"Ah," Meg said slowly. "So you really don't care if I'm happy or not?"

Grace picked up her tape dispenser and threw it at Meg's head.

Meg ducked in time and it hit the wall behind her.

"Of course I care." Grace folded her arms. "I just would prefer hearing it from you than from Miss Trudi or Mrs. Winter."

"Fair enough," Meg said. And it was. "Dan and I are having a mutually satisfying relationship... with all the trimmings."

Grace's eyes rounded. "He has a seriously stellar set of abs."

Meg sighed. "Mmmm."

"I'm not asking you to spill everything-" her sister began.

"Good," Meg interrupted. "Because that's all I'm going to tell you."

"But, Meg-"

The phone rang and Meg reached for it. Better to answer the phone than argue with her youngest sister. "Mulcahy's, Meg speaking."

"Megan!" a deep voice answered. "I wasn't sure if you'd be at the shop."

She frowned; the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place the face.

"I just got to town and was visiting with my mom. Will you wait for me?"

"I don't mean to be rude," she said, "but who is this?"

There was a pause before he answered. "It's me, Jimmy."

Meg's world ground to a halt as the past and all of the heartache came crashing back.

When she didn't say anything he said, "I want to see you, Meg."

Suspicion filled her heart. She'd loved him so desperately when they were teenagers, and had been his hometown girlfriend every time he came back, but then he'd left-again-and she realized that she'd been convenient... nothing more than someone to be with so he didn't have to be alone. She'd never been important in Jimmy's life. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why? I always call you when I come home. Doesn't what we have mean anything to you?"

She couldn't believe she was having this conversation over the phone. Needing to get a grip so she didn't say something she'd regret, she quietly told him, "Yes. Our relationship has taught me one thing-you don't always get everything you want in life... but you get exactly what you need."

Before he could respond, she hung up the phone.

"Who was that?"

She shot to her feet and strode to the front door. "Nobody. I'll be back later."

"Wait," her sister called out. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to talk to Honey B." Meeting Grace's questioning gaze, she finally told her sister, "That was Jimmy on the phone."

"Van Orden?"

Meg nodded and left. The walk in the cool, fresh air cleared her head. By the time she walked into Honey's Hair Salon, she was ready to stand up for herself and blast the hell out of Jimmy Van Orden.

Honey's gaze met hers and then swept the salon. Every head had turned toward Meg. She sighed; may as well begin the way she intended to continue-with the truth. Clearing her throat she announced, "James Van Orden is back in town."

She waited a beat, taking in the expectant looks on the faces of the women in the salon. Before anyone could ask, she crossed her arms and said, "Dan Eagan and I are having a mad, passionate affair."

Honey smiled and asked, "What about Jimmy?"

"I'm convenient. If he felt anything more for me, he would have declared himself years ago and we would have worked out where and how to live. Dan helped me finally figure things out."

"Are you sure?" Honey asked, watching Meg closely.

"Dan is the man I didn't realize I'd been waiting for. I'm in love, Honey B."

Her friend's eyes filled with tears, but her hands were filled with the perm rods she'd been rolling on Mrs. Doyle's head. "Congratulations, Meg."

One by one the ladies in the shop started clapping until Meg realized they weren't trying to make her feel uncomfortable; they were actually applauding the fact that she'd taken a huge step forward getting on with her life.

"He's such a good catch," Mrs. Hawkins told her.

"He really fills out the seat of his jeans," Mrs. Jones said with a grin.

"The boys on his team think the world of him," Mrs. Doyle confided. "It takes a lot of hard work to step in and keep a team together and take them all the way to the state championships."

Meg normally didn't gossip, but she felt she owed it to the ladies who were rallying around her. "I thought I was in love years ago... and then I met Dan and I learned the true value of loving someone and being loved in return."

No one spoke until she added, "He's everything to me."

Honey B. finished putting the rollers in Mrs. Doyle's hair, put the cotton batting around her face, covered the woman's head with a towel, and set the timer. While the other women took turns hugging Meg, Honey B. took off her gloves and washed up.

When it was her turn, she hugged Meg tight and whispered, "Dan's worth it. Jimmy never was."

"Does Dan know that your old flame is back in town?"

Meg looked over at Mrs. Hawkins and shook her head. "I'm not sure. Jimmy called the shop and I hung up on him-I needed to talk to Honey B."

"I'm sure if Grace was in the office at the time, then Peggy and Katie already know," Mrs. Doyle said.

Honey brewed a fresh pot of coffee and the ladies sat down to plan out a strategy.

"Are you're interested in making that young man pay for what he did to you?" Mrs. Jones asked.

A part of Meg wanted to say yes, but deep down, there wasn't any room left in her heart for vengeance. All of those feelings had been replaced by the bone-deep love she felt for one very special man. "Not really."

"Would you mind if a few of us let the word out about how you feel about Dan?" Mrs. Hawkins asked with a glance at Mrs. Doyle. "We do owe the man so much for saving our boys."

As if on cue the door the shop opened and her teenaged nightmare walked back into her life. "I thought I'd find you here, Meg."

"Jimmy?" She could not believe he'd show up here after the way she'd hung up on him. Did he think he could just keep waltzing back into her life, proving to her and the town just how little he valued her?

Before she could think of a snappy come back that would have the man heading for the hills, he'd grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her into his arms and bent his lips to kiss her.

"Get your hands off my woman." Dan's deep voice had Meg's head spinning.

"It's not what you think-" she began.

But Dan was focused on his adversary and was too busy staring him down to listen. "I think that someone in town called Van Orden and told him that his childhood sweetheart has finally stopped pining for him."

The anger in Dan's voice had Meg realizing that he wasn't angry with her. "He caught me by surprise." She paused then asked, "Who would do something like that?"

