Lily picked up a few groceries, then stopped by the hair salon to collect the car keys and see how much longer Jessica would be. When she discovered it would be awhile yet, she left to stow the groceries in the back of Jessica's car, then headed for the drugstore to replace some of her items that were beginning to run low.

She was cruising the aisles when she suddenly ran across the condom selection. She stopped short, her heart dropping with a thud that was nearly audible. "Dear God," she whispered, her mind flashing to the lone condom she'd seen in Zach's zipper bag that night in the campground near Mount Shasta. They'd used it the first time they made love.

And hadn't used one since.

The romantic in her stood there bemused, staring at the display and thinking she was in big-time trouble if she was so moon-faced in love she'd bypassed something as basic as protection. Her bedrock practicality, though, took a more irritated stance. That part couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to her before now that they hadn't been using anything. Or to him either, since Zach was hardly the careless type. She was on the pill, so she wasn't worried about pregnancy. But he didn't know that, and he'd sure as heck never checked to make sure she had it covered. And for both of them to just disregard the most basic safety precautions—good grief, they hadn't even once compared health histories. She never took chances when it came to that, and knowing that she had with Zach made her feel like banging her head on the nearest hard surface.

Instead she selected a box and tossed it in her basket. It was probably locking the barn door after the horse had bolted, but until she knew Zach was safe, he could darn well suit up. It was his sole hope of ever getting his big ol' pride and joy anywhere near her again.

Still fretting about it as she left the store, she nearly barreled into a young man just entering. "Excuse me," she said, and gave the arm she'd grabbed to keep from mowing him down an apologetic pat. "I'm afraid I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Then her eyebrows drew together. She knew that face from somewhere.

Just as quickly, however, her brow cleared. Well, duh. With that jet-black hair and those dark eyes, he was quite handsome, which undoubtedly was what she'd noticed about him when she'd seen him at one of the stores the last time she was here. Happy to have that cleared up, she gave him a sunny smile and stepped to the right to circle around him.

He stepped into her path, so she countered with a move to the left. When he mirrored her action, once again blocking her, she laughed. "Wanna dance?"

His eyes lit up, and it belatedly occurred to her he might think she was flirting with him. Fortunately, before he could say a word, Jessica's voice called out her name.

"Excuse me, gotta go." Holding up her hand like a traffic cop to stay him, she stepped around him. Then, catching sight of Jessica as her friend strode up the block, Lily immediately forgot the young man. She raced down the street as fast as her skyscraper heels allowed.

"Oh, my gosh," she said when they met in front of the jewelry store. "You look great!" She reached out to touch the soft brown wave that ended at Jessica's jaw. "How do you like it?"

"It's such a huge change, I'm kind of in shock. But I think I'm going to love it once I get used to it." She shook her head and laughed. "It feels so light!"

"It really suits you. It plays up the bone structure of your face and accentuates your eyes and neck. I give it the official Morrisette two thumbs up."

Jessica laughed, feeling weightless and pretty. She shook her head again just to feel her hair slide against her cheeks. "Oh, I do think I'm going to like it! It's so nice for once not to have great gobs of hair hanging in my face." She wondered what Christopher would think when he saw her new style. She'd deliberately not told him she was having it done, wanting it to be a surprise.

A few minutes later, as they were buckling themselves into the car, she looked over at Lily. "Would it be too awful of me if I didn't feel like going home just yet?"

Lily blinked. "Why would that be awful of you?"

"Well, I probably shouldn't be out enjoying myself when the kidnapper might call again at any minute."

"We've only been gone—what?—an hour? I don't see how treating yourself to another hour would hurt anything. And take it from me, it's not as if there's a lot you or I can do." Lily said the latter with such conviction it reminded Jessica of her spirited defense of Zach last night. But before Jess could pursue exactly what had occurred, Lily gave her a gentle smile and asked, "What is it you feel like doing?"

