After that night at the hospital, Sam had decided to make a clean break from her. There didn’t seem to be any purpose in prolonging the agony. But he’d learned it wasn’t that simple. He thought about her constantly, longed to talk to her. After two torturous days he’d known that forgetting about her would be impossible. He would have to think of something to help him solve this problem.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmured, as his eyes held hers.

“I’ve missed you, too,” she answered, and her voice was filled with regret. “Sam,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“I am, too, Kitten.” He drew a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. She couldn’t change what she was, and he couldn’t help loving her. He prayed they could find a solution to this, because now that he had found Marjorie, he couldn’t let her go.

—

“Betty,” Sam said, his arm loosely draped over Marjorie’s shoulders. “This is Marjorie Majors. Marjorie, Betty.”

“Hi,” Betty Miller said cordially, her blue eyes twinkling. She was bouncing a toddler on her hip, and the shy little boy hid his face against his mother’s shoulder. “I’m so pleased you could make it. Can you believe this weather? Only on Puget Sound would we have a fireplace going on the Fourth of July.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Betty was slender and pretty, exactly the type Marjorie had always pictured as a doctor’s wife. Her deep blue eyes were warm and gentle, and Marjorie doubted that Betty Miller had an enemy in this world.

“The ruffian on my hip is Kevin. He’s three,” Betty added, and encouraged her son to look up long enough to greet their company. Kevin, however, held his fists over his eyes and refused to acknowledge Marjorie or Sam.

“Hi, Kevin,” Marjorie offered stiffly, but to no avail.

The little boy buried his face deeper into his mother’s shoulder. “He’s a little bit shy,” Betty explained, her face flushed with embarrassment.

“That’s all right,” Marjorie said, in an effort to reassure her. She understood far better than Betty could realize. Kids instinctively knew she was rotten mother material. She didn’t know how they knew, but they did.

“Kevin, do you want to show Uncle Sam where your daddy is?” Betty asked, and there was a hopeful note in her voice.

To everyone’s surprise, Kevin nodded eagerly and climbed off his mother’s hip. Without looking in Marjorie’s direction, the three-year-old held out his hand in order to lead Sam away.

Sam must have noted the distress in Marjorie’s eyes, because he murmured something about being right back.