“I’m glad to see you, girl,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

“I’m glad to see you, too.”

Her father was a big man with black hair and blue eyes. As usual, he wore jeans, a plaid shirt, and work boots. He had been a construction foreman for over twenty years. As a child, she had loved stomping around the house wearing his big boots and hard hat.

He gave her another squeeze, then let her go. “You’re looking well.”

“I feel wonderful. I like what you’ve done to the house.”

“Oh, that,” he muttered. “She finally got her own way.”

“It’s about time, too,” Shannah said, giving him a playful punch on the arm. “Admit it, it looks great.”

“Yeah, but don’t tell her I said so.”

“Don’t tell me what?” Verna asked, coming up behind them. Setting the tray she was carrying on a redwood table, she glanced between her husband and her daughter.

“Nothing,” Shannah’s father said, reaching for one of the glasses.

Verna looked at Shannah. “What’s he hiding now?”

“Nothing, Mom. He just told me not to tell you how good the house looks.”

“Oh, that!” Verna rolled her eyes. “Everybody thinks it looks a hundred percent better. I don’t know why we didn’t do it sooner.”

Shannah sat down in one of the lawn chairs and her mother and father took seats on either side of her. Besides lemonade, Verna had brought out a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies and some cheesecake.

Shannah glanced around the yard, remembering all the hours she had spent playing there as a child. Her old rope swing still hung from the big oak tree in the corner. Someone had given her playhouse a fresh coat of yellow paint and patched the hole in the roof.

“So, Shanny,” Verna said, passing the cookie plate around, “what brings you to New York?”

“Oh, Mom, you’ll never believe this! I’m pretending to be a famous author.”

Her mother stared at her, a cookie halfway to her mouth. “What? Why on earth would you do that?”

“I met this romance writer. He writes as Eva Black…”

“Eva Black!” Verna exclaimed. “I just bought one of her books…did you sayhe ?”

Shannah nodded. “Eva Black is a pen name. His real name is Ronan. You’ll meet him later.”

“He’sthe friend you’re bringing here? But we’re just having pot roast…and the house is a mess, and…” Verna ran a hand over her hair. “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing a famous celebrity home? Oh, dear, I’m a bigger mess than the house.”

“Mom, calm down. You’ve never looked better.”

Rising, Verna headed for the back door. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me Eva Black was coming to dinner.”

“He probably won’t eat anything,” Shannah called, but it was too late. Her mother was already in the house.

“So,” her father asked, “why are you pretending to be this guy?”

Shannah shrugged. “He doesn’t want people to know who he is. He seems to think his readers will be disappointed or upset or something if they find out he’s a man. Anyway, I’ve been doing book signings. Dad, you can’t believe how much fun it is! I’ve even done a couple of radio interviews.”

Scott shook his head. “Well, don’t tell your mother. She’ll be upset that she didn’t know about it.”

“They’re going to give me copies of the tapes. I’ll send them to you as soon as I get them.”

Scott grinned. “Bless you, girl. Now I won’t have to spend the next six months listening to your Mom complaining about how our only daughter was on the radio and she didn’t get to hear her.”

Shannah laughed. “I’ve been having a wonderful time. We’re staying at the Waldorf, Dad, can you believe it? And last night Ronan took me to seeBeauty and the Beast .”

“Sounds like you’re living high on the hog, girl.”

“Yes. I’m going to hate to see it end.” She spoke without thinking. Too late, she realized her father would assume she was talking about her illness.

Leaning forward, he took her hands in his. “Honey, why don’t you come home?”

“Dad, we’ve been over all this before. Besides, I didn’t mean that. I meant I was going to hate it when the book tour was over. I’ve been having such a great time.”

“Be that as it may, you belong here, with us. It’s tearing your mother apart to think about you living alone when…” He cleared his throat. “We just think you should be here so we can look after you.”

“I know, Dad.” She didn’t know why, but she just couldn’t stand the thought of having her parents watch her waste away and die.

“I wish you’d reconsider, honey. You should be here, with the people who love you.”

