The screensaver was a dramatic panorama of the Boston skyline at night, very similar to the view from her old apartment, the one she’d shared with Clay.
She considered changing it—there were millions of images to choose from, of course—but then the call came through.
Davey’s youthful, handsome face appeared on-screen, grinning broadly. Maddie, a little younger, and bearing a close resemblance to her mother, leaned in beside him, beaming into the camera.
“You’re early!” Brynne said, delighted.
Davey looked briefly uncertain. “Is that okay? Were you busy?”
“I’m never too busy to talk to you two,” Brynne replied sincerely.
Both kids looked pleased and more than a little relieved.
“We get to stay up until midnight,” Maddie announced. “Dad said we could see the New Year in, just like grown-ups.”
“Not like grown-ups,” Davey corrected, with mild distain. “They drink booze and stuff.” He made a face. “And they kiss.”
Brynne chuckled. “Someday soon, Davey Nicholls, you’ll like kissing.”
“Yeah,” Maddie said, elbowing her brother. “You’ll start kissing girls all the time.”
“Yuck,” Davey said, and shuddered for effect.
Maddie picked up the conversational ball and ran with it. “We get pizza. Davey and me and the babysitter, I mean.”
“That’s good,” Brynne said, dealing with a pang of—what? Loneliness? Regret?
“Dad wants to say hi,” Davey said.
Brynne didn’t get a chance to prepare herself—suddenly, Clay was standing behind his children, leaning down to look into the camera.
He was still devastatingly handsome, with his sandy-colored hair and irresistible eyes.
“Hey, Brynne,” Clay greeted her, his voice husky.
He was wearing a white cable-knit sweater and jeans, and his hair was still damp from the shower. She could see the little ridges left behind by his comb.
“Hey,” Brynne said, automatically. She waited to feel something, but all that came was a sense of being mildly startled, as though someone had hidden around a corner and then jumped out at her.
“How’s Montana treating you?” Clay asked.
Brynne thought of Eli, and their snowmobile ride. She would never forget the sensation of wild freedom.
She smiled. “Just fine,” she replied.
“Ask her,” Maddie put in, tilting her head back to look up at her father.
“Yeah,” Davey agreed. “Ask her, Dad.”
Clay sighed heavily. “The kids have spring break in a couple of months. I told them you’re probably really busy, but—”
Brynne’s heart began to pound. She waited, holding her breath.
Davey rolled his eyes in exaggerated frustration. “We want to come out there and visit you, Brynne. Maddie and me.”
Tears smarted behind Brynne’s eyes, happy ones. She could live with never seeing Clay again, but she’d missed those children with all her heart.
“A visit would be wonderful,” she said.
The kids cheered so enthusiastically that Clay had to quiet them down with a few mock-stern words.
“Are you sure about this, Brynne? We’re kind of putting you on the spot here—”
“You’re not putting me on the spot, Clay,” Brynne replied, perhaps too quickly. Too eagerly. “I would love to have Davey and Maddie visit. I have plenty of room, and there are lots of things to do out here in the Wild West.”
“Can we ride horses?” Davey asked, eyes wide. “And go fishing?”
“Absolutely,” Brynne said, blinking rapidly to hold back tears that would only confuse the children.
“Thanks, Brynne,” Clay put in, his voice hoarse again. “We’ll be in touch about the arrangements closer to spring break. In the meantime, well, have yourself a very happy New Year.”
“You, too,” Brynne said.
And then he was gone.
Brynne waited to feel that tearing-away sensation common to breakups, even after some time had passed, but it didn’t come. All she felt was exuberant anticipation—Davey and Maddie were coming to visit, at long last.
She could barely wait.
The call went on for about twenty more minutes, while the kids told Brynne about their school, their friends, the things they’d given and received for Christmas. Once again, they’d thanked Brynne for the books she’d sent as gifts.
When it was over, when goodbyes had been said and the laptop screen showed the Boston skyline again, Brynne reached for her teacup, took a sip and realized the stuff had gone stone-cold.
She smiled, carried the cup to the sink, emptied it and placed it on the top rack of the dishwasher. Since she took most of her meals downstairs, it often took days to fill the machine.
It was still early, and the preparations for tonight’s big celebration were complete, for the time being. Around six, when the doors opened for business and the first crop of celebrants showed up, she would be there to greet them, the consummate hostess.
She had a special outfit for the occasion, an off-white, somewhat clingy dress covered in tiny faux pearls and crystals, designed to shimmer glamorously in changing light. She planned to pin her chin-length hair up, leaving a few wisps and tendrils to dangle in strategic places, and she would wear her best earrings, diamond-and-pearl studs her folks had given her for college graduation.
She would spritz on some perfume and even put on makeup. Mascara, eye shadow, a very light dusting of blusher.
As for shoes, well, she’d chosen a pair of sexy heels, a close match to her dress.
It was more effort than she would usually have made, even for New Year’s Eve, but she was a businesswoman, she told herself. She had to maintain a certain image, even in remote Painted Pony Creek.
She was dressing up for the community in general, not Sheriff Eli Garrett.
Okay, not just for him.
Eli might not even show up, given that there would be plenty of drunk drivers on the road on this night of nights. Bailey’s would be packed, but places like Sully’s Bar and Grill would do plenty of business, too, and that meant both the small local police department and the sheriff’s people would be on high alert.
Since the big snowstorm, there had been a significant thaw, but according to the weather forecast, the temperature would drop below freezing as the evening went on, and stay there. That, of course, meant the roads would be icy and thus dangerous, even for sober people.