"Yes," Abby said with a huge smile.

Ellie squealed and began hopping again.

The reaction was so silly and so happy that Abby couldn't contain her peals of laughter.

Ellie bounced over to her, grabbed her hands, and they began bouncing together.

Suddenly they were young again, laughing and spinning, acting very foolish.

The loud cranky rumble of Helen announced Chase's arrival home. Abby and Ellie stopped twirling.

Ellie squeezed Abby tight. "I'm so glad you're home for good."

"Me, too." And she really was.

"Now go tell that hunk of yours that you are officially here to stay."

Abby didn't need to be told twice. She dashed out onto the front porch.

Chase was unloading tools from the back of his truck. He stopped when he saw her.

"Hey, you, " he called to her, putting a hand up to shield the sun from his eyes.

"Hey, you," she shouted back, her voice joyous. "I've got some news for you."

He started to walk down his drive. "Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I got a full-time position at Rand Labs."

Chase froze at the edge of the street. "What did you say?" he asked slowly.

"I got a permanent job at Rand Labs," she repeated and rushed down the stairs.

Chase whooped and moved toward her. They met in the middle of the street. He scooped her up and spun her around and around, both of them laughing.

Finally he slowed and set her back on her feet.

"That," he declared, "is the best news I have ever heard."

And he kissed her senseless.

"I've never seen anything so romantic," Millie Lime-burner said as Summer-Ann shoved the highlighting cap over the older woman's huge perm. "They were in the middle of the street, spinning and laughing, and then they kissed. It was just like the end of any old movie."

Summer-Ann began threading Millie's hair through the tiny holes in the rubber bonnet with a hook that looked just like a plastic crochet hook. Although any self-respecting hairdresser would say it absolutely wasn't. It was a highlighting tool.

Summer-Ann had started at the salon the day after Chase let her go. Marnie had been thrilled to have her back, and to be honest, she didn't really mind the work either. A lot of her old clientele were glad to see she'd returned, and she liked working with the girls again.

Wendy, Marnie and Patty had always been fun to spend time around.

"Just like an old movie," Millie said again, her voice dreamy. "One with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn."

Summer-Ann shot a look at Patty, who rolled her eyes in response. Patty was actually stationed behind her, but with the mirrors lining the walls, they could see each other's reflections. Millie couldn't see anything without her bifocals.

"Abby Stepp looks a bit like Katharine Hepburn," Millie said.

That received another eye roll from Patty.

"I have always liked those Stepp girls. Of course, Lillian Stepp was such a nice lady-we were neighbors for nearly forty years. It only stands to reason her granddaughters would be nice girls, too."

Summer-Ann yanked a piece of hair through one of the holes.

Millie gasped and reached up to her head.

"Sorry," Summer-Ann said.

Millie nodded, accepting her apology. "Now, I wouldn't have ever pictured Abby with Chase Jordan,"

she continued.

"No, neither would I," Summer-Ann agreed wholeheartedly.

"He used to be such a wild young man. You worked for him, didn't you, dear?" Millie didn't wait for her answer. "He does have quite a successful business, I hear. I've considered asking him to fix a door in my house. It swells every summer. But he must have changed his wild ways, if he's gained Abby's interest. She's a smart girl. Valedictorian of her class, you know."

"Yes, I went to school with her," Summer-Ann said coolly.

"That boy is handsome though. No Cary Grant now,"

Millie added. "But very nice looking. Although he should trim up that hair."

Millie was silent, and Summer-Ann plucked at her head in peace. But only for a few brief moments. "Ellie came over to my house this morning to pick up a few library books that were due. She does that for me-brings me books and takes them back for me. You know, since she's going to the library anyway. She picks up groceries for me, too. Usually just milk and bread, things like that." Even Millie seemed to notice her story wasn't going anyplace. "Anyway, I got the chance to ask her what those two were celebrating in the street. And she told me that Abby is staying permanently in Millbrook." Summer-Ann dropped the crochet hook. "For good?" Millie nodded. "With a kiss like that, right in the middle of the street, I imagine we'll soon be hearing wedding bells on Fletcher Road." Summer-Ann felt nauseous. "Just like the end of a movie, I tell you," Millie said again. Summer-Ann felt like she was in a movie, too. A horror movie.

Fortunately Millie was Summer-Ann's last client of the day, although it was the longest two hours she'd ever had to live through. By the time she left the salon and got into her car, the nausea had worn off and had been replaced by pure anger.

After Chase had fired her, Summer-Ann had gone over to talk to her best friend, Candy Moore. Her friend calmed her down and convinced her not to do anything stupid. So she let her plan go. After all, she'd heard from Mason Sweet's secretary, Ginny Tibbetts, that the oldest ugly Stepp sister was only in Millbrook temporarily. Then she would go back to her job in Boston.