As soon as she asked, her gaze met Jimmy's and she knew-his mother. The woman never did approve of Meg for her son.

The ladies in the shop had been silent up until that point, but Mrs. Doyle agreed. "Just walks right in as if the months of silence in between visits never happened."

"He always had more ego than brains," Mrs. Hawkins added with a smile.

"Now wait just a minute," Van Orden ground out.

"No," Dan said, taking Meg by the hand and tucking her against his side. "You'd better listen because I'm only going to say this once." He brushed his lips against her forehead. "Meg Mulcahy is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

When Van Orden drew in a breath to speak, Dan pulled Meg flush against him and kissed her as if now was the only moment that mattered-the world could end and he wouldn't care as long as he had Meg in his arms. He lifted his head and looked over the top of Meg's head and asked, "Are you still here?"

"She's my girl-"

Dan hugged Meg to his heart and shook his head. "You had your chance over the last few years, but never did anything about it. In my book you forfeited any claim you had to Meg's heart." He dipped down and kissed her; when he came up for air, he heard the sound of the door slamming and the ladies of the salon cheering.

"I love you, Meg."

Meg looked as if she'd been given the sun and the moon. Heart in her eyes, she smiled. "I love you more."

The door to the shop burst open and Dan spun around, fists ready to do serious damage to Van Orden, but it was the sheriff who stalked inside. Without a word he grabbed Honey B. and yanked her close for a kiss that had everyone in the shop hooting and hollering again. "You won't be going out to dinner with anyone else but me, Honey B. Harrington."

Honey B. stared up at the sheriff for a moment before getting her gumption back. "Who are you to tell me what-"

He covered her mouth with his again and this time no one spoke-no one moved. The gentle way the big man held Honey B. spoke volumes. "I'm a man who takes what I want. I'm tired of living in the shadows. I'm taking what I want, Honey B.-you!"

Honey B. squealed as the sheriff bent down, wrapped his arms around her waist, and tossed her over his shoulder. "You've got five minutes to tell me you don't love me."

"Damn it, why the hell do I love you?" Honey B. hollered as the sheriff opened the shop door.

"Close enough," he chuckled, stepping through the door with his woman.

Dan touched the tip of his finger to Meg's chin and she realized that her mouth had been hanging open. She glanced around the shop and noticed the ladies all having similar reactions. She shook her head. "Well, I guess he just told Honey B. what."

The looks of surprise changed into smiles as the ladies realized they had two juicy tidbits of gossip to pass on. Mrs. Doyle ran to her purse and pulled out her phone. When she pointed it at Dan and Meg, Meg started laughing.

"I hope you realize we'll be making the headlines of the Apple Grove Gazette, Coach."

"I'm thinking that I've been scooped by the sheriff and Honey B."

Mrs. Hawkins was already out the door chasing after the sheriff and his woman, hoping to take a picture before he set Honey B. back on her feet. Two seconds later she ran back into the shop face flushed and holding her phone high in the air. "I got it!"

Everyone gathered around to see the picture of the man who'd been upholding the law for more than a decade hauling his woman off to his bright red pickup with her over his shoulder and his wide-palmed hand on her backside.

Meg smiled up at Dan. "I think you're right, Dan. That picture will make the front page, but that's OK. I'll settle for page two as long as I know that you love me."

He lifted her into his arms and walked to the door amidst the clicking of phones snapping pictures. "Then let's give them something else to talk about." Her laughter filled the shop and his heart. "So you're not sorry that you're no longer available now that he's back in town?" Dan asked, setting her on her feet by his car.

She stood on her toes and nipped his bottom lip. Dan's nostrils flared as passion roared to life between them. Taking advantage of the situation, she wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged until their lips met and their hearts thundered together. "Not a chance. It is too bad you can't take me home, handsome, because I've got plans for you."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Oh yeah? It just so happens that I have a free period and there's an assembly right after lunch."

She trailed the tips of her fingers along the line of his jaw. "This really is my lucky day. Let's not waste any time."

Passion dark and desperate flared in his eyes.

She was laughing when he buckled her in. "Dan, wait! I forgot to lock up the shop."

"Text Grace and let her know you're going home with me."

She shot off the text and then set out to drive him crazy all the way to his house with her quick hands and full heart.

They made it to the kitchen, where he pinned her against the wall and whispered in detail the things he wanted to do to her. But he got so caught up in the image he was painting for her that he was the one who couldn't wait to go upstairs.

She soothed him with kisses on his cheeks and chin before she led him over to the counter, leaned back against it, and struggled to unbutton her jeans. He didn't wait long before offering to help her. His eyes never left hers when she shimmied out of her panties and kicked them to the side.

"Meg, I-"

She shook her head and had her hand inside his jeans before he could finish whatever he wanted to say. His eyes crossed and he groaned out her name when she freed him. She swept her fingertips along the top of his erection and then lightly traced the vein, awed by the power and beauty of the man in her hands.

"You're so beautiful," she cupped him gently, watching his face to see if he felt as much pleasure with her hands on him as she did putting them there.

He covered himself from tip to base and ground out, "Now." He lifted her up. "Put your legs around me, Meg."

She had set the beast loose and it was time to ride him. Heart in her eyes, love in her heart, she held on for dear life and took him in. His hand clamped on her backside as he drove into her again and again. Each time he withdrew she felt a cold chill chasing up her spine.

"Love me, Dan."

"I do, Meg."

They came together in a blinding flash that threatened to incinerate them. "You're going to kill me, Meg."

"I think you're a lot stronger than that." She patted his hand and he let her go. She tugged on his hand and coaxed him up the stairs. "How about a little nap and then you can let me have my way with you?"

"What do you call what we just did?"