Adam nodded. He felt a small sense of satisfaction that he was the first of the two of them she’d told.

“And does he know who I am?”

“No, he just knows you’re a friend of mine. There was no reason to elaborate.”

“And, as I mentioned before, I sensed there was some tension between you two after your internship at his company so I didn’t tell him it was you.”

When he was at college, studying communications, he’d needed an internship in the fall of his third year so Ashley’s brother had asked Ash to ask Helen to put in a word for him with Dare. Dare had a big company and got him a position writing copy for the marketing department.

“Do you think he’d remember you?” she asked.

“It doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Of course, she had no idea that Dare had taken a special interest in Adam. Adam was a friend of his stepdaughter’s. Even though Adam and Helen didn’t know each other very well—they were connected only by the fact that he was a friend of her friend’s brother—Dare took Helen’s request to help Adam seriously. He’d wanted to ensure Adam was happy in the position and getting the most out of it he could.

And it was during that fall that Dare had gone through one of the most traumatic times of his life.

“When are you seeing him next?” Adam asked.

“In two days.”

Adam just nodded. It was time he went and paid Dare a visit.

*   *   *

Adam pulled up in front of the gray brick house that he knew Dare was staying in while he was here in Autumn’s Ridge. It wasn’t the same place he’d owned when he used to live here. That had been sold off after the divorce. Apparently, according to Ashley, this was a new place Dare had bought some years later. Dare had business holdings in town, but Adam hadn’t thought Dare made enough trips to town to warrant having a house here, but then Adam didn’t really know much about Dare’s comings and goings.

All he knew was that Dare had never made a move to contact him.

And that hurt.

He got out of the car and walked up the stone path, breathing in the sweet scent of lilacs. Ash loved lilacs. Every time she came here, that fragrance was bound to delight her.

Once at the entrance, he drew in a deep breath, then rang the doorbell. His stomach tightened as he waited for Dare to open the door.

How would Dare react to seeing Adam on the other side of the door? What would he say?

He saw a shadow through the beveled and frosted glass design on the door. He braced himself as the door opened.

Helen stared at him, her eyes wide. Then she frowned.