“I’ll think about it, okay, but let’s not talk about it now. Right now, I feel wonderful!” And she did, except her eyes were starting to burn. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her sunglasses and put them on.

Her mother rejoined them a short time later and the three of them spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside, talking about old times. Shannah listened while her mother brought her up to date on the latest neighborhood gossip—who was getting married, who was getting divorced, who was expecting.

“How’s Judy?” Shannah asked. In spite of the fact that Judy was two years older than Shannah, they had been best friends since grammar school.

“Oh, dear, that poor girl is pregnant again.”

Shannah grinned. Since getting married, Judy seemed to be perpetually pregnant.

Later, Shannah helped her mother set the table for dinner, thinking how much she had missed sharing these simple tasks with her mom, remembering all the good times she’d had growing up in this house. Her parents had been terrific, supporting her in anything and everything she had wanted to do. They had cheered her on when she played soccer, attended recitals during a brief period when she thought she wanted to be a ballerina, spent a small fortune buying candy, Christmas wrapping paper, and magazine subscriptions so she could go to camp.

She sat in her usual place at the dinner table, her head bowed while her father asked a blessing on the food. Tears filled her eyes when he asked the good Lord to bless his daughter with health and strength.

Too choked up to speak, she concentrated on the food on her plate until her emotions were under control again.

“Mom, you’re still the world’s best cook,” she said, smiling.

Verna beamed with pleasure. She was the kind of mother that had been popular in the fifties, when women were happy to stay home and look after their families. She had always been there when Shannah got home from school, eager to hear about her day over milk and cookies.

When the meal was over, Shannah found herself looking at the door, listening for Ronan’s knock, wondering where he was and what her parents would think of him.

And then he was there, looking as suave and handsome as always. Verna invited him inside with a smile, obviously a little star-struck at having a published author in her home. Scott Davis was cordial though more reserved. Shannah hid a smile, remembering that her father had treated her dates the same way when she was in high school.

“So,” Verna said when they were all seated in the living room, “however did you start writing romances?”

Forty-five minutes later, Verna was still asking questions.

“I think that’s enough, Mother,” Scott said. “I’m going outside to smoke my pipe. Why don’t you come along and keep me company?”

“Maybe later, dear.”

“Now, Mother,” Scott said. “I think Shannah and her guest might like a little time alone.”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Rising, Verna followed her husband out the back door.

“I’m sorry about that,” Shannah said. “She’s never met anyone famous before.”

Ronan shrugged. “She’s delightful.”

“I think so.”

“Why don’t we take a walk?”

“All right. Let me get my coat and tell my folks we’re going.”

Moments later, they left the house.

“Did you want to walk any place in particular?” Shannah asked.

“No.” He pulled her off the sidewalk and into the shadows. “Your father was right. I just wanted to get you alone.”

She looked up at him, startled, but before she could say anything, he was kissing her, kissing her with such fervor that there was no longer any doubt in her mind about their relationship.

They were definitely more than just friends.

Heat and excitement flowed through her, honey-sweet, intoxicating, addicting. She wanted his hands on her body, his mouth on hers. She wanted to run her hands over his body, to explore the hard wall of his chest, the long line of his back. She wanted to drag him deeper into the shadows and beg him to make love to her, there, on the ground, with only the moon and stars to keep their secret.

And she might have done all those things if her legs hadn’t suddenly gone weak, not from his kisses, but from a familiar light-headedness that left her feeling faint and a little dizzy.

“Ronan…” She looked up at him, blinking, as his face swam in and out of focus.

“Shannah!”

Sweeping her into his arms, he carried her swiftly down the street until he came to a small park.

He followed a narrow winding path until he was well out of sight of anyone who might happen by and then he lowered her to the ground. She was pale and unconscious, her breathing shallow and labored. It was startling, how swiftly the illness struck, how quickly it left her incapacitated.

Lifting his arm, he bit into a vein in his wrist, then held the bleeding wound to her lips.

“Drink.” He spoke to her mind, the word a command she could not ignore. “Drink, love, and then forget what you have done.”