"Reopening that drive-in has been good for him. He's finally starting to heal."

She wanted to argue with him, to tell him that she was the reason Gabe had begun to heal, but he wouldn't believe her. Besides, she didn't know if it was true. Maybe she didn't mean anything more to Gabe than a few hours of forgetfulness when they were in bed.

"Both Ethan and I believe that having you gone will speed up the process."

"If Gabe finds out about this, he'll be furious."

"That's why you're not going to say a word. Do you understand? If you even hint to him about this, the deal's off."

"Oh, yes. I definitely understand." She drew the check through her fingers. "Just tell me one thing. Exactly what do you think I'm doing to your brother that's so terrible?"

"I think you're taking advantage of him.". "How?"

His eyes narrowed. "Don't play games with me, lady, because I'll run you right over! Gabe's a rich man who's careless about his money. You want to take him for every penny he has, then set off for greener pastures."

"You know this for a fact?"

"Are you going to take the check or not?"

She gazed down at the check and wondered if the time would ever come when she could outrun her past. "Yes. Yes, I'm going to take it, Mr. Bonner. You bet your life I am."

She shoved the check into the pocket of her dress and turned toward the door, but his soft voice stopped her before she could leave.

"Mrs. Snopes, you won't like what happens if you try to screw me over on this."

Her fingers convulsed around the knob. "Believe me, Mr. Bonner, you're the last man on earth I'd screw."

She forced herself not to run from the room, but she was shaking by the time she reached the deck, where Jane and Kristy had abandoned their efforts to clean up and were sitting and talking.

The moment Jane saw Rachel, her expression grew wary. "What did he do?"

Rachel couldn't quite control the small quaver in her voice. "You'll have to ask him."

Jane rose and caught Rachel's hands in her own. "I'm sorry. The Bonners are-They're a family in every sense of the word. They'll fight the world for each other, but sometimes their loyalty blinds them."

The most Rachel could manage was a small nod.

"I'll try to talk to him again," Jane said.

"It won't do any good." She spotted Gabe's keys on the table, and she scooped them up. "I'm not feeling well. I'm sure Ethan won't mind driving Gabe back to the cottage. Come on, Edward, we have to go."

Edward protested Rachel's announcement, and Rosie fell apart when she realized she was losing her play companion. Her small face crumpled as Edward disengaged Horse from her hands. She reached out her arms for him or for the rabbit, Rachel wasn't sure which, and began to howl.

Edward gave her a clumsy pat on the head. "It's okay, Rosie. You're just having a bad day."

Rosie stopped crying, but her blue eyes brimmed with tears, and she regarded him with an expression so pitiful it could have melted stone.

Edward looked down at Horse. And then, to Rachel's astonishment, he handed the stuffed rabbit back to her.

Rosie clutched it to her tiny, heaving chest and gazed up at Edward with grateful eyes.

Rachel regarded her son with concern. "Are you sure about this, Edward?"

He hesitated for only a moment before he nodded. "I'm all grown-up now, Mom. Rosie needs Horse more than I do."

She smiled, squeezed his hand, and tried not to cry.

Gabe leaped out of Ethan's Camry before the car had even stopped and charged toward the front porch where Edward was constructing a lopsided log cabin from sticks he'd gathered. "Where's your mother?"

"I don't know. Inside, I guess." His gaze moved past Gabe to Ethan and Kristy, who were just getting out of the car.

Gabe began to walk toward the door only to stop as he saw the boy make a small gesture to the side, as if he were trying to pick up something that wasn't there. Then his arm fell back into his lap, and he gave a sigh that seemed to come from his toes.

Gabe wished he didn't understand the gesture. "You're missing that rabbit of yours, aren't you?"

Edward bent his head over his log cabin and scratched his knee.

"I heard you gave it to Rosie, but everybody'll understand if you want it back." He tried to contain the gruffness in his voice, but couldn't quite manage.

"Rosie won't understand."

"She's only a baby. She'll forget about it."

"Horse isn't the kind of thing a kid forgets about."

He spoke with such absolute certainty that Gabe knew there was no use arguing with him. In that way, he was exactly like his mother.

"Pastor Ethan! Kristy!" The boy smiled as they stepped up onto the porch. "You want to see my log cabin?" He was too young to sense the tension between them, but Gabe had felt it.

