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much does this gig pay?” he asked as he filled out the application.
    “Not what you’re used to making, I’m sure.”
    “No, but it will pay the bills. I appreciate this, Mom.”
    “I wasn’t kidding—you’re doing me a favor. Seen your ghost yet?”
    Ben froze for an instant. “No. But I haven’t looked, either. She’ll show up, I’m sure.” He didn’t want to think about it. He figured the lonely nights he would be spending after work would give him plenty time to do that.
    “I’ll head back to the farm,” he told her when they were finished. “Need me to stop for anything?”
    She checked her watch. “It’s after three. If you want to swing by and pick your sister up on your way home, I’ll let your dad know. She’ll be in basketball practice until four. You’d be getting there about the same time he would be coming off the mountain. And I know he’d appreciate the favor.”
    “Will do.” He stopped at the door, tapping on the frame. “You know, she’s going to have to start beating the boys off with a stick. She doesn’t have any of us around to do it for her.”
    Sarah smiled. “Owen said the same thing recently. And I think she can handle the attention. She just turns them all into friends, and they can’t figure out how she does it. Then she finds them other girlfriends. It’s funny to watch, really.”
    “Poor Dad. He’s not ready for her to grow up.”
    “Neither am I, but I’ve yet to find a way to prevent it. Get on out of here. I’ll see you soon.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    He went out the back door instead of the front, then made his way to the pay parking lot. By focusing his thoughts on picking up Amelia and on his trip to Lexington the next day, he managed to avoid thinking about the girl he used to meet at that back door.
    He was looking forward to seeing his sister Rachel. She was in her second year of college and had volunteered to show him around campus as soon as she’d learned he was going to be in town.
    He ignored the fact that there was someone else in Lexington—at least she had been the last he knew—whom he wouldn’t be seeing tomorrow. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t be looking closely at every tall blonde they encountered. As much as he had tried to quell that habit, he still did it, no matter where he was. He knew it would be worse in Lexington, though, because she’d fled there that summer.
    Ben didn’t know what he would do if he actually encountered Ainsley Brewer. His ideas varied from wrapping her in his arms to wrapping his hands around her neck and squeezing, and everything in between. He hoped, if they ever did have the occasion to meet face-to-face again, he would have the strength to simply walk away.
     

 
    Chapter Five

     
    March 1988
     
    W hen Ben got back to his apartment Thursday night and saw the message light blinking on his answering machine, he groaned. It had been a hellish two weeks, and he was almost afraid to check the messages.
    Friday before last, he’d had to pick up John at a bar after he and Zanny had a fight. His sensible, reliable brother had spent the night snoring on Ben’s couch in a drunken stupor. The cause for the argument hadn’t been anything small, either. Once he’d learned the truth behind what had turned into a separation, it had taken all Ben’s willpower to not pound John into the ground.
    As if that weren’t enough, Zanny had lost the baby she’d just found out she was carrying. Though John had spent the last few nights at home, taking care of her, Ben didn’t expect that to last. He’d known Zanny long enough to see that the troubles between her and John went too deep for all to be forgiven easily. As much as he wanted John to learn to appreciate what he had, Ben took no pleasure in seeing their relationship stumble.
    A glance at his watch told him it was approaching six o’clock. He was covered in mud, and as much as he wanted a hot shower and something to eat, he knew he had to listen to the