Past, Present And A Future

Past, Present And A Future
Janice Carter

He was her first loveAt Twin Falls High School, Gil Harper and Clare Morgan were inseparable–until the murder of a classmate tore their world, and their relationship, apart.Gil was a prime suspect in the murder, and although he was quickly cleared of all charges, Clare was never sure why Gil hadn't told her the whole story of his relationship with Rina Thomas. Their trust was shattered, and their plans for the future were buried along with the truth about Rina's murder.Now, years later, Clare returns to her hometown, where she is troubled by thoughts of what might have been. Could she and Gil have lived "happily ever after," like her friends Laura and Dave? Clare is finally getting a chance to find out….

“Let’s go to your place and take it from there.”

Gil looked at Clare a few more seconds, trying to decipher the expression in her eyes, but he couldn’t. At least she’d made the right choice. They had to finish what they’d begun.

Once inside, he helped her off with her coat. He froze when he brushed against her neck, mesmerized by the memory of the first time he’d touched it. He wanted desperately to stroke her skin and press his lips against her hair.

“Something wrong?”

Clare’s words brought him back to life. He whisked her coat off her shoulders and took it to the hall closet. Her footsteps echoed behind him.

“Didn’t we try to do this the other day?” she quipped as she came into the room.

He realized what she meant when he saw her nod toward the writing supplies on the table. “Maybe we’ll have better luck the second time around.”

Dear Reader,

Most of us, at one time or another, have attended a high school or college reunion and have learned that seeing old friends can sometimes be hurtful as well as exhilarating. Going back isn’t always easy to do. In fact, it can be downright risky—as Clare Morgan discovers in Past, Present and a Future.

Returning to Twin Falls, Connecticut, for the first time in seventeen years is much more than a trip down memory lane for Clare. What started out as a visit to attend the christening of her best friend’s new baby becomes a confrontation with Clare’s worst memories of her senior year in high school. Betrayal. Distrust. Murder.

And a key player in her memories—Clare’s former boyfriend, her first love, Gil Harper—has returned for the christening, as well.

Going back offers Clare an opportunity to put things right—to lay to rest for once and for all the painful memories of her seventeenth summer. Only then, Clare realizes, can a future with Gil Harper be possible.

Enjoy!

Janice Carter

Past, Present and a Future

Janice Carter

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

For Susan Hess, valued friend, great sister-in-law and terrific brainstormer.

Not to mention the best aunt in the world.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER ONE

GOOD NEWS and bad news. Funny how the two often came together. Clare read the e-mail a second time. Her best friend since elementary school was the proud mother of a baby girl named Emma. Clare felt a rush of emotion that was a mix of joy and envy.

The bad news was that Laura wanted her to be the child’s godmother, which meant going back home to Twin Falls, Connecticut. And home—somewhere she hadn’t visited in the last seventeen years—was the last place on earth Clare Morgan wanted to set foot.

She quickly sent a return congratulatory message, expressing delight at the request but avoiding a definite reply by saying she’d telephone on the weekend. That would give her two days to come up with a plausible excuse to politely decline. She was flattered that Laura had thought of her, but she couldn’t see herself in the role of a godmother.

Such as? Clare leaned back in her chair. There was no way she could refuse. Laura Kingsway, nee Dundas, had been her best friend since they’d started school together at Mountview Elementary in Miss Goodfellow’s kindergarten class. Their friendship had weathered upheavals such as the divorce of Clare’s parents when she was nine, along with boyfriend troubles during their high school years. Though their separation due to college and careers had altered the nature of their relationship to one of phone and e-mail—in fact, the last time Clare had seen Laura was at her marriage to Dave Kingsway two years ago—they were still close.

Twin Falls. Clare had difficulty uttering her hometown’s name even in her head. She still couldn’t believe that Laura and Dave had chosen to move back there. But then, Laura hadn’t been affected by the whole sordid mess seventeen years ago in quite the same way that Clare had.

Clare shut down the computer. She was having lunch with her editor to discuss changes to her upcoming book tour to promote her second novel. It was an important meeting and one that Clare had been anticipating for several days. The book had—to Clare’s astonishment—recently made the New York Times bestseller list a mere three weeks after its launch. She just hoped today’s news wouldn’t diminish her enjoyment of the celebratory luncheon.

“SALUT!” Alix Bennett clinked her champagne flute delicately against Clare’s.

Clare took her first taste of Cristal, savoring its crisp fruitiness and thinking she could get used to the trappings of success.