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strange that the rental bikes weren’t in better working order.
    “This shouldn’t happen.” Annie tried to make sense of it, too. “We have the bikes serviced regularly. The technician was in last Thursday when I was out of town. Right, Jason?”
    Jason rubbed his nose, his eyes looking everywhere but at Annie. “I, uh, forgot to tell you. He’s on vacation this month. He gave me the name of another guy we could call.”
    “What?” Annie exclaimed. “That’s not something it’s okay to forget.”
    Jason got to his feet, moving with what Ryan recognized as unaccustomed speed. “I’ll call him now.”
    Annie started after him, but Lindsey jumped to her feet and headed her off. “Can’t you cut him a break, Annie? Everybody makes mistakes.”
    Ryan had long thought he and Annie had made a mistake the night Lindsey was conceived but no longer. It seemed miraculous that they’d created this special, beautiful child.
    “I suppose I could let it go just this one time.” Annie seemed no more able to resist Lindsey’s plea than Ryan would have been.
    Lindsey had a few more inches to grow but she was already taller than Annie, he noted. Although she looked more like a Whitmore than a Sublinski, she did have Annie’s nose: small and straight with a slight upturn.
    “Thanks.” Lindsey looked from Annie to Ryan and back again. “Now who’s going to tell me what Annie said about me.”
    Annie’s eyes flew to Ryan’s, her expression guilty as charged.
    “I knew it!” Lindsey said. “I knew you two were talking about me.”
    Somebody needed to deflect Lindsey’s suspicion and fast.
    “You got us,” he acknowledged. “Annie wondered whether we should cancel our date tonight because you’re in town.”
    Annie’s mouth dropped open.
    Lindsey’s eyes widened. “You two are dating? Wow. I knew Annie thought you were hot, but I never would have guessed.”
    He quirked an eyebrow, keeping his eyes on Annie’s reddening face. “Annie told you I was hot?”
    “Of course not,” Annie protested.
    At the same time, Lindsey answered, “I could just tell by the way she looks at you.”
    “Then no wonder she asked me out.” Ryan waggled his eyebrows at Annie.
    “Annie asked you out?” Lindsey repeated. Annie appeared incapable of speech.
    “Not exactly,” he admitted. “I knew she wanted to go out with me, though, so it’s almost the same thing.”
    “It is not the same thing,” Annie retorted hotly, her chest heaving in indignation. He felt an unexpected stab of lust that explained the origin of his idea—his attraction to her had survived the past.
    Lindsey giggled at their interaction. “Don’t cancel your date because of me.”
    “We’re not canceling,” Ryan said, then added the kicker. “We’re taking you with us.”
     

    “W HERE ARE we going?” Lindsey asked excitedly after Ryan invited her on the fictitious date.
    The traitor.
    If Lindsey had declined the invitation, Annie could have wriggled out of it too. She could barely understand how her carefully orchestrated campaign to avoid Ryan had come to this. As of late on Friday afternoon, she hadn’t talked to him in fourteen years and now they had a Saturday-night date.
    “It’s a surprise,” Ryan said.
    “I love surprises,” Lindsey said. “But are you sure it’s okay if I come along? Wouldn’t you two rather be alone?”
    “Of course it’s okay. We’ll have lots of time to be alone.” Ryan had the audacity to wink at Annie. “We’re dating.”
    “Wait just a minute.” Annie raised her index finger. “Since when are we—”
    “How about walking me to my car, Annie?” Ryan interrupted.
    “But—”
    “I know we talked about me going rafting today, but I have some paperwork I really should catch up on.” He slung an arm around her shoulders, which surprised her so much she lost her train of thought. He applied gentle pressure, ushering her toward the field with the flattened grass they used as a parking lot. She