Chapter One

Eight years, Lori Haberlan thought. Eight years since I’ve been in Orlando. Has it really been that long???

She peered out the airplane window as it began its descent, thousands of thoughts filling her mind. There was so much she had to do, things she was not looking forward too. She wondered if the city had changed much since she’d been gone, if at all.

Sighing, she sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. She’d left under strained circumstances with her father. Her mother had died when she was two, so she’d been raised solely by him. She was back because he had recently passed away. His estate needed settling, and she as his only child was responsible for that. She hoped she would be able to handle this since she hadn’t seen her him at all during the past eight years, mainly because she hadn’t any desire to.

Eventually, she’d forgiven him for forcing her to leave Orlando, but by then it was too late. The gap between them was too wide to fix, and then he had died, leaving her a great deal of money for which she had no use.

As she entered the crowded airport and made her way through the throngs of people to the luggage terminal, she thought about the exact reason why her father had sent her away.

A boy.

It had seemed so insane to her, and it still did. Kirkland Haberlan, the president of a very successful bank, did not want his only daughter to marry anyone who wasn’t doing the world some good. That included aspiring entertainers.

When he’d found out she was seeing one, he forbid it, but she did anyway. This infuriated him and so he packed her up and shipped her off to a rich relative in Switzerland. Lori was mad as hell that she didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to her friends. . .or him.

She’d tried desperately to get in touch with him, but her father had left strict instructions that she was only to contact him, and no one else. With no allies nearby, she had no way to get around the rules and gave up. She figured he would forget about her and move on with his life, so she should try to do the same.

She attended fancy schools and high society parties, eventually getting a job with a highly respected government official. She settled into a comfortable life in Switzerland, opting to stay there instead of returning to the States.

But she had never forgotten him. He’d always been there in the back of her mind, in a special corner of her heart. He had a voice like an angel, and a smile that made her melt.

At age 17, she hadn’t had much experience with boys when she met him, mainly because her strict father scared most of them away. He was 19, starring in a musical at a local theater. She’d gone with some friends to see the show and had ended up staying afterwards to meet him. They clicked instantly.

She recalled their moonlit walks along the beach and the way he held her hand so tightly in his own. She remembered their first kiss. It had sent sparks of fire shooting up and down her spine. Her feelings for him had just started to reveal themselves to her when she left. A part of her always dreamed that he’d felt the same way for her and would try to find her.

But he never did.

She claimed her bag, hailed a cab and gave the driver directions to her father’s bank. The streets of Orlando whizzed by and she found herself thinking about the boy she had cared for so long ago.

“Guess he’s not a boy anymore, is he?” she said softly.

“Pardon?” the driver asked.

“Nothing, just talking to myself.”

She continued to think about him. He’d had huge dreams of becoming a famous actor, or singer. He was brilliant at both, and she knew he’d be big someday. She wondered if his dream had come true. Was he still in the area? Or had he moved away to Hollywood? Would he still remember her if he saw her?