Need You Now (Love in Unknown) - By Taylor M. Lunsford Page 0,3

New York. Caine had seen Micah whenever he could on his infrequent breaks, but they'd drifted apart after Caine went to college and Micah moved to New York. When Gage told him Micah was coming home, Caine had seen it as a chance to get his best friend back.

"Micah get more boxes in?" Caine knew his brother had spent the previous weekend helping Micah and his son, Jax, move back into the Carrs' house.

They walked into the small Mexican restaurant and grabbed their usual turquoise table on the second floor, well away from the town busybodies.

Gage looked down at the table, tugging at his ear where an earring had been ten years ago. "Not exactly. I may have left out a detail or two when I told you about the Carrs the other day. Micah's not the only one moving back."

Caine frowned. His brother couldn't mean what he thought he meant. But there was no other answer. "Mel?"

"Yeah. She's living over the bakery. Think she said something about taking over the practice for Doc Booth."

“Left out a detail or were too chicken-shit to tell me?” Caine’s eyes narrowed at his brother. He might have been buried under work for the last few months, but usually his secretary kept him up-to-date on the comings and goings in town. That meant Gage must have said something to her.

Melody Carr, the proverbial "one that got away." Even her name made his heart do a little back flip. Part of him wanted to hate that, but he couldn't. Every woman he dated, he inevitably compared to Mel and none quite measured up. He’d seen Mel at every stage of her life. Grubby little tomboy, awkward teenager, beautiful co-ed. Best friend’s baby sister. What was she like now?

How could his brother not have told him she was moving back? "Did you give her any warning that I'm in town or did you blindside her, too?"

"Hey, if I wanted to blindside you, I would have let you run into her." Gage tossed a chip at him, hitting him squarely in the forehead. "But, yes, I told her you're back."

"And?"

Gage chuckled. "Jesus, man, are we in junior high again? Do you want me to pass her a note during math class?"

"You know how things ended with her. I just want to know how she reacted." He threw the chip back, agitation growing. It probably broke some sort of rule in the Brother Handbook to ask Gage to spill details about Mel, but he needed any advantage he could get. "Was she angry? Scared? Happy?"

He seriously doubted Mel had been happy to hear he was back. God, everything had been such a mess the last time he saw her. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d kicked himself over the years from what a sorry little shit he’d been back in college. Too focused on having fun and thinking about himself to see what was happening with Mel. Caine still hated to admit it, but Ethan Carr was right when he told Caine to stay the hell away from his daughter.

The worst part of all was that it had taken Caine so long to realize that he’d felt more for Mel than just a casual interest. After spending so much time with her growing up, he took their sexual relationship for granted. Sure, he’d felt bad about sleeping with his best friend’s sister, but beyond that, she’d just been another girl. At least he’d done a damn good job of convincing himself that she was just another girl. Now, he knew better.

"Happy? Not really. Sorry, but I think annoyed might be the best fit." Gage took a drink of the Coke the waitress sat in front of him. "Honestly, she didn't seem all that interested in seeing you again. She may have mentioned wanting to start a new life, which means nothing from the old life. That means you."

He could understand that. The last time he’d seen Mel, she'd been standing in the living room of the Carrs house, big hazel eyes wet with angry tears. Even now, he could almost feel the stiffness of her spine as she stood her ground against him. Mel's intelligence had only ever been surpassed by her stubbornness. He doubted that much had changed. "I can't just let her go without trying, Gage. There’s too much between us for me not to at least try.”

As Mel's best friend, Caine knew his brother understood her better than anyone. "I know. I'm just