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you?”
    â€œIt’s not your truck—”
    â€œI’ve got more right to it than you do, so get out! ”
    Furious, Liza shoved open the passenger door. “You can’t get rid of me so easily, you know! I’ve got to go back to the lodge to get my car. And don’t try hiding in the trees when I come, Forrester! You won’t get away with that!”
    â€œGoodbye!” he barked as she got out of the truck.
    â€œGood riddance!”
    Liza slammed the door of the truck and stood breathing hard on the sidewalk while he pulled out and and drove back down Main Street without even waving in the rearview mirror.
    â€œJerk!” Liza shouted after him.
    The door of Marge’s Diner opened behind her, and a man stepped out onto the sidewalk. He was tall and white-haired, and he squinted in the bright sunlight. “Mary Elizabeth?” he demanded.
    She spun around. “Granddad!”
    Judson Ingalls stood under the canvas awning of the diner, fingering a toothpick and glaring up the street after the departing truck. Without further greeting, he said, “Was that Cliff Forrester?”
    â€œYes.” Liza strode to his side, absurdly happy to see her grandfather in the same old jeans and flannel shirt he had always worn despite his position of respect in the community. He looked just the same as ever—a gnarled but strong oak of a man with a sun-bronzed face, commanding Ingalls eyes and the firm Swedish jaw of his ancestors. “Oh, Granddad, I can’t believe how wonderful it is to see you!”
    Judson said, “You shouldn’t be hanging around with a man like that, Mary Elizabeth.”
    She laughed and reached for her grandfather with both hands. “I’m back in town for the first time in three years and already you’re criticizing the men I see? Granddad, how about a hug?”
    Avoiding the hug with a firm grip on Liza’s shoulder, Judson met her eye at last and said abruptly, “That Forrester fellow is dangerous, Mary Elizabeth. You shouldn’t be with him.”
    Liza faltered. “Dangerous?”
    Judson’s brow was thunderous. “The man’s violent—a crazy Vietnam vet who’s still screwed up. Why, I’m surprised he even spoke to you. Usually he avoids people completely.”
    â€œHe was in Vietnam?”
    â€œVietnam or Cambodia or some such place. You stay away from him, my girl. I don’t want you getting hurt by some fanatic! Keep away from Cliff Forrester, you understand?”
    Liza blinked in confusion, hardly able to digest the information. But in the next second her grandfather gave Liza a big bear hug and turned hearty.
    â€œWhat are you doing in town?” he demanded, laughing as he kissed her cheek and tweaked her chin. “You’re looking prettier than ever.”
    Liza gave him a shaky smile and allowed herself to be drawn into the diner for some breakfast. All hopes of slipping out of town without meeting anyone from her past evaporated as Liza was greeted by half a dozen of her grandfather’s cronies. She should have known they’d all be having breakfast in the diner. Some things never changed.
    Liza also recognized several familiar faces from her youth. Rose Atkins, the elderly lady known for riding her oversize blue tricycle all over town when Liza was still in high school, gave a cheery wave from a corner booth where she sat having breakfast with Tisha Olsen, the longtime owner of her own beauty salon, the Hair Affair.
    â€œWhy, it’s Liza!” cried several voices.
    â€œJudson, who’s that darling little girl with you?” demanded one old gentleman. “That’s not Alyssa’s youngest, is it?”
    â€œSure is,” Judson called back, casting his arm across Liza’s shoulder. “She’s grown up taller than her daddy, don’t you think? Take a seat here, Mary Elizabeth. We’ll get Marge to get you some fresh orange