Valerie smiled and patted Steffie’s forearm. “Spoken like a true sister, but as I said that was my first reaction. What I found interesting was that it didn’t last.

“I sat down and thought about it and realized how selfish and unfair I was being to Colby. If I truly loved him, I should want him to have whatever made him happy. If that meant marriage to Sherry Waterman, then so be it.”

“In other words you were willing to let him go.”

“Yes. And that was a turning point for me. Don’t misunderstand me, it hurt more than anything I’ve ever done. Remember the day I was supposed to fly back to Houston?”

Steffie wasn’t likely to forget it. “Of course.”

“When I got ready to leave, I really had to work at controlling myself. I wasn’t sure I could make it down the front steps without bursting into tears.”

“I knew you were upset….”

“Naturally, Colby would have to choose right then to stop in for a visit. That man’s sense of timing is going to be a problem.” Valerie shook her head in mock exasperation.

Steffie laughed. Give Valerie a week and she’d have Colby’s life completely reorganized.

“Somehow I managed to pull it off,” Valerie continued. “I remember sitting in the car and—this is odd—I felt a sense of peace. I don’t know if I can explain it. I felt this incredible…nobility. Don’t you dare laugh, Steffie, I’m serious. I didn’t stop loving Colby—if anything, I loved him more. Here I was, willingly walking away from the first man I’d ever loved.”

“I wanted to throttle Colby about then.”

Valerie grinned. “I remember learning about the tragic hero in my college literature courses. In some ways, I felt like I qualified for the tragic heroine.”

“You weren’t sorry you’d fallen in love with him, were you?”

“No, I was grateful. I was leaving him and at the same time I was giving him permission to find his own joy. And like I said, that somehow…ennobled me.”

Steffie recalled the farewell scene on her front porch when she’d been so angry with Colby. “I…don’t know if I could be that noble about Charles.”

“What’s happening with the two of you?”

“I’m not sure.” Steffie was being entirely honest. “We had a wonderful dinner on Thursday, then we drove to Multnomah Falls and watched the moonlight on the water.”

“That sounds so romantic.”

“It was. We walked up to the footbridge and…talked.”

“I’ll bet!” Valerie laughed.

“We did—only we did more kissing than talking.” Steffie knew that Charles had wanted to talk, wanted to discuss the past with her. She hated the thought of reliving all that pain. But more than anything she dreaded examining her utterly ridiculous behavior. Every time she recalled the scene in his bathroom, with her playing the role of waterlogged enchantress, she burned with humiliation. Someday they’d talk about it, but not now. It was too soon.

“Dad seems to think you two will get married.”

This discussion was a repeat of the one she’d had with her father every day for the past two weeks. “You know Dad when he’s got a bee in his bonnet. I’ve had to make him promise not to say a word about marriage to Charles.”

“Do you really believe he listened to you?” Valerie asked.

“I hope so,” she muttered.

Valerie frowned as she turned to stare out the car window. Steffie’s hands tightened on the steering wheel and she glanced around her. Wild rhododendrons blossomed along the side of the road, their bright pink flowers a colorful contrast to the lush green foliage.

“I’m worried about Dad.”

Valerie’s words surprised Steffie. “Why? He’s getting stronger every day. His recovery is nothing short of miraculous. I’ve heard you say so yourself, at least a dozen times.”

“All right, I’ll rephrase that. I’m worried for you.”

“Me? Whatever for?” As far as Steffie was concerned, her life had rarely been better. She’d applied for late admission to the Ph.D. program and planned to begin researching thesis topics soon. As for Charles…well, things were wonderful. Yes, she still had a lot of murky ground to cover with him, but there’d be time for that later.

“Dad’s riding high on success,” Valerie reminded her. “He seems to think that because everything fell into place with Colby and me, it should for you and Charles, as well. Remember he’s supposed to have dreamed all this.”

“I know. We’ve had our go-arounds on that issue. He’s told me at least twice a day for the past two weeks that I’m going to marry Charles by the end of the summer. Now I just smile and nod and let him think what he wants.”

“It doesn’t bother you?”

“It drives me nuts.” Possibly because she wanted to believe it so badly…

“Aren’t you nervous that Dad’s going to get impatient and say something to Charles?”

“No,” Steffie answered automatically. “Dad and I’ve been over this. He knows better than to say anything to Charles.”

Valerie nodded. “I wish I shared your confidence.”

Steffie put on a good front for the remainder of the drive, but she was growing more and more concerned. She knew one thing; she didn’t have the personality to take on the role of tragic heroine. She’d leave that to her older, wiser sister.

