“Good Lord, Carter. Is this some kind of lure for women?”

He laughed, his warm breath tickling the back of her neck. “Maybe.”

The bathroom was an oasis, with a large soaking tub, two deep vessel sinks with plenty of cabinet space, a dressing table, and a shower with multiple jets. There was a pebbled floor in the shower, and she curled her toes inside her sneakers at the thought of how that floor would massage her bare feet.

“It’s decadent.”

“If you think this is awesome, you should see the closet.”

She pivoted to face him. “Don’t tease me.”

He stepped out of the bathroom, giving her space to open the door leading to the closet.

The light turned on automatically, and it was like she’d stepped into paradise. The closet was as big as some of the bedrooms she’d lived in, with racks and built-ins for shoes, and there was even a dresser in there.

“I love it.” She turned to him. “Are you sure there isn’t some woman in your life, and you built this for her?”

“No. Not yet, anyway. But I figured I probably wouldn’t live here alone forever. Besides, I like a lot of space. I hate feeling confined. You should have seen the closet before. I could barely get my clothes in there, and it’s not like I’m some big clothes guy. So I expanded the master a lot, added on to this room to make it larger.”

“It shows. You’ve done an amazing job, Carter. When did you find the time for all this, plus your job, plus committees?”

He shrugged. “I make time for the things that are important to me.”

It was then she realized that he’d set down roots in Hope, that this place meant something to him. Whereas she had run like hell and never once looked back. She’d let her pain drive her all these years. It had forced her away from her family, from everything she’d ever known.

But she wasn’t going to blame Carter for it. It had been her choice.

She couldn’t—wouldn’t—have regrets. She lived a full life, an adventurous one, and she’d learned a lot. She supposed Carter had as well. They’d just done things a lot differently.

He led her back into the living room. She took a seat on the oh-so-comfortable leather sofa. He sat next to her. She sipped her beer, realizing he was building an amazing life for himself. “You should be proud of yourself. I can’t imagine what this must feel like.”

“What?”

“Working so hard on creating something like this. Setting down roots like you have.”

“But you’ve traveled so much. That must be fun.”

“It is. I’ve met a lot of great people, seen some amazing places.”

He took a sip of his beer. “I sense a ‘but’ in there.”

“No buts.” None that she was going to voice to Carter. Besides, she was happy. At least she’d been happy, before she came back home.

“So you’re content with the life you’ve chosen,” he said.

“Perfectly.”

“Good to know.”

“Are you?”

He shrugged. “More or less. I mean, I have a job I love, doing work I’ve enjoyed doing my whole life. I’ve found a house I really like, and I’m turning it into something I can envision will make me and my future family happy for a lot of years. I have friends and family that I care about.”

“I sense a ‘but’ in there,” she said with a smile.

“You’re right. I live a very full life, but there’s something missing. A wife. Kids.”

Her stomach clenched. She was the wrong person to have this conversation with. “And a dog?”

He laughed. “Yeah. I need to finish the backyard fence so I can at least get the dog.”

“At the very least.” She grabbed a coaster and put her beer on the table. “And what’s holding you back on the wife and kids part? You’re not getting any younger, you know.”

“Thanks for noticing.”

“You’re welcome.”

“As far as what’s holding me back, I guess the answer to that is, the right woman.”

The words “If things hadn’t gone so wrong, you could have had me” hovered on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn’t petty enough to say them. “She’ll come along.”

He gave her a direct stare. “Yeah, she will.”

She got up. “I should go.”

Carter stood. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” But she wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t she moving? And he wasn’t doing anything about it, like asking her to stay. Did she want him to ask her to stay?

What the hell was wrong with her anyway? And with her feet, which weren’t moving out the door.

“Come on,” he finally said, helping save her from mortal embarrassment. “Let’s go for a ride.”

“Where to?”

“You’ll see.”

She arched a brow. “You’re not kidnapping me, are you?”

He shot her a look.

“Okay, fine.” She grabbed her jacket and he led her out the door. They climbed in his truck. “I’m surprised you’re not taking the Mustang.”

“The truck has butt heaters. I figured they’d keep you warm. The temperature is supposed to drop into the thirties tonight and the heater in the Mustang sucks.”

“Good thinking.”

He drove them out onto the highway, then a little ways out of town, eventually pulling down a side road by the river. It was a quiet overlook where people liked to launch their boats to go fishing. There was also an event area and picnic tables. She hadn’t been here in years. Then again, there were a lot of places in Hope she hadn’t visited in a long time.