“I can do it myself!” Krista declared, and to Erin’s surprise, the slender girl braced herself on the table’s edge and took a few hesitant steps before falling into her mechanical chair.

They faced each other as if they were opponents on a battlefield. Each one eyed the other distrustfully. Hesitantly Erin drew herself up to her full height, and her lilac gaze rested on her ward for the evening. How was it possible to handle Krista? There was no answer but the obvious.

“Krista,” Erin said, and offered the girl a tissue to dry her eyes. “I want you to know that there’s no rule stating that you have to like me. All I ask is that you give me a chance, an honest chance. And, for your father’s sake, I’m asking you to be, at least, civil to me. Is that so much to ask?”

“I don’t want a new mother!” the girl cried, nearly hysterical.

“I understand that, and…I respect it,” Erin agreed, still holding the tissue out to the child. “No one has the right to step into someone else’s shoes, unless they’re asked. I’m sure that your mother was a very wonderful woman, and that she loved you very much, but, unfortunately, I can’t bring her back to you. Nobody can.” Erin’s eyes had begun to fill with tears as she looked into a face that was much too young to understand death. “I hope you know that whatever happens between your father and me, that I would never attempt to take the place of your mother—that’s a promise!”

Krista stared silently at Erin for what seemed an eternity before taking the tissue and wiping the stain of tears from her cheeks. Assured that the girl was poised again, Erin turned toward the kitchen and hastily wiped her own tears with the cuff of her blouse. She hoped that Krista hadn’t seen her tears or her weakness.

For the rest of the evening, while Erin cleared the table and cleaned the dishes, Krista brooded in a corner of the room, pretending interest in the empty fireplace. Erin offered to build a fire, but Krista had withdrawn back into her shell and didn’t respond to the invitation. Therefore, Erin shrugged her shoulders and acted as if it didn’t matter in the least to her, one way or the other, before turning back to the task of straightening the kitchen. But she sensed that beneath Krista’s cold exterior, the girl had begun to thaw.

Whenever Krista didn’t think that Erin would notice, she studied the black-haired woman with interest. So this was the lady that her father was falling to pieces over. Although this Erin creature was very unlike her mother, Krista couldn’t help but admire Erin’s mettle. Maybe Seattle wouldn’t be quite as bad as she had imagined.

It was late when Kane returned to the apartment house. He parked the car and sat motionless for several minutes, just staring into the darkness of the night. He was emotionally drained to the point of exhaustion, and he had the urge to restart the car and head to the closest tavern. He wanted a drink—make that several drinks—and then he wanted to fall into bed and sleep for days. He didn’t want to face Krista and endure another fight, and he couldn’t face Erin, not now.