Summer-Ann shook her head and a tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the green material of her dress. A dark spot appeared.

She swiped at her cheek. "Then the other day, I picked up Willy from school. He wouldn't even look at me. I questioned him and questioned him about what had him so upset, and finally he shouted, 'You!'" A sob escaped her, and it took her several seconds to gather herself and continue. "Some of the kids that were at the Leavitts' told him what I had done, and what I said about Chase. Willy couldn't understand why I would hurt Chase that way. And why I would hurt you."

Her voice hitched, and she stopped again to wipe her eyes. "And I suddenly saw what I looked like in Willy's eyes. And I don't ever-" Her voice hitched again, and she stated more firmly, "I don't ever want to look like that to him again."

Abby could feel the woman's pain. She could see Summer-Ann's sincerity and her shame. She sat there for a moment, then nodded. "I'll go."

Summer-Ann actually sagged with relief. "Thank you, " she whispered.

Ellie came to the table. Excitement brightened her blue eyes. "Well, we'd better get you two ready. You have a party to go to."

And like a chubby, adorable fairy godmother, Ellie herded them upstairs to work a bit of magic.

Chase was fairly certain that the past members of the Millbrook Inn's elite literary society were doing more than turning over in their graves. They were probably spinning like tops.

The decoration committee had done quite a job, including crepe paper wrapped around and tacked to every object in the room. Foil stars hung from the beautiful molded ceilings and blue Christmas lights bordered the walls. But his favorite ornamentations were the blown-up graduation pictures of all the class of 1988 alumni that lined walls like mug shots.

He wandered over and half-heartedly regarded them.

When he reached Abby's, he stood there and stared at the forgotten girl who was now so familiar to him.

The photograph had been taken in her backyard. He recognized her grandmother's magnificent peonies in the background. Her hair was down, instead of in the tight bun she'd worn in school. Her huge glasses hid half her face, but he could still see the touch of sadness in her eyes.

She wasn't homely at all. She was actually quite cute. Why hadn't anyone noticed? He stared at the picture for a long time, then finally moved on.

"Well, at least they are so enlarged you can't tell if it's acne or just grainy," Mason said from beside him.

Chase turned to his friend. "They're scary."

Mason nodded.

They stopped perusing the poster-sized pictures and watched the crowd. The room was already crowded, and the disc jockey had begun to play songs from the '80s.

"It's like a high school dance that ended up in the Twilight Zone," Mason stated.

Chase nodded.

"I need a drink."

Chase nodded again and followed him to the bar.

Once in line, they ran into Paul Cormier and Chad Moore, who chatted with Chase as though the scene at Tommy's house had never happened.

Chase was thankful and began to feel a bit more relaxed. In fact, he was slowly realizing that people weren't going to mention his dyslexia.

He and Mason got drinks and returned to the dance floor, which was littered with clusters of people standing around talking.

They joined a group with Tommy and Becky and Billy Norris.

"Billy, " Chase greeted his old friend with a quick embrace. "How are you?"

"Doin' good. Just tellin' Tommy here that I bought a new boat. Really sweet little rig."

Chase smiled, but he was only half listening. His gaze was back on the picture of Abby. Was she with Nelson again? Was she happy back in Boston? Was she thinking of him?

"Well, hell," Mason said, shaking his head, an amazed look on his face. "Now that is something I never expected to see."

Everyone followed Mason's stare. Summer-Ann Bouffard walked into the party with Abby Stepp beside her.

"Well, I'll be jiggered," Tommy exclaimed.

That was putting it lightly.

Chase stared as the two women searched the crowd. Then he couldn't see anything but Abby. He half believed that he was imagining her as she started toward him. She looked so damned beautiful in a red dress that showed her bare shoulders and swirled around her ankles. He fought to take in a breath.

"Hi," she said to him like she was as breathless as he felt.

"Hi." Damn, he wanted to touch her.

She turned and greeted the others warmly. Her warmth was met in kind.

"Can we talk?" she asked him.

"Yes." He led her over to the corner of the room, near the DJ. The synthesized sounds of Flock of

Seagulls reverberated around them. It took all his strength to remove his hand from the small of her back.

He wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to make sure she was real. "Why on earth were you with Summer-Ann?" He knew those shouldn't be his first words, but curiosity got the better of him.

"She came to me to apologize for the hurtful things she's done. And I decided to forgive her."

