A Time To Come Home. Darlene Gardner

expected Tyler to be more involved in Jaye’s life than her father had been in hers, but she’d misjudged Tyler before.

      She drove on auto pilot, reaching the edge of town before it registered that her fuel gauge light shined at her like a beacon. She sighed, the high cost of gas doing nothing to improve her spirits.

      She pulled into the gas station, selected the cheapest grade of fuel, then put the gas pump on automatic. As she watched the dollar amount on the display head quickly upward, a man called her name.

      “Diana Smith. Is that really you?”

      She glanced up to see a man striding away from a car she assumed was his. About her age with extremely short dark hair and eyes that hinted at his mother’s Asian heritage, she would have known him anywhere.

      “Oh, my gosh. Chris Coleman,” she cried.

      He met her halfway, picking her up and swinging her around as though she weighed almost nothing. She giggled, feeling like a kid again. After the three-sixty, he set her down but still held her by the shoulders.

      “What happened to your hair?” she asked, wondering if she’d ever had such a clear view of his distinctive cheekbones, long straight nose and straight brows. His hair had hung down to his shoulders in high school, with much of it falling into his face.

      “I decided to get a clearer view of life,” he said.

      She laughed.

      “You look good.” His friendly gaze roamed over her, perhaps comparing her to the emotional wreck she’d been when she left town. He hadn’t been in much better shape, his sorrow heightened because he and J.D. had drifted apart in the months before her brother’s death. “With your mom still living in Bentonsville, I hoped I’d run into you one of these days. And today’s the day.”

      She didn’t correct his mistaken impression, loath to explain, even to Chris, why she was really in Bentonsville.

      “So you never left town?” she asked him.

      “I left to go to college in Pennsylvania, a small school called East Stroudsburg.”

      “On a football scholarship. I remember you and J.D. talking about it,” she commented as it came back to her. Chris and J.D. had been the only two players on the Bentonsville High team good enough to play at the next level.

      “My scholarship paled next to J.D.’s.” Chris fell silent, possibly thinking the same thing as Diana. That J.D. had never played football at Penn State. Or ever again.

      “So you returned to Bentonsville after college?”

      “Yeah, which is ironic since my parents retired to Florida. I majored in social work. When it came time to look for a job, I found out I was a Maryland boy at heart. How about you? Where have you been all these years, Diana Smith?”

      “In Tennessee, mostly,” she answered evasively.

      She heard the click of the gas pump turning off and automatically glanced toward her car.

      “No way,” he said, sensing the direction her thoughts had taken. “I was heading out of town to spend the weekend with friends, but they’re not expecting me at any specific time. So you’re not getting away until I find out what you were doing in Tennessee. There’s a Starbucks around the corner.”

      “A Starbucks? In Bentonsville?”

      “Things have changed,” he said. “So how about a cup of joe?”

      Why not? she thought. Not only had she always enjoyed Chris’s company, but he’d know exactly how much things had changed since she’d left Bentonsville. Not only with the town, but with Tyler Benton.

      CHAPTER TWO

      DIANA SIPPED from her caramel-flavored frappuccino, nearly shutting her eyes in delight. She’d managed to rid herself of most of her vices over the years, but not her love of coffee.

      With its rich wood-themed interior and strong scent of brewing coffee, the shop resembled any of a hundred other branches of Starbucks. But as Diana settled into a slat-backed chair across from Chris at a table for two, the setting seemed unreal because it was within the borders of her hometown. A place to which she thought she’d never have the guts to return.

      She glanced around at the half-dozen or so other patrons, relieved not to recognize any of them. Maybe she was still lacking in the guts department.

      Chris leaned back in the chair that looked too small for his frame, grinned and asked, “So what have you been doing with yourself, Tag-Along?”

      It had been so long since anyone had used the nickname, she’d forgotten about it. Chris and J.D. had come up with it when they were high school freshmen and Diana was a mere eighth grader. Nothing had seemed cooler than hanging out with the two boys and their friends.

      She smiled wryly. “Not following the fun, that’s for sure.”

      “Oh, no. Why’s that?”

      Regretting her too-frank answer, she affected a shrug. “Life’s not as simple as it was when we were kids. I have responsibilities now. I didn’t go to college. I’ve worked secretarial jobs mainly, with some waitressing thrown in. But making enough money is always a struggle.”

      “You’re a single mom, right?”

      Diana nodded. She’d left Bentonsville before her pregnancy showed, so she couldn’t be sure how many people knew about Jaye. But Chris wasn’t just anyone. Growing up, he’d spent so much time at her house he’d seemed like a third brother.

      “Yeah. Her name’s Jaye.” From the look that passed over Chris’s face, she gathered pointing out she’d named her child after her late brother was unnecessary. “She’s smart and sweet and the best thing that ever happened to me.”

      “I’d love to meet her.” He sounded sincere, a quality she’d always associated with him. “Is she with your mother?”

      She hesitated only briefly before saying, “She’s staying with Connor in Silver Spring until I get settled.”

      Her brain spun, devising new replies should he ask follow-up questions but he fastened on something else.

      “Until you get settled? What do you mean by that?”

      “I’m in the process of moving to Gaithersburg. I’m starting classes this week at a career training center not far from there.” Before he could ask when Jaye would join her, she continued, “But enough about me. What are you up to?”

      Chris had always been shrewd. His dark piercing gaze told her he still was, but he let her get away with changing the subject.

      “I’m the director of a community center that started up a few years back. I love it. We’ve got programs for seniors, aerobics classes, day care, community theater and meeting room space. We’re always hopping.”

      “That’s great, Chris. It seems like you’ve found a job that suits you.”

      He tapped a finger on his chin. “Is that another way of saying I’ll never be rich and famous?”

      “As though you want to be,” she teased. “If making money was important to you, you never would have gone into social work.”

      He lifted both of his hands, palms up. “You’ve got me there.”

      She perched her elbows on the table, balanced her chin in her hands and made her eyes dance. “Okay. On to the good stuff. Are you married? Engaged? Seeing anyone?”

      His hesitation was so brief she thought she might have imagined it. “Nope, nope and nope. How about you?”

      “Ditto,” she said, removing her elbows from the table. She’d dated some over the years but had never felt as intensely about anyone as she had about Tyler. She’d forced herself to put him out of her mind a long time ago, spurred by the crushing knowledge