Reunion By The Sea. Jo Leigh

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СКАЧАТЬ stepped aside, giving her a tight smile, along with plenty of space.

      Ginny didn’t know why that made her so happy.

      Her elation evaporated the second she finally realized why the mystery man seemed familiar. If she had any sense at all, she’d be running in the other direction.

      * * *

      PARKER WATCHED HER from behind the dark lenses of his sunglasses, wondering if she’d recognized him. It wasn’t so much the fifteen years that had passed. He simply wasn’t the same clean-cut, idealistic college student who’d wanted to fight for justice. To work in concert with his dad—his idol—and others like him, to rid the world of evil.

      Good plan, until Parker had discovered it was all a load of crap.

      She looked the same, had barely aged. Her dark blond hair was a few inches shorter and now skimmed her shoulders.

      And that smile of hers. No woman had a better smile than Ginny Landry. Assuming that was still her last name. He didn’t see a ring on her finger, but that meant nothing these days. And with her level of talent, it was likely she was more focused on her career than a husband. Parker didn’t recognize either of the two women sitting with her. They could be friends of Meg’s as well, but he’d only met Ginny. Although it wasn’t until after his sister had disappeared that he’d gotten to know her.

      “Excuse me.”

      He turned to the blonde, who’d crowded him. She was the same woman he’d passed earlier, although he didn’t remember the excessive perfume that was beginning to make his eyes burn.

      “I practically ran you over,” she said. “Let me at least buy you a drink.”

      “No thanks.”

      “Oh, come on.” She tilted her head, a seductive smile lifting her too-pink lips. “Just one?”

      Parker shook his head. What was it with these prep school women? Curious to take a walk on the wild side? He tipped the beer bottle to his mouth, then went back to studying Ginny. She was looking right at him. Before he could give her a nod, she turned away.

      He suppressed a smile, wondering if she’d covered up the faint sprinkling of freckles across her nose. She’d never bothered to before, even though he knew she hated them. It was kind of crazy how much he’d learned about her in those few days after Meg had gone missing. He remembered thinking how odd it was that the two had become friends. Talk about opposites.

      Meg was always looking for action and, yeah, a fair amount of trouble...an obvious cry for attention, he’d realized much later. His sister had idolized their dad every bit as much as Parker had, misguided as that had proved to be. It had been his first real lesson about trust and its dangers. Hadn’t been his last.

      Ginny had been like a beacon of light, trying to keep Meg from taking that final step into the darkness. In the end, it hadn’t worked. The thing about Ginny, she might look like the carefree girl next door, but she’d never had the perfect family life either. With no mother in the picture, Ginny had been raised by a nanny. Her workaholic father had been largely absent throughout her childhood. At least Parker and Meg had had their mom to rely on. She’d been there for them through a lot of rough patches. Fielding their endless questions, for which she either had no answers or wasn’t at liberty to divulge her knowledge.

      Now, knowing what he did, Parker was confident his mother had been kept in the dark about her husband’s whereabouts, and what he’d been doing for most of their marriage. And to be fair, the secrecy had been for their own protection.

      Dammit, Meg shouldn’t have punished her by running away. To some degree their mom had been a victim too. She wasn’t a stupid or naive person. Parker guessed that she’d fully understood the man she’d married, but no one could’ve predicted his other life would end up consuming him.

      Parker set his empty bottle down, then dug out some money and laid it on the bar. By the time he looked back, Ginny was gone.

       CHAPTER THREE

      GINNY SLIPPED INTO the ladies’ room and splashed cold water on her face, trying to bring herself out of shock.

      What was Parker doing here? Now—after all these years without a word, not knowing if he was dead or alive or living on the moon—he just shows up? She knew it must have to do with Meg. If the family had lost contact with her, just as Ginny had, Parker was probably hoping his sister would be at the reunion. Ginny knew his being here had nothing to do with her. And why that should hurt in the slightest was absurd. She wasn’t a starry-eyed kid anymore.

      After Meg had gone missing, they’d found comfort in each other’s arms. That first time, Parker hadn’t even known Ginny was a virgin. He’d felt terrible, had come right out and told her that giving herself should have been something special...with someone she cared about and who cared for her.

      Oh, how those words, spoken with heartfelt concern, had cut deep into her soul. Thankfully, she’d had the good sense not to admit that she’d fallen for him months before the night they’d made love. At eighteen, she’d known woefully little about the world beyond her narrow life, and even less about men.

      Sadly, at thirty-two, she wasn’t much more enlightened. Being a young single mom who worked at home, Ginny had barely made it around the block. Tilda had kept her—

       Tilda.

      Ginny gripped the counter for support.

      Parker couldn’t know about her. Even if he’d somehow stumbled onto Ginny’s Facebook page, he wouldn’t have seen anything incriminating. She’d been so careful about the meager information she’d posted over the years, including any pictures that would pinpoint Tilda’s age.

      Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Ginny sighed. Luckily her mascara hadn’t smudged, but she looked pale. Before the girls started wondering if something was wrong, she reapplied some gloss, swept back her hair and left the restroom.

      And ran straight into Parker.

      Almost. He took a step back, saving them from a collision.

      “Ginny...” He’d removed his sunglasses, his tanned face bringing out the striking blue of his eyes.

      “Parker?”

      His slow smile sent her heart into a tailspin. “I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”

      Gee, why would she? “You do look different,” she said, and went for the preemptive strike. “Is Meg with you? Is she here?” Ginny asked, forcing excitement into her voice and making a show of glancing around.

      His expression barely changed. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

      “Oh. Well, now you know the answer to that.”

      “My mom thought she might show up. I didn’t expect her to be here.”

      That wasn’t completely true. Ginny could see in his eyes that he’d held on to some hope. She felt a twinge of guilt for using the ploy. “Did you check at the registration desk?” she asked, tucking СКАЧАТЬ