He turned away.

Apparently, their big reunion was over.

Forgive /me/? Kat waved her muddy arms as she shouted at his back. What do you mean, you'll never forgive /me/? I don't forgive /you/! Riley, stop! Get back here! How did you find out about Aidan? He kept moving.

Don't you dare walk away from me! Wait!

He didn't wait, which was almost a relief, since she had no idea what to say next.

Riley called over his shoulder, Leave your contact information with your dad so my lawyer can find you.

Kat's arms collapsed at her sides. She went numb for an instant, just before the anger rushed in, hot and bitter and spreading its familiar vigor through her mind. She could not allow Riley to turn his back on her today, just like he'd done when she was sixteen. Twenty years ago, in the span of a single afternoon, she learned she was pregnant, got tossed out of school, kicked to the curb by her boyfriend, and sent away by her parents. Every minute since had been tough as hell, but she'd clawed and fought and survived so that one day/today/she could blow into town and get satisfaction. She deserved it. Riley Bohland owed it to her. Her parents owed it to her. The whole stinking, stupid, nothing town of Persuasion, West Virginia, owed it to her! /And this is all I get?/ Nola returned to her side and patted her shoulder. I think he really dug your outfit, she said.

Madeline Bowman may have put on a few pounds since tenth grade, but Kat decided she looked a hundred times better without the freakishly big high school hair she once had. Madeline chatted away while escorting her two guests to their rooms at the Cherry Hill B and B, which, she wanted them to know, had been under her proprietorship for the last six years.