Summer-Ann just assumed that would bring a natural end to the bizarre romance, and she could make her move without causing Chase any upset. But now it didn't look that way. And after hearing at least fifteen recounts from old Millie Limeburner of their mid-street kiss, it seemed she needed to take drastic measures.

Willie was waiting on a bench outside Millbrook Elementary when she pulled into the schoolyard. He jumped up and ran to the car, dragging a beat-up Harry Potter backpack behind him. "How was your day?" she asked, leaning over to kiss his tousled head. Her son always had the most adorable case of bedhead, even after she washed and combed the unruly locks.

"Good," he said, dropping the bag on the car floor. "We're learning about the Solar System."

"Really? That's cool."

"Yeah," Willy agreed. "I want to make rockets when I grow up."

Summer-Ann smiled, but a bittersweet feeling swept through her. She'd had big dreams too at Willy's

age, but things didn't go quite the way she had imagined. She desperately wanted things to be different

for Willy.

She worried all the time. Worried that he'd make the same mistakes she had. Worried that when he got older, he'd need more than her. He needed a male influence. Someone who was levelheaded and consistent and would encourage him to succeed.

"I'm going to ask Chase if he'll help me make a model rocket. We saw them down at Shore Market, and he said we could build them, then take them to Hobb's Field and shoot them off."

Chase was the perfect dad for Willy. And Summer-Ann knew she could be happy with him too. Their teenage affair had been wild and passionate. She honestly believed that Chase had never really gotten over her, and in truth, she'd never really gotten over him either.

It would work. They would be happy. It might take a little unpleasantness, but she was willing to do what she had to do.

She looked over at Willy. He was pretending that a round hairbrush that he'd found in the car's cup holder was a rocket.

She would do anything for her little boy with big dreams.

Chapter 27.

"You look beautiful," Chase said, looking at Abby in the mirror.

She had to admit she felt beautiful. She'd bought a new sundress to wear to the Leavitts' today. It was a simple cut, fitted at the bodice with a flowing skirt, in pale blue cotton. The color had reminded her of Chase's eyes, but me real selling points had been that it looked nice with her skin tone and made her feel

almost delicate.

He came up behind her, slid his arms around her waist, and placed a kiss on her bare shoulder.

Abby studied their reflections. Chase made her feel delicate, too. She was tall, but he still had a good

four or five inches on her. And their dark hair mingled nicely together, his very dark and hers, a couple of shades lighter.

Her gaze moved to his bronzed, muscular arms. They looked pleasing against her paler skin.

"What are you thinking?" he asked alter a few moments of watching her scrutinize their images.

"I was thinking that we actually look like a couple." She nuzzled her cheek to his.

"As opposed to what?"

She smiled and shrugged, feeling the muscles of his chest against her back. "I don't know. I guess I'm being silly."

He straightened and inspected them in the mirror. "We do look good together."

"You're just humoring me."

Chase shook his head and narrowed his eyes to really study them. Finally he pronounced, "It's the noses. We have the noses of a couple." She elbowed him and tried to pull out of his embrace. "You're funny," she said without any real affront. He held her tight. "You know why we look like a couple?" he asked, his voice serious. Abby stopped squirming and looked at him; their eyes locked in the mirror. She couldn't reply. His gaze was so intense, she felt trapped between strong arms and a pale blue stare. "We look like a couple because we are crazy, mad in love." He turned her in his arms and kissed her. Her toes curled in her sandals. Yep, that was it exactly. "Maybe we should just stay home," Chase suggested, nibbling her ear. "You're insatiable." "Only for you," he said, a roguish twinkle in his eyes. "Is that true?" She hated to be needy and insecure, but the words just seemed to burst out. The twinkle vanished, and his expression became solemn. "I've never felt like this about anyone else.

Never."

Abby's heart soared; it twirled like one of Willy's kites. "I'm glad. I wouldn't want to be the only one feeling this way."

"Believe me, you're not." He kissed her.

It was only the obligation to Tommy and Becky that kept them from tumbling into bed for the afternoon.

Although, it didn't seem to stop them from tumbling to the floor for a while.

Chase glanced at his watch. It was only half past three. Not too bad, although he didn't feel nearly as satisfied as he'd like to. Abby was in for a night of very little sleep.

She was bent over, getting a basket of goodies out of the GTO. The skirt of her sundress was draped over the curve of her bottom and swirled around her trim ankles.

When she straightened and turned around, she caught his admiring expression. "What?"

He couldn't quite contain the devilish smile that tugged at his lips. "Just admiring that dress."

She raised an eyebrow, suppressing her own smile. "Well, stop and carry these brownies." She held out a pan of the bars, topped with chocolate frosting and chopped nuts.

"When did you make these?" he asked, taking them.

"I didn't; Ellie did. I told you, I can't cook." She brushed past him, with her basket of cheese and crackers and a couple bottles of wine balanced in the crook of her arm, his own Little Blue Riding Hood.