Cassie Garcia pulled back the corner of the lace curtain to peek outside one more time. Yes, Aaron was still there, pacing across the majestic front porch of his mother's home, just as he had been doing for the last fifteen minutes. He had turned up the collar of his leather jacket against the November wind, but she could see that his cheeks were red and his blue eyes were watering from the frigid gusts.

Still as stubborn as ever, she thought, letting the curtain fall back into place. She wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck and struggled to close the top buttons of her coat over it. There had been a time when she would have gone hatless, just like the man on the porch, but she had long since reached the age at which practicality won out over fashion. As if to prove the point, she pulled her warm knit hat down over her ears and reached for her mittens, listening to his steps outside.

If he was just going to pace around out there, she was going to have to slip out the back door and make it to her car without ever having to see him face-to-face.

Cassie bit her lip, hesitating. That was the coward's way out, and she was anything but a coward. I'm just assessing the situation, not spying on him, she told herself, studying him around the curtain once more.

She had to admit that he was as handsome as ever, even with his wind-reddened face. The leather coat and dark jeans did nothing to disguise those long, muscular legs or his broad shoulders; she took a deep breath in spite of herself when he turned again and she caught another glimpse of the strong jaw and full lips that she remembered so well. She was absurdly pleased to see that he hadn't spent any of his new money to fix the nose that he had broken in tenth grade. The little bump at the bridge had been one of her favorite spots to kiss when they –

No. She refused to allow herself to think about kissing Aaron Tanner. That was a part of her past, and they had no future together. End of discussion. Enough. She straightened her shoulders and reached for the doorknob. She had places to be, and if leaving here on time meant that she had to come face-to-face with Aaron, then so be it. It was time to open the door.

Unfortunately, he seemed to reach the same decision at the same moment, and he shoved the door inward just as she reached for it. She tried to turn away, but the door hit her full in the face and sent her sprawling backwards. She heard his startled exclamation and felt his arms go around her as he caught her to keep her from falling.

"Are you all right, Miss? I am so –Cassie?" His familiar voice touched her soul and rose a full octave in surprise when he recognized the woman in his arms.

"Hello, Aaron." She rubbed her nose and tried to focus on anything but his face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Checking for blood, at the moment." She looked at her fingertips. Nope, no nosebleed.

"I didn't know you were standing there," he apologized.

There was no helping it. She was going to have to look at him. At that thick reddish-brown hair that he was now wearing so much shorter than he used to. At those blue eyes that still seemed to be able to see right through her. At those lips that had she suddenly realized she still hungered for.

"Ummm . . . let go of me?" she stammered.

He grinned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, please." Still, she made no effort to pull away from him. Even after all these years and all that had happened between them, there was something that just felt right about being in his arms.

And that was wrong.

She shook herself and pushed away from him. "I have to go," she told him.

"But . . . what are you doing here?" he repeated.

"I'm helping your mother with the Christmas fundraiser." Cassie patted the heavy tote bag that contained Lucille Tanner's binders full of information. "She gave me all of her notes from the past few years so I can get started."

"Oh. Well, don't rush out on my account. You can finish your meeting with her."

"No, my kids will be getting off the bus in twenty minutes. I have to get home." Kids. There, she'd said it. Let that sink in. She had kids now. Miguel's kids. She wiggled her fingers inside her mittens to feel the reassuring weight of her wedding ring.

Aaron recoiled as though he'd been slapped. "How old," he began, and cleared his throat before starting again. "How old are they now? Three boys, right?"

"Trevor is almost ten. The twins are six." So you've kept up on the news, she thought. She fought to keep the smug smile from her lips, but then all desire to smile faded as she realized that he must have kept up on all of the news.

Sure enough, she saw the now-familiar look cross his face. The look she had seen on so many faces over the past year, always followed by some variation of the same words that she knew Aaron was about to utter.

"I-I heard about Mikey," he said, using their childhood nickname for Miguel. "I'm so sorry. If there's anything you need—"

"Yeah, yeah." Cassie waved aside his sympathy. "It's been a year, Aaron. He was your best friend. What I needed was for you to show up for the funeral. He needed that. He deserved that. But I guess you were just too busy to show up, huh? Too busy to even call or send flowers or even a card. Nothing from you. Nada. Some best friend you turned out to be."

"We weren't best friends anymore," he corrected her. "That all ended when he married my fiancée. Or maybe you forgot about that part."

"You need to move on, Aaron. Everyone else has. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get home." It took everything she had to walk past him and out the door without looking back. She stalked across the frozen grass to her car, taking care not to look at his dusty SUV parked beside her sturdy minivan.

Perhaps it was time for her to follow her own advice, she admitted, starting the motor and hugging herself while she waited for the engine to warm up. It had, after all, been more than a decade since she'd last seen Aaron face-to-face, and she'd thought she'd gotten over the heartache a long time ago. She shouldn't have allowed him to see her get so rattled.

Shivering, she cast an envious glance at his big, expensive-looking SUV. I'll bet that thing has seat warmers, she thought. Or maybe they don't have to worry about cold butts in Texas.

Cassie shook her head and started backing slowly out of the driveway. The last thing she needed to be worrying about right now was Aaron Tanner or his butt, cold or not.