"You bet we do," Kristy said.

Gabe turned away and walked into the cottage. "Rachel?"

There was no answer. He made a quick search of the rooms, then found her outside where she was bent over a rogue tomato plant in the weedy garden.

She was wearing the orange dress she painted in. Sunlight dappled her hair and danced along those slender, golden-brown arms. Her feet were bare, and she'd buried her toes in the soft dirt. She looked timeless and sensual, made up of earth and fire, and he wanted to take her right there in that imperfect garden. He wanted to cover her body with his body, forget who he was, who she was. He wanted to go to her without a past or future, with no thoughts beyond this single moment.

She looked up. A light sheen of perspiration glistened along her cheekbones, and her lips parted in surprise. "I didn't hear you."

She gave no smile of greeting, no sign that she was glad to see him. "Why did you take off like that?" he snapped.

"I wasn't feeling well."

"You seem to be feeling fine now."

She didn't reply. Instead, she bent her head and began working a clump of chickweed free.

"If you wanted to leave, you should have told me. You know I don't like it when you're here by yourself."

"You can't be with me every minute. And why should you try?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm not your responsibility."

The snippy note in her voice annoyed him. She was the one in the wrong, not him. He was doing everything he could to keep her safe, but she wouldn't cooperate. "You're my responsibility while you're under this roof," he found himself saying.

But she wasn't impressed by his bluster. "If you want to be useful, get a shovel and start digging a trench around those shrubs instead of growling at me."

"I'm not growling."

"Could have fooled me."

"Damn it, Rachel, you ran off without telling me! I didn't know what had happened. I was worried."

"Were you?" She cocked her head to the side and gave him a slow smile that melted his bones.

He determinedly shook off the spell she was weaving around him. "You don't have to look so pleased about it. I'm not exactly happy with you at the moment, and not just because of the way you ran off." He knew he should let it go at that, but he couldn't. "From now on, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to psychoanalyze me in front of my family."

"Can't think of a better place to do it than around people who want you to get well."

"I am well! I mean it, Rachel. I don't want to hear any more negative remarks about the drive-in. Everything went great last night. You should be celebrating."

"Everything didn't go great. I love that drive-in, but you don't! And the day I'll celebrate is the day you go back to work as a vet."

"Why do you have to keep pushing me? Why can't you just let things be?"

"Because the way things are is tearing you apart."

"Yeah, well, that's not your problem."

"No, it's not, is it?"

He realized that he'd hurt her, but a squeal of laughter interrupted them before he could make amends. He turned automatically, and what he saw made the hair on the back of his neck prickle. Ethan was coming around the side of the house with Edward perched on his shoulders, Kristy lagging behind.

The boy looked as if someone had handed him a rainbow. His eyes sparkled, and his bangs flopped as Ethan jogged forward. Being carried around like this was exactly what Edward had been dreaming about at the pig roast when he'd watched his friend riding his father's shoulders, and Gabe wanted to feel good about what he saw, but instead, he was overwhelmed by a sense of utter wrongness.

He couldn't understand his reaction. This child had received so few breaks in life, and now Gabe was begrudging him this small, simple pleasure. He felt petty and mean-spirited, but he couldn't argue himself out of his feelings-he couldn't relinquish the absolute certainty that Edward Stone did not belong on his brother's shoulders.

Rachel had risen to her feet. But instead of enjoying her son's happiness or moving forward to greet Kristy, she stood absolutely still, her arms at her sides, as she watched Gabe.

He felt a chill as he realized she knew exactly what he was thinking. Somehow she could see into his head, and she knew how resentful he was. He wanted to explain, but how could he explain what he didn't understand himself? How could he justify the feelings he had toward this child she loved more than her own life?

He looked away, turning toward his brother instead. Unlike Rachel, he could trust Ethan not to judge him. "Thanks for dropping me off, Eth."

"No problem."

"Excuse me, will you? I have to get some bookkeeping done." He turned away, and, as he headed into the cottage, he tried not to look as if he were fleeing.

Rachel winced at the sound of the screen door banging. At the same time, she felt dizzy from the pain of what she'd seen in his eyes. Why couldn't he stop hating Edward? The resentment he hadn't been able to hide felt like a blow to her heart. She reeled from it as the frail hopes she'd been nurturing disintegrated around her.