Tessa blinked back the sheen of tears that momentarily blurred her vision. “I wonder sometimes,” she confessed. “I worry that all of this is too good to be true, and that it’s all been just a dream. Or that something bad is going to happen, and it’s all going to be taken away from me.”

“Nonsense,” insisted Marlene. “You and Mr. Gregson are a perfect match, Tessa, and nothing is going to change that. Now, stop worrying about such silly things, hmm? Nothing bad is going to happen. Mr. Gregson wouldn’t permit it.”

As she headed off to lunch with the others, Tessa forced herself to stop being such a pessimist. Marlene was right. She and Ian were meant for each other, and after overcoming all of the obstacles that had previously been thrown in their way, surely nothing could stand in the way of their happiness now.

When she didn’t recognize the number of the incoming call on her cell phone, Tessa was just about ready to let it go to voice mail when some odd sort of sixth sense prompted her to answer it instead.

“Hello?” she asked somewhat warily, fully expecting the caller to be a telemarketer.

But instead she was nearly bowled over in surprise to hear an achingly familiar voice reply, “Tess? Am I catching you at a bad time?”

“Peter.”

The sound of his beloved voice filled her with joy, and she was almost giggling in delight at his very unexpected phone call.

“Where are you calling from?” she asked. “It must be the middle of the night in Bahrain.”

There was a slight pause before Peter replied. “Actually, I’m right here in San Francisco, Tess. My flight arrived in a couple of hours ago, and I’ll be in town a few days. A journalism conference that the agency wanted me to attend.”

She was thrilled at this news, and was quick to inquire, “Will you have any time to get together while you’re here? We could have lunch, dinner, both. I’d love to see you, Peter.”

“That’s actually why I was calling. The conference doesn’t officially start until this evening, and I can’t check into my hotel room for a couple of hours. I know it’s last minute, and you’ve probably got much better things to do, but I was hoping you might want to meet up for lunch,” offered Peter hesitantly.

“Of course I do!” she exclaimed. “Where were you thinking of meeting and when?”

Peter named a sushi place that wasn’t far from his hotel, and they agreed to meet up in just over an hour’s time.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you, Tess,” he told her. “We have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?”

“We definitely do,” she agreed. “I’ll see you there in a little while.”

She was so excited at the prospect of seeing her ex-husband, the man who’d really been more of a brother and best friend to her for seven years, that she found herself rushing around rather frantically to get ready in time for their lunch date.

It had been a busy morning already, and she’d really only been back at the house for less than an hour. She had risen at her usual early hour to prepare morning tea for herself and Ian, and then accompanied him to the private health club they both belonged to. For the next ninety minutes, she’d been put through a grueling workout by Ramona, the super-buff, almost insanely disciplined trainer Ian had arranged for her to work with several months ago. She’d showered and changed clothes at the club, then headed out to run a list of errands, including stops at the grocery store, pharmacy, dry cleaners, and office supply store. She had just finished putting away her various purchases when the call had come in from Peter.

She fretted a bit over what to wear, not wanting to appear over-dressed for a casual little sushi place, or making Peter feel ill at ease by wearing something that was obviously expensive. She settled on a pair of skinny jeans, gray thermal knit top, low heeled black boots, and a black leather bomber jacket. The outfit was casual, but Tessa knew that each piece had still cost far more than she had ever been able to afford to spend during her marriage to Peter.

Acknowledging that midday traffic in the area near Peter’s hotel would be horrendous, Tessa took a cab to their meeting point rather than driving her own car. She knew that Simon would have gladly driven her, but she always hated to bother him, especially for a social occasion like this one.

Belatedly, she realized that in her haste to leave the house, she hadn’t let Ian know about Peter’s call, or that she was meeting her ex for lunch. She recalled that he had a lunch meeting of his own today, so she sent him a quick text rather than interrupt his meeting with a phone call. Tessa couldn’t imagine that Ian would take issue with her seeing Peter. He knew most of the details about their relationship, after all, and there was no possible way that he could feel threatened by their innocent lunch.

Peter was already waiting outside the unassuming little restaurant when she alighted from the cab, and Tessa was astonished at the changes in him. He seemed a bit taller, and had definitely added some bulk to his previously skinny frame. His face was lightly tanned, and he was sporting a few days worth of stubble. He’d also cut his hair, the ponytail now a thing of the past, and though he was dressed in much the same casual style he’d always favored, his cargo pants, shirt, and jacket were more tailored and appeared to be of a better quality than anything else she’d ever seen him wear.

His face lit up with pleasure as she approached, and they exchanged a warm, affectionate hug. He kissed her on the cheek, then placed his hands on her shoulders as he took in her appearance.

“You look incredible,” he told her in awe. “I mean, you were always a knockout, but now - wow, just look at you, Tess. And it’s not just the clothes and hair and makeup. You’re pretty much glowing, and I know that can only be because you’re in love.”

She placed her hands over his. “You look good, too,” she replied earnestly. “Not as thin, and you’ve actually got a tan. And you look - happy, Peter.”

He nodded. “I am. In my own way, at least. Hey, let’s go inside and we’ll talk about everything. I’d forgotten how cold it gets here in the winter. When I left Bahrain, it was over eighty degrees.”

They found a small corner table in the crowded little place, and ordered a pot of hot tea while they perused the menu.

“I wish you’d have let me know sooner that you were going to be in town,” Tessa told him after he placed their order. “I could have planned something special.”