As soon as Valerie had checked in for her flight to Texas, Steffie headed back to Orchard Valley. As the minutes ticked away, she became increasingly anxious to get home.

It was just like Valerie to plant the seeds of doubt and then fly off, leaving Steffie to deal with the result—a garden full of weeds!

When she pulled into the driveway, Steffie experienced an immediate sense of relief. Her world was in order; her fears shrank to nothing. All was well. Her father was rocking on the front porch, the way he did every evening. He smiled and waved when he saw her.

“Hello, good-lookin’,” she said as she climbed out of the car. “How was your day?”

“I had a great afternoon. Every day’s wonderful now that I’ve got all these reasons to live. Oh, before I forget, Charles stopped by to see you. Guess he must’ve been in the neighborhood again.” A smile twinkled from her father’s eyes. “You might want to call him. I suspect he’s waiting to hear from you.”

Steffie froze. Doubt sprang to new life. “You didn’t say anything to him about…what we discussed, did you?”

“Princess, I didn’t say a word you wouldn’t want me to.”

“You’re sure?”

“As positive as I’m sitting here.”

Steffie went inside the house, reassured by her father’s words. Norah was busy in the kitchen, kneading bread dough on a lightly floured countertop.

“Did you happen to see Charles?” Steffie asked in passing. She opened the refrigerator and removed a cold soda.

“He stopped by earlier and sat on the porch with Dad. I think he was here for about fifteen minutes.”

Steffie swallowed a long cool drink. “I’ll give him a call.”

“Good idea.”

She waited until she was in her room, then sat on her bed and reached for the phone. Although it had been several years since she’d called Charles, she still remembered his number. The same way she remembered everything else about him.

He must have been sitting by the phone, because he answered even before the first ring was finished.

“Charles, hello,” she said happily. “Dad said you came by.”

“Yes, I did.”

His voice was cool, and Steffie paused as the dread took hold inside her. “Is something wrong?”

“Not wrong, exactly. I guess you could say I’m disappointed. I thought you’d changed, Steffie. I thought you’d grown up and stopped your naive tricks. But I was wrong, wasn’t I?”

Nine

“Dad!” Steffie struggled to keep the anger and distress from her voice. She hurried to the porch, her fists clenched against her sides. “You told me…you promised…” She hesitated. “What exactly did you say to Charles?”

Her father glanced upward momentarily, clearly puzzled. “Nothing drastic, I assure you. Is it important?”

“Yes, it’s important! I need to know.” She had to call on every ounce of self-control not to shout at him and demand an explanation. She longed to chastise him for doing the very thing she’d begged him not to.

“You look upset, Princess.”

“I am upset and I’m sure you know why… Just tell me what you said to Charles.”

“Sit down a bit and we’ll talk.”

Steffie did as her father requested, sitting on the top porch step near his chair and leaning back against the white pillar. “Charles stopped in this afternoon, right?”

“Yes, and we had a nice chat. He tried to make me think he was here to visit me, but I saw through that.” Her father’s smile told Steffie all she needed to know. For one angry second, she thought he resembled a spider, waiting patiently for someone to step into his web.

“Obviously I was the subject under discussion, wasn’t I?” She forced herself not to yell, not to rant and rave at a man so recently released from the hospital.

Her father rocked back and forth a few times, then nodded. “We talked about you.”

Steffie closed her eyes, her frustration mounting. “I see. And what did the two of you come up with?”

“Let me tell you what Charles said first.”

She balled her hands into fists again, praying for patience. “What did he say?”

“Well, Charles stopped by, as I said, pretending it was me he was here to visit, when we both knew he was coming to see you. I went along with it for a while, then asked him flat out what his intentions were toward you. I fully expected you to be wearing an engagement ring by now, and I let him know it.”

“Dad!” Without meaning to, Steffie sprang to her feet. “You breached a trust! I trusted you to keep your word, not to talk to Charles about this. And now you pass it off as…as nothing. Don’t you realize what you’ve done?”

For the first time he looked chagrined. “I did it because I love you, Princess.”

“Oh, Dad…you’ve made everything so much more difficult.”

“Aren’t you interested in what he had to say?” His smile was bright and cocky again. “Well, aren’t you? Now sit back down and I’ll tell you.”

“Oh, all right.” She sighed, lowering herself onto the porch step, her legs barely able to support her. She was shaking with trepidation.

“Charles seemed more concerned with the fact that I’d asked than with answering the question. To be perfectly honest, Princess, he wasn’t overly pleased with me.”

“I can’t believe he even answered you.”

“Of course he did. He said if the subject of marriage did come up, then it was between the two of you, and not the three of us. It was a good response.”