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right with you and Karen?”
    Matt didn’t respond right away. “Nothing’s changed.”
    His father’s warm chuckle followed Karen into her room. “You could’ve fooled me.”
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    Two hours later, Karen was sitting in the Midnight Sons mobile office, waiting for a pilot to fly her out of Hard Luck. She studied the worn floor, impatient to be gone and fully aware of why.
    Matt made her weak when she believed she was strong.
    Pressing her hands to her face, Karen closed her eyes and drew several deep breaths. It was better for them both that she lived in California now. The temptation to be with him would be too great if she stayed in Alaska. Even Anchorage, hundreds of miles from Hard Luck, was too close.
    Sick at heart, Karen willed herself to forget the night with Matt. Before she knew it, she’d be back in Oakland where she belonged.
    Paragon, Inc., the engineering company she worked for, had been more than generous in giving her time off to attend Lanni’s wedding, but now she had to prove to her boss, Mr. Sullivan, that he’d invested the company’s money wisely when he promoted her. She’d throw herself into the job, and she’d forget Matt once and for all.
    Her heart ached at the thought of him. She did wish him well. Contrary to what he might believe, she wanted him to succeed. She just didn’t think he would. If Matt was anything like her father, and he was, he’d find some way to sabotage himself. Only she refused to be like her mother, refused to stick around and pick up the pieces. She’d gotten out while she could and was determined to make a better life for herself.
    To be on the safe side, Karen decided to curtail any contact with his family. It would be difficult, though. Karen loved Matt’s parents as much as she did her own. They were wonderful, caring, loving people, and Lanni was like the sister she’d never had.
    If this wedding had taught Karen anything, it was that she’d never get Matt out of her life if she clung to his family.
    That decision made, she swallowed her disappointment andresolved to make more of an effort to meet new people once she got back to California.
    Matthew Caldwell wasn’t the only attractive man in the world.
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    â€œYou’re looking a little down in the dumps,” Ben Hamilton, owner of the Hard Luck Café, said as he automatically filled Matt’s coffee mug.
    â€œWhat do you expect the day after a wedding?” Matt returned, fending off Ben’s inquisitiveness. Matt hadn’t come to socialize, but to escape.
    His parents had been full of questions after seeing Karen parade barefoot up the stairs in the dress she’d worn to the wedding. Where she’d spent the night was all too obvious.
    â€œI must say your sister made a mighty pretty bride,” Ben said casually.
    Matt cupped the thick ceramic mug with both hands. “Thanks.”
    â€œTwo weddings in Hard Luck within a year. Now that’s something.”
    Matt merely grunted in reply.
    â€œMitch and Bethany set their wedding date for this summer,” Ben added conversationally.
    Mitch Harris, the public safety officer—usually described as “the law around here”—and teacher Bethany Ross had announced their engagement earlier in the winter. Leave it to Matt to settle in a community where Cupid had run amuck. While he was divorced and miserable, everyone around him was stumbling all over themselves, falling in love. Not Matt. Once was enough for him, and the worst of it was, he still loved Karen.
    â€œBethany and Mitch’s wedding’s going to be in San Francisco, but we’re throwing a big reception for them when they come back from their honeymoon.”
    San Francisco was across the bay from Oakland. Karen lived in Oakland.
    Karen. Karen. Karen.
    No matter what he said or did, everything seemed to point back to Karen. At this rate he’d never be free of