeled away as if they’d never been.

There didn’t seem to be an unsure bone in that tall, toned body. There was something raw and earthy and generally untamed about him, despite the casual athletic clothes.

His shoulders had widened greatly, now physically a match for the weight of the burdens he’d always carried. He shifted back and forth on long muscular legs as he paced courtside, his arms constantly in motion as he directed the team.

Nope, he certainly wasn’t a kid any longer, but a fully mature, incredibly sexy man.

“Down court!” he yelled now in the smooth tone she remembered so well. He leaped into the air and whooped with abandon when Sara passed off the ball to another girl, who pivoted and made a basket.

The stands, full of parents and siblings, erupted as the game ended.

Pride nearly overwhelmed Jenna. She’d had no idea she could feel such a thrill, such joy, from watching a game she didn’t even understand. But it was her daughter down there. Her daughter.

On the court every girl on the team threw herself at the coach. Stone tossed back his head and laughed, hugging each of them back.

There’d been a time in Jenna’s life when seeing Stone smile and laugh like that had caused every productive thought to fly right out of her head, and she discovered with little surprise that hadn’t changed.

Watching Stone live as she’d only been able to dream about suddenly felt like a knife to her chest. She nearly staggered with the pain of it, with the gut-wrenching regret.

How had this happened? How had she allowed so much time to go by without a word? And what would happen now that she’d come back?

Knowing she deserved nothing, not even a fraction of the warmth she was experiencing now, didn’t help. With that dismal thought, the gates of her mind opened and flooded her with unwanted memories of her past.

Her absent father.

The mother she could never please, so she’d finally stopped trying. Instead Jenna had depended on her wild behavior to get attention.

Her perfect sister, the one Jenna’s mother constantly wished was her only child.

Everything had always seemed to be Jenna’s fault back then, even when she’d been merely a victim of circumstances. And a victim she’d been. Yet she’d been blamed and, unable to accept it, had rebelled.

She’d been wild, even before then. Hopelessly, pathetically out of control. Moody. It was all she knew how to do, for she could never get her mother to care unless she was furious about something Jenna had done. Without the bad-girl image Jenna had cultivated, she had no identity. No worth.

She’d been on the fast road to nowhere when Stone Cameron had come into her life. The star athlete and town darling, he was by far the most popular kid in school. Everyone adored him. He came from the rich side of the tracks and lived in one of the biggest and prettiest houses Jenna had ever seen. His parents and brother loved him.

His life had seemed perfect.

She’d hated him for that alone.

He’d found her in a tall tree along the beach one night when she been her most vulnerable, shaking after a particularly nasty fight with her mother—a fight in which Jenna’s mother had refused to believe that the man she was seeing had touched Jenna. A man not only cheating on his wife to sleep with Jenna’s mother, but a man who was a highly respected member of their community.

Scared and alone, Jenna had hidden in the only place she could think of. Without hesitation Stone had climbed up the long branches, sat next to her and smiled. In return, Jenna had called him names and had tried to push him out of the tree.

He refused to fall—or give up.

It’d been the start of the first meaningful friendship in Jenna’s life. Stone cared for her, more than anyone. He was the first to encourage her to stop doing stupid reckless things that would only get her hurt. He worried, he’d told her, and that knowledge had warmed Jenna’s heart and soul for the first time in her life.

But the man who’d victimized her had turned the scandal around, claiming Jenna had seduced him. In the face of the town’s disgust, Jenna folded. Despite Stone’s love and support, she let herself be destroyed.

Sitting there now, wallowing in the memories, agonizing over them, Jenna was gripped by panic.

Could Stone ever forgive her?

She looked down at the basketball court and found Stone’s glittering eyes on her, eyes that had perhaps seen too much to ever be surprised by anything again.

She’d done that, given the most open loving boy she’d ever met that slight cynical edge.

Ashamed, without stopping to think, Jenna grabbed her purse, ran outside the gym, jumped into her car and escaped, feeling no braver than when she was seventeen.

* * *

Over the next couple of days, Jenna gained some badly needed perspective. She could do this, she coached herself. She could, she would.

Again she went to one of Sara’s games, and again held her breath the entire time, completely immersed in how it felt to watch her daughter run, laugh, live.

At the end of the game, which Sara’s team won, Jenna looked down from the stands—and her heart simply stopped.

Staring at her from the side of the court was Stone, holding a basketball in one hand and his daughter’s hand in the other.

