Unfinished Business

needed to think. “You always could stop my heart, Vanessa.”
    “This is stupid.” Breathless, she stepped back. “We’re not children anymore.”
    He dipped his hands in his pockets. “Exactly.”

    She ran an unsteady hand through her hair. “Brady, this was over a long time ago.”
    “Apparently not. Could be we just have to get it out of our systems.”
    “My system’s just fine,” she told him. It was a lie. “You’ll have to worry about your own. I’m not interested in climbing into the back seat with you again.”
    “That might be interesting.” He surprised himself by smiling, and meaning it. “But I had more comfortable surroundings in mind.”
    “Whatever the surroundings, the answer’s still no.”
    She started toward the steps, and he took her by the arm. “You were sixteen the last time you said no.” Slowly, though impatience simmered through him, he turned her to face him. “As much as I regret it, I have to say you were right. Times have changed, and we’re all grown up now.”
    Her heart was beating too fast, she thought. His fault. He had always been able to tie her into knots. “Just because we’re adults doesn’t mean I’ll jump in your bed.”
    “It does mean that I’ll take the time and make the effort to change your mind.”
    “You are still an egotistical idiot, Brady.”
    “And you still call me names when you know I’m right.” He pulled her close for a hard, brief kiss. “I still want you, Van. And this time, by God, I’m going to have you.”
    She saw the truth of it in his eyes before she jerked away. She felt the truth of it inside herself. “Go to hell.”
    She turned and rushed down the stairs.
    He watched from the window as she raced across the bridge to her car. Even with the distance, he heard her slam the door. It made him grin. She’d always had a devil of a temper. He was glad to see it still held true.

Chapter 4
    S he pounded the keys. Tchaikovsky. The first piano concerto. The first movement. Hers was a violently passionate interpretation of the romantic theme. She wanted the violence, wanted to let it pour out from inside her and into the music.
    He’d had no right. No right to bring everything back. To force her to face feelings she’d wanted to forget. Feelings she’d forgotten. Worse, he’d shown her how much deeper, how much more raw and intense, those feelings could be now that she was a woman.
    He meant nothing to her. Could be nothing more to her than an old acquaintance, a friend of her childhood. She would not be hurt by him again. And she would never—never—allow anyone to have the kind of power over her that Brady had once had.
    The feelings would pass, because she would make them pass. If there was one thing she had learned through all these years of work and travel, it was that she and she alone was responsible for her emotions.
    She stopped playing, letting her fingers rest on the keys. While she might not have been able to claim serenity, she was grateful that she had been able to exorcise most of the anger and frustration through her music.
    “Vanessa?”
    She turned her head to see her mother standing in the doorway. “I didn’t know you were home.”
    “I came in while you were playing.” Loretta took a step forward. She was dressed as she had been that morning, in her sleek suit and pearls, but her face showed a hesitant concern. “Are you all right?”
    “Yes, I’m fine.” Vanessa lifted a hand to push back her hair. Looking at her mother, she felt flushed, untidy and vulnerable. Automatically, defensively, she straightened her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I guess I lost track of the time.”
    “It doesn’t matter.” Loretta blocked off the urge to move closer and smooth her daughter’s hair herself. “Mrs. Driscoll stopped by the shop before I closed. She mentioned that she saw you going into Ham Tucker’s house.”
    “She still has an eagle eye, I see.”
    “And a big nose.” Loretta’s smile was hesitant. “You saw Ham, then.”
    “Yes.” Vanessa turned on the stool, but didn’t rise. “He looks wonderful, almost unchanged. We had some pie and tea in the kitchen.”
    “I’m glad you had a chance to visit with him. He’s always been so fond of you.”
    “I know.” She took a bracing breath. “Why didn’t you tell me you were involved with him?”
    Loretta lifted a hand to her pearls and twisted the strand nervously. “I suppose I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. To explain. I