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differently.”
    “I’m not sure how you broke the news would have made a difference. I didn’t respond well either. All I heard was that you were leaving. I could have listened to you, instead of giving you an ultimatum.”
    “True. But I can’t blame you. Well, much,” she added. “After all, we were almost engaged.”
    “Almost. But I think it was more in my head than yours. You wouldn’t commit to a real engagement. You said your parents thought you were too young.”
    “They did. And obviously, I was too young.”
    “Still, I could have been a little more understanding rather than telling you to choose me or the job.” He shook his head with a chuckle. “You told me you chose the job and I could shove it.”
    “I don’t remember saying that.” She remembered crying into her pillow, though.
    “I do. It was the first time a woman told me to take a leap. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last. I’m a slow learner.”
    Maya laughed. “Oh, I doubt that.”
    Different courses came and went. They talked sporadically until they both had their entrees in front of them.
    Maya almost moaned when she took her first bite of fish. “This trout is delicious.”
    Jack agreed and changed the subject. “We saw you in the magazines, you know. The town is very proud of you.”
    “Too bad my seven-year-old sister was the only one who believed in me.” Amy had been almost as starry-eyed about Maya’s career as Maya was herself.
    “I believed in you, Maya.”
    She stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth and stared at him. “It sure didn’t seem like it at the time,” she blurted out.
    “I’m sure it didn’t. In my defense, I was young and oblivious. Totally focused on college and medical school. Totally concerned with myself and my career. I knew you would succeed in modeling or whatever you chose. In my mind, though, your career was more flexible. So when you told me you’d accepted the job in Texas—” he shrugged. “I was too busy feeling hurt and angry to really consider your feelings.”
    “You’ve changed too,” Maya told him. “The younger Jack would never have admitted that.”
    “As you so aptly pointed out, I’m older now.” He laid his hand over hers on the table. After a moment of hesitation, she turned her hand over, so that they were palm to palm.
    Oh, God, Maya thought, gazing into his eyes. Not only dizzy, but tingling. My arm is tingling . Actually tingling . Chemistry. Instant chemistry, just like there had been all those years before. Did he feel it too? From the look in his eyes, she thought he did.
    “Why don’t we table this discussion?” he said. “We’ve talked enough about the past. Let’s talk about here and now.”
    “What about it?” she asked warily.
    He released her hand to take a sip of water and lean back. “Tell me about your business. I know it’s called Maya’s Models, but I haven’t heard anything else about it. Believe it or not, the busybodies don’t seem to know much about your work.”
    She hadn’t imagined that gleam in his eye. Maybe he didn’t want to come on too strong when they’d only just reconnected. Which was a good thing. Wasn’t it?
    “Maya?”
    Aware she’d been thinking about other things than business, she answered. “I haven’t been back in town long. I guess that’s why more people don’t know about it. My company is a headhunting firm for models. I have a lot of contacts from my modeling days and afterward, when I went into the management side of the agency.”
    “When did you go into management?”
    “Shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Carmen. I modeled maternity clothes until I had her and then switched over.” She laughed ruefully. “I discovered I liked eating and had no desire to starve myself back into my pre-pregnancy weight.”
    “A wise decision,” he said, looking her over appreciatively.
    “I thought so,” she agreed. “Anyway, after several years working in downtown Dallas, I was tired of the