Kathryn Shay: Back To Luke

Jayne cleared her throat and moved into the sunlight.

Every single muscle in Luke’s body seemed to stiffen. For a moment he simply stood there, staring up at her. Jayne forced herself to hold her ground, despite the flinty look in his eyes that made her shiver.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he finally said.

“Eleanor invited me to stay with her.”

“You can’t do that.”

Jayne squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Back off, Luke. I’m not as easily intimidated as I was when I knew you in New York.”

“You ran, Jayne. Like you’ve been running all your life.” Luke made a sound of disgust. “And I never knew you, lady. Never.” With that he stalked away.

Dear Reader,

When I plan out a novel, I always think about the themes. Back to Luke deals with two primary themes: making mistakes then living with them, and what happens in a relationship when trust is betrayed?

Jayne Logan and Luke Corelli are flawed characters, which I like about them. Some bad things have happened to them and both have made one big mistake in their lives. They have to live with what they’ve done and promise to do better. Of course, they slip up.

Then there’s the issue of trust. We all want to trust the people we love. And sometimes others don’t live up to the faith we’ve put in them. Do I think we can regain another person’s trust after betraying it? Yes. Do I think it’s easy? No. Luke and Jayne find this out. Not only have they let each other down, but one of them does what he’s promised he’ll never do. To me, this situation is the epitome of trust. I’ve used it before, and when the betrayal occurs and the other person realizes what’s happened, I often cry myself. Trust is fragile and can be broken at any time. What we do afterward alters the relationship and maybe our lives.

As for Luke and Jayne, their bumpy road to happiness is similar to all of ours, and I hope you can relate to each of them. Rest assured, there is a happy ending.

Want to learn more about me and my work? Visit me at www.kathrynshay.com. There are book trailers and a blog I update frequently. You can also see the blog at www.livejournal.com/kathrynshay. And you can connect with me on MySpace, at www.myspace.com/kathrynshay. Or write to me at kshayweb@rochester.rr.com.

Happy reading,

Kathryn Shay

Kathryn Shay is the author of twenty-four Harlequin Superromance books and nine novels and two novellas from the Berkley Publishing Group. She has won several awards. Among them are five Romantic Times BOOKreviews awards, three Holt Medallions, three Desert Quill awards and a Booksellers’ Best Award. A former high school teacher, she lives in upstate New York, where she sets many of her stories.

To my good friend Eleanor Pierce, eighty-nine years young this month, who served as the model for the Eleanor in the book.

Thank you so much for all you’ve taught me and the time you’ve spent with me.

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

JAYNE LOGAN WAS a desperate woman. As she stood at the edge of the rest area overlooking Riverdale, nestled in a valley in Upstate New York, she admitted the stark truth to herself—she had no place else to go. Where people cared about her, anyway. Her life was in shambles, her parents were completely unsupportive, as usual, and over the years she’d alienated most of the acquaintances she’d managed to make.

Except for Jess Harper, her best friend from college, the man who’d been her lifeline in good times and bad. Their estrangement hadn’t been her fault. She could still see him in front of his mother’s house, tears in his eyes, six years ago.

I’ll let you go, Jaynie. But only if you promise me one thing. If you ever need me, really need me, you’ll call or come to Riverdale.

Well, she thought, shaking her head, she really needed him now—enough to risk what could very well be a powder keg of reaction from his wife, even after all these years. Naomi Harper’s jealousy was the reason Jayne and Jess had cut off all ties and agreed not to see each other. At first they’d exchanged e-mails, then their contact had dwindled to cards at holiday time. In some ways, Jayne felt like she’d lost a limb when Jess and his mother, Eleanor, were no longer part of her life.

Pushing away memories of Naomi—they made her feel selfish for coming to town—Jayne got into the front seat of her rented Lexus and headed into Riverdale. Its population was about twenty thousand, but the place had the feel of a much smaller town. It hadn’t changed much, either, she thought as she drove along Route 17 and into the heart of the city bisected by the Chemung River, with its quaint streets, old-school architecture and the glass factory’s tall white tower. The edifice stood above the business area and blew its horn morning, noon and night, like a watchful parent guarding his children and calling them to work. Most of the townspeople had jobs in the factory or at headquarters, which she passed on the right. The beautiful black glass building rose up twenty stories, all sleek lines and interesting rounded corners.

Her heart began to thump in her chest as she turned off Sunset Boulevard and drove up Lexington Avenue, one of the many hills over which the population sprawled. She remembered when Jess had bought the big gray-shingled house on Second Street, near a park where his girls could play and surrounded by neighbors who had, of course, become his close friends. Everybody loved Jess and rightly so, given his generous nature and a sense of humor that could put anyone at ease.

Turning left, she pulled up to the curb and frowned. The house looked…shut down. She knew he still lived here. She’d gotten a Christmas card from him only four months ago. Damn it, she should have called. But she hadn’t forewarned her friend of her visit because she hadn’t been sure she’d actually come to Riverdale until she arrived.

Sliding out of her car, warmed by the April sun, Jayne took the concrete path to the sidewalk, climbed the first set of steps and the second. The front porch faced the entire valley and held a couple of lounge chairs; she noticed a small bike and a big-wheeled scooter tucked into the corner. They belonged to his girls. Suddenly, Jayne needed to see solid, family-man Jess more than ever.

She rang the doorbell. No one answered. The blinds were all closed and the house felt deserted. Because she was an architect, buildings were her best friends and she had a sixth sense about them.

“If you’re lookin’ for the Harpers, they aren’t home.”

Jayne turned to find a man on the sidewalk below. “Excuse me?”

“Jess and his family. They’re gone.” He smiled. “They went to Disney World. Naomi won the trip from the Glass Works. Needless to say, the kids were chompin’ at the bit to get there. Jess took them on their spring break from school.”

With a heavy heart, Jayne descended the two sets of steps, aware of the sounds of children playing in the yard next door and a lawn mower buzzing down the street.

The man had dark hair and eyes, and a kind smile. He held out a beefy hand. “Bill Parks. I went to high school with Jess. Now we’re neighbors.”