He gaped at her. "Why?"

"I guess I learned to be forgiving from this guy I know. He forgives easily, and I think that makes him

quite amazing."

He was thrilled at her words, but he couldn't truly believe she was here for him, not after the way he had

run off.

"Did you come back for the reunion?" he asked, trying to sound conversational.

She frowned, then an amused smile curved her lips.

She had such amazing lips.

"No, I'm here because I'm living in Millbrook now," she said slowly. "And I also came back to see if

this guy I am madly in love with has stopped acting like a fool."

"Has he?"

"The jury's still out."

"I'm sorry."

"You should be."

Not the reply he expected. "I shouldn't have run off."

"No, you shouldn't have."

She was going to make him work for this. As well she should.

"I didn't-" He hesitated, trying to find the words that wouldn't make him sound too pathetic. "I didn't

want you to feel sorry for me." He sounded pathetic. She didn't seem to notice. She touched his cheek. Her fingers felt like a brush of heaven. "I didn't. I felt proud. Proud of the wild, defensive boy who overcame huge obstacles to become the strong, intelligent man before me. So you have a learning disorder. I can't cook." "Not quite the same. You could learn to cook." "And according to Elbe, you have learned to read." "Barely." His voice was laced with self-derision. Abby touched his arm. He could feel her heat through his sleeve. "Barely is more than you could before.

But even if you never learn to read another word, I wouldn't care." She moved her hand up to caress his cheek. "I have loved you since we had study hall together in ninth grade, and I'll probably just end up loving you forever."

Her words humbled him. He caught her hand, bringing it to his lips. "I should have trusted you."

She nodded, her cheeks flushed, her eyes heavy-lidded as she stared at his mouth. "I expect that you will from now on."

"Yes, I will," he said, leaning closer to her. "I promise."

"And you won't run away?"

"No. Never. At least not without you." He leaned toward her more, his lips hovering over hers. "I love

you so much, Abby Stepp."

"Then I forgive you." She closed the small space between them, pressing her lips to his. She tasted

wonderful. He caught her against him, and they were oblivious to the mass of people around them, lost in each other.

When they finally parted, he whispered, "You forgive too easily."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I learned that from the wisest person I know."

Epilogue.

Abby plunked the cheesy, plastic, gilded crown onto Chase's head and lounged back on the bed to admire him.

He stood at the foot of the bed wearing nothing but the crown and a smile. He looked very regal indeed.

"You know, I'm starting to think these crowns are becoming fetish items for you," he said, although he didn't sound like he found the idea too objectionable. "I might have to return them to Mandy Blanchard and tell her to find a new king and queen."

She grinned and pushed a matching one onto her head. "No, she worked hard on these. Besides, you're definitely my only fetish."

"Good," he murmured, as he crawled onto the bed, his crown adorably askew.

He pulled her against him and they lay entwined in each other's arms, enjoying the closeness and the warmth.

Chase lazily brushed his hands over her hip, and she languidly twirled a lock of hair that curled over his ear.

He roused slightly. "I think we should wear these at our wedding."

"Definitely," Abby agreed. Chase had surprised her with a beautiful diamond ring on Christmas Eve, and she had readily accepted his proposal.

She had been living with him from the night of the reunion on. Abby still couldn't believe that someone as amazing as Chase Jordan was in love with her. But she got the feeling he felt the same way about her.

Life in Millbrook was turning out to be a wonderful experience filled with friends and happiness and love. The whole town had accepted Chase's learning disability as though everyone had known all along. And Chase had learned to not be ashamed of something he couldn't control. He still worked with Ellie on learning to read. And Abby suspected that because he wasn't so ashamed, he found learning easier. But Abby didn't care one way or the other. Chase was and always would be perfect to her.

Chase, being the easy forgiver he was, offered Summer-Ann her job back as his office manager. She declined, telling him she was actually happier as a hair stylist, but Abby was glad the animosity was gone.

They had picked a wedding date at the end of September. It was the soonest they could get a church and a reception area big enough for all their loved ones. But Abby liked the idea of marrying when the leaves were changing and the scent of wood smoke filled the air. She had always dreaded fall, as it marked the beginning of school. Now her old dread seemed so silly.

She squirmed a little as Chase's lazy caress became more purposeful, sliding from her hip up her side and back again, each sweep coming closer to the underside of her breast.