Free Emily and the Stranger by Beverly Barton

Don't wait. If you wait too long, you'll regret it." Zed leaned back in his chair, his dark eyes riveted to Mitch's face, then abruptly changed the subject. "Tatum has called me more than once about your run-ins with Buddy Crowell."
    "So that's what this little visit is all about." Mitch jumped up, balling his hands into fists at his sides. "The guy's a troublemaker. He stays on my case all the time."
    "Yeah, well, try to stay out of his way. If Tatum has to fire the guy, I don't want him having cause to fire you along with him."
    "I knew it wasn't going to be easy starting all over again as a construction worker. I was never very good at being just one of the Indians. I always wanted to be chief. Hell, maybe I was a fool for ever letting you talk me into coming back to work for you." Mitch rammed his fist into his open palm.
    Zed slid his feet off his desk, letting them drop to the floor. "You had to come back to the Gulf and face your ghosts, confront all the guilt that's been eating away at your insides for the past five years. You couldn't go on the way you were. You were well on your way to becoming an alcoholic. You were already a bum on the streets, wondering where your next meal was coming from."
    "And what have I got now?"
    "A job, a place to live, a chance for a real life." Zed stood, walked around his desk and stopped directly in front of Mitch. "And a date tonight with a beautiful lady."
    Mitch sucked in his breath. Emily. "I should get out of her life now, while the gettin's good." Mitch laughed, a mixture of disgust and pain. "But dammit all, Zed, I can't walk away from her."
    "Just be upfront with her. Tell her who you are." Zed gripped Mitch's shoulder in his huge hand.
    "I'll tell Emily who I am and all about my past just as soon as we get to know each other a little better."
    "Don't wait too long. Someone else will tell her if you don't."
    "You?"
    "No, not me. But despite how much you've changed physically, sooner or later, you'll run into someone who'll recognize you." Zed hesitated momentarily. "You may not remember this, but Fowler Jordan, Stuart Jordan's uncle, came to court every day of your trial. The man memorized your face. If you ever meet him, it's possible that he'll know who you are."
    "Then I need to avoid Fowler Jordan until after I've told Emily the truth," Mitch said.
    When Mitch rode up in front of the Paint Box and saw Emily's champagne-beige Buick LeSabre, he realized that when they'd made arrangements to meet, neither of them had thought about the fact that they'd be in separate vehicles. Of course, some people might not call his Harley-Davidson low-rider a vehicle.
    The Paint Box was located in a small, two-story building in the middle of Fairhope. The outside walls were painted a pale yellow and boasted dark-green awnings over the front door and display windows. Canvases of various sizes had been hung in the windows, along with a variety of imaginatively displayed art supplies.
    He glanced into the shop and saw Emily waiting for him just inside the full-glass front door.
    He pulled off his helmet, hung it on his cycle and swung his legs over and off. When he neared the entrance, Emily opened the door, her eyes bright with greeting, her mouth curved into a welcoming smile.
    "Sorry, I'm late," Mitch said. "Like I told you when I phoned, I had a call from my boss, so I had to run over to Mobile ."
    "No problem." Emily stepped aside to give him room to enter. "I just realized when I saw you drive up on your motorcycle that we have separate means of transportation."
    "So we do." He loved the look of her, the soft, feminine curves of her body, the sweet, warm smell of her skin and hair, the slow, syrupy drawl with which she spoke. "I guess we were just too eager to see each other again that we didn't think this thing through."
    "Why don't you ride on his motorcycle?" Nikki stepped out from behind the counter and offered Mitch her hand. "Hi, I'm Nicole Griffin, Emily's business partner and