As the crowd thinned around them, neither of them moved, held there by an invisible string of unspoken questions. Stone was obviously drawn to Jenna, although he could have no idea why—or that she was a nightmare from his past about to resurface. She cringed at that thought and felt more than saw Stone’s gaze narrow in a mixture of concern and curiosity.

Still, he held the connection, and Jenna wished she would see a flash of recognition in his eyes. She knew now she wouldn’t, not with ten years, plastic surgery and dubious maturity on her side. Well, nothing had ever come easily to her, and it seemed this wouldn’t, either.

If she wanted Stone to know the truth, she was going to have to tell him.

Her goal hadn’t changed; she still wanted to atone for the things she’d done, such as deserting her own daughter. But if she told Stone who she was now, she knew he would turn from her, his eyes icy and distant.

But as Cindy Beatty, a complete stranger to Stone and the town she knew would never welcome her back, she could do anything.

Stone continued to maintain eye contact. Jenna couldn’t have torn her gaze away to save her life, leaving her no doubt that their always instant sizzling attraction still lived. It had unnerved her then, just as it did now, for though they’d always been drawn to each other, even as kids, she had never understood what Stone saw in her.

Connected to him this way, by just his gaze, caused an awareness to unfurl from deep within her. And she knew by his slight frown, by the very power of what shimmered between them, that it was the same for him. Only he could have no idea that this...thing between them was not new, that it had been there since the very beginning.

He remained unsmiling, that wide, sexy mouth serious. She felt panic rise.

You’re not seventeen anymore, she told herself firmly, even as her feet shuffled, prepared to run, as was their lifelong habit. You’re twenty-seven and here to right your wrongs. Turn your life around. Do it!

Far below, Sara’s lips moved and Stone nodded in response, but he did not break eye contact with Jenna.

Jenna smiled feebly. It was all she could manage, but Stone’s intense stare didn’t waver. Neither did Sara’s.

Tell them, an inner voice urged. Just go down there and tell them who you are.

Of their own accord, her legs took her down the stands she’d climbed up an hour and a half earlier—when she’d been driven by a need to see her daughter and hadn’t known how else to go about it other than to watch her from afar. And when she’d read the banner listing the names of the all-city fifth-grade champs, she’d been surprised to find Sara Cameron listed. After seeing that, fire-breathing dragons couldn’t have kept Jenna from the games.

“Hello,” Stone said when she got within hearing distance. That warm lazy baritone made her shudder with memories. For years she’d dreamed about that deep silky voice of his, and hearing it now brought her vividly back in time. Shockingly another memory surfaced.

Stone, making love to her the way he spoke, as if he had all the time in the world.

Jenna blushed wildly. Where had that come from? There was more to Stone than the way he’d once touched her, far more. He’d have fits if he knew her thoughts, for he wasn’t smiling now, not the way he had when the game had ended favorably or when Sara had flung herself into his arms for a hug. Jenna had to clear her throat twice before she croaked out a hello in return.

“I saw you at the game the other day,” he said in that voice like dark honey. “You ran off before I could talk to you. It’s...Cindy, isn’t it?”

He remembered her name, or that horrible pretend name Jenna had given him at the beach. She wanted to laugh and, instead, nearly cried.

Tell him the truth.

“Yes,” she murmured, sealing her fate with yet another lie. “It’s Cindy.”

Chapter 2

Chicken, Jenna told herself furiously, but she didn’t recant the lie. “And I didn’t mean to run off. I just...”

“It’s all right. I ran off on you first, at the beach,” Stone said, quietly apologetic, his voice velvety and calm. The arm he’d thrown around Sara squeezed as tension seemed to fill him. “And I’m—”

Before he could finish his apology, which was what she should be doing for the rest of her life, Jenna broke in. “No, no. Please.” She clenched her hands together to keep them from moving wildly about as they tended to do when she was nervous. And she was very nervous now. “I understand. I...I acted strangely.”

“Are you new to town?”

Jenna looked at Sara and managed a smile, though her throat tightened as she got her first close look at her child. God. Her child. She was so beautiful and the urge to touch her was so strong that Jenna had to close her hands into tight fists. Her short neatly manicured nails dug into her palms as she forced herself not to cry. “Yes.” Her voice caught on the sob she didn’t quite swallow, so she cleared her throat to hide it, avoiding Stone’s probing gaze. “I’m brand-new.”

