Free McKenna Homecoming by Shirley Jump Page B

and her check boxes. They gave her a sense of comfort, let her know she was on track. She’d always been like that, even back in high school. She was the one who never missed an assignment, never forgot an appointment.
    “There is something wrong with it,” Michelle said, her green eyes kind and soft, “if those I’s and T’s come at the expense of a personal life. How many hours did you spend planning this thing, anyway?”
    “Enough to make sure it all goes off without a hitch.” Leah dropped her gaze to the list again. It was easier to do that than to contemplate the weekends and evenings she had spent on the reunion, shouldering most of the responsibility herself instead of letting other members of the committee do the job. She’d let those to-do lists fill the long nights between work and sleep, because it was easier than thinking about her life plan, or lack thereof. A lot easier.
    “Hon, it’s okay to take the next leap, you know.”
    Leah shrugged. “I know.”
    The DJ cued up the first song, and pressed Play. Hits from their teen years began streaming through the sound system. Michelle gave Leah a one-armed hug. “Look at tonight as a do-over. A restart. You had to put your post–high school life on hold for ten years. Pretend tonight is graduation all over again and you’re ready to go off on your big life adventure.”
    Graduation. She remembered two things about that afternoon—the phone call that had changed Leah’s life, and Alec McKenna. She’d gotten up that morning excited to start their life together in New York. Before the day was out, she’d said goodbye to Alec and hopped a plane to California. By the time things had settled with her father in California, Alec had left for college, and she’d told herself she was glad that they were over. It was better that way.
    “Oh, my God. Look who just walked in.”
    Leah followed Michelle’s gaze, and just like that, the bottom dropped out of her perfectly organized, checklisted world. Because Alec McKenna had stepped into the ballroom. He stood in the doorway, tall, dark and even more handsome than she remembered, with that familiar lock of dark brown hair dusting across his brow and the confident stance that said he was a man who was sure of his place in the world. He hadn’t RSVP’d—the masochist in her had checked—and she hadn’t expected that he would attend, much less be one of the first to arrive.
    “Remember, do-over,” Michelle whispered. Then she gave Leah a nudge in Alec’s direction.
    Leah stumbled forward, but detoured for the punch bowl before she compounded her biggest mistake with another one. Alec McKenna was part of the past, and he was going to stay there. She was finally moving forward, and falling for him again was not part of the plan.

Chapter Two
    She hadn’t changed a bit. Alec’s gaze zeroed in on Leah the second he walked into the room. He could have picked her out of a crowd of thousands, even after all these years. She still had the same long blond hair that cascaded over her shoulders and down her back, teasing along the zipper of her red satin dress. The same green eyes, wide and luminous. The kind of eyes that stayed in a man’s mind. The same tall hourglass shape, made even taller by the strappy black heels she wore, which showed off killer legs and a bright red pedicure.
    When he’d let her walk away all those years ago, he’d told himself it was the right decision. The last thing Alec had wanted as he threw off the shackles of high school was a committed relationship where he had to be dependable, grown up. He’d wanted nothing more that day than to get out of Boston, get to college and start living his life. That had been their plan—head for New York, spend their days going to classes and strolling Central Park. An easy, bohemian life with no ties to anything or anyone for at least four years.
    Alec’s father had lectured him over and over again about being responsible, about settling down—then