Pamela Bauer - 15 Valentine Place

She wished she hadn’t confronted him in the kitchen. He was right about one thing: his relationship with his mother wasn’t any of her concern. Still, she’d grown very fond of Leonie and it had seemed natural to come to her defense.

Despite Dylan’s claim that he hadn’t intended to upset his mother, Maddie knew that whatever they’d discussed in the kitchen had taken the sparkle out of Leonie’s eyes. It didn’t take a psychologist to know that the joyful reunion her landlady had hoped to have with her son hadn’t materialized.

Maddie didn’t understand why it hadn’t. As hard as she tried not to be curious about their relationship, she couldn’t help but wonder what had caused Dylan to become the stray sheep of the family.

She supposed it could be his personality. He wasn’t exactly the easiest man to get along with. She resented his implication that she had somehow stuck her nose into business that didn’t concern her—as if being a friend to Leonie was a devious plan on her part. If Leonie hadn’t come into the kitchen when she had, Maddie might just have set him straight on the subject.

A knock on her door had her looking up with apprehension. Maybe he regretted his mother’s appearance, too, and wanted to continue with his warning.

Then she heard a woman’s voice. “Maddie, it’s Krystal. Can I come in?”

Maddie threw her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. “Sure. It’s open.”

“I saw your light beneath the door and figured you were up,” her housemate said as she padded into the room in her robe and slippers. “I just had to come in and see what you thought about Dylan. Is he gorgeous or what?”

That was something she hadn’t wanted to think about—Dylan’s looks. He was every bit as good-looking now as he had been all those years ago and, to her dismay, when he’d walked into the living room, her body had behaved as it had all those years ago when she’d practically melted whenever he’d pass by.

“He’s all right,” she said, trying to sound disinterested.

“All right? Maddie, are you blind? That sun-streaked hair and that golden tan and those muscles.” She sighed dreamily. “Leonie said he worked with concrete. No kidding. He must lift a ton of blocks to get that kind of a bod.”

“I’m going to have to get you a bib if you keep talking that way,” Maddie said dryly.

Krystal playfully punched Maddie’s shoulder. “Come on. Admit it. You think he’s cute.”

Maddie didn’t see much point in denying the obvious. “Yeah, he’s attractive.”

“But is he smart? Does he have a nice personality?” Krystal wanted to know. “You talked to him, didn’t you?”

“We only talked for a few minutes in the kitchen,” she said, not wanting to say what she really thought about the man. Krystal was single and so was Dylan. As Leonie often said, romance could happen when you least expected it and what Maddie didn’t need was to say something negative about Dylan and have it end up coming back to haunt her later. “But he can’t be dumb if he’s an engineer,” she pointed out.

“That’s what I figured, too. I was hoping I’d run into him when I went downstairs to use the shower tonight, but he’d already gone to bed.”

Which was exactly what Maddie wanted to hear. She’d avoided going downstairs to the bathroom for that very reason. She didn’t want to risk bumping into him again this evening. One unpleasant confrontation was enough.

“It’ll be nice when we don’t have to use the shower downstairs,” she remarked. “Having only a half bath on this floor could result in things getting a bit awkward.”

“Or interesting,” Krystal said with a wiggle of her brows. “I wish I’d listened more closely all those times Leonie talked about him. I thought he’d look like Shane or Garret.” She held up her hands. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t think they’re cute, ’cause I do. It’s just that Dylan is so…” Her eyes got all dreamy as she searched for the right word.

Maddie could have supplied it. Hot. There was no denying it. The man had it, whatever it was. Not that she cared. She wasn’t fourteen anymore and she didn’t respond to it.

“He hasn’t been married, has he?” Krystal asked.

“Not that I know of.”

“I can’t believe he doesn’t have someone waiting for him back in Saint Martin,” Krystal said, sighing heavily. “Leonie says he doesn’t, but look at him. Good-looking guys like that are rarely unattached.”

“Just because he hasn’t told his mother doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Maddie pointed out. “But does it matter? I thought your heart belonged to the bodybuilder over at the gym.”

“T.K.? I’m thinking it may be time to move on.”

Maddie wondered if she was planning to move on with Dylan. Before she could ask, Krystal said, “I suppose it could get sticky, though, if I messed around with Dylan. I mean, Leonie’s a dear, and I wouldn’t want to create problems…you know what I mean?”

“I think you’re right on with that one,” Maddie agreed. “Mothers can get funny over their sons.”

Krystal nodded her head in agreement. “I once dated this guy who had a really neat mom. She treated me just like a daughter until she found out we’d been talking about marriage. Then she went ballistic. Started cussing at me and telling me I wasn’t good enough for her little boy.”

“I don’t think Leonie would be like that.”

Krystal thought for a moment, then said, “No, you’re probably right, but I still wouldn’t want to screw up a great housing arrangement.” She sighed. “At least Dylan will make good eye candy for these cold, gray days of winter.”

As much as Maddie wanted to deny it, she knew her housemate was right. Only she wasn’t going out of her way for any visual treats. She’d do her best to avoid him, even if it meant disappointing Leonie by being absent in the kitchen. She was determined that when she shared a house with Dylan, this time she was not going to become infatuated with him.

Once in a lifetime was enough for her. Besides, she already had one man in her life. Jeffrey, who was a dear friend. That’s all she wanted in a relationship right now. It was all she could handle. She needed to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life before she could look at men as anything other than friends.

Unfortunately as she drifted off to sleep, it wasn’t Jeffrey’s face in her thoughts. It was the man she wanted to forget—Dylan.

Dear Leonie: It’s been fourteen years since I had my first crush on a guy. Now I’m twenty-eight and he’s back in my life and all those old feelings have come rushing back. I don’t want to feel anything for him. What should I do?

Signed: Wanting to forget the past

Leonie says: You’re only attracted to him because he rekindles those adolescent feelings of first love. My bet is once you spend a little time with him you’ll realize that’s all it was—puppy love.

THERE WAS ONLY a two-hour time difference between Minnesota and Saint Martin, yet Dylan awoke feeling as if he had jet lag. Maybe it was because he’d had a restless night. Strange beds often did that to him.

Or it could have been his guilty conscience that had caused him to toss and turn last night. He should have apologized to his mother before saying good-night to her, but his confrontation with Maddie had left him in a sour mood and, instead of focusing on the matter of most importance—his mother—he’d been preoccupied with thoughts of the belly-dance teacher.

But that was last night and today would be different he vowed as he showered and shaved. When he walked into the kitchen his mother was alone at the table, reading the paper.