And wasn’t that the complete truth? Certainly she’d been rebuilt since the car accident. For whatever reason, she’d been given another chance, and she didn’t want to mess it up this time. No longer did she want to spend the rest of her life job hopping for survival. Drifting from one group of so-called friends to another, living her life on the edge because that was the only way she knew how to live it.

She wanted to come back.

But if what she’d lived with all this time since the accident, knowing she’d pretty much mangled every inch of her face and a good part of her body, had terrified her, the prospect of telling Stone who she really was quite simply paralyzed her. No, petrified her.

Why had she lived?

She couldn’t help but wonder. She hadn’t deserved to—or had she? A part of her so desperately wanted someone to tell her how much she had deserved it.

But she had no one like that in her life, and that was her own fault.

“You’re beautiful,” Sara said.

Beautiful. In the accident, Jenna’s cheekbones had been shattered. So had her jaw and nose. They’d shaved her head completely, whisking away her icy blond waist-length locks without a thought.

It had grown back a bit now, but it was darker and much thicker, totally different than it had been before. Her eyes, normally blue, were covered with both dark sunglasses and even darker prescription contact lenses required for her own comfort—for most light still burned horribly—and also so she could see without wearing her glasses, which she hated.

She was totally and completely transformed. And as Sara pointed out, beautiful. “Thank you,” Jenna whispered, unable to stop looking at her child. It was hard to remain still, to not reach for her and pull her close.

“You moved here all alone?” Sara asked with the avid curiosity of the young.

The question threw Jenna off balance. Her mother had passed away some time ago, but she wasn’t truly alone, not with her sister, Kristen, still alive. Yet she couldn’t imagine her sister rejoicing at their reunion. “All alone,” she confirmed.

“This is my daughter, Sara.” Stone squeezed Sara’s shoulders, his big body shimmering with pride. “She’s very curious,” he added wryly. “And the new county basketball champ.”

“Daddy.” But Sara laughed.

Jenna swallowed hard, consumed by how he’d taken to fatherhood. She’d played an all-too-willing part in that area of his life, a part that to this day haunted her lonely nights with remembered visions of hot searing passion, warm safe arms that kept the outside world at bay and an unbreakable bond of affection. There would have been more, too, if only she’d let it.

She’d left him alone to deal with the consequences of their passion, but she knew, he had handled it as he handled everything—with an unwavering inner strength.

Which of course did nothing to assuage her horrible guilt and regret.

She could feel Stone’s interest like a physical thing, and it was no less for her. Standing this close to him, she had all she could do to remember to breathe. He was so familiar, yet a perfect stranger.

A magnificent perfect stranger she’d never been able to forget.

“Are you gonna eat pizza tonight?” Sara asked.

Jenna blinked at Sara. “Pizza?”

“Tonight’s pizza night at Joey’s. It’ll be packed with all the kids from the game,” Stone explained.

“Joey’s has great pizza.” Sara grinned in anticipation. “Lotsa cheese. I’m really starving, Daddy.”

Daddy. God, the way she said that, it made Jenna yearn. Made her ache. Made her want to cry, something she absolutely could not do with the protective contacts in, for it would burn like hell.

“We’re going, honey.” But Stone didn’t move for an interminably long moment.

Jenna didn’t, either. She held her breath, absorbing the intensity of his gaze. As the nearly visible electrical current ran between the two of them, she wondered how long this could continue.

“Daddy?”

“I know, Sara.” He smiled down at her, handed her the basketball and a backpack. “Here, take these. I’ll catch up in a sec.”

Happily Sara took his things, shot a shy smile at Jenna and walked away.

Stone waited, wanting to be certain Sara was out of earshot. “Look,” he said to the silent woman, feeling a little foolish. “This might seem odd, but...do I know you?”

Cindy paled. “What...what do you mean?”

He knew that following his gut instinct had been the right thing to do, given her reaction. But it explained nothing, certainly not the strange mixture of dismay and wonder just the sight of her evoked. “Have we met before?”

She raised a hand to her face, just as she had at the beach, as if she wanted to hide herself from him, which made no sense. But she seemed so distressed that Stone took pity on her and said quickly, as gently as he could, “I’m sorry. It’s just that you look...” What? She didn’t look familiar, not at all, and yet, he could swear that he knew her from somewhere.

But if he’d met this slender beauty before, certainly he would remember.

She made a soft sound, one that conveyed a wrenching sorrow. The urge to move forward, to take her arm and offer some sort of solace was strong.

