“Then this Hollywood actress obsession took hold of her, and unfortunately she failed, dismally trying to remember her lines as the cameras rolled.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It was at about that point that she began making the self-help and group therapy rounds. She went through periods of fad diets, deep depression, sensitivity groups—you name it and she was into it. I suggested that she go to a respected local psychiatrist, but she ignored my advice as usual and preferred to stick with the most faddish encounter group of the day.

“That’s when I decided to do something about Krista. As poor a father as I had been, even I knew that all Jana’s neuroses couldn’t be good for an impressionable nine-year-old girl. Damn!” He swore at himself and bit his lower lip in annoyed remembrance. “I should have seen it earlier. Maybe I could have prevented all of Krista’s problems. Perhaps if I had been paying a little more attention to my kid rather than my business interests, Jana would be alive today and Krista would be walking like a normal and healthy eleven-year-old!”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Erin objected. “You tried to help.”

Steely gray eyes flashed fire at her. “‘Too little, too late,’ as the saying goes.”

Erin had trouble keeping her silence. She saw the emotions that were ripping him apart as he thought about his past. His fist clenched tightly before he thrust it into the pocket of his pants.

“There’s really not all that much more to tell,” Kane admitted in a softer, more controlled voice. “I was concerned, and I suggested that Krista come and live with me, at least for a while, until Jana could—how did she phrase it—get her head together. But she wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Krista was a burden to her, and both she and I knew it, yet she wouldn’t allow my own daughter to come and live with me! Sometimes I felt that Jana was using Krista as a weapon against me.” An almost evil look stole over his lips. “And it worked! Not only did it bother me, but Krista became steadily more introverted. She always had been a somewhat shy, quiet child, but it seemed that she was withdrawing too deeply into herself, becoming sullen.” There was a long pause while Kane drew in a steadying breath. “And then, of course, there was the accident. Up until that time, at least I could talk to Krista.” His eyes darkened with a quiet rage at the circumstances that had led to the isolation from his only child. “But since the accident and her paralysis, I have trouble communicating with her about anything. It’s as if she’s punishing me for what happened to Jana….” He shifted his weight uncomfortably on the couch before murmuring, in a barely audible voice, his own self-condemnation. “I suppose that I deserve it!”

“No!” Erin challenged.

“For God’s sake, Erin. Krista watched her mother die!”

“Oh, Kane, don’t go on blaming yourself for something that no one could prevent,” she begged.