She'd never liked to spend money on clothes, and unlike her mother and her best friend, Sloan did not regard this trip as a reason to change her spending habits or her "image." Of course, they didn't realize she was going to Palm Beach to spy on her father, so they both had big dreams for the trip, and to Sloan's frustrated amusement, their dreams seemed to hinge on what Sloan would be wearing when the right moment presented itself. "Carter will be dazzled," Kimberly happily predicted the day Sloan told her of her impending trip, "when he sees you in that black beaded cocktail dress in Faylene's window. I'm going to buy it for you."

Sara's hopes for Sloan were of a different kind: "I can see you now at the Palm Beach Polo Club," Sara said dreamily, "wearing my red linen sheath when 'Mr. Perfect' walks in… handsome, rich, exciting…"

"Stop it, both of you," Sloan had interrupted firmly. "Mom, don't you dare spend one dollar on anything for me. If you do, I'll return whatever it is without wearing it. Sara, I appreciate your offer, but I refuse to play dress-up to impress Carter Reynolds."

"Okay, but what about impressing 'Mr. Perfect?"

"He sounded perfect for you, not me," Sloan pointed out with an affectionate smile. "Besides, I'm taking Paul with me, remember?"

"Yes, but you're not engaged to him, so there's no harm in keeping your options open, and my red sheath is just perfect. It's 'flirty' but not 'forward'—"

"Please, don't start—" Sloan pleaded, covering her ears in her desperation to stop Sara from launching into one of her enthusiastic fashion narratives. "I'll make you a deal. I'll agree to keep my options open if you'll leave the subject of clothing closed." She stood up to illustrate her determination to permanently end discussion of the topic and announced she was going to bed.

But the discussion didn't end there; it raged on day after day, hour after hour, in her presence and in her absence. In fact, Kimberly and Sara had been so persistent that as Sloan finally hugged them both good-bye, she half expected Sara to produce yet another garment bag filled with more of her own clothes for Sloan to consider. Instead, they both instructed her to have a good time and waited in the doorway to see her off.

Kimberly watched Paul Richardson walk around the car and politely open the passenger door for Sloan. "She's going to look gorgeous in that black beaded cocktail dress," Kim predicted happily. "She has a beautiful new wardrobe to begin a beautiful new life, a life with her father in it, and Paul Richardson in it—"

"And my red linen dress in it—" Sara added with a nervous giggle.

The car began to move away from the curb, and both women waved a cheery good-bye, their expressions innocent. "Paul was very sweet about keeping the other two suitcases out of sight," Kimberly said.

"Yes, he was," Sara agreed, but her smile wavered with uncertainty. "I'd feel a lot better if this romance of theirs didn't seem so sudden. I mean, I wish Sloan knew him better."

"I don't," Kimberly announced cheerfully to an astonished Sara. "She's always been much too serious about life and much too cautious about men. To tell you the truth, I've wished for years that she'd be more… more… impulsive!"

Tipping her head toward the departing car, Sara grinned at the woman she loved more than her own mother. "I think you've gotten your wish, Mom."

13

They'd been on the road for nearly two hours, and Paul stole a worried glance at his silent passenger. She was sitting very still and straight, her features carefully composed, but with each passing mile, he could almost feel her dread increasing, her tension mounting, and he felt a pang of remorse for what she was being compelled to do.

In order to avoid giving her any information that might somehow cause her to back out of the trip, he'd spoken to her only once on the telephone since Presidents' Day. During that call, she'd tried to ask him several questions about her father and sister, but he'd insisted she save all that for the drive to Palm Beach. He was ready now to answer her questions, anxious to ease the way for her and reinforce her resolve, but she seemed unable to speak or even meet his eyes when he spoke.

He tried to come up with something encouraging that might come out of this for her. If she were an ordinary young woman who was about to meet her father and sister for the first time, she'd certainly have some hope of future closeness to fortify her for what lay ahead. But Sloan wasn't going to them for sentimental reasons; she was swallowing her pride, acting out of duty, and she was going there to spy on them.

There was scant possibility of any remotely happy ending for her, so Paul invented one, partly to soothe his conscience and partly to lift her spirits. In his fairy-tale scenario, Carter Reynolds turned out to be innocent of any criminal activity, he developed a strong paternal attachment to Sloan, and the two of them ended up caring about each other.

Ignoring the astronomical odds against all that, Paul said, "Sloan, it may not seem like it to you now, but this trip could have a very positive outcome for your entire family." She stopped staring out the windshield and stared at him instead. Since it was the only encouragement she seemed able to give him, Paul forged ahead. "Right now, your father is merely a suspect who we're investigating. You're helping us to get closer to him and to the facts, and once we've done that, we may discover he's completely innocent of any criminal wrongdoing."

"What do you think the chances are of that?"

Paul hesitated. He didn't want to insult her intelligence or repay her trust by completely misleading her. "Slim," he said honestly. "But it is a possibility. Now, let's consider the situation on a more personal level: There's no doubt he's been a sorry excuse for a father, but he clearly has some regrets, or he wouldn't have contacted you. None of us really knows everything that happened to bring an end to your parents' marriage, but based on what you've told me, his mother was the instigator of the divorce proceedings and the custody arrangement. She's the one who came to Florida to bring him back to San Francisco after his father's stroke, correct?"

"Yes, but he went along with her plan."

"True, but he was only in his twenties at the time. He may have gone along with her out of weakness, or immaturity, or cowardice, or because she convinced him it was his sacred familial duty, who knows? Those are mostly character flaws, but they aren't necessarily unforgivable or permanent. All we really know for certain is that she died three months ago, and almost immediately afterward, your father is asking you for a reconciliation."