But he’d sworn off damsels in distress a long time ago. The only women he let in his life now were strong-willed, self-possessed, sophisticated women who not only took care of themselves, but were not looking for any sort of permanence.

He might have laughed, for a woman in his life, any woman, was rare indeed. With his booming business and his vivacious daughter, Stone had little to no social time left over for himself. After so long he’d gotten used to it. Almost. But a small part of him couldn’t help but wonder... when would he meet someone who would reawaken his heart?

She smiled, although it was clearly forced. “Well...it was nice to see you again.”

So polite, he thought. So hurt. Dammit. “Wait,” he said just as she turned away, cursing himself even as he took a step toward her. “Are you coming for pizza night?”

Startled, she stared at him from behind those disconcertingly dark glasses. “I don’t think so.” A slim shoulder lifted. “I don’t know anyone.”

“You know us.” He had no idea why he was doing this, but something about her called to him on a deep primal level he was reluctant to explore. “Come on. It’d be a great way for you to acclimate yourself to small-town life.”

Suspicion filled her fine features. “How do you know I’m not used to it already?”

How to disburse that frightened-doe look? he wondered. “Your clothes for starters. We’re a one-school town here, and you’re dressed pretty fancy for a basketball game starring our local ten-year-olds.”

He laughed when she stared down at herself, taking in the expensive leather flats, the slim fitted trousers that outlined her showcase legs, her soft silky blouse, with the hint of lace and sexy curves beneath it. She wore a string of fine pearls on her elegant neck that reminded him of something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but—

“Well, believe it or not, I grew up in a small town.” Her face colored slightly when he arched his brows in surprise. “But it’s been a while.”

“Daaaddyyyyy!”

Stone swiveled toward the voice. Sara stood in the doorway to the gymnasium, waving wildly, making him smile. “Coming,” he called.

He turned back to Jenna and caught the unwitting look of sheer longing she’d cast toward Sara. It wasn’t the thought of pizza that put that look on her face, he somehow knew, but loneliness.

Something he understood all too well. It called to him, but was he really ready for this? “Come on,” he said quietly with an inner sigh of resignation. Hell, no, he wasn’t ready, but he couldn’t ignore the strange pull of attraction. He held out a hand. “Let’s go eat.”

* * *

Her deep-rooted fear of again being shunned by the town nearly overcame her, but Jenna had a stiff talk with herself as she followed Stone and Sara in her own car to the pizza joint.

Clearly no one was going to recognize her.

And though she’d come back with the intention of letting everyone know who she was, especially Sara, Jenna was beginning to see the advantage of remaining silent, if only for a little while.

Until she proved she’d changed.

She was no longer a young terrified girl on the path of destruction. She’d become a woman who could control herself and her destiny.

A woman who was going to show everyone how worthy she was. A woman who hoped someday soon to have her daughter back in her life.

Having decided this, it was all she could do to contain herself as she stepped from her car and looked at the two people standing there waiting for her. Stone was leaning against his truck, long legs casually crossed, one hand tucked into his sweatshirt pocket, the other resting on Sara’s shoulders. He was relaxed, yet so clearly strong and vital and content with himself and his surroundings. Jenna knew what iron will and inner strength existed just beneath the surface of that body, and admired him for it.

To be half as confident as he...

He smiled a greeting then, his face transforming into the easygoing carefree Stone she used to know, and Jenna was forced to add yet another trait to her list—utterly sexy.

She stumbled at the thought, as again, ridiculously, she found herself rendered stupid by the impact of Stone’s fathomless gaze. He reached for her, an automatic gesture. Their hands brushed, his large one grasping her much smaller one, and she jumped at the contact. It was startling, that someone who moved and talked with such languid ease had such heat in his skin.

And in his eyes as they held hers.

Stone held open the restaurant door, letting first Sara, then Jenna, into the noisy but warm and welcoming place. It was packed, filled to the brim with hungry laughing talking people. Some Jenna recognized from her past and some she didn’t.

She hesitated, suddenly unsure, panicky.

What if she saw him—the man she’d let destroy her life? It had been so long ago, but seeing the man who had molested her would really make her lose any bit of control she still had. He’d likely be here, principal of the only school in town. Her heart thumped against her ribs as she whipped her head back and forth, searching the crowd.

She was making a big deal of nothing, she told herself when she didn’t find him. For all she knew. Rand Ridgeway had moved on, or at least changed occupations.

No sight of him. Still, she couldn’t relax, couldn’t make herself step farther in.