Kayla Perrin - Heart to Heart

“Grilled corn,” Callie announced, walking with the plate toward the patio table. “Get it while it’s hot.”

“My favorite,” Deanna said, snagging the first piece. The others quickly snatched up the remaining ones.

“So, Deanna,” Callie said as she took a seat beside her. “Nigel’s wondering if you have a boyfriend in California.”

At the question, Deanna’s eyes widened. “What?”

“A boyfriend,” Callie repeated. “You know, someone you’re seriously dating.”

“I know what you mean.” Deanna made a face. “But I’m wondering why the question. I’ve been here four months and you haven’t heard me mention any male friend.”

“I know,” Callie said, “but Nigel didn’t want to assume.”

Deanna eyed her sister tentatively. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Oh, good.” Callie smiled. “So you’re free and single.”

Deanna noticed that Michael and Natalie were no longer gazing into each other’s eyes but staring at her with interest. She made a face. “I’m wondering why Nigel is concerned about the status of my love life.”

Callie looked toward Nigel. He gave a nod, indicating his agreement for her to explain why. “Nigel has a friend at the police station,” Callie said. “He thinks that maybe you two will hit it off.”

Deanna raised both eyebrows. Her future brother-in-law was interested in her finding a man? Deanna highly doubted that. She would bet her last nickel that Callie had put him up to it, and maybe even Natalie, too. Now that both Callie and Natalie had found love, would they have a steady stream of police officers and football players for Deanna to choose from?

“So because both of my sisters are happily coupled off, I have to find someone, too?” Deanna asked.

“Something like that,” Natalie said, grinning widely. Though she and Michael were sitting beside each other and holding hands, Natalie’s legs were now extended and stretched out on Michael’s lap. They were completely at ease together, totally content. Deanna didn’t remember seeing her sister ever look quite so happy.

“And Nigel thinks that Marshall would love you,” Callie went on. “You said he’s a fan of her music, didn’t you, sweetie?”

“Yep,” Nigel agreed. “He said he’s followed your career, loves your music, thinks you’re beautiful.”

Deanna refrained from rolling her eyes. She didn’t want a man who liked her for her music. All too often, a man was enamored with her public persona and not the real her.

“If it’s all well and good, I think I’ll pass on being set up.”

“Come on,” Callie said. “What could it hurt?”

“I never do well on blind dates. I don’t know why, I just don’t. I guess I feel too awkward, which causes the whole date to spiral downhill.”

“Then don’t think of it as a blind date,” Callie said. “Think of it as an evening where you’ll be meeting someone new.”

“I’ll still say no,” Deanna said with a frown.

Callie shook her head. “So stubborn.”

“What could it hurt to meet him?” Natalie asked. “Maybe Callie and Nigel could have us all over, so it’d be less awkward.”

“Right now, the last thing on my mind is dating,” Deanna said. “I’m more interested in finding our mother.” She didn’t want to add that the experience with her ex Brian had really

shaken her. She could happily remain single for a long, long while.

Deanna hadn’t chosen wisely before when it came to love. She’d had her heart broken, and she knew that she had also broken her share of hearts. There had been men who were into her—perfectly nice men whom she hadn’t been able to give all of her heart. For the most part, her career had been her everything, her main focus.

Which was what made the demise of her relationship with Brian even harder to stomach. In a sense, he had been the perfect man for her because he was involved in the music industry. He was an established producer, and Deanna had met him at a party and had been ecstatic when he told her that he admired her music and wanted to work with her. It hadn’t taken her long to realize that Brian was also romantically interested in her. They’d gotten along well, their banter had been easy and the flirtation had been fun. So Deanna had decided to throw caution to the wind and take a chance on love with Brian. She had begun to fantasize that they could become a music industry super-couple….

Instead, Deanna had learned a horrible lesson about mixing business with pleasure.

It was a lesson she had learned when she first left Cleveland and went to Hollywood. When, as a twenty-one-year-old girl, she met the man who would help get her career off the ground.

“Dee?” Natalie said tentatively.

Jerking her eyes to her sister’s, and seeing the look of concern, Deanna realized that she was gripping the beer bottle in front of her…one that didn’t even belong to her.

“You okay?” Natalie asked.

“Sure,” Deanna replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.

She released the bottle, but she couldn’t as easily release the painful memories that plagued her.

Chapter 2

Deanna saw Kwame waving enthusiastically as she approached the doors to his school. The same school she had attended as a child.

It was weird being here after all these years, like a definite step into the past. The building looked so much smaller than Deanna had remembered. Funny how when you became an adult your perspective changed.

It was two days after Kwame had asked if she would come talk to his class, and he had called her over the lunch hour to say that his teacher would like to meet her to discuss the idea. Deanna had promised that she would come at the end of the school day to speak with the teacher, which she guessed would be a meeting to determine how best to incorporate her visit with whatever studies the children were doing.

Kwame was beaming now as she approached, clearly thrilled at the fact that his idea of her talking to his class was one step closer to coming to fruition.

Deanna couldn’t help but smile in return. A child’s energy and happiness were infectious, and giving just a little bit of her time was clearly worth it. Just seeing how happy it made her nephew was already repaying her in leaps and bounds.

Kwame opened the door as she reached it, saying, “Auntie

Deanna! I already talked to the principal about it, and he thinks it’s a great idea. And he wants to meet you, too. Actually, he says he knows you already but that he wants to see you again.”

Kwame was speaking in a rush, and Deanna quietly shushed him. “Whoa, you’ll have to slow down. Your principal wants to meet me?”

“Uh-huh. He said he knows you.”

“He knows me?” Deanna gave Kwame a skeptical look. “Or he knows who I am?” She would bet that it was the latter. Given that she had grown up in Cleveland, most people here knew that she was the Deanna Hart who had made a name for herself in the music industry.

“He knows you,” Kwame stressed. He took her hand. “Come this way. He’s in the office.”

“I’m sure he means that he knows who I am,” Deanna said as Kwame led her toward the office doors.

Kwame stopped mid-stride and faced her. “Uh-uh. He said he was excited about seeing you again.”

“You mean he knows me knows me?”

“Yeah. He said he knew you before you got famous.”

Deanna frowned slightly, now curious. Had she known any principals?

Before she even thought to ask the man’s name, Kwame was opening the office doors and leading her inside. And that’s when Deanna stopped dead in her tracks.

Eric Bell. Good Lord in heaven, was it really him?

His lips curled in a smile—the same room-brightening smile she had seen many times years ago—and Deanna was absolutely certain. Just over six feet tall, with that flawless golden-brown complexion—yep, it was definitely Eric Bell.