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result, she knocked the glass vase off the desk. She cursed several very obscene epithets. Then suddenly the air seemed too thick to breathe, and her pulse pounded in her ears.
    He’s alive. I knew it!
    For all she’d known, Bryan could have been killed along with her father. There’d been blood, but no body—no other evidence. Even so, there’d been another reason she’d known he was still alive. Even though his absence had left a hole inside her, the unusual connection they shared never changed. The bond still held her to him. If he’d been dead, she would have known it. Then at least she could’ve mourned him instead of cursing him.
    A mixture of relief and regret settled over her when she couldn’t stop the memories of their last days together. Everything came flooding back—the emotions with the memories. The memories included the weekend he’d come home sick to see the doc shortly before graduation. After a few days, his symptoms passed and his old libido returned with a vengeance, proving he was well enough to go back to school.
    “I’ll be back, soon,” he’d said the next morning before he left and kissed the tears off her cheeks. “You’ll be too busy with your finals to miss me.” He’d chucked her under the chin and left.
    College, a couple of weeks, and then he’ll graduate. Don’t cry. It’ll only be a little while before he’s back for good…
    But that never happened.
    This email was the first evidence he was alive. The first she’d heard from him since he’d waved good-bye to her as he drove out of town. They never found his car or him, and as far as she knew no one had heard from him again. Until now.
    With a quick tap of the key, the header appeared. She stared and wondered…so many things. Her eyes flickered over the screen.
     
    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected]
    Subject: Old friend
     
    Really? Old friend.
     
    Hi Lacey, hope you haven’t forgotten me. We used to date some.
     
    Date? Ouch.
    Which part stung most? Date some was what he called their relationship, and love of her life was the way she remembered him. More like “soul mate” than old friend.
    Those curses she cried out in the nights after he disappeared seemed so much more appropriate now, knowing he chose his path. Damn him for breaking her heart. Damn him twice for returning. And damn him three times for being able to do it again.
    The coffee cup from this morning sat innocently on her desk, awaiting her wrath. She let it fly, a substitute for the man she wanted to squash, the man she’d mistakenly believed in, the man who may have been involved with her father’s death. The cup hit the library wall while she repeated those old curses and then some.
    He’d stood her up after graduation, never showed up, never called, never wrote. Not only had he broken her heart, but the sheriff, his family, and the town went into an uproar looking for him.
    What was he thinking to show up after all this time? All hell was going to break loose. For a moment she hoped he’d let someone other than her know he was returning. His father and the sheriff were going to crucify him—not to mention what she was going to do to him when she came face to face with the coward.
    After five years was he suddenly thinking, “Oh, hey, wonder how that little Lacey is doing?” The email was supposed to be…what? A warning? “Get ready baby, I’m back?”
    Yeah, like she’d been sitting around for five long years waiting for him to grace her with his presence.
    Okay, so what if she had no life. He didn’t have to know that.
    Well, he had another thing coming.
    Maybe he’ll break some law so the sheriff will lock him up before I run into him.
    Everything churning through her mind turned into a collage of memories dredging up emotions she didn’t want to experience. She remembered the football games and secret dates, picnics and moonlight. The kisses were so wonderful, she wondered if anything