I looked up, and every molecule in my body seemed to quicken at the same time. Emily. It was her, only…

She came closer, her lips curved slightly, expression pleasant, if not warm. Her hair was no longer the golden shade I remembered, but instead a pale champagne blond, the waves hanging down to her waist. Her lips were plump and glossy with long, dark lashes shading her blue eyes. She was wearing a cropped shirt, a small slip of her smooth, tanned stomach showing, and torn jean shorts that barely hit the crease at the top of her thigh. This was not Emily. This was Nova.

I tried to keep my eyes from wandering. I didn’t recognize this woman, but she was undeniably sexy. A twinge between my legs reminded me that it’d been a long damn time since I’d touched a woman. Over six years in fact. Frankly, I couldn’t even remember the last woman I’d touched. “It’s nice to see you.”

Her expression barely changed. She held out her hand, and I glanced down at her nails, silver and sharpened to blades. Walking contraband. I cleared my throat to hold back the nervous laughter that threatened to spill out.

“It’s nice to see you too, Tuck. You look good.”

“So do you.”

There was an awkward silence, and a pit opened in my stomach. Emily had become something entirely different than what she’d been then. Just like my family. My home. The entire area where I’d grown up. All that had once been overflowing with warmth and natural beauty, had either disappeared completely, or become cold and fake.

Even her.

I felt something I could only call deep disappointment trickle slowly through me. I hadn’t actively thought of Emily in a long time, but somewhere in the back of my mind I’d held her up as one of the last remaining pieces that still existed from my former life, the one I’d never been able to fully let go of. Seeing her like this felt like another unexpected loss, and one I hadn’t been prepared for. But I was standing in front of this new person now, and so I pushed my emotions aside. “I appreciate the job offer,” I said. “It came at just the right time.” I was sure her mom had told her I’d gone to their orchard looking for work. She might be able to guess that I’d had a hard time finding employment, but I wasn’t going to confirm it.