"You want to drive over to Olga? I'll show you the Orcas Island Artworks. It's one of the oldest cooperative galleries in the Northwest, and Lily, it has the greatest stuff. It offers everything from hand knits to the most exquisitely crafted glass. Not to mention the wonderful little cafe in the back." She wagged a persuasive eyebrow. "I'll buy you a goodie."

"Oh, very sly." Lily gave her a crooked smile. "You know me pretty well, I'd say, if you understand my appetite's the clincher. By all means, let's go. It sounds terrific."

"Ican almost guarantee you'll love it. Plus, it's not that far away; it's just a mile or so the other side of Moran State park."

Lily shuddered. "Been there."

Jessica glanced over at her blonde friend as she maneuvered the car out of town. "How did you end up going along with Zach last night, anyhow?"

Lily described her stowaway adventure in the back of Zach's Jeep as they drove to Olga. With self-deprecating humor, she detailed her stint in the woods, painting herself as a witless city girl.

But Jess was filled with admiration as she took her eyes off the road long enough to glance at her friend. "You are so brave."

Lily's mouth dropped open. "Are you crazy?" she demanded. "I was scared to death!"

"Of course you were. But you followed through anyway."

"And nearly got Zach's brains bashed in for my efforts."

Jess pulled into the parking lot of the Artworks, killed the engine, then turned to face her friend. "Who's to say he wouldn't have gotten hit on the head anyway?"

Lily just looked at her.

"Okay, so I can't actually see Zach letting that happen without a distraction, but Lily, still! It was very courageous of you to try to help."

Lily laughed and reached for the door handle. "I have a feeling Zach wouldn't agree with you, but since I love having you believe I'm so stouthearted, I'll just say thank you and leave it at that."

Jessica's lips curled with pleasure as she walked down the long porch of the old renovated strawberry packing plant that housed the Artworks. Opening the door, she held it for Lily. "This is my very favorite place on the entire island."

"Oh, my," Lily breathed as she stepped inside the beamed-ceilinged room. "I can see why."

The floors of the co-op were slightly uneven with their old hardwood planks, and windows spilled light into an interior crowded with fascinating goods. Straight ahead stood a display stand of multisized cubes holding pottery of various sizes and shapes. One exhibit led to another, from glass, to jewelry, to paintings, to a rack of wearable art, and Jess enjoyed watching Lily's delight every bit as much as she loved exploring herself. It was a crowded treasure chest filled with contributions from more than sixty-five artists, and there were always new things to discover.

She was trying on felt hats, admiring them with her new hairdo in a small mirror, when she saw Lily's reflection stop in front a display of small quilts that hung on one wall.

After several solemn, silent moments spent inspecting it, Lily turned to her. "You ought to be displaying your quilts here."

Instant delight suffused her, but accustomed as she was to downplaying her work as nothing more than a hobby, her instinctive response was to demur. Before she could say a word, however, a woman manning the central desk looked up with interest. "You make quilts?"

"Beautiful ones," Lily answered for her and walked over with a friendly smile. "They're quite different from these, but she's every bit as talented."

Face warm with both pleasure and embarrassment, Jessica joined them and found herself talking to the artist on duty about her work. Agreeing to submit some samples for consideration, she finally eased away and made her way down to the far end of the co-op, where she stood for a moment with one hand over her rapidly beating heart as she pretended to look at the handcrafted stationery and cards racked in front of her.

Once her pulse had settled down a bit, she walked over to peek into the cafe to check on the availability of a table. The silly smile, though, continued to play across her mouth.

It froze when she glanced toward the back corner of the cafe and saw Christopher seated at a small table near the door, talking intently to an unfamiliar woman.

Pain splintered through her with such ferocity she could barely catch her breath. Seeing him here when he'd specifically told her he'd be elsewhere, with a woman who was everything she wasn't, shouldn't have caught her by surprise. She'd known he was up to something— for weeks she had known that. Hell, sometimes it felt as if she'd been waiting for this very occurrence since the first night they'd met, yet nothing, she realized now, ever could have prepared her for seeing her worst fears realized. She numbly watched the single-minded attention her husband lavished on the other woman until Christopher's head started to lift. Then she scrambled backward, desperate not to be seen.